Aresty Rutgers Undergraduate Research Journal

Relationship Between Biophysical Properties of Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) and their Associated Drug Efficacies

Alisha Zhu — 2024-04-25

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat. One consequence is that patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are prone to developing antibiotic resistant lung infections caused by multiple strains of bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Due to the limited number of treatment options for patients with chronic antibiotic resistant infections, there is a need for finding new antibiotics that allow for effective eradication of bacterial infections, such as those in the CF lung. Many antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been annotated in databases and are considered as potential alternatives for current antibiotics. However, in many instances, the suitability of AMPs as drug molecules has not been extensively explored. Here, we propose that certain molecular properties of AMPs favor high antibiotic efficacy. Using information from AMP databases, we combined statistical analyses and machine learning techniques to identify relationships between various biophysical properties of AMPs and their drug efficacies. Analyses from classification and regression trees (CART) and random forests suggest that net charge and maximum average hydrophobic moment are the most important properties in determining if a peptide is useful against P. aeruginosa infections in CF patients. Maximum average hydrophobic residue, average alpha helix propensity score, hydrophobic proportion, and peptide length still contribute to this determination but to lesser degrees. Cation-pi interactions, on the other hand, do not appear to factor into this decision at all. Based on these properties, our current work is focused on designing and experimentally testing new peptides that may have activity against P. aeruginosa infections.

Classification of Fall Out Boy Eras

Shifra Issacs — 2024-04-25

This paper explored the use of machine learning techniques to differentiate between two different musical eras of the same rock band, including the technique of Logistic Regression.

Logistic regression (LR) is a widely used statistical modeling method for binary classification in supervised machine learning. It is often used to predict whether a given event belongs to one of two categories. The process helps data scientists understand which variables are good predictors of class membership. Applications of logistic regression include loan classification in the financial industry and predicting susceptibility to disease in the medical field.

In this particular project, a dataset was constructed using data from Spotify and Genius consisting of songs and lyrics written by the band Fall Out Boy. A logistic regression model was developed from scratch to classify the songs and lyrics into one of two eras of the band: before their 2009 hiatus and afterward. The study aimed to determine if a computer could differentiate between the two eras. The model was also tested against other binary classification algorithms, including Random Forest and Support Vector Machines.

Regulation of Feeding Behavior by Optogenetic Activation of Inputs to Lateral Hypothalamus

Hassan Choudhry — 2024-04-25

The bed nucleus stria terminalis (BNST) and parabrachial nucleus (PBN) are two brain regions in correspondence with the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) that are responsible for regulating feeding behavior in mice. It is acknowledged that increasing the activity of GABAergic BNST inputs (which release the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA) to the LHA inhibits LHA glutamate neurons and increases feeding, whereas increasing activity of glutamatergic PBN inputs (which release the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate) to the LHA excites local glutamate neurons and decreases feeding. Obesity is a prevalent problem in our society, and therefore it is important to understand the reasons behind excessive food intake habits of humans. To address this issue, we tested for effects of activating the BNST-LHA and PBN-LHA pathways in relation to the satiety state of the mice. We stimulated the BNST and PBN inputs to LHA in fasted and fed mice. We tested the effects of Satiety State (fed vs. fasted) and stimulation Frequency (5-40 Hz) on sucrose seeking behavior of two Groups of mice (ChR2 vs YFP controls). The BNST-LHA pathway tended to show a general increase in feeding behaviors, while the PBN-LHA pathway did not show a significant effect of activation. From these results, further studies can be conducted to explore more about these neural pathways and the mechanisms underlying feeding behaviors. On a broader scale, these findings can inform future therapeutics that could help prevent unhealthy eating habits and obesity.

Physical Activity and Pain During Pregnancy

Sarah Velez — 2024-04-25

Low back and pelvic girdle pain are prevalent during pregnancy, impacting about 50% of pregnant women. Previous studies conducted on the general population have suggested that physical activity has been associated with reductions in pain levels.

Purpose: To determine if women with higher levels of physical activity experience less low back and pelvic girdle pain and lower disability scores than women who are less physically active.

Methods: Pregnant women (n=24, 32.2 ± 4.1 years) were recruited between 28- and 32-weeks gestation. Participants reported their weekly physical activity, responded to subjective pain surveys, and underwent a battery of objective pain testing. Spearman’s-rho was used to assess correlations between physical activity scores and each subjective pain measure.

Results: Tests for correlation between pregnancy physical activity scores and pain domain measures were not significant (ps>0.05), so no relationship could be determined between physical activity levels and low back/pelvic girdle pain based on this study.

Conclusion: This study was not able to identify a significant correlation between physical activity levels and low back/pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy.

Political Balance in Fox News

Nianlong Dai — 2024-04-25

In the era of media prosperity, Fox News, as the most significant political news provider in the United States (According to Pew Research Center’s research, 16 percent of participants consider Fox News their primary source of political news, which is higher than any other media), influences the political orientation of voters to manipulate election results through various means, such as overemphasizing, reporters’ interpreting, and disregarding news, etc. In order to make their reporting seem more objective and reliable, politically biased media may gain credibility for themselves by covering more news with different political perspectives during non-significant times, which is called political balancing. In order to verify whether political balancing exists in the mainstream media, sixty Fox News reports during the period of 2016 election were randomly selected and analyzed. According to the result, Fox News put statistically significant more positive coverage of Democrats after the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, won the 2016 election. The findings of this research are substantial since awareness of the media’s political balancing will benefit voters in making rational choices for consequential elections. Meanwhile, political balancing could be necessary for researchers conducting studies of journalism.

A Systematic Literature Review on the Intersection of Experiential and Multimedia Learning With Virtual Reality and Its Implications

Rut Mehta — 2024-04-25

This literature review examines the current literature and research surrounding the foundations and applications of experiential and multimedia learning in virtual reality environments. Eleven insightful research papers are discussed, detailing the efforts and results of multimedia learning and experiential learning in virtual reality independently, not combined. The literature, and consequently the literature review, heavily pulls from Kolb’s Experiential Learning model and Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. We find a general trend suggesting the efficacy of creating experiential learning-based lessons and the efficacy of multimedia learning formats. However, based on the literature, combining these two theories and techniques may result in higher student engagement and content retention. This literature review also explores the thresholds for sensory stimuli fidelities necessary to create meaningful, effective, immersive virtual reality content. However, further research will be required to measure attention, retention, and information recall in different virtual reality and multimedia lesson formats, as well as engagement and positive emotions associated with learning.

The Electoral College’s Impact on Presidential Mandates and Agendas

Bilal Ahmed — 2024-04-25

The Electoral College is the method used in every four years to elect the President of the United States. Given that the Electoral College gives the power to elect the president to state-casted votes, the system has in recent years become a source of growing controversy given how two presidents, George Bush in 2000 and Donald Trump in 2016, without winning the national popular vote. These elections and the public discourse around them have brought new life to the purpose and impacts of the Electoral College.

This paper uses key presidential elections, including those of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Harrison, Woodrow Wilson, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, give insight on how the Electoral College should now be understood. In particular, this paper examines the implications of the Electoral College on one fundamental question: Does election to the presidency via the Electoral College route fundamentally affect the ability of a president to govern effectively?

Examining these elections, the context around and impact after these elections, and modern United States political history shows that when the Electoral College is not an extraordinary or exceptionally notable part of an election cycle, the Electoral College does not fundamentally affect the president’s ability to command public and political support required to effectively govern. However, when the Electoral College does become a point of focus during a presidential election and in the beginning of a president’s term, it has wide-ranging impacts. In particular, the College can shape the political and public mandate the president has to lead, shaping their overall agenda for their time in office; cause biases to arise towards certain states and conservative politics; and undermine their ability to serve as a unifying figure. With each modern election having an increased focus on the Electoral College, the system is likely to cause increased polarization and tension with each passing election if serious reforms are not undertaken.

The Impact of DNA Analysis Technology on the Rate of NAGPRA Repatriations

Emily Kane — 2024-04-25

This paper investigates whether recent advancements in DNA analysis technology have impacted the rate with which Native American remains are repatriated, or returned, to linear descendants or culturally affiliated tribes. The purpose of this study is to determine whether DNA analysis technology has effected repatriation rates specifically in Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) cases. This paper compiles information for all NAGPRA notices published in the National Register to conduct a statistical analysis of the rate of repatriations between 2011 and 2021. The resulting figures demonstrate that DNA analysis technology had an extremely slight effect on the rate of repatriation. The paper then concludes that this may be due to the difficulties in implementing DNA analysis as a culturally acceptable Archaeological methodology.

Assimilation: How Post-9/11 Government Tactics Have Hindered Muslims From Socioeconomic Integration

Tahsin Mostofa — 2024-04-25

The devastating attacks of 9/11 left life-changing impacts on how the world viewed national security. The United States, at its epicenter, formally overhauled its government strategies and approaches in assured attempts to prevent such occurrences ever again. Thus, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security and the implementation of policies reflected new behaviors towards individuals from certain religious or geographic background. While successfully eliminating the recurrence of terrorist attacks of such scale, these extreme approaches vociferosly affected the United States’ Muslim population —many whom have immigrated in pursuit of the ‘American Dream’— from integrating into society.

This paper seeks to establish that post-9/11 policies have perpetuated anti-Muslim bias in the minds of the American people, thus impacting the Muslim population’s ability to integrate into society: measured by sections of Milton Gordon’s assimilation theory. Muslim-Americans are vulnerable to unjust constraints or responsibility for the extremist few, all by a governing body established to serve the interests of all its citizens. Studying the extent these tactics have affected Muslim-Americans highlight limitations of the justice system and reveal calls to action where adequate support should be given. Publicly isolating people ties a negative connotation to their existence, which can cause wider society to disassociate themselves from isolated individuals.

Foreword to Volume I, Issue V Aresty Rutgers Undergraduate Research Journal

Omay Edekar — 2024-04-25