PHYSIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY

 

 

High School

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The Effect of Indirubin E804 as an Alternative Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis as a Secondary Additive to Promote Primary Therapeutics
Alejandra Abramson, American Heritage School Plantation

An in-depth experiment to determine the effectiveness of secondary additives as support of a primary medication through a detail-oriented research website. 

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The Effects of the Modulation by Melatonin on the Pathogenesis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus on Drosophila melanogaster
Sharon Fernandez

There is a need for a cost-effective, safe, and accessible treatment for lupus. At least five million people around the world suffer from this disease. Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which one’s own tissue attacks itself. It can affect numerous areas of one’s body and could even cause death. The effects of melatonin, a hormone that regulates the circadian rhythm, on immunity are known; however, its interactions with autoimmune disorders remains obscure.In this experiment, three melatonin supplementations- direct melatonin, indirect melatonin as pistachios, and Serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT)-  were fed to previously synchronized Drosophila melanogaster populations. The lupus indexes (IgG antinuclear antibodies, Interleukin 6, and cortisol) were used to assay for the effectiveness of the melatonin supplementations. The hypothesis was that the NAT variable will have the lowest lupus index levels. After conducting the experiment, the averages of the variables were analyzed, and it was found that the NAT variable had the lowest lupus index and highest melatonin levels, thus exemplifying that melatonin and the lupus indexes are inversely proportional. Furthermore, an ANOVA Statistics was tested along with Tukey's HSD follow-up, which supported the hypothesis. The direct melatonin was the second most effective variable, including the positive control; consequently, both of these supplementations could be considered viable treatments. Even though there are medications that can help treat lupus, they have limitations. These include the fact that melatonin is an economical alternative that is more attainable. Additionally, they have fewer side effects and do not cause addiction.

 

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Early Detection of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Aditya Kapadia, American Heritage School Plantation

What methods can we use to diagnose and detect rheumatoid arthritis earlier, and thereby improve the quality of life of those affected by it.

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Gene Therapy in Regards to Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM): a Review
Rachel Kludy, American Heritage School

This literary research project was completed in 2020. It means a lot to me personally, as ATM is a subject that affects me and my family as well as countless others, but goes unfortunately unnoticed in many circumstances.

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The Effect of Dexamethasone on Drosophila Melanogaster and its Arf79F Mutant
Asher Lee, American Heritage School Plantation

A website detailing the processes of my project.

 

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The Effect of Melatonin on Polyurethane-Induced Occupational Asthma in Drosophila Melanogaster.
Joseph Lee, Monta Vista High School

In my project, I treated occupational asthma in fruit flies using melatonin. I simulated asthma in flies by exposing them to polyurethane, which is a respiratory irritant. Every day I measured changes in locomotion and mortality rate, and after 5 days I found that melatonin decreased the negative impact of polyurethane on locomotion, supporting the hypothesis that melatonin plays a role in decreasing asthma symptoms.

 

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Determining the Relationship Between Allergic Airway Diseases, With a Priority on Asthma, and Covid-19 Using Meta-Analysis
Julian McQuirter, American Heritage School Plantation

My presentation gives a brief overview of my project exploring the relationship between asthma and COVID-19

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Testing the Effects of Folic Acid on the Growth of Platelets as a Therapeutic Treatment for Thrombocytopenia
Tara Muthuswamy, American Heritage School Boca/Delray

Folic acid is known to help generate red blood cells and is used as treatment for anemia. The purpose of this experiment is to test if folic acid has similar effects on platelets and can be used as a treatment for thrombocytopenia, and if so, how much folic acid is needed for the treatment to be most advantageous.

 

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Differences in Gut Microbiota as a Potential Factor in Alzheimer’s Disease Development
Briya Patel, American Heritage School Plantation

The project looks into how changes to the gut microbiome affect disease progression and development of Alzheimer's disease.

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COVID Antibody Development After Pfizer Vaccination
Lauren Rosenberg, Pine Crest School 

COVID-19, the newest novel coronavirus, was classified as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in March of 2020. One prominent vaccine that has emerged is the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. With the distribution process underway, it is important to perform further analyses verifying the efficacy of the vaccine and to collect more information regarding antibody development. This research investigates the time period for antibody development and analyzes confounding variables that could affect this time period. 

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Left Atrial Appendage Exclusion for Stroke Prevention
Kyra Servoss, Pine Crest School

My presentation involves research concerning the success rate of left atrial appendage exclusion for stroke prevention. My future studies will include analyzing the procedure's side effect of lowering blood pressure levels.

 

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What Would You Do If You Had More Time? Maximizing the Human Healthspan through Environmental and Lifestyle Factors with Influences on Associated Diseases through Genetics and Epigenetics, utilizing Statistical Models and Gene Expression Data
Chloe Sow, The Downtown School

In humans, the gap between healthspan, “the period of life spent without disease,” and lifespan has only widened in recent years, resulting in us spending an ever-increasing part of our lives being sick and in need of care. While there has been a recent increase in aging-related research, specific influences environmental and lifestyle factors play on healthspans through physiology, as well as genetics and epigenetics, remain unclear due to gaps in literature. Therefore, this study sought to 1) identify the most significant environmental and lifestyle factors that we, ourselves, can control to optimize the healthspan, and 2) elucidate its effects on aging-associated diseases, as they ultimately interrupt the human healthspan.

 

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In Silico Screening Via Image-Based Neural Networks to Increase Efficiency of Selecting Löfgren Syndrome Candidate Epitopes
Audrey Xie, American Heritage School Plantation

The immune system plays an important role in protecting the body against foreign particles and bacteria. One component of the human immune system is the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a large collection of genes that encode proteins on the surface of cells. Sarcoidosis is one kind of inflammatory disease with an unknown cause. Some research speculate on an autoimmune origin of sarcoidosis. This disease often presents as collections of inflammatory cells, or granulomas, in areas like the lungs or lymph nodes. It often manifests in the lungs and heart and may or may not be relieved by anti-inflammatory medication. Löfgren syndrome is a form of acute sarcoidosis with a specific presentation. These include fever, erythema nodosum, and bilateral hilar adenopathy. The cause of both Löfgren Syndrome and sarcoidosis is not known. However, there are several epitopes that are candidates for being the cause of Löfgren Syndrome. Finding the root cause of Löfgren Syndrome would aid in seeking a cure for sarcoidosis and help narrow down the qualifications for genetic predisposition to sarcoidosis. One promising avenue for finding the cause is HLA-DRB1*03:01. HLA-DRB1*03:01 is an allele that has been previously studied as a risk allele for other diseases. In order to determine the exact point of antigen recognition, one must narrow down the epitopes. Neural networks have previously been utilized to narrow down epitopes and identify patterns in MHC binding predictions. Binding prediction utilizing text-based neural networks has already been done, but utilizing structural images of peptides may improve the efficiency of MHC binding prediction. 

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Undergraduate

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Low Incidence of Mammary Cancers in Ungulates: A meta-analysis and causal review
Sarah Billings, Smith College

Mammary cancer is common in most mammals, but extremely rare in ungulates, which are mammals with hooves. Here we present a meta-data analysis and the first tabulation of available case studies of the disease in ungulates in order to examine three current theories regarding the observed low incidence of mammary cancer in these species. The hypotheses include: 1) hormone levels from frequent pregnancies prevent mammary cancer in ungulates; 2) the ungulate herbivorous diet and microbial digestion offer protection; or 3) a genetic factor shields ungulates from mammary cancer. Our analysis suggests that genetic factors are the most plausible cause of the low rates of mammary cancer in ungulates and does not support the hormone hypothesis. Direct or indirect effects of the intestinal microbiome cannot be excluded and require further research. Finally, we tabulate all of the well-documented primary and secondary case studies of ungulates with malignant mammary neoplasia in order to serve as a jumping-off point for future research. This comparative oncology analysis, illuminating factors that may lower the frequency of mammary cancer in ungulates, could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the disease in other mammals and might uncover novel therapeutic approaches.

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Impact of Hyperbaric Oxygen Exposure on Exercise Performance in the Diving Population
Elizabeth Considine, Georgetown University

Diving operations frequently require personnel to be submerged for extended periods of time, breathing either compressed air or oxygen. In addition, these operations may require repeated days of diving. Combining these factors may impact exercise performance immediately following diving. 

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An Analysis of the Concept of Herd Immunity:  How It Is Perceived by Different Age Groups
Belle Krubitski, Quinnipiac University

A survey was sent out to people of various ages to determine their perception regarding the concept of herd immunity and how it works.  

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Graduate

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Lower Back Problems and Leg Cramps: Are They Related?
Stephanie Arnold, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

Leg cramps is a common medical problem, with lots of uncertainties about the cause, the best diagnostic approach, and the best treatment. The medical literature is scarce when it comes to the relation between leg cramps and back problems.  Our objective is to determine if there is an association between leg cramps and lower back problems in adult patients visiting a primary health care center. Using a cross-sectional study design, adult patients presenting to our clinic were invited to complete a survey inquiring about basic demographics, the presence of leg cramps and their characteristics, the presence of lower back problems and their characteristics, in addition to modalities of treatment they have tried. We collected data on 290 patients (57% female) with mean age of 52. The majority of patients had cramps (67%), mostly bilateral (70%). Those cramps were mainly nocturnal (65%). Seventy-five of patients had a back problem, mostly (93%) within the last 3 months. This could be pain with no imaging done (27%), discopathy confirmed by imaging (25%), spinal stenosis (9%), sciatica (32%), degenerative disease (25%). Almost half of the patients denied having the cramps after the back issue. The main factors that were statistically significantly associated with leg cramps were the female sex, sciatica and degenerative disease. Patients described different methods to help with their cramps. Our findings reinforce the hypothesis that lower back problems could be associated with leg cramps. A radiculopathy could explain some cramps, to be confirmed in future studies.

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Ag-dependent engagement of CD8+ T cells with H-2Kb on brain endothelium required for CD8 entry and cerebral manifestation of malaria 
Cori Fain, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences 

In this work we focus on class I molecules on brain endothelium and their role in allowing immune cells into the brain parenchyma during pathology.  These data demonstrate that parasite-specific CD8+ T cells must undergo Ag-dependent engagement with H-2Kb class I molecule on CECs in order to become the fully activated CD8+ T cells capable of entry to brain parenchyma; thus, mediating cerebral malaria development.  

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The Relationship between Tear Film Scattering and Optical Quality in children with Dry Eye Disease
Zhao Jin, Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry

The  aim of this study is to investigate how changes in tear film scattering in children with dry eye disease affect optical quality evaluated by a double-pass technology. 

 

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The GABAb Receptor and Regulation of Gastric Motility
Elizabeth Kim, Georgetown University School of Medicine

The role of the GABAb receptor in the neural circuit regulating gastric motility has not been studied, even though in previous studies the use of a GABAb receptor agonist has been shown to stimulate gastric motility. We studied how stimulation of the inhibitory GABAb receptor in the brainstem allows for activation of motor neurons that stimulate gastric movement. We used in vitro patch clamp techniques to investigate this question. 

 

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Galectin-9 helps govern human B cell adhesion to and migration through human vascular endothelium
Lee Seng Lau, Florida International University- Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine

The understanding of the coordination of B cell migration and activation within the Lymph Node is limited. This study elucidates other sugar factors' role in regulation the efficiency of humoral immune responses. 

 

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ENT Practices Bigger Over Time
Dane Markham, Dane J Markham

Analyzing ENT practice consolidation from years 2012 to 2020. There is evidence to conclude there is considerable consolidation. This  negatively impacts healthcare as access to ENT care could be  restricted. 

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Estrogen promotes resistance to bevacizumab in murine models of non-small cell lung cancer
Sonia Patel, University of Texas MD Anderson

This study investigates the role of estrogen hormone in re-shaping the tumor microenvironment specifically through induction of tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells to aid resistance to bevacizumab, an anti-angiogenic VEGF monoclonal antibody.

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