Annual Student Research Poster Session

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  Effects of Air Pollutants on Trabecular Meshwork Cells

  Thao H.P. Le, Andrew C. Jubintoro, and Jie J. Zheng

  The trabecular meshwork (TM) is a specialized tissue located in the irido-corneal angle of the eye that regulates the aqueous humor outflow and maintains the intraocular pressure (IOP). TM cells function as a biological filter and are inherently phagocytic, clearing cellular debris in the aqueous humor (Stamer & Clark, 2016). Environmental factors, such as air pollution, have been associated with an increased risk of glaucoma (Kitayama et al., 2025). One such pollutant is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), a chlorinated organic pollutant found in smog and other forms of ambient air pollution (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) et al., 1998). TCDD is highly persistent in the environment and can activate cellular signaling pathways that alter gene expression. This study investigates the effect of TCDD on the phagocytic activity of TM cells and whether the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signaling pathway is active in TM cells after TCDD exposure. Gene expression of CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and TIPARP was measured as readouts of AhR pathway activation.

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  Digital Content Creation for the Trasimeno Regional Archaeological Project (TRAP)

  Nathalia Martinez-Baca and Rebecca Schindler

  The Trasimeno Archaeology Field School is a component of the Trasimeno Regional Archaeology Project (TRAP). The six-week field school is managed by the Umbra Institute (Perugia, IT) in collaboration with DePauw faculty (R. Schindler and P. Foss, Department of Classical Studies). The program provides the opportunity for students to engage with primary archaeological research while also taking two courses through the Umbra Institute. The archaeological project, which is based in the territory of Castiglione del Lago just west of Lake Trasimene, has three primary research goals: mapping the known archaeological sites in the region, excavating particular Roman sites, and developing a new archaeological museum, which is a community-based project in conjunction with the city of Castiglione del Lago. Students participate in all aspects of the research project, including excavation, site documentation, artifact inventory and analysis, and creation of the museum exhibitions. In the summer of 2025, TRAP will be continuing the excavation of a Roman villa site located on the slopes of Castiglione del Lago and finalizing the displays for the new museum in Castiglione del Lago (Trasimeno Museo Archeologico), which is set to open at the end of June 2025. In returning to Castiglione del Lago, Nathalia has not only served as a teaching assistant (TA), supervising one of several excavation sites, but has simultaneously created digital content for the exposure of the TRAP field work. Combining Nathalia's familiarity with the commune as a TRAP veteran, her intermediate Italian skills, and her experience in producing social media content for several student organizations back at DePauw, she is able to bring bilingual Italian-English media to reality for the project.

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  Getting to the root of the problem: A comparison of rhizome extracts for the control of cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica)

  Mia Martin-Fuller, Elizabeth Esser, and Ashley Schulz

  Cogongrass is a perennial grass that was introduced to the southeastern United States in 1912 and has since spread aggressively throughout the region. It is very resilient to disturbances as it can propagate through seed and rhizome, which makes it extremely difficult to control. Most efforts to control cogongrass populations have used synthetic herbicides, though burning and tilling have also been explored. A new method applies autotoxic leachates produced by the target plant to the plant for control. Although this method of control has been demonstrated in giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta), researchers have not yet identified the methods to control cogongrass. In this study, we compared how ethanol- and water-derived leachates impact cogongrass growth. We collected cogongrass rhizome from Winston County, MS, chopped it in a blender, then added 700 g of chopped rhizome to each of two jars, one with 1.1 L of water and one with 1.1L of 50% ethanol. Both jars soaked for 24 hours, then were strained to extract the liquid. The ethanol leachate was evaporated and resuspended in distilled water. In addition to the two leachates, we had three control treatments: distilled water, 5% ethanol, and 15% ethanol. Each treatment was applied as a soil drench to three cogongrass specimens. We measured the height and number of leaves daily and photographed each plant every other day. After seven days, we measured the wet and dry biomass of the above- and below-ground tissue of each plant. Preliminary results show that the ethanol treatments all had significantly less dry belowground mass than the water control (p < 0.05), but there were no other significant differences among treatments. Additional analyses and trials are going to be conducted to further explore the use of plant extracts for the control of cogongrass and other invasive plants.

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  Human Transferrin Receptor Bispecific TREM2 Antibody Creation and Its Insightful Use in Alzheimer's Disease

  Amelia McLaren and June Javens-Wolfe

  Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, affecting an estimated 7.2 million seniors in the United States. AD can develop in the brain for twenty years or more before symptoms appear, such as memory loss, which could enable a diagnostic window for intervention. AD causes neurons to be damaged or destroyed due to the accumulation of amyloid-beta protein fragments and an abnormal form of tau protein. The protein Transmembrane Receptor Expressed by Myeloid Cells, TREM2, is essential in regulating the microglial response to amyloid-beta and tau accumulation in the AD brain. Microglia, the brain’s resident immune cell, has two different paths of activation: one that is anti-inflammatory (M2), and one that is pro-inflammatory (M1). TREM2 is expressed in microglia and myeloid cells. It has a role in regulating microglial inflammatory responses. The TREM2 receptor is connected to DAP12—a signaling adaptor inside the cell that phosphorylates Syk (Spleen Tyrosine Kinase). By creating a TREM2 antibody with an LALAPG mutation, the interaction between the Fc region and the Fc gamma receptor was abolished, which stimulates SYK phosphorylation and phagocytosis. Portions of the antibody were developed from two different companies (e.g., Elana and Denali), who provided the aTREM2 and the hTfR (human transferrin receptor) binding domain, which was inserted in the aTREM2 fc portion. An hTfR receptor allows for two TREM2 antibodies to bind to TREM2 protein and mediate a stronger response via receptor clustering. The hTFR receptor also allows a therapeutic to surpass the blood-brain barrier—hTfR normally transports iron in the body. By inserting hTfR, then inversely, testing could show an elevated production of phospho-Syk using western blots, alphaLISA, and ELISA. Activating Syk matters because it activates the PI3K/AKT pathway that leads to M2 microglia, ultimately protecting those seniors from rapidly declining toward AD.

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  Analyzing the Evolving Digital Public Dialogue on Juneteenth

  Ky Nguyen, Quan Nguyen, Khusi Singh, and Annie Tran

  This research explores how public conversations surrounding Juneteenth have evolved over time by analyzing 10,000 tweets. Through annotation of sentiment, emotion, and topics, the project provides insight into how Juneteenth is celebrated, debated, and understood across diverse cultural and political contexts. The resulting dataset lays the groundwork for a machine learning model capable of identifying large-scale patterns in language, tone, and narrative.

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  Targeting The OPN-CD44 Axis as a Therapeutic Strategy to Chemo-sensitize Ovarian Tumors

  Fikayo Odusanya, Sam Forouzan, Kouta Niizuma, and Cristabelle De Souza

  Epithelial ovarian cancer is one of the most aggressive gynecological cancers with a 49% 5-year survival rate due to its late diagnosis and its development of resistance to standard chemotherapy such as platinum based drugs. By chemosensitizing the ovarian cancer cells, existing therapies would be more effective in treating the disease and potentially reduce the recurrence risk. Our goal was to investigate the role of OPN in driving chemoresistance in ovarian cancer patients and to create recycling therapeutic antibodies to block the interaction between OPN and the CD44 integrin on the ovarian cancer cells. By blocking the interaction, we aim to reduce and eliminate the chemoresistance of the cells to chemotherapy.

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  Entrepreneurship over the Business Cycle

  Ryan Rudderham and Miyu Aoki

  During economic recessions, individuals face a challenging decision: whether to seek traditional employment or start their own business. While recessions are a poor time for entrepreneurship due to reduced consumer spending and business productivity, these periods also feature high unemployment, which makes finding wage work difficult. This project developed a theoretical framework to study entrepreneurship over the business cycle by introducing labor market frictions, creating a tractable yet realistic structure for occupational choice. Traditional macroeconomic models struggle to capture entrepreneurial decision-making across business cycles. As such, this project looked at labor market frictions in building a theoretical framework. Over the summer, we conducted a comprehensive literature review, constructed the model using scholastic processes, and programmed simulations and visualizations using Current Population Survey microdata in Julia.

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  Creating Environmental Curriculum through The Castle

  Sydney Scarbrough and Harry Brown

  My presentation focuses on the education of environmental sciences within the public school classroom. Partnering with The Castle I created Earth Day curriculum to educate middle school students on the environmental topics of Earth Day, carbon footprints, contact tracing, and recycling. I designed innovative activities allowing for a wide variety of engagement and exploration.

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  Therapeutic Silencing of Integrin α11 Attenuates Myofibroblast Activation in Vocal Fold Fibrosis

  Linh P. Schiffer, Ryan M. Friedman, Yashna Gupta, and Riccardo Gottardi

  Vocal fold scarring (VFS), a fibrotic condition of the lamina propria, commonly results from prolonged intubation or laryngeal trauma and leads to impaired vocal function and often irreversible dysphonia. Following injury, fibroblasts are activated by proinflammatory cytokines—particularly transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1)—which induces their differentiation into contractile, ECM-producing myofibroblasts. A key marker of this activation is alpha-smooth muscle actin (αSMA). Among the drivers of this fibrotic response is integrin α11β1, a collagen-binding transmembrane protein encoded by the ITGA11 gene. ITGA11 has been implicated in multiple fibrotic diseases due to its role in enhancing TGFβ1 signaling and promoting myofibroblast activation. To investigate the contribution of ITGA11 to VFS, we performed siRNA-mediated knockdown of ITGA11. We hypothesized that silencing ITGA11 would attenuate myofibroblast activation and reduce fibrotic remodeling in the vocal folds. Our findings support a potential therapeutic role for ITGA11 targeting in the treatment of vocal fold scarring.

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  Underrecognized Classics in Philosophy: Expanding the DePauw Philosophy Curriculum

  Ian Smith, Jeremy Anderson, Rich Cameron, Erik Wielenberg, and Jen Everett

  The Philosophy Department spent the summer developing a reading list for a future Phil. 200 course that would focus on classics not currently represented in the curriculum. One way we framed our goal was through the question, “what works should students have read by the time they reach their 300 and 400 level philosophy courses?” To this end, a work’s potential to broaden the scope of how I—as a current undergraduate philosophy major—understand my discipline, provided the department with an evaluative perspective to complement that of the faculty.

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  K847A Mutation and Anionic Lipid-Presence Modify Opa1 Enzyme Kinetics and Function

  J. Rafael Tolentino, Kate Walsh, and Andrew D. Kehr

  Opa1 is a dynamin superfamily protein that is responsible for the fusion of the mitochondrial membrane. However, nobody knows the specific chemical mechanisms of how it interacts with lipids. Our research focuses on investigating how Opa1 interacts with lipids. In other words, we want to figure out which amino acids are crucial for Opa1's ability to bind with lipids. In hopes of understanding how Opa1 mutations affect neurodegenerative diseases, such as dominant optic atrophy.

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  CUMath: A Benchmark and Evaluation Framework for LLMs on Mathematical Reasoning in Undergraduate Computational Math

  Quyen Tran and Sutthirut Charoenphon

  Large Language Models (LLMs) perform well on popular math benchmarks but still struggle with fundamental undergraduate tasks such as basic integrals. This suggests a diagnostic gap: existing datasets are either trivial, synthetic, or overly advanced, limiting their usefulness for exposing reasoning failures. To address this, we introduce CUMath, a benchmark of 2,100 real problems from undergraduate courses in Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, and related fields. Each problem includes step-by-step solutions, enabling evaluation of both final answers and intermediate reasoning. Moreover, current evaluations treat accuracy and reasoning separately, overlooking their joint role in problem-solving. To address this, we propose a multi-layered evaluation framework that combines automatic metrics with an LLM-as-a-grader pipeline, integrating symbolic encoding and external verification. Using this setup, we evaluate 15 LLMs across various prompting strategies. Our results show that even advanced models often misuse symbolic methods and rely on shortcuts, leading to polished but flawed solutions. Our findings reveal the ongoing issue of inconsistent reasoning, highlighting the need for improved benchmarks, evaluation frameworks, and the development of models with enhanced consistency and reasoning capabilities. The code and data will be available upon publication.

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  Light Stress and Leaf Characteristics in Prairie Fleabane in a Limestone Quarry

  Guoqing Evelyn Tuohy

  DePauw’s nature park was an active limestone quarry for 60 years and has been going through primary succession since 1977. This harsh and disturbed environment can make it difficult for plants to survive. In this study, I aimed to investigate the Erigeron strigosus (Prairie Fleabane), a native plant commonly found in open, disturbed areas. I wanted to examine how the amount of light affected leaf traits in Erigeron strigosus because I had observed and hypothesized that in sunny areas, the leaf orientation changed, and the size of the leaves was smaller, and in shady areas, the leaves would be in a neutral position, and the leaf size was larger. To conduct this experiment, I measured leaf size, photosynthetically active radiation, leaf angle, and stomatal density of 40 plants in full sun and 40 plants in partial shade in 16 different locations. While some results were not statistically significant, I did find a significant pattern in height and number of flowerheads, where sunny plants were shorter, but had more flowerheads than partially shaded plants. I also found that the leaf orientation and stem phototropism did change between the two light environments. This has led me to question whether leaf movement and orientation are indicators of stress or if they actually have a positive impact on plants that are in full sun and are an adaptation that increases the plant’s fitness. Answering these questions would be the next step if I were to continue my research, and also provide insights into how this plant survives in the harsh quarry environment.

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  Creating Blender Animations to Help Students Visualize Organic Chemistry Concepts

  Vasilina Vikareva and Jeffrey Hansen

  Many students struggle with organic chemistry because they find it difficult to visualize molecular structures and interactions in three dimensions. Concepts like bond rotation for conformational isomers and intermolecular forces require strong spatial imagination, which traditional 2D drawings fail to develop effectively. This spatial visualization deficit contributes significantly to high failure rates and student anxiety in organic chemistry courses, creating a substantial barrier to success in STEM fields. This project aims to solve this problem by creating animations that demonstrate complex chemical concepts in clear, visual ways that enhance student comprehension and retention. The research methodology involves developing a comprehensive library of educational videos using industry-standard software, including ChemDoodle 2D, ChemDoodle 3D for molecular structure creation and Blender for creating advanced animations which are later rendered and edited to final versions of educational materials. These videos will help students gain a deeper understanding of organic chemistry through visualization.

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  Visualizations and Interactive Resources for Organic Chemistry Education

  Anh Vu and Jeffrey Hansen

  Organic chemistry education presents significant learning challenges due to its heavy reliance on spatial reasoning, abstract molecular representations, and complex spectral data interpretation. To address these difficulties, this project involved the development of interactive digital tools designed to improve conceptual understanding and student engagement. We optimized and developed a game-based learning application for isomer identification and an interactive web-based tool for spectroscopy practice. These resources provide active, hands-on learning experiences that help demystify complex topics. The tools demonstrate the potential of digital interventions to make organic chemistry more accessible and approachable for learners.

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  Specific Metabolic Pathways Regulate Inflammation in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease

  Ethan S.O. Williams Fonner and et al.

  Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide. Yet, the knowledge of disease mechanisms and available therapies are highly limited. To better understand the disease and provide potential treatments, our lab utilized various mice and in vitro models in order to determine how specific metabolic pathways impact disease progression. Combined, our findings and prior work in the lab provide novel insights for potential predictive, preventive, and therapeutic avenues.

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  Birth Outcomes in the Hispanic Population in the United States: Trends, Variation, and Determinants (2011–2021)

  Yanchao Yang, Thinh Nguyen, and Sota Fuji

  Infants born to mothers who self-identify as Hispanic account for a substantial and growing share of births in the United States, yet limited research has examined disparities in birth outcomes across Hispanic origin subgroups. This study aims to document trends and identify important factors associated with Cesarean section (C-section), low birthweight, and prematurity within the Hispanic population. We use data from the National Vital Statistics System (2011–2021), covering nearly all U.S. births. We compare outcomes across Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, and non-Hispanic Black mothers and further disaggregate by Hispanic origin (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central/South American, and Other/Unknown). We use logistic regression and classification tree models to assess associations between maternal, infant, and clinical factors and birth outcomes. We find that Hispanic mothers have birth outcomes similar to non-Hispanic Whites and better than non-Hispanic Blacks. However, prematurity rates among Hispanics have slightly increased over time. Mexican mothers exhibit the most favorable outcomes, while Cuban mothers show higher rates of C-section, and Puerto Rican mothers show higher rates of low birthweight and prematurity. Logistic regression results highlight multiple births, breech presentation, and hypertensive conditions as important factors associated with adverse birth outcomes. Our biomedical approach emphasizes physiological and clinical risk factors such as multiple births, breech presentation, hypertensive conditions, and obesity. In parallel, our biosocial analysis incorporates demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral variables to contextualize how social determinants interact with biology to influence outcomes. Complementing these findings, our classification tree analysis identifies inadequate gestational weight gain (less than 15 pounds) as a prominent risk factor for both low birthweight and prematurity. Additionally, obesity emerges as a significant factor linked to an increased likelihood of C-section. While birth outcomes among Hispanic mothers are generally favorable, subgroup differences and emerging disparities highlight the need for disaggregated research and culturally tailored public health interventions.

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  Zermelo's Theorem: How To Reach A Standard of Perfect Play in Chess

  Elisha Amadasu '26

  Zermelo’s theorem establishes that in any two player zero-sum game with perfect information (without the element of chance), either one side can force a win regardless of how the other side plays, or both sides can force a draw (if allowed in the rules). This theorem encouraged me to see how I could better my chess to see if I could exploit the existence of this perfect standard. I considered how chess engines play, as they are currently the strongest at playing chess. I understood that they often look 60-70 moves deep from the opening stage of the game, which leads to the endgame. I decided to mimic this method by finding a statistical correlation between opening moves and the type of endgames that may occur from them.

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  Comparison of two disaccharides and their saccharide components in AOT reverse micelles: Impacts of D-trehalose and D-sucrose

  Delaney Collier '25, Bridget L. Gourley, and Nancy E. Levinger

  Reverse micelles, featuring an AOT surfactant with a polar head group and nonpolar tail, encapsulate a polar phase at the nanoscale. With water as the polar phase, the nanoconfined water pool interactions and water-interface interactions mimic biological nanoconfinement. Thus, we investigated the impact of osmolytes on AOT reverse micelles to explore the role they play in biological systems. We investigated two disaccharides, D-trehalose and D-sucrose, and their monosaccharide components, glucose+glucose and glucose+fructose. We chose these molecules for their biological significance and to allow us to investigate whether subtle structural changes in the osmolyte impacts the intermolecular interactions in confinement as strongly as is found with monosaccharides (Halliday). In determining the size of reverse micelles, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) indicates saccharide-containing reverse micelles are smaller than reverse micelles with the same volume of water. Additionally, DLS shows there is no difference in reverse micelle size between D-trehalose and sucrose or their saccharide components. We further probed the system using a fluorescent dye molecule for lifetime measurements to determine the impact confinement and saccharides have on relaxation processes. Optical spectroscopy experiments, such as fluorescence anisotropy measurements, indicate relaxation processes are slowed by confinement and by increasing saccharide concentration. Similar to DLS results, there is seemingly no difference between the impact of D-trehalose and sucrose or their saccharide components on relaxation processes. Halliday et al. Langmuir. 2024.

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  What Meney Meney Mothers There Are With Whom I Would Not Trade: Scanning & Transcribing the 1916 Diary of Frederika Heinen

  Laney Collier '25 and Caroline Gilson

  Laney Collier scanned and transcribed a 1916 diary owned by Caroline Gilson, passed down from her mother, Arlene Abel Luchsinger. The diary was kept by Caroline’s great-great grandmother, Frederika Heinen. Frederika recorded her daily activities, the weather, community events, household activities, and family member interactions. Laney and Caroline created a manuscript transcription style guide and appendices to aid in the reading of the diary. Diary research included women and diary-keeping practices, personal communication, Kansas history, and history of Clay County/Green, Kansas. This diary serves as a historical artifact that tells the story of a family and community in 1916.

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  A Community-Level Investigation of Heavy Metal Pollution in Street Sediments from Terre Haute, Indiana

  Kyra Copp '25, Kenneth Brown, Nora Bedwell '26, and Camden Brown '25

  Urban environments contain environmental legacy issues that can have long-term negative public health consequences. Investigating these legacy issues can help constrain potential sources and their impact on communities. This study focuses on street sediment found in Terre Haute, Indiana, a city with an extensive history of coal-fired power production, high-traffic volumes, steel manufacturing, and Pb-based paint usage. This research specifically focuses on Terre Haute’s Sheridan Park community. Six bulk street sediment samples were analyzed by pXRF at DePauw University. This analysis revealed elevated concentrations of Pb (22-152 ppm), As (8-15 ppm), Cu (35-237 ppm), and Zn (149-634 ppm) in all six samples. Street samples collected near automotive buildings had the highest concentrations of heavy metals, with some concentrations seven times higher than background concentrations reported for natural soils in the area. Particle types found within the street sediment were identified using a standard stereomicroscope. This revealed four main categories: geogenic sediments, organic matter, anthropogenic debris (e.g., plastic), and metal particles. A more detailed investigation of the particle types was completed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). This analysis revealed Fe-rich spheres, silica-rich micro-beads, and other minor heavy metal-bearing particles. This study confirms the presence of heavy metal pollution within this community. Present-day sources of these metals include the automotive industry (e.g., mechanic shops) and vehicle transportation. The Fe-rich spheres may be a byproduct of past steel manufacturing and coal-combustion within the city.

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  Avoidance behavior of Oppia nitens (oribatid mites) to herbicide: Glyphosate compared to microplastics in standard artificial soil.

  Thi Doan '27 and Philips Akinwole

  Despite growing public interest in environmental issues, awareness of contaminants affecting soil organisms remains broadly lacking, despite decades of research. This study investigated the impacts of a common herbicide; glyphosate, (Roundup), on the avoidance behavior of Oppia nitens - a soil mite species used as an indicator of soil health, and soil moisture content. The study involved exposing O.nitens to standard artificial soil treated with glyphosate concentrations ranging from 47.8 to 501.6 mg/kg. Avoidance behavior was assessed by observing mite distribution between treated and untreated soil over a 48-hour period. Results demonstrated clear avoidance behavior at higher glyphosate concentrations (501.6 mg/kg), with EC50 of 4,630 mg/kg suggesting that glyphosate contamination can negatively impact soil ecosystems by affecting key organisms. The testing of water loss between glyphosate and other microplastics such as Polyethylene (PE) and Polystyrene (PS) showed that glyphosate enhances water loss as a desiccant and this is an inverse trend compared with PS and PE. Moreover, when juxtaposing their EC50 with other bioplastics consisting of Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) and Sodium Polyacrylate (NaPa), glyphosate is only less toxic than PS, but significantly more toxic than PE, PVA and NaPa. Loss of soil moisture content can contribute to the overall avoidance behavior in the exposure of Oppia nitens with glyphosate. The observed avoidance of glyphosate-treated soils by O. nitens and possibly other soil fauna such as earthworms or springtails could have significant cascading effects on soil ecosystems. The consequent alteration in mite distribution could potentially impact soil quality and obstruct degradation processes, highlighting the need for further investigation into the long-term impacts of glyphosate on soil biodiversity and health.

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  Designing an Attachment Assay for Keratinocytes Stimulated by Fibroblast Conditioned Media

  Linh "Kas" Do '26 and Colleen L. Doçi

  Cell attachment involves the interaction between an individual cell with its neighbors and the extracellular matrix. These interactions are often regulated by the signaling molecules, including a variety of proteins, cytokines and growth factors. It is found in several studies that keratinocytes in the epidermis communicate with dermal fibroblasts in a bilateral paracrine model, in which they were simultaneously stimulated by the byproduct of the others. We developed this protocol with a simple, low-cost, and effective model to examine keratinocyte attachment that could be applied to examine the effects of fibroblasts on cell adhesion. For this method, we collected the conditioned media from fibroblasts and use it as a treatment for keratinocytes. Treated keratinocytes are then plated in a matrix and quantified with immunofluorescence techniques to determine the amount of attachment based on different treatment concentrations.

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  Foreign Direct Investment and Global Supply Chain Reshaping in ASEAN

  Nam Khanh Hoang '25 and Guangjun Qu

  The intensifying geopolitical tensions between the United States and China have led to profound changes in global supply chains, particularly in recent years. Additionally, China's strict Zero Covid policy has further complicated the operations of multinational corporations during the pandemic. These developments have forced companies to rethink their sourcing strategies, diversify their suppliers, and relocate manufacturing to reduce tariff impacts and minimize supply chain risks. This study examines how the trade war and the Zero Covid policy have accelerated the diversification of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from the U.S. and China into Southeast Asia. We analyze FDI data from key ASEAN economies, exploring correlations between the trade war and the evolving FDI patterns of the U.S. and China in the region. Our research finds that neither the trade war nor the COVID-19 pandemic has had a statistically significant impact on the growth and pattern of U.S. FDI into the region. However, there has been a notable shift in the distribution of Chinese FDI across the region. This suggests that U.S. government policies aimed at reshaping global supply chains have partially succeeded—not by altering American manufacturers' supply chains in the region, but by prompting their Chinese counterparts to restructure theirs.

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  Comparison of S100β Expression in SK-MEL-25 and A-375

  Nev Hommel '26, Ayusha Pokharel '27, and Nipun Chopra

  Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects more than 2 million Americans each year. S100β protein acts as a biomarker for TBI– studies have shown that micromolar levels of S100β are dangerous to neuronal health. Our plan for the summer was to experiment with whether miRNA-4705 could inhibit the production of S100β or not. To get started on the transfection, we had two hurdles to overcome. One of them was to find an efficient s100B primary antibody and the second was to ensure our s100B siRNA worked. By analyzing various research papers and their western blot, we identified and selected two s100B primary antibodies. Our study investigated the ability of two S100β siRNA - used to confirm successful transfection of RNA into the selected cell lines - to silence the S100β genes in two cell lines: A-375 and SK-MEL-28. These cells were cultured and plated in 24-well plates. Each plate had 6 conditions: mock (transfection agent RNAiMAX and media), untreated (just media), negative control siRNA (not expected to reduce S100B levels), beta-actin siRNA (A positive control for transfection), S100β-1 siRNA, and S100β-2 siRNA. After 72 hours of incubation, the cells were lysed for the purpose of running a gel electrophoresis and Western blot. Our Western blots showed varying results, though we determined that A-375 cells do not produce enough endogenous S100β protein to be detectable, while SK-MEL-25 does produce S100β protein above levels of detection. Furthermore, we found that S100β siRNA-1 can be used to effectively silence the S100β genes. This will allow us to use S100β siRNA as a positive control for future research with miR-3705. Further research is required to determine whether miR-3705 effectively suppresses the S100β protein. We plan to continue work with the SK-MEL-25 cells and culture a new cell line called C6.