Amelia Weiss
While there have been relatively many studies of cave ecology in temperate regions, tropical cave ecology is vastly understudied. The purpose of my research is to identify some of the non-living environmental features that influence species distributions through Cueva Nibida, a large cave on an island off Panamas Caribbean coast. It is of growing importance that this ecosystem be understood so that conservation measures can be enacted to mitigate human impact brought upon by increasing tourism to the region. To accomplish this, I will map invertebrate distributions and abundances through […]
Seema Desai
My research focuses on peripheral nerve injury and treatment. Peripheral nerve injury requires medical attention when the severed ends of the nerve are further than a few millimeters apart. If the distance is small, the two nerve ends can regenerate and heal, but if the distance is greater (approximately a couple centimeters), then the two ends must be bridged by a nerve autograft or tubular conduit. My research specifically focuses on potential biomaterial fillers for tubular conduits, which can be modified to create an environment supportive of nerve regeneration. The […]
Sivapratha Nagappan Chettiar
Neurogenesis, the production of new neurons, occurs via the asymmetrical division of neural stem cells in specific regions of the mammalian and Drosophila brain. It is a highly regulated process as proper neuron type and number is crucial to allow the proper formation and functioning of the brain. In Drosophila brain, much is known about the pathways that regulate asymmetric cell division. However, little is known about the mechanisms that regulate its termination. In PTEN tumor suppressor gene mutants, neural stem cells aberrantly persist in the brain of adult Drosophila. […]
Nicole Wong Meng Lai
My research project involves investigating a cytoskeletal protein named WHAMM- WASP homolog associated with actin, membranes, and microtubules. The cytoskeleton is a crucial component of the cell that facilitates protein transportation, structural support, and ultimately the movement and division of cells. It does so through actin polymerization, which is the formation of filaments using actin molecules. An important stimulator of actin polymerization is the Arp 2/3 complex. It is regulated by nucleation-promoting factors, one such example being WHAMM. My project focuses primarily on the WMD domain of WHAMM, which is […]
Angela DiRocco
Arboreal animals such as the Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis, must be able to manipulate aerial descent to reduce injury when dislodged from elevated habitats. To maintain controlled aerial descent, the anole must obtain a prone posture. Anoles have been known to correct orientation after dislodgement by use of their tails through either the conservation of momentum to induce roll or by lateral swings which alter yaw. While the mechanics behind yaw and roll alterations are understood, the extent to which an anole can correct pitch at high angles is not. […]
Hoiyi Ng
Although Random Matrix Theory has been developed for almost a century, its application in finance is underutilized. A random matrix is a Hermitian matrix with its entries drawn from a normal distribution with mean zero and variance one. Most of its interesting properties lie in the distribution of its eigenvalues. Not until recently has RMT been employed to estimate the profits and risks of financial portfolios. My project focuses on exploring new ways to manipulate current methods frequently adopted to maximize the profit of a financial portfolio given a certain […]
Yechong Yu
My current project is about reading performance across different methods of text presentation. The standard form of text presentation is by printed words on a page or screen in blocks of sentences and paragraphs. This way of text presentation is difficult for people who have diseases of the eye that hinder eye movement. One way to correct this problem is through rapid serial visual presentation, or RSVP, where text is presented one word at a time in sequence on a monitor. Do reading speed and comprehension improve when this method […]
Minyu Feng
Dark photon is a hypothesized gauge boson which behaves like a standard photon. It is called dark because it interacts very weakly with normal particles like electrons and protons, but instead interacts more strongly with dark matter. This makes dark photons escape previous detections easily. However, some unexpected radiation from the center of our galaxy implies the existence of dark photon. Therefore, we plan to produce dark photon by annihilation of a pair of particle and anti-particle with enough center-of-mass energy. We can look at the decay products of the […]
Jimmy Ng
Discovered in 2004, graphene is a single atom thick sheet of carbon arranged in a hexagonal lattice. It is also the most conductive material at room temperature known to humankind and many believe it could replace silicon and change the future of computers and other electrical devices. Despite this, there is a long way to go before reaping the benefits of its potential applications. Because graphene is a relatively new material, scientists and engineers are still in the process of learning about its production, properties, and capabilities. For my summer […]
Rebecca Yue
Salmonella enterica is a bacterium that causes major food borne disease in the world. It infects people by inducing the uptake of the bacteria by secreting proteins into cells in the host’s intestines. A crucial system of Salmonella enterica pathogenesis is the Type III Secretion System (T3SS) which transports bacterial proteins into host cells. Previous experiments indicate that the Disulfide Bond Formation (Dsb) System is needed for the Type III Secretion System. However, a direct interaction between the two systems is not currently known. Through molecular cloning and a bacterial […]