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  Preliminary Investigations into the Metrics That Can Be Used to Assess Grass Shrimp for Environmental and Ecological Studies

  Reveca Tomas

  Grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) are decapod Crustaceans that are very important in ecological food webs of coastal salt marshes of the Southeastern US. As detritovores they are critical in nutrient cycling. They are also important as food sources for many game fish larvae. The objectives of this research were to first, determine a non-invasive way to estimate clutch sizes through the use of pictures. Second, to perfect methods to determine growth of adults and larvae overtime in the laboratory. Third, to determine recovery time of grass shrimp female who have had their embryos removed. Palaemonetes pugio were collected at Dauphin Island, Alabama at Airport Marsh. The shrimp were measured for length and identified as either a male, female, or juvenile. Four males and Two females were placed into three separate tanks and measured over a month period. Remaining shrimp were placed in a 55-gallon tank for future use. Salinity was adjusted to 20 ppt. A single gravid female was selected, and measurements and photos were taken of her eggs attached to her abdomen. Then, her eggs were removed using forceps and after her eggs were collected, they were counted under a microscope. The female was placed in a separate tank and observed over time. The eggs were placed in an incubator at 27^oC, rotated 60 rms. Twenty-four eggs from the female were placed in 1 well each of a 24 well plate and the rest of the eggs were placed in petri dishes. Every weekday embryos were observed and pictures taken using a microscope and a MotiConnect application for analysis. Results indicate that the methods show promise for estimating the numbers of embryos in ecological studies. More data needs to be collected to verify estimation of these shrimp metrics.

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  Evaluation of Anti-aging-like Activity in Tigernuts (Cyperus esculentus)

  Chelsea Toyer

  Aging is a natural process of living organisms that consists of becoming older. In human and other animals, aging is accompanied by several physiological changes. These include deterioration and oxidation and wrinkles formation. Wrinkles formation may also be caused by various environmental factors such as excessive exposure to sun, pollution, and continuous deprivation of sleep. These environmental factors in turn cause oxidation of the skin cells and degradation of subcutaneous fatty acids, leading to the formation of wrinkles. Skin care and wrinkles treatment using pharmaceutical products are multi-million dollar industry. Plant based products are alternative methods for treating wrinkles of the skin or premature aging. Several antioxidants naturally found in plants have been associated with slowing or preventing wrinkle formation and premature skin aging. Tigernut (Cyperus esculentus) of the sedge family. The objectives of the study are to determine the antioxidant capacity of chili pepper and tigernut bulb by analyzing their vitamins A, C, E contents. Tigernut bulbs and chili pepper fruits were extracted in distilled water and their vitamin A, E, C content analyzed. Preliminary data indicated that tigernut has more vitamin A and vitamin E contents than chili pepper but lower in vitamin C.

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  Production of Competent Cauliflower Protoplast

  Kyra Watral and Diana Thompson

  Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea) is a useful subject in the field of plant mitochondrial and other biochemical studies as a large part of the plant is colorless. The cells of the cauliflower can be broken open to isolate specific organelles without chlorophyll contamination. Repeatedly buying cauliflower plants introduces a large number of variables into every study. Very few reports on the culture and growth of cauliflower cells in the lab exist. This experiment seeks to develop a protocol for the lab culture and production of cauliflower cells for use in further plant studies. A liquid culture was the method chosen as many studies performed require cells rather than tissues. The protocol describes the disinfection and collection of cells from a store-bought cauliflower plant. The cells were then placed into the liquid culture based on Murashige and Skoog’s growth and culture media. The media also contains gibberellic acid to induce the growth of the growth of the apical meristem cells of the cauliflower (otherwise known as the “curd”), pre-mixed W5 solution to produce protoplasts of the plant tissue, as well as an auxin. Three auxins of varying concentrations were tested for efficacy— 3-indoleacetic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). The cell cultures were then incubated on a rotary shaker at 27 C and periodically sampled under a microscope to quantify health and growth. Visual tests were then performed on the protoplasts using vitality stains, as well as biochemical tests to further examine protoplast viability for other experiments.

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  Women in Visual Arts: A Conversation about Agency and the Male Gaze

  Taylor Weaver

  Why are women always being looked at? Laura Mulvey, a feminist film theorist, poses this question in her influential article, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. In her article, Mulvey argues that films are constructed with the idea that the viewer is male. Because of this, women are always depicted as objects of male pleasure. This is one example of the male gaze. The theory of the male gaze has a strong presence in museums as well. We continue to see sexualized female bodies that are depicted by men and in return, this has masculinized the museum environment.

  The male gaze silences women and constructs them as being passive and submissive instead of being free to live in their natural environments and do what they please. Within the art historical canon, there are several examples of women being subject to the male gaze and in result, these women lack agency. They lack any individual choices or actions, rather the male artist renders them based on their imagination, with little consideration for women’s reality.

  With this project, I sought to give the narrative and agency back to the women. I selected four works from within the art historical canon that displayed a clear representation of these theories, from such artists as Titan, Ingres, Renoir, and Picasso. I created four illustrations based on the works from these artists. I used simplified forms and a vibrant color palette to express the women’s freedom and joy for life. Then I included objects and ideals of relaxation and self-care, so they become snapshots into these women’s lives.

  It is with this greater understanding of women in society, culture, and the arts that I was able to synthesize my own artistic reaction with these illustrations.

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  Analyzing Tutoring Data Using Regression

  Christopher White

  Tutoring has always been a cornerstone of academia, but one question has recently arisen; how many hours a student needs to attend tutoring in order to succeed in their course? There are many variables that can influence the hours needed. Some of the more important variables include prerequisite grades, ACT/SAT scores, and placement tests scores. Jacksonville State University’s Precalculus Algebra course is a perfect sample course to apply machine learning skills such as regression to discern how many hours one specific student needs in order to succeed. This presentation describes the important variables and the Precalculus Algebra course data from Jacksonville State University in order to show how many hours in tutoring are needed to succeed with a desired grade in a course.

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  What’s Your Type? The Comparison of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Howell Enneagram Test

  Kaitlyn Williams

  The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an introspective self-report questionnaire that indicates differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The original MBTI was constructed by Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers in 1962. Each person is classified in four categories: introversion/extraversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perception. The Enneagram test is a more recent personality test which categorizes each person into one of nine personality types. In this research project, we focus on the Enneagram test done by Dr. Joseph B. Howell. Students from psychology courses were given paper copies of the MBTI and the Howell-Enneagram test as a class activity. I then scored them according to the author’s scoring procedures. The goal of the research is to see if there is an overlap between participants answers for the MBTI and the Howell-Enneagram Test.

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  Graphic Design, Symposium Printed Program Contest, Marvin Wills

  Marvin Wills

  Art and Design students participated in a graphic design project contest. The winning design was used for the 2020 JSU Student Symposium printed program.

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  Comparing the Accuracy of the ImageJ ReadPlate Plugin to the Spectrophotometer

  Ansley Winter

  ImageJ is a free computer program that processes java-based images. This program was created at the National Institute of Health and the laboratory for optical and computational instrumentation. ImageJ contains multiple plugins for processing and analyses. The particular plugin for this test is called ReadPlate. ReadPlate measures the absorbance of an image of a multi-well plate up to 96 wells. This is useful if you do not have immediate access to a commercially built plate reader. This experiment was intended to determine the differences of absorbance efficiency of a spectrophotometer and picture analysis from the ImageJ ReadPlate plugin. To test the accuracy of the ImageJ Plugin, comparisons with a spectrophotometer were made using concentrations of methylene blue. In addition, comparisons to a Bradford protein analysis was performed. Concentrations of methylene blue were analytically prepared that ranged from (0.001-0.2 mg/L). Protein standard concentrations with unknowns were prepared. Once concentrations were made, samples were placed into 3 mL cuvettes and measured on a spectrophotometer and recorded. Concentration samples were also placed into duplicate wells of a 96 well plate. The plate was placed in a light box and a picture of the plate was taken and analyzed on ImageJ. The ImageJ ReadPlate had 4 channels to measure the picture related to wavelength (color). Absorbances were then compared from the spectrophotometer and the ReadPlate plugin and the percent difference was calculated. The results indicated that the data from ImageJ using the red channel was more consistent with the absorbances from the spectrophotometer than the other channels on ImageJ with a reduction of sensitivity by ~30%. This would mean that the ImageJ ReadPlate is a viable option when a commercial plate reader is not available.

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  Investigating the Effects of Pharmaceuticals on Decomposition Rates in Aquatic Environments

  Ansley Winter, Kayla Clark, and Zebbian Hill

  Decomposition is an important process for nutrient cycling and the environment. Aquatic decomposition is influenced by many factors, especially anthropogenic inputs. One factor is pharmaceutical waste excreted into water ways. Pharmaceutical waste affects the behaviors of invertebrates which are important drivers of leaf litter decomposition in streams. Neal and Moore (2016) found that behavior of shredders was significantly impacted by ibuprofen, an NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug), which is commonly used for minor ailments such as fever, headaches, pain, and cramps. We hypothesized that leaf litter bags that contain a pharmaceutical will have lower invertebrate biodiversity and decreased decomposition rates. We filled eight porous bags with 10 grams of sweetgum leaves. Four bags were for the experimental group (treated with pharmaceutical) and four bags were the control group. The experimental bags were soaked in 800 milligrams of ibuprofen dissolved in 5 liters of water filled for 30 minutes before being placed in a local stream. The bags were submerged in the stream for 28 days. After this time frame, we collected the leaf bags and we processed the leaf matter by separating leaves from sediment by thoroughly rinsing the leaves with water. We also retrieved several varieties of macroinvertebrates from our leaf bags and separated them accordingly. We lost one treatment bag during the deployment period due to adverse environmental conditions. After retrieval, the leaves were placed into pre-weighed paper bags and set in a drying oven for one week. After drying, the bags were weighed in order to determine the leaf mass lost over the 28-day period. We calculated the decomposition rate by calculating the difference in the original leaf mass of the bags before deployment and their mass after their retrieval. A two tailed t-test was conducted and provided the p-value of the two tailed tests as 0.64. The p-value signified that there was no significant difference between the control and treatment decomposition rates because it was well above the standard p-value of .05. The t stat from the test was 0.05. Although, there was no significant impact on the rate of decomposition for our study, it is suspected that a longer time period, or perhaps a different pharmaceutical, would have a greater impact on decomposition.