Working with the Wesley College Cannon Scholar Program: Improving Retention, Persistence, and Success.

Wesley College secured a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) S-STEM (scholarships in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) grant (1355554) to provide affordability and access to its robust STEM programs. With these funds, the college initiated a freshman to senior level, mixed-cohort, Cannon Scholar (CS) learning community (LC). Around the proven high-impact practice of multi-tiered mentoring, this LC is designed for greater commitment to participating STEM undergraduates.

Differential RNA Sequencing Implicates Sulfide as the Master Regulator of S Metabolism in Chlorobaculum tepidum and Other Green Sulfur Bacteria.

The green sulfur bacteria () are anaerobes that use electrons from reduced sulfur compounds (sulfide, S, and thiosulfate) as electron donors for photoautotrophic growth. , the model system for the , both produces and consumes extracellular S globules depending on the availability of sulfide in the environment. These physiological changes imply significant changes in gene regulation, which has been observed when sulfide is added to growing on thiosulfate.

A sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase from Chlorobaculum tepidum displays unusual kinetic properties.

Sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (SQR) is the primary sulfide-oxidizing enzyme found in all three domains of life. Of the six phylogenetically distinct types of SQR, four have representatives that have been biochemically characterized. The genome of Chlorobaculum tepidum encodes three SQR homologs.

Detailed Analysis for the Solvolysis of Isopropenyl Chloroformate.

The specific rates of solvolysis (including those obtained from the literature) of isopropenyl chloroformate (1) are analyzed using the extended Grunwald-Winstein equation, involving the N(T) scale of solvent nucleophilicity (S-methyldibenzothiophenium ion) combined with a Y(Cl) scale based on 1-adamantyl chloride solvolysis. A similarity model approach, using phenyl chloroformate solvolyses for comparison, indicated a dominant bimolecular carbonyl-addition mechanism for the solvolyses of 1 in all solvents except 97% 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP). An extensive evaluation of the outcomes acquired through the application of the extended Grunwald-Winstein equation resulted in the proposal of an addition-elimination mechanism dominating in most of the solvents, but in 97-70% HFIP, and 97% 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), it is proposed that a superimposed unimolecular (S(N)1) type ionization is making a significant contribution.

A novel method for the measurement of elemental selenium produced by bacterial reduction of selenite.

The measurement of elemental selenium (Se(0)) is needed to assess the rate and magnitude of bacteria reduction of selenite or selenate. We have developed a spectrophotometric method for the measurement Se(0) that is rapid and can be employed to measure the quantity of Se(0) produced by bacterial cultures. This method employs the use of 1M Na(2)S to convert the insoluble elemental selenium to a red-brown solution and with this method there is a direct correlation between concentration of elemental selenium and the absorption at 500nm.

Extended Grunwald-Winstein analysis - LFER used to gauge solvent effects in p-nitrophenyl chloroformate solvolysis.

Specific rates of solvolysis at 25 degrees C for p-nitrophenyl chloroformate (1) are analyzed using the extended (two-term) Grunwald-Winstein equation. For 39 solvents, the sensitivities (l = 1.68+/-0.