OVERALL EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS
Andrea Larkin
Physics and Engineering
The Allied Machine and Engineering Corporation, located in
Dover, Ohio, meets the needs of many companies around the
world by designing and producing tools specified for each
customer. As part of the design process, a team of
manufacturing engineers monitor the manufacturing processes
used in the shop and design ways in which to modify these
processes to reduce time or money spent. During the summer
of 2012, Allied began using a new technique to help with this
process: Overall Equipment Effectiveness(OEE). OEE proved to
be very beneficial to the company by helping to monitor their
manufacturing process on three different levels to show where
improvements to the process were most needed. The results
of the OEE study helped to company locate areas in which
changes could be made to make the processes more time and
cost efficient.
5
2010
SPECIES SURVIVAL CENTER INTERN FOR AUDUBON
RESEARCH CENTER FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES AND
FREEPORT-MCMORAN SPECIES SURVIVAL CENTER
Sarah Linn
Department of Biology
The Audubon Research Institute is constantly looking for ways
to help endangered species and look for new ways to increase
the reproduction rates of these animals. ACRES (Audubon
Research Center for Endangered Species) is a research facility
where cutting edge reproduction research is done. The facility
has many different species of cats, such African Wild Cats,
African Black-Footed Cats, Servals, Caracals, Clouded
Leopards, and an African lion. Other animals on site are Milky
Storks and hoofstock such as Eland and Bongo. The
responsibilities of a Species Survival Center intern are to diet
preparation, feeding, cleaning enclosures, behavioral
observations, facility maintenance, preparing and
administering enrichment items, and assisting staff with
veterinary procedures when necessary. This internship proves
beneficial for any student looking for an animal related career.
6
VOLUNTEER BIOLOGY ASSISTANT AT OTTAWA NATIONAL
WILDLIFE REFUGE
Julie Long
Department of Biology
Due to an increase in competition for field jobs in the biological
sciences, internships, volunteer work, job shadowing and other
opportunities are key factors for developing a strong resume.
This past summer I volunteered to assist U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service biologists at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR)
located on Lake Erie in Oak Harbor, Ohio. ONWR was
established in the 1960’s to preserve wetland habitats for
wildlife with a focus on migrating birds. Other than handling
the land at ONWR the staff also manages Cedar Point and
West Sister Island which collectively comprises of over 9,000
acres of protected land. From May to early August, this
internship included multiple job experiences. Most of the jobs
dealt with field work and included taking water quality
measurements, contaminant sampling, planting native plants,
treating invasive plant species, conducting fish surveys with
the USGS, creating informative brochures, conducting
vegetation transacts, monitoring bluebird and wood duck
boxes using ArcPad, and banding shorebirds including Canada
geese, great blue herons, cormorants and egrets. In one way
or another, all of these jobs aided in the management of the
land and a variety of plant and animal species that U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service has preserved.
7
INTERNSHIP WITH THE MONDAY CREEK
RESTORATION PROJECT
Tanya Jones
Department of Geology
The Monday Creek Restoration Project (New Straitsville, Ohio) works
with the pollution left from decades of ore and coal mining activities
in a 116 square-mile area. Monday Creek is a 27 mile long tributary of
the Hocking River and the creek is severely impacted by acid mine
drainage (AMD). My time with the Monday Creek Watershed
Restoration Project was spent collecting water samples and flow
measurements for post-AMD remediation construction projects,
entering data, assisting with kid’s camp, and assisting in a
macroinvertebrate survey. The water samples are gathered from
tributaries and from the main stem of Monday Creek. They are
process according to guidelines from the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources and shipped to the laboratory located in Cambridge, Ohio
for analysis. The kid’s camp is a yearly week long educational event
for children living in the affected watershed. It is grant-funded with
trips to The Wilds, parks, and Robinson’s cave. The children enjoyed
educational wildlife presentations from Hocking College and a day of
collecting trash along the banks of the creek. The macroinvertebrate
survey was completed in the Monday Creek Watershed utilizing the
E.P.A’s credible data collection guidelines to insure good data that
other agencies can utilize when assessing water quality. The
macroinvertebrates are preserved in a 70% alcohol solution for
storage and future identification. Once the macroinvertebrate are
identified to family level and counted, the stream is assigned a score
that describes the water quality. The score is important because it
can be compared to data from previous years to see where the water
quality is improving and where water quality improvement is needed.
Monday Creek Watershed Restoration Project is an important part of
the community in New Staitsville, Ohio and is vital to the continuation
of improving water quality in the watershed.
4
INTERNSHIP WITH THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Tanya Jones
Department of Geology
As an intern with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), I am
responsible for assisting in a research project on the formation of
gypsum in Lake County, Ohio soils. ODOT recently completed a roadwidening project on RT 2 in Lake County, Ohio and during construction
the pavement began to heave. Excess sulfate in the soil is thought to
drive the formation of gypsum, causing the soil to expand and heave
overlying pavement. The heave occurs in locations where calcium-based
additives are used to treat soils before the road is laid down. To obtain
sulfate concentrations for RT 2, I processed and analyzed forty samples
for sulfates by using the TEX-45 method. The method uses turbidity as a
measure of sulfate concentrations. Sulfate concentration data was
gathered from various other counties in Ohio and a GIS map was
created that highlighted areas of high sulfate concentrations. The
resulting hazards map will alert construction management to potential
pavement heave issues. Drilling orders were also put together for RT 2. I
will be with the crew when they drill six holes of varying depths in Lake
County. I will be responsible for collecting water samples, soil samples
and rock samples. A mechanism for how the high sulfate concentrations
(>3,000ppm) is being developed. The data gathered from drilling will
help to further develop a mechanism that should answer the question
concerning how sulfates move through the soil and concentrate in
particular areas. We have hypothesized that the till underlying the road
has fractures in the clay that sits on top of the shale bedrock. Water
from shale may be hydraulically connected to the water in the fractured
glacial till, allowing sulfur-rich water from the shale to move up into the
topsoil. Previous research indicates that the underlying shale, normally
impermeable, has been fractured and in places overturned by the
movement of glaciers. The sulfates may be derived from pyrite that is
exposed to oxygen, and the sulfates are transported by groundwater
flow. The water table is only inches from ground level in various
locations, allowing for sulfates to leach up to the top and be deposited
in soils. The end result will be a map and a professional paper that
will change how ODOT stabilizes the soil in hazardous areas across
the state.
3
THE SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF BIODIESEL FROM
SPENT COFFEE GROUNDS
Alex Seaholm and Christopher Spring
Advisor: Dr. Lois Zook
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science Program
Oil was extracted from used coffee grounds using hexane and
diethyl ether. The oil underwent a base-catalyzed
transesterification reaction. KOH was the catalyzing base with a
1.5% w/w ratio to the oil, and methanol as the solvent with a 25:1
mole ratio to the oil. The synthesized biodiesel was analyzed by
GC-MS, FT-IR, and bomb calorimetry, and the density recorded.
The density of the synthesized biodiesel was recorded as
.802g/mL, similar to that of the commercial biofuel tested (8.25
g/mL). GC-MS analysis showed two peaks at ~11.77 minutes and
~10.15 minutes for both the commercial and synthesized biofuels
which represent methylester groups. A peak was found at ~1740.0
cm-1 from the FT-IR analysis of both commercial and synthesized
biodiesel, which represent ester groups. Bomb calorimetry on
commercial biodiesel gave an energy density result of an average
of 9530 cal/g. Two different batches of synthesized biodiesel were
subject to bomb calorimetry tests, giving average energy densities
of 9340 cal/g and 5845 cal/g. Due to the results of the second
batch, energy density of the synthesized biodiesel is not
conclusive. When subject to the cloud point test, the synthesized
biodiesel began to cloud between 8.5ºC and 9.5ºC. GC-MS and FTIR analysis proved biodiesel was synthesized from oil extract from
coffee grounds, however bomb calorimetry tests are not
conclusive to the energy density of the synthesized biodiesel. The
cloud point test reveals that additives would be necessary in a
mixture with the biodiesel in order to operate an engine under the
experimentally determined cloud point.
8
STUDIES OF PROKARYOTIC CYS-LOOP RECEPTORS WITH INSERTED
EUKARYOTIC INTRACELLULAR DOMAIN: IMPLICATIONS FOR
CHOLINERGIC AND SEROTONERGIC RECEPTORS
Tereza Tomankova, Dr. Michaela Jansen
Department of Biology
Cys-loop receptors are neurotransmitter-gated ion channels that
consist of extracellular (ECD), transmembrane (TMD) and
intracellular (ICD) domains. The ECD and TMD are targets for all
drugs in current clinical use that target Cys-loop receptors. However,
these domains show significant sequence identities between
subtypes of one family and also between members of other families
within the Cys-loop superfamily which results in side effects caused
by interference with off-target subunits. The ICD is a promising
target for future drug design since it is the most diverse domain with
regard to length and amino-acid composition. At present, the
knowledge about the structure and function of ICD is limited.
Therefore, current studies are targeted to study the structure and
function of ICD. Two sets of chimeras, each consisting of 12 different
constructs, were generated by adding the ICD of eukaryotic 5-HT3A
and nAChR α7 receptors to the prokaryotic Gloeobacter violaceus
ligand-gated ion channel (GLIC) that does not contain an ICD itself.
Chimeras are commonly used in research to combine two genetically
distinct types of cells of different species which here showed the
independence of ICD on the functions of ECD and TMD. Two of the
GLIC-5-HT3A-ICD chimeras and 11 of the GLIC-α7-ICD chimeras were
functional when expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and showed
proton-induced currents upon the change in the extracellular pH.
We wanted to investigate whether the non-functional chimeras are
expressed on the plasma-membrane which we performed and
confirmed with the optimized protocol for surface-biotinylation of
plasma membrane and Western blotting.
9
CONTULAKIN-G, A CONE SNAIL NEUROTENSIN PEPTIDE, EXHIBITS
ANTI-NOCICEPTIVE EFFECTS WHEN ADMINISTERED
INTRAPERITONALLY IN MICE
Jennifer Greenwood
Neuroscience Program
Misty Smith, ADD Program, Department of Pharmacology and
Toxicology, University of Utah
H. Steve White, ADD Program, Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology,
University of Utah
Grzegorz Bulaj, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah
The Anticonvulsant Drug Development (ADD) Program at the
University of Utah is responsible for screening drugs for their
potential anticonvulsant effects as well as their potential for treating
the comorbidities of epilepsy including pain and depression. The ADD
program utilizes a wide range of animal models in order to test the
compounds, including the 6 Hertz (32 mA) seizure test, the Porsolt
forced swim test, and the writhing test. The goal of this study was to
evaluate the cone snail peptide, Contulakin-G’s bioavailability and
efficacy, when combined with the sugar memantine, in several
animal models of epilepsy and its comorbidities. Contulakin-G is a
neurotensin peptide that has been shown to possess potent antinociceptive effects when administered intracerebroventricularly or
intrathecally, however, it appears to have limited effectiveness when
administered systemically. Recent work concerning contulakin-G has
combined it with the sugar memantine, which is has been shown to
have anti-epileptic effects. Memantine functions as a noncompetitive NMDA open channel blocker and is well tolerated and
effective when administered systemically. By combining the
contulakin-G with the memantine it is proposed that the efficacy and
bioavailability of the Contulakin-G, when given through
intraperitoneal injection, will be greatly improved in the conjugated
analogs of the two compounds. The following study showed that the
combined Contulakin G-Memantine analogue possessed greater antinociceptive effects than when the compounds were administered
separately.
2
AN INTERNSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AT THE
CUYAHOGA VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER
Susan Fritsch
Environmental Science Program
BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT ANALYSIS IN RAT PUPS
FOLLOWING INTRAPERITONEAL INJECTIONS
Jendy Weppler and Dr. Ana Kehrberg
Department of Psychology
The Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center
provides an environmental education program for students
in grades fourth through eighth. The program, All the Rivers
Run, is taught over a four day and three night period by field
instructors and environmental education interns. Instructors
use the Cuyahoga Valley National Park as their classroom as
they teach about watersheds and the environmental
importance of them. The watershed provides a structure for
testing and analyzing water quality of the Cuyahoga River,
discovering American history concepts relative to the
watershed, exploring ecological concepts, and examining
environmental issues. Instructors teach through a hands-on
approach, which allow students to create connections to the
natural world that they are immersed in.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) occurs as a result of maternal
alcohol consumption during pregnancy. It can impair fetal
development, resulting in mental retardation, hyperactivity,
epilepsy, poor coordination, vision and hearing problems,
and behavioral disorders. Newborn rat pups are still
developing similarly to the third trimester in human
gestation. FAS can be induced in rat pups in order to expand
research for diagnosis and treatment. There are several
methods for injecting rat pups with alcohol. One such
method is intraperitoneal injection, which has not been used
as often as others. The purpose of this research was to
determine whether intraperitoneal injection of alcohol in
neonatal rats achieves similar behavioral and physiological
responses as previous methods of alcohol administration.
Numerous blood samples were collected from several litters
receiving ethanol injections, along with controls. The blood
alcohol content was determined using an alcohol
dehydrogenase assay and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. There
was a general trend that the ethanol pups had higher blood
alcohol content than the controls, but there were exceptions
and outliers. The results were not completely conclusive as
to the effectiveness of the intraperitoneal injection.
1
10
CREATING ANTIBODIES FOR LYME DISEASE
BACTERIAL PROTEIN
Jeremy Whitson
Molecular Biology Program
Lyme disease is an infection, caused by the bacterium
Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), spread to humans by bites from
blacklegged ticks. Though treatable, this disease is clinically
relevant because it can lead to long-term joint inflammation
(Lyme arthritis), heart rhythm problems, facial paralysis,
and nerve damage. Bb expresses proteins differentially
when infecting different hosts. By studying these proteins,
new ways to prevent the spread of Lyme disease can be
developed. One necessary step in studying these proteins is
to create antibodies for them so that Western Blotting and
ELISA analysis can take place. This project was to create
antibodies for BmtA, a membrane-bound manganese
transporter in Bb that is necessary for Bb to infect ticks and
mammals. In order to do so, bacteria with a plasmid
encoding Glutathione Sepharose Transferase (GST) linked to
BmtA were grown, induced, and collected, and the protein
was solubilized, purified, and injected into mice so that
their immune systems would produce antibodies. Mouse
sera samples were tested for antibodies using Western
Blotting and ELISA analysis. Based on the results, it seems
that some antibodies for BmtA were produced.
11
2012 Poster Presenters
Name
Dept./Program
Susan Fritsch
Environmental Science
1
Jennifer Greenwood
Neuroscience
2
Tanya Jones
Geology
3
Tanya Jones
Geology
4
Andrea Larkin
Physics and Engineering
5
Sarah Linn
Biology
6
Julie Long
Biology
7
Chemistry and
Environmental Science
8
Tereza Tomankova
Biology
9
Jendy Weppler
Psychology
10
Jeremy Whitson
Molecular Biology
11
Alex Seaholm and
Christopher Spring
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