I heard St. Norbert is home to a collection of dried plants that contains tens of thousands of species. Is this true? If so, where did all those plants come from?

Abbot Pennings answers a question about Fr. Keefe\u27s botanical specimin collection, archived from the SNC website

Skunk River Fall 1998

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/skunkriver/1019/thumbnail.jp

Mental Health Literacy in College Students

Mental health is an increasingly important topic in today\u27s society. Research shows that 1 in every 5 adults will be diagnosed with a mental health disorder during their lifetime. This number will only continue to increase unless we educate younger generations on what these illnesses look like and how to take care of ourselves. This project overviews the mental health literacy of 160 college students, where they have learned this information, how accurate it is, and how K-12 education discusses mental health in the classroom

The Influence of Social Media on College Students

The purpose of this research project is to determine how social media use relates to anxiety levels in college students, and if students show evidence of addictive behaviors in their social media use. The hypothesis predicts college students who use social media more often will show heightened stress and anxiety levels, as well as difficulty in staying off social media. Participants completed a survey that assessed their social media use habits and their anxiety levels. The participants were then randomly selected to either be in the control or experimental group. The control group continued their daily lives without any changes in social media for three days. The experimental group were instructed to stop using social media for three days. After three days, all participants returned to complete a follow-up survey about their anxiety levels and experience with social media. Data analysis is just beginning; t-tests will be used to examine differences between the control and experimental groups in anxiety levels. Qualitative responses will be examined to understand the effects of quitting social media for three days. Upon the completion of this projects, students will become more aware of their social media use and how it impacts their daily life

Broad-Range Bacterial Capture from Fluid-Samples: Implications for Amplification-Free Contamination Detection

Fluid-Screen, Inc. presents a bacterial concentration and filtration method based on dielectrophoresis and alternating current kinetics. Dielectrophoresis has been previously shown to induce particle motion; however, bacterial capture efficiency and reproducibility have consistently been low, reducing its potential for practical applications. In this study, we introduce a novel, patent-pending electrode system optimized to simultaneously capture a wide range of bacterial species from a variety of aqueous solutions. Specifically, we show that the method of dielectrophoresis used induces responses in both characteristic Gram- negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Enterococcus faecalis bacteria, as well as with Bacillus subtilis and Aestuariimicrobium kwangyangense. We have adapted the electrode design to create a bacterial sample preparatio unit, termed the sample sorter, that is able to capture multiple bacterial species and release them simultaneously for bacterial concentration and exchange from complex matrices to defined buffer media. This technology can be used on its own or in conjunction with standard bacterial detection methods such as mass spectroscopy. The Fluid-Screen product will dramatically improve testing and identification of bacterial contaminants in various industrial settings by eliminating the need for amplification of samples and by reducing the time to identification

Adipocyte extracellular vesicles carry enzymes and fatty acids that stimulate mitochondrial metabolism and remodeling in tumor cells

International audienceExtracellular vesicles are emerging key actors in adipocyte communication. Notably, small extracellular vesicles shed by adipocytes stimulate fatty acid oxidation and migration in melanoma cells and these effects are enhanced in obesity. However, the vesicular actors and cellular processes involved remain largely unknown. Here, we elucidate the mechanisms linking adipocyte extracellular vesicles to metabolic remodeling and cell migration. We show that adipocyte vesicles stimulate melanoma fatty acid oxidation by providing both enzymes and substrates. In obesity, the heightened effect of extracellular vesicles depends on increased transport of fatty acids, not fatty acid oxidation-related enzymes. These fatty acids, stored within lipid droplets in cancer cells, drive fatty acid oxidation upon being released by lipophagy. This increase in mitochondrial activity redistributes mitochondria to membrane protrusions of migrating cells, which is necessary to increase cell migration in the presence of adipocyte vesicles. Our results provide key insights into the role of extracellular vesicles in the metabolic cooperation that takes place between adipocytes and tumors with particular relevance to obesity

Adipocyte Exosomes Promote Melanoma Aggressiveness through Fatty Acid Oxidation: A Novel Mechanism Linking Obesity and Cancer

International audienc