Developing a Threshold Concept Assessment Rubric: Using the Johnstone's Triangle Framework for Understanding Intermolecular Forces.

In undergraduate science education, laboratory courses stand as essential cornerstones of experiential learning. Chemistry laboratory courses offer students unique hands-on experiences that bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. The journey through the undergraduate chemistry curriculum is paved with a series of conceptual gateways known as threshold concepts that can dramatically shape a student's understanding and success.

Genetic Insights into the Giant Keyhole Limpet (), an Eastern Pacific Coastal Endemic: Complete Mitogenome, Phylogenetics, Phylogeography, and Historical Demography.

Background: The giant keyhole limpet is a gastropod mollusk (Fissurella superfamily) that is endemic to the eastern Pacific coast from southern California, USA, to Baja California Sur, Mexico. is socioeconomically important as it produces a potent immune-stimulating protein, called Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin, which is extracted in vivo and utilized for vaccine development. However, ecological studies are scarce and genetic knowledge of the species needs to be improved.

Cultivating a Meaningful Application of IMFs through Backward Laboratory Course Design.

This paper describes the development of a first- and second-year inquiry-based laboratory course focused on the development of a meaningful application of intermolecular forces (IMFs). Instead of broad expository coverage of topics, we used backward design: the techniques and concepts for the course were structured around what students are expected to be able to do at the end-individually isolate caffeine from a consumer product as a culminating lab practical, using IMFs to justify solvent choices and determining procedural details. We have found that instructors can select a challenging multilevel experiment that incorporates the application of IMFs in multiple ways and backward design the course so that students are able to complete this experiment individually and autonomously at the end of the semester.

Mutation of , encoding homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase, is responsible for pyomelanin production but does not impact the virulence of in a chronic granulomatous disease mouse lung infection.

The complex (Bcc) is a group of Gram-negative opportunistic bacteria often associated with fatal pulmonary infections in patients with impaired immunity, particularly those with cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). Some Bcc strains are known to naturally produce pyomelanin, a brown melanin-like pigment known for scavenging free radicals; pigment production has been reported to enable Bcc strains to overcome the host cell oxidative burst. In this work, we investigated the role of pyomelanin in resistance to oxidative stress and virulence in strains J2315 and K56-2, two epidemic CF isolates belonging to the ET-12 lineage.

WHOLE GENOME TARGETED ENRICHMENT AND SEQUENCING OF HUMAN-INFECTING spp.

spp. are protozoan parasites that cause severe illness in vulnerable human populations. Obtaining pure DNA from clinical and environmental samples is challenging because the oocysts shed in contaminated feces are limited in quantity, difficult to purify efficiently, may derive from multiple species, and yield limited DNA (<40 fg/oocyst).

Building Trustworthy Generative Artificial Intelligence for Diabetes Care and Limb Preservation: A Medical Knowledge Extraction Case.

Background: Large language models (LLMs) offer significant potential in medical information extraction but carry risks of generating incorrect information. This study aims to develop and validate a retriever-augmented generation (RAG) model that provides accurate medical knowledge about diabetes and diabetic foot care to laypersons with an eighth-grade literacy level. Improving health literacy through patient education is paramount to addressing the problem of limb loss in the diabetic population.

Contributions of Trauma and Economic Insecurity to Psychological Distress in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Racially minoritized women with limited socioeconomic resources are at increased risk for adverse psychological outcomes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Disproportionate rates of trauma exposure and economic insecurity likely heighten risk for these outcomes among socioeconomically vulnerable individuals, but the unique contributions of these factors are poorly understood. As such, we examined trauma and economic factors as predictors of pandemic-related psychological distress and symptoms.

Understanding Breast Cancer Images in Art History as a Form of Health Communication.

Can art and visual images meant for public consumption (museums, galleries, social media platforms) serve as a critical form of health communication for breast cancer patients? For their clinicians? For the population at large? Art history research methods are applied to a range of breast cancer images in western art in order to understand what the images communicate to us about patient experience, agency, and inequity in health care at the time of their construction. The following is a selective look at western art as it reflects and informs our understanding of breast cancer over time.

Sex Differences in Sociability for with Altered Gut Microbiomes.

In the gut microbiome has been shown to influence multiple behaviors, including aggressive social behavior. Here, we investigate the effect of the microbiome on pro-social behavior. We predicted that reducing the microbiome would lead to a decrease in pro-social behavior in adult flies.

Effects of arginine vasopressin on human anxiety and associations with sex, dose, and V1a-receptor genotype.

Rationale: Arginine vasopressin (AVP) has dose- and sex-specific effects on social behavior, and variation in social responses is related to variation in the V1a receptor gene in animals. Whether such complexity also characterizes AVP effects on anxiety in humans, or whether V1a genotype is related to anxiety and/or AVP's ability to affect it, remains to be determined.

Objective: To test if AVP has dose-dependent effects on anxiety in men and/or women and if a particular allele within the RS3 promoter region of the V1a receptor gene is associated with anxiety and/or AVP effects on anxiety.

Defining the commonalities between post-transcriptional and post-translational modification communities.

Post-transcriptional modifications of RNA (PRMs) and post-translational modifications of proteins (PTMs) are important regulatory mechanisms in biological processes and have many commonalities. However, the integration of these research areas is lacking. A recent discussion identified the priorities, areas of emphasis, and necessary technologies to advance and integrate these areas of study.

Testosterone facilitates nonreproductive, context-appropriate pro- and anti-social behavior in female and male Mongolian gerbils.

A growing body of literature suggests that testosterone (T) rapidly modulates behavior in a context-specific manner. However, the timescales in which T can rapidly mediate distinct types of behavior, such as pro- vs. anti- social responses, has not been studied.

Early life drought predicts components of adult body size in wild female baboons.

Objectives: In many taxa, adverse early-life environments are associated with reduced growth and smaller body size in adulthood. However, in wild primates, we know very little about whether, where, and to what degree trajectories are influenced by early adversity, or which types of early adversity matter most. Here, we use parallel-laser photogrammetry to assess inter-individual predictors of three measures of body size (leg length, forearm length, and shoulder-rump length) in a population of wild female baboons studied since birth.

Interaction of Surface Type, Temperature, and Week of Season on Concussion Risk in the National Football League: A Bayesian Analysis.

Background: Artificial turf fields and environmental conditions may influence sports concussion risk, but existing research is limited by uncontrolled confounding factors, limited sample size, and the assumption that risk factors are independent of one another. The purpose of this study was to examine how playing surface, time of season, and game temperature relate to diagnosed concussion risk in the National Football League (NFL).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study examined data from the 2012 to the 2019 NFL regular season.

Wang-Landau sampling of lattice multiblock copolymers.

Synthetic multiblock copolymers are an interesting class of polymeric chains and have emerged as promising materials to mimic the function of complex biomolecules. In this work, we use Wang-Landau sampling to study sequences of multiblock (AnBn)m copolymers on the simple cubic lattice, where n represents the block length and m represents the number of blocks. We first compare to the thermodynamic and structural properties of four sequences previously studied in the continuum [W.

Increasing Student Confidence in Writing: Integrating Authentic Manuscript Writing into an Online 8-Week Research Program.

In various formats, students at the secondary and postsecondary levels participate in multiweek authentic science research projects. There have been many papers explaining the operations of such programs, but few have provided explicit instruction on how to incorporate authentic communication practices into the student research process. In this paper, we describe how we integrated primary literature into an 8-week online research program for 8th to 11th graders.

Impact of OSA treatment success on changes in hypertension and obesity: A retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been shown to lead to the development of chronic cardiometabolic conditions, including obesity and cardiovascular disease. We sought to describe the impact of the success of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and surgery, common treatment options for pediatric OSA, on cardiometabolic conditions.

Methods: A retrospective review of patients (≤18 years) diagnosed with OSA based on a polysomnogram at a tertiary care pediatric otolaryngology practice from 2015 to 2019 was conducted.

Empirically Derived Psychological Profiles of College Students: Differential Associations With COVID-19 Impact and Social Adjustment.

Using latent profile analysis, we derived psychological profiles of undergraduates during the pandemic and investigated profiles' differential associations with COVID-19 impact and social adjustment. Participants ( = 517) completed measures of depression, loneliness, and anxiety, and two indices of social adjustment: friendship support and social connectedness. We identified , , and symptom profiles.

Beyond sex and aggression: testosterone rapidly matches behavioural responses to social context and tries to predict the future.

Although androgens are widely studied in the context of aggression, androgenic influences on prosocial behaviours have been less explored. We examined testosterone's (T) influence on prosocial and aggressive responses in a positively valenced social context (interacting with a pairbond partner) and a negatively valenced context (interacting with an intruder) in socially monogamous Mongolian gerbils. T increased and decreased prosocial responses in the same individuals towards a pairbond partner and an intruder, respectively, both within 30 min, but did not affect aggression.

No Science Fair? No Problem. Engaging Students in Science Communication through Peer Review and Publication in a Remote World.

Since March 2020, in-person science competitions have been cancelled or moved to a virtual space. This reality has encouraged teachers and students to find alternative ways to disseminate student research and participate in a scientific community. Participating in the peer review and publication of one's research offers one such alternative.