DIVERSITY AND CROSS-INFECTION POTENTIAL OF COLLETOTRICHUM ON APPLES AND SMALL FRUITS IN KENTUCKY MIXED-FRUIT ORCHARDS

Fungi in the genus Colletotrichum cause apple, blueberry, and strawberry fruit rots, which result in significant losses for Kentucky growers. Most orchards in Kentucky are agritourism-focused and grow multiple fruits in close proximity. These mixed-fruit orchards may facilitate Colletotrichum cross-infection, which has serious management implications. Small fruit and apple Colletotrichum isolates from Kentucky orchards were characterized by morphotype, phylogenetic species identification, cross-inoculation, genome sequencing, and telomere fingerprinting. The small fruit isolates grouped into seven morphotypes, representing two species complexes: C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides. All blueberry isolates belonged to the species C. fioriniae, and the majority of strawberry isolates were C. nymphaeae. Two other species found less frequently on strawberry were identified as C. siamense and C. fructicola. The same four species identified on small fruits were also present on apple in Kentucky. Cross-inoculation assays on detached apple, blueberry, and strawberry fruits revealed that all species tested were pathogenic on all three fruits. The genome tree was compared to nine single gene sequence trees, and CHS for the C. acutatum complex and ApMat for C. gloeosporioides were identified as superior sequences for species identification. Telomere fingerprinting revealed C. fioriniae clonal lineages within three orchards on apple, blueberry, and strawberry, but did not show evidence of cross-infection. Understanding more about Colletotrichum in Kentucky orchards will help improve fruit anthracnose management practices

Biometric Identification in India Versus the Right to Privacy: Core Constitutional Features, Defining Citizens’ Interests, and the Implications of Biometric Identification in the United States

In 2009, the Indian government introduced a widespread biometric identification system called Aadhaar—a national scheme that issues Indian citizens and residents a unique identification number while collecting and storing their most personal biometric and demographic information. As the Aadhaar system was implemented and promoted in India, widespread concerns grew regarding the storage and protection of such private information. How can Indian citizens enforce and protect their privacy rights? In 2017, the Indian Supreme Court attempted to address this issue by holding that an individual’s right to privacy is an inherent part of the right to life and personal liberty and is therefore implied under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Following the Supreme Court of India’s declaration that privacy is a fundamental right, the idea of a general-purpose identification database is constitutionally questionable. As there is no comprehensive legal framework for privacy protection and no explicit constitutional right to privacy in India, one must ask: is the Indian government violating individual privacy rights through Aadhaar? Regardless of this concern, in 2018 the Indian Supreme Court declared Aadhaar constitutional in connection to the mandatory linking of Aadhaar numbers with all government welfare schemes and services. In light of this decision, this Comment advocates that the Aadhaar system should have been deemed unconstitutional as a violation of individual privacy rights. Additionally, with the growth of interconnected technology, it is important to address the consequences of a system like Aadhaar in the United States. How would a similar identification system function and would such a system even be deemed constitutional? To maintain a liberal democratic society that values and upholds privacy rights, the United States should avoid proposing such a system, no matter how beneficial or convenient it may seem

A Study Of Choral And Instrumental Music In Booker T. Washington, Phillis Wheatley And Jack Yates High Schools Of Houston, Texas

In recent years public school music has become a definite part of the curriculum In both accredited and unaccredited schools In Texas, Students are given an hour credit toward graduation in Booker T, Washington, Phi11is Wheatley and Jack Yates High Schools of Houston, Texas for participation in Choral and Band music. This recognition of music as a subject shows that it is not considered altogether an extra-curricular activity. PUBLIC SCHOOL MUSIC is a clean emotional outlet; a means of self-expression and Inspiration for the individual; a means of aesthetic development; means of developing team—play, cooperation, mutual respect and helpfulness, a social agency, creating goodwill and community spirit for the school and a means of acquainting the child with the best music and musicians. CHORAL MUSIC is that type of music performed by the human voice whether singular with a group or in a group. Including the study of certain types of music such as, operas, art songs, folk songs, ballads, oratorios, spirituals, sacred whether sung a cappella or with accompaniment

Bicultural Immersion as a Strategy to Promote A Healthy Professional Role Transition for New Graduate Registered Nurses

The transition to professional practice for newly graduated nurses (NGN) finds them struggling to balance the ‘ideals’ taught in their undergraduate education with the ‘realities’ of the contemporary workplace. Failure to successfully navigate this struggle is playing out in alarming statistics related to NGN attrition, with 33-61% NGNs changing their place of employment or leaving the nursing profession within the first two years, 45.5% expressing uncertainty about their decision to remain in practice, and 25% claiming they would actively discourage someone from going into nursing. The intent of this study was to explore how NGNs experience the cultures of education and the workplace and how the relationship between NGNs and senior nursing staff influences the experience of transition. Duchscher’s Professional Role Transition Risk Assessment Instrument was used to determine correlations between mentoring support and the NGNs experience of transition shock. Preliminary findings indicate that a mentor’s knowledge of the transition experience is imperative to the provision of adequate support. Further to this, the process of guiding the NGN through the transition experience is significantly facilitated when meetings are structured and framed by the Stages of Transition theory variables. Further findings indicate a potential shift in the approaches of NGNs to work, with casualization offering them control over the pace and intensity of their transition. It would appear that previous experience on the ward to which the NGN is hired positively influences their experience and night and day shifts need to be intentionally balanced to provide both stability and growth

Product Quality Analysis of Pencil Skirts: How Does Production Affect the Garment?

Madison Hataway is an undergraduate student in the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana Tech University. Julia Morrison is an undergraduate student in the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana Tech University. Sadie McGill is an undergraduate student in the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana Tech University. Kathleen Heiden is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana Tech University

MEMS 411: Creation of a 3-Axis Camera System for Various Imaging Modalities

The Lake Lab at Washington University in St. Louis faces challenges when setting up their camera systems for experiments. The Three Axis Camera system aims to optimize the experience by automating the movement and creating a user-friendly design. The current set-up requires the camera position to be adjusted manually and is “not liked” by most users. This wastes their time since the lab must set the location for the camera first and if the camera positioning is moved then the experiment will be ruined. Thus, the lab asked us specifically to help them automate these movements with our design and improve their experimental procedures and precision. To solve this problem the camera will be attached to a motor which translates its rotational movement into linear motion through a lead screw. The lead screw is accurate to about 0.01mm which will allow the Lake lab to get precise focus. Furthermore, the motor is calibrated so the lab can reproduce any camera height through a user interface we coded. For the other directions, the device moves along smoothly in the x and y with rulers for recording set locations. In general, our design streamlines the current process and will allow the Lake lab to do perform reproducible and accurate experiments

Textile Properties of Pencil Skirts: Does Price Matter?

Madison Hataway is an undergraduate student in the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana Tech University. Julia Morrison is an undergraduate student in the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana Tech University. Sadie McGill is an undergraduate student in the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana Tech University. Kathleen Heiden is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana Tech University

Focus Groups with School Age Children for Development of a Pediatric Wellbeing Picture Scale

This poster addresses the use of focus groups with school age children for the development of a Pediatric Wellbeing Picture Scale. The purpose of this research was to develop a picture tool to screen for wellbeing in school-aged children. The research design utilized focus groups, however the design had to transition from face-to-face sessions to virtual. To maximize participation in the virtual environment, developmental stages of the children had to be considered. Children were asked to 1) review an existing tool and provide feedback on the images; and 2) validate the findings. Conducting focus groups with this population while using an online video platform posed many difficulties. Issues with recruitment, participation, obtaining parental consent via Qualtrics, and child assent via Zoom are discussed. Ways to assure fidelity of the project are reviewed. Practical lessons learned from performing research during a pandemic are presented.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2022/1068/thumbnail.jp

Polyphenolic prevention of deoxyribose damage using spectroscopic methods

Hydroxyl radical formation via Fe2+/Cu+ metal leads to oxidative DNA damage that is implicated in a number of neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases such as Parkinson’s diseases and atherosclerosis. Specifically, oxidative stress can lead to strand breaks and other DNA damage. Antioxidants can prevent this damage through metal binding and radical scavenging mechanisms. Polyphenols are one class of abundant antioxidants shown to provide protection against radical species and are found in foods such as fruits, nuts, and berries. Therefore, polyphenol compounds were tested for their ability to prevent deoxyribose degradation by iron and hydrogen peroxide using the deoxyribose assay, a low-cost, screening method that measures the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA), a byproduct of degraded deoxyribose, using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. Previous studies showed low reproducibility when reporting deoxyribose damage prevention by antioxidants. Using a newly modified deoxyribose assay in the Brumaghim lab that improves reproducibility, quinolinic acid and four polyphenols (MEGA, MEPCA, PrEGA, and PCA) were tested for their antioxidant abilities. These results were compared to polyphenol prevention of plasmid DNA damage by iron and hydrogen peroxide using gel electrophoresis, a method that uses DNA as the substrate but is lower-throughput. Compared to plasmid DNA damage prevention, MEGA, MEPCA, PrEGA, and PCA, show greater deoxyribose damage prevention using the deoxyribose assay. Relating antioxidant activity measurements between these two methods enables accurate use of the deoxyribose assay as a higher-throughput method for determining DNA damage or its inhibition compared to DNA gel electrophoresis methods

1012-101 Vascular Smooth Muscle-Directed Adenovlral Vectors

Gene transfer to the vascular wall utilizing locally-delivered recombinant adenoviral vectors has shown promise as a novel technique for therapeutic as well as experimental modulation of vascular wall gene expression. Infusion of such vectors using porous balloon catheters (PBC) has previously been demonstrated to result in transduction of extravascular cells at the delivery site, as well as substantial systemic transduction as a consequence of release of vector into the circulation. Introduction of a vascular-directed promoter into the adenoviral vector should thus contribute to targeting the expression of genes to the vascular wall, while reducing peri-vascular and systemic expression. In order to test the feasibility of utilizing the vascular smooth muscle α-actin (SMA) promoter to confer tissue specificity upon a recombinant adenoviral vector, we constructed an adenovirus (AvLacZ5) employing a 1.1 kilobase region of the murine SMA promoter to direct the expression of the nuclear-targeted beta-galactosidase (lacZ) gene and evaluated gene transduction by this vector, in comparison with a vector differing only by the presence of the RSV-LTR promoter. Several cell types were used as targets, including bovine aortic smooth muscle cells (BASMC). human pulmonary epithelial carcinoma cells (A549 cells), and transformed human embryonic kidney epithelial cells which are competent to replicate these adenoviral vectors (293 cells). The vector incorporating the SMA promoter demonstrated substantial selectivity for vascular smooth muscle gene expression, with typical transductions carried out in parallel under identical conditions manifesting 90–95% lacZ-expressing BASMC, 0.3% lacZ-positive A549 cells, and 4% positive 293 cells. Conversely, parallel transductions with the vector employing the RSV promoter typically resulted in 95–99% lac-expressing 293 cells at vector concentrations yielding only 5–10% positive BASMC. These data support cell lineage-specificity of AvLacZ5 at the level of promoter function rather than due to intrinsic cellular differences in capacity for adenovirally-mediated transduction. However, it is notable that a limited subpopulation of 293 cells clearly are able to direct sufficient transcription from the SMA promoter sequences chosen to yield detectable lacZ expression; the molecular basis for this heterogeneity of expression remains to be determined. Adenoviral vectors utilizing these promoter sequences may render vascular-restricted gene transfer feasible when used in conjunction with mechanical devices providing a component of spatial localization