Undergraduate Scholarship at Winthrop University 2013 Book of Abstracts

University College created this book to present the scholarship occurring throughout all ive academic colleges in the university: College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), College of Business Administration (CBA), College of Education (COE), the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) and University College (UC). In addition to the research abstracts, we are using the book to document the students who have completed Honors heses, applied for Nationally Competitive Awards, and were selected as McNair or WISE Scholars.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/undergradresearch_abstractbooks/1001/thumbnail.jp

Whole-Body Regeneration

This Open Access volume provides a comprehensive overview of the latest tools available to scientists to study the many facets of whole-body regeneration (WBR). The chapters in this book are organized into six parts. Part One provides a historical overview on the study of the WBR phenomena focusing on the primary challenges of this research. Parts Two and Three explore a series of non-vertebrate zoological contexts that provide experimental models for WBR, showing how they can be approached with cellular tools. Parts Four, Five, and Six discuss the future advancements of WBR, reporting about the cutting-edge techniques in genetics and omics used to dissect the underlying mechanisms of WBR, and systems biology approaches to reach a synthetic view of WBR. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and thorough, Whole-Body Regeneration: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for scientists and researchers who want to learn more about this important and developing field

Whole-Body Regeneration

This Open Access volume provides a comprehensive overview of the latest tools available to scientists to study the many facets of whole-body regeneration (WBR). The chapters in this book are organized into six parts. Part One provides a historical overview on the study of the WBR phenomena focusing on the primary challenges of this research. Parts Two and Three explore a series of non-vertebrate zoological contexts that provide experimental models for WBR, showing how they can be approached with cellular tools. Parts Four, Five, and Six discuss the future advancements of WBR, reporting about the cutting-edge techniques in genetics and omics used to dissect the underlying mechanisms of WBR, and systems biology approaches to reach a synthetic view of WBR. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and thorough, Whole-Body Regeneration: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for scientists and researchers who want to learn more about this important and developing field

Patient-specific modellling of cortical spreading depression applied to migraine studies.

254 p.-La migraña es un trastorno neurológico muy común. Un tercio de los pacientes que sufren migraña experimentan lo que se denomina aura, una serie de alteraciones sensoriales que preceden al típico dolor de cabeza unilateral. Diversos estudios apuntan a la existencia de una correlación entre el aura visual y la depresión cortical propagada (DCP), una onda de despolarización que tiene su origen en el córtex visual para propagarse, a continuación, por todo el córtex hacia las zonas periféricas. La complejidad y la elevada especificidad de las características del córtex cerebral sugieren que la geometría podría tener un impacto significativo en la propagación de la DCP. En esta tesis hemos combinado dos modelos existentes: un modelo neurológico pormenorizado para el componente electrofisiológico de la DCP y un modelo de reacción-difusión que tiene en consideración la difusión del potasio, el impulsor de la propagación de la DCP. Durante el proceso, hemos integrado dos aspectos de la DCP que tienen lugar en diferentes escalas de tiempo: la dinámica electrofisiológica seguiría un patrón temporal del orden de milisegundos, mientras que la dinámica del potasio extracelular que acciona las funciones de propagación de la DCP se mediría en una escala de minutos. Como resultado, obtendremos un modelo multiescalar EDP-EDO. Asimismo, hemos incorporado los datos específicos del paciente en el modelo DCP: (i) la geometría cerebral específica de un paciente obtenida a través de resonancia magnética, y (ii) los tensores de conductividad personalizados obtenidos a través de diffusion tensor images. A fin de estudiar el papel que desempeña la geometría en la propagación de la DCP, hemos definido las cantidades de interés (CdI) relacionadas con la geometría y las que dependen de la DCP y las hemos evaluado en dos casos prácticos. Si bien la geometría no parece tener un impacto significativo en la propagación de la DCP, algunas CdI han resultado ser unas candidatas muy prometedoras para facilitar la clasificación de individuos sanos y pacientes con migraña. Finalmente, para justificar la carencia de datos experimentales para la validación y selección de los parámetros del modelo, hemos aplicado diversas técnicas de cuantificación de la incertidumbre al modelo DCP y hemos analizado el impacto de las diversas elecciones de parámetros en el resultado del modelo.Migraine is a common neurological disorder and one-third of migraine patients suffer from migraine aura, a perceptual disturbance preceding the typically unilateral headache. Cortical spreading depression (CSD), a depolarisation wave that originates in the visual cortex and propagates across the cortex to the peripheral areas, has been suggested as a correlate of visual aura by several studies. The complex and highly individual-specific characteristics of the brain cortex suggest that the geometry might have a significant impact on CSD propagation. In this thesis, we combine two existing models, a detailed neurological model for the electrophysiological component of CSD and a reaction-diffusion model accounting for the potassium diffusion, the driving force of CSD propagation. In the process, we integrate two aspects of CSD that occur at different time scales: the electrophysiological dynamics features a temporal scale in the order of milliseconds, while the extracellular potassium dynamics that triggers CSD propagation features is on the scale of minutes. As a result we obtain a multi-scale PDE-ODE model. In addition, we incorporate patient-specific data in the CSD model: (i) a patient-specific brain geometry obtained from magnetic resonance imaging, and (ii) personalised conductivity tensors derived from diffusion tensor imaging data. To study the role of the geometry in CSD propagation, we define geometric and CSD-dependent quantities of interest (QoI) that we evaluate in two case studies. Even though the geometry does not seem to have a major impact on the CSD propagation, some QoI are promising candidates to aid in the classification of healthy individuals and migraine patients. Finally, to account for the lack of experimental data for validation and selection of the model parameters, we apply different techniques of uncertainty quantification to the CSD model and analyse the impact of various parameter choices on the model outcom

Patient-specific modelling of cortical spreading depression applied to migraine studies

Migraine is a common neurological disorder and one-third of migraine patients suffer from migraine aura, a perceptual disturbance preceding the typically unilateral headache. Cortical spreading depression (CSD), a depolarisation wave that originates in the visual cortex and propagates across the cortex to the peripheral areas, has been suggested as a correlate of visual aura by several studies. The complex and highly individual-specific characteristics of the brain cortex suggest that the geometry might have a significant impact on CSD propagation. In this thesis, we combine two existing models, a detailed neurological model for the electrophysiological component of CSD and a reaction-diffusion model accounting for the potassium diffusion, the driving force of CSD propagation. In the process, we integrate two aspects of CSD that occur at different time scales: the electrophysiological dynamics features a temporal scale in the order of milliseconds, while the extracellular potassium dynamics that triggers CSD propagation features is on the scale of minutes. As a result we obtain a multi-scale PDE-ODE model. In addition, we incorporate patient-specific data in the CSD model: (i) a patient-specific brain geometry obtained from magnetic resonance imaging, and (ii) personalised conductivity tensors derived from diffusion tensor imaging data. To study the role of the geometry in CSD propagation, we define geometric and CSD-dependent quantities of interest (QoI) that we evaluate in two case studies. Even though the geometry does not seem to have a major impact on the CSD propagation, some QoI are promising candidates to aid in the classification of healthy individuals and migraine patients. Finally, to account for the lack of experimental data for validation and selection of the model parameters, we apply different techniques of uncertainty quantification to the CSD model and analyse the impact of various parameter choices on the model outcome

The Platynereis cell : from morphology to single-cell amplification

All organisms are composed of cells. These cells display a plethora of different morphologies and functions. Since their discovery in their in the seventeenth century their secrets and mysteries have fascinated philosophers and natural scientists alike. In the first part of this thesis I describe experiments performed on a very curious organism; the zebrafish, Danio rerio, whose every cell can carry out a function relegated to only a few chosen cells in other organisms - that of light perception. In order to investigate this phenomenon a genome-wide screen for light-induced genes and miRNAs was performed in the zebrafish embryo, at a stage when photoreceptive organs or structures were not present yet . We revealed the regulatory mechanism that controls these processes. Using a computational approach in combination with knock down and over expression studies we demonstrate that the PAR bZip transcription factor TEF a plays a key role in the regulation of the majority of light-induced genes during early zebrafish development. Since we show that tef alpha! transcription is under circadian clock control, our data suggest that fish embryos anticipate the daily exposure to radiation and the ensuing damage. This capacity to respond to light directly is common to all zebrafish cells but is restricted to only a chosen few in many organisms, in which specific cells called photoreceptors are required for either circadian or non-circadian light perception. Cells categorized as a function of their function, morphology or gene expression are called cell types. Considerable interest has been taken in the evolutionary conservation of cell types between different phyla. In the second part of this thesis, I present work performed in the lab of Dr. Detlev Arendt on the marine polychaete worm Platynereis dumerilii, performing exploratory method development to dissociate larval and adult worm into individual cells in the most efficient fashion, followed by characterization of the resulting single cell suspensions using morphological and molecular methods. Attempts at cell culture from Platynereis dumerilii larval and adult cells as well as other marine organisms are described, demonstrating that primary cell culture can be achieved in these organisms but that further effort is necessary to identify appropriate conditions necessary for the proliferation and survival of these cells