Pub Date : 2023-09-15DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i1.943
Priscilla Richmond, Jiaya Zhu, Taylor Kennedy, Chloe L. Sindledecker, Kristie Kiefer, Andrea Haney, Julia Matzenbacher dos Santos
Acrobatics and Tumbling (A&T) is an emerging sport in the United States; balance and equilibrium are critical components of performance in this sport. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify if body composition, fat distribution, and nutritional behavior affect the balance and vertical jump of A&T athletes. Body mass index (BMI), whole body percentage of fat and skeletal muscle, and fat distribution of top and base A&T athletes from Fairmont State University were assessed using an impedance device (In Body 570). Nutritional behavior was assessed by a 3-day food log. Balance was measured by the time of holding a handstand in seconds. BMI, whole body, and truncal fat percentage were higher in base athletes when compared to tops (p˂0.05). When associating balance with the variables, skeletal muscle mass was positively associated with balance (r=0.49, p˂0.05), and the percentage of fat and fat accumulation in the lower limbs were negatively associated (r=-0.47 and -0.48, respectively p˂0.05). When the association was tested within the position, the percentage of skeletal muscle mass and fat was only associated with balance in top athletes. Thus, training strategies to increment skeletal muscle mass and decrease body fat should be the focus to improve the balance of top A&T athletes.
杂技和翻滚(A&T)在美国是一项新兴运动;平衡和平衡是这项运动表现的关键组成部分。因此，本研究的目的是确定身体成分、脂肪分布和营养行为是否影响田径运动员的平衡和垂直跳跃。使用阻抗装置对费尔蒙特州立大学顶级和基础a&t运动员的身体质量指数(BMI)、全身脂肪和骨骼肌百分比以及脂肪分布进行评估(In Body 570)。通过3天的食物记录来评估营养行为。平衡是用倒立的时间来衡量的，以秒为单位。与顶尖运动员相比，基础运动员的BMI、全身和躯干脂肪百分比更高(p小于0.05)。当将平衡与变量关联起来时，骨骼肌质量与平衡呈正相关(r=0.49, p小于0.05)，而脂肪百分比和下肢脂肪堆积呈负相关(r=-0.47和-0.48,p小于0.05)。当这种关联在体位内进行测试时，骨骼肌质量和脂肪的百分比仅与顶级运动员的平衡有关。因此，增加骨骼肌质量和减少体脂的训练策略应该是提高顶级田径运动员平衡性的重点。
{"title":"The effect of fat distribution and nutritional behavior on balance and equilibrium of acrobatics and tumbling athletes","authors":"Priscilla Richmond, Jiaya Zhu, Taylor Kennedy, Chloe L. Sindledecker, Kristie Kiefer, Andrea Haney, Julia Matzenbacher dos Santos","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i1.943","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i1.943","url":null,"abstract":"Acrobatics and Tumbling (A&T) is an emerging sport in the United States; balance and equilibrium are critical components of performance in this sport. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify if body composition, fat distribution, and nutritional behavior affect the balance and vertical jump of A&T athletes. Body mass index (BMI), whole body percentage of fat and skeletal muscle, and fat distribution of top and base A&T athletes from Fairmont State University were assessed using an impedance device (In Body 570). Nutritional behavior was assessed by a 3-day food log. Balance was measured by the time of holding a handstand in seconds. BMI, whole body, and truncal fat percentage were higher in base athletes when compared to tops (p˂0.05). When associating balance with the variables, skeletal muscle mass was positively associated with balance (r=0.49, p˂0.05), and the percentage of fat and fat accumulation in the lower limbs were negatively associated (r=-0.47 and -0.48, respectively p˂0.05). When the association was tested within the position, the percentage of skeletal muscle mass and fat was only associated with balance in top athletes. Thus, training strategies to increment skeletal muscle mass and decrease body fat should be the focus to improve the balance of top A&T athletes.","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135395884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-31DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.1021
Robert L. Harsh, Allison C Beverlin, Jessica S. Kellison, L. Robertson
We spend about 90% of our time indoors. The air we breathe contains fungi and other microbes. Airborne fungal communities have been studied in air quality investigations of complaint buildings in response to occupant health issues, water damage, or visible mold growth; however, few studies of the airborne fungal community in non-complaint buildings have been conducted. Moreover, almost all studies of indoor airborne fungal communities are conducted in large cities in urban locations. This study describes a baseline survey of the viable airborne fungi found inside a public building in a small rural town. Fungi were captured passively using an open plate method and isolates were identified to putative taxa through sequence of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. We sampled in two different years (2020 and 2022) and sampled the outside airborne fungal community in 2022. Eighteen fungal taxa were isolated from indoor air; five of these taxa were identified only in 2020, eight taxa were only identified in 2022, and five taxa were identified in both years. Cladosporium was the most commonly isolated genus from indoor air. We isolated 17 different fungal taxa in 2022; nine were only captured indoors, four were only captured outside, and four were captured both indoors and outside. This study provides a baseline survey of fungal taxa found inside a public building in a rural location, the variability between years, and the impact of outside air.
{"title":"Viable airborne fungi identified in a small town, public building in West Virginia","authors":"Robert L. Harsh, Allison C Beverlin, Jessica S. Kellison, L. Robertson","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.1021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.1021","url":null,"abstract":"We spend about 90% of our time indoors. The air we breathe contains fungi and other microbes. Airborne fungal communities have been studied in air quality investigations of complaint buildings in response to occupant health issues, water damage, or visible mold growth; however, few studies of the airborne fungal community in non-complaint buildings have been conducted. Moreover, almost all studies of indoor airborne fungal communities are conducted in large cities in urban locations. This study describes a baseline survey of the viable airborne fungi found inside a public building in a small rural town. Fungi were captured passively using an open plate method and isolates were identified to putative taxa through sequence of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. We sampled in two different years (2020 and 2022) and sampled the outside airborne fungal community in 2022. Eighteen fungal taxa were isolated from indoor air; five of these taxa were identified only in 2020, eight taxa were only identified in 2022, and five taxa were identified in both years. Cladosporium was the most commonly isolated genus from indoor air. We isolated 17 different fungal taxa in 2022; nine were only captured indoors, four were only captured outside, and four were captured both indoors and outside. This study provides a baseline survey of fungal taxa found inside a public building in a rural location, the variability between years, and the impact of outside air.","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"299 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79680824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-22DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.1020
Allen Parks
Noether’s theorem is used to identify a conservation law for the quantum mechanical pointed weak energy. Under this law the pointed weak energy is a constant of the motion and leads to simple expressions for the correlation amplitude between and probability for an associated evolving quantum state and the state at a previous initial time.
{"title":"A Pointed Weak Energy Conservation Law via Noether's Theorem","authors":"Allen Parks","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.1020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.1020","url":null,"abstract":"Noether’s theorem is used to identify a conservation law for the quantum mechanical pointed weak energy. Under this law the pointed weak energy is a constant of the motion and leads to simple expressions for the correlation amplitude between and probability for an associated evolving quantum state and the state at a previous initial time. \u0000 ","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"136 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73752379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-13DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.976
Haidyn DePinho, Thomas Saladyga
Appalachian riverscour woodlands are intermittently flooded areas along high-energy rivers characterized by exposed bedrock and poorly developed sandy soils, high plant diversity, and scattered and stunted trees. These sites can be negatively impacted by dam construction and alterations to river hydrology, trampling associated with riverside recreation activities, and non-native species. In West Virginia, little is known about the development of riverscour woodlands or the growth and hydroclimate sensitivity of associated tree species. In this exploratory study, our objectives were to evaluate our ability to crossdate riverscour woodland trees (i.e., assign accurate calendar years to annual growth rings) as well as determine stand structure and tree establishment patterns at one site along the New River in Fayette County, West Virginia. In addition, for two species, Ulmus americana and Diospyros virginiana, we examined annual growth trends and relationships between tree growth and monthly hydroclimate, including streamflow, precipitation, and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Seventy-three percent of all ring-width measurement series were crossdated, but results were mixed across species. Most trees were less than 50 years old and no trees established before the late 1940s. Both U. americana and D. virginiana were highly sensitive to April–August hydroclimate, but differed in response to previous year moisture availability. These findings provide new direction for the use of riverscour woodland trees in future dendroecological studies.
{"title":"Dendroecological Potential of Appalachian Riverscour Woodland Trees","authors":"Haidyn DePinho, Thomas Saladyga","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.976","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.976","url":null,"abstract":"Appalachian riverscour woodlands are intermittently flooded areas along high-energy rivers characterized by exposed bedrock and poorly developed sandy soils, high plant diversity, and scattered and stunted trees. These sites can be negatively impacted by dam construction and alterations to river hydrology, trampling associated with riverside recreation activities, and non-native species. In West Virginia, little is known about the development of riverscour woodlands or the growth and hydroclimate sensitivity of associated tree species. In this exploratory study, our objectives were to evaluate our ability to crossdate riverscour woodland trees (i.e., assign accurate calendar years to annual growth rings) as well as determine stand structure and tree establishment patterns at one site along the New River in Fayette County, West Virginia. In addition, for two species, Ulmus americana and Diospyros virginiana, we examined annual growth trends and relationships between tree growth and monthly hydroclimate, including streamflow, precipitation, and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Seventy-three percent of all ring-width measurement series were crossdated, but results were mixed across species. Most trees were less than 50 years old and no trees established before the late 1940s. Both U. americana and D. virginiana were highly sensitive to April–August hydroclimate, but differed in response to previous year moisture availability. These findings provide new direction for the use of riverscour woodland trees in future dendroecological studies.","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81052391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-19DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.1014
Y. Panta, W. Church
The conservation of energy, mass, and momentum are three governing laws of physics that are regularly uttered in teaching engineering courses. Mechanical energies in the form of kinetic and potential forms are the most common forms of energy in dynamics. Fluid flow energies relating to pressure, velocity, elevation, fluid friction, pump, and turbine are covered in fluid dynamics. In thermodynamics course, the first law deals with heat energy and work that can alter internal energy in a system. In all these courses, the conservation of energy states that the amount of energy remains constant, that means that energy is neither created nor destroyed but transferable from one form to another, keeping the total energy same within a fixed domain. Students are initially exposed to energy balance equation in their first Thermodynamics course. In this course, emphasis is placed upon those parameters of specific interest related to energy to this subject. We attempted to tie the concepts of the energy balance equation through 1st Law in thermodynamics to those emphasized in Fluid Mechanics. This was accomplished by taking the students from the starting point of the thermodynamics’ first law for Energy Balance equation to the finished Fluid Mechanics’ Bernoulli’s equation. In the following semester, students were again taken through the process of converting the 1st Law of thermodynamics to Bernoulli’s equation of fluid mechanics. Direct and indirect assessments were then conducted to measure students’ understanding on the energy and its conservation. Through a series of questionnaire and their feedback, Students were found to be more knowledgeable in the conservation of energy through the synchronization of energy balance concepts in these two courses. This presentation is a part of work-in-progress project that we first presented at 2022 WVAS meeting.
{"title":"Synchronizing Teaching Resources of Energy Conservation Principle in Mechanical Engineering Courses- Year 2 Updates","authors":"Y. Panta, W. Church","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.1014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.1014","url":null,"abstract":"The conservation of energy, mass, and momentum are three governing laws of physics that are regularly uttered in teaching engineering courses. Mechanical energies in the form of kinetic and potential forms are the most common forms of energy in dynamics. Fluid flow energies relating to pressure, velocity, elevation, fluid friction, pump, and turbine are covered in fluid dynamics. In thermodynamics course, the first law deals with heat energy and work that can alter internal energy in a system. In all these courses, the conservation of energy states that the amount of energy remains constant, that means that energy is neither created nor destroyed but transferable from one form to another, keeping the total energy same within a fixed domain. Students are initially exposed to energy balance equation in their first Thermodynamics course. In this course, emphasis is placed upon those parameters of specific interest related to energy to this subject. We attempted to tie the concepts of the energy balance equation through 1st Law in thermodynamics to those emphasized in Fluid Mechanics. This was accomplished by taking the students from the starting point of the thermodynamics’ first law for Energy Balance equation to the finished Fluid Mechanics’ Bernoulli’s equation. In the following semester, students were again taken through the process of converting the 1st Law of thermodynamics to Bernoulli’s equation of fluid mechanics. Direct and indirect assessments were then conducted to measure students’ understanding on the energy and its conservation. Through a series of questionnaire and their feedback, Students were found to be more knowledgeable in the conservation of energy through the synchronization of energy balance concepts in these two courses. This presentation is a part of work-in-progress project that we first presented at 2022 WVAS meeting.","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80342973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-19DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.947
Karmann G. Kessler, Karli M. Rogers, C. Marsh, N. Hitt
The response of stream ecosystems to climate change will depend in part on groundwater processes that reduce the sensitivity of streams to atmospheric conditions. We investigated the thermal sensitivity of streams across a gradient of groundwater inputs defined by karst terrain (carbonate parent materials) in the headwaters of the Potomac River basin in eastern North America. We collected stream temperature data and quantified thermal sensitivity for 30 sites from the relationship between daily mean water and air temperatures. Our analysis demonstrates that thermal sensitivity is lower for streams in karst terrain than elsewhere, and that the effect of karst terrain is more important than effects of elevation or basin size in this regard. Our study indicates the importance of karstic groundwater for stream thermal resiliency and suggests the importance of riparian vegetation for maintaining stream temperatures elsewhere. Our study also provides a simple and rapid method for climate change research that can be implemented in conjunction with watershed organizations and citizen science networks.
{"title":"Karst Terrain Promotes Thermal Resiliency in Headwater Streams","authors":"Karmann G. Kessler, Karli M. Rogers, C. Marsh, N. Hitt","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.947","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i3.947","url":null,"abstract":"The response of stream ecosystems to climate change will depend in part on groundwater processes that reduce the sensitivity of streams to atmospheric conditions. We investigated the thermal sensitivity of streams across a gradient of groundwater inputs defined by karst terrain (carbonate parent materials) in the headwaters of the Potomac River basin in eastern North America. We collected stream temperature data and quantified thermal sensitivity for 30 sites from the relationship between daily mean water and air temperatures. Our analysis demonstrates that thermal sensitivity is lower for streams in karst terrain than elsewhere, and that the effect of karst terrain is more important than effects of elevation or basin size in this regard. Our study indicates the importance of karstic groundwater for stream thermal resiliency and suggests the importance of riparian vegetation for maintaining stream temperatures elsewhere. Our study also provides a simple and rapid method for climate change research that can be implemented in conjunction with watershed organizations and citizen science networks.","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"125 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85585121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-19DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.948
M. Richards-Babb
Timely, formative feedback is important for instructors and students. In this project, “embedded students” provided instructors with formative feedback through anonymized reports. Students enrolled in preparatory chemistry course sections in fall 2022 self-selected to submit reports documenting their ongoing experiences in learning chemistry content. Embedded students journaled about (i) hours devoted to the course; (ii) topic-specific content mastery, comfort, and confusion; and (iii) instructor pedagogy. An average of 108 reports per week were anonymized and shared with instructors. Instructor effort was limited to agreeing to receive the weekly reports, look them over, and potentially use them to inform upcoming teaching. Embedded students benefited by thinking about their learning in the class (metacognition) and focusing their learning for the upcoming week. Overall, 300 distinct students submitted 1,513 weekly reports, with overall means of 2.81 hours per week of self-reported time devoted to attending lecture, 4.75 hours per week of self-reported time engaged in additional study, and 7.56 hours per week of self-reported total time devoted to the course. Instructors reported reading over 87% of the reports and using feedback to make an average of 4.6 instructional adjustments ranging from working additional practice problems on difficult concepts, providing answer keys to extra problems, implementing problem-solving/review days, and reviewing difficult material or content from earlier in the course. Instructors indicated that the weekly reports contributed to “instructor beneficence”. Students “felt heard” especially when instructors explicitly and constructively addressed comments from the weekly reports. This work is partially supported by the NSF-funded First2 Network.
{"title":"Embedded student formative reporting to promote student metacognition and instructor pedagogical adjustments","authors":"M. Richards-Babb","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.948","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.948","url":null,"abstract":"Timely, formative feedback is important for instructors and students. In this project, “embedded students” provided instructors with formative feedback through anonymized reports. Students enrolled in preparatory chemistry course sections in fall 2022 self-selected to submit reports documenting their ongoing experiences in learning chemistry content. Embedded students journaled about (i) hours devoted to the course; (ii) topic-specific content mastery, comfort, and confusion; and (iii) instructor pedagogy. An average of 108 reports per week were anonymized and shared with instructors. Instructor effort was limited to agreeing to receive the weekly reports, look them over, and potentially use them to inform upcoming teaching. Embedded students benefited by thinking about their learning in the class (metacognition) and focusing their learning for the upcoming week. Overall, 300 distinct students submitted 1,513 weekly reports, with overall means of 2.81 hours per week of self-reported time devoted to attending lecture, 4.75 hours per week of self-reported time engaged in additional study, and 7.56 hours per week of self-reported total time devoted to the course. Instructors reported reading over 87% of the reports and using feedback to make an average of 4.6 instructional adjustments ranging from working additional practice problems on difficult concepts, providing answer keys to extra problems, implementing problem-solving/review days, and reviewing difficult material or content from earlier in the course. Instructors indicated that the weekly reports contributed to “instructor beneficence”. Students “felt heard” especially when instructors explicitly and constructively addressed comments from the weekly reports. This work is partially supported by the NSF-funded First2 Network.","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82703917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-19DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.992
C. Gibson
To address the perpetual need for STEM education resources that foster an interest in scientific research, promote a positive public perception of science, and create an appreciation for the relevance of scientific data in decision-making, we developed a modular set of undergraduate laboratory exercises influenced by ongoing basic research towards elucidating the chemical composition of pure maple syrups. Maple syrup has garnered attention in the chemical literature due to the abundance of phenolic and antioxidant compounds that impart both flavor and therapeutic potential. These experiments feature liquid-liquid extraction techniques and instrumental analysis using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) as well as UV-visible spectroscopy. These lab modules can be adapted to different levels of technical rigor for use in courses designed for chemistry majors as well as those designed as introductory courses for nonmajors. Two versions of these exercises were implemented in the spring of 2023: one in a majors-level sophomore organic chemistry, and another in a 100-level food chemistry course. Learning outcomes were specified and survey data was collected from students to assess the ability of the exercises to facilitate student learning.
{"title":"Development of Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories in the Analysis of Maple Syrup Antioxidants and Phenolics","authors":"C. Gibson","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.992","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.992","url":null,"abstract":"To address the perpetual need for STEM education resources that foster an interest in scientific research, promote a positive public perception of science, and create an appreciation for the relevance of scientific data in decision-making, we developed a modular set of undergraduate laboratory exercises influenced by ongoing basic research towards elucidating the chemical composition of pure maple syrups. Maple syrup has garnered attention in the chemical literature due to the abundance of phenolic and antioxidant compounds that impart both flavor and therapeutic potential. These experiments feature liquid-liquid extraction techniques and instrumental analysis using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) as well as UV-visible spectroscopy. These lab modules can be adapted to different levels of technical rigor for use in courses designed for chemistry majors as well as those designed as introductory courses for nonmajors. Two versions of these exercises were implemented in the spring of 2023: one in a majors-level sophomore organic chemistry, and another in a 100-level food chemistry course. Learning outcomes were specified and survey data was collected from students to assess the ability of the exercises to facilitate student learning.","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89834195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-18DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.954
Jessica S. Kellison, Elizabeth Rea, L. Robertson
Diverse fungi are abundant within soil communities and commonly found in association with many plant and tree species. This study investigates the culturable, airborne fungi found in the outside environment of the Shepherd University campus. Viable fungi were captured in two different locations on two different culture media, using the open plate method. Captured fungi were isolated and putative species identified by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene cassette. Due to insufficient sequence variability within the ITS region, most isolates could not be identified to species. 15 fungal isolates were identified to order, family, genus, or species complex: Dothideales (1 isolate), Didymellaceae (4 isolates), Aureobasidium (1 isolate), Cladosporium (1 isolate), Mucor (3 isolates), Nigrospora (1 isolate), Pestalotiopsis (2 isolates), and Penicillium (2 isolates), including Penicillium thiersii (1 isolate). These isolates are similar to those isolated from inside a teaching laboratory on the Shepherd University campus; Didymellaceae, Cladosporiaceae, and Penicillium fungi were isolated multiple times within the teaching laboratory. This research was supported by the Shepherd University Biology Department, a student fellowship from NASA-WVSGC (J. Kellison), and a research enhancement award from NASA-WVSGC (L. Robertson).
{"title":"Identification by DNA barcode of culturable, airborne, environmental fungi isolated from the Shepherd University campus","authors":"Jessica S. Kellison, Elizabeth Rea, L. Robertson","doi":"10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.954","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.954","url":null,"abstract":"Diverse fungi are abundant within soil communities and commonly found in association with many plant and tree species. This study investigates the culturable, airborne fungi found in the outside environment of the Shepherd University campus. Viable fungi were captured in two different locations on two different culture media, using the open plate method. Captured fungi were isolated and putative species identified by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene cassette. Due to insufficient sequence variability within the ITS region, most isolates could not be identified to species. 15 fungal isolates were identified to order, family, genus, or species complex: Dothideales (1 isolate), Didymellaceae (4 isolates), Aureobasidium (1 isolate), Cladosporium (1 isolate), Mucor (3 isolates), Nigrospora (1 isolate), Pestalotiopsis (2 isolates), and Penicillium (2 isolates), including Penicillium thiersii (1 isolate). These isolates are similar to those isolated from inside a teaching laboratory on the Shepherd University campus; Didymellaceae, Cladosporiaceae, and Penicillium fungi were isolated multiple times within the teaching laboratory. This research was supported by the Shepherd University Biology Department, a student fellowship from NASA-WVSGC (J. Kellison), and a research enhancement award from NASA-WVSGC (L. Robertson).","PeriodicalId":92280,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science","volume":"137 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75759872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-18DOI: 10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.979
Haley Carter, Holly Racine
Thyroid hormone (TH) is essential for bone development. Altered TH levels such as hyperthyroidism, or thyrotoxicosis, results in the early maturation of the cartilaginous scaffold for long bone development, which can cause improper ossification. Maternal hyperthyroidism during embryonic development causes neonatal thyrotoxicosis and can therefore lead to stunted growth in infants. In our avian model of induced thyrotoxicosis, we injected saline (control) or 25ng thyroxine (T4) in 0.1 mL dose into fertilized chicken eggs on embryonic (E) days E11 and E15. On E19, chicken embryo length was measured and limbs were collected. The left limbs were whole-mount stained with Alizarin Red (bone) and Alcian Blue (cartilage). Limbs were then imaged and tibias were measured using ImageJ. The tibias from the right limbs were further dissected, embedded in paraffin, cut (5μM), and stained with Safranin O (cartilage) and Fast Green (bone). Sections were examined to determine morphological changes in the cartilaginous long bone scaffold. Body length was 4.8% shorter following thyroxine exposure (p<0.01). Tibias were 2.4% shorter, though not statistically significant (p=0.36). Paraffin-embedded sections suggested increased chondrocyte hypertrophy, although further quantification is required. In conclusion, our data support thyroxine-induced changes in long bone morphology. Understanding how thyrotoxicosis can alter bone development in utero is important for developing potential targeted therapies for improving ossification in cases of neonatal thyrotoxicosis. Acknowledgment of NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium (Grant #80NSSC20M0055) and the Genomics Core Facility and WV-INBRE (NIH grant P20GM103434).
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