Dementia Worry in a Young Adult Population: Investigating its Relationships with Anxiety, Coping Strategies, and Memory

Dementia worry is a specific form of health-related anxiety in which individuals worry about or fear developing or having dementia. To a severe degree, this may affect their psychological well-being. Previous literature has only studied dementia worry in middle-late aged adults. This study investigated dementia worry in a young adult population and focused on its relationship with possible correlates, coping skills, trait anxiety, and memory. A multiple regression analysis was performed in which only subjective memory and trait anxiety showed significant, positive correlations. All other variables included in the regression analysis showed no significant correlations. There were no significant differences of dementia scores between gender or race, which is contradictory to research conducted in middle-late aged adult samples

Searching for Atlanticus: Isolating Bacteriophages Infecting Marinobacter

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. They have a considerable effect on ecosystems (Focardi et al., 2020). Scientists believe phages are present virtually everywhere, although marine bacteriophages have remained largely undiscovered and understudied. Using ocean water samples from various parts of the United States (Figure 1), protocols adapted from the SEA-PHAGES program (site Discovery Guide), and a flocculation protocol (John, et al 2011) we are attempting to isolate bacteriophages that infect two species of marine bacteria, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus and Marinobacter atlanticus

Does Testing Help Learning? Mindset and Testing’s Impact on Memory and Accuracy of Judgments

To conduct a replication of a previous experiment (Kornell & Son, 2009) to measure the accuracy and judgement of learning between two ways of studying and if receiving feedback after testing altered their learning. Participants were tasked with learning 4 lists of Indonesian words, half of the participants learned by re-exposure to the words while the other half learned by test-taking. The test-taking group was further divided into feedback or no-feedback conditions. Contrary to the previous study we found that testing did not impact memory. However, self-testing did make learners more accurate in their judgments of what they knew. Students with a more malleable view of intelligence were also more accurate in their judgments of learning

Can Your Dad Do This? Children\u27s Beliefs About the Biological, Physical, Psychological, Properties of God and Dad

In our study we investigated children\u27s beliefs about the properties of God and a human, their father. We interviewed 24 children and coded their responses to questions about what God and their dad could do and how each would perform that action

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Children\u27s Understanding of God in Three Persons

What do kids know about God, in particular God in the three parts of the trinity? In this ongoing research we are interviewing children to investigate their understanding of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are recruiting local children, between the ages of 3 and 12 years old to interview over Zoom. Once interviews are complete we will explore common themes and understandings of God and how these might change over time

Using a Genetic Screen to Discover Gene Functions in Mycobacteriophages Sbash and Island3

Sbash is a temperate bacteriophage that infects Mycobacterium smegmatis. It was assigned to cluster I2 based on gene-content similarity of 35% or higher to sequenced bacteriophages present in the Actinobacteriophage database, phagesDB. Its genome was annotated in 2014 and found to include 89 protein-coding genes, only 22 of which were assigned functions based on bioinformatic analysis. We are using a genetic screen to identify functions of phage genes for which no function is currently known. We cloned 40 of the genes in Sbash’s genome with sizes ranging from 90 bp to 3,666 bp. We screened each gene for cytotoxicity and identified six genes that reduced growth of the host cells when expressed. We also screened for defense, the ability of each gene product to protect the host cell from infection by another phage. We identified eight Sbash gene products that defend host cells from infection by other mycobacteriophages. We have also analyzed genes in Mycobacteriophage Island3, a cluster I1 phage, for cytotoxicity and defense to complete the screen of this phage started by students in previous research groups

Mousing Around with Bacteriophages: ​Using Antibodies Raised in BALB/c Mice to Analyze Phages​

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and can be used in phage therapy to combat bacterial infections resistant to traditional antibiotics. One current limitation of phage therapy is the lack of understanding about phage genetics and biochemistry. We can learn more about bacteriophages by identifying patterns in their protein structure. In our experiments, we immunized BALB/c mice using whole phage or ~71\u3ekDa proteins extracted from Sbash and Island3. We tail-bled the mice to collect antibodies raised against these phages, then used ELISA assays to detect anti-phage protein antibodies in mouse serum. We are using our antibodies and Western blot analysis to understand biochemical relationships between Island3, Sbash, and several other bacteriophages that infect Mycobacterium smegmatis

Understanding the Antiproliferative Activity of Plant Extracts

Many plants possess medicinal properties. Some, such as the Pacific yew, have yielded chemotherapeutic drugs (taxanes). Scientists report that other extracts such as the leaves of Calendula officinalis (marigold), Vinca rosea (periwinkle), Viscum cruciatum (mistletoe), and Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) have anti-tumor activity. In most cases, the chemical components responsible for antiproliferative activity have not been identified and it is unclear if any individual components are as effective in isolation as they are in the context of the whole extract. Furthermore, in most cases, there are no data indicating whether these extracts have synergistic effects or cause negative reactions when used with other drugs. We are using HeLa (adenocarcinoma), RAW 264.7 (leukemia), HepG2 (hepatoma), MDA-MB-231 (adenocarcinoma), and human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF, non-tumorigenic) to test the antiproliferative activity of several plant extracts. We identified five extracts, grapeseed, guava, yew, juniper berry, and Vinca, that slow the growth of all five cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. We are using a variety of methods to understand the mechanism by which these extracts are blocking cell growth

Genomic Annotation of Bacteriophages Clayda5, GShelby23, Santhid, and Wrigley

We annotated the genomes of four recently discovered Actinobacteriophages. Clayda5 and GShelby23 were isolated on Microbacterium foliorum NRRL B-24224. Clayda5 is a lytic, cluster EB phage, one of only 47 discovered to date. It has 10 base pair 3’ sticky overhanging ends and a GC content is 67.2%. It has 70 protein-coding genes and two tRNA genes in its 39,894 bp genome. Clayda5 was purified from soil collected in Hull, IA. GShelby23 was isolated from soil collected in Storm Lake, IA. It is a cluster EM phage, one of only six discovered to date. Its genome is circularly permuted and 53,603 bp long. Its GC content is 64.8%. Santhid and Wrigley are phages that infect Gordonia terrae 3612. Santhid is a cluster DY phage, one of only five discovered to date. It was isolated from soil collected in Orange City, IA. Its genome is 39,295 bp long and includes 60 protein-coding genes. Its GC content is 67.7% and has 10 base pair 3’ sticky overhanging ends. Wrigley was isolated using an enrichment protocol from soil collected in Johnston, IA. It is a cluster CY phage, one of only 17 discovered to date. It is a temperate phage whose genome is 51,878 bp long and includes 81 protein-coding genes. It has 10 base pair 3’ sticky overhanging ends and a GC content of 66.3%.