SCIENTIA: Third Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium

Spring 1999 Volume 3, Issue 1

Abstracts of posters presented at the Third Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium held April 8, 1999 in the Alumni Center on the Campus of Middle Tennessee State University. Sponsored by the College of Basic and Applied Sciences and the Counsel on Undergraduate Research.

EFFECTS OF HUMID WEATHER ON EXTRACTION OF OPIATES FROM HUMAN URINE BY SOLID PASTE EXTRACTION MICROCOLUMNS. Erica Carillon, Jennifer Pendergrast, and Judith M. Bonicamp. Department of Chemistry.

DO WE HAVE SOLUTIONS? SERIAL DILUTIONS IN QUANT CHECKED BY INSTRUMENT FEEDBACK. Virginia L. Mattie, Nyanguila Kakolesha, and Judith M. Bonicamp. Department of Chemistry.

SYNTHESIS AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF 5,6-DISUBSTITUTED 7-OXABICYCLO[2.2.1]-HELP-2-ENE MONOMERS FOR POLYELECTROLYTES. Jason T. Manka and Andrienne C. Friedli. Department of Chemistry.

SOL-GEL SYNTHESIS OF ZINC SILICATES. Freneka F. Minter and J.M. Iriarte-Gross. Department of Chemistry.

AB-INITIO STRUCTURES OF THE METHYLCATIONS OF GROUP 16. Jessica C. Shamblin, A.E. Bailey, J.M. Iriarte-Gross, and W.H. Ilsley. Department of Chemistry.

AB-INITIO STRUCTURES OF THE GROUP 16 METHOXIDES. Barbara M. Cortner, J.M. Iriarte-Gross, and W.H. Ilsley. Department of Chemistry.

A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE ETHEROLYSIS OF TELLURIUM (IV) TETRACHLORIDE AS A NON-HYDROLYTIC SOL-GEL ROUTE TO TELLURIUM OXIDE BASED GLASSES AND CERAMICS. Allen Bailey and J.M. Iriarte-Gross. Department of Chemistry.

THEORETICAL DETERMINATION OF ALLOWED EIGENSTATES IN InAs/GaAs AND InAs/AlAs QUANTUM DOTS. Matthew Jones and Ronald Henderson. Department of Physics and Astronomy.

THE HERITABILITY OF ETHER SENSITIVITY IN FRUIT FLIES. Mindy Sands and Deborah Clark. Department of Biology.

HUSBANDRY AND GENERAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE FRESHWATER JELLYFISH Craspedacusta sowerbii. Ted R. Ramsey and Deborah Clark. Department of Biology.

EFFECTS OF LEAF LITTER EXCLUSION ON HEADWATER STREAM METABOLISM IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. Sandra M. Brasfield, S.L. Eggert and J.B. Wallace. Department of Biology and the University of Georgia.

CHARACTERIZATION OF REOVIRUS INFECTION IN A HUMAN MONOCYTE CELL-LINE. Kimberly S. Myers, Chad S. Brooks, and Anthony L. Farone. Department of Biology.

INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE SOURCES OF SICK BUILDING SYNDROME AT CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL, MURFREESBORO, TN. Christina M. Scheel, W.C. Rosing and A.L. Farone. Department of Biology.

EFFICIENT TESTING AND SCORING USING WEB TECHNOLOGY. Kevin D. Smith and R.H. Untch. Department of Computer Science.

COMPARISON OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES FOR STOCK VALUE PREDICTION. Travis Gregg and Jungsoon Yoo. Department of Computer Science.

INTELLIGENT SUSPENSION SYSTEM. Jeff Jorge, Jr. and Sid Sridhara. Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Studies.

SYNTHESIS OF THREE ARYL(PENTACHLOROCYCLOPENTADIENYL) MERCURY(II) COMPOUNDS. Mirfet Abdelhadi and William H. Ilsley. Department of Chemistry.

EFFECTS OF HUMID WEATHER ON EXTRACTION OF OPIATES FROM HUMAN URINE BY SOLID PHASE EXTRACTION MICROCOLUMNS. Erika Carillon, Jennifer Perdergrast, and Judith M. Bonicamp, Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN.

We can differentiate heroin, codeine, morphine and their metabolites from each other using a simplified and accelerated thin-layer chromatographic technique employing special sample application discs and a sequence of detection reactions. The detection limit for opiates is 1 micro g/mL from urine by liquid-liquid extraction. Further improvement in the detection limit results when solid phase extraction columns (SPEC LTD MP3 microcolumns) are employed, giving a detection limit of about 200 ng/mL for unconjugated morphine and other opiates under ideal conditions. We have shown that, as with other silica based chromatographic material, this product performs better when it is stored with a drying agent. The effect of moisture gained by the SPEC columns is a concomitant reduction in separation power on the silica sorbent microcolumns. The result reinforces the importance of running calibrators to assure that the extraction columns perform as expected. After we addressed some problems, urine specimens extracted with the SPEC columns were routinely positive for morphine for several days after subjects ate poppy seed food. Ansys Diagnostics, Inc., Lake Forrest, CA supported the project with an in-kind gift of chemicals and chromatography supplies.

INSTRUMENT FEEDBACK. Virginia L. Mattie, Nyanguila Kakolesha, and Judith M. Bonicamp, Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN.

Quantitative Analysis students make standard solutions for most of the experiments in Quant lab. They receive instructions both in lecture and in lab briefing on the use of volumetric glassware, on solution preparation, and on making serial dilutions. However, students who correctly answer exam questions about preparing standard solutions often ignore what they know when it comes to practice. We are testing an exercise to help students acquire good laboratory skills and to reinforce these skills early in the course. The students use a feedback loop from simple laboratory instruments (Spectronic 20D, conductivity meter, freezing point apparatus) to get fast, quantitative data about the solutions they’ve made. Student reactions to the exercise have been uniformly positive. They view the instrument feedback as objective and interesting. Students also seem to enjoy preparing the required solutions when using the instruments allows them more control over the grade they will receive on the experiment

SYNTHESIS AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF 5,6-DISUBSTITUTED 7-OXABICYCLO[2.2.1]-HELP-2-ENE MONOMERS FOR POLYELECTROLYTES. Jason T. Manka and Andrienne C. Friedli. Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

In order to generate polyelectrolytes 1 via ring opening metathesis polymerization, we synthesized several 5,6-disubstituted 7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene monomers (2 and 3). Known synthetic approaches produced 2 and 3a-c, and further transformations resulted in 3d-f. Thermal instability due to the retro Diels-Alder reaction was investigated for selected monomers using differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, and NMR spectroscopy.

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SOL-GEL SYNTHESIS OF ZINC SILICATES. F. Minter, J. M. Iriarte-Gross, J. C. Shamblin, Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

Silicon alkoxide sol-gel chemistry has been shown to be useful in the preparation of silicon oxide glasses and ceramics for over twenty years. The nature of the sol-gel products is dependent on many factors such as pH, solvent, molar ratio of water to alkoxide and length of the hydrocarbon chain in the alkoxy functional group. Zinc salts were incorporated into silica sol-gel materials.Zinc silicates are of interest as dental materials. The effect of pH and of solvent was investigated. Preliminary 1-H data are reported. This work was supported by Project SEED on behalf of F. Minter.

AB-INITIO STRUCTURES OF THE METHYL CATIONS OF GROUP 16. J. M. Iriarte-Gross, W. H. Ilsley, J. C. Shamblin, A. E. Bailey, Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

The results of the gas phase ab-initio (RHF/3-21G*and RHF/6-31G*) calculations of Group 16 methyl cations will be reported. Enthalpies of inversion, for each compound from the tetrahedral through the planar intermediate structures, are reported. Geometric parameters, and bonding characteristics will be discussed.

AB-INITIO STRUCTURES OF THE GROUP 16 METHOXIDES. J. M. Iriarte-Gross, W. H. Ilsley, B. M. Cortner, Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

Alkoxides are of interest as reagents in the sol-gel method to synthesize glass or ceramic materials. Selenium and tellurium alkoxides have been synthesized but relatively little is known about their structures. The results of gas phase ab-initio (RHF/3-21G* and RHF/6-31G*) calculations have been conducted on the Group 16 methoxides and will be discussed.

Interest Non-hydrolytic sol-gel reactions as possible routes to metal oxide based glasses and ceramics has grown in recent years. In traditional sol-gel reactions, metal alkoxides are used as precursors for the formation of glasses and ceramics at room temperature. However, due to the highly hygroscopic nature, and expense of certain metal alkoxides, it is not practical to incorporate them into this type of reaction. This study focuses on the etherolysis reaction of tellurium (IV) tetrachloride with diisopropylether as a possible non-hydrolytic sol-gel route to tellurium oxide based glasses and ceramics.

THEORETICAL DETERMINATION OF ALLOWED EIGENSTATES IN InAs/GaAs AND InAs/AlAs QUANTUM DOTS. Matthew Jones, Ronald Henderson. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Demands for a more efficient world require smaller and faster electronic devices. Semiconducting materials are at the heart of these modern technological advances. Semiconductor quantum dots are among the smallest such structures manufactured with applications ranging from detectors to low power transistors. These “dots” are actually small structures with dimensions of less than 100 atoms in length, width, and height. The optical and electronic properties of quantum dots have been studied using various mathematical models. This research focuses on InAs/GaAs and InAs/AlAs dots modeled as orthorhombi and spheres. Once a physical model has been adopted, the Schrödinger equation is solved to determine the allowed energy levels, or eigenstates for the charge carriers. The difference between the lowest eigenstate for electrons in the conduction band and the lowest eigenstate for holes in the valence band yields the energy of photons that can be emitted from the quantum dot. Experimental methods such as photoluminescence can thus be used to verify the validity of the model.

THE HERITABILITY OF ETHER SENSITIVITY IN FRUIT FLIES. Mindy Sands and Deborah Clark. Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Drosophila melanogaster vary in their sensitivity to ether as an anesthetic. The hypothesis that this is a heritable trait was tested by correlating knockout times of a parent generation to those of their offspring. The flies were raised on identical media and were scored twenty-four hours after emergence. Those being tested were placed in a sealed, small glass container fixed with a wick to introduce the ether. The times were recorded from the beginning of the injection of the ether until the fly was no longer moving. The heritability found through Pearson Correlation was 0.44 parent to offspring. This indicates that there is likely a genetic component to this trait.

HUSBANDRY AND GENERAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE FRESHWATER JELLYFISH Craspedacusta sowerbii. Ted R. Ramsey and Deborah Clark. Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

While attempting to improve the husbandry of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii undergraduate Ted R. Ramsey made observations as to the interaction of Euglena with C. sowerbii and factors contributing to larger medusa size of lab raised specimens. C. Sowerbii polyps were cultured in small plastic specimen jars filled half way with bottled spring water. One newly hatched Artemia salina was fed to the polyps every day with the third day being skipped. A water change was conducted after every feeding. Newly released medusa were maintained in separate culture dishes and fed one Artemia every day by repeatedly placing Artemia on the mandubulum until ingestion occurred. Approximately two months into rearing the polyps Euglena were observed in all cultures along with small red dots in the tissue of some of the polyps. At the same time the polyps began secreting a mucus layer over their entire surface. Cultures then went into a state of decline. No polyps survived an increase in lab temperature following a power outage. Euglena infestation appears to induce the production of the mucus layer which inhibits the intake of food by the polyp. Weakened polyps were unable to survive the temperature change. Euglena are also a likely cause of the red dots in the tissues of the polyps as uninfested cultures have not exhibited them. Medusa feeding methods were partially successful as it resulted in medusa passing the 16 tentacle stage observed with other methods, but sexual maturity was still not reached.

In order to assess the role of leaf litter in the ecology of small stream ecosystems, manipulations of the allochthonous inputs in a small headwater stream in Coweeta Hydrologic have been conducted since 1993. A canopy and lateral fences were constructed to prevent leaf litter inputs. This has altered the stream's community metabolism rates. Both production and respiration rates were estimated in the litter excluded stream (WS 55) and a reference stream (WS 53) by measuring oxygen change within enclosed, recirculating chambers. The litter excluded stream had higher chlorophyll a concentrations, higher net production rates, lower respiration rates, and lower organic matter standing crop than the reference stream. The trophic status of forested headwater streams is dependent on leaf litter inputs and may have begun the transition from heterotrophy to autotrophy.

CHARACTERIZATION OF REOVIRUS INFECTION IN A HUMAN MONOCYTE CELL-LINE. Kimberly S. Myers, Chad S. Brooks, and Anthony L. Farone. Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Mammalian reovirus has been an important model for the study of viral pathogenesis. Previous research has addressed the pathogenesis of two reovirus serotypes—Type 1 Lang (T1L) and Type 3 Dearing (T3D). Recent studies in our laboratory have involved the use of reovirus to characterize the mechanisms involved during the inflammatory response. We have found that T3D stimulates greater levels of the inflammatory mediator, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), in both a rat and human model. The present study seeks to further characterize the interaction between reovirus and human monocytes. We used infectious center assays to determine differences between T1L and T3D infectivity of human monocytes. Although T3D induces inflammatory cytokines in human macrophage-like cells much more efficiently, our studies show that there is no difference between replication or infectivity of T1L and T3D in human monocytes. Our study provides evidence that serotype-dependent TNF induction in human monocytes is not due to differences in the infectivity of T1L and T3D. These results provide further insight into the role of reovirus replication in the induction of inflammatory responses in macrophages.

INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE SOURCES OF SICK BUILDING SYNDROME AT CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL, MURFREESBORO, TN. Christina M. Scheel, W.C. Rosing and A.L. Farone. Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS), a high incidence of health complaints by the occupants of a particular building, is a fairly recent phenomenon. SBS can be attributed to poor indoor air quality in tightly enclosed buildings, such as those with inadequate or contaminated ventilation systems. The contaminants are either chemical, or biological agents found within the building, or they may originate from an outside source, which are drawn indoors via the ventilation system. Students and staff at Central Middle School reported symptoms similar to those common of SBS. A group of students conducted a research project to determine the source of contamination, and they noted that a black fungal growth occurred in several places throughout the building on cellulose ceiling tiles in areas of water infiltration. Fungal growth of this type is consistent with the hydrophilic species Stachybotrys, which is often correlated with SBS symptoms. Bulk sampling of the black mold was initiated, and the samples cultured in moist chamber. Subsequent testing of the samples confirmed that the school is contaminated with Stachybotrys spp. The presence of this fungal contaminant implies that air sampling procedures should ensue, and that remediation procedures will be necessary to eliminate this potential health hazard.

EFFICIENT TESTING AND SCORING USING WEB TECHNOLOGY. Kevin D. Smith and R.H. Untch. Department of Computer Science, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Administering and scoring tests and examinations is typically an error-prone, labor intensive activity. Typically, the use of computers has been limited to scoring multiple-choice exams, usually administered via special paper forms. This work presents a method, implemented using a suite of Perl programs, that permits both short-answer and multiple-choice exams to be administered and scored using web technology. Exams are administered using a conventional web browser; exams can thus be administered centrally or in remote locations, as needed. Exams can be changed easily, without the expense of reprinting forms and without worry that an old edition of an exam is being used. Multiple-choice questions are graded automatically. Although short-answer questions require
manual grading, our method provides an easy way of dividing the workload among several graders sharing a common grading key. Moreover, if mistakes are found in the grading key, updates can quickly be disseminated among all graders. Score results are automatically tabulated to provide totals, rankings, and reports of questions answered right or wrong; additional processing can easily be added. This method has proven useful in a non-standard exam setting: a competition where high school students were asked to research and answer questions highlighting their skills in finding information on the Internet.

COMPARISON OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES FOR STOCK VALUE PREDICTION. Travis Gregg and Jungsoon Yoo. Department of Computer Science, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

The volatile nature of the stock market causes investors to earn or loose large amounts of money in a short period of time. Being able to predict when the value of a particular stock will experience relative minimums and relative maximums would allow investors to time transactions to maximize profits. Several machine learning techniques have been applied to predict the behavior of a certain stock. We have developed a system that can evaluate the performance of a learning system in stock data. This project compares Artificial Intelligence techniques such as neural nets, ID3, and a simple rule based system using our system. These techniques are measured against a system that buys and sells at random, and a system that has future knowledge and buys at minimums and sells at maximums.

INTELLIGENT SUSPENSION SYSTEM. Jeff Jorge, Jr. and Sid Sridhara. Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Studies, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

As a means of improving conventional suspension systems in automobiles, on the basis of research of both actual and theoretical data, this proposal assesses a design for a new suspension manipulation system that would rely on a computerized unit of control, so to improve safety, handling and vibration levels. This research has been aimed at performing an analysis in both active and inactive suspension systems, at exposing the effects of shock and vibration on human beings, at disseminating the results of such research, and at implementing the changes and improvements to existing suspension systems in a systematic manner.

SYNTHESIS OF THREE ARYL(PENTACHLOROCYCLOPENTADIENYL) MERCURY(II) COMPOUNDS. Mirfet Abdelhadi and William H. Ilsley. Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Three different Aryl(pentachlorocyclopentadienyl)Mercury(II) compounds of the type, RHgC₅Cl₅ (were R=2,3-dimethylphenyl, 2,6-dimethylphenyl, and 2,3,5,6-tetramethylphenyl) have been prepared and characterized by 1H and 13C NMR. The compounds were prepared by reacting the symmetrical bis(aryl)mercury(II) derivatives, R₂Hg, with bis(pentachlorocyclopentadienyl)mercury(II), (C₅Cl₅)₂Hg, in methylene chloride, CH₂Cl₂. The symmetrical derivatives were prepared for the corresponding grignard reagent, RMgBr. In addition, three unsymetrical compounds of the type, RHgCH₂CH₂CH₂CH₃, have been prepared by reacting the corresponding aryl bromides with mercuric bromide, HgBr₂, in n-butyl lithium. These results along with propose structures predicted from semi-empirical calculations will be presented.