| 3 |
Research on diversity often looks at sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, education, religion, and socioeconomic backgrounds and often misses queer identities entirely. This is a missing puzzle piece in research data collected thus far because many queer individuals face targeted harassment based on their queer identity and may not pursue work in a field if it is deemed too hostile to navigate. This Spring marks the fourth semester of this CI based on investigating the type of obstacles that queer students in STEM-majors face based on their identity. Over the first three semesters, we created an interactive interview protocol, conducted eleven one-hour interviews, used reflexive thematic coding on the transcripts, and presented the overarching themes at the oSTEM 2022 conference in a workshop. This semester is focused on developing a write-up from our findings and starting new projects that build on the foundational work of this CI. Future work to be done on developing guidelines for instructional and professional inclusivity, interviews with both queer and non-queer professors in STEM, and data analysis on the interactive protocol results. |
3 |
Queer Issues in STEM: Researching the Impact of LGBTQIA+ topics in STEM Environments |
Abigail Smith - Geneticsasmit68 Chloe Wright - Mechanical Engineeringcsw6 |
Matthew Voigt - Engineering and Science Educationmkvoigt Sarah Otterbeck - Engineering and Science Educationsotterb |
| 4 |
One in four older adults falls each year making falls the leading cause of injury and death among older adults. Poor health outcomes result from difficulty getting up after a fall and a higher fall risk due to the fear of falling (FOF). Our study investigated the impact of a fall prevention program and correlations between FOF, living alone, and confidence. We analyzed pre-post survey data from 186 individuals participating in our 8-week "A Matter of Balance" program. At post-test, there were statistically significant (p=.005) decreases in "FOF" as well as statistically significant (p<.001) increases in "confidence to get up from a fall". We found a statistically significant but small positive correlation (r=.197,p=.011) between living alone and FOF at pre-test, but not at post-test (r=.170,p=.101). This suggests that living alone was associated with slightly higher scores for FOF at pre-test. When comparing mean pre-test scores for confidence to get up from a fall, scores for participants living alone were slightly lower (x=3.095) than for participants not living alone (x=3.443). A One-way ANOVA test did not find the pre-test score differences to be statistically significant (F=2.368, p=.126). Post-test mean scores increased in both groups (x=3.96 living alone, and x=3.93 not living alone). In conclusion, prior to the fall prevention program, living alone may be associated with slightly higher FOF and less confidence to get up from a fall. Our fall prevention program decreased FOF and improved our older adult participants' confidence to get up from a fall. |
4 |
Decreasing Risk of Falls in Older Adults |
Marissa Bennett - Health Sciencembenne6 Amelia Hilton - Health Scienceaghilto Lindsay Ross - Health Sciencelnross Lizzie Peacock - Health Scienceepeacoc Chandler Coshatt - Health Sciencescoshat Emma Weeks - Language and International Healthemweeks |
Karen A Kemper - Public Health Scienceskkaren Anna-Marie Chancellor - Dean Of The Graduate Schoolmvp Brandi Crowe - Parks, Recreation and Tourism Managementbmcrowe |
| 5 |
Here we focus on the utilization of K. xylinus bacteria for the purposes of nanomanufacturing of architected bacterial cellulose structures; however, methods of using these bacteria as a nanorobotic printer of cellulose do not exist. In previous years, our lab was successful in using light induced dielectrophoresis (LiDEP) on fungal cells, which are 3-4 times bigger than K. xylinus. Under this principle, the targeted particles respond to an electric field gradient that is implemented through the use of light patterns. Using this same methodology for the purposes of nanomanufacturing, the research question thus arises: what is the effect of LiDEP on K. xylinus to realize its application as a nanorobotic printer? Particles under LiDEP are suspended in a dielectric medium and sandwiched between a photoconductive layer and a transparent, electrically conductive glass. An AC electrical signal is then applied across these two electrical poles to expose the targeted particles to an electric field gradient. Thanks to the photoconductive layer, dynamic control of the field gradient can be achieved through projecting a sequence of desired images. Active steps are now being taken to demonstrate manipulation of K. xylinus with LiDEP. We will present current progress made towards achieving the reproducible display of 1 micrometer-diameter dots of light, which approximate the size of the bacterium and are necessary to gain spatiotemporal control of individual cells. The end goal of this project is to be able to print architected structures of bacterial cellulose, which can then be heat treated at high temperatures in an inert atmosphere to carbonize them. The resultant carbon architected structures are electrically conductive and show high potential to be used as electrodes in structural energy components. |
5 |
Towards printing Architected Structures of Bacterial Cellulose using Light-induced Dielectrophoresis |
Suma Ravi - Mechanical Engineeringsumar |
Rodrigo Martinez-Duarte - Mechanical Engineeringrodrigm |
| 6 |
The Atelier InSite CI project currently focuses on how to show the histories and memorialize the lives of the enslaved and convict laborers buried on campus, where the only remains of their history is ingrained in the fingerprints of the bricks on Hardin Hall. The motivation is rooted in the need to prevent the loss of history and historical acknowledgment of these individuals who had no voice and freedom. Through photography of the historically imprinted bricks and through traditional brick-making methods, we proposed the Clemson Public Art project, Our Campus History: Shaping the Land. The project is to honor the lives and histories of those enslaved and convict laborers through a piece crafted through a community-based brick-making workshop along with the featured artist Adebumi Gbadebo whose work is currently featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The final piece will go into the new Humanities Hall on campus in the Spring of 2024. We recently attained a capital improvement grant from the Clemson University Student Government (CUSG), and are in the process of establishing and finalizing community dialogue sessions and brick-making workshops. |
6 |
Clemson Public Art: Our Campus History |
Ashleigh Barksdale - Visual Artsanbarks Kaitlin Bellune - Visual Artskbellun De'Montrel Crockett - Architecturedemontc Lilly Respess - Pre-Businesslrespes McKenzie Sheperis - Historyemshepe Grayson Yerich - Biological Sciencesglyeric Rhen Bennett - Visual Artsorbenne Katherine Cisne - Economicskcisne Kelly C Smith - Visual Artskcs Megan Tapley - Visual Artsmtapley |
Joey Manson - Artjv |
| 8 |
This is a part of a larger study to develop professional development for graduate students framed using an entrepreneurial mindset(EM). We surveyed 13 engineering graduate teaching assistants (69% men, 31% women) at a large R1 university. Their open-ended survey responses were then coded a priori, in vivo, and descriptively. The responses were then thematically analyzed. Our purpose of this Creative Inquiry was to determine what connections graduate students already make between certain entrepreneurial attributes and teaching/research/leadership/mentoring, and what connections need to be taught or strengthened. We wanted to integrate entrepreneurial attributes to graduate engineering professional preparation to give a more holistic framing when considering teaching, research, etc. Based on our analysis of the surveys, we found that leadership was a common theme recognized by respondents as a necessary skill set for a successful entrepreneur. We also determined that there were specific characteristics that were essential for an entrepreneur, including; communication skills, management and organizational skills, and decisive leadership skills. Another significant finding was that the idea of "open-mindedness" is a construct of interest for the entrepreneurial mindset. It was seen from the responses that creativity, one of the seven attributes from the entrepreneurial mindset framework, had a strong existing connection to graduate students and the EM, along with resilience and communication skills. |
8 |
Exploring Graduate Students' Initial Perceptions of Connections Between Entrepreneurial Attributes and Faculty Life |
Alexa Rybasack - Bioengineeringarybasa Christopher Sutherland - Bioengineeringcgsuthe Marshal Rice - Computer Sciencemrice4 |
Jennifer Shaffer Brown - Engineering and Science Educationjpshaff Karen High - Engineering and Science Educationkhigh |
| 10 |
This research seeks to examine the relationship between holistic thinking and wisdom. When discussing self-transcendence and its impact on wisdom, affective components (e.g., empathy and generosity) have been previously studied. We are interested in examining the effect of a self-transcendence-related cognitive component, namely holistic thinking, on wisdom. We hypothesize that there is a positive relationship between holistic thinking and wisdom in an organizational setting. We also anticipate a strong and positive correlation between holistic thinking and the components of self-transcendence. We review the literature relevant to wisdom, self-transcendence, holistic thinking, and the interrelations among them. Our aim is to collect data from an organizational setting and analyze the results through structural modeling. |
10 |
Examining the Relationship between Holistic Thinking and Wisdom in an Organizational Setting |
Kaitlyn Gmitro - Geneticskgmitro Lexi Lynne Lagroon - Psychologyalagroo Anna Lipke - Language and International Healthalipke Katherine Pfeiler - Psychologykpfeile |
Saeed Andaji Garmaroudi - Psychologysandaji Cynthia Pury - Psychologycpury |
| 11 |
The Contemporary Art & Practice Creative Inquiry projectexplores historical and theoretical issues to gain critical perspectives on Art, visits and studies current exhibitions in galleries in museums in New York City, gains professional experience, works in the Lee Gallery, and shares studio research in an exhibition in the Lee Gallery. |
11 |
Contemporary Art & Practice |
Ashleigh Barksdale - Visual Artsanbarks Kaitlin Bellune - Visual Artskbellun Rhen Bennett - Visual Artsorbenne |
Joey Manson - Artjv Denise C Woodward-Detrich - Artwoodwaw |
| 12 |
El Tiple is a rural community located in the region of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Colombia has become the seventh largest producer of sugarcane at the global level, and 85% of these crops are sown in the region of Valle del Cauca. Due to toxic agriculture practices, the community members of El Tiple have been forced to choose between confinement or displacement. As a result of water contamination, the underserved community is faced with food insecurity and reduction in water sources. The objective of this project is to characterize the context of the community in terms of knowledge, assets, needs, and challenges, focusing on water and environmental issues. This research implements participatory approaches through surveys and interviews in the context of the community. Surveys were conducted on 45 participants about demographic information and water consumption. Interviews were conducted with seven members from the community and government sectors. Interviews included questions regarding community assets, the effect of mono cultivation on cultural aspects, and the role of community organizations and government positions in the face of environmental challenges. The preliminary results of this study provide information regarding the effects of sugarcane monocrops in El Tiple on natural resources, food traditions, sustainability, water quality, and food sovereignty. Regarding community assets, several community organizations were identified in the territory, performing dance, soccer, and religious activities. Community leaders expressed that the presence of sugarcane has affected natural resources in the territory and the culture of the population. Results from this research will be used to inform natural resource management and educational programs with the community. |
12 |
Knowledge, Assets, Needs, and Challenges of the Community of El Tiple, Colombia |
Marissa Coll - Language and International Healthmecoll Isabel Long - Language and International Healthiglong |
David Bahamon Pinzon - Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciencesdbahamo |
| 14 |
Inspiration for fiber synthesis can be found throughout the insect world.Insectantennae are examples of fiber-like biological systems that can easily move in response to physicalandchemical stimuli. They consist of a harder chitinous outer layer, with hemolymph (insect blood) flowing through.The hemolymph inside creates a pressure that is used to move the antennae on demand without muscle action on it. Thus, the physical arrangement of the antennae as a filled tube makes it an interesting bio-inspired design we want to investigate. The first goal of the project is to study the morphology and mechanical properties of insect antennae.The second goal is to apply this knowledge towards creating fibers with properties similar to insect antennae.To make the bio-inspired designs, we areusing alginate fibers because of their stability, biocompatibility, and workability,being widely using in the biomedical field. Alginate is a Polysaccharide chain made of mannuronic M blocks and Guluronic G blocks. The M and G blocks are known to structurally orient themselves in the egg box model when coordinating to divalent metal complexes during wet spinning. For divalent metals it has been reported that Alginate-Metal coordination has shorter and stronger ionic bonding the smaller the radius and higher the charge of the ion. The properties and structural confirmation of multivalent metals in Alginate complexes is unknown. This work explores Tetravalent (Cerium (IV)) ion behavior in an alginate complex through UV-Vis Spectroscopy.Therefore, this project unites biology, chemistry, and engineering to build innovative fiber designs. |
14 |
Multifunctional Fibers Inspired by Insect Antennae |
Megan Bishoff - Chemistrymbishof |
Konstantin Kornev - Materials Science and Engineeringkkornev |
| 22 |
The two main goals of thePersonality and Law Research Labare to (1) examine contributors to personality development and (2) identify real-life implications of personality research. A current study involves mock juror research to determine a possible correlation between Big Five personality traits and the perception of neurobiological evidence and witness credibility. This research was performed via survey, and participants were recruited on Clemson's campus and via SONA Research Systems. The study is being led with four hypotheses: (1) participants who receive biological evidence will be more likely to vote not guilty, (2) structural neuroimages will have a stronger relationship with not guilty verdicts than functional neuroimages, (3) participants high in neuroticism will be more likely to render a guilty verdict, (4) and participants high in conscientiousness and agreeableness will be more likely to render a not guilty verdict. Participants will complete the Big Five Aspect Scale (DeYoung et al., 2007) and be randomly assigned to one of four groups. All groups will receive a case summary and witness statements. One will receive functional biological evidence, one will receive structural biological evidence, one will receive both, and one will receive no biological evidence. Participants rate the reliability and confidence of witnesses, and how effective they found different biological evidence in swaying their sentencing decision. Key results will include which personality traits have a greater impact on witness perception and if a certain type of biological evidence has a greater impact on a mock juror's verdict. The study is currently ongoing. |
22 |
The Impact of Biological Evidence and Mock Juror Personality Traits on Witness Perception and Sentencing |
Cassadi Clemment - Psychologyciclemm Carson Goodier - World Cinemacgoodie |
Ben Cotterill - Psychologybfcotte |
| 26 |
Piedmont Prairie communities once dominated the upstate of South Carolina, however, they now represent a largely lost ecosystem. These lands were home to a biodiverse population of plant and animal species including but not limited to bison, meadowlark, prairie grasses, wildflowers, and diverse pollinators. Contributing factors to the loss of this ecosystem include fire suppression, colonization and subsequent agricultural use of the land, extirpation of grazers, and overdevelopment. The loss of this ecosystem motivated our study on how temperature and severity of fire affects the growth prairie species. This was done by exposing seeds of sixteen prairie species to high, medium, and low severities of fire while also having a control group that didn't experience any burns. There were six replicates of each group for a total of twenty-four trays. After burning in March 2022, these plants were permitted to grow in the greenhouse until the Fall of 2022 semester. The aboveground biomass was harvested in October 2022 and the belowground biomass was processed Winter of 2022/Spring 2023. On this poster, we investigate whether trays exposed to high burn severity will have the largest biomass above and below ground. It is thought that the large amount of resources released during a high intensity fire will provide additional nutrients and accelerate plant growth. Discovering how plants reallocate their biomass after fire at different severities will provide vital information to future projects, management, and restoration of prairie lands. Furthermore, the loss of many important pollinators, wildlife, and plant species could trigger a cascade of species loss across the area at large if restoration actions are not taken. Preliminary results suggest that the high burn severity trays do have the largest amount of biomass both above and below ground. |
26 |
Exploring the Impacts of Fire Severity on Prairie Plant Biomass |
Laura Grace Blanchard - Environmental and Natural Resourceslauragb Rachel Brown-Villarreal - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyrbrownv Shea Ehrhard - Environmental and Natural Resourcessheae Sarah-jean Kolarik - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyskolari Marie Legeay - Environmental and Natural Resourcesmlegeay JB Rehrig - Environmental and Natural Resourcesjrehrig Kacey Kai - Forestry and Environmental Conservationkkai Jessica Clark - Forestry and Environmental Conservationjnc3 |
Althea Hagan - Forestry and Environmental Conservationshotali |
| 27 |
Class 1 retrotransposons move via a copy and paste mechanism into different genomic locations utilizing reverse transcription (RNA to DNA). Long interspersed elements (LINEs) are autonomous retrotransposons, which encode for the protein machinery to facilitate retrotransposition. The only active LINE in the human genome is LINE-1 (L1). L1s were studied because they are implicated in creating alternate poly(A) sites in DNA, which can lead to impaired gene expression. SINE-VNTR-Alu elements (SVAs) are non-autonomous retrotransposons that use L1 proteins to mobilize. SVAs are currently active and known to cause mobilization of sequences adjacent to the 3' and 5' ends of insertions, known as transduction events. Transductions can cause exon shuffling and gene duplication, which contribute to genome evolution. If L1s introduce premature polyadenylation were investigated in a long-read transcriptome dataset of 12 human cell lines with 778,128 isoforms. The isoforms were only used if their transcript length was shorter than the reference RNA length. From these, the L1 positions were examined further based on position in the isoform. 547 SVA elements across 35 individuals were retrieved from the Human Genome Structural Variation consortium dataset. These were then narrowed down to 196 full-length elements. Of these, seventeen elements harbored 3' transductions and 31 5' transductions. From the filtered L1 data, 2,937 isoforms were implicated in L1-mediated polyadenylation. The findings support that retrotransposons have implications in mutagenesis and aid in the understanding of genome evolution. |
27 |
Class 1 Retrotransposons: Implications in Mutagenesis and Genome Evolution |
Emily Golba - Geneticsegolba Gillian Barnard - Biochemistrygebarna |
Miriam Konkel - Genetics and Biochemistrymkonkel |
| 28 |
Electronics and circuits projects ranging from audio applications to communications and computation will be presented. Students will share their experience in acquiring hands-on expertise related to circuit design and electronics design automation. |
28 |
Circuit Cellar Designs |
Ignacio Carmichael - General Engineeringignacic Joshua Deji - Electrical Engineeringjdeji Sam Garcia - Computer Engineeringsvgarci Benjamin Fribush - Electrical Engineeringbfribus Nick Leshko - Electrical Engineeringnleshko Kenny Phan - Electrical Engineeringphan2 Ethan Schneider - Electrical Engineeringesschne Chang Zou - Computer Engineeringchangfz Robert Anderson - Computer Engineeringrzander Foster Baldwin - Electrical Engineeringfosterb Dat Le - Electrical Engineeringdatl Ben Sivillo - Electrical Engineeringbmsivil Katelynn Thorne - Electrical Engineeringkrthorn |
Hassan Raza - Electrical and Computer Engineeringhraza III,William J Reid - Electrical and Computer Engineeringbreid |
| 30 |
Ovarian cancer has an average 5-year survival rate of less than 48%. Current treatments are often deemed ineffective because of the tumors' innate chemoresistance [1]. Accurately mimicking this drug resistance with traditional 2D cultures in vitro is difficult; recent years have seen an increase in 3D cultures that create cellular spheroids. Spheroids serve as improved models of in vivo tumors due to their hypoxic core, acidic microenvironment, and increased cell-to-cell interactions [2]. This research aims to develop a 3D culture protocol that forms uniform ovarian cancer spheroids >500 µm in diameter that display concentric zones of viability and increased expression of chemoresistant proteins. This study's methods include cell culture, viability assays, immunohistochemical sectioning/staining, western blotting, qPCR, and flow cytometry. Our results demonstrate that ES-2 cells form compact spheroids that display increased chemoresistance in comparison to 2D cultures. They also displayed concentric cellular zones that indicate tumor-like spheroid formation [2] and different expressions of oncogenic proteins compared to 2D cultures. These results support our hypothesis that 3D cultures of ovarian cancer can be used to better recapitulate in vivo tumor characteristics during in vivo studies, increasing the translatability of in vitro success to in vivo studies and decreasing costs related to the current standard practice for bench to bedside research. This research was funded in part by Materials Assembly and Design Excellence in South Carolina (MADE in SC) under the National Science and by Clemson Creative Inquiry. Data was partially collected using SC BioCRAFT facilities. |
30 |
Development of Uniform 3D Ovarian Cancer Cultures In Vitro and Investigation of Their Physiological Relevance as Models of Inherent Chemoresistance |
Amanda Murray - Bioengineeringamurra9 |
Kharimat Lora Alatise - Bioengineeringkalatis Angela Alexander - Bioengineeringangelaa |
| 31 |
The Archaeology from the Era of Ft. Hill Plantation and the Revolutionary War Creative Inquiry focuses on the laboratory analysis of archaeologically recovered material culture from the 2021 and 2022 Ft. Rutledge Field Schools. The site of Ft. Rutledge consists of land that was formerly the Cherokee lower town of Esseneca that was destroyed by the South Carolina militia following the Battle of Esseneca in 1776. Four months later, the fort was erected on the remains of the town and operated for four years until it was decommissioned by the British in 1780. From 1780 on, the fort's location was lost until the Daughters of the American Revolution relocated it and erected a monument on the corner bastion using African American convict laborers from Clemson University in 1908. The project team were awarded an NPS American Battlefield Protection Program Planning Grant to begin investigating the site through archaeological and archival research. Artifacts found by students during the field schools are processed by the CI team, who clean the objects and sort them by material. These artifacts are then cataloged and identified, which creates a log detailing the quantity of objects, where they were found during excavation, and characteristics of the form and function of the object. Soil samples collected from the site are analyzed to gain understanding of the stratigraphy and soil composition of the area. The analysis completed by the CI team will assist in the overall interpretation of the Ft. Rutledge site that will continue to be excavated in the summer of 2023. |
31 |
Archaeological Analysis of Artifacts Recovered from the Revolutionary Era Site of Ft. Rutledge |
Rachel Rickborn - Anthropologyrrickbo Alleyia Bailey - Anthropologyalleyib Katie Dorn - Anthropologykdorn Luke Garden - Anthropologylgarden Isabella Kilper - Anthropologyikilper Tucker Norris - Anthropologytanorri Uchenna Ofoje - Anthropologyuofoje Shilo Robinson - Anthropologyshilor Kenneth Russo - Anthropologykverast Skyela Whetstone - Anthropologyswhetst |
David Markus - Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justicedmarkus |
| 32 |
Assembly
line employees at a BMW facility face ergonomic thumb injuries due to
repetitive insertion of spacers into car frame parts. The spacers are inserted
purely with force from the thumb, stressing the joint and leading to injury.
Alongside collaborators at BMW and consideration from assembly line workers,
ten different hand tools were formulated for aid in spacer insertion. Each hand
tool aims to redistribute the necessary force for insertion away from the thumb
joint. Hand tools were tested to observe pressure distributions on the tool
itself to comparatively assess anatomical pressure distributions. Each hand
tool was wrapped in a Tekscan 9801 sensor to maximize surface coverage while
minimize sensor crinkling during data collection. Ten study participants
performed three trials of spacer insertion with each tool. Peak and average
pressures collected during testing were evaluated to create pressure maps of
each hand tool and determine hand grip pressure. Thank you to BMW for supplying
materials and providing necessary funding for this research. |
32 |
Assessment of Hand Grip Pressures in Different Hand Tool Designs Used for Spacer Insertion |
Katie Bender - Bioengineeringkebende Devan Taylor - Bioengineeringdevant Kelly Holliday - General Engineeringkholli3 Hayden Cagle - General Engineeringhecagle |
John D DesJardins - Bioengineeringjdesjar |
| 33 |
Dopamine (DA) is a neuroprotective catecholamine and neurotransmitter that works to regulate cognitive functions such as movement, breathing, and heart rate, as well as emotional and memory regulation. Patients affected by Parkinson's Disease (PD) experience a loss of dopaminergic neurons, lower levels of DA, and downregulated DA production in the brain. This leads to cognitive and physical decline that is the hallmark of PD. Currently, no cure exists for this prevalent neurodegenerative disease. Danio rerio, or zebrafish, have become an increasingly popular disease model used in PD research and pharmaceutical development. This model still requires extensive development in order to fully recapitulate the many biochemical mechanisms associated with PD. Mature D. rerio will be treated with the neurotoxic prodrug MPTP through intraperitoneal injection to induce Parkinsonian bradykinesia caused by decreased DA levels. Behavioral analysis will confirm the disparity in swim distance between saline injected control organisms and the MPTP experimental group. Furthermore, cryosectioning and immunofluorescence assays are expected to confirm lower dopamine levels and decreased dopamine transporter expression in sacrificed D. rerio brain tissue. qPCR and western blot techniques are expected to confirm downregulation in Parkinsonian genetic markers, specifically dat and th1. These techniques will help to establish an animal model of Parkinson's Disease that recapitulates the many complex aspects of the disease. |
33 |
Towards Modeling and Treatment of Parkinson's Disease Using Adult Zebrafish |
Madison Frank - Biochemistrymefrank Nicole Henkel - Chemistrynhenkel Audrey Martone - Biochemistryaemarto Doris Migliaccio - Geneticsdmiglia Minhyun Shin - Bioengineeringminhyus |
Emme Bagwell - Bioengineeringemmelib Jessica Larsen - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringlarsenj |
| 34 |
Phagocytosis is an essential cellular process
involved with identifying and engulfing large particles. It is a defensive
mechanism host organisms use to contain and eliminate pathogens, such as Aspergillus fumigatus. The role of
different proteins involved in phagocytosis against Aspergillus is not fully understood. We are developing transgenic
lines of zebrafish that will tag these proteins with fluorescent markers. By
tagging these genes, we can use confocal microscopy to observe phagocytosis in
action using zebrafish as a model organism. We have identified sixteen gene
coding sequences for proteins involved with phagocytosis. First, we PCR
amplified several of these gene coding sequences from zebrafish cDNA. Then, we
cloned the sequences into a linearized vector. We used two variations of the
vector, one for C terminal tagging and another for N terminal tagging. These
vectors contained the gene coding sequence under a mfap4 promoter, which drives
expression in macrophages. The gene of interest was tagged with a TagRFP
protein during cloning, which acts as a visual marker for the gene. The vector
also contains cryaa:mcherry, which fluoresces red in the eyes of larval
zebrafish to mark successful integration of the transgene into the genome. After
confirmation of successful cloning, we injected these vectors into zebrafish
embryos. The embryos were grown into adults and bred with wild-type zebrafish.
We screened the progeny for red fluorescence in the eye to determine if the
vector was integrated into the genome. One embryo has displayed fluorescence,
indicating that one of the vectors has successfully been transmitted into the
germ line. We will continue to find founders of these transgenic lines and use
these fluorescent proteins to determine the role of these proteins in the
phagocytic response of Aspergillus
fumigatus.
|
34 |
Investigating Co-Localization of Phagocytic Proteins and Aspergillus fumigatus Spores in Larval Zebrafish |
Emma Taylor - Microbiologyekt3 Huston Betenbaugh - Microbiologyhbetenb |
Emily Rosowski - Biological Scienceserosows |
| 35 |
Very few studies have quantified plantar pressures in the presence of ulcerous tissue, which make it difficult or impossible to understand how offloading assists in pathological healing. Each of these issues result in the inability of clinicians to quantitatively understand how materials-based selection of offloading prescriptions can best affect clinical treatment. Current best practices have changed little in the last 50 years, with orthotics being produced by selecting 2-5 foams of different density, heating and vacuum-forming them to a positive mold of the patient's foot, followed by shaping into their final form through the use of band saws and drum sanders. If orthotic prescriptions for pressure offloading could allow clinicians to achieve quicker, more accurate and iterative pressure reduction, it would address many of the critical gaps in the current clinical cycle of care. We hypothesize that silicone casting of meta-materials for diabetic foot orthotics can allow clinicians to achieve quicker and more accurate pressure reduction. This would decrease inconsistencies in the final product by limiting technician interpretation during orthotic manufacturing, allow for prescriptions to be easily modified as the patient's ulcer heals, and decrease the amount of time it takes for orthotic manufacturing. We are currently working to fatigue and compression test the various silicone meta-materials to determine which material and geometry is best suited for use in this orthotics. We are also working to create simulated wound beds to help with further testing of the meta-materials prior to human testing after receiving approval from the IRB. |
35 |
Materials Exploration in Orthotics and Prosthetics Creative Inquiry Project: Studying Plantar Pressure Profiles During Wound Healing |
Grace Boone - Bioengineeringboone4 Rachel Twitty - Bioengineeringrctwitt |
Kyle Walker - Bioengineeringkjwalke John D DesJardins - Bioengineeringjdesjar |
| 37 |
Anaerostipes, a known major butyrate producer in the gut that is also a major consumer of lactate and acetate, have been demonstrated to be important commensal species that aid human health. Despite having immense therapeutic potential, their metabolic function as a contributing member in the gut microbiota have been significantly understudied. To investigate Anaerostipes metabolic capabilities, we isolated Anaerostipes from healthy human fecal samples and compared genome sequences of strains of A. hadrus (n = 7) and A. caccae (n = 4) to genomes (n = 116) available from previous research. Based on the maximum likelihood tree, A. hadrus exhibited more strain diversity compared to the other species. Investigation of carbohydrate utilization pathways of our cultivars and previously sequenced strains, including comparison against the carbohydrate-activating-enzyme (CAZyme) database, demonstrated decreased diversity of CAZymes in A. caccae.To further examine the metabolic capabilities of A. hadrus and A. caccae, we performed in vitro growth curves testing different types of carbohydrates. To identify carbohydrate preference, we used a basal medium with undefined mix of amino acids (Casamino acids) until we identified which carbohydrates were preferred. A. hadrus preferred glucose, lactose, fructose, and maltose over a panel of other carbohydrate sources. We are planning to identify the carbohydrate preferences for A. caccae as well as substitute the undefined minimal media with a defined minimal media required for growth that can help identify the exact metabolic requirements for Anaerostipes. Going forward, we will use these data to assess inter-species interactions in different nutrient environments, which can inform us about how community assembly influences gut microbiota diversity. |
37 |
Investigating the metabolic capability of the human gut microbiome commensal, Anaerostipes |
Lindsey Millman - Geneticslmillma Tylar Roof - Microbiologytroof |
Anna Seekatz - Biological Sciencesaseekat |
| 38 |
Pests are becoming increasingly difficult to combat in agriculture as species evolve ways to survive in control attempts. An alternative to use of toxic chemical insecticides that threaten non-target environmental health is to identify novel targets for control in insects by studying their physiology. The gene escargot (Esg), which encodes for a transcription factor that regulates stem cell state by affecting downstream gene activities, has been studied in the model insectDrosophila melanogaster, however little investigation of its role in other insects including pest lepidopterans (caterpillars) has been performed. Our intermediate term goal is to develop markers of lepidopteran intestinal stem cells (iSC).Our immediate goal is to develop Esg expression constructs for validation of an anti-Esg antibody we have generated. To this end, a partial Esg coding sequence is being cloned into bacterial (pMal) and insect cell (pIZT) expression plasmids. After generation, pMal/MBP-Esg and pIZT/Esg-V5-His plasmids will be transformed or transfected, respectively, intoE. coliand Sf9 insect cells, and protein lysates probed with anti-MPB, anti-V5, and anti-Esg antibodies. The validated anti-Esg antibody will then be used to examine Escargot protein titers, as well as cellular and tissue localizations, in lepidopteran intestines and elsewhere. This will permit usto infer stem cell dynamics during normal developmental patterns, and in response to chemical and biological control of larvae. These data will facilitate the development of hypotheses to further study and manipulate iSC, which in turn could be extremely beneficial for the future development of non-chemical insecticides and the continued study of lepidopteran physiology. |
38 |
Expression and Characterization of an Insect Intestinal Stem Cell Regulator |
Rachel Choe - Biochemistryrchoe Samuel Leiszler - Microbiologysleiszl |
Jabez Battu - Biological Sciencesjbattu Matthew Turnbull - Biological Sciencesturnbul |
| 41 |
This research examined the effectiveness of a new novel method to produce ice cream R&D test samples using a consumer sensory panel. We compared a novel R&D method that we developed using a retail Ninja Creami blender with the traditional method of using a lab scale Emory Thompson batch ice cream freezer. Our newly developed Ninja Creami method is more cost effective and efficient than the standard benchtop ice cream machine which is currently being used by the ice cream manufacturing industry. In 2021 companies spent over 2.3 trillion dollars on research and development. Additionally, over the past year, inflation increased by 6.5%, leaving many costs much higher. Food companies are looking to lower R&D cost while not impacting the quality of their prototypes and speed to market. A consumer sensory panel using "cookies and cream" ice cream was completed using a triangle test to determine if the panelists could tell a difference between the prototype samples produced using the newly developed Ninja Creami method to the traditional Emory Thompson batch ice cream freezer method. The sensory panel included 24 participants with 12 correctly identifying the odd sample. Although these results are not statistically significant (P<0.05) they did approach statistical significance. The appearance of the different samples could be a factor in the panelists being able to differentiate the samples. Based on results of our research the newly developed novel Ninja Creami method is a satisfactory method for lowering total R&D cost while speeding time to market. |
41 |
A Novel New Product Development Process for Improving the Production of Ice Cream Prototype Test Samples |
Lillian Bachtle - Food Science and Human Nutritionlbachtl Amandine Courbon - Managementacourbo Izzy Soto - Food Science and Human Nutritionisoto Catherine Valente - Food Science and Human Nutritionvalente Natalie Williford - Food Science and Human Nutritionnwillif |
John U. McGregor - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencesjohnny |
| 42 |
Food pantries handle food and serve it to hundreds of people throughout a community. If proper transport, handling, and storage of that food is not taken into consideration, foodborne illnesses are likely to spread. All year round, and more frequently during holiday seasons, food pantries are seeking food donations in order to support people in need. Since most food pantries products are donated, the safety of these products from a health perspective can be tricky. The quality of food donations coupled with the way food is handled in these facilities can pose major safety concerns To determine the potential for transfer of bacteria during handling of food at food pantries, apples, potatoes and oranges were inoculated with a non-pathogenic, fluorescently-labeled strain of Escherichia coli, then handled with gloved hands after which another non-inoculated apple, potato or orange was picked up. E. coli was then enumerated from each piece of food and gloves to determine the transfer rate from the inoculated piece of food to gloves and the non-inoculated food. The average transfer rate from the inoculated food to gloves was 31%, from glove to un-inoculated food was 86% and from the inoculated food to un-inoculated food was 25%. Whether it be from surfaces or hands, bacteria is everywhere and that bacteria can be pathogenic if consumed in foods. A way for food pantries to prevent cross-contamination is to wash their hands, clean surfaces and utensils, and separate raw meat from cooked foods. |
42 |
Cross Contamination During Simulated Food Pantry Handling |
Dylan Burton - Food Science and Human Nutritiondburto2 Ahmet Buyukyavuz - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencesabuyuky Reagan Dawsey - Food Science and Human Nutritionrmdawse Grace Day - Food Science and Human Nutritionglday Kylie Hendershot - Food Science and Human Nutritionkhende7 Charsley Johnson - Food Science and Human Nutritioncharslj Ruby Kania - Food Science and Human Nutritionrjkania Madeline Leahy - Food Science and Human Nutritionmpleahy Riley Manning - Food Science and Human Nutritionrgmanni |
Paul Dawson - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencespdawson |
| 44 |
Does food play a role in politics? When it comes to eating habits and preferences, there seems to be a connection to political affiliation and meat consumption. A recent study showed that democrats were more likely to take part in a vegan or vegetarian-based diet. Similarly, food also plays a role in marketing to consumers political leanings, thus affecting their perceptions concerning food. In another study, it was reported that when a certain food advertisement refers to patriotism and traditional values, health claims are less effective and result in higher perceptions of health risks for liberals. In continuation, references to social justice and sense of community increase the perception of health risks for conservatives. To determine if there is a link between political ideologies among college students an online survey was conducted that asked not only political affiliation and eating habits but also stance on controversial topics such as abortion laws, police funding and national border/immigration policies. Overall, 40, 35 and 21 % of the respondents identified as Republican, Democrat and Libertarian, respectively and 90% claimed to be omnivores (eating meat and plant-based foods). 90% of Democrats, 100% of Libertarians, and 94% of Republicans were omnivores, respectively. In response to a different political ideology question, 2%, 32%, 52%, 12.5%, and 1 % identified as Communist, Conservative, Moderate, Socialist or Ultra-conservative, respectively. From these political categories 57% of Communists, 95% of Conservatives, 89% of Moderates, 82% of Socialists and 100% of Ultra-conservatives were omnivores. The difference in eating habits between major political parties was minimal in the college student population surveyed while political persuasions on either end of the spectrum also had differences in eating habits. |
44 |
Political Ideology and Eating Habits |
Sydney Armstrong - Food Science and Human Nutritionslarmst Harrison Babb - Food Science and Human Nutritionahbabb Walker Beasley - Food Science and Human Nutritionwcbeasl Jenna Couture - Food Science and Human Nutritionjkcoutu Sydney Dorn - Food Science and Human Nutritiondorn5 Alexandria Dow - Food Science and Human Nutritionadow Jacob Graber - Food Science and Human Nutritionjgraber John Harness - Food Science and Human Nutritionjharnes Mallory Nichols - Food Science and Human Nutritionman2 Catey Smith - Food Science and Human Nutritioncathar2 Katie Sonefelt - Food Science and Human Nutritionksonefe Sarah Tietz - Food Science and Human Nutritionstietz |
Paul Dawson - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencespdawson |
| 45 |
The Watt AI Creative Inquiry project employs Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies in cross-disciplinary research at Clemson University. Small teams of students work with researchers to apply these methods to a wide variety of problems within the research groups. In parallel to this research, students learn about and discuss topics such as the varieties and capabilities of existing AI/ML technologies, the ethical implications of AI/ML in society, and common techniques in AI/ML. |
45 |
Watt AI Program - AI and Machine Learning Research Projects |
Sabrina Manji - Mechanical Engineeringssmanji Fernando Pereira - General Engineeringfernanp Arpeet Naik - Computer Sciencearpeetn Kwame Andre - Computer Sciencekwamea Alexandra Ainspan - Economicsaainspa Samantha Johnson - Computer Sciencesdj5 Nathan Brown - Computer Sciencenbrown9 Alexander Shelton - Computer Sciencealshelt Nitya Harikumar - Computer Engineeringnhariku Steven Plant - Computer Sciencesplant Jonathan Daniel - Computer Sciencejmdanie Danny Saad - Computer Sciencedsaad Tahj Anderson - Computer Sciencetahja Christian Ihekweazu - Computer Sciencecihekwe |
Carl Ehrett - Watt Family Innovation Centercehrett Kuang-Ching Wang - Electrical and Computer Engineeringkwang |
| 48 |
The Brain Tips team aims is to provide contemporary psychological research to students and the community as a whole to improve their daily lives. |
48 |
Brain Tips: Making Scientific Research Accessible to Everyone |
Ava Mancini - Food Science and Human Nutritionaemanci Emily Brandt - Psychologyerbrand Michaela Cuoco - Psychologymcuoco Morgan Gossett - Psychologymegosse Allison Gresham - Psychologyargresh |
June Pilcher - Psychologyjpilche |
| 49 |
Belonging is a significant human need. This is especially true for college students. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people experienced depression, anxiety, and primarily, loneliness. A sense of belonging is increasingly important in a world saturated with technology, social media, and comparison with others. After writing a literature review focused on various aspects of Greek life, the team decided to broaden our research to include all student organizations. The purpose of our study is to investigate which student groups or organizations contribute to a college student's sense of identity and feelings of belonging and exclusion at an R1 research university in the southeastern U.S. The research will explore how facets of identity are affected by membership, or lack of membership, to student groups. Methods will include a two-phase survey of students based on their feelings of identity, belonging, and exclusion on campus. This will also take into account specific student organizations and how they may create purpose in a college student's life. This research may yield significant findings regarding the benefits of student organizations, possible harm resulting from exclusive behaviors on campus, and the effects of group membership on young adults in a college setting. Student organizations and University Administrations, such as Student Affairs and University Housing, may utilize this information to increase funding to student organizations, improve services for students without group membership, or ameliorate exclusive practices. |
49 |
Belonging and Exclusion on College Campuses |
Abigail Anthis - Women's Leadershipaanthis Caroline Brindel - Biological Sciencescbrinde Hannah Collins - Health Sciencehccolli Olivia Henderson - Criminal Justiceomhende Olivia Linsman - Managementolinsma Sarah Meadows - Economicsskmeado Kaitlyn Metz - Political Sciencekemetz Kaitlyn Suddee - Anthropologyksuddee |
Briana Pocratsky - Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justicebpocrat |
| 50 |
Among breast cancers, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered the most aggressive. It has the highest rates of metastasis and recurrence, and patients with metastatic spread have a 5-year survival rate of only 12%. Disease monitoring is typically in the form of serological panels to identify two common antigens; however, these are only effective in late-stage cancers. Here, we look at H19, a long-noncoding RNA (lncRNA) involved in every step of tumorigenesis and metastasis, and its role in TNBC. Characterizing the presence of H19 within various cell lines assists in understanding the role of H19 within TNBC. We determined that there are transcript differences in H19 in TNBC cells when compared to MCF-7 (a human breast cancer line with estrogen, progesterone, and glucocorticoid receptors), MCF-12 (a non-tumorigenic human mammary epithelial cell line), and DPSC (dental pulp stem cells). First, we optimized the RNA extraction protocol to prevent DNA and protein contamination. Using RT-qPCR, we quantified the levels of H19 within the TNBC, MCF-7, MCF-12, and DPSC cells. We then used the Pfaffl method to calculate relative gene expression levels, using MCF-12 as our control and GAPDH as our housekeeping gene. This biomarker test has the potential to foster earlier diagnosis, easier disease monitoring, and improved patient outcomes. This project also has the potential for translational clinical studies in the future, as further knowledge of the interactions of H19 within TNBC patients could open the door for therapeutic options. |
50 |
Transcript Characterization of H19 in Different Cell Lines |
Mya Beasley - Microbiologymebeasl Sydney Jarecki - Biological Sciencessajarec Kennedy Madden - Bioengineeringklmadde Rohita Nerella - Biological Sciencesrohitan Mudra Patel - Biological Sciencesmudrap Christina Sims - Biological Sciencescsims4 |
Congyue Peng - Bioengineeringcongyup |
| 51 |
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly spread worldwide since its emergence in 2019. To better understand the genetic diversity of the virus, we aim to analyze the nucleotide diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in South Carolina using bioinformatics tools and techniques. By modifying pre existing pipelines and workflows in R and Python, we will generate a visual representation of the virus's genome that highlights potentially unstable regions where mutations occur more frequently. Using GISAID data, we will calculate nucleotide diversity and perform sequencing analysis to identify critical mutations associated with increased virulence and transmission. This analysis could provide valuable insights into the virus's evolution and spread, potentially contributing to the development of effective treatments and vaccines, as well as public health policy and response efforts. |
51 |
Bioinformatic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 |
Jordyn Brooks - Biochemistryjkbrook Abigail Thornton - Computer Sciencearthorn |
Congyue Peng - Bioengineeringcongyup |
| 52 |
Denying women a wanted abortion can have detrimental consequences for both the mother and the child. Since the overturn of Roe v Wade, it is up to the states to decide the legality of abortions. Exploring whether abortion bans have potential impacts on healthy sex behaviors is important to understand further the prevention of unwanted pregnancies. This study examined how young adults' sexual behaviors differ across scenarios where abortions are legal or illegal. Young adults (72% female) with ≥1 sexual experiences in the past 12 months completed a single laboratory session. Participants completed three tasks under two hypothetical situations in which abortion was either legal or illegal: Sexual Discounting Task (SDT), Condom Purchase Task (CPT), and Morning-After Pill Purchase Task (MAPPT). Area under the curve (AUC) for the SDT was greater in the illegal abortion situation vs the legal abortion situation (p<.001). Using the CPT task, three profiles (C) were identified: not buying condoms and having unprotected sex (C1), not buying condoms and not having sex (C2), and buying condoms and having protected sex (C3). The percentage of participants in C1 decreased from 36.0% in the legal situation to 10.7% in the illegal situation (p<.001). All MAPPT demand indices differed between scenarios (p<.001) Discussion. Demand for the morning-after pill was significantly greater in the illegal abortion situation. Respondents indicated willingness to have unprotected sex even when abortions were illegal. Our results imply that abortion bans may not encourage safe sex practices. Future studies should explore the relationship between task performance and other individual characteristics. Acknowledgements: Clemson Creative Inquiry program |
52 |
Exploring the Effect of Abortion Laws on Sexual Health Behaviors |
Erik Ortiz - Public Health Sciencesegortiz Caroline Allen - Biological Sciencescallen9 Roisin Cahill - Psychologyroisinc Catherine Chopade - Psychologycchopad Yuuki Garcia - Psychologyyuukig Haley Neal - Psychologyhgneal Sarah Voss - Psychologyshvoss Snehal Lopes - Public Health Sciencessnehall |
Snehal Lopes - Public Health Sciencessnehall Irene Pericot Valverde - Psychologyiperico |
| 60 |
Gig work is a growing sector of the nonstandard workforce (McKinsey Global Institute, 2019), and more research is needed to understand factors that contribute to these workers' well-being (Croponzano et al., 2022). This study investigates the roles of customer interactions and cognitive crafting (i.e., reframing the way one thinks about their work to recognize its benefits for themselves and others) in fueling meaning and positive outcomes for gig drivers (e.g., ride-hailing, food delivery). We conducted a mixed-methods study that included semi-structured interviews (N = 6) and a cross-sectional survey (N = 80). We identified interview themes reflecting customers as relational resources (positive interactions with customers, feeling appreciated), customers as relational challenges (verbal aggression, disproportionate and ambiguous customer expectations), and cognitive crafting (connecting with area, helping customers and broader community). In the cross-sectional survey, we found that cognitive crafting predicted engagement and well-being. Additionally, we found that cognitive crafting is a significant mediator of the positive customer interaction-engagement relationship while also predicting well-being through engagement. The results support that cognitive crafting helps gig drivers' protect the meaningfulness of their work, remain engaged in their roles, and experience positive well-being outcomes. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the relational aspect of gig work and cognitive crafting as a positive meaning-making mechanism for gig drivers. |
60 |
Meaningfulness and Well-Being for Gig Drivers: The Role of Customers and Cognitive Crafting |
Claire Bardell - Marketingcbardel Danielle Haley - Psychologydfhaley Jack Patterson - Health Sciencejdp7 Kendalle Quast - Health Sciencekquast Mia Ricottilli - Psychologymgricot Caroline Strinsky - Psychologycstrins Shreya Tellur - Psychologystellur |
Robert Sinclair - Psychologyrsincla Gwendolyn Watson - Psychologygwendow |
| 62 |
Researchers have studied the use of the mixed reality simulator (MRS) to teach preservice teachers (PSTs) to improve IEP meeting communications, use high-leverage teaching practices, collect data, and use classroom management strategies (Driver et al., 2018; Krach & Hanline, 2018; Vince Garland et al., 2016; Walters et al., 2021). However, more research must explore using MRS as a tool to teach culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices PSTs. This study examines the effectiveness of using the MRS to teach CRT strategies and explores PSTs' perceptions of culturally responsive self-efficacy and the effectiveness of the MRS to teach CRT. Through a mixed-method study, we will address the following research questions: (1) Is MRS an effective modality to prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) to use CRT strategies during writing instruction? (2) How does the use of MRS affect PSTs' perceptions of implementing CRT strategies during writing instruction? During the study, participants will: take pre and post-surveys that address culturally responsive self-efficacy; complete social validity questionnaires regarding the research project; view learning materials and take a quiz regarding CRT strategies; and rate (using a rubric) their post videos.The research team will also: 1) view and score (using a rubric) each participant's pre and post-videos; 2) compare pre and post-video scores and culturally responsive self-efficacy surveys using a paired t-test; and 3) complete a qualitative analysis of the social validity surveys. |
62 |
Using Mixed Reality Simulation to Teach Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies |
Olivia Durham - Special Educationodurham Andrea Chavez - Elementary Educationacchave Kasey Griggs - Elementary Educationklgrigg Abigail Morton - Elementary Educationaemorto |
Mya Kelley - Education and Human Developmentmya6 Logan Qualls - Education and Human Developmentlwrigh7 |
| 63 |
"What's in Our Waters?" (WOW) is an educational outreach program connecting Clemson University undergraduate and graduate students with Daniel High School AP environmental science students. The purpose of WOW is to educate high school students about human impacts on local water systems, demonstrate techniques for water quality sampling, and disseminate results of student-led water quality studies. In this Creative Inquiry, undergraduate students act as mentors to high school students in the WOW program.Throughout the WOW program, undergraduate students visit Daniel High school to give presentations explaining WOW, facilitate group discussions and project planning while conducting educational games with high school students. After initial classroom visits, undergraduate and graduate students at Clemson direct high school students on performing field research on small creeks in the Clemson experimental forest. Field tests on water systems include bacterial, macroinvertebrates, and chemical testing. Chemical testing is also done to look at elements such as Alkalinity, Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrogen, pH, Phosphorous, and Temperature. During these interactions, high school students learn about their impacts on the environment and discover the purpose of conducting analytical water testing. Through connecting undergraduate research students to High School AP environmental science students, high school students are able to perform and study water quality research. High School students are also able to directly apply classroom material in a real setting through field visits to a water system in their school's in their backyard. The WOW program sets the stage for broader impacts throughout upstate South Carolina in developing an educational model which directly connects higher education with local k-12 schools. |
63 |
What’s in Our Waters? We Offer ansWers! |
Nicholas Magnin - Biological Sciencesnmagnin Maddie Montalvo - Biological Sciencesmaddenm Alicia Sims - Biological Sciencesadsims |
Randi Sims - Biological Sciencesrsims |
| 64 |
Immunodeficiency, Centromeric region instability, Facial anomalies syndrome (ICF) is a rare, autosomal disease that causes severe infections, failure to thrive, and facial dysmorphism. The severe immunodeficiency occurs due to reduced immunoglobulin G, M, and A levels with standard B cell counts and an additional likely dysfunction in T cells. Most ICF patients exhibit characteristic rearrangements near the centromeres of chromosomes 1 and 16 and occasionally chromosome 9. All four identified subtypes of ICF have been associated with mutations in the Helicase Lymphoid Specific (HELLS) and Cell Division Cycle Associated 7 (CDCA7) proteins. HELLS and CDCA7 both play an essential role in DNA methylation. Previous studies have shown that CDCA7 forms a complex with the HELLS protein to remodel chromatin. Mutations in either protein are thought to cause a reduction in satellite DNA methylation, which can lead to the onset of ICF. There are two distinct mechanisms by which CDCA7 regulates HELLS. CDCA7 is required in the recruitment of HELLS to report to chromatin. Additionally, CDCA7 stimulates the DNA-dependent ATPase activity and the nucleosome remodeling properties of HELLS independently of its ability to recruit HELLS to chromatin. Overall, there is a poor understanding of the molecular basis of the disease and the genes that are associated with its manifestation. This investigation focuses on optimizing the expression of CDCA7 so that patient mutations can be created and ultimately biochemically characterized. |
64 |
Investigation into the role of CDCA7 in ICF |
Elizabeth Caldwell - Geneticsebcaldw Garrett Buzzard - Genetics and Biochemistrygbuzzar |
Michael Sehorn - Genetics and Biochemistrymsehorn |
| 65 |
Digital deceptions range from phishing emails, to scam phone calls, to fake news articles. Past research has demonstrated that many users struggle to identify these deceptions, and that certain individuals may be particularly vulnerable to falling for them. However, little research has compared how the same users may be susceptible to multiple forms of digital deception. As such, the present study examined how the same users may fall for phishing emails, scam phone calls, and fake news headlines. Additionally, we investigated the role of individual differences such as age, cognitive reflectiveness, gullibility, and digital literacy in predicting susceptibility to digital deception broadly. All 295 participants classified 30 emails, 30 news headlines, and 30 voicemails as either legitimate or not legitimate. Stimuli were real world examples of legitimate (50%) and deceptive (50%) messages taken from researchers' inboxes and online repositories. Results suggest that the same users who fall for one form of digital deception are likely to be vulnerable to the other two forms of deception. This vulnerability is demonstrated in both an inability to discriminate between real and legitimate stimuli, as well as a riskier tendency to classify for more stimuli as legitimate. Additionally, individuals who were less cognitively reflective and less digitally literate were likely to be worse at detecting deception across the tasks. Our findings suggest that organizations can identify vulnerable users by examining their susceptibility in one type of digital deception task or by measuring users' levels of cognitive reflectiveness and digital literacy. This work was supported by Clemson University's Creative Inquiry Program. |
65 |
Detecting Digital Deception: Falling for Phishing, Fake News, and Scam Phone Calls |
Sydney Chadwick - Psychologyspchadw Jag Doran - Psychologyjagd Kyra Fay - Psychologykyraf Kelsey Harris - Psychologykmh3 Victoria Hill - Psychologyvehill Jenna Mackiewicz - Psychologyjmmacki Tyler Mulea - Psychologytmulea Katie Sabo - Psychologysabo2 |
Dawn Sarno - Psychologydmsarno Jeffrey Black - Psychologyjtblack |
| 67 |
The present study investigates the rates of HIV and HIV testing in relation to sexual orientation in the United States. Globally, 38.4 million individuals are living with HIV, 1.5 million individuals will acquire HIV this year, and 650,000 of those individuals die of HIV complications annually (WHO, 2022). The CDC (2019) has identified factors that may increase the risk of HIV transmission such as blood transfusions, needle sharing, and sexual intercourse. Along with risky behaviors, sexual orientation and race/ethnicity has been shown to have a great impact on who contracts this virus. The most commonly known population to date that contracts this virus are those who identify in the LGBTQ+ community and those who identified as racial/ethnic minorities. For example, "young black gay males have one of the highest HIV incidence rates of approximately 12.1%" (Camacho-Gonzalez et al., 2016). Even though HIV has higher rates among certain populations, anyone is still at risk of getting it due to external factors. The main ways to prevent HIV from spreading (CDC, 2021) are condom use, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), STD testing, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and abstinence. While these methods can be effective, there is a push for a more effective approach known as the structural approach (Gupta et al., 2008), which focuses on ways to make change through policies or programs that aim to transform the conditions in which people live. To make this approach more effective, we need a more comprehensive look at which populations are most susceptible to contracting HIV so public policies can be tailored to achieve a lower rate of HIV transmission. The research helps analyze which communities, based on sexual orientation, are most affected by HIV and who is most likely to get tested for HIV to aid in the vision of helping those who are infected to be able to live a healthy life. |
67 |
HIV Prevalence in Relation to Sexual Orientation |
Cami Mariano - Psychologycsmaria |
Suzanna Tremblay - Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justicesetremb |
| 68 |
In this Creative Inquiry project, we use motion capture software to assess and improve the skills of sports participants. By using the Qualysis optical motion capture system, we are able to place individual sensors on the skin to record a sports participant's body movements and translate those into computer animation. This semester, we are working closely with the Clemson rowing team to use this software, analyzing the biomechanics of rowing form, both in training and competitive environments, so that we may inform the coaches/athletes and aid in their pursuit of maximizing performance. Implications from this work will allow for the development of novel methods and/or devices that will further benefit this performance. |
68 |
HORSE PLAY: Using Motion Capture Technologies To Evaluate Needs in Sports and Rehabilitation Performance |
Ansley Allison - Animal and Veterinary Scienceapallis Sydney Desimone - Bioengineeringsdesimo Nicole Miller - General Engineeringnicole4 Carla Tartaro - Bioengineeringctartar |
John D DesJardins - Bioengineeringjdesjar |
| 69 |
The Sales Innovation Program (SIP) was founded in 2019 as a flagship program within the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business through an Academic Cornerstone donation by Dan and Nancy Garrison. The program focuses on being a nationally renowned resource for sales research, sales education and valuable academic partnerships. Recruitment for the program is at the beginning of each semester and is open to all majors and all academic levels. The Sales Innovation Program External Competition Team was founded through the program at the end of 2021.National sales competitions are sponsored by companies (e.g., 3M, Hormel) where students compete in roleplays. Roleplays are fictitious sales situations where the student acts as a seller and a corporate partner from the sponsor company acts as a buyer. These are based on case studies and buyer profiles created by the partnering company.Students spend many hours in advance practicing with peers to succeed and win awards. At these competitions, students get to show off their sales skills to many sponsoring companies that are looking to hire talented students. They also get to build a peer network of sales superstars and visit different cities across the US. |
69 |
Sales Innovation Program External Competition Team |
Josiah Franz - Marketingjosiahf Abigail Grossman - Marketingalgross Ellie Jansen - Health Scienceegjanse Alyssa Kapinos - Marketingakapino Sara Laguardia - Marketingslaguar Charles Mauney - Marketingcrmaune Sydney Repole - Marketingsrepole |
Lisa Beeler - Department of Marketinglbeeler |
| 71 |
The Clemson ASCE Steel Bridge Team is formed specifically to compete in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)Student Steel Bridge Competition. This competition aims to extend civil engineering students' classroom knowledge to a practical, hands-on steel design and construction project, and encourage innovation. Students are challenged to an intercollegiate competition that supplements their education with a comprehensive, student-driven project experience from conception and design through fabrication, erection, and testing. For the 2023 competition, participants must present a bridge design, including an actual 1:10 scale model, to replace the historical four hundred and sixty feet long and twenty-two feet wide Sweetwater River Bridge at the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge in California. During the competition, the scaled model will be erected under simulated field conditions and tested for stability, strength, and serviceability using standardized lateral and vertical loads. Structural cost, construction cost and duration, and aesthetics are also considered. |
71 |
ASCE Steel Bridge Team |
Ben Fields - General Engineeringbsfield Rachel Mcrae - Civil Engineeringrtmcrae McKenzie Rogers - Civil Engineeringmdroger Luke Adams - Civil Engineeringlda2 Reece Bonnett - Civil Engineeringrbonnet Rebecca Carlson - Civil Engineeringrmcarls Leah Chappell - Civil Engineeringlcchapp Gracie Floyd - Civil Engineeringgracief Grant Hanchar - Civil Engineeringghancha Genevieve Harris - Civil Engineeringgdharri Josiah McClintic - Civil Engineeringjdmccli Abigail Reno - Civil Engineeringatreno Ryan Semler - Civil Engineeringrsemler Jackson Stanton - Civil Engineeringjsstant Makeba Thambo - General Engineeringmthambo |
Weichiang Pang - Civil Engineeringwpang |
| 72 |
This Creative Inquiryproject works closely with clinicians to solve pressing issues in healthcare, through the development of novel biomedical devices. Clinicians give insight and guidance to the projects and teams meet with them often. One ongoing project includes creating a venting system for a start up baby bottle design company. Another project that just started up this semester includes redesigning a Narcan nasal spray to make it more convenient and discrete for use. |
72 |
Designing with Docs: Students Collaborating with Clinicians to Solve Healthcare Needs |
Grace Haller - Bioengineeringghaller Jillian Magnell - Bioengineeringjmagnel Tara Rumsey - Bioengineeringtrumsey Kyra Sanders - Bioengineeringkyra Ryn West - Bioengineeringauryndw |
John D DesJardins - Bioengineeringjdesjar Jordon Gilmore - Bioengineeringjagilmo |
| 76 |
Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic, progressive disease that affects approximately 37.3M Americans; however, only 28.7M have a confirmed diagnosis. Approximately, 90-95% of cases are due to type 2 diabetes. South Carolina has the 6th highest percentage of diagnosed diabetes in adults in the US, and diabetes is the 8th leading cause of death in SC and the 7th leading cause nationwide. Complications of diabetes include cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, blindness, and amputations, among others. Increasing awareness of diabetes in public forums helps increase community understanding of the prevalence of diabetes, it's complications and best prevention and treatment methods. November is Diabetes Awareness Month and is a time when the global community raises awareness of diabetes. Our CI took the opportunity to increase diabetes awareness at the 10th Festival of Trees at the Duke Power World of Energy in Seneca, SC. Our tree was decorated with colorful tape measures, along with a variety of ornaments that were related to type 2 diabetes, obesity, portion sizes, and physical activity, along with incorporating a blue ribbon Diabetes Awareness logo as the tree topper and other smaller ribbons throughout the tree. We kept the blue theme throughout the tree and included the mission of our chosen nonprofit, The American Diabetes Association, prominently displayed. More than 2000 people are estimated to have attended the Festival of Trees to view the 25 decorated trees. Many took the free tape measures available at our tree. The Festival of Trees provided a unique opportunity for our CI to educate the public on the prevention and treatment of diabetes this year, and was a worthwhile addition to our other CI diabetes educational pursuits. |
76 |
Promotion of Diabetes Awareness at the 2022 Festival of Trees |
Gianna Columbia - Food Science and Human Nutritiongcolumb Morgan Fleegle - Food Science and Human Nutritionmfleegl Erin Irons - Food Science and Human Nutritioneirons Arleigh Johnson - Food Science and Human Nutritionarleigj Dominique McCoy - Food Science and Human Nutritiondgmccoy Aleksander Michailovs - Food Science and Human Nutritionamichai Alexandra Morrey - Food Science and Human Nutritionamorrey Andrew Stickler - Food Science and Human Nutritionabstick Julia Streko - Food Science and Human Nutritionjstreko Emma Tester - Food Science and Human Nutritionemteste |
Vivian J Haley-Zitlin - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencesvivianh |
| 77 |
Obesity is a highly prevalent disease that affects roughly 41.9% people in the United States. Characterized by a body mass index (BMI) of ≥30kg/m2, higher waist circumferences and increased adiposity, obesity is a risk factor that increases the probability of additional health complications such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Through systematic research of exercise, diet, and goal setting methods our CI efforts include developing a program to educate the public on methods to combat overweight and obesity. Based upon behavior modification techniques specifically designed for our study population, which includes setting SMART goals, record keeping and tracking methods to enhance participant compliance, evidence-based dietary interventions, and thematic educational tools, participant progress toward their weight loss goals are monitored. |
77 |
Addressing Overweight and Obesity Through Lifestyle Modification |
Devon Bahr - Food Science and Human Nutritiondgbahr Sarah Wallace Deschamps - Food Science and Human Nutritionsdescha Lauren Grooms - Food Science and Human Nutritionlegroom Kylie Hendershot - Food Science and Human Nutritionkhende7 William Lankford - Food Science and Human Nutritionwdlankf Gracie Mcdaniel - Agribusinesskgmcdan Angela Morkos - Food Science and Human Nutritionamorkos Allie Pfaffenroth - Food Science and Human Nutritionapfaffe Amelia Rinehart - Food Science and Human Nutritionacrineh Natalie Roberts - Food Science and Human Nutritionnprober |
Vivian J Haley-Zitlin - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencesvivianh |
| 80 |
Mindfulness interventions, commonly used in operational settings, focus on breathing and include mindful practices. This study focused on the effect of breathing with a prolonged outbreath on state measures of emotion, affect, and stress. Two hundred and three college students (151 females, Mage=18.51, SDage=1.00) were assigned to either an experimental (N=100) or control (N=103) group upon arrival. The experimental group completed an 11-minute breathing task, consisting of two breathing sessions of five minutes divided by a one-minute break. Breathing was guided on the computer screen as a symbol expanded to indicate breathing in for four seconds and condensed to indicate breathing out for six seconds, with a one second pause in between. The control group completed an 11-minute task where they were told to allow their mind to wander for two minutes then write about the contents of their thoughts for 45 seconds. Before and after each intervention the participants completed state surveys measuring emotion, affect, and stress. Separate mixed ANOVAs were performed with Condition (Experimental vs. Control) and Time (Baseline vs. Post-Intervention). Condition X Time interaction results showed that the experimental group had increased feelings of relaxation (p=.03), and decreased stress levels (p=.02), pressure (p=.04), nervousness (p=.03), frustration (p=.04), and non-related thoughts (p=.03) from baseline. There was no significant change in these items in the control group (ps>.10). Neither group showed significant changes in alertness or tiredness (ps>.10). Our results suggest that a brief breathing intervention promotes increased relaxation and a more positive emotional state. Similar interventions could be useful in a stressful workplace or school setting. |
80 |
Assessing the Effects of a Short, Mindful Breathing Intervention on Emotion and Stress in College Students |
Skylar Weiskittel - Psychologysweiski Emma Clark - Psychologyeclark9 Maggie Pontiakos - Psychologympontia Abi Wilkinson - Psychologyaawilki Louis Liu - Psychologyyizhou Kaileigh Byrne - Psychologykaileib |
June Pilcher - Psychologyjpilche |
| 81 |
Large loans from international banks shape urban space and the lives of people displaced for private development for middle-class and elite customers. Yet there is little evidence linking economic policies to social inequality on the ground. The work investigates whether international design standards are suitable outside of the Western contexts where they originated. The project began at the scale of international economic policy as it shapes design. Then, it drilled down to the impact of these policies at the neighborhood scale of seven dispossessed communities in the Philippines and India. Seven marginalized communities impacted by privatization in the form of land dispossession were evaluated to understand how adolescents experienced public space (n=73). An inductive approach was used pairing adolescents’ perspectives with designers’ intentions working back-and-forth between mapping, street level modeling and spatial surveys, along with human centered methods that included oral histories to gain a historical perspective, public space observations, and interviews with designers, developers, and parents. With the adolescents, focus groups, followed by three-part iterative interviews that included photovoice and mapping were conducted. Preliminary results demonstrate the distinction between satellite images, international planning guidelines, and the realities of adolescents’ and low-income families' lives. The findings build a case for contextualized, community-driven design by showing that Western-template guidelines do not fit all, and assuming that they do harms poor communities, including adolescents at this formative stage of their lives. Further, transnational and cross-cultural conclusions reveal gender influences on adolescents' spatialities as girls domains were 30% of boys domains across all case studies.
|
81 |
No Place to Play? Gender Influences on Adolescents' Spatialities |
Abby Buskirk - Architectureabuskir Jackson Copeland - Architecturejcopel3 Jalyn Haynes - Architecturejalynh Jordan Kenney - Architecturejrkenne Tyler Mulea - Psychologytmulea Tucker Norris - Anthropologytanorri Jordan O'Connor - Architecturejaoconn Melissa Ricaurte Munoz - Architecturemricaur Nathaniel Denton - School Of Architecturendenton Kaitlyn Warmack - School Of Architecturekwarmac |
Lyndsey Deaton - School of Architectureldeaton Khin Htet - School of Architecturekhtet Alexander Rosno - School of Architecturearosno |
| 82 |
Environmental nucleic acids, or DNA or RNA released by organisms into their environment, are increasingly used as a tool to push the boundaries of how we detect, monitor, and conserve biodiversity. Metagenomics approaches allow noninvasive biomonitoring of taxa to infer species-level presence for water quality, public health, or agricultural applications.Aquatic habitats directly connected to areas of agricultural land use have been shown to be disproportionately affected by anthropogenic impacts, yet the extent of terrestrial-associated eDNA persistence in nearby water systems remains largely unexplored. In this CI project, we conducted high-throughput amplicon sequencing of eDNA collected from lakes, soil and sediment, and surfaces from terrestrial sewage stations to test hypotheses surrounding multi-species presence and connectivity in local ecosystems. We used an Illumina® Mi-Seq platform (2 A-- 250 bp paired end reads) with DNA metabarcoding markers targeting bacteria 16S and vertebrate COI (e.g., domestic cow and chicken) as a proxy for impact of human activities including industrial wastewater treatment from an adjacent sewage pumping station and agricultural land use on local water systems. Our results reveal invasive and clinically relevant species detections as well as terrestrial-derived source eDNA in local lakes and rivers, suggesting eDNA dispersal and connectivity between human-mediated and aquatic systems. It is anticipated that findings from this project will contribute to our understanding of how eDNA persists in the environment and how it can be used to assess water quality, agriculture, and public health impacts in upstate South Carolina. |
82 |
Environmental Metabarcoding Reveals Agro-Aquatic Connectivity in Local Ecosystems |
Jude Blake - Geneticsjudeb Ashley Larkins - Geneticsaalarki Katie Palmer - Geneticskbpalme Lauryn Qualls - Geneticslqualls |
Kimberly Kanapeckas Metris - Genetics and Biochemistrykmetris |
| 83 |
Many organisms experience temperatures that are not ideal for physiological function and thus employ mechanisms to thermoregulate. Flowers can thermoregulate by capturing solar radiation, reflecting light, undergoing thermogenesis, or via evaporative cooling, allowing plants to achieve and maintain temperatures suitable for survival, reproduction, and pollinator attraction.Hexastylis arifoliaflowers from late January to early April and produces tubular flowers close to the ground surface, often concealed by leaf litter. We have shown that flowers ofH. arifoliahave the ability to both cool below ambient temperatures and maintain temperatures that are modestly above ambient temperatures when air temperatures rise above or below ~12°C. Additionally, flowers on separate plants exhibit variation in the degree of thermoregulation. We are usingH. arifoliafrom wild populations in the Clemson Experimental Forest and in the South Carolina Botanical Gardens to ask 1) Is floral size associated with the variation in thermoregulation observed; and 2) What is the thermal optimum for pollen germination inH. arifolia? We evaluated the potential for temperature regulation by measuring internal flower temperatures and ambient temperatures immediately adjacent to flowers. These results indicated that larger flowers can cool further below ambient temperature than smaller flowers.H. arifoliafrom wild populations will be transplanted into our growth chamber, and we are using pollen from these wild-collected individuals to generate a thermal performance curve for pollen germination. By combining data on the thermal performance metrics of pollen and the field-collected data on thermoregulation, we will address the evolutionary relationship between observed floral thermoregulation and optimized pollen performance inH. arifolia. |
83 |
Do the Elusive Flowers of Hexastylis arifolia Thermoregulate to Increase Reproductive Success? |
Taylor Sherer - Biological Sciencestnshere |
Jacob Heiling - Biological Sciencesjheilin Matthew H Koski - Biological Sciencesmkoski |
| 86 |
The Conation and Creativity in Engineering (CCE)Creative Inquiry project focuses on the identification and celebration of individuals' innate ways of problem solving (conation) and their process of engaging in creativity in engineering. In this presentation, students will share theCommunity Escape Room Collaboration (CERC) project, an inclusive, multi-disciplinary escape room project. Please join us for an active demonstration of conation and creativity by participating in our mini escape room. The student project team has created and built a modified version of the full escape room, and is excited to share this project with the Clemson community. |
86 |
Collaborative Escape Room: Live Demo! |
Megan Calahan - General Engineeringmcalaha Katherine Jackson - Biochemistryklj3 Disney Medeiros - Mechanical Engineeringdmedeir Katy Schaaf - Architecturekgschaa Karlee Kesler - Electrical Engineeringkarleek Sarah Sanders - Industrial Engineeringsksande Maria Christenbury - Mechanical Engineeringmec7 Becca Pledger - Industrial Engineeringrpledge |
Susan Reeves - Watt Family Innovation Centersusan Claire Dancz - Watt Family Innovation Centercdancz |
| 87 |
The IEEE robotics team will present research and development related to a search and rescue robot to clean up a Duck Garden. Imagine a hurricane that has devastated a region, leaving behind stranded ducks. Our team has developed an autonomous robot from grounds-up that can track and guide ducks to safety by employing computer vision, autonomous navigation, and novel sensors like LIDAR. |
87 |
Autonomous Robot for Search and Rescue |
Joshua Deji - Electrical Engineeringjdeji Andrew Kormylo - Mechanical Engineeringakormyl Connor Belli - Computer Engineeringcbelli Glennjay Elayda - Mechanical Engineeringgelayda Baylor Norris - Mechanical Engineeringbaylorn Foster Baldwin - Electrical Engineeringfosterb Michael Marinaccio - Computer Engineeringmmarina |
III,William J Reid - Electrical and Computer Engineeringbreid Hassan Raza - Electrical and Computer Engineeringhraza |
| 89 |
The purpose of this research survey is to gain knowledge in how college students interpret and prioritize nutrition claims on food labels. Qualtrics was used to develop a research survey to distribute to students on campus. Survey distribution was completed by emailing a link, or a posted QR code. Data collection is currently in progress with results and conclusion pending. |
89 |
Interpretation of Nutrition Labels and Claims Among College Students |
Anna Barnett - Food Science and Human Nutritionadb9 Sophie Caplin - Food Science and Human Nutritionscaplin Janet Lopez-Sanchez - Food Science and Human Nutritionlopezsa Emily E. Reichard - Food Science and Human Nutritioneereich Leah Slater - Food Science and Human Nutritionlbslate Mackenzie Sugden - Food Science and Human Nutritionmsugden Maggie Vaughan - Food Science and Human Nutritionmaggiev |
Sara Cothran - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencessstanci |
| 92 |
In vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes (the female egg) is a vital component to the success of in vitro embryonic development. In vitro culture of embryos yields lower developmental rates than in vivo-derived oocytes and embryos. The composition of the culture media used for in vitro embryo production differentially affects cleavage and blastocyst rates, and therefore, it is important to know the ingredients of the media if they are to be modified for research purposes. However, the composition of commercial culture media is sometimes proprietary and undisclosed. This study aims to compare embryonic developmental rates between two brands of commercial bovine culture media, IVF-Bioscience (undisclosed composition and currently in use at the CU-IVF laboratory) and Stroebech Media (composition available for research purposes). A second aim for the project is the training of new students in the bovine in vitro embryo production system (also known as in vitro fertilization - IVF). A standardized IVF protocol was used. Bovine ovaries were acquired at a local slaughterhouse, and cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected by aspiration. Selected COCs were randomly allocated into each of the two commercial media (IVF-Bioscience and Strobech Media). After 22 hours of maturation, the COCs were fertilized and incubated for 18 hours. Presumptive zygotes (uncleaved embryos) were vortexed to remove sperm and excess cumulus, and cultured to the blastocyst stage. The cleavage rate was recorded at 72 hours post-fertilization, and blastocyst rate was recorded at 168 and 192 hours post-fertilization. Results are not available at the time of abstract submission. This work will determine the media to be used in future projects at the CU-IVF laboratory. More importantly, the students would have acquired critical skills to progress into more complex IVF research projects. |
92 |
Comparison of Two Commercial Bovine IVF Media |
Katie Kirkman - Animal and Veterinary Sciencekkirkma Annie Mandel - Animal and Veterinary Scienceawmande Logan Thomason - Animal and Veterinary Sciencelat6 Christian Wilhelm - Animal and Veterinary Sciencecmwilhe |
Kendall Richey - Animal and Veterinary Sciencekdriche Celina Checura - Bioengineeringcchecur |
| 94 |
A central nervous system (CNS) neoplasm is an abnormal growth of cells or tissues in the brain or spinal cord. CNS neoplasms are the leading cause of cancer-related death in adolescents ages 0-14 years old. Surgery is the primary treatment strategy for CNS neoplasms, however current literature suggests a surgical morbidity rate between 10-54%, resulting in a variety of complications. Risks of invasive therapies and limitations due to the blood brain barrier require investigation of alternative treatments. Tumor-treating fields (TTFields) are an available option for pediatric therapy to improve survival rates and decrease recurrence. TTFields target dipoles in mitotic cells, especially rapidly-dividing cancer cells using low intensity, alternating electric fields with the frequency attuned to the specific cancer being treated. Clinical use of TTFields on glioblastomas, a type of CNS neoplasm, demonstrates a sensitizationof the glioma cell lines to radiation, increasing the efficacy of treatment. Thanks to the support of REDDI Lab and Prisma Health, this study reviews available literature to demonstrate the possible efficacy of TTFields as a treatment for pediatric CNS neoplasms. Further research needs to be done to study these effects in experimental trials. |
94 |
Review on Tumor Treating Fields with Central Nervous System Tumors in Pediatric Cancer Cases |
Molly Oroho - Health Sciencemoroho |
Austin Smothers - Bioengineeringarsmoth |
| 97 |
Robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) systems are an increasingly popular technology that can lead to faster patient recoveries and reductions in surgical side effects. With the rapid adoption of RAS among surgical specialties, there are now a variety of novel challenges facing surgical teams such as learning how to integrate robotic systems into surgical procedures. To identify and further understand these challenges, a scoping review was performed over the five medical and engineering databases to gather information on the current impacts of human-robot interactions on surgeon and surgical team performance. Inclusion criteria were articles that included surgical team and device metrics; psychomotor skills impacting surgical performance; set in an operating room during live or simulated surgery. Articles focusing on patient and device interaction were excluded. PRISMA guidelines were followed to screen 85,696 articles, and 43 studies fit the inclusion criterion. Notable conclusions from the studies were: the effectiveness of tactile feedback in reducing grip strength and suture tension, the ability of visual perception to reduce the need of haptic feedback, the impact of experience on improving haptic perception and posture stress and the negative role RAS can have on communication strategy. Current research is broad in its investigation of interactions among surgical robots and surgical teams and there is need for evidence-based studies on how to optimize posture to prevent surgeon discomfort and pain. Next steps for this work include gathering stakeholder perspectives via interviews and focus groups. We hope to gain an understanding of how the integration of RAS impacts surgeon and surgical performance for the future development and education of RAS work systems that will focus on training, surgical workflows, and the physical environment. |
97 |
Future of Robotic Surgery – Identifying the Changing Paradigm of Surgical Human-Robotic Interactions |
Patrick Fuller - Industrial Engineeringpafulle Holden Duffie - Industrial Engineeringhcduffi Sara Kennedy - Planning, Design and the Built Environmentskenne4 Matthew Ball - Industrial Engineeringmjball |
Jackie Cha - Industrial Engineeringjackie |
| 100 |
Bacteroides is a gram negative, anaerobic genus of bacteria that plays a distinct role in the human gastrointestinal tract. Recent research has demonstrated the potential role of Bacteroides in chronic diseases, particularly colon cancer and type 1 diabetes. Bacteroides fragilis and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron were the species selected for our research. B. fragilis is a common anaerobic bacterium known to occasionally act as an opportunistic pathogen in a clinical setting. B. thetaiotaomicron is a nonpathogenic human gut symbiont that is important for maintaining host health and has a well characterized starch utilization pathway. Previous work in our lab has demonstrated that the starch utilization system (SUS) of Bacteroides represents a well-conserved target pathway for potential manipulation of this genus within the human microbiota. Specifically, we have shown that when exposed to acarbose, a therapeutic that inhibits the α-amylase enzyme, Bacteroides growth is inhibited. The specific inhibition of starch degradation by Bacteroides species could delay or prevent the onset of certain chronic diseases. More recently, we have investigated how bile concentration impacts biofilm formation of B. thetaiotaomicron and B fragilis. B. fragilis exhibited the most robust biofilms in 1% bile. Overall, our aim is to investigate biofilm formation of Bacteroides spp. and how disruption of the SUS through the utilization of therapeutic compounds, such as acarbose, could potentially mitigate chronic diseases involving the gastrointestinal tract. |
100 |
Manipulation of Interactions between Bacteroides spp. and Their Human Hosts |
Joshua Brueckner - Microbiologyjbrueck Slade Collins - Microbiologyjsc7 Avery Conzelmann - Microbiologyaconzel Jonathan Tan - Biochemistryjwtan Kathryn Pierce - Biochemistrykpierc2 Olivia Ambre - Microbiologyoambre |
Kristi Whitehead - Biological Scienceskwhiteh Daniel Whitehead - Chemistrydwhiteh |
| 102 |
Incorporating human factors into medical device design is a key factor for assuring device safety and effectiveness in the intended use environment. Our goal is to introduce and apply human factors techniques through analysis of medical device designs and examination of their intended use and use environments.Project 1: Identifying Strategies for Home Management of Ostomy Care This project evaluated end-user interactions with ostomy medical devices in home (non-hospital) settings. Using predefined search terms and inclusion/exclusion criteria, 38 YouTube videos uploaded by ostomates were independently analyzed (n=3 reviewers) to collect data specific to the ostomate experience while changing the ostomy pouch and performing skin care. The findings revealed a common challenge of inadequate pouch adhesion and subsequent leakage and evidence that self-care procedures do not always align with clinically recommended practices. This ongoing project is valuable because direct observation of healthcare procedures supports development of strategies to improve ostomy care within a person-centered care framework.Project 2: Human Factors Assessment of Reprocessing Electrosurgical Instruments This project tested strategies for mitigating contamination on electrosurgical instruments and assessed their usability. An experimental approach was developed using two sizes of electrosurgical instruments (small, large) that were reverse engineered from actual instruments to generate 3D printed models suitable for lab testing. Two mitigation strategies (covered, uncovered) were compared with n=4 users completing a hand dexterity task following contamination of each instrument under simulated use conditions. This ongoing project is valuable because it supports the potential for safe reuse of electrosurgical instruments. |
102 |
Human Factors in Medical Device Reprocessing |
Riley Collins - Bioengineeringrcolli6 Hannah Gerlach - Bioengineeringhgerlac Abby Cicone - Industrial Engineeringcicone Baylie Mazyck - Industrial Engineeringbmazyck Brendan Schumm - Industrial Engineeringbschumm Chris Gonzaga - Industrial Engineeringcgonzag Gabrielle Hertlein - Bioengineeringghertle Christopher Van Ryn - Industrial Engineeringcvanryn |
Melinda Harman - Bioengineeringharman2 Delphine Dean - Bioengineeringfinou Marketa Marcanikova - Bioengineeringmmarcan David Neyens - Industrial Engineeringdneyens |
| 103 |
In this poster presentation, we present an optimization model for cot distribution to hurricane evacuation shelters in South Carolina prior to the landfall of a hurricane event. Using the shelter capacity information provided in the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) document, we aim to optimize the routing and resource allocation decisions to minimum the total duration of the cot distribution operation under a given budget. The motivation here is to shorten the lead time for evacuation preparation, allowing government officials to postpone evacuation decision making as a way to best utilize the the most updated hurricane forecast information. We will show thetrade-off chart between the total logistics cost (including truck cost and labor cost) and the overall operation time, allowing decision makers to find an appropriate balance in practice. This research combines the high-level information about hurricane preparation and forecasting, together with detailed logistics planning operations. |
103 |
Cot Distribution Planning for Hurricane Evacuation Shelters in South Carolina |
Jack Baker - Industrial Engineeringjwbaker Catherine Case - Industrial Engineeringcbcase Elizabeth Hare - Industrial Engineeringeahare |
Yongjia Song - Industrial Engineeringyongjis |
| 105 |
Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming more accessible and ubiquitous and can provide greater flexibility as well as different experiences than real-world environments. As examples, VR will be used to travel in proposed virtual environments such as the metaverse, can serve as a medium for delivering training exercises, or can be used to provide tourism services and experiences. The differences in navigational skills and wayfinding in real-world environments are not well understood and are a multidisciplinary research area of great interest now. In service of this, this CI project has created a VR replica of the floor plan of a mazelike building on campus as a testbed to investigate how visual attention as well as cognition differ in wayfinding tasks in novel virtual and real-world environments. |
105 |
Pairing Virtual and Real-world Environments to Study Differences in Navigation and Wayfinding |
Anthony Alvarado Batres - Psychologyalvara3 Richard Bozard - Computer Sciencerbozard |
Dustin Souders - Psychologydjsoude Andrew T Duchowski - School of Computingaduchow |
| 106 |
Osteoporosis is a welfare concern in laying hens. Objectives of this study were to assess feasibility and repeatability of a standardized protocol for quantifying tibiotarsal bone quality using whole-body CT scans and open-source image analysis software (Horos). Four 2-year-old, mixed-breed, laying hens from a previous prospective pilot study were included. A graduate and two undergraduate research students developed the protocol in consultation with a veterinary radiologist. Each student independently performed triplicate measurements for CT scans in randomized order.Regions of interest were placed around bone calibration phantoms; cortical and medullary diaphyseal bone margins in proximal, middle, and distal slice locations; and around distal epiphyseal spongy bone margins. The CT area and density values were entered into a spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel), and density values were converted to bone mineral density using a hydroxyapatite calibration curve. Statistical analyses were performed in consultation with a statistician, using a model that evaluated the repeatability of the measures adjusting for bird, leg, and location variables (JMP Pro). No differences were found between or within observers for any of the measured variables (p>0.05). Findings can be used as background for future research studies assessing the effects of interventions on bone quality in laying hens.Funding support was provided by the Clemson Creative Inquiry Program, Clemson Experiment Station (NIFA/USDA,Multistate ProjectSC-1700608,NC-1029),and SC TRIMH Center (NIH NIGMS P20GM121342). |
106 |
Are CT Measures of Tibiotarsal Diaphyseal and Epiphyseal Bone Quality of Laying Hens Feasible and Repeatable? |
Molly Loucy - Animal and Veterinary Sciencemloucy Shelby Reback - Animal and Veterinary Sciencesreback |
Cerano Harrison - Animal and Veterinary Sciencesceranoh William C Bridges Jr - School of Mathematical and Statistical Scienceswbrdgs Ahmed Ali - Animal and Veterinary Sciencesali9 Jeryl Jones - Animal and Veterinary Sciencesjerylj |
| 107 |
Sea surface temperature in the middle Florida Keys has increased by 0.5 degrees Celsius over the past decade as estimated by satellite images from NOAA Coral Bleach Watch. This excess heat load may have a significant impact on reef algae, corals and fishes. Our creative inquiry team conducted summer surveys of coral reef communities in the middle Florida Key every summer since 2012. We estimate algae and coral cover from substrate photos and parrotfish abundance by diver visual surveys. To evaluate if heat load is related to algae / coral cover or parrotfish biomass, we conducted multiple regression and path analysis while controlling for the effect of reef depth, distance from shore, and rugosity. Heat load has increased significantly since 2012 concomitant with an increase in turf algae and parrotfish biomass. Surprisingly, there was no change in hard coral cover, or negative impact of parrotfish on algae cover. Warmer waters in the future may make recovery of hard corals more difficult due to the negative impacts of increasing turf algae on the settlement of coral recruits. This research was supported by Creative Inquiry grants and summer internships. |
107 |
It’s Getting Hot in Here: Impact of Increasing Heat Load on Coral Reef Community Structure |
Lydia Alford - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyalford4 Jenna Hough - Environmental and Natural Resourcesjghough Anna Marie Metzger - Biological Sciencesammetzg Kailyn Loveira - Animal and Veterinary Sciencekloveir Neil Parikh - Biochemistrynparikh Amanda Turner - Biological Sciencesamtrnr Cem Geray - Environmental and Natural Resourcescgeray Lauren Bulik - Environmental and Natural Resourceslbulik |
Kea Payton - Biological Sciencestpayton Michael Childress - Biological Sciencesmchildr |
| 108 |
A foundational underpinning of both the Third and Fourth Industrial Revolutions, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) encompasses the digital tools and business processes fundamental to inter-connected, information-driven industry. Due to its inherent nature as an applied activity, PLM is best comprehended through experiential learning-based projects. Through an applied project to develop a digital twin for a scaled, robotic vehicle, undergraduate participants in the program acquire skills in using PLM tools and processes. Activities include building a high-fidelity geometric model of the vehicle, reverse engineering vehicle hardware, simulation of vehicle models, and the design and fabrication of auxiliary vehicle components. These activities take place within a robust PLM framework, which prepares student participants to utilize PLM in their upcoming careers. Work on the scaled robotic platform shows insight into digital twin simulation of full-scale vehicles. |
108 |
Exploring Digital Technologies - A Focus on PLM Concepts and Software with Application to Scale Track Vehicle |
Brandon Ewanick - General Engineeringbewanic Vanessa Foy - Mechanical Engineeringvfoy Austin Frabotta - Mechanical Engineeringafrabot Alexander Minnich - General Engineeringajminni Lia Anderson - Mechanical Engineeringliaa William Bishop - General Engineeringwhbisho Brent Rice - Mechanical Engineeringkrice5 Sydney Thompson - Mechanical Engineeringsst3 |
John R Wagner - Mechanical Engineeringjwagner Gregory Mocko - Mechanical Engineeringgmocko John Morris - Mechanical Engineeringjhmrrs |
| 109 |
The use of rigid exoskeletons to assist human locomotion is becoming more common, but they have limitations such as being equipped with rigid actuators, which restrict volitional human motion and lack friendly human-machine interfaces. Soft exoskeletons offer more user-friendliness but are often tethered, limiting their mobility. To address this, the authors propose the development of a mobile, cable-driven ankle exoskeleton using brushless direct current motors as actuators with necessary sensors and a microcontroller for control purposes. Through a customized ankle structure, the actuators will be controlled to shorten or length the cable attached to the structure, which yields torque assistance at the ankle joints. A backpack-based mounting mechanism will provide mobility, and experiments on human subjects walking on different terrains will be conducted to verify the design. |
109 |
Development of a Novel Cable-Driven Ankle Exoskeleton for Assisting Human Locomotion |
CJ Marmo - Bioengineeringcmarmo Nicholas Daly - Mechanical Engineeringndaly Tapp Rhoads - Mechanical Engineeringjtrhoad Kevin Dai - Mechanical Engineeringlinjiad |
Ge Lv - Mechanical Engineeringglv |
| 111 |
With carbondioxide emission as the largest contributor to global warming, strategies to tackle CO 2 emissions are in high demand. Reverse water-gas shift reaction (RWGS) which involves the hydrogenation of CO 2 to syngas (CO/H 2 mixture), a versatile building block molecule for many value-added chemicals, is one of the leading strategies towards tackling CO 2 emissions. Hence, a search for energy-efficient and highly active catalysts that offer high CO yield while suppressing methane formation (side reaction) is key to scaling up this strategy. Herein, we report a new class of highly active catalysts that enable low-temperature RWGS with ~ 100% CO selectivity (250 - 400 o C). Our catalysts based on supported atomically dispersed platinum species on nanorods molybdenum carbide (Pt 1 /α-MoC) retain their excellent performances for over 15 hours of reaction thereby confirming the durability of our catalysts. The Pt 1 /α-MoC catalysts outperform our literature benchmark catalysts by at least 2-3 magnitudes. Further, we tuned the Pt loadings (0.1-1.0 wt%) on the high-surface-area α-MoC nanorods while maintaining similar coordination and electronic states of the Pt. Unexpectedly, the intrinsic activity per mole of Pt (turnover frequencies) of the Pt 1 /α-MoC catalysts varied inversely with the Pt atomic site density. Detailed reaction kinetic, microscopic, and spectroscopic characterizations confirm that the Pt atoms work in synergy with the α-MoC to execute the RWGS. Hence, when the direct catalytic roles of the supports are crucial, our results demonstrate that the surface density of the supported metal requires careful evaluation. |
111 |
Highly Active Dual-site Pt/α-MoC Catalysts for the Low-temperature Reverse Water-Gas Shift Reaction |
Abby Gardner - Chemical Engineeringagardn7 Elic Weeks - Chemical Engineeringelicw Bridget Bruce - Chemical Engineeringbabruce Brian Torreon - Chemical Engineeringbtorreo Julia Wood - Chemical Engineeringjlwd |
Ming Yang - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringmyang3 |
| 112 |
A collaboration between the electrical engineering department of Arusha Technical College in Tanzania and our own Bioengineering Department here at Clemson University has allowed this group of students to exercise their engineering skills in real-world biomedical applications for low-resource health-care problems. Multiple groups work in parallel on projects with teams in Arusha.One project aims to develop an affordable, durable, and active ankle prosthetic for amputees in developing countries. Our design incorporates the natural shape and structure of a foot that implements a novel system of muscle wire and sensors to allow for ankle mobility and adaptation to changes in terrain with hopes that amputees may return to daily activities and do so pain-free.The second state-side project's objective is to develop a cost-effective and easy to use biosensor that can be used to monitor patient adherence to antiretroviral therapy (used to treat HIV) in developing areas. |
112 |
Collaborative Biomedical Engineering Design Between Clemson and Arusha Technical College |
Elizabeth Braswell - Psychologyeibrasw Megan Brobst - Bioengineeringmbrobst Elizabeth Crapps - Biological Sciencesecrapps Eliza Haines - General Engineeringehaines Ellie Hatcher - Bioengineeringelhatch Rebecca Levis - Microbiologyrmlevis Joshua Londhe - Bioengineeringjlondhe William Pautler - Bioengineeringwpautle Becky Rocha - General Engineeringrrocha Aaron Spearman - Bioengineeringaespear |
Delphine Dean - Bioengineeringfinou John D DesJardins - Bioengineeringjdesjar Melissa McCullough - Bioengineeringmmccul4 William Richardson - Bioengineeringwricha4 |
| 113 |
Do you know what data your car is collecting about you? Dozens of vehicles--ranging from Volvo to GM and diesel to electric--use the Android Automotive Operating System (AAOS) on their car infotainment units. Stakeholders such as Google and the carmaker constantly transmit data from the vehicle to their web servers. This CI project analyzes the hardware and software used by AAOS to determine what data is collected on their applications and services. Due to the extensive nature of this project, the need for data analysis, hardware functionality testing, and privilege establishment, three distinct divisions were designed to effectively allocate resources. The rooting/privilege escalation division's primary research focus was on data collection from production units by intercepting encrypted data between AAOS and web servers. This was accomplished by bypassing security mechanisms in Android. The hardware functionality testing division was split into two subdivisions. The software subdivision built custom Android images that could be run on an emulator, and the hardware testing subdivision set up these images to install onto hardware in order to create a functional system. The final group is the static and dynamic analysis division. This team reverse-engineered and analyzed the code of Google and carmakers' apps to understand the syntax of data transmitted by the infotainment unit. Utilizing the results of all three divisions, data from this research will identify the data collected from drivers by Google and the carmaker to display privacy concerns in AAOS. |
113 |
Adventures in Android Automotive: What Data is Your Car Collecting About You? |
Adrian Colaianni - Computer Scienceacolaia Nicholas DiGennaro - Computer Sciencendigenn Wyatt Dorris - Computer Sciencewadorri Matt Ehrnschwender - Computer Sciencemehrnsc Isaac Fletcher - Computer Information Systemsifletch Nathan Goller-Deitsch - Computer Sciencengd Cameron Kimner - Computer Scienceckimner Tim Koehler - Computer Sciencetkoehle Miles Lyons - Computer Sciencemlyons2 Yash Patel - Computer Scienceyjpatel Matthew Rippy - Computer Sciencemrippy Hayden Roof - Computer Sciencehroof Charles Truluck - Computer Sciencectruluc |
Mert Pese - School of Computingmpese |
| 114 |
In 2021, 13.5 million households in the United States were food insecure, with South Carolina being above the national average of 10.4%. Finding ways to implementnutritious vegetables and legumes into diets is crucial to help meet the needs of those who are food insecure. Home gardens are a beneficial way to increase food availability and provide essential nutrients. The aim of this Creative Inquiry project is to improve nutrition in the local community by providing novel ways to grow and access fresh vegetables. This is accomplished by designing new growing systems that enable fresh vegetables to be grown in environments not typically conducive to vegetable production. Researchers are designing vertical gardening systems that are equipped with the necessary lighting and irrigation requirements for healthy plant growth. The package designed will be a space saving and cost-efficient system that allows for fresh produce to be grown in small spaces. The plans and blueprints for the system would be provided to the general public to improve the availability of fresh vegetables in tight spaces. Additionally, a variety of crops in multiple families, including Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, and Apiaceae were planted in raised beds at the Biosystem Research Complex to demonstrate how students and families can start their own garden. Finally, a breeding line of peas was planted in raised beds at the Biosystem Research Complex to further study how certain traits such as pea color can be passed on through generations. Combined, these projects will alleviate national food insecurity.Funding for this project supported by USDA-NIFA-OREI and Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research program |
114 |
Fighting Food Insecurity with Innovative Gardening Methods |
Jacob Johnson - Plant and Environmental Sciencesjjohn69 Alex Kittel - Plant and Environmental Sciencesclkitte Annabel Miller - Environmental and Natural Resourcesannabe6 Ashley Terry - Plant and Environmental Sciencesaterry2 Natasha Van Grouw - Plant and Environmental Sciencesnvangro Nathan Windsor - Plant and Environmental Sciencesnwindso |
Dil Thavarajah - Plant and Environmental Sciencesdthavar |
| 115 |
Current iterations of partially automated (SAE Level 2) advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) help the driver stay in their lane and maintain a set speed. These ADAS, however, have a high potential for overreliance as the driver may overestimate their capabilities and downplay their limitations. To combat such abuse, different types of driver monitoring systems (DMS) have been employed to assure that the driver remains in the loop and engaged with the driving task. This CI project uses a driving simulator that has been peripherally equipped with a steering-wheel-based and visual-attention-based DMS to investigate drivers' preferences (user experience, acceptance attitudes)and performance (driving stability and safety) when using either of these approaches alone. |
115 |
Drivers’ Preference and Performance with Permissive and Authoritative Driver Monitoring Systems While Using Partial Automation |
Audrey Biggers - Psychologyacbigge Ayda Jamil - Psychologyajamil Riya Patel - Computer Sciencerpatel7 Grace Patterson - Civil Engineeringgepatte Adam Razavi - Psychologyarazavi |
Dustin Souders - Psychologydjsoude Shubham Agrawal - Psychologyagrawa3 Kathryn Baringer - Psychologykmbarin Alan Mintz - Psychologyamintz Tyler Riley - Psychologytriley2 |
| 116 |
Fentanyl is a highly addictive and dangerous chemical that was created for use as an intravenous anesthetic. An estimated 107,375 people died because of drug overdoses last year, with synthetic opioids like fentanyl accounting for approximately 67% of those fatalities. Our research is focused primarily on modeling the supply chain of fentanyl and heroin, and we used data from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other organizations to calculate the demand of these opioids in the United States and how the demand is met from multiple supply chains in China, Mexico, and the United States. We assumed the demand is based on consumption rates impacted by the types of user groups that are addicted to these substances. We have created an opioid supply chain model utilizing Python to represent the fentanyl, heroin, and heroin mixed with fentanyl markets. |
116 |
Modeling the Fentanyl Supply Chain for Effective Interdiction |
Jamison Byrd - Industrial Engineeringjhbyrd Emiliano Sanchez-Guerra - Industrial Engineeringemilian |
Thomas Sharkey - Industrial Engineeringtcshark |
| 120 |
Barrier islands are variable sand deposits found in warm coastal waters around the world. Kiawah Island, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, is a large and heavily developed barrier island that hosts a vast array of flora and fauna, including the bobcat (Lynx rufus). As part of a larger bobcat ecology study, we identified the wildlife species present in over 180,000 photos from 50 different camera sites across Kiawah Island. Camera sites were equally distributed through habitat types identified as important for bobcats, which included interdune meadow, maritime forest, marsh, shrub thicket, and human development zones. After calculating relative abundance of each species in each of the five habitat types, we used an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test whether relative abundance was different between these sites. |
120 |
Species Detections Across Multiple Habitats on a South Carolina Barrier Island |
Carter Balach - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologycjbalac Rachel Myers - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyrvmyers Ryann Peterson - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyryannp Henry Robinson - Environmental and Natural Resourceshrobin4 Bridget Shupe - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologybshupe Carly Sprott - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologycksprot Kalli Williams - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologykalli Stephen Harris - Forestry and Environmental Conservationsh2 |
David Jachowski - Forestry and Environmental Conservationdjachow Meghan Keating - Forestry and Environmental Conservationmpkeati |
| 121 |
The periodization of human history is defined by the principal material used in the technology of that time period. These ages most notably include the Stone, Bronze, Iron, and currently, the Silicon age, but what is next? The basis of our Creative Inquiry project is to answer this question by investigating the history of Materials Science by creating an animation to illustrate this history, and to work in the lab on projects in the field of multifunctional and quantum materials. Weinvestigate specific material ages and use Blender, a free 3D-animation software, to create an animation that illustrates their material age. The investigation and animation production focus on the following list of questions: "What is the material, and what was production like?", "What were the challenges of the previous age?", "Why was the material better than its predecessor?", "What was the discovery and thinking process like?" and "What were the disadvantages of the material?" By answering these questions and understanding the previous and current material ages, we are building a perspective on the history of materials science that then gives us the perspective to conduct our own research in the laboratory. These projects are specifically focused on multifunctional and quantum materials chemistry, an area that our group believes can answer the new question of, "What material is next?". With this Creative Inquiry poster, we will share our understanding of the history of materials science and our research update that could help answer the question, "What is the next age-defining material?" |
121 |
Adventures in Materials Discovery |
Jeffrey Hommerding - Chemistryjkhomme Zoe Ohlstein - Chemistryzohlste Collin Swanson - Chemistrycmswans Annie Zemp - Chemistryezemp Uchenna Chinaegbomkpa - Chemistryuchinae Kaduruwanage Rathnaweera - Chemistrykrathna Ebube Oyeka - Chemistryeoyeka Xudong Huai - Chemistryxhuai |
Thao Tran - Chemistrythao |
| 122 |
Engineers Without Borders is an international organization that partners with professionals and universities to help developing countries meet basic human needs. We seek problems and engineer solutions that will be feasible for the rural communities to uphold for years to come. The past few years we have been focused on the community of El Serrano, Nicaragua. This semester we are completing the water based project in their community involving drilling a well to help with the low water quantity and improving poor water quality due to turbidity.The well has been able to produce enough water for the entire village during the dry season. The other project in this community was to help replace a pedestrian bridge that runs over their river. This year we decided to transfer our current project of building a suspension bridge to another chapter. This has been a hard decision but we believe it was best for both our chapter and the community as our travel, technical, and fundraising abilities make building this bridge unattainable. Now we are turning our focus towards our proposed next project in Kagarama, Rwanda. There, we would develop and implement a system to protect the community's main water source: a large unprotected spring. Then, we would also transport water directly to the community two kilometers away. Overall, our chapter is committed to employing our resources to help improve the life of developing communities. This year this has been through the completion of the water project and transfer of the bridge project in Nicaragua and the beginning of a new water project in Rwanda. |
122 |
Clemson University Engineers Without Borders |
Owen Branch - General Engineeringob Ignacio Carmichael - General Engineeringignacic Daphne Clish - Civil Engineeringdclish Gabrielle Hoffman - Bioengineeringghoffma Anna Hughey - Mechanical Engineeringahughey Gavin Hunt - Mechanical Engineeringgdhunt Natalia Jenkins - Electrical Engineeringnjenki2 Regan O'Neill - General Engineeringregano Josh Taylor - General Engineeringjtayl25 Aiden Tombuelt - Mechanical Engineeringatombue Beth Walker - General Engineeringbeth3 |
Mark A. Schlautman - Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciencesmschlau Jerry Wylie - Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciencesjawylie |
| 123 |
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease first appeared in 2014 in Biscayne Bay and travelled down the Florida Reef track over a period of eight years reaching reefs in the middle Keys in 2017. This pathogen is known to impact some 22 species of corals, especially the massive coral species such as MCAV, CNAT, and OFAV. Neon gobies (Elactinus oceanops), a cleaner fish species, prefer to establish cleaning stations on these same massive corals and are observed to service over 100 species of reef fishes. As the disease led to higher mortality rates among massive corals and reduced their abundance on the reefs, we hypothesized neon goby cleaning stations would decrease, number of gobies per station would increase, and client cleaning duration would increase. Beginning in 2016 our team conducted surveys of cleaning station abundance, substrate type, and goby abundance before, during and after the loss of massive corals. In addition, the cleaning behaviors of gobies were captured on video and analyzed for client species and cleaning duration both before (2016) and after (2019-2022) the loss of massive corals. While there was a decrease in cleaning stations after the disease outbreak, the number of gobies per cleaning station did not change. There was, however, an increase in cleaning duration after the outbreak, suggesting clients spend more time visiting the fewer stations. We also observed that some client groups increased their cleaning durations while others decreased theirs'. It appears that the client-goby mutualism may behaviorally compensate for the loss of cleaning stations by increasing cleaning durations. |
123 |
Impact of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease on Cleaner Gobies |
Cem Geray - Environmental and Natural Resourcescgeray Neil Parikh - Biochemistrynparikh |
Kea Payton - Biological Sciencestpayton Michael Childress - Biological Sciencesmchildr |
| 126 |
We planned, built and tested a "Coffee Can Radar" using coffee cans as transmit and receive antennas, basic RF components and a laptop for digital radar data analysis. We learned basic radar principles and operation, to include the radar range equation, basic radar waveforms, and basic signal processing techniques. Then we created a project plan, to include a schedule, a bill of materials, and a test plan. We built a working radar using an open-source design and tested both analog and digital operation. Once the radar was operating correctly, we executed their test plan, measuring detected object range and velocity. |
126 |
Coffee Can Radar |
Jacob Bittinger - Electrical Engineeringjabitti Karlee Kesler - Electrical Engineeringkarleek Spencer Jackson - Computer Information Systemssbj6 Ty Neuder - Civil Engineeringtneuder |
Joseph Chapa - General Engineeringchapa |
| 127 |
Social media has become an overpowering platform for the spread of information, whether it be true or not. This is particularly concerning regarding a popular app called TikTok. This allows people access to a wide variety of information that could potentially be detrimental to their health. In regards to mental health, over the past 20 years, the world has seen a "significant increase" in the number of people with ADHD, according to a study led by Wei Bao of the University of Iowa College of Public Health. This large number of people has easier access to TikTok, with the integration of technology in our daily lives, where they may attempt to gain information on their own diagnosis', or lack thereof. The purpose of this study was to analyze the top videos under the TikTok search "ADHD Cures" and evaluate their accuracy. The top 81 videos that came up when searching "ADHD Cures" on TikTok were studied by Dr. Ennis and Audrey Stephenson. The likes, share counts, hashtags, and follower counts of the creators were noted. There were 7, 042, 214 likes and 190,449 shares across the eighty-one videos studied. The combined follower count was 18,779,328. Information from each video was then grouped into overarching trends. 75% of the videos contained content regarding natural cures, fidget toys, or lifestyle changes. 100% of the videos studied included zero mentions of hard evidence. Only a small percentage of the videos were made by real doctors, 14.8%. The spread of misinformation, as seen through a search for ADHD Cures on TikTok, is very prevalent. The presumed effectiveness and credibility of the suggested cures for ADHD on this app are low. Future research should investigate the impact that medically licensed creators could have on the spread of misinformation. This research is important to help prevent the wrongful education of people of all ages on a serious mental condition. |
127 |
The Spread of Misinformation Regarding Cures for ADHD Through the Social Media Platform, TikTok |
Audrey Stephenson - Biological Sciencesagstphn |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 128 |
Invasive fungal infections cause nearly one and a half million deaths annually, accounting for nearly half of all AIDS-related deaths. Cryptococcus neoformans, the most frequent cause of fungal meningitis, is responsible for nearly half of the invasive fungal infections. As the initial site of Cryptococcus infection in the lungs is a glucose-poor environment, utilization of nonpreferred carbon sources such as acetate is important in establishing a pulmonary infection. L-carnitine is a carrier for the transport of cytoplasmic acyl-CoA moieties generated from acetate activation or fatty acid oxidation into the mitochondria for subsequent metabolism. We have identified three genes, CNAG_05675, CNAG_05113, and CNAG_00403, which are hypothesized to encode enzymes in the carnitine biosynthetic pathway. Deletion mutants of each of these genes are unable to grow on acetate; however, addition of carnitine restores growth. Each deletion mutant also displays defects in the production of melanin, a pigment that protects Cryptococcus against immune defense mechanisms. Although a carnitine pathway has been elucidated in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans, its role in virulence has not been investigated in any other fungus. As carnitine is required for both acetate and fatty acid metabolism, two important pathways in Cryptococcus' virulence, we hypothesize that carnitine biosynthesis will be necessary for full virulence and aim to completely characterize the steps of the carnitine biosynthesis pathway. |
128 |
Carnitine Biosynthesis in the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans |
Dylan Carroll - Geneticsdpcarro Emily Bernabe - Biochemistryebernab Jasmine Meltzer - Biological Sciencesjmeltze |
Kerry Smith - Genetics and Biochemistrykssmith |
| 129 |
Dmc1 is a meiotic recombinase composed of a ring of eight subunits which is integral to DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair using the homologous recombination pathway. The homologous recombination pathway uses a homologous sister chromatid as a template for repair DNA synthesis. After a DSB, DNA end resection occurs, leaving a 3'-overhang. Dmc1 polymerizes on this ssDNA to form a right-handed helical protein filament. Other protein factors are recruited to promote the search for a homologous DNA region so strand invasion can occur. There are protein factors that interact with Dmc1, such as CAF1G in Arabidopsis thaliana, that modulate the activity of Dmc1. CAF1G interacts with Dmc1 in order to properly repair these double strand breaks, and for crossing over during meiosis I to generate genetic diversity. The mechanism by which CAF1G functions with Dmc1 is unknown. This goal project is to show the importance of CAF1G interaction with atDmc1 during meiosis and DNA double-strand break repair. To accomplish this goal, biochemical and recombination analysis of theatDmc1protein will be performed in the presence and absence ofCAF1G to determine the effect CAF1G has on atDmc1 recombination activities. |
129 |
Role of CAF1G in Meiotic Homologous Recombination in Arabidopsis thaliana |
Daniel Hiott - Geneticsdehiott |
Michael Sehorn - Genetics and Biochemistrymsehorn |
| 132 |
This Creative Inquiry project seeks to validate Lateral Flow Assays (LFAs) using a commercial universal LFA kit, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and saliva samples gathered from the community to develop a Covid-19 test that is precise and efficient. This work incorporates the growing notion that saliva is a great source for detecting antigens of contagious diseases and that saliva samples might give better results than the previous gold-standard nasopharyngeal swabs. We are building upon previous students' work to conjugate AuNPs with antibodies to create an ELISA sandwich that will work with the commercial LFA universal strips, which eliminates the need to create LFA strips in-house from scratch. We are working towards optimizing the detection sensitivity and minimizing the reagents required for the test before running multiple treatments for validation. After assay validation, the goal is to expand the tests to other contagious diseases detectable by saliva samples to support the growing trend of at-home testing. |
132 |
Immune Response Profiling Through Antibody Detection and Immunosequencing |
David Forsman - Biological Sciencesdsforsm Abigail Smith - Geneticsasmit68 Natalia Thomas-Sarmiento - Biochemistrynthoma4 |
Congyue Peng - Bioengineeringcongyup Delphine Dean - Bioengineeringfinou |
| 136 |
The Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum (Charleston, SC) recorded hundreds of oral history videos from men and women who served in the military to be used toeducate current and future generations about America's history.The museum's leadership wants to reduce these videos' duration, which, on average, are about 45 minutes, tomake them more engaging to museum patrons. However, the museum lacks the capacity to undertake this project efficiently. Our Creative Inquiry project attempts to find a civic-engagement solution in which students in SC and across the nation will collectively help the museum meet its goal. During this poster session, we will describe how we are trying to do this. |
136 |
The YORKTOWN Project: Civic Engagement through Creative Inquiry |
Julia Grant - Historyjkg2 Zoe McNelis - Middle Level Educationzmcneli |
Ryan Visser - Education and Human Developmentvisser Melinda Spearman - Teaching and Learningmjspear |
| 138 |
The hyporheic zone ("hypo" - beneath and "rheos" - in relation to a stream) is an active saturated underground ecotone surrounding the stream flow. This area is the intermediary between the stream parafluvial, alluvial, and groundwater zones. Very little work has been done on the hyporheic zone of streams in the Piedmont of South Carolina; the core goal for this project was to assemble the first hyporheic faunal diversity assessment within this area. Sample sites were chosen to gain an understanding of multiple stream types and particle sizes, and multiple sampling methods were developed. Over the course of the Fall 2022 semester, three sampling methods were tested at four sites in the Clemson University Experimental Forest. Of these, the combination of cage traps with brass sieves was most successful. These traps have yielded multiple species of Diptera (flies), along with some Trichoptera (caddisflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), and Coleoptera (beetles). This assessment will provide a baseline for future research on the hyporheic zone to take into account. We thank the Creative Inquiry program at Clemson University for supporting this project. |
138 |
Pioneering the Picture: Fauna of the Piedmont Hyporheic Zones |
Megan Bishoff - Chemistrymbishof Nikolai Artley - Environmental and Natural Resourcesnartley Simon Dunn - Biological Sciencessimond |
John Morse - Plant and Environmental Sciencesjmorse |
| 141 |
The Skeletal Biological Profiles Creative Inquiry project usesbiological anthropological techniques to create a biological profile for unidentified remains. We utilize transitional analysis to determine the age, sex, stature, and pathological condition of unidentified remains. Clemson University's Anthropology department began this project by acquiring a box of unclaimed skeletal remains from the Beaufort County coroner. The process began with the distinction between human and animal remains. Our team has concluded that our inventory comprises eight animal specimens and approximately eleven human individuals. The team then positioned the skeletal remains in an anatomical position. This process includes which bones are positioned on the left and right side of the body and determining the proximal and distal ends of the bones and the anterior and posterior ends of the bones. Our next step is to complete an inventory of the skeleton, reporting what bones are present. Utilizing "The Human Bone Manual," "Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains," and the "Transitional Analysis 3 Trait Manual", we can determine the age, sex, stature, and pathological condition of the remains. After building the biological profile, we can then input this data into databases such as FORDISC and NamUs. We have also communicated with the Corner of Beaufort County to create a case number for the remains to input into NamUs. Our goal for this project is to collect data for future educational purposes. |
141 |
Constructing Biological Profiles: Determining Sex, Age, and Ancestry of Unidentified Skeletal Remains |
Alleyia Bailey - Anthropologyalleyib Alyssa Ciccone - Microbiologyancicco Bryant Dover - Biological Sciencesbldover Skylar Mcginnis - Anthropologysmmcgin Jamie Schweitzer - Biological Sciencesjeschwe |
Suzanna Tremblay - Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justicesetremb |
| 142 |
Washing produce isn't a priority or habit in the home kitchen for many people, especially college students. Among fresh produce, in particular, mushrooms are sold pre-sliced with the premise to consumers that they are washed and ready to use. The current study aims to determine the microbial contamination level on store-bought packaged pre-sliced mushrooms and to compare the efficacies of traditional washing methods of using tap water and vinegar solution in reducing microbial load. Packaged pre-sliced mushrooms were brought from the grocery store and processed within 24 hours. Serial dilutions of pre-sliced mushrooms were plated in triplicates onto tryptic soy agar (TSA), violet red bile agar (VRBA) and MacConkey agar to enumerate total bacterial count, Enterobacteriaceae, and Escherichia coli, respectively. Next, mushrooms were washed with tap water and 5% vinegar solution via dipping method for sixty seconds andthe serial dilutions of the solutions were plated onto TSA, VRBA, and MacConkey agar plates to determine their effectiveness. Unwashed mushrooms had a high microbial load of7 log10 CFU/g on TSA and 6 log10CFU/g on VRBA and MacConkey agar, respectively, suggesting the presence of fecal contamination. To reduce the contamination levels on sliced mushrooms, the effectiveness of tap water washing and 5% vinegar solution is currently under investigation. Based on the microbial load of unwashed mushrooms, consumers are advised to wash pre-sliced mushrooms from the store before consumption. |
142 |
Effectiveness of At-Home Wash Methods for the Reduction of Microbial Contamination Levels in Pre-Sliced Mushrooms |
Cameron Byrd - Food Science and Human Nutritioncybyrd Emma Mullane - Food Science and Human Nutritionemullan Bronwyn Mulligan - Food Science and Human Nutritionbemulli Emily E. Reichard - Food Science and Human Nutritioneereich |
Xiuping Jiang - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencesxiuping Vishal Manjunatha - Biological Sciencesvmanjun |
| 143 |
Plastic waste is a global problem stemming from inadequate solutions for plastic products at their end-of-life. Chemical recycling is an emerging technique that aims to convert plastic waste into usable chemicals with value for the polymer industry. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a commodity plastic used extensively in one-time-use plastic bottles and other devices. This creative inquiry has explored the different means for chemically recycling PET, ultimately finding a lack of approaches using aminolysis. Aminolysis can effectively break down PET into chemical precursors valuable to the nylon, epoxy, and polyurethane markets to name a few. Students have begun trials using aminolysis to break down PET from discarded plastic bottles and subsequently use the recycled products in new polymer synthesis. This project has also entailed looking at the life-cycle impacts of the aminolysis reaction and comparing it to other techniques. Another chemical recycling technique has also been explored using the concept of dynamic covalent bonds (DCB). DCBs can be broken and reformed at a polymer's end of life creating the opportunity to chemically recycle hard-to-reuse plastics. In this light, a high performance plastic used in filter membranes and fuel cells, polysulfones, has been targeted using the imine bonds, a type of DCB, to chemically recycling a biobased polysulfone after it has been synthesized. These techniques demonstrate how chemical recycling can turn trash into treasure by valorizing waste and innovating unique ways to produce valuable chemicals. |
143 |
From Trash to Treasure: The Chemical Recycling of Plastics to Valuable Materials |
Bethany Guin - Chemistrybnguin Alexandra Perkins - Biological Sciencesavperki William Smith - Biochemistrywns |
James Sternberg - Automotive Engineeringsternbe |
| 144 |
Indoor environmental conditions are typically monitored using a single-mounted sensor that is built into the space's infrastructure and can only monitor small areas. In larger spaces such as office floors with cubicles or open working areas, the conditions may vary greatly from one end of the room to the other and require numerous sensors mounted across the area. This project seeks to develop a process to monitor long-term indoor environmental conditions in these large spaces and simultaneously collect user feedback to gain a comprehensive understanding of building performance and its effects on occupants' comfort, health, and well-being. To achieve this, we propose to design an autonomous robot containing sensors to monitor temperature, relative humidity, light, acoustics, carbon dioxide, and particle count, as well as a graphical user interface for occupants to provide feedback on their comfort under the given conditions. Through the combination of environmental data and feedback, this information can be processed to make needed alterations to the operations of the building to improve indoor air quality and maintain thermal comfort while minimizing energy consumption. We began the project this semester by creating the initial prototype and design for the robot to be utilized in Lee Hall III and created a system to gather feedback from students and faculty in the building. Moving forward, we plan to expand the project so that it can be replicated and used in other buildings to utilize smart technologies to improve people's overall health and comfort in indoor environments. |
144 |
“WAL-LEE”: An Autonomous Robot to Monitor Long-Term Environmental Data and User Feedback |
CJ Boni - Computer Sciencecjboni Adriana Cericola - Economicsacerico Nate Feeley - Financial Managementnfeeley Natalie Hill - Anthropologynhill3 Jordan Koch - Civil Engineeringjnkoch Josiah Wilson - Civil Engineeringjosiah4 Kenna Zeitz - Psychologykzeitz |
Vincent Blouin - School of Architecturevblouin |
| 145 |
Radiation has a variety of uses in the medical field such as diagnostic imaging and cancer treatment. However, we still know very little about radiation's effect on cells in the body particularly at low doses such as those used in x-ray and CT imaging. Our group has designed studies to determine the effects of low doses of x-rays on vascular cells.We helped to design a novel x-ray fluorescent experimental setup to irradiate human aortic smooth muscle cells with dosing rates varying from at the lower end of the medical imaging range. This novel setup allows us to expose the cells inside a standard incubator with x-rays that have very precisely controlled energy, total dose, and dose rate. Three specific protocols were conducted in 24 hour intervals over several days, ultimately showing clear and statistically significant differences between dose rates even when the total dose was kept constant. As dose rate increased, the total number of cells and the number of cells in a constricted state increased, while no significant increase in cell death was observed. We have shown, for the first time, that x-rays, at doses similar to what is given to patients during standard x-ray imaging, can cause changes in vascular cells in culture. Furthermore, RT-PCR was conducted at 12 hour intervals, showing along with the assays that radiation quantitatively changes the amount of collagen in vascular cells, thus supporting our previous assays. Future experiments will include determining a specific relationship between and mechanisms behind varying dose rate and the number of cells, as well as determining whether changing other characteristics of radiation has an impact on the cells being irradiated. |
145 |
Effects of Low-dose X-ray Radiation at Varying Dose Rates on Human Aortic Smooth Muscle in Vitro |
Almog Gur - Bioengineeringagur Haley Hilliard - Bioengineeringhhillia |
Delphine Dean - Bioengineeringfinou Endre Takacs - Physics and Astronomyetakacs |
| 146 |
Naegleria fowleri, a pathogenic free-living amoebae that lives in fresh water, can infect the brain and cause an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. These infections have a very high mortality rate (~98%), Because of limited drug treatments and this continuously high mortality rate, amoeba metabolic enzymes are being evaluated as potential drug targets. One such target is fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase), due to its involvement in a critical pathway, gluconeogenesis, and the differences between the amoebae and human FBPases. FBPase catalyzes the conversion of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate to fructose 6-phosphate. Inhibition of this enzyme in collaboration with a glycolysis inhibitor is anticipated to yield an effective drug combination as it would lead to deprivation of key metabolites. Here we describe the cloning of NfFBPase into a heterologous expression vector and trials for protein expression in bacteria. To date, these trials suggest that alternative bacterial hosts or expression in other systems (yeast, human cells) may be necessary. |
146 |
Inhibition of Fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase in Naegleria fowleri |
Erin Jones - Geneticseaj5 |
James Morris - Genetics and Biochemistryjmorri2 |
| 147 |
The in-utero growth restriction of the fetus in humans and livestock leads to increased incidences of both fetal and neonatal mortality. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) produced by the placenta have been implicated in both placental insufficiency and fetal growth restriction. Our hypothesis is that ruminant placentae EVs are released into the fetal and maternal circulation and act as signaling molecules, impacting both fetal maternal physiologies. Our objective is to generate a fusion protein construct that will allow us to detect placental EVs present in either maternal or fetal circulation during pregnancy. CD63 is an EV marker protein, a member of the tetraspanin gene family, and is present in the ruminant placenta. The vector pCD63CLIPf was generated by directional subcloning of the 727 bp RT-PCR product into the pCLIPf expression vector. The CD63 CDS was ligated in-frame 5' to the CLIPf epitope tag (pCD63CLIPf). To verify proper expression of the fusion protein, transfection studies needed to be performed. Transfection efficiencies were assessed using 293LTV cells, plated at a density of ~1 X 106 cells per plate. Cells were transfected using Fugene (Promega) at a 3:1 ratio (Vol:mass) with a total of 6 ug of vector. Treatments included no transfection (negative control), pEGFP (positive control), pEGFP + pCLIPf, and pEGFP + pCD63CLIP. Media and cells were harvested 72 hours after transfection, and transfection efficiency was determined as percent of cells expressing green fluorescence divided by total cell number. Transfection efficiencies were 0%, 95%, 96% and 97% for the non-transfected, pEGFP positive control, pEGFP + pCLIPf, and pEGFP + pCD63-CLIPf, respectively. These data verify that media and cell lysates generated from this experiment should be sufficient to determine proper expression of the CD63CLIPf fusion protein within cells and EVs. |
147 |
Generation of an Epitope Tagged Exosome Marker Protein |
Helene Bell - Biological Sciencesheleneb Seth Early - Biochemistryspearly Greyson Freeman - Animal and Veterinary Sciencegreysof Kailie Greer - Geneticskgreer Lauren Poyck - Geneticslpoyck Brianne Wolf - Geneticsbwolf |
Scott Pratt - Animal and Veterinary Sciencesscottp |
| 149 |
The CI provides students with an overview of information, management, research of wild hogs in the U.S. With the aid of the instructors, students developed a series of research questions focused on addressing the management of wild hogs on the Clemson Experimental Forest (CUEF). The CUEF served as a study area to capture and attach GPS collars to wild hogs.The research questions that the students have are: 1)What is the home range and daily movement patterns of wild hogs? 2) What habitats do they use the most or spend the most time? What resources are they prioritizing? 3) Are they causing (or could be causing) damage outside the forest, especially for areas like agriculture and pasture? |
149 |
Hog Wild on the Clemson Experimental Forest |
Justin Allen - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyjalle22 Michael Belanger - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologymlbelan Taryn Brazell - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologytlbraze Tucker Cribb - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologytcribb Lynsey Dawkins - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologylynseyd Jim Farrell - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyjcfarre Maya Fink - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologymcfink Kyle Lentz - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologykmlentz Drake Powell - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologydhp Gabrielle Sapp - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologygsapp Nicholas Sparano - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologynsparan |
Greg K Yarrow - Forestry and Environmental Conservationgyarrow Erin Buchholtz - Forestry and Environmental Conservationekbuchh |
| 150 |
Gender identities were examined in comparing alcohol use and its impacts on various aspects on the lives of college students at Clemson University, including topics such as physical violence, sexual violence, and academic performance. Data was collected by the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment III in 2022 and found differences between cis men, cis women, and transgender/gender non-conforming (trans/GNC) individuals regarding alcohol use and its negative effects on the three focus points mentioned above. In general, trans/GNC individuals reported being more physically violent and getting into more physical altercations while under the influence of alcohol. Although percentages of incidences varied between the National results and the Clemson results specifically, this overall trend was seen in both sets of data. Regarding sexual violence, cis females and trans/GNC individuals generally appeared to be most at risk when alcohol was involved, both nationally and at Clemson. This data also showed that students from Clemson University reported an increase in incidences involving sexual violence while under the influence of alcohol in comparison to the NCHA data. Finally, as expected, it was also found that alcohol use negatively affects academic performance in all genders, but it has twice as much negative impact on trans/GNC individuals than cis males. Cis males were also being affected twice as much as cis females. |
150 |
Assessing Gender Roles and The Effects of Alcohol Use |
Salma Shaalan - Health Sciencesshaala |
Chloe Dixon - Student Health Centerccgreen Kelsie Keel - Student Health Centerkdkeel Danielle Romero - Student Health Centerromero4 |
| 151 |
Individuals who are highly physically active are more likely to have a greater self-esteem, better body image, and increased physical activity self-efficacy. Currently, the average PE program provides less than 12% of the recommended daily amount of physical activity, with adolescent girls being the least active. There is a need for programs that provide opportunities for adolescent girls to be physically active and to develop their sense of self-efficacy, body image, and mental toughness. Women who participate in recreation report becoming empowered to engage in a wider variety of activities (McNiel, Harris, Fondren 2012). However, there is a continuing need to further understand the impactof outdoor recreation education on adolescent girls. The purpose of this research is to understand how participating in Finding Your Voice influences body esteem, physical activity self-efficacy, and mental toughness as it related to physical activity participation. Data from previous camps suggest this camp positively impacts those who attend and upon completion of camp this year, which runs from March 31-April 2, data on the aforementioned variables will be analyzed and shared. |
151 |
Finding Your Voice: Using Outdoor Recreation to Foster Self-Efficacy |
Kiana Buchanan - Psychologykianab Kathya Cervantes Sanchez - Nursingkathyac Brenda Cervantes-Sanchez - Nursingbcervan Hannah Czapiga - Psychologyhczapig Kensi Harris - Nursingkensih Sravani Munagala - Geneticssmunaga Kelsey Parsons - Nursingparson7 Miley Ray - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementmileyr Brandi Reilly - Sociologybreill3 Erin Rudolph - Language and International Healtherudolp Reagan Schwartz - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementreschwa Mary Callie Turner - Nursingmct6 Hope Walters - Special Educationewalte3 Eva Welborn - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementemwelbo Kevona Young - Nursingkevonay |
Denise Anderson - Dean of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciencesdander2 |
| 153 |
Our CI focus is to learn about and understand the applications of high-performance computing (HPC) systems in varying STEM disciplines. Over the course of the year, students learn basic concepts such as how a HPC systemis constructed, what it takes to program and run parallel applications on an HPC system, and how to optimize applications. Each student constructs individual Raspberry Pi clusters to enhance their hands-on understanding of the various components necessary to build a supercomputer, like Clemson's Palmetto Cluster. Skills and knowledge gained through hands-on activities, research, and training will prepare students for undergraduate research, provide skills to help students stand out and succeed in graduate school. Moreover, our CI provides students with an opportunity to test their skills against teams from all over the world at the annual Supercomputing Conference's Student Cluster Competition (SCC) and Indy Student Cluste Competition(IndySCC). During Fall 2022, Clemson competed with teams from around the world in the Indy Student Cluster Competition. Throughout the competition, we applied skills and knowledge from the CI to run benchmarks, run real-world applications such as NAMD, and to obtain the best performance scores. Finally, veteranCI students contributed to peer-reviewed publications based on their individual research projects. |
153 |
High-Performance Cluster Computing: Teaching Young Scientists and Engineers Future Computing Methodologies |
Ainara Garcia - Computer Engineeringainarag Thomas Joseph - Computer Engineeringtrjosep Will Fey - Computer Engineeringwfey Steven Lam - Computer Engineeringsllam David Krasowska - Computer Engineeringdkrasow Ethan Gindlesperger - Computer Engineeringegindle Benjamin Schlueter - Computer Engineeringbschlue Cooper Sanders - Computer Engineeringcssande Charles Durham - Computer Sciencecdurha4 Moises Martinez Herrera - Computer Sciencemoisesm |
Jon Calhoun - Electrical and Computer Engineeringjonccal |
| 154 |
While an abundance of research has revealed that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can successfully reduce depressive symptoms in a variety of age groups and severity levels, there is room for improvement on research supporting the efficacy and effectiveness of mental health applications (MHealth apps). This study aims to determine whether individuals with depressive symptoms prefer avatar customization or growth features when using a novel mental health app called AirHeart V1.2, as well as if there is a strong preference regarding various avatar options. Using the SONA portal system, 186 students were recruited to participate in this study. Following the completion of six pre-module questionnaires, participants were asked to complete four AirHeart V1.2 CBT-based modules. Utilizing a two-group (growth vs customization) experimental between-groups design, participants were able to choose a type of animalavatar, while a random number generator randomly assigned the customization and growthconditions. Once all four CBT-based modules were completed, participants were asked to complete two post-module questionnaires. We expect that users experiencing depressive symptomswill prefer the avatar customization feature over the growth feature. Secondarily, we expect users experiencing depressive symptoms to prefer an avatar that looks different from themselves. Data analysis is currently ongoing, and preliminary results will be presented. As seeking conventional mental health care comes with several obstacles, people are more in need of accessible mental health applications (MHealth apps), such as AirHeart V1.2, to supplement their mental health. |
154 |
Examining the Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Avatar Feature Preferences in a Novel Mental Health App |
Keira D'Alessio - Psychologykdaless Grace Wholley - Psychologygwholle Abi Wilkinson - Psychologyaawilki Stephanie Six - Psychologyssix |
Kaileigh Byrne - Psychologykaileib |
| 155 |
The Mary Bruce Project is named for the wife and life-long research partner of microbiologist Sir David Bruce. Dr. Bruce is credited with major discoveries in tropical medicine around the turn of the last century, but Mary's contributions had been largely over-looked and their extent unknown. Our driving question is this: What other "hidden figures" played a role in advancing science, medicine, health, and the arts over the last 200+ years of scientific discovery? Here, we will present a series of vignettes spanning the globe and exploring the mysteriously murky story of the three women behind the development of the martial art Wing Chun, the compelling life of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas and his influence on his far more famous son, the ethical concerns and hidden toll of involuntary hospitalization for mental health, the shocking legal back story behind protections for nurses' rights, and the sad state of care for incarcerated pregnant women. |
155 |
The Mary Bruce Project: Shining a Light on Hidden Contributions to Science, Medicine, Healthcare, and the Arts |
Gretchen Finley - Bioengineeringgretchf Alexys King - Microbiologyalexysk Noelle Shorter - Geneticsnshorte Piper Lin - Biochemistrypiperl Halee Lott - Biochemistryhlott |
Kimberly Paul - Genetics and Biochemistrykpaul |
| 156 |
This project is focused on discovering effective data-driven methods to detect cyber attacks, specifically in cyber-physical systems (CPSs). Industrial CPSs are prone to cyber attacks, especially critical infrastructure systems such as water treatment and distribution plants. This study uses the SWaT (Secure Water Treatment) dataset from the iTrust lab in Singapore to build a recurrent neural network (RNN) for attack detection. Our research attempts to detect attacks based on an anomaly detection approach. By predicting the normal behavior of the six-stage water treatment process and comparing it with the observed sensor data, attack detection alarms are raised when the deviation is significant. Previous research in this field has focused on detecting attacks on a singular stage of the system, while our goal is to use multi-stage relationships in the system. We propose to use a stage-wise LSTM algorithm, which is expected to have greater efficiency and accuracy than previous experiments and research. |
156 |
Accurate and Efficient Cyber Attack Detection in Water Filtration Systems Using Machine Learning |
Chloe Crozier - Computer Sciencecscrozi Janhavi Deshpande - Mathematical Sciencesjdeshpa Sumanth Pandiri - Computer Sciencespandir Matthew Werner - Industrial Engineeringwerner5 |
Dan Li - Industrial Engineeringdli4 |
| 157 |
How does exposure and immersion in Balkan politics and culture impacts Americans view on international relations and overall world order? This is motivated by the present situation in Ukraine where the West is again pitted against Russia, and the overall lack of understanding of the Russian justification for war. This research will not only help students understand this current conflict but also gain a broader understanding of ethnic conflicts. Additionally, the Balkans are home to a diverse set of ethnic groups and has been the sight of several ethnic conflicts, which has resulted in mass genocide and ultimately UN intervention.The methods that will be used are reading and analyzing literature from prominent Yugoslav writers, as well as propaganda fils and documentaries from before, during and after the Yugoslav wars in the 1990's. Additionally, throughout the study abroad program, which takes place in Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Croatia, students will attend meetings with heads of state, key NGO's in the region, discussions with University students as well as visit several historical locations, including concentration camps, museums and significant religious sites.The results of this research will be communicated in a 20 page research paper, the initial half will be completed prior to embarking on the study abroad program in may 2023, and the latter half will be completed upon return to the US. This will showcase each student's observations and conclusions as well as changes to their understanding of international relations in application following the Study abroad. |
157 |
Exposure to Balkan Politics and Culture |
Molly Sutton - Political Sciencemlsutto |
Vladimir Matic - Political Sciencevmatic |
| 158 |
Polydnaviruses (PDVs) are symbiotic double-stranded DNA viruses transmitted by parasitoid wasps to lepidopteran larvae (caterpillars) during wasp oviposition. PDV gene expression in susceptible host lepidopterans disrupts host immunity and development, but expression is reduced or absent in less- and non-susceptible lepidopterans. Therefore, wasp parasitization success is dependent on PDV infection and gene expression, and thus wasp host range is determined in part by expression patterns of PDV genes in the lepidopterans. Gene expression can be difficult to test due to a large number of PDV gene family variants and potential hosts, tissues, and temporal periods, but clarification of these would allow generation of better hypotheses on virus-host interactions and wasp host range. Thus, we generated a recombinant baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) with dual fluorescent reporters to characterize PDV gene promoters. We currently are modifying this BEVS to express the fluorescent marker eGFP as an infection reporter, and the fluorescent timer Medium-FT (Med-FT) under the regulation of swappable putative promoter elements. Once generated, these reporter viruses will be tested in Sf9 cell lines to determine relative PDV promoter activity via Med-FT fluorescence. They then will be used to infect a range of lepidopterans, yielding insight into the role of multigene families in driving virus host range. The generated transfer plasmid offers an efficient, modular tool to study gene regulatory activities in highly diverse and economically important lepidopterans, while the recombinant reporter viruses being generated and tested will yield insight into the role of virus multigene families in virus-host evolution. |
158 |
The Development of an Improved Tool for Testing Symbiotic Interactions Between Polydnaviruses and Their Host |
Madeline Bryan - Microbiologymgb8 Meredith Cobb - Geneticsmacobb Alexis Yoh - Geneticsayoh |
Matthew Turnbull - Biological Sciencesturnbul Daniel Howard - Biological Sciencesdkhowar |
| 159 |
Fluorescent antibodies are an important tool for biomedical research, particularly when single and subcellular resolution readouts are of interest. While full-spectrum flow cytometry has been developed to advance the abilities of conventional flow cytometry, which is typically limited to ~3-4 markers, it remains limited to ~40 markers that can be identified. To overcome this issue, we recently established fluorescence Multiplexing using Spectral Imaging and Combinatorics (MuSIC), which uses combinations of existing fluorophores to create spectrally unique MuSIC probes. Furthermore, we created a method for labeling antibodies with externally labeled (ext.) oligo-based MuSIC probes and demonstrated the multiplexing capabilities with a 3-probe experiment using ext. MuSIC probe-labeled antibodies bound to protein A beads. However, while this method showed successful application with protein A beads, it had not yet been tested on human cells. Thus, in the current study we developed an improved method by rearranging the original configuration of the MuSIC probes to contain oligos with internal (int.) fluorophore modifications rather than external (ext.) fluorophore modifications. This approach was validated by using batches of CD8 antibodies labeled with int. MuSIC probes and CD8 antibodies labeled with the conventional labeling kit to stain human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The results from our spectral flow cytometry experiments successfully indicate that MuSIC probe-labeled antibodies can be used to stain PBMCs with an intensity that is greater than conventional fluorophore labeled antibodies, while having no significant impact on the % of CD8+ lymphocytes. While the current approach is general, it can be broadly applied to many biological and diagnostic applications including cell-type profiling and tissue imaging. |
159 |
Increasing Fluorescent Signal of Oligo-Based Labels for Spectral Flow Cytometry |
Charlie Haskell - Biochemistrychaskel Nishi Patel - Psychologynishi |
Marc Birtwistle - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringmbirtwi Madeline McCarthy - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringmemccrt |
| 160 |
This Creative Inquiry project combines manufacturing processes, feedback control algorithms, a small-scale robot, and art. We utilize a commercially available, open architecture robot that will meet the expectations of Clemson's STEAM Exhibit at Greenville's Artisphere 2023. The STEAM approach integrates several steam educational disciplines. It provides an opportunity to promote a more holistic education that celebrates creativity, innovation, problem-solving skills, and well-being. A Delta X robot was purchased to demonstrate the synergy between art and engineering; concepts in robotics (especially for serial robot manipulators) such as kinematics, dynamics, coordinate transformation, and trajectory planning are demonstrated through pen and laser engraved artwork. The project includes the hardware assembly and programming of a Delta X Robot, troubleshooting, and developing demonstrations that highlight the use of open and closed-loop control principles. The G-code programming language (i.e., RS-274) used to control the end effector and the inverse kinematics interpreted from that code will be presented. Students visiting "Robotics, The Future is Now" can interact with the robot and learn how modifying key parameters of the robot's performance can impact the artwork produced. Students will take away some form of art drawn by the robot. Important aspects of this research project shall be to educate and expose students interested in STEM disciplines through "hands-on" learning. |
160 |
Robotics Extending Creative Reach into the Artistic Paradigm |
Callie Burnett-Rodgers - Political Sciencecaburne Sean Lee - Mechanical Engineeringyuhsial Jack Lin - Computer Engineeringjlin8 |
Hubert Riley - Mechanical Engineeringbriley2 |
| 161 |
The Pearl Darter Percina aurora (family Percidae) is one of several minute fishes native to river systems in Louisiana and Mississippi (United States), and is categorized as endangered and threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. This study reports, for the first time, assembled and characterized in detail the mitochondrial genome of P. aurora and examined the phylogenetic position of P. aurora amongst cofamilial species using mitochondrial protein-coding genes (PCG's). The mitochondrial genome of P. aurora is 16,646 bp in length and comprises 13 protein coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rrnS [12s ribosomal RNA] and rrnL [16s ribosomal RNA]). A 33 bp long region was identified to be the origin of replication for the light strand (OL), and a putative non-coding control region (CR), 987 bp in length, contains the origin of replication for the heavy strand (OH). All of the rRNA genes, the majority of the PCG's, and the majority of the tRNA genes are encoded on the positive, or heavy, strand. The gene order in P. aurora is identical to that previously reported for confamilial species. All tRNAs exhibit a cloverleaf secondary structure except tRNA-Serine 1 that lacked the D-arm loop. An analysis of Ka/Ks ratios for all the PCG's show values ≤1, suggesting that all these PCG's experience strong purifying selection. This genomic resource developed for P. aurora will aid in our understanding of population genomics and assist in the protection and maintenance of diminishing populations. |
161 |
Characterization of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Pearl Darter Percina aurora |
Preston Harrison - Biological Sciencesphharri |
Juan Antonio Baeza Migueles - Biological Sciencesjbaezam |
| 163 |
Madracis myriaster, also known as fluted finger coral, is a foundational member of deep-sea ecosystems, occupying depths of 350 to 1,200 meters in the Colombian Caribbean and the Tropical Western Atlantic. As a member of the order Scleractinia, this species of coral possesses a supportive skeleton that allows it to fill a niche as one of the primary reef-building species of this region, contributing to high diversity ecosystems. Despite being a common species in deep marine habitats, M. myriaster is difficult to identify and distinguish from other congeneric species due to its wide range of morphological growth patterns. This creates the need for genomic resources for the identification and conservation of this species. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of M. myriaster was characterized. Analysis revealed that the mitochondrial genome is 17,044 base pairs in length and encodes for 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), two transfer RNAs, two ribosomal genes, and a group I intron that bisects the nad5 gene. Codon usage analysis showed a significant preference for codons with adenine or thymine in the third codon position in comparison to guanine or cytosine. All PCGs in the mitochondrial genome were found to be under purifying selection with cob under the strongest purifying selection while nad3 was under the weakest. The secondary structure of the transfer RNAs were visualized, which revealed intact cloverleaf structures. Using the protein coding genes detected in the mitochondrial genome, M. myriaster was phylogenetically classified as a sister species of Madracis mirabilis and as part of a clade that is sister to the genera Pocillopora, Stylophora, and Seriatopora. This research serves as a step in better understanding the biology of deep-sea corals like M. myriaster and provides a genomic resource for future conservation efforts of this species. |
163 |
Complete Mitochondrial Genome Characterization and Phylogenetic Placement of Madracis myriaster, a Deep-Sea Reef-Building Coral |
Joshua Tucker - Microbiologyjdtucke |
Juan Antonio Baeza Migueles - Biological Sciencesjbaezam |
| 165 |
The ocean is in trouble and needs our help. Our SVF Creative Inquiry team studies how a marine science outreach program can raise awareness and empathy in elementary school children. We compared children's assessment drawings of what the ocean looks like before and after attending our interactive STEAM exhibit. We hypothesize the children attending our program will show an increased interest in STEM careers, association of humans as part of the ocean, awareness of the risk oceans face, through inclusion of elements from our STEAM exhibit in their post program drawings. CI team members scored each drawing using an authenticated codebook and averaged three separate evaluations. Younger children (first & second grades) included humans and human artifact statistically more often in drawings after attending the program. Post-drawings included elements from our exhibits including sea turtles, bleached corals, and the Aquarius Underwater Habitat for all grades. Fifth graders recognized the risks to oceans, even before attending the program, whereas younger children increased their awareness of risks to the ocean after attending the program. Surprisingly, careers interests in STEM did not change after attending the program for any grade. We conclude that our program does increase ocean literacy and empathy for our next generation by offering solutions to solve our planet's greatest challenges. This project was funded by the SC Arts Commission, SC Sea Grant Consortium, NASA SC Space Grant Consortium and Clemson Creative Inquiry. |
165 |
A Deep Dive into Something Very Fishy: Impacts of a Marine Science Outreach Program |
Amanda Brewer - Biological Sciencesapbrewe Alexandra Cymbal - Microbiologyacymbal Sabrina Fernandez - Chemistrysferna3 Ashley Gambrell - Biological Sciencesagambr2 Genevieve Hoffman - Biological Sciencesghoffm2 Kristina Kirkland - Environmental and Natural Resourceskirkla8 Michael Koser - Biological Sciencesmkoser Ward Mccurry - Biological Scienceswmccurr James Mcdonald - Economicsjamcdon Emma Snodgrass - Biological Sciencesesnodgr Sarah Wehmueller - Animal and Veterinary Scienceswehmue Marilize Cornwell - Animal and Veterinary Sciencemarilic Dillon Ellis - Biological Sciencesdjellis Madison Fortin - Biological Sciencesmfortin Kelly Medina - Biological Sciencesmedina5 Allison Rambo - Environmental and Natural Resourcesamrambo Adelaide Thomas - Biological Sciencesadelait |
Michael Childress - Biological Sciencesmchildr |
| 168 |
What are the challenges of resettlement for refugees, and what does holistic, supportive refugee resettlement look like? How can the larger community address and mitigate some of the challenges of resettlement? Our CI studies humanities-based approaches to the complex issues of migration, displacement, and refugee resettlement and pairs that study with a community-based approach to resettlement support.Our overall goal is to design and launch the Every Campus a Refuge at Clemson initiative as part of a nationwide higher Ed initiative that sees colleges and universities as part of the solution to the challenges of refugee resettlement. Our poster presentation will share how ECAR at Clemson envisions the university's educational and land-grant mission in its plan to provide resettlement support while offering transformative learning opportunities for students. The CI team worked with local community members and partners to identify, design, and implement projects to promote and enhance supportive resettlement. We will spotlight some of our projects on campus and with the local resettlement agency and share some of our findings, which trace complex relationships between refugee resettlement in the United States and the struggles for freedom, equity, and justice more broadly. |
168 |
Refugee Resettlement and the Every Campus a Refuge Model |
Sara Alkelani - Political Sciencesalkela Angela Morkos - Food Science and Human Nutritionamorkos Turner Prewitt - Englishturnerp |
Angela Naimou - Englishanaimou |
| 169 |
The versatility of intermolecular interactions based on halogen bonding is explored in this CI project. Halogen bonding is somewhat akin to hydrogen bonding, where the anisotropic distribution of electron density on a halogen atom can enable electrostatically attractive interactions between halogen atoms acting as halogen bond donors (electron pair acceptors) on one molecule and other atoms (halogens, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, etc.) acting as halogen bond acceptors (electron pair donors) on a neighboring molecule. These intermolecular interactions direct the assembly of molecules in halogen-containing materials and can influence the properties of these materials, including such fundamental properties as the state of matter. This CI particularly examines the role of halogen bonding in the formation of solid cocrystals versus deep eutectic solvents where organoiodine molecules provide a scaffold for halogen bonding. By pairing these organoiodines with other neutral molecules or halide salts, the synthesis of cocrystalline or liquid products is explored. The systems examined contain a variety of I···I, I···S, I···N, and I···O interactions. These are characterized structurally in the case of cocrystalline solids, and by thermal analysis techniques for the liquids to determine their potential as deep eutectic solvents. Herein we demonstrate a new class of deep eutectic solvents based on organoiodine molecules and triiodide salts, as well as numerous novel crystal structures. By cataloguing the nature and strength of the resulting halogen bonding interactions, the work contributes empirical benchtop data to developing AI algorithms that may offer predictive capability toward the formation of new deep eutectic solvents. |
169 |
Deep Eutectic Solvents based on Halogen Bonding for Energy Applications and as Tunable Reaction Media |
Madhushi Bandara - Chemistrymbandar Maryelle Nyeck - Chemistrymnyeck Audrey Gasque - Biological Sciencesagasque Eliza Haines - General Engineeringehaines Victoria Critchley - Biological Sciencesvjcritc Vanessa Gonzalez - Chemistryvgonza2 Connor Hudson - Chemistrychudso6 Taylor Lee - Chemistrytrlee Connor Nee - Biological Sciencescnee Lauren Shaw - Biochemistryleshaw |
Colin McMillen - Chemistrycmcmill William T Pennington Jr - Chemistrybillp |
| 170 |
The most common substance use problem in the US is alcohol use disorder (AUD), and research has shown that AUD and anxiety disorders are frequently comorbid. Both AUD and anxiety may be associated with the cognitive phenomena known as Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU), which refers to the predisposition to respond negatively to uncertainty on an emotional, cognitive, and behavioral level. This study examines decision-making under uncertainty (IU), anxiety sensitivity (AS), and people with AUD compared to healthy controls. Participants are divided into a control or patient (AUD) group after an eligibility assessment is complete. Thereafter, qualified subjects (N = 61) finish a one-session lab experiment in which they complete decision-making tasks and surveys about their anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and drinking habits. First, we hypothesized that people with AUD would have higher AS and IU levels. Second, we hypothesized that in the AUD group, the association between AS and IU would be stronger. The results suggest that individuals with higher anxiety sensitivity are more likely to experience intolerance of uncertainty compared to individuals with lower anxiety sensitivity, while also finding that AUD status and delayed discounting had no significant effect on intolerance to uncertainty. The research also suggests a strong positive relationship between anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty in individuals with AUD. However, in healthy controls (people without AUD), this relationship was not significant, meaning that being sensitive to anxiety did not have a big effect on how well they could handle uncertainty. |
170 |
Examining the Interaction between Alcohol Use and Anxiety Sensitivity on Intolerance of Uncertainty |
Hanna Campbell - Biochemistryhcampb2 Caroline Kelley - Psychologycwk2 |
Kaileigh Byrne - Psychologykaileib |
| 171 |
Urban environments are responsible for the majority of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. It is important to quantify the emissions that stem from human activity to determine their environmental impact. A study was conducted on the campus of Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina at the intersection of Perimeter Road and Cherry Road from August 15th, 2022, until January 1st, 2023. Using an eddy covariance system that quantifies CO2 flux, the average pounds of CO2 produced per day at this intersection were measured. To differentiate between natural background fluxes and anthropogenic fluxes, a baseline needed to be established. The days chosen to represent the natural background were Sundays. These days typically have greatly reduced traffic activity due to being a weekend. Sundays with flawed data due to rain events or unusual anthropogenic activity (i.e., football game weekends) were excluded. The difference between the Sunday emissions and daily emissions was an average of 1611 lbs of CO2 per day. This is the equivalent of 14,000 ft3 of CO2 at atmospheric pressure produced at the intersection every day. This would fill a 40 ft by 40ft room with an 8.5ft ceiling. The Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator created by the USEPA was used to interpret this in terms of gallons of gasoline burned within the area of data collection. Using the fuel economy of the average automobile in the United States, the amount of CO2 produced was equivalent to 10,941 gallons of gasoline consumed within this intersection over the study period (the fall of 2022) and translated to 82 gallons of gasoline consumed at the intersection each day. |
171 |
Quantifying CO2 Emissions at a Clemson Campus Intersection |
Riley McDonald - Geologyrmcdon3 Fish Belk - Geologycdbelk Jackson Duncan - Geologyjkdunca Abby Gilfillan - Geologyagilfil Ian Matthews - Geologyimatthe |
Scott E Brame - Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciencesbrames |
| 173 |
Various bacteria are considered probiotics for the human body. These have been marketed as dietary supplements to improve overall human gut health. These microorganisms provide many benefits to their host organism but are subject to changes in activity based on stressors present in the host's environment. One potential stressor to the host's gut environment is food consumed in their everyday diet. Two significant components of the human diet are artificial sweeteners and various fats, which bile salts must break down. This study aims to better understand the interactions between probiotic microorganisms with both artificial sweeteners and bile salt hydrolase activity. In order to understand these interactions, we have employed the use of dilution plating of various probiotic yogurts, both with and without artificial sweeteners. In vitro growth assays were performed under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions to investigate probiotic bacterial growth. The growth of these organisms was compared to our model strains of L. reuteri (MM4-1A, SD2112, and PRB241) to test the effects of artificial sweetener and bile salt-supplemented media. A better understanding of dietary supplements on the growth of the gut microbiome has the potential to aid in the understanding of numerous illnesses and how to pursue potential therapies. |
173 |
Carbohydrate and Bile-salt Utilization of Probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri in the Human Body |
Erin Chard - Animal and Veterinary Scienceecchard Abby Fulmer - Biological Sciencesamfulme Caroline Palmentiero - Microbiologycpalmen Laurel Taylor - Microbiologylaurelt Julia Morgan - Biological Sciencesjmmrgn |
Kristi Whitehead - Biological Scienceskwhiteh |
| 174 |
Despite increased interest in diversity training in organizations, diversity training is not always effective at improving representation and inclusion of stigmatized employees. Our studies explore how the framing of diversity training shapes prospective employees' perceptions of organizations. We used experimental methods to explore three different ways companies might frame diversity training via their company websites. We developed three experiments using the same paradigm, wherein participants viewed the company website and diversity and inclusion web pages as if they were potential employees. The experiments focused on impetus for the training (proactive vs. reactionary), the framing of training (diversity training vs. empathy training), and the anticipated outcomes of the training (numerical representation vs. inclusion). After viewing the website stimuli, participants responded to questions about their perceptions of the company. A secondary study was conducted which aimed to determine antecedents and manifestations of backlash to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the workplace. We used a survey-based method to ask open-ended questions about the most common forms of backlash DEI professionals experience, as well as quantitative measures to assess the relative frequency of various forms of backlash currently defined in the academic literature. Responses collected will be used to define backlash and to better understand its antecedents. Data collection for this project is still in progress. |
174 |
Diversity Training: The Impacts of Framing and Backlash |
Iyana Birtha - Managementibirtha Maddie Brancato - Psychologymgbranc Precious Breeland - Biological Sciencespbreela Maria Del Mastro - Psychologymdelmas Lauren Desing - Psychologyldesing Alyssa Lander - Psychologyahlande Nneoma Madubuike - Biological Sciencesnmadubu |
Allison Traylor - Psychologyamtrayl Lizzie Bell - Psychologylizzieb |
| 175 |
Tenebroides is a genus of bark-gnawing beetles (Coleoptera: Trogossitidae) that contains about 150 species world-wide. Species identification is challenging because it relies on qualitative external morphological characters. A preliminary species list of North American Trogossitidae was compiled by J. R. Barron in 1971, and no updated lists have been created. No species list exists for Tenebroides in South Carolina. Approximately 300 Tenebroides specimens housed in the Clemson University Arthropod Collection were identified to species and databased. Here we present a species list of Tenebroides for South Carolina and an updated key to species. |
175 |
Tenebroides ?(Trogossitidae) Beetles of South Carolina |
Nikolai Artley - Environmental and Natural Resourcesnartley Ben Burdette - Biological Sciencescaburde |
Michael Ferro - Plant and Environmental Sciencesmferro |
| 176 |
Genetic diseases represent a global burden, yet current treatments are limited to addressing patient symptoms instead of treating the cause. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9), a gene editing tool for a targeted DNA sequence, has shown potential as a curative treatment. To overcome limitations with delivering CRISPR-Cas9, we investigate the use of self-assembling polymer-based nanoparticles (polymersomes) as an effective encapsulation method and delivery system for the Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) to allow for non-viral gene-editing across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Polyethylene glycol and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PEG-PLGA) polymersomes were synthesized through film rehydration, optimized using sonication and filtration, and characterized through dynamic light scattering (DLS). A positive charge, TAT peptide, was added to enhance endocytosis and endosomal escape. Human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293-GFP, contains a green fluorescence protein (GFP) where cells received treatments with increasing RNP concentrations. Electroporation supported the effectiveness of RNP in GFP knockdown.Gene editing was measured using fluorescence microscopyand quantified using flow cytometry. Treatment of HEK293-GFP cells showed 64% fluorescent knockdown after 72-hour incubation. All polymersomes had an average size of 84.35nm ± 9.63nm with an average PDI of 0.19 ± 0.03. Encapsulation efficiency of RNP, determined through bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay, had an average loading of 5μg ± 1μg. In conclusion, RNP was effective in fluorescent knockdown. Future studies include intracellular delivery of encapsulated RNP and in vivo testing to confirm fluorescent knockdown in Zebrafish. Acknowledgments: NIH Center for Biomedical Excellence (COBRE) in Human Genetics and Clemson's Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research program |
176 |
Delivery of Cas9 via Polymersomes for Gene Knockdown in HEK293-GFP Cells |
Caroline Argenti - Biochemistryctargen Angelina Harley - Geneticsaeharle Caroline Ennis - Geneticsccennis Vaishnavi Kanduri - Bioengineeringvkandur Danielle LaVigne - Geneticsdalavig |
Jessica Larsen - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringlarsenj Chlo Forenzo - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringcforenz |
| 183 |
Abiotic stresses, such as salinity, drought, heat, cold and nutritional deficiency, are the major limiting factors for plant growth and development, significantly impacting crop production. It is therefore critical to develop effective strategies to genetically modify plants for improved performance under environmental stresses. Novel biotechnology approaches to genetically engineer stress resistance in crop species play an increasingly important role in sustainable modern agriculture. Currently, many genes encoding functional proteins, transcription factors, signaling molecules and small RNAs have been identified to regulate plant responses to abiotic stresses. Manipulation of these genes in transgenic plants has led to enhanced stress tolerance in different crops. In this project, we have adopted similar strategies in an agriculturally and environmentally important perennial crop plant, creeping bentgrass, evaluating candidate genes for their use in genetically engineering turfgrass for improved abiotic stress resistance. Specifically, we focus on genes that encode enzymes involved in epitranscriptomic RNA methylation in plants. To this end, we have been investigating how a human demethylase gene FTO, when introduced into creeping bentgrass, would impact plant development and stress responses. We also have been investigating different miRNA genes in regulating stress responses in creeping bentgrass. Currently, transgenic lines harboring several candidate genes of interest have been generated and analyzed under various abiotic stress conditions. The information obtained from this research will lead to the development of novel biotechnology approaches for crop improvement, contributing to enhancing agricultural production. |
183 |
Plant Biotechnology for use in Crop Genetic Improvement |
Andrew Fiorentino - Biological Sciencesfiorent Morgan Kuess - Biochemistrymkuess Annalise Enger - Chemical Engineeringaenger Lilli Hicks - Chemistrylihicks Emma Jensen - Psychologyejense3 Olivia Mathis - Englishomathis |
Xiaotong Chen - Genetics and Biochemistryxiaotoc Hong Luo - Genetics and Biochemistryhluo |
| 184 |
Turfgrass and switchgrass are among the most important perennial grasses significantly impacting agriculture production, agriculture economy, sustainable energy and environment. Like in many row crops, genetic engineering of both switchgrass and turfgrasses using transgenic technologies offers the opportunity to incorporate many economic and agronomic benefits that are difficult or impossible to achieve through traditional breeding techniques. However, the risk of transgene escape and the unforeseen environmental consequence by the use of transgenic technology in perennial grasses require development of strategies for transgene containment. We have developed and been evaluating an integrated approach that combines a dual site-specific recombination system and total sterility induction mechanisms for transgene containment and removal in turfgrass and switchgrass, producing transgenic products self-contained for desirable transgene, but free of undesirable foreign DNAs. Two transgenic lines of switchgrass and creeping bentgrass have been produced to express two different chimeric gene constructs. When the two transgenic lines are cross-pollinated, the hybrids would be total-sterile and free of undesirable DNA, but expressing gene of interest. Currently, two different lines of the transgenic creeping bentgrass generated are being vernalized for flowering and cross-pollinated to produce hybrids for use in evaluating the efficacy of the dual site-specific recombination system for controlled total sterility and gene containment. The system can be adapted for use in different crop species to address transgene escape issue facilitating commercialization of transgenic products. |
184 |
Transgene Containment and Removal in Important Perennial Grasses |
Andrew Fiorentino - Biological Sciencesfiorent Morgan Kuess - Biochemistrymkuess Annalise Enger - Chemical Engineeringaenger Lilli Hicks - Chemistrylihicks Emma Jensen - Psychologyejense3 Olivia Mathis - Englishomathis |
Hong Luo - Genetics and Biochemistryhluo |
| 185 |
Infectious bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens are often treated with antibiotics in a clinical setting. In recent years, the misuse and over prescription of antibiotic drugs has exacerbated the already pressing issue of antibiotic resistant microorganisms. To help mitigate this problem, the Small World Initiative (SWI) has started an initiative focusing on crowdsourcing antibiotics from soil bacteria. Our Clemson Creative Inquiry Research team, along with many other universities, has joined the SWI in order to discover novel antibiotics from soil dwelling bacteria. Soil samples collected around Clemson, South Carolina were analyzed for their microbial contents. Bacteria from these soil samples were isolated and characterized through extensive studies including Gram staining, testing for catalase activity and antibiotic producing capabilities. These tests resulted in 27 promising isolates for antibiotic production from an abundance of samples. Next, the bacteria were identified by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequencing after colony PCR. In total, we obtained 18 unique bacterial species from 11 genera. Their antibiotic substances were extracted through the use of the solvents methanol and ethyl acetate. Going forward, each extracted antibiotic substance will be analyzed through a zone of inhibition assay (ZOI) to determine if the substance is effective against test strains. |
185 |
Extraction Of Antibiotic Compounds From Soil Bacteria |
Marshall Epps - Microbiologymaepps Olivia Ethridge - Psychologyoethrid Eva Fortenberry - Microbiologyeeforte Sara Mata - Biological Sciencessmata Stephanie Randar - Biological Sciencessrandar Zoe Sabbert - Microbiologyzhsabbe |
Min Cao - Biological Sciencesmcao |
| 187 |
The goal of this project is to create a polymersome-based system for targeted delivery of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to enhance detail of CT imaging of glioblastomas, allowing for more precise diagnosis and treatment methods. PEG-PLA and MAL-PEG-PLA polymersomes functionalized with TAT were made and characterized using DLS. Results showed spherical shaped polymersomes (observed by TEM) with a diameter of (114.8 ± 1 nm) and zeta potential of (25.94 ± 2 mV). AuNPs were loaded into polymersomes via dry heat bath at an efficiency of 96.65 ± 0.56%. CT images were taken of AuNPs and AuPs in varying concentrations showing higher intensity images at higher concentrations. U87-MG cells were treated with AuNPs and AuPs at varying concentrations to measure cell viability and cellular uptake. MTS assay showed cell viability above 80% for all concentrations of AuPs.Uptake imaging indicated localization of AuPs, indicating efficient uptake in U87-MG cells. U87-MG Luciferase cells were intracranially injected into mus musculus NCr-Foxn1nu female mice to formGBM tumor models. Injected mice were positive for luciferase one-week post-injection, indicating persistent tumor presentation. These results show that polymersomes synthesized from a 50:50 ratio of PEG-PLA and MAL-PEG-PLA loaded with AuNPs at a concentration of 1 mg/mL enhanced CT imaging and uptake of AuNPs into GBM cells. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Program under NSF Award #OIA-1655740, Clemson's Creative Inquiry Program and the Clemson University Core Incentivized Access initiative. |
187 |
CT Imaging of Gold-Loaded Polymersomes to Detect Glioblastoma Multiforme |
Emily Barnett - Bioengineeringefbarne Isabel Ray - Bioengineeringiaray Pranavi Thatavarthi - Chemical Engineeringsthatav Jasmine White - Bioengineeringjnw5 |
Angela Alexander - Bioengineeringangelaa Jessica Larsen - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringlarsenj Joey Lavalla - General Engineeringjvlaval |
| 188 |
In the Spotlight is a podcast where college students bring awareness to their lived experiences, and the research to help them thrive. The creative process involves both a research and conversational component. Articles are collected, read, and then discussed to assess their relevance to college students; followed by writing a script and recording a podcast episode. A total of nine episodes have been released with over 1,000 plays around the world. It currently serves as a resource for college students as they experience college life. New topics will be explored in the future and podcast episodes will continue to be published to support this initiative. |
188 |
In the Spotlight: A Podcast by Students, for Students by C.C.A.R.E. Special Research Group |
Nathan Brown - Computer Sciencenbrown9 Julia Eustace - Construction Science and Managementjeustac Ashley Larkins - Geneticsaalarki Darin Spitzer - Computer Sciencedarins Terryn Witherspoon - Biological Sciencestwither Aaron Woolfolk - Computer Scienceanwoolf |
Sherece Smith - Honors Programssherecs |
| 191 |
Total joint replacements are widely successful medical implants, but a small percentage fail due to the health condition of the patient, surgical complications, or issues with the implant biomaterials. The goal of the Orthopaedic Implant Retrieval Program (CU-REPRO) is to assess trends injoint replacement failures and critical variables in implant biomaterials and designs. This IRB approved program includes a repository of over 800 explanted joint replacements provided by involved surgeons at the Prisma Health System in Greenville and Columbia and the Medical University of South Carolina. We pursued four key projects in 2022-23. Briefly, the individual project goals are to assess the wear performance of biomaterials and designs used for hip and knee joint replacements (Proejcts 1-3), and to assess potential for bone loss due to the stiffness of hip implant materials and geometries (Project 4). Project 1 hypothesizes that the hardness of new oxinium biomaterials in knee implants results in different wear types than traditional cobal-chrome biomaterials. Project 2 hypothesizes that metal ions released with cobalt-chrome wear induce an adverse immune response when toxic levels are reached and those levels may be detectable with urine-based testing. Project 3 hypothesizes that newly introduced tri-polar hip implant designs do not exhibit the wear and failure modes of previous bi-polar designs. Project 4 hypothesizes that bending stiffness and torsional stiffness calculated along the entire length of hip implant designs varies with geometry and materials.. In summary, CU-REPRO uses hypothesis driven research to understand implant performance, to communicate findings to the scientific and medical community, and to ultimately improve patient outcomes. |
191 |
Orthopaedic Implant Retrieval Program (CU-REPRO) |
Jay Baek - Bioengineeringjbaek Ryan Erminio - Bioengineeringrermini Sam Gmitro - Biochemistrysgmitro Rachel Hillman - Bioengineeringrchillm Dalton Moorrees - Bioengineeringdmoorre Devan Taylor - Bioengineeringdevant Chris Valdin - Bioengineeringcvaldin Alexa Watchinski - Bioengineeringawatchi Delaney Fultz - Bioengineeringdfultz Aidan Abramson - General Engineeringacabram Hailey Mcphail - Bioengineeringhmcphai John D Desjardins - Bioengineeringjdesjar |
Melinda Harman - Bioengineeringharman2 |
| 192 |
Microspeckle patterns are essential in using high resolution digital image correlation (DIC). Patterns can be painted or sprayed in a variety of different ways to promote random speckle patterns. Current methods use a black microspeckle, but this is not useful for analysis on black substrates, such as carbon fiber composites specimens. To increase visibility and consistency of a mark, patterns are derived from an ink layup on an engraved five micron stamp. Several different substances, including oil-based inks, water-based inks, and pigment particles were tested with varying success. The prepared stamps were pressed onto plates of carbon fiber for varying amounts of time and under different amounts of pressure. Through qualitative and quantitative examination, visibility and consistency of the inks was much greater than that of pigments. Some methods to be tested in the future include the use of a glue, epoxy, powder sprinkled onto an adhesive, and dye-based inks. |
192 |
Investigating Microspeckle Stamping on Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composite |
Daniel Voigt - Chemical Engineeringdvoigt Jackson Wiley - Mechanical Engineeringjswiley |
Andrew Cannon - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringahcanno Garrett Pataky - Mechanical Engineeringgpataky |
| 193 |
Age related changes in mobility are a significant factor in longevity and quality of life in older adults. Mobility is directly related to changes in spatial navigation impacted by stimulus complexity in the immediate environment. It is critical to identify changes in spatial navigation due to decline in sensory perception. This research aims to examine cognitive factors, specifically visuospatial working memory,that influence age related changes in mobility. The results will be used to understand ways to reduce fall risk and promote mobility among the aging population. It is expected that modeling mobility behavior based on age and stimulus complexity will help us predict a "mobility" age and address potential fall hazards more effectively.A total of 30-40 participants over the age of 60 will be recruited to take part in this study. Participants will complete a series of memory and visual- spatial tests including the Montreal Cognitive assessment (MOCA) and the Corsi-Block Test. They will also be asked to complete two balance and mobility tasks: walking up and down stairs and a ramp. We predict that older adults with difficulty in visuospatial working memory will also have poorer sensory perception in more challenging environments (stairs compared to ramp). This work has strong potential for understanding how visuospatial working memory, one of the first types of cognition to show age-related decline, is associated with mobility and potentially fall risk. |
193 |
Examining the Relationship between Visuospatial Working Memory and Gait Patterns in Older Adults |
Annie Arendale - Psychologycarenda Erin Mazza - Psychologyemazza |
Kaileigh Byrne - Psychologykaileib |
| 194 |
In a rapidly evolving society, new technologies are at the forefront of expansion within the workplace. This convening of human agents and artificial agents is known as Human Autonomy Teams (HATs). An expansion of research is necessary as humans begin to work alongside agents, with the agent functioning as a teammate rather than technological tool. To function as a teammate, agents need to (1) demonstrate independence and (2) engage in interdependent tasks within the team (O'Neill et al., 2022). That is, agents will need to engage in both taskwork (the actions a team does) and teamwork (how a team interacts with one another; Crawford & LePine, 2013). The goal of this project is to understand if increases in behavioral autonomy of the agent mirror perceptions of the agent as a teammate. We hypothesize that, as autonomy increases and an agent enacts more teamwork behaviors, human perceptions of the agent's teamwork abilities will also increase. To test this, 21 teams of two humans and one agent engaged in a building task. Participants were randomly assigned into two categories: low autonomy (i.e., agent could not function without input from humans) or high autonomy (i.e., agent capable of functioning without input from humans). We measured perceptions of taskwork and four forms of teamwork via a post-survey. Results showed no significant differences between taskwork and teamwork perceptions of agents based on autonomy level, except for the teamwork behaviors of goal specification, t(37) = -2.17, p = .04, and mission analysis, t(37) = 2.20, p = .03. Against our hypothesis, the teamwork perceptions were significantly higher for low autonomy. We speculate that this is due to saliency of interactions between human and agent teams during low autonomy conditions and discuss implications for HATs in practice. |
194 |
Understanding Taskwork and Teamwork Perceptions of Agents in Human-Autonomy Teams |
Sarah Mendoza - Psychologysmendoz |
Sydney Begerowski - Psychologysbegero Marissa Shuffler - Psychologymshuffl |
| 195 |
Many students start gaining or losing interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields around the time they are in middle school. In order to encourage middle school students in STEM, BeakerBox aims to engage 6th-8th graders in the life sciences by keeping science fun and interesting. Our team works to create grade-appropriate, inquiry-based activities and generate in-class resources for teachers. The ultimate goal is to promote the understanding of concepts, science literacy, and excitement about STEM in middle school students. Our activities are based on South Carolina College and Career Ready Science Standards with a strong emphasis on the three-dimensional (3D) model of learning. The 3D learning model combines disciplinary core ideas with crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices to improve science competence. To date, the curriculum design team has generated over 15 student-focused activities, organized as boxes on the topics of adaptation/evolution, cells, ecosystems, the relationship between genotype and phenotype, and mutations. Each lesson box includes 3 to 5 student-focused activities, annotated lesson plan and teacher instructions including 3D learning, extension activities in art and reading, and possible assessment questions. In addition to the curriculum design team, the BeakerBox marketing team works to create the BeakerBox website, promotional materials, and social media pages. The next phase of BeakerBox is to implement these activities within local middle school classrooms starting in Fall 2023, and to measure the effectiveness of our program and activities through student and teacher surveys. |
195 |
BeakerBox: Creating Interactive Boxes in the Life Sciences for Middle School Classrooms |
Mya Beasley - Microbiologymebeasl Courtney Condon - Biological Sciencescmcondo Kate Miller - Geneticskgm8 Hannah Wheeland - Biological Scienceshwheela |
Kara Powder - Biological Scienceskpowder Katherine Freeman - Education and Human Developmentkrfreem |
| 197 |
After decades of U.S. military involvement in the Middle East, the Army is beginning to adjust its operational strategy in order to meet the threats presented by engagement in increasingly complex environments. To effectively face the challenges of an ever-changing, highly complicated operational environment, the United States Army is moving toward a practice of team-based assignment. These teams must be both resilient and adaptable, and personnel selection is made more complicated by a variety of compositional factors. There is a significant lack of academic literature addressing these issues that is based in empirical research that maintains a high level of fidelity to a realistic and operational military environment. Because of this, there is a need for a new experimental team paradigm which provides a more accurate reflection of a militaristic environment to aid the Army in future prospects. The Transportable Experiment for Advancing Mission Simulation (TEAMS) Paradigm was developed to address the concerns of experimental realism without sacrificing the key aspects of laboratory research, including large sample size, control, and observation. This project seeks to understand the function of role designation in leader emergence. Using survey data collected after each of three missions, researchers seek to discern a possible correlation between leadership designation and participant perception of leader emergence. We hypothesize that formal leadership position positively predicts participants' perceptions of a subject's leadership emergence during the experiment. |
197 |
Who's the Leader? Formal Designation and Leader Emergence |
Danielle Schuster - Psychologydschust Carson Goodier - World Cinemacgoodie |
Allison Traylor - Psychologyamtrayl Marlee Johnson - Psychologymarleej Kyle Christenson - Psychologykmc9 Marissa Shuffler - Psychologymshuffl Annamaria Wolf - Psychologyavw |
| 198 |
Everyone has experienced dread at some point in their life, with most people feeling dread on a fairly regular basis. Surprisingly, however, little research has investigated this psychological emotion. The purpose of the current study was to investigate dread, including how people define it, what they dread, and why they dread it. Using a snowball sampling procedure via social media, 211 participants (82% female; 87% Caucasian;Mage = 40.09)completed a survey asking about their experiences with dread.On average, the dreaded event was within several months from the time of completing the survey. All remaining questions were answered using a 5-point response format, with higher numbers indicating more of the construct of interest. Participants indicated that they felt little control over the dreaded event (M = 2.66; SD = 1.15), that they felt a moderate amount of uncertainty about the dreaded event (M = 3.46; SD = 1.19), and that it was unlikely that they could avoid the dreaded event (M = 1.46; SD = 0.97). They expressed that they would feel a great sense of relief when the dreaded event was over (M = 4.01; SD = 1.24). Not surprisingly, respondents (81.5%) indicated that they expected negative outcomes to be associated with the dreaded event; however, an even greater percentage (82.9%) anticipated positive outcomes to be associated with the dreaded event. More than half of the respondents (51.2%) preferred to get the dreaded event over with immediately compared to 32.7% who preferred to delay it; an additional 16.1% indicated no preference. Among the things that people dreaded were work, academics, death, financial matters, and impending medical procedures. The moderating role of individual difference variables in moderating these effects will be examined. This research was sponsored by Clemson Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research program. |
198 |
Psychological Dread |
Lyndsey Brewer - Criminal Justicelbrewe2 Katie Burzin - Communicationkburzin Kelly Evans - Psychologykkevans Madalynne Gagne - Criminal Justicemadalyg Hannah Korson - Psychologyhkorson Gabriela Mochizuki - Biological Sciencesgmochiz Aspen Ridder - Geneticsaridder Natalie Cote - Psychologyncote Morgan Dowd - Psychologymedowd Blake Rimmer - Psychologyblakelr |
Robin Kowalski - Psychologyrkowals |
| 200 |
Birds evolved during the Mesozoic from theropod dinosaurs. Aves is the only living clade of dinosaurs with >10,000 extant species. Birds are the most diverse and successful vertebrate group. They exhibit unique morphological characteristics, such as multiple fusion regions within the spine. The synsacrum has largely been ignored as a characteristic to explore the evolution of birds and their remarkable diversity. We aim to fill this gap in knowledge. Through comparative vertebral formula counts, we will phylogenetically map synsacral diversity against the timeline of bird diversification. The synsacrum is a section of fused spine with variable numbers of posterior dorsal (thoracic and lumbar) and sacral vertebrae. Based on fate mapping, Hox gene expression, and vertebral morphology, the Chapman lab can distinguish between sacral and sacralized caudal vertebrae. Sacralized caudals are tail-derived elements incorporated into the synsacrum in Ornithuromorphs around 125 Mya during a long-to-short tail transition. We are reassessing the synsacral formula for extant bird orders using visual inspection, photography, x-ray, and microCT imaging. For example, Gallus gallus, the domestic chicken, has one thoracic, four lumbar, four sacral, and six sacralized caudal vertebrae (15 total). The skeletal specimens used are from the Clemson University Bob & Betsy Campbell Museum of Natural History, the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, and the Field Museum of Chicago. Our comparative vertebral formula analysis indicates significant variations within the synsacrum of modern birds, particularly between avian orders with distinct habitats, diets, and lifestyles. This data suggests that phylogenetic relationship analysis of comparative vertebral formula counts will enhance understanding of extant bird diversity and evolution. |
200 |
Synsacral Vertebral Formula as a Measure of Avian Diversity and Evolution |
Abbegail King - Geologyabbegak Andrea Gaynor - Biological Sciencesamgayno |
Susan Chapman - Biological Sciencesschapm2 |
| 201 |
We engineer solutions to biomedical problems related to low-resource healthcare. Multiple groups work in parallel separate projects. The first project aims to develop a mask to filter out car pollutants in highly congested cities to mitigate respiratory disease. Currently we are working on a pump system to simulate human breathing to test air flow through the chosen filter.The "Kifua Pampu" is a novel breast pump aimed towards preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child during feeding, as well as extending the shelf life of the breast milk through killing harmful bacteria and microbes. We are experimenting with different materials and particles that would work to inactivate the HIV in the milk.A final, new group starting this semester is seeking to make a low-cost, low-power, wearable ECG to detect cardiac arrhythmias through constant monitoring. |
201 |
Designing Medical Technology for the Developing World |
Jade Bowers - Bioengineeringjade8 Kaitlyn Cimney - Bioengineeringkecimne Emma Harrington - Bioengineeringegh2 Ian Holmgren - Bioengineeringiholmgr Allison Jacob - Bioengineeringavjacob Sarah Meredith - Psychologysemered Isabelle Museck - Bioengineeringimuseck Kendall Winston - Bioengineeringkrwinst |
Delphine Dean - Bioengineeringfinou John D DesJardins - Bioengineeringjdesjar Melinda Harman - Bioengineeringharman2 |
| 202 |
Temperature influences the rate of growth and maturity in aquatic animals. In order to better understand its effect, we sampled two common fish taxa, green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) and bluegill sunfish (L. macrochirus), along an existing temperature gradient in Lake Keowee created by the Oconee Nuclear Station (elevated temperature) and the Jocassee Dam (reduced temperature) during the spring of 2023. We are utilized backpack electrofishing, and analyzed fish weight, gonadal mass, and age to assess differences in growth rate and maturity between the two species and two sites. At this time, samples are still being processed, but we have two main expectations: First we hypothesize that those fish sampled from the elevated temperature site will grow faster and be reproductively mature at a younger age relative to those caught in cooler water. Second, we expect that green sunfish, which are invasive in Lake Keowee, to grow faster and reproduce sooner than the native bluegill, results which would help explain green sunfish's success as an invasive species. These questions allow for ecologists to better understand the effect of temperature on aquatic systems, which is critical for forecasting the effects of climate change. We acknowledge and thank Clemson's Creative Inquiry program for supporting this research. |
202 |
The Effect of Temperature on Sunfish Development |
Brittany Darrington - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologybdarrin Kathryn Lusk - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyktlusk Caroline Mackie - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologycgmacki Brittney Mccall - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologybpmccal |
Joseph Mruzek - Forestry and Environmental Conservationjmruzek Luke Bower - Forestry and Environmental Conservationlmbower |
| 203 |
In the Woodland Cemetery and African American Burial Ground Historic Preservation Project at Clemson University, we researched and created a virtual tour of the cemetery on campus in ArcGIS Storymaps. We conducted archival research at Clemson Special Collections and analyzed primary sources, engaged in conversations with different communities invested in the project, gave in-person tours of the cemetery, thought critically about campus and local history, and developed skills in communication and digital media. The resulting tour is publicly available online and features an interactive map, videos, oral history audio clips, primary sources, and reflection questions to provide a fuller narrative of the cemetery's multilayered history. |
203 |
Woodland Cemetery and African American Burial Ground Virtual Tour |
Virginia Edlund - Anthropologyvedlund Demetra Karres - Architecturedkarres Rose Keller - Pan African Studiesdellin3 Lauren Magnani - Historylamagna Alexis Thomas - Historyakt8 JoNell Usher - Special Studentjusher |
Sara Collini - History and Geographycollini Rhondda Thomas - Englishrhonddt |
| 204 |
Teeth serve as a direct interface between predator and prey, helping us understand the evolutionary history and ecological diversity of vertebrates. Previous research suggests a general correlation exists between tooth surface complexity and diet in both mammal and reptile dentitions. This work has established that land animals with herbivorous diets generally have higher tooth complexity. However, fishes represent nearly half of all vertebrate diversity and demonstrate an incredible range of feeding morphology, but their dentition remains vastly under-studied. This leaves a substantial gap in our understanding of vertebrate diversification. To help fill this knowledge gap, we ask the following question: How does diet relate to tooth complexity in coral reef fishes? We make the prediction that herbivorous reef fishes will exhibit more complex tooth surfaces than non-herbivorous fishes, following the patterns established in mammals and reptiles. Using a phylogenetic comparative framework and previously established dietary categories, we tested our prediction in two species-rich and ecologically diverse families of reef fishes, wrasses and damselfishes. Tooth complexity analyses were conducted using microCT scans and an established tooth complexity metric, Orientation Patch Count Rotated (OPCR). Preliminary results reveal that tooth complexity is correlated with diet in reef fishes, with herbivores generally demonstrating the highest overall tooth complexity. This suggests that the functional demands of eating plant material imposes consistent selective pressures towards higher tooth complexity in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. This research is sponsored by grants from Clemson University, the Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research program, the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology and the Society of Systematic Biologists. |
204 |
The Relationship Between Tooth Complexity and Diet in Coral Reef Fishes |
Lanier Nelson - Biological Sciencesdln Phong Tran - Biological Sciencesphongt |
Samantha Price - Biological Sciencessprice6 Keiffer Williams - Biological Scienceskeiffew |
| 205 |
Laser powder bed fusion [LPBF] is a form of additive manufacturing that offers substantial promise in a wide range of engineering applications. However, methods for achieving consistent and desired microstructures for parts have yet to be established. Recent experimental studies suggest the use of spatially extended laser beam profiles as a strategy to control materials microstructures in LPBF. Herein, we employ a coupled thermal transport-Monte Carlo model to quantitatively predict the evolution of temperature fields and grain microstructures during LPBF using Gaussian, ring, and Bessel beams. Simulation results across the parameter spaces of each beam provide insights into the geometries and temperatures of melt pools and reveal optimal processing windows. Comparing processing windows demonstrates that beam shaping strategies yield lower peak temperatures compared to the commonly used Gaussian beam. Within the processing windows, microstructural characteristics between different beam types also show vast differences in grain volume, number, and sphericity. Our studies provide evidence that beam shaping is a viable means to expand the process parameter space and control the formation of microstructures, and thus the final properties of parts, during LPBF. |
205 |
The Effect of Laser Beam Shaping on Operating Windows in Metal Additive Manufacturing |
Giovanni Orlandi - Mechanical Engineeringgiovano Daniel Moore - Mechanical Engineeringrdmoore |
Fadi Abdeljawad - Mechanical Engineeringfabdelj |
| 207 |
Intravenous (IV) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been used as cancer treatments for years and their prevalence is growing. In order to utilize mAb treatments they must be extremely pure to avoid any contamination and infection that may arise from the IV route of transmission. A major step in the mass-scale production of mAbs is protein-A adsorption chromatography columns. However, this purification process requires large columns with a high quantity of protein-A resin, which is expensive, time inefficient, and needs to be replaced frequently. To combat these restrictions, recent studies have been conducted to discover less expensive and quicker ways of purifying antibody treatments. Our hypothesis involves the tagging of monoclonal antibodies with the phase-separating proteins of mCherry-SH3 and eGFP-PRM. These proteins create a liquid-liquid equilibrium that when in combination with centrifugation, could easily isolate the antibodies from other contaminants. We first obtained plasmids with both genes of interest and designed primers for both, in order to use them in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). PCR was done to purify the genes of interest out of the plasmid and amplify that specific region of DNA to be cloned into the bacterial expression vector PQLinkHD. The new bacterial expression plasmid will then be transfected into BL21-competent cells and cultured. The expressed proteins will be purified in order to isolate the SH3 and PRM proteins from the mixture using Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC). Once both proteins have been isolated, they will be put into a mixture to observe if they create the liquid-liquid equilibrium and separation that we expect. The final step of this project will be to use PRM as a tag on the end of a monoclonal antibody, while SH3 is added into the solution in order to isolate the antibody for further testings. |
207 |
Purifying Monoclonal Antibody Therapeutics with Phase Separation |
Emma Stockton - Biochemistryemstock Isabella Zarzaca - Biological Sciencesizarzac Abigail Shrader - Biological Sciencesanshrad Vivian Knighten - Biological Sciencesvknight Madeline McCarthy - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringmemccrt |
Marc Birtwistle - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringmbirtwi |
| 208 |
Increases in the frequency and scale of wildfires across the American West has resulted in heightened risk for agricultural producers and wildlife habitat. Consequently, the use of management interventions such as timber thinning are implemented to mitigate potential for catastrophic wildfires. There is little information, however, on how thinning influences the quality of forage available for livestock and wildlife. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a long-term study to evaluate the influence timber thinning and the presence of wildfire on the nutrient composition among the vegetation community in the Bull Mountains of Montana. In June-July of 2022, we established five sampling plots within four different treatments (i.e., thinned-burned, thinned-unburned, unthinned-burned, and unthinned-unburned) and used a quadrat method to collect vegetation samples within four 1 meter sub-plots in each treatment plot (N=20 per treatment). We transported samples to Clemson University labs in the fall of 2022 and analyzed them for percent dry matter, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content, acid detergent fiber (ADF) content, nitrogen (i.e., crude protein) content, and lignin content. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test for differences in each nutritional variable among our four treatments and used post hoc tests to identify inter-group differences. We found significant differences in the amount of crude protein and lignin among our treatments where thinned-burned areas yielded the highest crude protein and lowest lignin content, and unthinned-unburned areas had the lowest protein content and highest lignin content. Our results highlight the value of management tools such as thinning and prescribed fire for increasing the quality of forage for livestock and wildlife while simultaneously reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire. |
208 |
Nutrient Composition of Herbaceous Vegetation Following Thinning and Wildfire in the Bull Mountains of Montana |
Kira Maier - Animal and Veterinary Sciencekmaier Jocelyn Wood - Environmental and Natural Resourcesjocely5 |
Keifer Titus - Forestry and Environmental Conservationktitus David Jachowski - Forestry and Environmental Conservationdjachow |
| 209 |
Rock, water, and life coalesce in a region that spans from the treetops down to the bedrock. This region is called the critical zone (CZ). The landscape that we can see above ground is shaped by what happens below the surface. Deep in the CZ, hard bedrock is broken down into weathered rock. This weathered rock is generally softer and better at storing and transporting water than solid bedrock and is an important source of water for people and other living things. Closer to the surface, rock breaks down further to become soil and provides nutrients for plant roots. What happens at depth impacts what happens at the surface, but it is challenging to make predictions about the subsurface without direct observations. Traditionally, digging and drilling are used to directly sample underground, but this can be expensive, invasive, and leave knowledge gaps in the space between boreholes. This research group seeks to image and model the structure of the CZ with geophysical methods. Geophysical tools, including ground-penetrating radar and seismic refraction, allow observation of CZ structures without disturbing the landscapes we seek to study. By targeting specific physical properties, such as the ability of materials to hold an electric charge and the velocity of seismic waves as they travel through rock, we can make predictions about subsurface structures. Specifically, our research group has conducted geophysical surveys to map such features as depth to bedrock, fractures within an outcrop, and the distribution of tree roots. The resulting geophysical models complement data collected by traditional drilling and from other scientific disciplines. Geophysical studies are a powerful tool with which we can quantify and characterize the influence of the subsurface on the entire critical zone. |
209 |
Characterizing the Critical Zone with Geophysical Methods |
William Cummings - Geologywhcummi Annalee Chiaviello - Geologyachiavi Luke Cothran - Geologyjlcothr Wade Renard - Geologywrenard |
Scott E Brame - Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciencesbrames |
| 211 |
The purpose of this study was to investigate gene expression from different regions of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) tumor samples comparing African American and Caucasian patients. TNBC is one of the most aggressive subtypes of breast cancer, it is associated with poor prognosis, and this diagnosis leads to poor outcomes. African American TNBC patients have almost double the incidence when compared to Caucasian TNBC patients, and the cause of this disparity is unknown. Previous work in our lab has identified morphological differences in the extracellular matrix (ECM) regions surrounding breast tumors using artificial intelligence (AI) technology when comparing tumor biopsy samples from these two racial groups. TNBC patient samples were laser dissected to obtain four different regions of interest: the center of the tumor, the edge of the tumor next to the ECM, the ECM next to the edge of the tumor, and the ECM as far away from the tumor as possible. All slides were scored with the assistance of a clinical pathologist to confirm tissue cuts were collected from correct regions. Nine genes associated with epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) were selected for rtPCR analysis, and expression data was analyzed in the four regions from each tumor.Additional studies were performed to measure cancer associated fibroblasts (CAF's) using artificial intelligence techniques. The results have indicated significant differences in genes and protein expression in TNBC tumors from African American and Caucasian patients. |
211 |
Investigating Triple Negative Breast Cancer Tumors from African American and Caucasian Patients |
Arden Dailida - Criminal Justiceadailid Zoe Dinkel - Bioengineeringzdinkel Mary Galloway - Microbiologymgallo3 Katherine Joiner - Health Sciencekjoiner Ashley Pankey - Bioengineeringapankey Devon Pytel - Bioengineeringdpytel Pierce Rohlfing - Bioengineeringprohlfi Lindsey M Williams - Health Sciencelmw7 Emerald Withers - Biological Scienceswithers |
Heather Dunn - Bioengineeringwalkerd |
| 212 |
The phenomenon of self-heating in materials with high dissipation energies such as polymers and polymer composites under vibrational, cyclic loading can lead to a catastrophic failure known as a "heat explosion". The prediction of safe levels of temperature increase is essential for secure and safe working conditions of materials. The properties of many polymer materials are significantly dependent on temperature, thus emphasizing the importance of considering heat generation due to the influence of mechanical vibrations. The program is based on models predicting stress-induced heat increases for viscoelastic materials under cyclical loading conditions. The experimental program on creep at ambient and elevated temperatures was designed by testing polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and was implemented jointly with the Mechanical Engineering Department and was used as a calibration program to obtain the necessary parameters of the model for the thermal viscoelastic mechanical stresses. The modeled data from the experimental testing of PMMA were compared and verified against modeled curves based on data from available literature sources. |
212 |
Analysis of Viscoelastic Behavior and Self-Heating for Materials with High Dissipation |
Chase Rochester - Mechanical Engineeringroches3 Harrison Daley - Electrical Engineeringhdaley Jeremy Lawrence - Mechanical Engineeringjjlawre Isaiah Bennett - General Engineeringijbenne Ethan Hedgepath - Mechanical Engineeringehedgep |
Chase Rochester - Mechanical Engineeringroches3 Sofya Alekseeva - School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciencessalekse Irina Viktorova - School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciencesiviktor |
| 213 |
Cover crops, if chosen properly, can enhance soil health, improve soil water holding capacity, reduce the need for herbicides or cultivation for weed control, and increase the resilience of production systems to extreme weather. To achieve the ecosystem services that cover crops offer, the selection and management practices of cover crops need to be optimized and adapted to specific climatic and edaphic conditions. In this CI project, we are assessing the performance of 20 different varieties of cereal, legume, and brassica cover crops in a field trial conducted at the Piedmont Research and Education Center at Pendleton, SC. Cover crops were planted on 9 November 2022. In mid-February, we collected data on cover crop ground cover and weed cover by visual estimate on percentage scale of cover crop canopy cover and weed canopy cover, respectively; cover crop plant height (by physical measurement of cover crop height with a measuring stick); and biomass. Total biomass that was collected from a 0.25-m2 area from each plot was separated into weed and cover crop biomass. Among the 20 cover crops tested, cereal rye varieties FL405 and FL406 and triticale variety FL08128 were the best cover crops in terms of ground cover, biomass production, and weed suppression. Hairy vetch varieties, AU Early Cover, AU Merit, and Patagonia Inta and crimson clover varieties AU Robin and Kentucky Pride were intermediate performers in terms of the above traits. All brassica cover crops (turnips and radish); balsana, berseem, and red clovers; and common vetch were severely affected by the historical cold weather that SC experienced in December 2022. The results from this study offer useful information for farmers for selecting suitable cover crops in the upstate of SC. |
213 |
Cover Crop Variety Trial in the Upstate of South Carolina |
Patrick Belk - Plant and Environmental Sciencesbelk2 Travis Cooley - Agribusinesstwcoole Christopher Coughlin - Biological Sciencescjcough Tripp Matthews - Agricultural Mechanization and Businessjmatth9 Grace Nammouz - Environmental and Natural Resourcesgnammou |
Ricardo St Aime - Plant and Environmental Sciencesrstaime Sruthi Kutty - Plant and Environmental Sciencesskutty |
| 214 |
The purpose of this study is to analyze trends in the REDDI Lab COVID-19 testing data to reveal health disparities that are present in upstate South Carolina. The data used in this study was derived from the REDDI Lab community test site located at Nettles Park in Clemson, SC. With the goal being to identify trends in upstate South Carolina, this site was selected since the on-campus testing location has samples from students with zip codes around the country. COVID-19 testing rates were particularly high during the Delta and Omicron surges, therefore, the time periods that the testing data was selected were from August 22nd to September 2nd in 2021 (the Delta Variant surge) and from January 10th to January 23rd in 2022 (the Omicron Variant surge). Using Microsoft Excel, the tests from the two surges were analyzed to determine any significant disproportions of COVID-19 contraction based on zip code, county, age, racial background, sex, and pregnancy status. After a full analysis, the main conclusion is that when compared to the PolicyMap database, there are disparities prevalent with race and age, specifically in that Nettles Park is undersampling minority races and oversampling the 5-18 age bracket in the community. |
214 |
Health Disparities in Upstate SC COVID-19 Testing |
Michaela Gonnella - Health Sciencemgonnel Jackson Yeh - Health Sciencejmyeh |
Delphine Dean - Bioengineeringfinou Congyue Peng - Bioengineeringcongyup Austin Smothers - Bioengineeringarsmoth |
| 215 |
Severe intervertebral disc (IVD)degeneration results in significant pain and disability globally. Tissue engineering approachesusing cells and scaffolds to build and regeneratean intact intervertebral discrepresents an up-coming approach to addressIVD degeneration. However, the complexstructure of the IVD is hard to emulate. The goal of this project is to develop a scaffold that exhibits the complexities of the native, intactIVD using abottom-up approach. More specifically, it is hypothesized that decellularization (i.e. removal of cells and DNA)of animalIVDs that have a similarstructure and biochemistry to human IVDscan be used to create a complex acellular scaffold for IVDtissue engineering. Towards this goal, it is important to establish baseline measures of IVD DNA content that will be used to determine if successful decellularization can be achieved. This is the focus of the work herein. Briefly, samples of bovine tail IVDs were obtained from a local abattoir. IVDs were dissected and sectioned into different IVDregions and adjacent vertebral bodies. Small specimens were obtainedfrom each region anddry weights were determined prior to determiningDNA content via PicoGreen Assay and Agarose Gel electrophoresis. Initial results demonstrate DNA content throughout the IVD with differences comparing between different regions andvertebral body bone. The next steps include evaluatingadditional samples to further establish baseline levels of DNA content in the tissues. Subsequently, decellularization methods will be developed and evaluated for their ability to significantly reduce the DNA content in the IVD tissues. In conclusion, methods for evaluating the DNA content of IVD tissues have been developed to assess decellularization efficacy of top-down methods for producing complexIVD scaffolds for tissue engineering. |
215 |
Towards the Decellularization of An Intact Intervertebral Disc Xenograft |
Justin Bian - Bioengineeringjcbian Benjamin Brennan - Bioengineeringbzbrenn Anthony Corrado - Bioengineeringacorrad Morgan Creighton - Biological Sciencesmccreig Jakob Jackson - Bioengineeringjakobj Evan Jones - Biochemistryetj2 Nicholas Kirby - Bioengineeringnmkirby Corrin Pruitt - Bioengineeringcorrinp Marisa Sauls - Bioengineeringmrsauls Margaret Wyman - Bioengineeringmwyman |
Jeremy Mercuri - Bioengineeringjmercur |
| 219 |
As an extracellular parasite,Trypanosoma brucei(T. brucei) readily takes up nutrients from the host's system. One of those nutrients is lipids, including fatty acids. In the mammalian system, one of the ways to acquire exogenous fatty acids is through the synergistic roles of the scavenger protein, CD36, as well as plasma membrane-associated fatty acid binding proteins (FABPpm). FABPpm is identical to the protein family aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT).T. bruceilacks a predicted homolog to CD36; however, our lab discovered thatT. bruceihas two ASAT isoforms: one mitochondrial (Tb927.11.5090) and one cytosolic (Tb927.10.3660), which we have dubbed FABPpm1 and FABPpm2, respectively. To assess the possible fatty acid transport function of these two genes, our lab decided to use a biochemical approach, hypothesizing that one or both of these enzymes may function like the human FABPpm. We will generate two knock-out (KO) constructs, one for each allele, using the pKOJET plasmid system. Once DNA sequencing has generated and confirmed these constructs, we will sequentially introduce the KO plasmids intoT. bruceicells through two rounds of electroporation and antibiotic selection. The resulting single and double-allele KO cell lines will be assessed for growth, morphology, and fatty acid uptake activity. This poster summarizes the work done so far to generate the KO constructs for FABPpm1 and 2, along with introducing the FABPpm2 KO plasmids intoT. bruceicells. These studies will reveal the role(s), if any, of these two candidate fatty acid uptake genes in mediating fatty acid uptake and in cell growth and survival. |
219 |
Gene Construct Assembly for the Biochemical Characterization of Putative Fatty-Acid Binding Proteins in Trypanosoma brucei |
Sunny Ennis - Biochemistrysunnye |
Joshua Saliutama - Genetics and Biochemistryjsaliut Kimberly Paul - Genetics and Biochemistrykpaul |
| 220 |
This research study explores the impact of implicit bias education strategies on first year undergraduate nursing students. Using a mixed-methods design, to explore the study participants' abilities to perceive and understand their own biases, as it relates topatient outcomes.Apretest using the Best Intentions Questionnaire I and Harvard University's Project Implicit Race Implicit Association Test was administered. Study participants attended a ninety (90) minute educational workshop, followed by aposttest. Preliminary results demonstrated that teaching mitigation strategies (such as awareness, mindfulness, and reflection) encouraged understanding of implicit bias and fostered self-awareness of bias. Increasing diverse and equitable patient advocacy skills, defining implicit bias and advocacy within the scope of nursing education, and introducing mitigation strategies to first year undergraduate nursing students may also work to cultivate cultural competency in nursing curricula.Implicit biases (IB), also known as unconscious biases, can lead to subtle nuances, negatively impacting stigmatized patient populations (Schultz & Baker, 2017) Participant surveys consisted of the "Best Intentions Student Questionnaire" with open-ended narrative responses. Qualitative themes identified were uncertainty, denial of bias and inability to communicate about bias. Study findings suggest additional research is needed to explore the benefit of bias education programs in prelicensure undergraduate nursing programs. |
220 |
Investigating the Role of the Nurse Advocate in Addressing Implicit Bias |
Emily Bowen - Nursingeboaz Julia Caggiano - Nursingjcaggia Emilee Green - Nursingehgreen Abby Joyce - Nursingamjoyce Andie Kelley - Nursingandiek Isabella Masters - Nursingimaster Britania Mowatt - Nursingbmowatt Adelaide Nagy - Nursinganagy Lauren Nobles - Nursinglnobles Sophia Pomeroy - Nursingspomero Kori Thompson - Nursingkorit Audrey Varner - Nursingaevarne |
Janice Lanham - School of Nursingjanicel Karyn Jones - School of Nursingkarynj Margaret Wetsel - School of Nursingmwetsel |
| 221 |
To learn how to interpret complex geological structures in the field, you have to be able to see them. In the southeastern part of the US, most of the underlying rock formations are covered by dense vegetation and deep soil horizons that obscure most of the underlying geology. In 2020, this CI will travel to western Oregon to visualize the geologic processes that have shaped the evolution of that dynamic landscape. The western coast of the US is rapidly changing, in geologic time, as the North American plate is shoved into the Pacific plate. This has resulted in volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis. The western half of Oregon is the best place to view this process and to learn how to place the seemingly random geologic pattern into a cohesive context. The guiding philosophy of this research group is to experience firsthand the nature of geologic structures, formations, and landforms by going to where rocks formations can be readily observed. We spend most of our time planning the logistics of these trips and researching specific sites of interest before we go. The research involves determining the geologic setting, significance, and history of these sites. This approach ensures that we maximize our experiential knowledge while on the trip. We hold to the belief that the best geologist is the one who has seen the most rocks. |
221 |
Experiential Learning in Western Oregon |
Christopher Amell - Geologycamell Nicholas Anderson - Geologynbander Jordan Rajcok - Geologyjarajco Elizabeth Small - Geologyecsmall Evelyn Smith - Geologyevelyn3 |
Scott E Brame - Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciencesbrames |
| 222 |
More than 6 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's dementia (AD), and this number is expected to double within the next 25 years. One strategy in preventing the progression of AD may come in the form of early detection and intervention. Motor function has been proposed as a potential early non-cognitive marker of AD; however, it is unclear which aspects of motor function are most strongly linked to cognitive function. Therefore, this study aims to explore relationships between two understudied motor function assessments and cognitive functioning among older adults. Specifically, we intend to investigate whether two measures of upper extremity motor function (i.e., 9-Hole Peg and Finger Tapping) are correlated with any of seven measures of cognitive function across multiple domains (i.e., Digit Symbol Matching, Matrix Reasoning, Multiple Object Tracking, Letter/Number Switching, Trail-Making, Visual Paired Associates Memory and Useful Field of View (UFOV)), in a subsample of older adults enrolled in the Tracking Real-world Activities in Life Study (TRAiLS). Participants (n=32) range in age from 65 to 91 years, (M=70.8, SD=6.0), with the majority identifying as female (76%), white (94%), and having a college degree or higher (76%). Correlation analyses are in-progress. Results of analyses and implications will be presented. Next steps include examining motor-cognitive relationships using additional measures of motor function and including individuals across wider age ranges and more diverse populations. |
222 |
Associations Between Motor and Cognitive Functions in Older Adults |
Ashley Hertzfeld - Psychologyahertzf Madison Pollock - Biological Sciencesmpolloc |
Christine Phillips - Psychologycbphill Lesley Ross - Psychologylaross |
| 223 |
The study and comparison of extinct and living organisms is an important facet of geological research. Paleontology is the study of ancient life, from dinosaurs to prehistoric plants, mammals, fish, insects, fungi, and even microbes. This field of study reveals how organisms changed over time and what our planet was like long ago. Examining the skeletons of organisms that are not yet extinct yields insights into how their characteristics have changed over time. Ceratopsian dinosaurs, such as the well-known Triceratops, are some of the most distinctive extinct Cretaceous (150-65 million years ago) vertebrates, yet many details regarding the growth and composition of their cranial features are not described or understood. The postorbital (attached to the skull) horns of Triceratops experienced a series of major shifts throughout their lifetime. Cutting the horns into very thin sections and examining the sections under with a microscope under polarized and plane light provide clues to the growth of these large, extinct organisms. Analysis of the horns revealed they are composed of a bone matrix consistent with rapid and continuous horn growth. For non-extinct protected animals, such as cetaceans (whales, etc.,) it can be difficult to obtain measurements using invasive techniques. The bone hardness and predicted bite force from artiodactyl (deer, goats, camels, etc) skull bones was used to determine whether they could serve as an analogy to predict the bone hardness of cetacean skull bones. It was hypothesized this technique might yield results because cetaceans and artiodactyls share a common ancestor. When the measurements were compared, there was not a statistically significant correlation, meaning that accurate predictions of cetacean bite force could not be made based on the specimens collected for this study. |
223 |
Examining Extinct and Living Organisms to Determine Their Characteristics |
Kyle Obuszewski - Geologykobusze Will Steelman - Geologywsteelm |
Scott E Brame - Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciencesbrames |
| 224 |
Microfluidic particle manipulation is sought in many fundamental and applied science areas, including biotechnology, drug discovery, and cancer research. One of the desirable manipulation modes is particle sorting or separation based on geometry and electrical properties. Our current work seeks to achieve separation experimentally based on the particle charge of two particle types: Sigma 5um and Bangs 5um particles. To realize this, a ratchet microchannel and an AC electrical force field were utilized. Under electrical force fields, electroosmosis (EO), electrophoresis (EP), and dielectrophoresis (DEP) are phenomena that influence particles of distinct charges differently. We hypothesize that the aforementioned phenomena cause particle separation. We approached this study by experimentally observing the behavior of particles under 100VAC/cm - 400VAC/cm at sweeping frequencies of 0.1hz- 1hz for each case. The solution used is Newtonian with 0.25mM phosphate buffer concentration and particle suspension of 3% and 6% dilution rates for Sigma and Bangs particles respectively. The best case of separation occurs at 400 VAC/cm for the frequency range of 0.7 and 0.8 hz, and at a voltage of 300 VAC/cm was achieved at 0.4 and 0.5 hz. This aligns with data for Sigma and Bangs particles tested individually at the same frequency, which shows that at 400 VAC/cm and 0.7-0.8 hz, most Bangs particles will move toward the corners of the ratchet channel while Sigma particles will experience strong focusing. Similarly, the data for Sigma and Bangs particles tested separately at 300 VAC/cm shows that most Bangs particles will move toward the corner of the channel at 0.4-0.5 hz while Sigma particles will be focused in the middle of the channel. |
224 |
AC Electrokinetic Separation of Particles in a Ratchet Microchannel |
Anna Boone - General Engineeringacboone Peter Koniers - General Engineeringpkonier |
Xiangchun Xuan - Mechanical Engineeringxcxuan |
| 225 |
While fungi play essential roles in virtually all ecosystems, they have historically been underrepresented in science education and popular culture. To address the issue, this Creative Inquiry (CI) team works to increase public awareness of fungi and their importance through outreach events and activities. On campus, our efforts include maintaining an interactive mushroom garden; edible mushrooms are cultivated for anyone to pick and enjoy. We also maintain a fungus-themed display case, focusing on a different mycological topic each semester, to generate interest in fungi for passersby. A poster presentation on methods of outreach to improve the visibility of mycology in the state was presented at the Middle Atlantic State Mycology Conference. As a result, CI students were invited to present a display for Darwin Day at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. By making information about fungal biology more accessible to our community, we hope to continue to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of this diverse kingdom. |
225 |
Outreach Activities to Improve the Visibility of Mycology in South Carolina |
Sofia Bilbao - Biological Sciencessbilbao Caroline Hankins - Biological Sciencescahanki Sam Hobson - Performing Artssdhobso Taylor Sherer - Biological Sciencestnshere |
Julia Kerrigan - Plant and Environmental Sciencesjkerrig |
| 226 |
Cells are able to enter states of growth and proliferation due to cell signaling cascades that activate and inhibit specific substrates from initiating the cell cycle. CDK4/6 is a cyclin-dependent kinase that is activated when bound to cyclin-D. Once activated, CDK4/6 phosphorylates downstream effectors that cause the cell to enter the synthesis (S) stage of the cell cycle The dysregulation of this aspect of the cell cycle is linked to the development of several forms of human cancer. Palbociclib is a CDK4/6 inhibitor approved by the FDA to treat advanced breast cancers. The inhibition of CDK4/6 blocks allows for the activation of tumor suppressor protein Rb to block the progression of the cell cycle from G1 to S. However, cancer cells respond to stresses, like inhibitors, by implementing survival mechanisms. An example would be initiating feedback pathways to support their continued growth. The PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK pathways activate cellular growth through a signaling cascade that activates Cyclin-D by phosphorylated AKT or ERK. In a previous study examining the effects of Palbociclib on proteins in MCF10A cells, there seemed to be a pattern between the inhibition of CDK4/6 and decreased levels of pAKT and pERK. Based on these results, we hypothesize a positive feedback relationship between activated CDK4/6 and pAKT /pERK. Through repeated mechanistic studies, we are going to determine how universal this relationship is. Our studies involve the administration of varying concentrations of Palbociclib to MCF10A cells, followed by quantifying pAKT and pERK amounts in cells treated with Palbociclib. A decrease in pAKT/pERK may suggest a possible feedback relationship between the two proteins that could be utilized by cancer cells to overcome treatments using CDK4/6 inhibitors. |
226 |
Identification of Novel Feedback Loops Driving the Mammalian Cell Cycle |
Hannah Amick - Biological Scienceshamick Emma Funk - Biological Sciencesecfunk |
Marc Birtwistle - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringmbirtwi Cemal Erdem - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringcemale |
| 227 |
We can collect electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings from the brain to train a machine learning algorithm to classify these signals. The brain generates electrical signals to control thoughts and functions of the body. These electrical signals can be recorded using an OpenBCI EEG headset, with 16 dry electrodes. These EEG signals can be captured, filtered, and plotted according to specific parameters (i.e. wave forms). The use of neural networks to classify this data, specifically for the use of brain computer interfaces (BCI), has yet to be demonstrated. This project seeks to use convolutional neural networks (CNN) for classifying EEG signals for integration with machines. This project provides a link between artificial neural networks and biological neural networks as a pathway to understanding the neuronal signaling and for future BCI applications. |
227 |
Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to Classify Electroencephalogram (EEG) Signals |
Benjamin Jablonski - Computer Sciencebvjablo Mouktika Kolluru - Mathematical Sciencesmouktik Kalli Todd - Bioengineeringkallit |
Hugo Sanabria - Physics and Astronomyhsanabr |
| 228 |
How can the optimization of polymersomes improve the efficacy of treatments for nerve injuries? Polymersomes were synthesized using poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic acid) (PEG-b-PLA), poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PEG-b-PLGA), and poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL) via the solvent injection method. Different sized polymersomes were synthesized using various concentrations of copolymer and syringe pump speeds while maintaining a constant 1mL syringe and 20G needle for all syntheses. The polymersomes' Z-average diameter and zeta potential were measured using DLS. After lyophilization, polymersomes were loaded with fluorescein isothiocyanate-bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA) as a model therapeutic to compare the loading behavior of each copolymer. Loading was confirmed using dialysis. Polymersome synthesis was optimized to produce vesicles that were the appropriate size, variability, and stability. The avg. loading efficiencies for all three polymersome types were >90%. This is encouraging as FITC-BSA is larger than the target drug for future applications which would show more success. DRG neurons treated with highly concentrated polymersomes showed increased growth rate compared to neurons treated with the peptide alone. Polymersomes can be customized to protect and deliver a drug through the blood-brain barrier, enhancing the pharmacokinetic profile and improving nerve regeneration. These capabilities seem promising in the frontier for improved neurological therapeutics. Acknowledgments: NSF, SC EPSCoR, Clemson Creative Inquiry |
228 |
Polymersomes Deliver Peptide to Aid in Peripheral Nerve Regeneration |
Kayleigh Trumbull - Chemical Engineeringkayleit Sara Smith - Chemical Engineeringsas8 |
Jessica Larsen - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringlarsenj |
| 229 |
Urbanization poses a significant threat to wildlife through fragmentation, degradation, and loss of habitats. Urban development has implications for wildlife behavior such as changes in activity and habitat selection. The Eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, is a species that is observed in both urban and forested habitats, however it is unknown how much development alters their behavior. Within this study, we measured whether turtles selected for specific habitat conditions, and whether such selection varied across the development gradient. We tracked fourteen turtles in urban and forested habitats once per week using radio telemetry from May of 2022 to March of 2023, and recorded habitat conditions such as canopy cover, ambient temperature, and the turtles' activity states at their locations. Our results indicate that individuals in urban and forested habitats experience different habitat conditions. Turtles that occurred in urban environments were found under higher average canopy cover (83%) compared to turtles in forested environments (73%). Urban turtles had a slightly higher chance of being in an active state during tracking sessions (40%) compared to forested turtles (32%). The turtles in developed areas experienced a slightly higher ambient temperature (22.1 ℃) than the forested turtles (21.7 ℃). Analysis is ongoing, and we intend to use the results to inform private landowners of ways to help maintain stable Eastern box turtle populations and maintain healthy ecosystems, even in urban spaces. |
229 |
Associations Between Urbanization and Habitat Use in the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) |
Mac Barrett - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologymkbarre Conor Joye - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyconorj Julia Lankford - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyjrlankf Olivia Roach - Environmental and Natural Resourcesoroach Maddie Stephens - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologymadalis Jocelyn Tardino - Wildlife and Fisheries Biologyjtardin |
Russell Kyle Barrett - Forestry and Environmental Conservationrbarre2 Emma Rogers - Forestry and Environmental Conservationeroger6 |
| 230 |
The goal of this project was to develop new food products for the American Society of Baking's Product Development Contest. The products must have met a list of criteria such as including alternative colors, flours, or sugars with an overall theme of "indulgence". The products were also required to meet a minimum shelf life of fourteen days at ambient temperature.Two products were developed for the competition --a curry brownie topped with white chocolate icing and gingersnap crumbles and a fall spiced stroopwafel cookie with spiced date syrup filling. The curry brownie formulation met competition criteria by using gluten-free flour, gluten-free gingersnaps, substituting eggs with yogurt, and using turmeric as a natural colorant. The fall spiced stroopwafel formulation met the guidelines through the use of a gluten-free flour blend, coconut sugar, and date syrup. Both products were packaged with a vacuum sealer to extend shelf life and maintain the best quality.To ensure both products met the fourteen day shelf life criteria, the pH and water activity were tested. Additionally, samples of each product were plated onto dichloran rose-bengal chloramphenicol (DRBC) agar to evaluate potential microbial growth. To further assess the quality of each product, a sensory panel was conducted to evaluate if the age of the products affected consumers perception of sensory qualities such as flavor and texture.Both products developed met the minimum 14 day shelf life as confirmed by pH and water activity tests. Consumer sensory and marketing data revealed that the concept, texture, and flavor of both products appealed to those searching for indulgent desserts made from alternative flours and sweeteners. |
230 |
Curry White Chocolate Brownies: An Innovative Dessert Product |
Emmi Cox - Food Science and Human Nutritionecox6 Leah Slater - Food Science and Human Nutritionlbslate Ian Smith - Food Science and Human Nutritionibs Izzy Soto - Food Science and Human Nutritionisoto Lara Burke - Food Science and Human Nutritionlburke2 Sophie Caplin - Food Science and Human Nutritionscaplin Emily E. Reichard - Food Science and Human Nutritioneereich |
Carol Hegler - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencescarol |
| 231 |
Social media has been prevalent in the past decades. Offensive content in social media is becoming a public concern recently. In this project, we leverage promising deep-learning approaches to detect offensive tweets in the area of Clemson. We first collect tweets based on the geolocation, pre-process the tweets, and leverage deep learning to predict whether tweets are offensive. Finally, we visualize and summarize the results to conclude this project. |
231 |
Offensive Tweet Detection using Deep Learning |
Hannah Zafra - Electrical Engineeringhzafra |
Yongkai Wu - Electrical and Computer Engineeringyongkaw |
| 232 |
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impaired social communications and restrictive or repetitive behavior. Although many protein-coding genes have been studied for their involvement in ASD, the specific genetic risk factors are still unable to be determined for most ASD cases. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which make up a significant portion of the human genome, can contribute towards causing ASD. This project focuses on predicting and prioritizing candidate lncRNAs associated with ASD through genomic data mining. Machine learning algorithms such as SVM, RF and ANN have been used to build models from human brain developmental gene expression data. Our results suggest that ASD risk genes can be accurately predicted, and the candidate lncRNAs provide useful information for further studies into ASD pathogenesis.
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232 |
AI Prediction of Novel Autism Risk Genes by Genomic Data Mining |
Baylie Sisk - Biochemistrybsisk Dany Rizkalla - Biochemistrydrizkal Tanner Street - Chemical Engineeringtstreet Snehal Shah - School Of Nursingsnehals |
Liangjiang Wang - Genetics and Biochemistryliangjw |
| 239 |
Due to a rapidly changing climate, Appalachian streams are experiencing an increase in frequency and intensity of rainfall and associated flooding. The Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is a large-bodied, critically endangered stream salamander, and a top predator in Appalachian streams. While research suggests adults can survive flooding, little is known about their behavior following rearrangement of large cover rocks. The goal of our study is to examine how extreme weather events impact hellbender space use. Our objective is to visually compare hellbender space use before and after a severe flood event in one stream and quantify change in space use between successive seasons. We hypothesized that space use changed predictably with season but also shifted further downstream following flooding. We conducted 14 surveys across seven seasons (n = 3 before and n = 4 after severe flooding) and recorded GPS locations for all hellbender detections in a 600 m stream reach between August 2020 and September 2022. For each season, we created a three dimensional utilization distribution representing the population home range. We will examine changes in home range size over time and use two common indices of home range overlap to quantify the degree of similarity between each pair of seasons. We recorded a total of 537 hellbender locations (n = 32 -- 104 per season). Core (50%) home ranges averaged 0.40 ha (0.29 -- 0.50 ha) and 95% home ranges (defined as the area within which 95% of individuals occurred) averaged 1.70 ha (1.29 -- 2.05 ha). In future weeks we plan to analyze home range overlap. Our study will provide novel insight into the consequences of severe flooding for a large-bodied, top stream predator that is critically imperiled in the state of North Carolina. |
239 |
Do They Move-it Move-it?: An Assessment of Severe Flooding Event Impacts on Hellbender Space Use |
Shannon Casey - Environmental and Natural Resourcesscasey2 Dalton Everette - Environmental and Natural Resourcesoeveret |
Cathy Jachowski - Forestry and Environmental Conservationcjachow |
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Microwave Analysis of Yeast Content of Fluids via Machine Learning (CSRF) |
Nitya Harikumar - Computer Engineeringnhariku Sabrina Manji - Mechanical Engineeringssmanji |
Carl Ehrett - Watt Family Innovation Centercehrett Pingshan Wang - Electrical and Computer Engineeringpwang |
| 7 |
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Inhibitors of Human ENO-2 are Potent Anti-Trypanosomal Agents (CSRF) |
Danielle La Vigne - Geneticsdalavig |
James Morris - Genetics and Biochemistryjmorri2 |
| 16 |
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'It Made Me a Better Person and Leader': A Qualitative Exploration of Clemson Football's PAW Journey (CSRF) |
Bailey Johnson - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentbj9 Caleb Ackley - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentcjackle Stephan Terry - Mechanical Engineeringslterry Xavier Thomas - College of Educationxaviert |
Michael Godfrey - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentmgodfre Angela Carter - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentadc5 Richard Yeargin - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentrdyearg Sarah Stokowski - Special Educationstoko |
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Analysis of #personalcareproducts and #cleanpersonalcare on Tiktok (CSRF) |
Lauren Byrne - Geneticslmbyrne |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 18 |
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Investigating Self-efficacy in Research, Teaching, and Mentoring across Engineering and Computing Graduate Students (CSRF) |
Marshal Rice - Computer Sciencemrice4 Caroline Ringler - Civil Engineeringcringle |
Jennifer Shaffer Brown - Engineering and Science Educationjpshaff Karen High - Engineering and Science Educationkhigh |
| 19 |
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An Analysis of DIY Cosmetic Dentistry on TikTok, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Carlle Raynes - Health Sciencecraynes |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 21 |
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Exo-Lent Posture: Evaluating Potential Benefits of Exoskeleton Support for Postures Common in Minimally Invasive Surgeons (CSRF) |
Daniel Ludden - Industrial Engineeringdludden |
Alec Gonzales - Industrial Engineeringajgonza Dechristian Franca Barbieri - Industrial Engineeringdfranca Jackie Cha - Industrial Engineeringjackie Divya Srinivasan - Industrial Engineeringsriniv5 Anjali Joseph - School of Architectureanjalij |
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A Review of Equity Metrics in Facility Location Models (CSRF) |
Tharun Varadarajan Saravanan - Industrial Engineeringtvarada |
Emily Tucker - Industrial Engineeringetucke3 |
| 29 |
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29 |
Investigation of Optometry Misinformation on TikTok, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Madeleine Hurley - Biochemistrymbhurle |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 40 |
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40 |
Relationship Between Derelict Lobster Trap Conditions and Biodiversity in the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary (CSRF) |
Lauren Bulik - Environmental and Natural Resourceslbulik |
Kea Payton - Biological Sciencestpayton Michael Childress - Biological Sciencesmchildr |
| 43 |
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43 |
Atomistic Insights into Grain Boundary Solute Segregation in High Entropy Alloys (CSRF) |
Sarah Paguaga - Mechanical Engineeringspaguag Sarah Elizabeth Hunt - Mathematical Sciencessehunt |
Fadi Abdeljawad - Mechanical Engineeringfabdelj |
| 46 |
|
46 |
Bipedal Locomotion with Continuum Robotics (CSRF) |
Gavin Platt - Mechanical Engineeringgplatt |
Ian D Walker - Electrical and Computer Engineeringiwalker Ge Lv - Mechanical Engineeringglv |
| 53 |
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53 |
Research Proposal: A Study of The Perception of Influence of Social Media Use on Female Student-Athletes' Athletic Performance (CSRF) |
Ellie Haydamack - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementehaydam Emily Brady - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementembrady |
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| 54 |
|
54 |
Natural Teeth Whitening Misconceptions Throughout Social Media (CSRF) |
Olivia Hartzog - Managementohartzo |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 55 |
|
55 |
siRNA Complexation in Peptide Hydrogels for Glioblastoma Treatment (CSRF) |
Abby Sottile - Bioengineeringasottil |
Megan Pitz - Bioengineeringmpitz |
| 56 |
|
56 |
'It's a Complicated Conversation': NCAA Division III Athletic Administrator's Perceptions of Adaptive Sports (CSRF) |
Abbey Schafer - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentarschaf Kylie Davis - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentkd2 Derek Whaley - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementdwwhale Davis King - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentdaking |
Michael Godfrey - Educational and Organizational Leadership Developmentmgodfre Sarah Stokowski - Special Educationstoko |
| 57 |
|
57 |
Analysis of Misinformation of Veterinary Medicine on Social Media Platforms (CSRF) |
Maria Brown - Animal and Veterinary Sciencemrb7 |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 58 |
|
58 |
The Public's Perception of Big Pharma (CSRF) |
Pauline Bisaccio - Biochemistrypbisacc |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 59 |
|
59 |
An Analysis of the Search Term 'Fluoride' on TikTok, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Savannah Young - Biological Sciencessjy |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 61 |
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61 |
What is Well-Being? A Systematic Review (CSRF) |
Claire Bardell - Marketingcbardel Danielle Haley - Psychologydfhaley Jack Patterson - Health Sciencejdp7 Kendalle Quast - Health Sciencekquast Mia Ricottilli - Psychologymgricot Caroline Strinsky - Psychologycstrins Shreya Tellur - Psychologystellur |
Gwendolyn Watson - Psychologygwendow Meredith Pool - Psychologymjpool Robert Sinclair - Psychologyrsincla |
| 70 |
|
70 |
Misconceptions in Large Animal Health (CSRF) |
Madison Slane - Animal and Veterinary Sciencempslane |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 73 |
|
73 |
Analysis of # Alkaline Diet on TikTok, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Ashley Verdonk - Food Science and Human Nutritionarverdo |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 74 |
|
74 |
Creating IMPAWSTER: Improving Meaningful Phishing Awareness With Simulated Training and Email Roleplay (CSRF) |
Katie Sabo - Psychologysabo2 Jeffrey Black - Psychologyjtblack Sydney Chadwick - Psychologyspchadw Jag Doran - Psychologyjagd Kyra Fay - Psychologykyraf Kelsey Harris - Psychologykmh3 Victoria Hill - Psychologyvehill Jenna Mackiewicz - Psychologyjmmacki Tyler Mulea - Psychologytmulea |
Dawn Sarno - Psychologydmsarno |
| 75 |
|
75 |
Pitocin Msinformation on TikTok (CSRF) |
Emma Bresadola - Biochemistryebresad |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 78 |
|
78 |
Characterization of a Targeted, Enzyme-Cleavable Peptide for siRNA Delivery to Ovarian Cancer Cells (CSRF) |
Ruxi Xia - Biochemistryruxix |
Angela Alexander - Bioengineeringangelaa Kharimat Lora Alatise - Bioengineeringkalatis |
| 84 |
|
84 |
Simulated Capture of Proteins by Functionalized Buoyant Microbubbles (CSRF) |
Wilkins Taylor - Chemistrystuartt Jeffrey Anker - Chemistryjanker Chuanlei Wang - Chemistrychuanlw |
Jeffrey Anker - Chemistryjanker Chuanlei Wang - Chemistrychuanlw |
| 85 |
|
85 |
Buoyant and Magnetic (BAM) Assays for the Detection of Single SARS-CoV-2 Molecules in Saliva (CSRF) |
Wilkins Taylor - Chemistrystuartt Clare McGrath - Chemistrycmmcgra Chuanlei Wang - Chemistrychuanlw Jeffrey Anker - Chemistryjanker |
Jeffrey Anker - Chemistryjanker Chuanlei Wang - Chemistrychuanlw |
| 91 |
|
91 |
Analysis of #metaldetoxification on Instagram, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Natalia Diaz - Biological Sciencesnldiaz |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 96 |
|
96 |
Characterizing Shape, Surface Chemistry, and the Protein Corona of Polyethylene Glycol-B-Polylactic Acid Polymersomes in Response to Ionic Liquids (CSRF) |
Owen Tabah - Bioengineeringotabah |
Jessica Larsen - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringlarsenj |
| 101 |
|
101 |
Analysis of Student Sexual Behaviors as Related to Psychological Health (CSRF) |
Sophia Costenaro - Health Sciencescosten |
Jennifer Goree - Student Health Centergoree |
| 104 |
|
104 |
An analysis of #Leakygut on TikTok, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Kate McAllister - Biochemistrymcalli6 |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 110 |
|
110 |
Healthcare Heroes: Exploring Well-Being and Burnout in the Healthcare Field (CSRF) |
Mary Kahler - Psychologymnkahle Ellie Dubose - Psychologyelletsd |
Riley Mccallus - Psychologyrmccal2 |
| 117 |
|
117 |
Balamuthia mandrillaris, Naegleria fowleri, and Acanthamoeba spp. Genomic Comparisons for Purposes of Cross-examination of Catalytic Residues (CSRF) |
Matt Monaghan - Biochemistrymtmonag |
James Morris - Genetics and Biochemistryjmorri2 |
| 119 |
|
119 |
Automation and Analysis of Running Records Assessments of Children’s Reading (CSRF) |
Jonathan Daniel - Computer Sciencejmdanie |
Carl Ehrett - Watt Family Innovation Centercehrett |
| 124 |
|
124 |
Characterization of Meiotic Recombination (CSRF) |
Emily Peak - Health Scienceeapeak |
Michael Sehorn - Genetics and Biochemistrymsehorn |
| 125 |
|
125 |
The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Leopard Shark Triakis semifasciata (CSRF) |
Jayra Penaloza Crisanto - Biological Sciencesjpenalo |
Juan Antonio Baeza Migueles - Biological Sciencesjbaezam |
| 130 |
|
130 |
Understanding Fatty Acid Uptake and Metabolism in Trypanosoma brucei Using ACS6 and ACS7 Homolog Genes (CSRF) |
Adela Veytsman - Biological Sciencesaveytsm |
Joshua Saliutama - Genetics and Biochemistryjsaliut Kimberly Paul - Genetics and Biochemistrykpaul |
| 131 |
|
131 |
Characterization of Targeting Peptide Sequences for HER2+ Breast Cancer (CSRF) |
Audreanna Miserendino - Bioengineeringamisere |
Angela Alexander - Bioengineeringangelaa Jim Kalogeros - Bioengineeringjkaloge |
| 133 |
|
133 |
Role of the Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier in Cryptococcus neoformans (CSRF) |
Alanna Scoggins - Microbiologyalannas |
Kerry Smith - Genetics and Biochemistrykssmith |
| 134 |
|
134 |
An Analysis of #Ashwagandhabenefits on TikTok (CSRF) |
Sophia LiVigni - Biochemistryslivign |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 135 |
|
135 |
Characterization of a Novel Tandem Peptide for Glioblastoma Multiforme Drug Delivery (CSRF) |
Tyler Willis - Biological Sciencestmw3 |
Jessie Boulos - Bioengineeringjboulos |
| 137 |
|
137 |
Smart AQ Monitoring Through Teleconnection Identification Using Network Analysis (CSRF) |
Teague McCracken - Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciencesteaguem |
Chao Fan - Civil Engineeringcfan |
| 152 |
|
152 |
Characterization of 3D Spheroid Models to Assess Glioblastoma Treatment (CSRF) |
Sylvanie Johnson - Biochemistrysylvani |
Megan Pitz - Mechanical Engineeringmpitz |
| 162 |
|
162 |
Analysis of “Diabetes Cures” and Health Misinformation on TikTok (CSRF) |
Julia Kearney - Biological Sciencesjrkearn |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 167 |
|
167 |
Knock-Downs, Knock-Outs, and Myc-Tagging: Approaches to Studying the Mechanisms of Fatty Acid Uptake and Trafficking in Trypanosoma brucei (CSRF) |
Gracie Dellinger - Geneticsvdellin Bailey Holder - Microbiologybholde3 Solangie Pulido Gomez - Geneticsspulido |
Joshua Saliutama - Genetics and Biochemistryjsaliut Nava Poudyal - Biological Sciencesnpoudya Kimberly Paul - Genetics and Biochemistrykpaul |
| 177 |
|
177 |
Analysis of #Whiteningteeth and #whiteninghacks on TikTok, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Olivia Hartzog - Managementohartzo |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 178 |
|
178 |
Barklice (Psocodea) of the Clemson Experimental Forest (CSRF) |
Ben Burdette - Biological Sciencescaburde |
Michael Ferro - Plant and Environmental Sciencesmferro |
| 179 |
|
179 |
Are Fiduciary Markers Distracting in Viewing Tasks? (CSRF) |
Adam Razavi - Psychologyarazavi |
Kathryn Baringer - Psychologykmbarin Dustin Souders - Psychologydjsoude Andrew T Duchowski - School of Computingaduchow |
| 180 |
|
180 |
Changes in Distribution of Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) in South Carolina Over the Last Century (CSRF) |
Madelyn Collins - Biological Sciencesmgc6 |
Michael Ferro - Plant and Environmental Sciencesmferro |
| 181 |
|
181 |
Analysis of DIY Dental Care Content on TikTok (CSRF) |
Aneri Vasoya - Health Scienceavasoya |
|
| 182 |
|
182 |
Peptide Based Nanoplatform for Cas9/gRNA Ribonucleoprotein Cellular Delivery and Gene Editing? (CSRF) |
Alyson Schwartz - Bioengineeringanschwa Joey Lavalla - Bioengineeringjvlaval |
Angela Alexander - Bioengineeringangelaa Jessica Larsen - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringlarsenj |
| 186 |
|
186 |
An Analysis of Acne Related Content on the Google Search Term 'Home Remedies for Acne' (CSRF) |
Parker Draheim - Geneticspsdrahe |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 189 |
|
189 |
Polypore Fungus Beetles (Family Tetratomidae) of South Carolina (CSRF) |
Jena Rehrig - Environmental and Natural Resourcesjrehrig Aaron D'Silva - Biological Sciencesadsilva Margaret Smith - Biological Sciencesmsmit28 |
Michael Ferro - Plant and Environmental Sciencesmferro |
| 190 |
|
190 |
Investigating Attention Modeling Differences between Older and Younger Drivers (CSRF) |
Adam Razavi - Psychologyarazavi Audrey Biggers - Psychologyacbigge Ethan Butler - Psychologyebutle4 |
Kathryn Baringer - Psychologykmbarin Alan Mintz - Psychologyamintz Dustin Souders - Psychologydjsoude |
| 196 |
|
196 |
A Mobile Application to Track Brain Function: Older Adults' Perceptions of App Acceptability (CSRF) |
Tatum Steele - Geneticstatums Sam Roebuck - Biological Sciencessroebuc Julia Bonetto - Biological Sciencesjbonett Akiha Saito - Psychologyasaito |
Abby Stephan - General Engineeringatsteph Lesley Ross - Psychologylaross Christine Phillips - Psychologycbphill |
| 199 |
|
199 |
Estimating Time since Death with Artificial Intelligence (CSRF) |
Noah Nisbet - Computer Sciencennisbet Alexandra Ainspan - Economicsaainspa |
Carl Ehrett - Watt Family Innovation Centercehrett D. Hudson Smith - Watt Family Innovation Centerdane2 Katherine Weisensee - Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justicekweisen Patricia Carbajales-Dale - CCIT Research Supportpcarbaj Patrick J Claflin - CCIT Research Supportpat |
| 206 |
|
206 |
Identification of a Novel DNA Binding Site in the Tumor Suppressor BRCA2 (CSRF) |
Brooke Dillingham - Geneticsbvdilli Yashvi Patel - Biochemistryyrpatel |
|
| 210 |
|
210 |
Using Artificial Intelligence to Understand Elizabethan Drama (CSRF) |
Alison Menezes - Computer Scienceameneze Samantha Johnson - Computer Sciencesdj5 |
Carl Ehrett - Watt Family Innovation Centercehrett Lucian Ghita - Englishlghita |
| 216 |
|
216 |
Determination of Caffeine Content in Beverages Using HPLC (CSRF) |
Rachel McHugh - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencesremchug Natalie Kirby - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencesnkirby Devon Bahr - Food Science and Human Nutritiondgbahr Kailey Butler - Food Science and Human Nutritionkbutle7 Marielena Fernandez- Parker - Food Science and Human Nutritionmiferna Aili Flodder - Food Science and Human Nutritionaflodde Jarrett Holman - Biological Sciencesholman5 Maddie King - Food Science and Human Nutritionmek3 Briana Parker - Food Science and Human Nutritionbcp Hallie Perri - Food Science and Human Nutritionhperri Hailey Rodgers - Food Science and Human Nutritionhlrodge Eliza Salley - Food Science and Human Nutritioneksalle |
Feng Chen - Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciencesfchen |
| 217 |
|
217 |
An Analysis of # Cancer Cure on TikTok, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Kathryn White - Health Sciencekew8 |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 218 |
|
218 |
Investigation into the Role of hSSB1 and hSSB2 in Homologous Recombination (CSRF) |
Emma Younger - Biochemistryeyounge |
Garrett Buzzard - Biochemistry and Molecular Biologygbuzzar |
| 233 |
|
233 |
Analysis of #Oilpulling on TikTok, an Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Shelby Coleman - Biological Sciencesscolem8 |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 234 |
|
234 |
Multi-Functional Peptide-Based Delivery of Bioactive Short-Interfering RNA for Treatment of Glioblastoma (CSRF) |
Kay Russi - Bioengineeringkerussi Tyler Willis - Biological Sciencestmw3 |
Jessie Boulos - Bioengineeringjboulos |
| 235 |
|
235 |
Analysis of “Flea and Tick Prevention” on TikTok, An Exploratory Study (CSRF) |
Jamison Alexander - Animal and Veterinary Sciencejamisoa |
Elliot Ennis - Chemistryege |
| 236 |
|
236 |
Comparison of Immunofluorescence Staining Protocols Using Cryopreserved and Paraffin-Embedded Porcine Tongue Tisse (CSRF) |
Amayia Davis - Geneticsamayiad |
Rhonda Powell - Clemson Light Imaging Facilityrhondar Terri Bruce - Clemson Light Imaging Facilityterri |
| 237 |
|
237 |
The Regulation of Double Strand Break Repair in Meiosis by Homologous Recombination (CSRF) |
Ashley Fister - Biological Sciencesalfiste Elizabeth Caldwell - Geneticsebcaldw Amara Onoh - Genetics and Biochemistryaonoh |
Michael Sehorn - Genetics and Biochemistrymsehorn |
| 240 |
|
240 |
Doggone Stressed: A Comparison Study Between the Effect of Physical and Virtual Dogs on Mood and Stress in Undergraduate Students (CSRF) |
Carson Roos - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementcroos Anna Wingard - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementakwinga Brauer Dowd - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementvdowd Juliana Camacho - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementjcamach Grace Turner - Parks, Recreation & Tourism Managementgmturne |
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