Cilia and flagella are identical brush-like organelles found on the surfaces of eukaryotic cells and are involved in motility, sensing, and signaling. Defects in cilia assembly or function lead to polycystic kidney disease, congenital heart disease, Bardet Biedl syndrome, and other emerging ciliopathies. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, one of the most well-studied flagella model organisms, regeneration of flagella to normal length and normal function occurs within 90 minutes of acid-shock deflagellation. During this process hundreds of genes are induced. Much is left to be determined about how cells regulate expression of these genes: How do cells detect the presence or absence of cilia? How do cells send an ‘absence of cilia’ signal to the nucleus? How are the hundreds of genes encoding cilia proteins coordinated with each other? Previous experiments found that cells that failed to upregulate a reporter of flagella gene expression also had a delay in flagella regeneration. The goals of this experiment were to generate new C. reinhardtii insertional mutants defective in cilia regeneration, to identify the mutated genes in these strains, and ultimately, to identify transcription factors and signaling components needed for flagella assembly. 3000 hygromycin-resistant colonies were generated by the insertion of aph7” DNA fragment through electroporation. 42 of the 3000 colonies exhibited defective flagella structure, defective motility, or delayed flagella regeneration; 14 of these 42 mutants had delay in regenerating their flagella. To identify the mutated genes, genomic DNA for a subset of mutant strains was extracted, and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) reactions were set up using the Restriction Enzyme Site Directed Amplification polymerase chain reaction (RESDA PCR) protocol with primers specific for the aph7” insert combined with four different degenerate primers. DNA fragments from successful PCR reactions were gel purified and sequenced. Using this method, mutated genes were identified and characterized to identify the proteins encoded by these genes. Flagella regeneration and reporter gene assays were conducted to further characterize the phenotypes of two of the mutants originally identified as having a delay.

The purpose of this research was to determine if signs and symptoms of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) could be detected in college athletes who have suffered multiple concussions. College athletes are likely to be at an increased risk of suffering a concussion, due to the high-impact trauma that is often seen in contact sports. This question was explored through the use of a survey, cognitive test, known as the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Beck Depression Inventory. The questions on the survey included necessary background information (i.e. age and sex), as well as more personal information including; number of concussions and organized sports played. The Beck depression inventory quantified the research subject’s level of depression, which is associated with CTE. The Mini Mental State Examination is another clinical test used primarily with Alzheimer’s disease patients to examine cognitive degeneration. We found no notable differences in cognition between members of the control group and members of the experimental group. However, the results of the Beck Depression Inventory displayed a significant difference between the two groups. The average score for the control group was a 5.5, which is considered normal, whereas, the average score of the experimental group was an 18, which would be considered borderline clinical depression. This would suggest that college athletes who have suffered multiple concussions may be more likely to be diagnosed with clinical depression, and some signs of CTE may be detectible in college athletes.

Marine fouling communities are comprised of various marine organisms that begin life as planktonic larvae before attaching to submerged surfaces. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the substrate preferences of marine organisms that commonly foul New England marinas. Two sets of four 14x14cm fouling plates were constructed out of one of four materials: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), fiberglass, concrete or slate. These plates were suspended off a floating dock at 1 and 2 meters below the surface of the water. The 16 plates were placed at the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina in East Boston, MA, on 17 July 2016 and photographed every two weeks until 4 December 2016 for a total of 20 weeks. Individual organisms were counted and the percent cover calculated for colonial species to examine what settled and general abundance. It was found that the most common fouling organisms were Ciona intestinalis, Molgula sp., and Botrylloides violaceus. Ascidiella aspersa and Botryllus schlosseri were also present. The two most common solitary species present on all plate materials were C. intestinalis and Molgula sp. with B. violaceus being the most common colonial species. C. intestinalis showed a preference for the concrete plates over the other available surfaces. B. violaceus was most common on the slate plates. All colonial ascidians were observed growing on other organisms showing their involvement in secondary settlement. Understanding the substrate preference of these species develops a baseline for further research and the potential to control the spread of invasive species naturally.

Plastic pollution causes mortality of marine vertebrates, endangers populations, and affects entire ecosystems. This literature review examines the effects of macroplastic on marine animals. Through scholarly databases, the author researched how plastic negatively impacts ecosystems and marine vertebrates. The major themes (e.g. toxicity, hazardous ingestion or entanglement) of forty-eight sources were analyzed or evaluated in this paper. Plastic pollution is a major phenomenon that is affecting the health of the marine environment. Anthropogenic debris makes its way around the world via ocean currents and can affect coastal and oceanic animals. Macroplastics are plastics larger than 0.5 mm and are visible to the naked eye. Organisms such as marine mammals, seabirds, and fish are affected by macroplastics through ingestion, entanglement, or direct contact generally because plastics can contain many toxic additives. Solutions to plastic pollution effects on marine vertebrates include sustainable fishing practices and reduction/management of waste.

The full impact of disease on a patient’s life and on immediate family is often unseen or unknown. Salem State students were surveyed on how family members’ ailments make them feel emotionally and affect family relationships and home life. Results indicate that Salem State students with illness in their immediate family have close relationships with family members, feel negatively about familial illness and do not take on family responsibilities other than household chores. Support within the family is adequate for coping with illness, though outside support could be beneficial in the expression of fears and concerns or suppressing negative emotions associated with familial illness.

The common wood-nymph, Cercyonis pegala, is a North American butterfly found throughout the United States, northern Mexico, and southern Canada. Cercyonis pegala agawamensis is a recently described subspecies that is differentiated from other subspecies of C. pegala based on habitat, behavior, and phenotype. A major defining characteristic is habitat, with C. pegala agawamensis found in salt marsh habitat, C. pegala maritima in coastal upland habitat, and C. pegala nephele in a northeastern upland habitat. The level of genetic differentiation between the subspecies is unknown; therefore, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships among C. pegala agawamensis, C. pegala nephele, and C. pegala maritime using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. COI is a 648 base-pair region that is used as a barcoding standard to help identify the relationships between species and subspecies. Eight mtDNA haplotypes were found among 31 samples of the three subspecies. The data show that C. pegala nephele is genetically different from C. pegala agawamensis and C. pegala maritima. However, there is no genetic differentiation between C. pegala maritima and C. pegala agawamensis. Small phenotypic differences used to identify samples sometimes placed subspecies in atypical habitats (for example, C. pegala maritima in salt marsh habitat). Therefore, there does not appear to be a genetic, morphological or habitat basis to justify separate subspecies status for C. pegala agawamensis.

We have used an insertional mutagenesis approach to generate new C. reinhardtii motility mutants. Of 56 mutants isolated, one is a new allele at the ODA3 locus, called oda3-6. Similar to the previously characterized oda3 alleles, oda3-6 has a slow-jerky swimming phenotype and reduced swimming speed. The oda3-6 mutant fails to assemble the outer dynein arm motor and outer dynein arm—docking complex (ODA-DC) in the ciliary axoneme due to an insertion in the 5’ end of the DCC1 gene, which encodes the DC1 subunit of the ODA-DC. Transformation of oda3-6 with the wild-type DCC1 gene rescues the mutant swimming phenotype and restores assembly of the ODA-DC and the outer dynein arm in the cilium. This is the first oda3 mutant to be characterized at the molecular level and is likely to be very useful for further analysis of DC1 function.

The training of the next generation of climate-change researchers is of utmost importance as climate change and its associated impacts take on increasing local, regional, and global relevance. This report seeks to address this issue by highlighting aspects of a successful climate-change Ph.D. program; a program which seeks to balance traditional disciplinary training with exposure to the broader, interdisciplinary climate-change community.

Keynote speech/workshop on Art/Science integration in K12 Education at the Wadsworth Museum Summer Teacher Institute. The talk explores three main benefits of STEAM in K12 classrooms: Close Looking/Observation, Time on Task, and Returns to Creativity. Includes results from original research by Lisa Delissio and Rebecca Rohloff.

Sediment samples were collected from two Hawai'ian beaches, Kahuku Beach on O'ahu and Kamilo Beach on the Big Island of Hawai'i. A total of 48,988 large microplastic and small mesoplastic (0.5–8 mm) particles were handpicked from the samples and sorted into four size classes (0.5–1 mm, 1–2 mm, 2–4 mm, 4–8 mm) and nine color categories. For all sizes combined the most common plastic fragment color was white/transparent (71.8%) followed by blue (8.5%), green (7.5%), black/grey (7.3%), red/pink (2.6%), yellow (1.2%), orange (0.6%), brown (0.3%) and purple (0.2%). Color frequency distribution based on both numbers and mass of particles was not significantly different among the various size classes nor between the two beaches. White and black/grey resin pellets accounted for 11.3% of the particles collected from Kahuku Beach and 4.2% of the particles from Kamilo Beach. Plastic type based on Raman Spectrometer analysis of a small representative subsample indicated that most of the fragments were polyethylene and a few were polypropylene. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.11.009