Student Theses and Honors Collection
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Library, Information, & Technology Services (LITS) established the electronic Student Theses Collection in 2005. It contains over eight hundred e-honors theses created by MHC seniors from across the disciplines. By archiving your honors work in the Institutional Archive, you are contributing to the legacy of excellence in student scholarship at the College.
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Item Restricted Quel Tramonto Gentile: Validating the Tribulations of Girlhood in Lidia Ravera & Marco Lombardo Radice's PORCI CON LE ALI(2024-07-08) Gagnon, Gabriella; Frau, OmbrettaA jarring and underappreciated book, Lidia Ravera and Marco Lombardo Radice’s 1976 novel Porci con le ali: Diario Sessuo-Politico di Due Adolescenti narrates the relationship of two Roman highschoolers, Rocco and Antonia. Originally published under the collective pseudonym of the two protagonists, this story gives voice to the difficulties of navigating the choppy waters of youth against the backdrop of Italy’s politically treacherous Lead Years (gli Anni di Piombo) and the unspoken societal norms that impacted Rocco and Antonia’s everyday decisions. Despite there existing very little scholarship dedicated to this book, Porci con le ali garnered much attention upon its publication due to the vulgar language the characters use to communicate with each other and the nature of their erotic relations. While Rocco and Antonia are both average teenagers, it is Antonia who leads this story—and their relationship—with a stronger sense of self following the blatant disrespect and disregard for her bodily autonomy that she receives from her Rocco. My thesis seeks to defend the crudeness with which Antonia’s adolescence is handled as the story progresses. Because this novel is written in the journal format, it gives the audience a comprehensive window into the emotional turmoil she experiences in addition to appealing to a sense of nostalgia. With her own internal struggles of identity, Antonia alternates between bouts of maturity and childishness as she grapples with the notion that the only person who cares about what she has to say is herself. Through an in-depth character analysis of both characters, Antonia’s colorful use of language, and an exploration of how her sexual encounters further distance her from contemporary expectations, my work aims to circulate Lombardo Radice and Ravera’s novel back into modern feminist conversation due to its depiction of female adolescence.Item Open Access The Ethics of Ideal Animal Farming(2024-07-03) Savid, Sofía; Harold, JamesIndustrial animal farming has been rejected in academic as well as non-academic spheres for several reasons, in particular its negative impact on animal welfare and the environment. As an alternative, people have turned to “organic,” “small scale,” and “local” animal farming, treating it as an ethical solution to many, or perhaps all, of the problems caused by industrial animal farming. However, Tom Regan’s paper, “The Case for Animal Rights,” and Christine Korsgaard’s paper, “Getting Animals in View,” note that there is something morally wrong that happens when we use animals—both human and non-human—as resources. Therefore, Regan and Korsgaard’s arguments seem to ultimately reject any kind of animal farming, including “organic,” “small scale,” and “local” animal farming. In this thesis, I use these two papers by Regan and Korsgaard as well as Peter Singer’s paper, “All Animals Are Equal,” as the foundation of my own argument. I introduce the ideal animal farm as the perfect animal farm which is ethical and ideal in every way we might want it to be, and I argue that even ideal animal farms can be unethical because of what Regan and Korsgaard note in their papers. I identify exploitation as a necessary part of many cases of animal farming, and I argue that exploiting non-human animals is always morally wrong. I am additionally interested in the stark contrast between our treatment of humans and non-human animals, even in ideal farms, which implies that exploiting a human is morally worse than exploiting a non-human animal. This thesis looks closely at what I think are the strongest arguments and explanations in defense of this contrast in treatment, and I ultimately conclude that the defenses are not strong enough to justify systemically treating non-human animals, and not humans, as resources.Item Restricted Optimizing the dose-response of Interleukin-4 (IL-4) to further investigate its role in the association between Maternal Allergic Asthma and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Ragoonaden, Shanthini; Schwartzer, JaredClinical studies have demonstrated that allergic asthma during pregnancy is linked to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders in offspring. The Schwartzer Lab has developed a Maternal Allergic Asthma (MAA) model that has established a role for Interleukin-4 (IL-4) connecting MAA to neurodevelopmental deficits in the offspring. A forthcoming research project will examine the sufficiency of IL-4 by evaluating whether elevations in maternal IL-4 dosage have a dose-dependent effect on offspring behavioral deficits. However, it remains unknown the appropriate IL-4 dosage to be administered in a mouse model to replicate the IL-4 response observed in MAA. The goal of this research is to identify the optimal IL-4 dosage needed to mimic the inflammatory responses observed in MAA. To test this, Experiment 1 investigated the best time to take blood samples from female C57 mice when exposed to OVA and when injected with 5μg of IL-4. In Experiment 2, we aimed to investigate the IL-4 dose response by injecting 2 different doses of IL-4 in the mice. In both experiments, blood samples were analyzed using Bead-Based immunoassays to measure IL-4 biomarker concentrations. Findings show that IL-4 IP injection has a higher rate of decay post-exposure, when compared to MAA OVA exposure. We also estimate an IL-4 dose of 0.025 ug suitable for IP injection in a mouse model aimed at investigating the cytokine’s sufficiency in causing neurodevelopmental disorders in the offspring. This thesis research project was positioned to derive an IL-4 dose-response curve, thereby providing guidance in determining the optimal injection dosage for future studies exploring the causal link between maternal IL-4 and MAA.Item Open Access Refining the Formation of Fissures on EuropaGrobe Perlman, Eliana; Dyar, DarbyEuropa is a large moon of Jupiter with an icy crust and a subsurface ocean. Europa orbits close to Jupiter and is tidally locked, so it experiences tidal forces that cause the tectonic, magmatic, and volcanic processes that shape its surface. This relationship has formed two prominent terrain types: ridged plains and chaos terrain. While the ridged plains are dominated by ridges and the chaos by pits and domes, both are home to fractures and gorges (fossae). Studying these landforms could prove useful in deciphering the subsurface's physical, chemical, and mechanical characteristics. Current models of the crust posit a two-layered system with a thinner, brittle outer layer and a thicker, ductile one. However, the exact thickness of these layers and whether this thickness varies over the surface is as controversial as their chemical compositions. Europa's subsurface processes are also debated. The many models of linear landform formation fall into two broad categories: formation via tidal tectonics and formation via indirect tidal forces like tidal heating. The maps and morphological analyses of the landforms in this thesis have contributed to the conversations regarding Europa’s subsurface processes and characteristics. This thesis finds an overabundance of wavy and jagged linea compared to tectonic model predictions. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that indirect tidal processes such as diapirism are at least partially responsible for these landforms. Bethel (2018) explains that tidal forces will preferentially deform regions of the thinner crust, while on planets with uniform crusts, tidal forces will act more symmetrically. The results of this thesis fit the ladder explanation and thus question the idea of a homogenous Europan crust. The landforms mapped in this thesis could be of speleogenic and geochemical interest. However, the quality and quantity of current Europa data have made this dataset incomplete. Thus, once better data is acquired, this list should be refined and expanded upon before it is used for geochemical or spelogenic research.Item Open Access Exploring Variation of Female Genital Morphology in Hydrolagus colliei (Spotted Ratfish)Garcia-Israel, Jennifer; Brennan, PatriciaFemale genitalia are found to be more diverse than previously thought, yet they have been historically understudied in the scientific world. Hydrolagus colliei is a particularly interesting model for studying female genital morphology. Female ratfish have paired vaginal openings, as well as a paired vagina and oviducts. We investigated how female ratfish genital morphology varies through body size and ontogeny, and how the female ratfish genitalia may have coevolved with male ratfish genitalia by examining the histology of the vagina in females of different sizes. We also examined the anatomy of the anal pad, a fleshy structure present only in females on the ventral side of the tail. I found that the relationship between vaginal shape and body size is significant, vaginal thickness increases with size of the female ratfish, and that vaginal density does not appear to vary significantly. I also found that the anal pad has a thick layer of collagen that increases in thickness with body size. This study shows that vagina shape changes with body size in females, and that male and female genitalia are coevolving in ratfish. It also provides evidence that females evolve other specializations that differ from males, likely in a reproductive context.Item Open Access Analysis of the Longitudinal Spread of Impulsive SEP Events Uisng Time-Intensity Profiles and Energetic Ion Spectra(2024-07-02) Lee, Amelia; Filwett, Rachael; Smith, SpencerImpulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events occur when protons, electrons, and heavier nuclei are accelerated to high energies (hundreds of MeV) in solar flares and are then observed in interplanetary space. Impulsive SEP events typically last a few minutes to a few hours and have heightened 3He/4He and Fe/O ratios compared to solar wind abundances1. Typically, these events have a longitudinal spread of 20°-40°. However, for unknown reasons, some impulsive events have been observed to have a wide ( 130°) longitudinal spread. Understanding why some impulsive SEP events are not constrained to a small longitudinal spread or perhaps undergo cross-field diffusion helps us increase our understanding of energetic particle transport and the interplanetary magnetic field configuration. In this study time-intensity profiles and energetic ion spectra for Helium (Helium-3 and Helium-4 when available), Carbon, Oxygen, and Iron in energy ranges from a few keV to 70 MeV are used to examine the longitudinal spread of six SEP events. These events are April 2-3, 2019, April 4, 2019, April 20-23, 2019, July 11, 2020, July 20, 2020, and May 24-25, 2021, which were previously identified in Mitchell et al. (2023) or Mason et al. (2020). The analysis used four different spacecraft: Parker Solar Probe/IS⊙IS/EPI-Lo, ACE/ULEIS, STEREO-A/IMPACT/LET, and Solar Orbiter/EPD/SIS. We use the findings to discuss the longitudinal spread of heavy ion spectra which show a wide range of longitudinal spreads from event to event.Item Open Access The effect of BhB on severe TBI in Drosophila Melanogaster(2024-07-02) Hardin, Andreana; Woodard , CraigToday, there are very few treatment measures for long-term brain injury, leaving it to be one of the leading causes of death. Autophagy is a natural process that degrades old cellular components to recycle amino acids and proteins to support the synthesis of new cellular structures in a turnover of cytoplasm. In autophagy, cytosolic vesicles fuse with a lysosome to turn over cytoplasmic contents for reuse. Autophagy has been linked to increased immune defense, tumor suppression, apoptosis, and the prevention of neuronal degeneration, leading many to explore the psychopharmacological benefits it may have for brain injury. In Drosophila, autophagy is regulated in part by the Atg8a protein. The ketogenic diet and ketone body supplementation have been known to increase rates of autophagy. For this experiment, I inflicted traumatic brain injury on Drosophila fed on both a ketone-supplemented diet and a control diet. I hypothesized that Drosophila raised on a diet with ketone body supplementation will exhibit a higher rate of autophagy than Drosophila raised on control food. To achieve traumatic brain injury, the flies are put in a “High Impact Trauma” (HIT) device. Drosophila were then returned to control or ketone-supplemented food for 72, 24, or 6 hours. Then, their CNS was dissected for analysis in two ways. First, I used a Western Blot approach to quantify autophagy via the ratio of lipidated to unlipidated Atg8a protein. Confocal microscopy was also used for analyzation. Images from the confocal microscope were analyzed quantitatively with Image J. After analyses, I saw that there was a suggested difference between the sample groups, and the there was a lower rate of autophagy in flies raised on a BHB supplemented diet and remained on a BHB supplemented diet post TBI than flies raised on a control diet and remained on a control diet post TBI.Item Open Access Comparative Analysis of the Morphological Characteristics of the Retractor Penis Magnus in Snake Copulation(2024-07-02) Lee, Autumn; Brennan, PatriciaUntil now, little was known about the morphological characteristics of the retractor penis magnus and its relationship with the hemipenis during copulation. Prior research describes only the basic function of pulling back in and retracting the everted hemipenis. However, more recent studies have observed morphological aspects of the retractor penis muscles suggesting a function beyond retraction. In addition, observations in the Brennan Lab of the muscle compared to the hemipenis have also suggested that size does not necessarily correlate between the two structures, raising further questions regarding the purpose and function of this structure during copulation. Through histological analysis, we gained a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between form and function of this structure, enabling us to draw more accurate conclusions about its function. In particular, there is evidence that this muscle provides rigidity to the hemipenis during copulation by its fiber arrangement. The findings from this study could offer broader implications for understanding sexual selection, reproductive strategies, and evolutionary patterns in snakes. Through this multidisciplinary approach, the study aims to enhance our understanding of the complex interplay between form and function in snake reproductive organs, offering valuable insights into the evolutionary biology of snakes and potentially other reptiles.Item Open Access Campus Lawn Alternatives at Mount Holyoke College(2024-07-01) Williams, Eliza; Darling, NaomiThe purpose of this thesis is to encourage Mount Holyoke College to adopt a more sustainable landscaping plan. The historically significant way that lawns came about is important to consider as these spaces do provide certain cultural and aesthetic benefits. However, the environmental costs are too high to continue this form of ultimately unproductive landscaping. Using case studies as attainable alternative examples I have compiled a variety of techniques for Mount Holyoke to employ. This, along with many other considerations like student and staff opinions, how we and other species use our landscape, and site evaluations, led to the creation of a final proposal which includes the possibility of potential pilot projects.Item Open Access Fractured Conversations: Interactions between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking communities on TikTok(2024-07-01) Barrera, Jude; Castro, EstherWith over 1 billion active TikTok users, the social media application is shaping up to be a central part of our lives, impacting the way we communicate and consume, yet despite its global scale, the application creates a monolingual experience for its users. TikTok’s videographic format brings a level of vulnerability for its creators. Creators are critiqued on not only the quality of their content but also their appearances and voices. On the other hand, TikTok’s comment section offers a sense of anonymity that can encourage users to interact with creators in a distant, detached way. This strenuous relationship between creator and commenter is further tested in situations where there is a language barrier between the two. Some methods that TikTok employs to create a monolingual space for users on the app are more overt, such as continuously recommending videos in a user’s preferred language and the app’s new automatic translation feature that provides translated subtitles for videos in foreign languages. One less explicit method of maintaining a monolingual experience is in the organization of the comment section. For example, English comments are prioritized on accounts that have English as their preferred language, to the point where Spanish comments that have double or triple the likes of their English counterparts are pushed to the bottom of the comment section, even if the video those comments were posted on is in Spanish. For the English-Spanish bilingual communities that use the application, it creates an inorganic linguistic vacuum, wherein speakers presume that only one language is being used. Studying the ways in which comments in English attempt to relate to or position themselves to Spanish-language content demonstrates the ways that a monolingual user-experience creates barriers from meaningful, reciprocal interactions. Constructing a linguistically equitable space on TikTok, starting with the comments section could promote a further integrated, transnational bilingual community on the platform.Item Open Access Inedible Girl: To Be Vulnerable Is To Be Consumed(2024-07-01) Kirk, Jennifer; Williams, Marianna DixonTo present in a feminine manner according to heteronormative patriarchal ideals is often to perform, to be aware, and to be at risk of consumption. As a queer individual who has spent their life presenting in such a way, I have a deep understanding of the potential of violence which faces heteronormative femininity, particularly in a world which is panopticonal and built off the male gaze, and the ways in which the general public feels welcome to looking, staring, and consuming through the eyes. This work is an exploration into the ways this occurs, what can be done to disrupt the modern norm which allows it, and how the queering of feminine gender and the unveiling of femininity as a performance works to elevate the self from typical social order. The heart of this thesis is performance art, in which I interact with the world while wearing exaggerated makeup, somewhere between clown and drag, intended to embody hyper-femininity. I explore how I am treated when I present as something that does not adhere to patriarchal beauty standards—even which potentially satirizes them—and compare it to how I am treated when I present the way society intends me to, secretly filming myself throughout the process. Collections of projected videos, collages, and makeup wipes imprinted with my makeup each bolster this work, as they investigate a different element of, or background behind, this performance of hyperfemininity. These elements are the shifting into a new presentation, the vulnerability I refuse to confront, and a selfhood that becomes hidden behind the mask of makeup. Each of these elements of exploration are deeply informed by the work of artists Nan Goldin, Leigh Bowery, Sin Wai Kin, and Sophie Jung, each of whom unpick what it is to know the self, to know others, and to be seen through it all. I attempt to force the viewer, within my own work, to see me and interact with me, and to confront themselves as a voyeur. Within this, in making myself an intentional spectacle in an attempt to cover the self underneath, this begs the question: if I consent to being seen, am I still consumable?Item Open Access PERFORMANCE PROCESSES IN MINUCA PUGNAX ACROSS TEMPERATURES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NORTHERN RANGE EXPANSION(2024-07-01) Mancini, Eli; Brodie, Renae; Gillis, GaryThe Atlantic Marsh fiddler crab, Minuca pugnax, has migrated north of its historic range edge in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and can be found in central Maine (Johnson pers comm.). The migration of M. pugnax leads toward the Gulf of Maine, a climate change hotspot. We studied the possible influences of expanded range temperatures on performance by investigating the effects of temperature on the respiration rate, running speed, and heart rate of M. pugnax. Both the respiration rate and running speed experiments were conducted in temperature-controlled chambers that were held at a single temperature for each trial. The temperature in the chamber ranged from 15°C to 35°C in increments of 5°C. Before the respiration rate experiment, each crab was placed in an individual glass beaker with a scannable sticker on the inside of the glass. Respiration rates were then measured using a PreSens Fibox 4, which recorded the oxygen consumption as a proxy for respiration rate over the course of an hour. Female M. pugnax did not show a significant change in respiration from 20°C to 35°C, while males had a peak respiration rate at 25°C. Running speed was measured using an entirely linear “racetrack” made of acrylic plexiglass, the surface of which was covered by a thin layer of damp sand to mirror the intertidal environment of M. pugnax. One crab was placed on a racetrack at a time to get individual running speeds and was encouraged to run by being “chased” using a popsicle stick. Female M. pugnax had a significantly higher running speed at 20°C through 35°C. Males had a peak running speed at 30°C. For both the running speed and respiration rate experiments, both male and female M. pugnax had significantly depressed performance at 15°C. Heart rates of M. pugnax were measured using voltage signal sensors connected to a Newshift AMP03 Heartrate Monitor over a 15°C to 35°C ramp. Both female and male M. pugnax showed no significant differences in heart rate. Our data implies that although the heart rate of M. pugnax may not be affected by the colder expanded range, issues for performance may arise in running speed and respiration rate.Item Open Access Escaping the Birdcage: Complicating Narratives of Agency and Victimhood through Maternal Metaphors of the Female Tigers in the LTTE(2024-06-24) Rao, Madhavi; Medhi, AbhilashIt is hard to imagine genocide, war and violence without imagining women. Cruelty against women, or more essentially mothers, represents the darkest aspects of war against a people. To humanize a group, you invoke their mothers – symbols of the capacity of those people to love and be loved. However, in many contexts, womens and mothers are not only victims of violence, but its perpetrators as well. During the Sri Lankan civil war, it was Tamil women within the militant separatist organization of the LTTE who disproportionately enacted mass violence against both soldiers and civilians. Women became perpetrators, not victims. And yet, their violence was assigned a maternal virtue – a mother’s divine wrath and extreme urge to protect. The association of women as docile, servile and above all self-sacrificing dispelled any sense of empowerment that female combatants might have gained when they picked up their weapons. Their participation in an extremist movement was attributed to the manipulation of their maternal instincts, not to an active choice fueled by their beliefs. By reducing women to different aspects of motherhood – the mother of a people, the ever-giving mother, the mother goddess – they are stripped of their agency and bound to their “nature”. This thesis attempts to complicate narratives of violent women as only acting upon and being exploited through their most maternal instincts. To this end, this thesis will engage with propaganda about and by Tamil female militants, mythical and religious depictions of mothers within nationalist rhetoric and the bodily autonomy of women fighting the Sri Lankan civil war to assert their identities as militants, not mothers.Item Open Access Characterization and Spatial Analysis of Official and Unofficial Caldera and Coronae Populations on Venus(2024-06-21) Woerner, Jess; Dyar, M. DarbyVenus is often considered Earth’s evil twin due to their similarities in structure, but its surface conditions render it a volcanic hellscape. Through the mapping of previously defined populations of calderas and coronae on Venus using ArcGIS Pro, many features considered “caldera-like” and “coronae-like” were identified, prompting the creation of potential caldera and potential coronae catalogues. Heat maps were created to assess the spatial distribution of these features across the surface of Venus and it was found that 61% of the identified potential calderas were contained within or closely associated with the official caldera population, while 85% of the identified potential coronae were contained within or closely associated with the official coronae population. Further analysis of high-density feature clusters uncovered a significant presence of coronae with depressed topography as well as relationships between highly deformed terrain and coronae formation on the surface. A previously undocumented coronae cluster was identified in the Bereghinya Planitia quadrangle, outside of the distinct geologic settings in which coronae are most common. Upcoming missions to Venus will produce higher-resolution radar maps of the surface, allowing closer research of these findings.Item Open Access How do Pigeons Find Their Way Home?(2024-06-21) Schlein, Silvie; Lawlor, Andrea; Yu, WesleyIn an exploration of what it means to construct queerness with and without language, my thesis aims to bring a new perspective to Chaucer’s work while also engaging in the current conversations surrounding queer identity. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath and Pardoner are reimagined as modern characters living in New York City. As they struggle to understand the strange pigeon-like reflections they have been seeing in the mirror, they end up helping each other through an unlikely friendship. Throughout this project, my process was rooted in an interest in queer and medieval theory, as well as in a love for the questions of identity that humans share across centuries. Incorporating illustration, fabulism, poetry, and prose, I pull from queer and medieval traditions to create a narrative that grapples with the abstract constructions of identity, gender, queerness, and pathology.Item Restricted Regulation of Insulin Signaling by Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 in Drosophila melanogaster(2024-06-21) Stichter, Madigan; Woodard, CraigInsulin sensitivity declines progressively with age in mammals, potentially leading to diseases such as metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms underlying this decline are not well understood. Matrix metalloproteinases or MMPs are multifunctional Zn2+-dependent protease enzymes that play key roles in tissue development, cell organization, cell cycle control, and response to stimuli and signaling in a wide variety of animals, including mammals and the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Many MMPs are attached to the cell membrane by the protein glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI), which enables them to interact with the cell’s extracellular matrix (ECM) (Cieplak & Strongin, 2017). Previous studies of MMPs in D. melanogaster indicate that MMP1 and MMP2 work cooperatively and distinctly to degrade ECM components, particularly type IV collagen and laminin, during tissue remodeling of the larval fat bodies (Jia et al., 2014, 2017). MMP2 overexpression causes premature fat body remodeling in larvae and is both necessary and sufficient to induce fat body dissociation in D. melanogaster (Bond et al., 2011). I investigated the role of MMP2 in insulin signaling using D. melanogaster, which is a great model organism with a short life cycle that requires minimal culturing effort. Despite the fruit fly having low genetic redundancy, it still has a 75% similarity to all human genes implicated in disease. This makes it an ideal model organism to study the insulin signaling pathway. Previous studies show the indirect involvement of MMP2 in insulin signaling in D. melanogaster, and overexpression of an MMP (MT1-MMP/MMP14) in mouse hepatic (liver) tissue showed direct cleavage of the insulin receptor, thus suppressing insulin signaling (Guo et al., 2022). I hypothesized that in D. melanogaster, MMP2 has direct involvement in the insulin signaling pathway through cleavage of the insulin receptor. In my investigation - inspired by the mouse study - I overexpressed MMP2 in the fat body of transgenic flies and quantified the effect on insulin signaling via western blot analysis. Quantification of the western blot by downstream protein biomarkers of autophagy, Atg8a proteins, resulted in a surprising decrease in autophagy in the fat bodies of MMP2 overexpressing transgenic flies compared to the control group. Despite that outcome, it was notable that early fat body remodeling occurred in MMP2 overexpressed flies, which is consistent with the findings of Bond et al., (2011). In future studies, more western blots should be performed to gain a higher n value, and tissue samples should also be taken from feeding 3rd instar larvae when insulin signaling is at its highest (Chen, 2020).Item Embargo Assessing Thermal Tolerance of Infected and Uninfected Bombus impatiens to a Variable Thermal Environment(2024-06-21) Lohr, Micah; Van Wyk, Jennifer; Brodie, RenaeIn insect species such as the common eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens, the relationships between body size, temperature, and disease are closely intertwined. Given the significant selection pressure that the latter two of these stressors impose, it is critically important to understand how climate change will impact species who carry out critical ecosystem services as mean temperatures and thermal variability increase. This work assesses the ecophysiology of B. impatiens in a simulated heatwave. It compares the thermoregulation, behavior, and metabolic rate of bumble bees when uninfected versus infected with a sublethal intestinal trypanosome, Crithidia bombi. Using a thermally controlled chamber, I measured thoracic body temperature, behavior, and respiration rates in infected and uninfected B. impatiens workers from 24 to 36 ºC. I found a significant interactive effect of infection status and body size on thermoregulation, with infection masking the side-mediated effects seen in uninfected bees. The likelihood of an individual fanning– a physiological adaptation to heat stress– increased at higher temperatures regardless of infection. Finally, the respiration rate of infected individuals demonstrated a negative relationship with infection intensity. Obtaining this fine-scale understanding of interacting stressors will provide insight on outcomes for important pollinators with respect to global climate change.Item Open Access Depo Provera downregulates the expression of genes involved in maintaining the mucosal immune barrier and protecting against Chlamydia infection in the murine female genital tract(2024-06-21) Dresler, Madison; Lijek, RebeccahDepo Provera (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, DMPA) is a standard pre-treatment in Chlamydia animal models to ensure reliable female genital tract infection. DMPA also increases infection with simian-human immunodeficiency virus, herpes simplex virus, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mice and non-human primates. In humans, DMPA has been associated with an increased risk of sexually-transmitted infection, prompting the World Health Organization to call for more research on how DMPA impacts mucosal immunity. Here, we report a transcriptomics analysis of how DMPA modulates the expression of genes related to the immune barrier in the murine female genital tract. C56Bl/6 female mice were treated subcutaneously with 2.5 mg DMPA at day -7 or days -10 and -3, corresponding to different protocols in the Chlamydia field. The cervix, uterus, and ovaries were excised, total RNA was extracted and applied to the NanoString PanCancer Immune Profiling and Host Response Panels, representing 1114 genes. DMPA treatment resulted in the differential expression of over 300 genes, including the significant downregulation of many genes involved in mucosal and cell-autonomous immunity (e.g. lipocalin 2, mucin 1, CCR3, STING, and caspase 8). Studies investigating the relative contributions of key genes and their relationship to Chlamydia infection are ongoing. These data support a model wherein DMPA weakens immune barrier functions to allow reliable Chlamydia infection in the murine female genital tract, and may also explain why DMPA use in humans is associated with increased sexually-transmitted infection.Item Open Access Neural Representation of Implicit Meter in Typical Early Readers(2024-06-20) Rose, Madeline; Breen, MaraThis study tested the hypothesis that implicit meter can serve as a way to measure oral reading fluency which in turn could predict reading comprehension. By investigating the neural mechanisms that inform implicit meter, it should be possible to measure oral reading fluency. Therefore, by studying the neural and behavioral underpinnings of implicit meter in children during development (6–10-year-olds), it should be possible to map specific neural mechanisms to reading comprehension. Additionally, this study investigated whether one of the specific mechanisms, the LMN component, had a direct correlation on childrens’ reading comprehension KTEA scores. This study found that adolescents are more so successful in sustaining a quadruple implicit meter than a triple meter and are more successful sustaining a slow tempo meter than a fast tempo meter. This study also found that the N1 component matures over the course of adolescence, with it being unobservable in the youngest cohort and fully emergent by the oldest cohort. The LMN component was found to be observable throughout all cohorts without showing visual signs of maturation. Additionally, this study found that the LMN component does not exhibit direct correlation to reading comprehension. Therefore, the LMN component is not a neural component that can be used to measure oral fluency, and therefore is not suitable to measure reading comprehension. This deeper understanding of the neural underpinnings of reading comprehension can then inform future educational policies that aim to promote childhood reading comprehension and provide clear targets that policies can focus on when designing interventions for the vast population of children who are struggling to meet the threshold to be considering as being able to read to their grade level.Item Open Access An Approach to Thermodynamically Controlled Supramolecular Assembly in WaterMyren, Isabel; Hamilton, DarrenSupramolecular chemistry focuses on the formation of multi-molecular complexes held together by non-covalent interactions. One prominent sub-field of study within supramolecular chemistry is the use of thermodynamic favorability to drive the self-assembly of complex structures, such as rotaxanes. Rotaxanes are a type of supramolecular complex in which a linear ‘guest’ molecule with bulky ends is threaded through a large ring-shaped ‘host’ molecule. Rotaxanes are important for several reasons such as their use as molecular shuttles and synthetic dye stabilizers. Many rotaxane synthesis techniques rely solely on the thermodynamic favorability of non-covalent interactions such as π-rich and π-poor aromatic unit interactions. A recent study created a synthesis method that used reversible carbonyl condensation chemistry to form the linear guest molecule within the host macrocycle much like assembling a ship piece by piece within a bottle.1 Then they used an irreversible dehydration step to remove the formation reversibility and ‘trap’ the guest molecule within the host molecule, creating a stable rotaxane. This research project examined whether rotaxanes could be formed in water through the addition of sodium bisulfite to augment the method used in the previous study. This project tested the premise that the hydrophilicity of the water combined with the favorable non-covalent interactions would then drive rotaxane formation. It was theorized that this addition should increase the yield of rotaxane formation while simultaneously decreasing the complexity of the process. However, modified experiments focused on guest molecule formation in water produced much lower product yields than expected. Additional experimentation determined the cause for this drop in yield to be an unexpected reaction between the sodium bisulfite and the unadded bulky end groups of the guest molecule. This sodium bisulfite reaction was irreversible in the presence of aqueous base and thus removed much of the sodium bisulfite and the bulky end molecules from the reaction. Several attempted bypass reactions prove ineffective. Due to the overactivity of sodium bisulfite, future experiments could focus on testing other possible water solubilizing agents such as amino acids in imine formation reactions.