May 12, 2022
150多名高年级学生发表了研究报告, 浩博体育app高级浩博体育app日的音乐和艺术活动, an event that gives students the opportunity to present the culmination of their years of study while honoring the professors who acted as their mentors.
“Senior Scholars Day gives us a chance to see the amazing intellectual transformation of our students from their first year to their senior year,教务长戴夫·拉姆萨兰说.
水中药物鉴别
Credit: Gordon WenzelEthan Fix ’22, a chemistry 来自宾夕法尼亚州大湾制革厂的专业，与副教授一起工作 Lou Ann Tom to determine if molecularly imprinted polymers can be used to detect low concentrations of certain pharmaceuticals — warfarin and oxycodone — in water.
费克斯用一小块水样本穿过聚合物，聚合物呈粉末状. 如果药物存在，那么药物也只有药物会附着在聚合物上.
“在我们制造聚合物之后, 印迹聚合物包含被使用的模板, 羟考酮或华法林都行, 为那个分子形成特定的口袋. The goal is to remove as much of this initial template as possible to evaluate how well the pockets retain their respective template,” Fix explained. “我们打捞了73具尸体.6%的羟考酮和74.9%的华法林使用分子印迹聚合物.
“这不是一个预防性的解决方案,” Fix said, “but it is something industry could use to make sure the waste they are discharging from their facility is clear from pharmaceutical residue.”
Fix plans to attend Clemson University in the fall to pursue his doctorate in environmental engineering.
测定沿海鸟类中微塑料的存在
卡拉·布伦南，22岁，双学位 ecology and environmental studies该研究旨在确定淡水和海洋鸟类体内微塑料的存在.
To do this, 布伦南检查了39只白鹭的胃内容物, gulls, herons and osprey from Mid-Atlantic states — which were provided to her from a rescue facility. 她发现除了一只鸟外，每只鸟身上都有2到60块微塑料.
布伦南，他的研究由 Carlos Iudica，副教授 biology在美国，最常见的是黑色纤维、泡沫碎片和其他无法识别的碎片.
Laughing gulls, known for their scavenging ways, had the heaviest microplastics load, Brennan said. 来自海湾地区的鸟类也含有更多的微塑料, 而不是大西洋沿岸的鸟类.
“很难看出我检查的鸟类是否因这些微塑料而死亡, but certainly birds that ingest larger pieces of plastic or have ingested enough that it forms a blockage can die from this pollution,” Brannan said.
Brennan is currently looking for a professional position in environmental consulting with plans to attend graduate school in the future.
剥夺选举权改革的影响
凯蒂·厄尔，22岁，主修三科 political science, legal studies and sociology, conducted research to determine if restoring voting rights to disenfranchised convicted felons would lead to an increase in voter turnout.
“The criminal justice system disproportionately negatively impacts individuals of color,” Earle said. “And as a result, federal disenfranchisement work as another way to suppress minority votes.”
厄尔，他的研究是由 Rolfe Peterson, 政治学副教授, 试图审查个人是否会重新获得投票权, 他们会投票吗. To test this, she analyzed 22 states that have enacted disenfranchisement reforms from the years 1997 to 2019 and voter turnout in these state pre- and post-reform.
她的调查结果显示，平均而言，选民投票率增加了.在剥夺公民权改革法案通过后，总统选举支持率为7%. In Virginia alone, a state on which Earle conducted a case study, voter turnout increased 12.2%.
“These findings help support the theory that once more voting rights are restored and citizens can participate in civic engagement again, 参加总统选举的选民将会增加,” she said.
为什么有些蜘蛛会排出粪便?
Amalia Esposito ’22, 在科罗波利斯大学获得生物学和生态学双学位, Pennsylvania, 介绍了她对钱袋蜘蛛的研究, a type of tarantula, 投射它的排泄物，把它用作漂流栅栏, or a long, 连续的线来控制猎物或捕食者的运动.
“排泄是动物一个必要的生物过程. 对大多数人来说，排便的主要目的是消除废物，”埃斯波西托说. “钱包网蜘蛛从它们的洞穴顶部发射大便. 我们假设它们可能会用它们的排泄物来引导或改变猎物或捕食者的方向.”
Along with Professor Matt Persons, Esposito found that the spiders ejected their waste an average of 23 centimeters from their web — but some ejected as far as 43 centimeters — or about 25 body lengths. 她还发现，钱包网在排泄时表现出强烈的方向性偏向, 是什么导致其他不同种类的蜘蛛冻死的, 已知的威胁响应.
“The linear patterns the purseweb spiders create are consistent with a drift fence and the patterns do appear to change the behavior of at least one possible prey species,” Esposito said.
埃斯波西托计划读研究生，从事生物技术方面的职业.