Chris Bassett worked in Dr. David Thomas' laboratory at the University of Minnesota. Chris' project involved expressing and purifying phospholamban (PLB) from E. coli bacteria. PLB is a 52 amino acid membrane protein that inhibits the calcium APTase pump in cardiac muscle, thus regulating heart function. Chris made a significant contribution to the project by noting that the highest yields of PLB occurred two to three hours into the cleavage process. In addition, he observed that there was significant degradation of PLB occurring in as little as eight hours. Given that the standard procedure called for 20 hours of cleavage, Chris' observation paved the way for the identification of proteases causing degradation. He found that addition of a protease inhibitor combined with the shortened cleavage time significantly reduced protein degradation. Chris' paper can be accessed here.
Beth Brinda worked in the Biology Department of the University of St. Thomas under the guidance of Dr. Amy Verhoeven. Beth studied enzyme activity in the needles of Taxus cuspidata (Japanese Yew) to determine the role of the antioxidant system in protecting the plants from severe Minnesota winter temperatures. Her results showed that wintertime needles demonstrated a much higher level of glutathione reductase activity than the needles gathered during the summer. Additionally, the winter needles seemed to be much more sensitive to temperature increases than the summer ones. Beth was a Semi-Finalist in the INTEL (Westinghouse) Science Talent Search and went to the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair as an alternate. Beth's paper can be accessed here.
Carl Forsberg worked under the guidance of Dr. Raymond DeVries at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. Carl investigated the composition, size, and workload of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). Carl successfully conducted telephone surveys with 87 IRBs from a stratified random sample of 89. His survey was so interesting that 98% of the selected IRBs chose to participate. His results pointed towards some important first steps for improving the protection of human subjects. Carl’s research was particularly timely, given increasing concerns about the ability of IRBs to protect human subjects from research misconduct while not setting up roadblocks to scientific discovery. Since there has been very little research done on IRBs, Carl’s study will help to promote a better understanding of IRBs and will shed light on important aspects of the IRB process. Carl's paper can be accessed here. Carl's semimar at the U of MN
Michael Hektner worked in the Ecology Department of the University of Minnesota under the supervision of Dr. Karen Oberhauser and Michelle Solensky. Michael studied two mutant genes in monarch butterflies, one that resulted in white coloration of larvae and the other that produced red eyes in adult monarchs. Michael statistically analyzed his results to discover that red-eyed and black-eyed monarch butterflies did not show a mating preference for any of the model butterflies. However, both red- and black-eyed butterflies showed a preference in mating position on all models. Finally Michael tested fitness performance of white-larvae adults, red-eyed adults and black-eyed adults. He discovered that red-eyed monarchs mate less than the black-eyed monarchs. The adults with the light-larvae gene did not show any difference in mating. Michael's paper can be accessed here.
Mac McCullough worked at the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research in the Department of Radiology at the University of Minnesota Medical School under the supervision of Dr. Josef Pfeuffer. Mac studied the nonlinearities of the human blood oxygen level dependant (BOLD) response to visual stimuli of short durations at high spatial and temporal resolution. Working with Dr. Pfeuffer, Mac used the largest magnet (7 Tesla) in the world for human studies to administer high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to six healthy human subjects. Mac discovered that unlike previous studies, which showed that longer stimulus duration resulted in linear relationships, shorter intervals of stimulation gave a non-linear relationship between response and stimulus duration. When Mac compared data obtained from the ultra-high field strength (7 Tesla) to an earlier study carried out at a lower field strength (4 Tesla), he noted obvious deviations that may indicate that the non-linearity is also dependent on field strength. Mac's paper can be accessed here.
Stephen Morris worked at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University under the direction of Dr. George Somero and Dr. Lars Tomanek. Stephen investigated the impact of thermal stress on the physiology and ecology of two congeneric marine snails—L. Keenae that live higher in intertidal regions and L. Scutulata that live lower in interlock tidal regions. He discovered that the L. Keenae had a greater thermal tolerance by nearly four degrees than L. Scutulata. He determined that the L. Keenae expressed nearly twice as much HSP 70 as L. Scutulata at typical habitat temperatures. As Stephen increased thermal stress, he found that levels of HSP 70 in L. Keenae stayed constant even at extreme temperatures for the microhabitat, while the levels of HSP 70 in L. Scutulata dropped significantly at 30°C. His study showed a clear difference in the physiological characteristics of the two snails, indicating that L. Scutulata is less well adapted. Stephen went on to win the top prize at the Twin Cities Regional Science Fair, which was an all-expense paid trip to the INTEL International Science Fair. Stephen's paper can be accessed here.
Jonathan Schwalbe worked in the Chemistry Department at the University of St. Thomas under the guidance of Dr. David Boyd. Jonathan investigated the fractal properties of copper crystals grown through the process of diffusion limited aggregation (DLA. Jonathan studied the size of copper crystals at different concentrations of the solution in which they were grown, and he looked at the box-counting dimension of the crystals. Jonathan found his copper crystals showed a fractal dimension of about 1.46—a mathematically-derived number that corresponds to the rate of change of area in relation to the reduction factor. Another step Jonathan took, which had not been previously investigated, was to determine the chemistry behind formation of copper-fractal crystals. Jonathan concluded that the reaction at the anode was actually two reactions, one involving oxidation of the copper anode to copper ions, and the other being the formation of copper oxide formed when oxygen produced during electrolysis of water reacted with copper ions in solution. Jonathan's paper can be accessed here.
Adam Timm worked in the Physics Department at the University of St. Thomas under the direction of Dr. Marty Johnston and Greg Ogan. He created a high-voltage power supply that would work with standardized equipment common to many universities and be low-cost and small enough so that more than one could be used together in a small area. Adam's role in the project was to develop a computer program that could be used to control the power supply. He used LabView programming language to write a route to control the power supply. His program separated the original power supply into multiple power supplies. His program will enable an operator of an electron gun to more easily control the gun. Once Adam finished the program, he worked on the overall design for the electron gun and helped to build an initial prototype, setting up one component at a time to ensure that each part worked as expected. Next, he developed a final prototype that would fit into a standardized CAMAC crate. Adam's paper can be accessed here.
