by osteoclasts. Circulating levels of undercarboxylated osteocalcin are suggested to be involved in a wide range of interesting biological functions including increasing insulin sensitivity in adipose and skeletal muscle tissue, and enhancing skeletal muscle mitochondrial density. To investigate the latter effect, we have chemically synthesized the 46-amino acid murine osteocalcin using a flow chemistry approach to solid-phase peptide synthesis. With osteocalcin and the disulfide-null derivative, we will investigate the importance of the disulfide group to mitochondrial biogenesis in differentiated C2C12 myotubes using Western blot analyses. Student Author(s): Sarah Martin, Senior, Animal Science North Carolina State University Mentor(s): Daniel Poole, North Carolina State University Presentation: Biological Sciences - Zoology, Poster Session 4 (2:30 - 3:45), Poster Number 15 Hair Coat Phenotype’s Effect on Thermoregulation of Heifers Infected with Fescue Toxicosis Fescue toxicosis develops in cattle that consume endophyte-infected tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), this results in economic losses to the beef industry. One symptom of this disease is elevated body temperatures. A slick gene, originally identified in Senepol cattle, creates short slick hair and more efficient regulation of body temperature in cattle. The objective of this study was to determine if hair coat phenotype impacts thermoregulation capabilities of heifers experiencing fescue toxicosis. Angus X Senepol heifers (n=31) were blocked by weight and hair type, Slick (S) or Rough (R), were placed in Calan gates then randomly assigned to receive either endophyte-infected fescue haylage (E+) or non-infected fescue haylage (E-; control) for 63d. Temperature measurements were taken weekly using a laser thermometer, rectal thermometer, and a thermal camera. Data from individual animals in the respective treatments, E+S, E-S, E+R, and E-R were analyzed using a repeated measures program in SAS, mean temperatures and standard errors were then graphed. On average heifers with the slick phenotype were able to better prevent their surface temperatures from increasing than those possessing the rough phenotype. Therefore, integrating the slick gene into cattle may be beneficial in counteracting the increase in body temperature related to fescue toxicosis. Student Author(s): Brian Masters, Senior, High School, North Carolina State University Hannah Klemmer, Junior, High School, Research Triangle High School Mentor(s): Amy Grunden, North Carolina State University Presentation: Biological Sciences - Microbiology, Poster Session 3 (1:00 - 2:15), Poster Number 6 Effect of Different Nitrogen Sources on the Growth of Four Species of Dunaliella Dunaliella is a unicellular green microalgae and candidate feedstock for biofuel. Dunaliella requires no prime agricultural land or freshwater for growth. It grows fast, has no cell wall and can accumulate up to 60% cellular dry weight as oil. However, Dunaliella requires nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon to grow. The production of nitrogen fertilizers used to grow algae both consumes energy and is a source of greenhouse gases. Since digestion of algal biomass yields amino acids We were interested in determining whether amino acids could be used as a potential alternative nitrogen source for Dunaliella strains. To learn more about the use of amino acids in this algae, four different nitrogen sources (potassium nitrate, amino acids glutamine and glutamate, and a media without nitrogen) were used to grow four species of Dunaliella (D. viridis, D. salina, D. primolecta, and D. tertiolecta). The working hypothesis for the study is glutamine will prove to be more effective in growth of Dunaliella due to the additional nitrogen (an extra amine group) in the molecule over glutamate. Our growth study showed glutamine better supported growth of both viridis and primolecta, while Dunaliella salina showed a negligible growth response on amino acids. Student Author(s): Maxwell Maurer, Sophomore, Physics, High Point University Mentor(s): Briana Fiser, High Point University Presentation: Physics, Poster Session 3 (1:00 - 2:15), Poster Number 51 Agarose as a Mucus Simulant For Use In a Biomimetic Cilia System Mucociliary clearance is a complex process in the lung, which involves the coordination of arrays of biological cilia and the propulsion of the fluid mucus. When this process does not function as it should, diseases such as immotile cilia syndrome or cystic fibrosis can occur. To further our understanding of biological cilia-driven mucus movement, a biomimetic cilia system consisting of flexible and magnetic core-shell microrods can be used with fluids similar to natural mucus, which is a viscoelastic fluid. We investigated the properties of the polysaccharide agarose, for use as our mucus simulant, by adding fluorescent beads one micron in diameter to varying
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