The Impact of Natural Environments and Biophilic Design as Supportive and Nurturing Spaces on a Residential College Campus.

With so many college students experiencing disengagement, the physical design of a college and the connection to its natural surroundings has the potential for profound change. Natural environments, even viewing pictures of them, have the potential to positively impact parasympathetic nervous systems, increase cognitive functioning, and improve attention. This study investigated college student perceptions of their personal well-being with attention to coping, self-esteem, and physical health in a residential academic setting in the northeastern United States.

An undergraduate laboratory experiment with real-world applications: Utilizing templateless polymerase chain reaction and real-time polymerase chain reaction to test for SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

We present a course-embedded undergraduate research module that involves real-time polymerase chain reaction testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in environmental samples. A positive control RNA was constructed and two RNA extraction methods were compared and a range of primers were available to compare. Using a combination of published protocols, we assembled a successful project that illustrated a topical exercise similar to real-world assay development.

Complete Genome Sequence for the Fusarium Head Blight Antagonist Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Strain TrigoCor 1448.

We present the complete genome sequence for Bacillus amyloliquefaciens TrigoCor 1448 (ATCC 202152), a bacterial biological control agent for Fusarium head blight in wheat. We compare it to its closest relative, B. amyloliquefaciens strain AS43.