Jennifer Lipsmeier-Guy | CCSFP
“Méliès and the Modern World” uses the affordances of new media to support the creation of new knowledge about early filmmaker Georges Méliès, who pioneered special effects and story films during the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries. Ten years in the making, two books about Méliès are now about to move into production. One is an English translation of Méliès’ biography written with firsthand knowledge by the subject’s granddaughter, the late Madeleine Malthête-Méliès. The other is a research monograph written by the research mentor which examines the material culture of Méliès’ multimedia career.
Accreting Black Holes: Near & Far
Matt Michalski | CCSFP
4U 1755-388 and AT2020ocn, though these may seem like incongruous codes, they in fact mark the names of two differing, accreting black holes. 4U 1755-388 was discovered lying near the center of our Galaxy in 1971 as a stellar mass black hole and remained very active until 1995 when it entered a quiescent, or dormant, stage for 25 years until April of 2020 when a new X-ray outburst was recorded. On the other hand, AT2020ocn is a much more distant super massive black hole, and was discovered more recently in the same month that 4U 1755-338’s outburst occurred, and created an unexpected tidal disruption event, which occurs when a super massive black hole destroys a star that got too close for comfort due to incredible gravitational field of the black hole.
African Futurist Greenhouse
Muhammad Masood | CCSFP
Colonialism may be in the past, but its legacies live on today, with populations still marginalized by income and still “primitivized” by the colonial view. New movements like AfroFuturism resist these stereotypes by combining technological sophistication with an anti-primitivist view of Black culture. In the book African Fractals, Dr. Eglash makes the case for scaling geometries–the nonlinear shapes found in nature–as a tradition in African design. Together with professor Audrey Bennett at UM’s Stamps School of Art and Design, and Olayami Dabls, the owner of Dabls’ MBAD African Bead Museum, they have developed a proposal to create an African Futurist greenhouse that will utilize the scaling geometry traditional to African homes, jewelry, and sculptures. Funded by Stamps and Poverty Solutions, this greenhouse will grow plants that furnish seeds for Dabls’s beadwork, food for local consumption, and more generally embody a decolonial approach that combines the circular economy of Indigenous traditions with the beauty and utility of culture-technology hybrids.
Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccine-associated Blood Clot Adverse Event Case Reports
Jessica DeGuise | CCSFP
Background: While COVID-19 vaccines are generally safe, they are occasionally associated with various adverse events (AEs). Recently the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (i.e Johnson and Johnson vaccine) has been reported to be significantly associated with blood clot, or thrombosis. The CDC/FDA Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has continuously collected various vaccine adverse events reported from the USA.
Assessing the Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Consequences of Men Recognizing Subtle Gender Bias Against Women in STEM
Paige Nalli | CCSFP
Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) frequently encounter gender bias (e.g., questioning of their STEM ability, assignment to secretarial roles). Given the subtle and ambiguous nature of contemporary sexism, people vary in their likelihood of recognizing subtly sexist interactions. Past research demonstrates that women are more sensitive to gender bias and more likely to perceive it. However, there remains a dearth of research related to men’s experiences in witnessing bias. In the present research, we ask: what are the (1) affective, (2) cognitive, and (3) behavioral consequences of perceiving subtle gender bias during group tasks?
Black holes: Near & Far
Shannon Flores | CCSFP
4U 1755-388 and AT2020ocn, though these may seem like incongruous codes, they in fact mark the names of two differing, accreting black holes. 4U 1755-388 was discovered lying near the center of our Galaxy in 1971 as a stellar mass black hole and remained very active until 1995 when it entered a quiescent, or dormant, stage for 25 years until April of 2020 when a new X-ray outburst was recorded. On the other hand, AT2020ocn is a much more distant super massive black hole, and was discovered more recently in the same month that 4U 1755-338’s outburst occurred, and created an unexpected tidal disruption event, which occurs when a super massive black hole destroys a star that got too close for comfort due to incredible gravitational field of the black hole.
Characterization of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Sarcoma
Daeyoung Kim | CCSFP
Intro: In recent years, the advancement of technology and science has led to better cancer treatments, which subsequently has resulted in increasing the chance of cancer patient survival. Immunotherapy, one of the more recent promising treatment options, works by enhancing one own’s immune system to fight cancer. Immunotherapy using anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4 checkpoint blockade has been very successful in treating patients with some malignant tumors such as melanoma, which previously did not have a clear effective systemic treatment option. Sarcoma is an overarching category of rare tumors that originates from soft tissues or bones at various parts of the body. Liposarcoma is one of the most common types of sarcoma, with the most common biological type being well-differentiated and dedifferentiated liposarcoma (WDLPS and DDLPS respectively). WDLPS and DDLPS are most effectively treated by surgery, yet even after a complete resection of DDLPS, 60% of patients develop local recurrence and 25% develop distant metastasis (secondary phase of malignant growth) within 5 years of diagnosis. The response rate to conventional chemotherapy is low so that 60% of patients with DDLPS eventually die from the disease. Despite the promising developments in immunotherapy, research focusing on the immune biology of sarcoma has been slower than other tumor types. Recently, there have been some promising reports of response to immunotherapy in a small number of liposarcoma patients, hence, there is an unmet need to better understand the tumor immune microenvironment in liposarcoma.
Creative Writing & Publishing
Haley Hall | CCSFP
Our creative writing and publishing project focuses not only on creating pieces of work, for our respective forms of writing, but also the meticulous process of getting that work published.
Creative Writing & Publishing
Kalani Olatunji | CCSFP
Writing is a personal, growing, and revealing experience that represents freedom and relief. Through the process of understanding other writers’ works by reviewing literary journals, magazines, and online literary journals (websites), a writer comes to interpret a style of writing of one’s own design and interpret the ideas of other writers to produce work that can be seen as an adventure.
Design of a Do-It-Yourself Geiger-Muller counter with smartphone mapping application
Pablo Garcia Acuna | CCSFP
A Geiger-Muller survey meter is a device for measuring radioactivity by detecting and counting ionizing particles. Antique Geiger-Muller (GM) survey meters recovered from fallout shelters were gifted to teachers by several nuclear scientific societies to demonstrate radiological principles. Although these GMs accomplish some educational objectives, they fail to engage students with modern technology to motivate nuclear careers, develop students’ electronic or software skills, or provide individuals with a more hands-on approach when it comes to exploring radiological sciences. This is why the Do-It-Yourself Geiger-Muller (DIYgm) project was created. This project has as its objective to expose students to STEM topics such as computer programming, circuit-building, and soldering, while maintaining a special emphasis on radiological and nuclear science disciplines.
Great Lakes Water Policy
Gina Anger | CCSFP
As climate conditions worsen, natural freshwater supplies of ground and surface water are depleted for a variety of uses and water becomes an increasingly sought-after resource. Policymakers have responded to this situation with several documents that govern how water can be withdrawn, diverted, distributed, and reallocated to different basins. This research compares the strengths and weaknesses of two different water resource management agreements: the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact that governs the eight Great Lakes states and two provinces of Canada and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act which was recently passed in California. Both documents aim to disarm future water controversies, but they deal with seemingly polarized water supply scenarios. The research brings together several different sources of information about water policy and identifies gaps between the policy and its application. The contexts and purposes of these documents hint at how they will hold up to debate in terms of environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
Impact of COVID-19 on Latinx Households
Jacqueline Lopez-Bravo | CCSFP
COVID-19 has impacted individuals in many different ways. In this project, we focus on how the pandemic has impacted the Latinx community. Oftentimes it is difficult for individuals in Latinx households to follow procedures such as social distancing or staying home as many come from low-income families and need to keep working, thus highly increasing the risk of spreading the virus. These living arrangements are associated with communalist cultural values such as familism. Within this project, the goal is to understand and explore how familism has impacted Latino’s individual beliefs.
Investigating the role of glucose metabolism in oncogenic STAT3 signaling in colorectal carcinoma
Noora Aabed | CCSFP
Via the article Colorectal cancer statistics, 2020, approximately 147,950 individuals were diagnosed with Colorectal Carcinoma (CRC) and 53,200 died from the disease in 2020. CRC, like many other cancers, activates signaling pathways to become more aggressive and deadly. STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) is a signaling pathway that promotes cell growth during normal development and cancer. The Shah lab has previously discovered that the STAT3 pathway plays a major role in promoting CRC growth. Interestingly, some CRC cell lines, like SW480 and HCT116, have high levels of p-STAT3 (a marker of STAT3 pathway activation) at baseline (without ligand stimulation). The Shah lab also found that glucose deprivation, but not the removal of amino acids or serum, decreased the activation of the STAT3 pathway in HCT116 and SW480 cells. We wanted to further explore the STAT3 signaling pathway in CRC cells and the interactions between signaling and metabolites in the CRC environment.
Lasers: Optical Tweezers for Medicine
Kailee Conley | CCSFP
Using laser beams as a means of manipulating and trapping particles on the nanoscale has been proven extremely beneficial to the fields of chemistry and biology. These “optical tweezers” are highly useful for their non-invasiveness and precise delivery of nano-objects such as metal nanoparticles. In this study, we will optimize a two phase ligand exchange process to develop stable metal nanoparticles. This two phase ligand exchange technique is a reliable and relatively straightforward method of producing stable metal nanoparticles capable of being used in a variety of biological applications.
Locally Charged: Centering Community Voices In Public Power
Nyia George | CCSFP
The effects of climate change will require a change in the tools needed to support the health of planet earth. One of the biggest changes needed is the switch from fossil fuels to using renewable energy for electric generation. Although climate change will impact everyone on earth in some ways, the impacts on low-income and minority communities are more likely to be severe. Residents in these communities already experience disproportionately high energy burdens and exposure to air pollution from fossil fuel sources.
Lung Repair
Ali Farhoud | CCSFP
There are two alveolar epithelial cell types in lung. Type II and Type 1. Upon lung injury, Type II cells serve as progenitors and differentiate into type 1 cells to heal the tissue. Our lab had had recently identified a novel transitional cell state assumed by type 2 cells as they differentiate into type 1 cells during normal regeneration after lung injury. We want to understand whether the transitional cells are related with ineffectual type 1 cell differentiation which may cause critical regenerative defect in pulmonary fibrosis. We set out with the goal of investigating the molecular mechanism of physiological and pathological alveolar repair in mouse model.
Méliès and the Modern World
Rose Albayat | CCSFP
“Méliès and the Modern World” uses the affordances of new media to support the creation of new knowledge about early filmmaker Georges Méliès, who pioneered special effects and story films during the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries. Ten years in the making, two books about Méliès are now about to move into production. One is an English translation of Méliès’ biography written with firsthand knowledge by the subject’s granddaughter, the late Madeleine Malthête-Méliès. The other is a research monograph written by the research mentor which examines the material culture of Méliès’ multimedia career.
Mental Health in Islamic Texts: Putting an end to the Stigma
Zainab Mroue | CCSFP
Growing up in Dearborn’s largely Muslim community, the idea of mental health was extremely stigmatized and was believed to bring great shame to an individual or family involved in it. When the topic of mental health is brought up, I would often hear people say “as long as I have my religion, I do not feel any emotional or mental challenges” or “anybody who experiences emotional or mental turmoil is being punished by the almighty for not having a strong Iman (faith)” or is simply told that they should pray more. When we analyze original islamic texts though, we find that these diseases should not be treated as punishments for weak iman but as a simple bump in the road. Prophet Muhammad stated in the Sahih Al-Bukhari hadith collection, “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that he also has created its treatment” (Hadith 582). Given that disease is a natural part of life, why is it that people tend to stigmatize mental health? This paper will analyze primary and secondary sources on Islamic mental health. This will allow us to integrate contemporary methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and bring about ways to develop a more culturally competent therapy for people within the muslim community struggling with mental health and eliminating the stigma surrounding it.
Ontological Vaccine Adjuvant Knowledge Presentation and Application in Adjuvant Design for Vaccine Development
Amogh Madireddi | CCSFP
Many adjuvants (substances that increase immune response) are used in vaccine development. Some of their mechanisms have been studied extensively, others unknown. One challenge is how to collect and logically represent them so patterns can be identified and AI ready. Another challenge is how to use the patterns and information for machine learning.
Optimizing a Daily Mindfulness Intervention to Reduce Stress from Discrimination among Sexual and Gender Minorities of Color
Maddie Peskin | CCSFP
This multiphase optimization study evaluate the effectiveness of different components of a mindfulness-based intervention to reduce stress from discrimination among sexual and gender minorities (SGM) of color. Researchers have found that sexual and gender minorities of color are discriminated against based on race and/or sexual orientation status and/or gender.
Progression of Cancers Driven by Liver Metastasis
Adedoyin Adebayo | CCSFP
S.T.E.A.M. Education
J’anna Rivers | CCSFP
Introduced in 2016, STEAM is a new pedagogical approach that has been on the rise in many different countries. STEAM is the abbreviation for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. The integration of “Arts” within STEM has shown a significant increase in the motivation of children’s ability to be creative, problem solvers, and critical thinkers. Throughout the process of this literature review my goal was to answer the research question “How do STEAM, in contrast to STEM, approaches develop creativity, critical thinking, and agency among children?” To answer this question I reviewed 40 sources of qualitative and quantitative literature and of those, more than half provided strong support to the view that STEAM is very effective in developing 21st century skills such as creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. According to Hadinugrahaningsiha, “the term 21st-century skills is generally used to refer to certain core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving that advocates believe schools need to teach to help students thrive in globalisation world” (Hadinugrahaningsiha, 2017, p.1). STEAM effectiveness is measured by the behaviors of students after the curriculum is implemented. Studies indicate that even children at an early age demonstrated interest and academic growth (Awang, 2020). Considering this pedagogy is fairly new, there remains much ambiguity on the teaching styles, definition of “art”, and how the arts in STEAM will be implemented in lesson plans.
Seafood through Time: Predation as a Driver of the Bathymetric Distribution of Crinoids
Karter Burgdorf | CCSFP
Predation, arguably an important mechanism of natural selection, is thought to have played an especially significant role in the evolutionary history of crinoids. Crinoids are marine invertebrates with a very long evolutionary history (ca. 0.5 billion years). As obligate passive suspension feeders, crinoids use their arms to form a filter that captures particulate nutrients from seawater. Ecologically important traits thought to have evolved among some groups of crinoids due to predation include an increase in mobility from fully sessile to crawling to swimming; an ability to regenerate lost body parts; biochemical defenses that make them distasteful.
Shared Understanding Between Physicians and Nurses
Kiara Turvey | CCSFP
Background: Poor communication between physicians and nurses is one of the most common causes of adverse events for hospitalized patients, including death. Gathering information regarding the factors that contribute to shared understanding could help identify causes of communication breakdowns, making it easier to develop strategies to overcome them.
Student Parents in Postsecondary Education: Relevant Policies and Practices
Lindsey Marlin | CCSFP
Student parents are a growing percentage of the college student population (Roy et al., 2018). For this group of nontraditional students, resources such as on-campus childcare, lactation spaces, and family housing are pertinent to balancing the demands of parenthood and school. However, recent studies (e.g., Kensinger & Minnick, 2018) have alluded to student parent invisibility in institutional policy and practice. In this study I examined inclusion of student parents in official university statements (i.e., policy), and access to information about, and availability of, student parent resources (i.e., practice). The study addresses three research questions: 1. Do public four-year universities & colleges include student parents in their non-discrimination &/or diversity statements? 2. For students who are parents, how easy is it for prospective and new university students to identify relevant resources? 3. Is the number of relevant resources related to inclusion of student parents in non-discrimination &/or diversity statements?
Studying the effect of insulin gene mutation in proinsulin folding in pancreatic beta cells
Sami Bazzi | CCSFP
Diabetes affects 27.8% of the US population. The disease alters the synthesis of insulin hormone that regulates glucose homeostasis. Pancreatic beta cells play a major role in the biosynthesis of insulin. There is a need to understand the biochemical pathway that permits the survivability of beta cells and their secretory pathway. Our laboratory studies how the misfolding of insulin precursor protein—“proinsulin” in beta cells affects insulin biosynthesis.
The Activist Backgrounds of Congressional Candidates in the United States in 2020
Emily Isyk | CCSFP
This research seeks to understand the role of protests in the functions and dysfunctions of American democracy, particularly the connection between protest participation and the success of congressional candidates. The key working hypothesis is that social movements are able to use protests as a testing ground for quality candidates and that helps candidates to be more successful in communicating their messages to the public. Thus, candidates who are involved in protests are more likely to be victorious in electoral contests, other things equal, than are other candidates.
The Activist Backgrounds of Congressional Candidates in the United States in 2020
Nusrat Atika | CCSFP
This research seeks to understand the role of protests in the functions and dysfunctions of American democracy, particularly the connection between protest participation and the success of congressional candidates. The key working hypothesis is that social movements are able to use protests as a testing ground for quality candidates and that helps candidates to be more successful in communicating their messages to the public. Thus, candidates who are involved in protests are more likely to be victorious in electoral contests, other things equal, than are other candidates.
The experiences of rheumatic disease patients when deciding to get the COVID-19 vaccine: a qualitative analysis
Sara Hustek | CCSFP
Background: Little is known about how the COVID-19 vaccine affects people with rheumatic diseases. Though rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) are relatively common, patients with RMDs were not included in randomized controlled trials for COVID-19 vaccines. People that live with rheumatic conditions must consider how to handle immunomodulatory medications during the vaccine cycle and the tradeoffs they may be making between their condition, immune response, and possible side effects. We aim to describe the factors considered by this population when deciding to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Great Lakes Compact and Water Level Variability
Rachel Rubanguka | CCSFP
The Great Lakes Compact is an agreement guiding water management of the Great Lakes. The Compact has been signed and approved by the governors of the eight states within the Great Lakes basin (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania) and the two Canadian provinces within the Great Lake basin (Ontario and Quebec). The Compact was signed into law by President George W.Bush in 2008. The Great lakes play a significant role in the regional economy and support recreation, and wildlife habitat and a balanced ecosystem of the environment.
The Impact of Gain vs. Loss Frames on Decision Making: From Society to the Individual
Charles Guccione | CCSFP
The framing of mathematically equal outcomes as either a Gain or a Loss shifts decision-making in predictable ways. Prior research has focused on Gain versus Loss frameworks in the context of serious, societal-level decisions impacting whole communities. For example, in a study by Tversky and Kahneman (1981), participants were asked to choose between two social programs to address the outbreak of a serious disease. Program A presented a guaranteed outcome in terms of number of lives saved or lost, whereas Program B could only provide probability information and was thus “riskier.” When both programs were framed in terms of the number of lives saved (Gain condition), participants were significantly more likely to choose the guaranteed outcome. However, when both programs were framed in terms of number of lives lost (Loss condition), decision-making preference shifted toward the riskier program.
The Localization of Pancreatic Islets Utilizing a Green Fluorescent Protein Proinsulin Mouse Model
Gladys Kamdem | CCSFP
Diabetes affects about 463 million people worldwide. It can cause various complications that affect several organs in the body. Diabetes is a disease that can be caused by insufficient insulin production. Insulin is synthesized in pancreatic beta cells located in clusters called islets. The laboratory of Dr. Peter Arvan at the University of Michigan is interested in the role of protein misfolding, and quality control systems including unfolded protein response (UPR), and endoplasmic reticulum associated-protein degradation (ERAD) in the development of diabetes. The physiological and genetic similarities between mice and humans allow the use of transgenic mouse models for laboratory studies.
The validation of the JH level manipulation methods using gene expression profiling of JH signaling genes
Deidre Mitchell | CCSFP
The migration phenomena of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are quite unique in comparison to many other migrating species. Recent population decline in monarchs requires a strong understanding of their physiology and behavior. Monarchs represent different populations, e.g., migratory, and non-migratory. We are interested in the hormonal and genetic regulations of these phenotypes and behaviors. The juvenile hormone (JH) is a key factor in regulating the growth, physiology, and behavior of the insect. JH is the primitive and sub-social in insects with gonadotropin nature, whereas its functions in eusocial insects, has changed to regulate the division of labor and task assignment. The JH of monarch is gonadotropin primarily but also has other adult life functions, e.g., diapause.
Tissue Crosstalk in Joint Injury
Monique Cruz | CCSFP
Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a serious disease that results from joint injury. It is characterized by cartilage deterioration, synovial inflammation, and the formation of abnormal bone growths. The Wnt signaling pathway is an important biological process by which cells respond to external stimuli. Overactive Wnt signaling within the joint is known to take part in the progression of PTOA. R-spondin 2 is a protein secreted by cells into the extracellular matrix that functions as an agonist for the Wnt signaling pathway. While R-spondin 2 is known to activate Wnt signaling, little is known about its role in PTOA. Here, we aimed to better understand the contribution of R-spondin 2 in the overactivation of Wnt signaling and how this process contributes to PTOA pathology. We hypothesized that, given the pathological role of unchecked Wnt signaling in OA, adding additional R-spondin 2 would exacerbate joint degeneration in a mouse model of PTOA.
Transgenic mouse models of diabetes
Taylor Cook | CCSFP
Diabetes mellitus is a very serious metabolic disorder that is a result of insufficient insulin production, which leads to uncontrolled blood glucose levels. Insulin is a peptide hormone that has a natural tendency to misfold and possibly form aggregates. Mice and humans share very similar endocrine physiology, and mice are often used to study diabetes. However there are some slight differences that must be considered for any experiment. Humans have a single gene, INS, that encodes for insulin, whereas mice have two genes, INS1 and INS2. The presence of insulin produced from two different genes leads to minor discrepancies in common protein analytical techniques such as western blotting. There must be controls in place in order to determine between insulin coded by either the INS1 or INS2 gene. This project seeks to establish a breeding colony of mice that are missing both copies of either the INS1 or INS2 gene.
Using Wastewater-based Epidemiology to Measure SARS-CoV-2 Burden
Preti Chowdhury | CCSFP
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous influence on our daily life over the last year, creating significant issues. Clinical testing was initially unavailable and then quite limited, which limited our capacity to interpret the full scale of the pandemic. Wastewater-based epidemiology, which can surveil viral burden of communities through wastewater treatment plants, emerged as a viable option to identify the SARS-CoV-2 burden in a given community. Our team is a member of a research consortium that samples more than 100 sites across the state of Michigan to understand COVID-19 transmission dynamics.
