Proceedings with Abstracts

Session II: Poster Presentations

Group I

“A Piecewise Linear Model for siRNA Efficacy Prediction” Carissa Bousfield, Houghton College

Some diseases are caused by the excess of certain proteins.  Treatment involves diminishing the level of these proteins by degrading an RNA molecule before it is translated into protein.  A short fragment of RNA (siRNA) is synthesized to bind to the RNA to halt protein synthesis.  For this process, it is important to determine which siRNA strands are most effective.  Linear models use previously known effective strands to assign weights to important features and apply these weights to new strands.  However, this is not the most accurate model.  A piecewise linear model breaks the known strands into groups and determines the weights so a new strand receives the weights of the group it is the most similar to.  The goal of this study is to verify the hypothesis that using a piecewise model will be more accurate than a linear model and to determine effective ways of grouping the data.

“Using the Ant Colony Clustering Algorithm to Classify HIV-1 Sequences” David King, Houghton College

HIV-1, the virus which is the leading cause of AIDS in the world, is also among the most difficult to treat. The reason for this is that HIV-1 has an extraordinarily high mutation rate. Because of this high mutation rate, the virus is very hard to categorize, and thus very hard to treat.  Currently, the prime algorithm for the categorization of HIV-1 viruses is the STAR algorithm, which is able to effectively categorize 11 sequences in 11 different categories.

However, if the algorithm is presented with an HIV-1 sequence that does not fit into any of the established categories, the sequence will be labeled as “unknown,” a decidedly unhelpful classification.

The purpose of this study is to design and investigate an alternate clustering algorithm using the Ant-based Sorting Algorithm as a base—one that will not only be able to accurately classify HIV-1 sequences in known categories, but will also be able to create new categories and classify unknown sequences accordingly.

“Work Towards the Total Synthesis of a Novel Isoflavone Isolated from Erythrina Variegata” Jeffrey D. St. Denis, Niagara University

Reported within are efforts towards the total synthesis of a novel isoflavone isolated from Erythrina variegata, a species of flowering tree native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian Ocean, is being reported.  The isoflavone structure contains two fused rings and a branched phenyl moiety.  This novel isoflavone contains three fused ring with the addition of a furan ring system.  The work towards the synthesis of the fused furan ring will be performed using an intramolecular McMurry coupling methodology.  The development of the 14 step synthetic scheme based upon the isoflavone has been formulated and work is currently being pursued.

“Work towards the Synthesis of the Natural Product 5,7,4’-trihydroxy-6-(3,3-dimethylallyloxiranylmethyl) Isoflavone” Megan Baumler, Niagara University

Flavonoids are known for their beneficial antioxidant traits, which have been reported to act against cancer and heart disease.  The current push towards the synthesis of flavonoid derivatives is due to the desire for medical treatments without the negative side effects.  Due to flavonoids low toxicity, coupled with their antioxidant and antimicrobial characteristics, they are an attractive alternative to current medical treatments.

The project is based on the synthesis of the isoflavonoid 5,7,4’-trihydroxy-6-(3,3-dimethylallyloxiranylmethyl) isoflavone (1).  Upon successful completion, a synthetic pathway will be open for making further derivatives.

“Color v. Black and White Evaluative Conditioning” Carrie Phillips and Kimberly Schulwitz, St. John Fisher College

Researchers examined evaluative conditioning (EC) using inkblots as conditioned stimuli (CSs) and pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral images as unconditioned stimuli (USs).  Researchers hypothesized that in a picture-picture paradigm, the affect of each US would transfer to its contingent CS through conditioning.  The added variable of color versus black and white condition was included as a between-subjects factor to investigate whether a color paradigm would elicit more profound evaluative conditioning effects than a black and white paradigm.  Stimuli were presented using a power point as the conditioning stage; a questionnaire was used for the evaluative stage.  Participants rated the CS+ significantly higher than the CS- and the neutral CS, indicating positive EC effects in both color and black and white conditions. 

Group II

“Video Games and Aggressive Tendencies in College Freshmen” Ashley Walczak, Hilbert College

As violent activity increases amongst young people, many question where they are getting these violent thoughts and ideas.  Television violence and its link to aggressiveness have been largely studied, and it is proposed that video game violence will produce similar effects.  This proposal will study the effects of games on aggressive tendencies.  Using college freshmen, they will be placed into two groups; one will play a violent version of Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 and the other will play a nonviolent version.  Aggressive tendencies will be assessed both pre and post exposure to the video game.  It is hypothesized that both the violent and nonviolent version of the game will increase aggressive tendencies, due to the competitive nature of video games in general.  It is also hypothesized that aggressive tendencies will increase more after playing the violent video game than after playing the nonviolent.

“College Students and Stress: A Glimpse inside Course Workload and Time Constraints” Sandra M. Salamone, Hilbert College

The focus of this study is on college students and stress.  Depending on the coping strategies employed, as course workload increases, student stress increases.  Similarly, as time constraints increase, student stress increases.  However, this may not always be the case.  A sample of the student population from Hilbert College will be used. A twenty-question Likert scale based survey will be used to assess time constraints, course workload, and stress level.  It is anticipated that this survey will be administered and then will be scored using a machine system.  It is anticipated that a positive correlation between time constraint and stress, as well as workload and stress, will be found.  Further, the combined affect of workload and time constraints on stress will be explored.

“Study of the Structure-Activity-Relationship (SAR) of Tetrabutylammonium Counter-Anions as Antimicrobial Agents and in Combination with Salts” Michelle L. Ingalsbe, Niagara University

Due to the increasing number of strains of drug-resistant bacteria, the development of new antibiotics has become ever more important.  The antibacterial abilities of quaternary amines and their derivatives have been well known for many years to be efficient antimicrobial agents on both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.  However, an encompassing study of the Structure-Activity-Relationship (SAR) with specific emphasis on the role of the counter-anion has not been reported in the literature.  By monitoring the Zone of Inhibition of various concentrations of tetrabutylammonium salts, a comparison of the counter-anions can be observed.  These compounds were also mixed with salts to determine its effect on antimicrobial activity.  For this study, activity is reported as Activity=ZImax/KZI using the Prism 3 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, California, USA), which has been shown to be an excellent method of determining efficacy of these salts.

"Exposure to Images of Ideal Physical Perfection and Their Effects on Current Body Image and Hope for Future Success" Annalise Sherman, Houghton College

We examined how the media has affected body and self image, and how body and self image can influence hope for future success and a fulfilled life.  Pictures depicting attractive models of both genders were sent electronically to both men and women 18-60 years of age.  An accompanying survey asked them to examine the facial structure and physique of the person depicted and then answer a series of questions addressing body image and hope for success in various aspects of life.  The data were then collected and organized to assess connections among images viewed, body image, and hope for the future.  As in previous studies, men rated themselves as generally more satisfied and confident with their bodies than did women.  Interactions between model gender and participant gender showed a relationship between model-influenced body image and hope for future success.  Information from a follow-up study currently under way to further examine model-induced changes in self image and their effects upon hope for the future, will also be presented.