Our experiment is about diabetes and Human and synthetic insulin crystallization in a microgravity environment. This experiment is designed to help us find out if there is a way to prevent crystallization of insulin, especially if we understand how it happens in microgravity. When insulin crystallizes, the bacteria that usually makes it viable stops working. This would cause it to be ineffective for patients in dire need of this medication. To complete this experiment we would like to send three different varieties of insulin in a type 3 mini lab FME (Fluids Mixture Enclosure) to the International Space Station (ISS), kept in ambient temperatures, to see if it crystallization occurs within a certain amount of time. We will keep the experiment refrigerated at or below 40℉ during transportation to the ISS and again after arrival back to our lab to prevent crystallization occurring outside of the experiment. Refrigeration slows the crystallization growth and this is how it is stored on Earth. Keeping our experiment refrigerated during transportation is an important step because the insulin crystallization growth should only be measured while in microgravity. It is also important to note that crystallization of insulin is slow so change in crystal growth will not be evident if out of refrigeration for short periods of time. We would like to keep our insulin types out of refrigeration for a period of six weeks minimum. While testing insulin crystallization in microgravity, we will be conducting the same experiment on Earth as our control. If we can understand more about synthetic insulin, maybe one day diabetic men and women can follow their passion of being astronauts and humans with this disease will have the opportunity to go to microgravity environments for extended periods of time.

Hepatitis C virus currently infects around 130-170 million people. HCV, a member of the Flaviviridae family, causes chronic liver inflammation which can lead to liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. One of the nonstructural proteins of HCV, NS5A, is known to diminish the host innate immune response via inhibition of antiviral gene expression. NS5A blocks NFkB from entering the nucleus, decreasing transcription of IFN-B. Specifically, NS5A 10A, a mutant form of the protein, is known to greatly diminish the activity of the IFN B promoter. Our goal is to determine how WT NS5A and another mutant, NS5A H27, affect this pathway as well. We did this by transfecting HEK 293 cells with the NS5A mutant of interest, infecting the cells with Sendai virus, and subsequently measuring the activity of the IFN B promoter using a luciferase assay. In addition, NS5A contains three domains: I, II, and III. We are interested in determining which domain of NS5A is particularly important for blocking antiviral gene expression. We designed primers to created truncations of the protein containing the individual domains via PCR.

Previous studies showed that exposures to thyroid inhibitors during early stages of development lead to long-lasting alterations in disease resistance. Therefore, the goal of this project was to assess the effects of early life stages thyroid disruption on the maturation and function of immune cells using propylthiouracil (PTU)-exposed fathead minnow as a model system. The specific objectives of this study were to evaluate the impacts of early life stage PTU-exposure on 1) neutrophil migration and 2) transcriptomic markers of lymphoid and myeloid cell development. These objectives were accomplished by exposing fathead minnow embryos to 35 mg/L and 70 mg/L PTU for 10 days, while evaluating neutrophils migration with a tail nicking assay and assessing immune cell development by measuring transcriptomic markers of maturation at 10 days post fertilization (dpf). There were no differences in transcriptomic markers for lymphoid cell development between PTU and control groups. However, PTU-exposed larvae showed a decreased amount of neutrophils at wound site as well as decreased v-ymb expression compared to those of the control at days 7 and 10, indicating that early life stage thyroid disruption interfered with the normal development and subsequently reduced immune response in these organisms.

Purpose: The objective of this retrospective study was to identify genetic variants of gene encoding a major drug-metabolizing enzyme among two different races – African American and Caucasian – based on pharmacogenomics testing and interpretive report (GeneSight). The study might shed lights for the application of precision prescribing in the clinical settings in the near future.
Methods: A retrospective study of de-identified interpretive reports from GeneSight of sixteen individuals (n = 16) at the Mental health Mental Retardation (MHMR) of Tarrant County. There are five reports of male and eleven reports of female in this study, of which six are African American and ten are Caucasians. The study was divided into two groups based on their races. Percentage of different alleles within variants of the CYP gene family were determined. Based on genetic components of patients, drug recommendations were made by AsureRx Healh, Inc.
Hypotheses: CYP2 is known to be highly polymorphic in the scientific literature. It is hypothesized that genetic variants will be observed in the CYP2 gene.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and is predicted to directly affect 38% of the population over the course of their life. Cancer is categorized as a collection of diseases primarily characterized by aberrant cellular proliferation. Many current cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy, do not differentiate between cancer cells and normal cells resulting in a variety of negative side effects. In an attempt to minimize these side effects, there has been a huge impetus to develop targeted therapies, which exploit cancer-specific molecules to exhibit selective toxicity towards cancer cells. For example, the monoclonal antibody Trastuzumab (Herceptin) targets the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) that is overexpressed in some breast cancer cells. Another cancer-specific molecule overexpressed in some breast cancers, as well as cervical cancers, is the receptor for biotin. Biotin, more commonly known as Vitamin B7, functions intracellularly as an important coenzyme for several carboxylase enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis, amino acid metabolism and gluconeogenesis. Thus, by overexpressing the biotin receptor some cancers increase their overall absorption of biotin resulting in a higher metabolic and proliferation rate. Furthermore, the high metabolic rate in cancer leads these cells to have increased to damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can trigger apoptosis at high intracellular levels. Therefore, our project is exploring this overexpression of the biotin receptor as a potential avenue for targeted therapy against certain breast cancers. Ferrocene is an organometallic compound with an iron-center that has been shown to generate ROS in cancer cells. Since certain breast cancers overexpress the biotin receptor and absorb biotin with a higher efficiency, we hypothesize that conjugating biotin to ferrocene will increase the efficiency of ferrocene entering cancer cells, resulting in selective toxicity. Therefore, we have produced a library of biotin-ferrocene conjugates to test their ability to selectively enter cancer cells and generate ROS. Experiments were conducted utilizing ferrocene and a variety of conjugates (C1, C2, C3, 2) in both cancer (MCF-7) and non-cancer cells (HEK293).

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) interfere with hormone production and action. EDCs typically mimic native hormones and often have a similar structure to natural hormones. While previous animal studies suggest that nitrate alters the synthesis of testosterone, nitrate is different than typical EDCs as its structure is not similar to that of any naturally occurring hormones. Given this and the environmental prevalence of nitrate, the objectives of this study are to 1) determine if nitrate acts as an EDC and 2) to better understand the mechanisms and effects of nitrate exposures on hormone production and reproduction. To achieve these objectives, groups of sexually mature adult fathead minnows were exposed to nitrate for 28 days. On days 7 and 28 of the exposure period, minnows were sacrificed for the collection of blood and gonads. The blood was used to evaluate hormone levels, while the gonads were used for gene expression analysis. Additionally, during the exposure, endpoints indicative of reproductive capabilities were also evaluated. There were no significant differences between exposure groups regarding gene expression, and there were no dose-dependent differences in egg production over the course of the breeding study.

Ion solvation is fundamental in biochemistry. It controls the biophysical processes of protein solubility, reactivity, phase separation, crystallization and informational equilibria involving proteins and polypeptides. Ion solvation depends on the solute-solvent interactions which are governed by the properties of solvent like polarity, hydrogen bonding and ability to donate or accept electrons. These properties are subject to Pearson’s hard–soft acid–base (HSAB) effect and are characterized as hardness and softness of solvents. There have been attempts to connect the solvent hardness-softness to molecular properties and some empirical scales have been devised like μ-scale, DS scale and difference between the IR wavenumber shift of the C-I stretch of ICN and the O-H stretch of phenol. Only limited attempts have been reported to correlate the properties of solvents obtained from quantum chemical calculation to these empirical scales of solvent hardness-softness.

Our new quantum chemical descriptor, Orbital Overlap Distance, D(r), measures the size of orbital lobes that best overlap with the wavefunction around an atom. Compact, chemically stable atoms in the molecule tend to have overlap distances smaller than chemically soft, unstable atoms. Plots of D(r) on computed molecular surfaces, like electron density or spin density, distinguishes and quantifies the chemically soft and hard regions of a molecule. We propose that D(r) can be considered in terms of HSAB theory in order to predict solvation of ions. Our initial studies exhibit that D(r) of many common solvents correlates well with Marcus’s empirical μ-scale of solvent softness. Our studies provide a direct method to estimate the softness-hardness of solvents by using standard quantum chemical calculations.

This is experiment is designed to test how Nylon 6-10 is constructed and responds in a microgravity environment. Nylon 6-10 is a very flexible fiber. It consists of two chemicals called polypropylene and sebacoyl chloride to make the nano-structure for Nylon 6-10. We have developed several of ideas on what will happen to Nylon 6-10 in micro-gravity. We think that it will change the molecular structure of the Nylon 6-10 in micro-gravity for the better or worse. The good variable is that Nylon 6-10 might change into a very flexible, durable substance for many different applications both on Earth and in space. One concern we have is that Nylon 6-10 might change the molecular structure to not form any fibers or it might not dry by absorbing air molecules.

We decided to use Nylon 6-10 because of its overall construction. The industrial process for Nylon 6-10 is stronger and more flexible than Nylon 6-6. It is basically liquid rope. It can be used for repairs and manufacturing. It is an industrial chemical. A variety of products are created using Nylon 6-10, toothbrushes, paint brushes and even your underwear. It is a very common product in many of different industries and is a very useful product. It behaves like nylon fiber for thread or can be used for manufacturing different tools such as epoxy or fiberglass. The industrial ideas are very extensive and there are many suppliers.

Recent trends in drug discovery research are directed at targeting protein-protein interactions. Blocking these interactions could be an effective strategy for treatment. Here, the synthesis of a macrocycle, a large ring-shaped molecule that is the same size as many protein-protein interaction sites, is described. The synthesis relies on the preparation of two different, crescent-shaped molecules through short, multistep syntheses. When these two molecules are combined together and subjected to acid to reveal reactive groups, a spontaneous assembly process occurs. The macrocycle is characterized by conventional methods including 1H NMR (which reveals a diagnostic signal for cyclization), 13C NMR, and mass spectrometry.

Pancratistatin is a natural alkaloid that can be isolated from the bulbs of Hymenocallis littoralis, which is a tropical plant commonly referred to as the Spider Lily. Pancratistatin has been shown to have potent cytotoxic anti-tumor activity in biological testing, meaning that it could be a key component for designing natural anti-cancer drugs. The key structural component responsible for the cytotoxic activity of Pancratistatin is the phenanthridone ring system. Pancratistatin has also been proven to combat RNA-containing flaviviruses such as Yellow Fever, Zika, and West Nile Virus. Previously reported procedures for synthesizing Pancratistatin have been reasonably successful, but they all involve the use of lengthy sequences that produce low yields in order to reach the desired product. The purpose of this research project is to provide a more efficient synthesis by increasing the final yield and decreasing the number of steps required. Through successfully synthesizing Pancratistatin, several different analogs of the molecule that contain the phenanthridone ring will also be obtained.

Quinine is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in the bark of the cinchona tree.1 Its medicinal relevance cannot be overstated as it is one of the most widely used anti-malarial drugs in the world.1 While the synthetic pathway to derive quinine is of limited relevance due to its abundance and ease of extraction, the puzzle of engineering reactions to isolate a stereochemically pure product of quinine captivated chemists for generations. The purpose of this study was to prove the conceptual route proposed by Stotter, Friedman, and Minter2 for the stereochemically pure total synthesis of quinine via a non-nitrogenous analog where the two nitrogen atoms of quinine are substituted with carbon atoms. The product of the analogous route is 1,1’-Dideaza-Quinine. Quinine is stereochemically complex, containing four separate stereocenters, thus the synthesis of quinine opens up the possibility of generating sixteen different isomeric structures.3 While the total synthesis of quinine with the correct stereochemistry was accomplished in 2001,3 the proposed route simplifies the process by relying on a stereospecific aldol condensation to eliminate potential isomerization.2 The results of the study validate the proposed route and add to the field of Organic Synthesis by illustrating an example of a stereoselective aldol condensation. Additionally, due to the analogous nature of the synthetic route utilized, many novel compounds were generated adding to the body of knowledge available to the Chemistry community.

Hard-soft acid base theory is often used to explain the selectivity of chemical reactions, under the assumption that hard (soft) nucleophiles prefer to react with hard (soft) electrophiles. Computationally, quantifying the relative hardness and softness of different sites in a molecule remains challenging. Our "orbital overlap distance function" allows us to quantify which regions in a molecule contain compact vs. diffuse molecular orbitals. Here we explore the idea that compact molecular orbitals correspond to chemically hard regions, and that diffuse and polarizable orbitals correspond to chemically soft regions. We combine the orbital overlap distance with electrostatic potentials to quantify the hardness and electrophilicity of different sites in heterocyclic aromatic compounds. Results are compared to known experimental trends in aromatic reactivity

Peptide nucleic acids (PNA) are artificially synthesized monomers or polymers that mimic DNA or RNA sequences. Due to their stability in biological conditions and their ability to bind complementary to DNA or RNA, PNAs have potential medicinal value since they can be used to block processes like replication or protein synthesis. Though most PNAs are commercially synthesized, the goal of this project was to begin the synthesis with propargyl bromide. This would allow the final monomer to have a propargyl group which allows functional groups (like a polyamine tail, fluorescent tag, or alkylating group) to be added at the end or any time throughout the synthesis. The PNA monomer will be made with all four DNA bases (thymine, cytosine, adenine, and guanidine) attached. Another importance of this PNA monomer is its ability to undergo click reactions to create a PNA oligomer. Click chemistry is a chemical reaction that uses copper-catalyzed coupling to combine an azide with an alkyne. The ability to use click chemistry is vital since it can be done in biological conditions, has an excellent yield with few byproducts, and is relatively quick to perform. In conclusion, this project is useful since these PNA sequences can be used to modulate processes and treat a variety of diseases while having the ability to add functional groups to track the PNA oligomer.

A library of novel pyridinophane tetra-aza macrocyclic molecules derived from 1,4,7,10-tetraaza-2,6-pyridinophane (pyclen) capable of chelating biologically relevant metal ions have been synthesized. Applications of these types of molecules currently being pursued are 1) therapeutic, focusing on radical scavenging and metal chelation and 2) diagnostic, focusing on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents when complexed with specific metal ions. Despite wide interest in these molecules, a full study of the electronic effects imparted by substitution to the pyridyl moiety and the subsequent impact on the metal center has not yet been conducted. The objective of the present study is to characterize metal complexes of four, new tetra-aza macrocyclic metal chelating molecules. The pyridyl functional groups studied include: A) unmodified pyridyl (L1), B) 14-hydroxyl (L2), C) 14-nitrile (L3), and D) 14--nitro (L4) modified pyclen structures. Procedures for metal ion chelation with copper (II) ion, followed by characterization and analysis of the electronic environments of each are presented.

The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are a possible alternative tool to harvest solar energy instead of the traditional silicon-based solar cells. DSSCs offer various advantages, such as good energy conversion efficiencies in low-light condition, simple fabrication, low cost, and the ability to modify key properties of the solar cell such as the absorbance wavelengths. We are interested in developing new types of semiconductor supports for use in DSSCs based on tin(IV) oxide nanoparticles (NPs). Tin(IV) oxide offers a wide band gap and higher electron mobility as compared with the more widely used titanium dioxide. In this study, two morphologies of tin(IV) oxide, spherical and flower-like NPs, are synthesized. These two types of tin(IV) oxide NPs and mixtures of both at various ratios are used to fabricate DSSCs. We find that nanoflowers usually give the cells higher open circuit voltages but with lower photocurrent. Nanospheres give much higher photocurrent but with lower open circuit voltage. A mixture that has a 1:2 molar ratio of nanoflowers and nanospheres gave the best performance in terms of photocurrent and voltage. Furthermore, we are investigating the effect of a deposited layer of titanium(IV) oxide on top of the tin(IV) oxide to further enhance the photoperformace of the solar cells.

Amaryllidaceae isoquinoline alkaloids as well as their analogs have long been of interest as lead compounds in drug discovery due to their range of biological activity. Many of these alkaloids are cytotoxic anti-tumor agents. Moreover, there have also been studies showing the effectiveness of these molecules against yellow fever and other diseases caused by RNA- containing flaviviruses. The study of these compounds as pharmaceutical agents is hampered by their low natural abundance, which necessitates the development of laboratory syntheses of these alkaloids and their analogs.
This project focuses on the total syntheses of the Pancratistatin-type natural products that contain the phenanthridone ring system. In stage one, model systems are being investigated to develop the methodology required to introduce requisite functionality found in natural systems. Previous research from this laboratory gives the basic phenanthridone skeleton with several different functional groups, but there are no reported methods for converting these functions into polyhydroxycyclohexenes with stereochemical control. Two of the problems under investigation involve the ring expansion of a spiro ring containing an epoxide and the production of a specific trihydroxycyclohexene with control of stereochemistry. In stage two, a specific phenanthridone alkaloid will be targeted for total synthesis that uses the new methodology developed in stage one.

Organometallic catalysts are useful in many organic reactions by exploiting the Lewis acidity of the metal complex. Most catalysts available rely on precious metals like platinum and rhenium. These catalysts pose a financial and environmental barrier to many scientists. Thus, there is a need for catalysts that use less expensive and toxic metals, such as copper. A library of copper catalysts with different electronic functionalities have been synthesized and characterized by cyclic voltammetry, UV-VIS, NMR, and X-ray crystallography. It was found that the complexes with electron donating groups better stabilize the copper center, when compared to the complexes with electron withdrawing groups. However, the planar characteristics of each ligand makes them unsuitable candidates for copper catalysis because they cannot bind to the tetrahedral geometry of reduced copper. This work warrants the complexation of these ligands with other metals, like nickel or cobalt, to determine their viability as applicable organometallic catalysts.

Room-temperature ionic liquids and deep-eutectic solvents have become unique and almost indispensible materials for various areas of sciences, medicine and engineering. The ability to engineer media with desired properties favorably distinguishes these solvents from traditionally used molecular solvents.

This poster will describe our ongoing efforts on designing various types of ionic, eutectic systems as well as approaches towards modulating their phase transitions. Studies related to controlling the self-assembly process of various solutes in this type of media will also be presented.

This project will entail assessing several varieties of common and heirloom corn from throughout Texas to identify sugar (and thus alcohol) content.
After obtaining cereal samples from a local distillery, the cereals will be processed by mashing and fermenting.
The resulting mashes will be measured for pH and S.G., then analyzed through chromatography using HPLC-RID. These samples of corn will be assessed for variations in sugar yield, both and composition and quantification. After fermentation, the HPLC-RID will be used for chromatographic analysis of ethanol concentration. Ultimately, this will provide information on the most promising corn varieties, and expose their potential as a future staples of this partner distillery.

Hearing aids are costly, inconvenient, unappealing, and unfortunately are currently one of the only devices on the market for the hearing impaired. This explains why less than 30% of American adults with hearing impairment actually use hearing aids and in underdeveloped countries it is as low as 10%. With the abundance and accessibility of smartphones, an app that could substitute as a hearing aid could help people all over the world.

Due to technological advancement, smartphones have become powerful digital processing machines and are improved and refined constantly. It is the capability of processing sounds and playing the altered signal to the user that allows a smartphone to be used as a hearing aid. The teams before me have made an iOS app that can listen to the surrounding area and amplify sound in certain frequencies according to the user’s prescription.

This year our top priority is to pass Apple's latest requirements to put the iOS app on the App Store and add functionalities that allow it interact with the Apple Watch 4. We will then add more capabilities like developing a method to shift certain sounds from frequencies the patient cannot hear, as well to frequencies they can hear. Another new functionality would be for the app to have situational awareness so it plays the correct sound depending on the outside environment. In order to best achieve these goals, we will need some new technologies to meet Apple’s requirements and improve the performance of the app.

A website that for scheduling and managing Superfrog appearances. Customers can go to our website and request Superfrog for their event. The website automates the request process and makes it easier for employees to sign up for events. The automated process makes it easier for the admin to validate a request and accept or reject the request accordingly. The goal is to improve and enhance the experience for the customer, Superfrog employees, and the TCU spirit program.

Our problem is with the current state of online computer network and security educational materials. We are greatly influenced by the success of Seed Labs at Syracuse which does an excellent job of providing instructional materials. We have expanded on their site by creating more of an educational portal as opposed to a central site for instructional materials. Our online educational program allows both students and educational professionals to source instructional materials as well as receive support directly from the labs authors.

In March 2016, AlphaGo, an AI program by Google DeepMind, defeated the Go world champion Lee Sedol 4-1 in a five-game match, shocking the world. After March 2017 when AlphaGo again defeated the world champion, AlphaGo was improved to a newer version called AlphaZero, a stronger AI program that self-trained, with no prior knowledge, after being told only the rules of the game. From then, the strength of AI kept climbing at an astonishing rate.
Gian-Carlo Pascutto, a computer programmer who works at the Mozilla Corporation, had a track record of building competitive game engines, first in chess, then in Go. After following the latest research, he combined the Monte Carlo Tree Search and a neural network into building the world’s most successful open-source Go engines – first Leela, then LeelaZero – which mirrored the advances made by DeepMind.
Based on the open-source engines, we plan to take an alternative path of utilizing LeelaZero: finding the optimal results/playouts on different board sizes from 3x3 up to 9x9. Because of symmetry, there is a difference between an even and odd n x n board size. Therefore, we treat them separately on the following outline of the project:
- Modify the code of LeelaZero to allow all odd dimensions and obtain the results of optimal play for odd n up to 9.
- Modify the code of LeelaZero to allow all even dimensions and obtain the results of optimal plays for even n up to 8.

The new TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine is taking a progressive approach to curriculum for their students. The standard for medical clerkships, is for a medical student to focus on a practice, then move on to the next practice. This leaves a gap of time between learning and implementing a medical practice in the real world. The Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) will engage students in a variety of medical practices in 2 week cycles, so students will constantly be maintaining their grasp on import skills and practices. It is our job to provide the scheduling application that will best match each student and doctor, at the best times.

Sheepdog Defense Group is a local Fort Worth self-defense company that is fully licensed by the State of Texas Private Securities Bureau to provide self-defense and weapons training to help other protect their communities. Their main goal is to provide training to church groups and private schools to help them from becoming targets for acts of violence. Sheepdog Defense Group also offers this self-defense and weapons training to the public so that they can protects them selves and their families. Sheepdog Defense Group is looking for a new website that will allow customers to sign-up for classes using an interactive calendar and access an online store to purchase Sheepdog merchandise. The site will allow the Sheepdog Guards to access all of the important information needed to protect their community as well as access their own information. The site will also allow the owner to manage a wide range of services regarding the business which he is currently doing all by hand.