Appendix: Details of Datasets and Metadata

This is a supplementary file for an article published in Engaging Students: https://doi.org/10.18061/esm.697

Computational Study of Cannabinoid Receptors CB1 and CB2

Marijuana has been used both recreationally and therapeutically, including to alleviate symptoms of cancer. The plant produces several interesting compounds, including the psychoactive D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and the structurally similar cannabidiol (CBD) which have also been chemically extracted from the plant and administered in pure form. THC and CBD interact with receptors within the cannabinoid system, the major ones being cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2). Both are seven transmembrane G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). This report used the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancers (COSMIC) to map and analyze mutations arising in CB1 and CB2. Identified were several hotspot mutations in both CB1 and CB2. In silico 3-D structure protein analysis reveals that these hotspots cluster on the intracellular regions of the cannabinoid receptors and certain residues may be likely to destabilize the interaction with the G-alpha protein. Our analysis identifies two CB1 residues (R336 and M337) that are most likely to interact with G-alpha. Docking analysis reveals that hotspot substitution mutations at these two positions may affect G-alpha binding. Hotspot mutations in CB2 were not predicted to be as potentially destabilizing as those identified for CB1. Our data suggest that CB1 and CB2 mutations acquired during cancer development may impact the therapeutic effectiveness of cannabinoids. An additional study composed of molecular cross docking between CB1, CB2, and glucagon-like peptide type 1-receptor (GLP-1R) ligands was conducted. Like CB1 and CB2, GLP-1R is a GPCR. Due to the structural similarity and recent rise in cannabis use as well as GLP-1R targeted weight loss drugs, this study aimed to identify potential linkage between the systems. Results indicated that danuglipron, a small GLP-1R agonist, had a higher binding affinity for CB1 and CB2 when compared to cannabinoid ligands.No embargoAcademic Major: Biolog

Potential for Rubber Dandelion Production on Reclaimed Strip-Mined Soil

First Place, Environmental and Plant Sciences, 2023 CFAES Poster CompetitionThe increasing demand for natural rubber and the need for sustainable land reclamation strategies have sparked interest in Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS) production. Understanding the influence of genetic background and soil conditions on TKS survival and rubber yield is critical for assessing its viability in reclaimed environments. This study evaluated the survival of three TKS lines, along with biomass, potential heavy metal uptake, and rubber production, across four soils, zoned according to their remediation history, from The Wilds, Ohio, to determine if TKS can be grown in these reclaimed soils. Soil properties such as pH were determined using the USDA Soil Survey data. Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy (ICP) analysis found that all measured elements in the soil were within natural background levels for Franklin County, Ohio although the soils differed in element concentration. TKS survival varied significantly by line and soil: Golf, a line bred over six generations for large root size, exhibited the highest survival rates across all soils and Wildtype had the poorest survival rate. The control soil (Soil R) had the highest survival rate. Shoot biomass was significantly influenced by soil and the interaction between line and soil, with Foxtrot in Soil R producing the highest shoot dry weight. Root:shoot and root dry weight showed no significant differences. Rubber content was significantly affected by soil and the interaction between line and soil, with the highest content found in Soils R and B and the lowest in Soil D. Future research should prioritize in situ soil pH monitoring, long-term studies, and controlled conditions to optimize TKS for rubber yield and soil adaptation in reclaimed areas. Economic viability and site selection are crucial for scaling TKS cultivation for both rubber supply and environmental benefits like phytoremediation.No embargoAcademic Major: Environmental Scienc

Analysis of Tumor Methylation Quantitative Trait Loci in Pediatric Cancer Patients with Central Nervous System Tumors

While many adult cancers are characterized by a large number of somatic mutations, pediatric cancers tend to be associated with a greater prevalence of germline mutations in cancer predisposition genes. However, the mechanisms through which these germline variants impact tumor progression remain poorly understood. The goal of this project is to uncover the genetic basis for epigenetic changes potentially impacting tumor development by integrating germline genotypic data with tumor methylation data through a tumor methylation quantitative trait loci (tumor meQTLs) framework. Tumor meQTLs are germline genomic loci at which different genotypes are associated with differences in methylation levels at nearby sites in the tumor sample. To map the QTLs, I used pre-processed and normalized methylation data and merged genotype files from 528 pediatric cancer patients with central nervous system tumors. Ultimately, 5,889 significant tumor meQTL associations were identified. A couple of these QTLs were found to be within known medulloblastoma predisposition genes, however more work must be done to contextualize this list of associations.No embargoAcademic Major: Data Analytic

Interview of Deborah Stokes-Wayne by McKenna Dunn and Daisy Roberts

Remote interview.Deborah Stokes-Wayne discusses her time at Ohio State as a student from 1965 to 1969, particularly her membership in the Black Student Union (BSU). This interview was one of 15 conducted by students in English 4567 (Rhetoric and Community Service) to capture as many stories as possible from former Ohio State students associated with the 1968 sit-in at the Administration Building (now Bricker Hall) that led to the arrests of 34 Black students, now known as the “OSU 34.” Stokes-Wayne was not a member of the "OSU 34,” but she discusses some of the outcomes of the incident. In particular, she discusses her role in the changes the university made in meeting the BSU’s demands regarding academic offerings for Black students. She describes her role in the university hiring her father, a professor who taught courses on Black history, to teach the subject at Ohio State. She also discusses her involvement in the development of the Department of Black Studies, now known as African-American and African Studies. To view video recordings of 2018 interviews of four students talking about the events of 1968, please go to http://go.osu.edu/CarmenCollection1968

Subordinate Space Use as a Method of Regulating Conflict Over Helping Behavior in a Cooperatively-Breeding Fish

The African cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher are cooperative breeders. Dominant and subordinate members of the group cooperate over care of offspring but also face conflict over status and reproduction. The pay-to-stay hypothesis is one of the main theories that attempts to explain this cooperative behavior; it suggests that subordinate fish performing helping tasks as a way to earn their spot in the group and are punished by the dominants in different ways if they fail to do so. This experiment aimed to determine whether dominant fish impose a punishment for lack of help by controlling the location of subordinates in the tank. I predicted that dominants would exclude subordinates from the nest as punishment after they were prevented from performing a helping task. The experiment consisted of three trials: an acclimation trial with no alterations to the tank and two treatment trials in which subordinates were either blocked from performing a helping task of cleaning grave from the nest or allowed to swim freely in all areas of the tank. After 24 hours, the barriers were removed, and the fish were recorded and observed. The time spent in the four quadrants directly surrounding the nest was recorded. After analyzing the results, I did not find a significant effect of treatment on time spent away from the shelter. However, a preliminary subsampling test revealed that there is some evidence that this outcome could be the result of a small sample size and future research should replicate the experiment with more subjects. This study adds insight into the dynamics of cooperative breeding groups and contributes to the overall understanding of the pay-to-stay hypothesis and indicates that there is a possibility that exclusion from the nest is a method of punishment used by dominant fish.No embargoAcademic Major: Animal Science

Does Glyphosate-Resistance in Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) Influence the Efficacy of Other Active Ingredients in a Tank-mix?

Herbicide-resistance in weeds, one of the most pressing concerns in modern agriculture, can manifest itself in many mechanisms, from metabolic resistance to rapid necrosis. A grower in western Ohio observed populations of giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida L.) that had survived different burndown applications and suspected that a rapid necrosis glyphosate-resistant biotype was negatively influencing control efforts. This study examined two populations of giant ragweed for control by various tank-mixtures that did and did not include glyphosate. Population A was reported as a control failure from atrazine + s-metolachlor + mesotrione + bicyclopyrone + glyphosate. Population S was reported as a control failure from saflufenacil + atrazine + glyphosate. An experiment was initiated with these two populations of giant ragweed to evaluate control from different herbicide combinations to elucidate the control provided by these herbicide combinations. The giant ragweed seed was collected and stratified in damp sand for 8 weeks at 4°C. Seeds were treated with a 10% bleach solution and rinsed with water for 10 minutes before being placed in rolled germination paper and placed into a growth chamber. Germinated seeds were planted in soilless media. Treatments for population A included 1x labeled rate applications of glyphosate, atrazine, mesotrione, glyphosate + atrazine, glyphosate + mesotrione, atrazine + mesotrione, glyphosate + atrazine + mesotrione + bicyclopyrone, and an untreated control. Treatments for population S included 1x labeled rate applications of glyphosate, atrazine, saflufenacil, glyphosate + atrazine, glyphosate + saflufenacil, atrazine + saflufenacil, glyphosate + atrazine + saflufenacil, and an untreated control. These populations were sprayed with a single-nozzle track spray chamber and control ratings (%) were taken at 14 and 21 days after treatment (DAT). The trial was terminated 21 DAT and plants were harvested at the soil surface, dried down at 60°C for three days, and weighed to collect biomass data. This data was analyzed to assess control efficacy and examine trends. For population A, there was no difference in herbicide treatments, with or without the inclusion of glyphosate at 14 or 21 DAT, other than glyphosate alone and the untreated control which had reduced control. The biomass of plants in population A was greatest for the untreated, followed by glyphosate, then followed by the rest of the treatment groups, which were not significantly different than each other. There were similar responses observed with population S. Although both populations had characteristics that suggested the rapid response resistance trait to glyphosate, the results of this study suggest that this likely did not result in the control failures observed in the field.No embargoAcademic Major: Sustainable Plant System

Blurring Public-Private Boundaries: Integrative Publicness of Homeschooling in Central Ohio

30th Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Honorable Mention in Business, Society, and International Relations30th Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Civil Discourse for Citizenship AwardGiven the expansion of state-based education privatization policy and post-pandemic homeschooling growth in the United States, education policy scholars need rigorous tools for studying how mixed public and private authority impacts the capacity for K-12 educational institutions to achieve public interest educational outcomes. This paper aims to (1) extend integrative publicness theory to issues in K-12 education and (2) illustrate the analytical utility of integrative publicness through a case study of contemporary homeschooling practice in Central Ohio developed from interviews with 15 families. The case study finds that Central Ohio homeschooling families leverage external educational resources, including public education and state-funded programs, to achieve their personal education goals. Families reported little personal interest in developing their child’s democratic citizenship skills and few available resources to achieve this goal. Additionally, families had few academic development resources geared toward building the long-term economic capacity of children aged 10-16. Families responded to these resource limitations by joining co-op groups that provided scarce instructional and social development for children aged 10-16, though they often negotiated between personal values and co-op group values in the process. Families used state-funded programs like Ohio’s College Credit Plus program to meet the academic needs of children aged 16 and older, and further used public resources such as public schools and city services to achieve socialization goals. In all, more public resources contributed most to homeschoolers’ social skill development and more private resources contributed most toward their goals of personal autonomy and personal fulfillment. Though integrative publicness theory requires further development, it is a useful tool for studying contemporary education policy in America’s increasingly mixed public-private education landscape without ignoring considerations for public interest and public values.Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship ProgramA three-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Public Management, Leadership and PolicyAcademic Major: Sociolog

Synergistic & Antagonistic Interactions of Phages and Two Antibiotic Classes Against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

Innovations in Medicine (The Ohio State University Denman Undergraduate Research Forum)Introduction: The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has necessitated the exploration of alternative therapeutic strategies, including the use of bacteriophages (phages) in combination with antibiotics. This study investigates the synergistic and antagonistic interactions between phages and tetracycline and fluoroquinolone class antibiotics, specifically focusing on tetracycline, doxycycline, and ciprofloxacin against multidrug resistant bacterial strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Methods: Ciprofloxacin, Tetracycline and Doxycycline susceptibility assays are completed using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests against S. aureus isolates D712 (P3L#149) and C-62 (P3L#22). MIC tests are done based on CLSI (Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute). A serial dilution of antibiotic concentrations is added to a 96 well plate in addition to the bacterial isolate to determine the minimum concentration of antibiotic that hinders bacterial growth. Upon determination of MIC values, modified checkerboard experiments with Sb-1 phage and the antibiotics were performed. For this purpose, 96 well plates were used with varying concentrations of antibiotic in the horizontal axis and phage concentrations in vertical axis. All susceptibility tests were performed in cation adjusted Mueller Hinton Broth (MHB). Combination synergy was defined as clearance of bacterial growth inside the MIC range. The bacteriophage used was Sb-1 phage purchased from Eliava Phage Institute, Tblisi, Georgia. Sb-1 is a myophage categorized as Herelleviridae, GenBank accession no HQ163896 Results: Our findings suggest that the mechanism of action of tetracycline antibiotics which inhibit protein synthesis plays a crucial role in determining the nature of phage-antibiotic interactions. Despite antagonism with tetracyclines we observed synergy with ciprofloxacin. The noted differences in antagonism and synergism between the various antibiotic phage combinations against S. aureus strains highlights the importance of assessing and enhancing the efficacy of such combination therapies in treating bacterial infections in a clinical setting. Conclusions: This research underscores the potential of phage-antibiotic combinations to overcome antibiotic resistance, highlighting the importance of selecting appropriate phage-antibiotic combinations to maximize therapeutic efficacy. Further investigation into the molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions is essential for optimizing phage therapy protocols and improving clinical outcomes in the treatment of resistant bacterial infections.No embargoAcademic Major: Pharmaceutical Science

Expansion of rhesus macaque MAIT cells

Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are a unique subset of T cells that bridge the innate and adaptive immune systems. Unlike conventional T cells, MAIT cells recognize specific microbial metabolites presented by an MHC-related protein 1 (MR1) (Toubal et al. 2019). Our research team previously developed a method to expand human MAIT (h MAIT) cells in vitro using immunomagnetic selection and stimulation with MR1-coated microspheres loaded with the potent agonist 5-OP-RU. Rhesus macaques (RM) are crucial animal models in translational research due to their immunobiological similarity to humans. While RM MAIT cells are similar to h MAIT cells (Rahman et al. 2020), limited studies have been conducted on their functionality due to challenges during in vitro expansion. This study aimed to adapt our previous method to expand RM MAIT cells in vitro for further investigation. Our findings demonstrate that RM MAIT cells can respond to microspheres coated with antigen-loaded species-specific MR1, similar to human MAIT cells. However, RM MAIT cells require additional costimulatory signals compared to their human counterparts for significant in vitro expansion. We were able to develop a method to expand RM MAIT cells in vitro. These results provide a foundation for further exploration of these important innate-like T cells in this critical animal model, potentially advancing our understanding of MAIT cell biology and its implications in translational research.No embargoAcademic Major: MicrobiologyAcademic Major: Biochemistr