Microplastics: Nacogdoches County’s Hidden Threat

Microplastics and their threat to marine environments are well known, but studies in freshwater environments are few and far between. Microplastics can be created by the breaking down of plastics or in the process of making plastics. They affect biological lifeforms in a multitude of ways, water temperature, permeability of the sediment. Pollution in Texas waterways have motivated groups like the Environmental Protection Agency, Trash Free Texas, and Environment Texas to get involved. The objectives of this study are two analyze Bonita and La Nana Bayou for microplastic presence and to educate and create awareness for Nacogdoches County on microplastics. This study uses the Assessment of Microplastic in Great Plains: Comparing densities in water and benthic sediment across Kansas as a guiding reference. Samples were filtered through a 300 μm mesh sieve, rinsed and fixed with 15mL of 0.1N KOH for 14 days. Microplastics were found in each sample. Data was analyzed using ANOVA Single Factor Test to confirm the hypothesis that the sample sites will not equal one another. Future studies should include more samples and experience

Analysis of inquiry materials to explain complexity of chemical reasoning in physical chemistry students’ argumentation

One aim of inquiry activities in science education is to promote students’ participation in the practices used to build scientific knowledge by providing opportunities to engage in scientific discourse. However, many factors influence the actual outcomes and effect on students’ learning when using inquiry materials. In this study, discourse from two physical chemistry classrooms using the Process‐Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) approach was analyzed using a lens of scientific argumentation. Analysis of the complexity of reasoning in students’ arguments using a learning progression on chemical thinking indicated that students did not employ very complex reasoning to construct arguments. To explain the distribution of reasoning observed, a separate analysis of the curricular materials was performed using the Task Analysis Guide for Science (TAGS). Results indicate a relationship between the task’s targeted scientific practice and how students used evidence in their arguments as well as between the task’s cognitive demand and the complexity of reasoning employed in arguments. Examples illustrating these relationships can be used to inform implications for design of inquiry materials, facilitation of classroom discourse, and future research. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 10: 1322–1346, 2017Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139982/1/tea21407_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139982/2/tea21407.pd

Challenges in Columbia River Fisheries Conservation: A Response to Duda et al.

The salmonid fisheries of the Columbia River Basin (CRB) have enormous socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological importance to numerous diverse stakeholders (eg state, federal, tribal, nonprofit), and there are a wide array of opinions and perspectives on how these fisheries should be managed. Although we appreciate Duda et al.\u27s commentary, it offers only one perspective of many in this context. The objective of our paper (Hand et al. 2018) was to provide justification for “the importance of social–ecological perspectives when communicating conservation values and goals, and the role of independent science in guiding management policy and practice for salmonids in the CRB”. However, we did not intend to strictly advocate for a single course of action, and the available space within our paper\u27s Panel 1 limited us from engaging in a thorough ecological debate

The International Gene Trap Consortium Website: a portal to all publicly available gene trap cell lines in mouse

Gene trapping is a method of generating murine embryonic stem (ES) cell lines containing insertional mutations in known and novel genes. A number of international groups have used this approach to create sizeable public cell line repositories available to the scientific community for the generation of mutant mouse strains. The major gene trapping groups worldwide have recently joined together to centralize access to all publicly available gene trap lines by developing a user-oriented Website for the International Gene Trap Consortium (IGTC). This collaboration provides an impressive public informatics resource comprising ∼45 000 well-characterized ES cell lines which currently represent ∼40% of known mouse genes, all freely available for the creation of knockout mice on a non-collaborative basis. To standardize annotation and provide high confidence data for gene trap lines, a rigorous identification and annotation pipeline has been developed combining genomic localization and transcript alignment of gene trap sequence tags to identify trapped loci. This information is stored in a new bioinformatics database accessible through the IGTC Website interface. The IGTC Website () allows users to browse and search the database for trapped genes, BLAST sequences against gene trap sequence tags, and view trapped genes within biological pathways. In addition, IGTC data have been integrated into major genome browsers and bioinformatics sites to provide users with outside portals for viewing this data. The development of the IGTC Website marks a major advance by providing the research community with the data and tools necessary to effectively use public gene trap resources for the large-scale characterization of mammalian gene function

Development and Psychometric Validation of the Pandemic-Related Traumatic Stress Scale for Children and Adults

To assess the public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, investigators from the National Institutes of Health Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) research program developed the Pandemic-Related Traumatic Stress Scale (PTSS). Based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) acute stress disorder symptom criteria, the PTSS is designed for adolescent (13–21 years) and adult self-report and caregiver-report on 3–12-year-olds. To evaluate psychometric properties, we used PTSS data collected between April 2020 and August 2021 from non-pregnant adult caregivers (n = 11,483), pregnant/postpartum individuals (n = 1,656), adolescents (n = 1,795), and caregivers reporting on 3–12-year-olds (n = 2,896). We used Mokken scale analysis to examine unidimensionality and reliability, Pearson correlations to evaluate relationships with other relevant variables, and analyses of variance to identify regional, age, and sex differences. Mokken analysis resulted in a moderately strong, unidimensional scale that retained nine of the original 10 items. We detected small to moderate positive associations with depression, anxiety, and general stress, and negative associations with life satisfaction. Adult caregivers had the highest PTSS scores, followed by adolescents, pregnant/postpartum individuals, and children. Caregivers of younger children, females, and older youth had higher PTSS scores compared to caregivers of older children, males, and younger youth, respectively

Synthesis of Half-Loaded Nitroimidazole Indocyanine Green Dyes Attached to Carbon Nanotubes

Indocyanine green dye is the only FDA approved NIR fluorescent dye that can be used in humans. 2-Nitroimidazoles are very effective radiosensitizers, have low cytotoxicity, and target hypoxic tissue. By coupling the two together, hypoxic tumors can be targeted and imaged. Previous work has been done to couple 2-nitroimidazole to both sides of the indocyanine green dye. This work focuses on expanding that concept to couple 2-nitroimidazole to only one side of the dye, thus allowing for the other end to be available to couple to another compound, generating a half loaded 2-nitroimidazole indocyanine green dye. In theory, this half-loaded dye can be coupled to various compounds resulting in unique properties for the dye. Our focus was on coupling the half-loaded 2-nitroimidazole indocyanine green dye to single-walled carbon nanotubes which also have fluorescent properties. It is hoped that more dye will be carried to the hypoxic tumor leading to an increase in the observed fluorescence, and dye retention in the tumor for an extended period of time. Multiple half-loaded nitroimidazole ICG dyes were synthesized. The half-loaded 2-nitro ethanolamine carboxylic acid ICG was chosen to be coupled to the amine functionalized nanotubes. The biological results for this product are pending, as of the writing of this thesis