Posters from the annual student research session where DePauw students can demonstrate their collaborative work with faculty or internship experiences.
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Visualization for Better Learning in Chem 120
Ngoc (Valerie) Tran and Jeffrey A. Hansen
Many concepts in organic chemistry relate to spatial reasoning and the ability to translate two-dimensional representations into a three-dimensional mental image. It is critical that students gain a thorough understanding of visualizing atoms, orbitals and their interactions in three dimensions. By developing an E-book with computer graphics, 3D animations, H5P films, and online apps, we hope to enhance Depauw students' learning experiences in the CHEM 120 course. In this project, we would like to demonstrate 3D representations of chemical concepts to help students form these 3D mental images from a 2D surface. The process includes concept developing, storyboarding, 2D and 3D modeling, texturing, animation, rendering, and editing.
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Megacrystic Potassium Feldspar Magmatism In The Southern Mojave Desert, California
Claire Wolfe, Matthew Loocke, and Kenneth L. Brown
Investigating the textural, chemical, and chronological records preserved within crystal populations can provide insight into the processes which operate during magma ascent, emplacement, and crystallization. K-feldspar megacrysts offer an excellent opportunity to explore these records, particularly in chemically-evolved systems. Understanding megacryst formation bears on a fundamental issue in granite petrogenesis, namely whether the textural and chemical features preserved within granitoid intrusions reflect primary magmatic processes or late-stage crystallization and subsolidus reorganization. To expand our understanding of megacryst formation, we investigated a suite of K-feldspar megacrysts from the Sheep Hole Pluton (SHP) in Southern California.
SHP megacrysts are euhedral, ranging from 1-8cm in length. Petrographic analysis and SEM/EDS mapping reveals abundant plagioclase (~40%), quartz (~35%), biotite (~10%), titanite (~10%), and hornblende (~5%) inclusions. Other accessory phases include Fe-Ti oxides, apatite, allanite, and zircon. Many of these inclusions, especially euhedral plagioclase, biotite, and titanite, are preferentially orientated along diffuse oscillatory zoning boundaries in the host megacryst. EPMA analyses collected along megacryst core-to-rim traverses reveal Or78-93 compositions with dramatic fluctuations in Ba concentrations (0.89 - 2.73 wt%). Core and rim analyses of plagioclase inclusions were also collected via EPMA. These analyses reveal that plagioclase inclusions contain oligoclase to andesine cores (An19 - An34) and albite-rich rims (An3 - An10).
Although SHP megacrysts are much older than megacrysts described in previous studies, the textural and chemical observations are strikingly similar. We favor a magmatic origin for these megacrysts and interpret these similarities to suggest that a common magmatic process is responsible for K-feldspar megacryst formation.
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Investigating Conflicts in Mind Wandering and Neural Oscillation Studies
Mahnoor Zahid and Robert West
When presented with a repetitive or an undemanding task, our mind tends to disengage from the external environment to focus on the inner trains of thought. This phenomenon, commonly known as "zoning out" is termed as Mind Wandering. Across various literature', this effect has been mainly studied under two states: while performing a low-demand task, or under a meditative state. Neural oscillations such as alpha, beta, delta and theta waves were studied to observe varying effects of mind wandering and to distinguish how and when a human mind goes into this state. It was hypothesized that one wave would prove to be a distinguishable factor in identifying the mind wandering state. Surprisingly, the literature did not meet at one solid convergence.
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Latex Variation in Hemp Dogbane (Apocynum Cannabinum)
Michael Aikin and Rose Keith PhD
Hemp Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) is a weedy perennial native to North America that can reproduce by seed or clonally. Shoots can emerge from vertically oriented crown roots or horizontally orientated lateral roots. This plant can be found readily throughout the nature park in small to large patches. We sampled from 6 populations, 3 within the quarry bottom and 3 outside of the quarry bottom. We looked at latex production to determine if it was influenced more by herbivory or water availability. In our analysis we discovered that water availability played a role in the amount of latex produced and that herbivory was deterred by latex production in nonquarry populations.
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Life on the rocks: Small-scale primary succession in an abandoned limestone quarry
Sophia P. Atkinson, Diana Borse, Cedrick Chandler, Daniel L. Saltz, and Dana A. Dudle PhD
Abandoned quarries, from which all soil and plant life have been removed, represent an opportunity to study primary succession at a small scale. Using a framework suggested by Gilardelli et al. (2016), we assessed the stage of primary succession in an abandoned limestone quarry in Greencastle, Indiana, where gravel extraction ceased in 1977. From 2018-2021 we surveyed the quarry floor to describe the species composition and distribution of flowering plant species that have established at the site, then described each species in terms of its plant form, life history, native and wetland status, and invasive rank using the USDA website. In 2021, we made a grid across the quarry bottom and randomly selected 50 two-meter plots of which we characterized the substrate and identified flowering plant species found within each plot. We identified 106 species in the quarry, 72% are native to Indiana. From the quarry survey, we found that most of the species currently growing in the Nature Park quarry are native, herbaceous perennials. From the sample plots, we found that the quarry bottom does not follow the pattern of late-phase succession as laid out by Gilardelli et al. (2016) with only 28% of species identified being woody perennials that are sparsely distributed. Shrubland communities are not replacing herbaceous pioneer species as quickly as expected.
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Edge influence on forest composition in a pine-oak forest in central Mexico
Isidro Avila and Dana Dudle PhD
Deforestation in central Mexico comes as a direct consequence of the increase in agriculture demand and has resulted in the creation of more habitat edges. Changes in land usage for agriculture and resource extraction has resulted in habitat destruction and degradation; these same mechanisms have led to habitat fragmentation by producing smaller, and isolated fragments separated by human-transformed land cover. The loss of continuous area has resulted in greater exposure to human dominated landscapes resulting in changes to the structure and function of the remaining fragment. To quantify, document, and describe the edge influence on forest composition fragmented by an agriculture field, I sampled 6 transects with 3, 10, 20, 30, & 40m data points per transect. My results reveal an edge influence on forest composition from an agriculture field.
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The Effectiveness of Serial Casting in Children with Arthrogryposis
Christina Bourantas; Chris Church MPT; Stephanie Butler BPT; Jose de Jesus Salazar-Torres PhD; John Henley PhD; Maureen Donohoe PT, DPT; Freeman Miller MD; and L. Reid Nichols MD
The most common foot deformity in children with arthrogryposis is clubfoot, which is typically stiffer than in the idiopathic clubfoot (IC). While the use of the Ponseti method in IC has led to improved foot mobility and reduced invasive surgical procedures, there is currently limited information of the effectiveness of serial casting (SC) in arthrogryposis. The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of serial casting in recurrent clubfoot in children with arthrogryposis on brace tolerance, foot position, patient reported outcome, and the need for surgery.
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Small Farms Throughout Southwest Indiana
Thomas Brelage
My experience at the DePauw University Ullem Center & Campus Farm took place during Summer 2021 with a majority of my internship taking place from June to August. Prior to my internship, I had worked at the Ullem Campus Farm as a volunteer and intern to the Farm Manager. During this time, I winterized the farm, completed the last of the fall harvest, and began preparing for spring planting. These experiences throughout the winter and spring influenced my decision to accept the summer internship at the Campus Farm!
The summer internship was offered through DePauw's Sustainability Leadership Program (SLP). Developing multi-faceted leaders, SLP works to establish and promote sustainability on DePauw's campus. The club is comprised of smaller working groups and each focuses on different interests in sustainability. My area of focus has been in the Campus Farm working group so I was extremely excited to dive into farm work. Through SLP, the focus had always been "bigger picture" farm projects, but my internship dove into the everyday work on the Campus Farm.
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A model of flexible feature learning for segmentation and unitization
Ziyi Chen and Michael E. Roberts PhD
The form of visual feature learning called segmentation involves learning components from whole objects, whereas unitization is learning whole objects via repeated exposure to the key parts. While some computer vision approaches get similar results as empirical findings from humans, the models are not very biologically plausible. This project presents a web-accessible version of a neural network model of flexible visual feature learning developed by Roberts and Goldstone. Here we use HTML and javascript to create a website which allows users to draw and train with their own input patterns, adjust parameters, and then test the features learned by the network.
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Problematic Social Media Use: Are There Gender Differences in Control and Craving
Aaniyah Childs and Robert West PhD
Problematic social media use is characterized by being overly concerned about social media, having an uncontrollable urge to use social media, and devoting ample amounts of time to social media that impairs other important life areas. According to Statista, 15% of people from 23-38 years of age admit they demonstrate problematic social media use, and 30% of all the participants surveyed admit they somewhat demonstrate problematic social media use. Problematic social media use is a growing problem, especially during a time where the world took a momentary pause and people turned to social media during quarantine amidst the pandemic. The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) has been widely used to measure this problematic behavior. This is a short six item scale measuring one factor, overall social media addiction. The goal of the current study was to create a new scale based on the BSMAS and the validated Internet Addiction Test-Short Version (s-IAT). The s-IAT is a 12 item scale that measures Internet addiction with the two factors control and craving. The scale was sent to 361 participants, both males and females to see whether or not there are gender differences. Our findings show that the DePauw Social Media Scale does measure problematic social media use and captures the two factors control and craving. There were gender differences in control, where females were higher than males, but not in craving. Our findings reveal that the relationship between gender and problematic social media use may differ from gender and Internet addiction.
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Behavior and Genomics of Nicotine-Seeking Larval Zebrafish
Kuzivakwashe Chinyanya, Andrew Button, and Henning Schneider PhD
Nicotine-use behavior is one of the main causes of preventable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Helping people quit nicotine products is a main goal of our projects. Developing a zebrafish model for nicotine use behavior could provide a tool for studying the underlying genetic, environmental and neuronal elements of nicotine use behavior. The high reproductive rate and short generation time of zebrafish as well as available genetic tools represent major advantages for studying potential links between behavior and genes in zebrafish. In our experiments, we use a behavioral assay for studying nicotine-choice behavior in larval zebrafish. By analyzing the swimming path using the tracking software EthovisionXT (Noldus) we can group larval zebrafish into nicotine-seekers, nicotineavoiders and nicotine-neutrals. As previously shown, about 20% of tested larval zebrafish can be identified as nicotine seekers. By selected breeding we aim to generate a zebrafish line with a higher percentage of nicotine-seekers. However, the results of breeding nicotine-seekers with each other resulted in a smaller percentage of nicotineseeking larval zebrafish in the third generation. Consistently, the percentage of nicotineavoiders is higher in each generation. To explore if nicotine-seeking and avoidance behavior can be linked to gene variants similar to those in humans, we have developed a protocol for detecting variants of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes in nicotineseekers and avoiders and found only weak correlation of certain variants with nicotineseeking behavior.
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Testing Inductive Learning Effects from Changing Attentional Focus with Training Instructions
Bradon Collins, Emily Gost, and Michael E. Roberts PhD
Participants studied a variety of artists’ paintings with different instructions regarding which elements of the paintings to focus on. The identification and recognition of trained and novel paintings was then tested. The additional instructions did not significantly alter memory performance or inductive learning .
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The Impact of Local Anthropogenic Activities on Soil Health within a Retired Farm: Implications for Urban Gardens
Abigail Cook '22, W. Roberts, E. Prince, and K. Brown PhD
Americans are implementing private food gardening for food access and affordability. A report by the National Gardening Association (2020) reveals a notable increase in food gardening in the past decade among urban households, especially millennial households. These national trends reflect an increasing interest in healthy living, sustainable gardening practices, and mitigating food insecurity within communities. Nonetheless, little is being done to assess soil health, especially for soils utilized for private and community gardens. Soil contamination can harm the health of those who use contaminated soils for food gardening. Thus, this study investigates soil health within a retired farm that is situated in close proximity to a firearms range and a county highway department.
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Neural Innervation of the Immune Response Could Lead to Treatments for Severe Asthma: The Screening of Neurotransmitters on T Helper 17 Cell Differentiation
Kate Cowger, Wei Wang PhD, and Xingbin Ai PhD
T Helper 17 (Th17) cell-driven neutrophilic asthma is a rare, yet severe phenotype that accounts for over 75% of all asthma related medical costs. Neural innervation has been known play a role in the immune response and we investigated whether the addition of neurotransmitters to would affect Th17 cell differentiation. Results indicated that neural innervation upregulated Th17 cell differentiation and expression of its cytokine IL-17 that is responsible for the severe symptoms seen in neutrophilic asthma.
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The Impacts of the Presence of Amino Alcohols on Xenobiotic Cell Signaling Pathways
John Csehill and Sarah Mordan-McCombs PhD
For this project, we investigated the effects of the presence of amino alcohols on the xenobiotically-catalyzed cell signaling pathways growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells. Amino alcohols have been hypothesized to act as antitumor agents against different types of tumor cells because they could act as a ligand for the aryl hydrocarbon receptors (AhRs) responsible for regulating downstream enzymes involved in the cellular response to xenobiotic stimuli.Yeast cells, on the other hand, do not have AhR proteins within their cells, so they depend on other potentially similar mechanisms involved in responding to xenobiotic signaling pathways. I helped synthesize the amino alcohol derivative compound benzylamine using aldol-epoxide reactions, and exposed different yeast mutants to benzylamine, which will be used to help further determine the mechanisms by which the yeast cells will respond to xenobiotic stimuli.
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The Effects of Sugar Osmolytes on Reverse Micelle Systems
Jenna Deckard and Bridget Gourley PhD
Reverse Micelles (RM) are nanoscopic pools of water encapsulated by an amphipathic surfactant molecule that allows the water pool to be suspended in a nonpolar solvent. We use RM systems because they allow for the study of water and dissolved osmolyte interactions in confinement. Gaining an understanding of how sugars interact with water in confinement has significant implications for biological systems. This project seeks to understand the effects of galactose as an osmolyte on the interactions, loading limits, and size of RMs when compared to RMs containing only water and RMs containing glucose. Galactose and glucose have slight structural differences, varying in the position of the hydroxyl group on the fourth carbon of each molecule allowing us to probe the structural nuances that often have large biochemical effects. RMs prepared using the surfactant Docusate Sodium (AOT) and the nonpolar solvent isooctane (2,2,4- trimethylpentane) were made in sizes of w0=5, 10, and 20 where w0 represents the ratio of the concentration of water to the concentration of surfactant ([water]/[surfactant]). The loading limit of galactose in RMs was determined to be less than that of glucose over a range of RM sizes with the highest loading limit found in w0= 10 RMs. RM systems were also analyzed using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) to determine the impact of the osmolyte on RM size. We observed a reduction in the size of RMs when loaded with a sugar osmolyte, which we postulate happens because the interaction of the sugar with AOT headgroups disrupts the shape of RMs and causes a change in AOT surface area.
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Effect of a Hexylamine Derivative on Cancer Cell Viability
Rachel DeLancey, Bamlak Deju, Jeff Hansen PhD, and Nipun Chopra PhD
2-[(p-Chlorophenyl)hydroxymethyl]-1-[(methylamino)hexyl]cyclohexanol is a drug produced by hexyl amine and an epoxide through an aldol epoxidation reaction. Motifs of β-amino alcohols and nonpolar R groups in organic compounds have been found to have cytotoxic properties. Past studies in Dr. Hansen’s lab has shown that this hexylamine derivative has similar LC50 values to other antitumor agents. They also found that the drug was cytotoxic to HL-60 cancer cells. No other cell lines have been tested with this drug. Our study investigates the effect of our compound on varying cell lines to further determine its anticancer properties. Mouse NIH/3T3, Human HEK293, and Human SK-MEL-28 cell lines were cultured and plated into 96-well plates. Varying concentrations of the hexylamine derivative were administered and incubated for 48 hours. MTT assays detected the levels of cell viability. Results showed a significant decrease in HEK293 cells at a 30 μM concentration of our drug. The mouse and cancer cell lines did not produce significant results after statistical ANOVA tests. Future directions include further validation of the current results as well as research on the mechanisms by which this drug causes decreased cell viability. This research includes LDH and wound healing assays in addition to determining which proteins are down- and up-regulated in the process. Our study has found that the compound reduces human embryonic cell viability but does not significantly affect mouse cells or human melanoma cells. Further research is required to determine the methods of the drug and its potential in tumor treatment.
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Extracting the Mean Lifetime of the Neutron
Adam Forward, Muhammad Omer Sajid, and Alexander Komives PhD
Neutrons can be stable only when bound to the nucleus of an atom through the strong force. For every passing second, there is a probability that any isolated neutron will decay into a proton, an electron and an antineutrino. However, for the past 15 or so years, the only two neutron lifetime measurement methods have consistently shown lifetimes differing by over 8 seconds. One of the lifetime measurement methods is called the "beam method: and the other is called the "bottle method." While the measured lifetimes from the beam and bottle methods differ, as shown in the figure titled "Published Neutron Lifetime Reports," the Standard Model of Particle Physics predicts that neutrons should have the same average lifetime under these two conditions. The Standard Model is a unified theory that attempts to describe how the universe works on the most fundamental level. The properties of every particle are described through the Standard Model, along with the mechanisms (outside of gravity) for how these particles interact with one another. Therefore, either the differing lifetimes are a result of imprecise measurements, or the differing neutron lifetimes present flaws in the physicists' current understanding of the Universe's most fundamental properties. The UCNtau experiment, using the bottle method, published one of the most precise neutron lifetime values ever in 2018. This summer, we performed a preliminary analysis on blinded UCNtau data taken during the 2020 run cycle at Los Alamos National Laboratory and made significant progress in extracting a blinded lifetime.
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Investigating the effects of the benzylamine and epoxide product on the cell viability of MCF7 and SUM159 breast cancer cell lines
Rachael Hinshaw and Sarah Mordan-McCombs PhD
Introduction: Breast cancer is currently the most prevalent form of cancer in the world. Early stage treatments such as selective estrogen receptor modulators and antibodybased therapies have proven effective, but there are few options for late stage triple-negative disease (TNBC). Thus, current research is focused on chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents for late stage disease. Dr. Hansen’s lab has found evidence that their synthesized β-amino alcohol compounds are potential targets for cancer treatments due to their cytotoxic effects on brine shrimp and the HL-60 leukemia cell line. The benzylamine and epoxide product synthesized has an LC50 value of 8.28 uM which indicates that the compound is potentially very cytotoxic at low doses against cancer cells.
Methods: In order to investigate the effects of the benzylamine product on human breast cancer cell lines SUM159 (TNBC) and MCF7 (early stage), I treated the cells with different concentrations of the benzylamine product dissolved in DMSO and cell media and performed a crystal violet assay at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours to visualize cell viability.
Results: The SUM159 cell viability was decreased in the treated wells in comparison to the control wells, but the results were not significant. In the MCF7 cells, there was significantly lower cell viability in the wells treated with 3uM, 300nM, and 30nM at 48 hours and 3uM at 72 hours compared to the wells treated with DMSO as a vehicle control.
Discussion: My results indicate that the benzylamine product is a potential antitumor drug because of its cytotoxic effects against the SUM159 and MCF7 breast cancer cell lines. Future work will include repetition of this experiment and testing the benzylamine product on other cell lines including a noncancerous cell line.
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Expression of Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDHA) WT and A320T Mutant
Natalie Husby, John Csehill, Ian Longen, Ellie Reece, and Daniel Gurnon PhD
The human genome has a length of approximately 3 billion base pairs, containing a total of over 20,000 genes, which can all be subjected to mutations that cause variations in the genome. Variations in a genome can be potentially either benign or pathogenic, but it can be difficult to distinguish whether a variant is one or the other, leading to tens of thousands being classified as variants of unknown significance (VUS). Our lab was particularly interested in the VUSs in lactate dehydrogenase (LDHA), an oxidoreductase enzyme that catalyzes the reversible conversion of pyruvate to lactate, an important component to anaerobic metabolism. Our lab is focusing on the A320T (alanine to threonine mutation at position 320) VUS, in which we cultured BL21 (DE3) and DH5α E. coli cell strains, so that we are able to clone wild type (WT) and A320T mutant enzymes. We eventually expressed and purified the two types of LDHA to observe the activity of each. Through expression and purification of both wild type and mutated forms of LDHA, we can observe the impact that the A320T-mutated VUS will have on the function of the LDHA protein, thus determining whether the VUS is benign or pathogenic to the enzyme function.
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Assessing the Cognitive and Social Behaviors of Apis mellifera in Finding Food
Sophia Jones and Claire Dorner
Apis mellifera, or more commonly named, honeybees, are known for their keen ability to navigate the natural world in search of an unpredictable food source; nectar. Honeybees have a trichromatic visual spectrum which allows them to find flowers through vision, but their spectra is based on ultraviolet, blue and green (Riddle, 2016). They also have a circadian rhythm that allows them to know the optimal times to leave the hive in search of food (Moore et al. 1989). The social behaviors of honeybees also closely mirror our own and has caused numerous scientists to investigate whether they have the capacity to hold memories and learn. This experiment was split up into three segments and set out to determine whether honeybees could be trained to fly to a designated spot in order to get food, and whether they could differentiate between two similar food sources.
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Conodonts in the Nature Park: Exploring Our History
Emily G. Kaiser, Lannea Allen, and T. Cope PhD
Are conodonts present in the Nature Park? Can we identify them and use them to determine the age of the rocks in the Nature Park? Do the specimens we find in the Nature Park match the species found in previous studies of the Ste. Genevieve Limestone? To answer these questions, we processed limestone samples by manually extracting them and crushing those samples. We then dry sieved samples using 18-20 micron pans, and then combined sorted grains with 10% acetic acid. Those contents were wet sieved with 60 and 120 microns pans. This method allowed us to extract approximately 30 specimens to be examined under a scope for the identification process. Using the multi element approach, we were able to identify P, S, and M series elements. Ozarkodina, Spathognathodus, and Neoprioniodus were most commonly identified and found in both the upper and lower layers of the quarry wall. Some specimens that were only expected to be found in St. Louis Limestone were found in our outcrop, which we initially hypothesized to be the Ste. Genevieve Limestone. Explanations for these results could be that the quarry falls partially in the Ste. Genevieve and the St. Louis Limestone or there were potential errors made in the identification process, resulting in incorrect placement of the boundary. Our data was inconclusive and would require further research to bring more conclusive results.
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In-vitro Stimulation of CD4+ Lymphocytes Following Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury
Emma G. Kennedy, Jason A. Collett, and David P. Basile
To explore the Th-17 activation mechanism, renal CD4+ cells were isolated from post ischemic rats and stimulated in-vitro with varying conditions. These conditions focused on the effect of adenosine on IL-17 response using RT-PCR. Additionally, inhibitors of adenosine were added to test their IL-17 response in conjunction with adenosine. Specifically, an inhibitor for the Orai1 calcium channel. Furthermore, adenosine agonists were tested with to determine their effect on IL-17 response in the in-vitro stimulation plate.
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Identifying an appropriate in vitro model to study the effects of microRNA-4705 on S100β expression
Alyssa Koch, Vidhur Bynagari, Yangjie Tan, and Nipun Chopra PhD
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by external force to the head. In addition to the primary injury sustained by the impact, TBI can trigger a chronic inflammatory response that causes further tissue damage and neuronal death. Following TBI, glial cells of the central nervous system secrete elevated levels of the S100βprotein. S100βcan activate and upregulate the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE). The RAGE pathway activates NFκB, a transcription factor involved in production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, resulting in infiltration of immune cells from the peripheral blood. Unchecked, the inflammatory response is thought to cause excessive tissue damage and neuronal death. It is hypothesized that downregulation of S100βfollowing TBI may ameliorate damage caused by chronic neuroinflammation. Our lab aims to downregulate S100βusing microRNA. Previously, our lab used bioinformatics to identify a candidate microRNA, miR-4705, that might target S100β. We aim to investigate whether miR-4705 can downregulate S100βin human SK-MEL-28 cells. Thus far, we have gathered evidence that SK-MEL-28 cells express S100β (shown in Fig. 1). However, we have not been able to demonstrate that S100βsiRNA downregulates S100β, suggesting that the transfection was unsuccessful. These preliminary experiments have served to test the validity of our in vitro model for studying S100β expression. Our next steps will be to repeat our siRNA experiments and to begin testing the effect of miR-4705 on S100β expression in SK-MEL-28 cells.
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Determining Swimming Power Output using a Commercially Available Tethered Pulley Device
Samantha Loudermilk
Previous literature exists that supports resistive training in the water to improve competitive swim performance. Most of these examples include research involving relationships between swim power and performance. However, no established protocols to estimate measurements of power utilizing resistive training devices exist. PURPOSE: First to estimate peak swim power using a pulley-based training device and second, to examine the relationship between peak swim power estimated via a pulley-based training device and peak power achieved during an arm ergometer test. METHODS: Swimmers took part in two separate tests of power. SWIM POWER TOWER TEST: Participants performed a series of 10-meter freestyle sprints maximal effort while tethered to the resistive pulley device. The resistance was increased on each subsequent swim bout until failure. ARM ERGOMETER TEST: Participants performed a maximal arm crank test at a resistance of 5% of their body mass for 30 seconds. A Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between peak powers from both tests. RESULTS: The Pearson correlation of peak swim power and peak arm ergometer power was found to be significant, R2 = 0.64; p < 0.05. CONCLUSION: Swim power was estimated using a commercial pulley-based training device. A positive relationship was found between peak swim power in the water and peak power performed during an arm ergometer test in the laboratory.
