Research Talks

While most biological communities require energy from photosynthesis, hydrothermal vents and a few unique cave systems, like Movile and Lechuguilla Cave, are powered by chemoautotrophy. For this study of a cave in central Tennessee, samples of bacterial communities were collected from a pool in an area called the “Petroleum Passage.” The pool has a sandy bottom with scattered patches that expel black droplets of an oily substance. Colored rings of sand around the patches and the presence of degraded hydrocarbon chains suggest microbial activity. Additionally, microbial samples collected from patches, bands, water, and actively growing cave formations were analyzed using metagenomic sequencing techniques. Analysis of nine samples identified 593 Bacteria and Archaea, including many unique species that metabolize sulfur and methane compounds, degrade hydrocarbons, or are associated with hydrothermal vents. Bacteria from the order Ardenticatenales, isolated from hydrothermal fields in Japan, were found in the yellow sand ring. Future plans include retrieving more targeted samples for metagenomic sequencing and salamander identification. This survey and future studies could provide insight to the cave’s origin, microbial species in extreme environments on Earth, and offer an example of a system previously suggested as the potential model for life in subsurface Mars.

In the United States, over two million people are incarcerated for a crime. Over 70% of inmates will reenter society, and the lingering question is does prison rehabilitate them? This is important because over 43% of inmates who serve prison time will return one day. We want to know what factors contribute to them returning as an inmate in the future. My hypothesis is that inmates with multiple offenses and less time served to violate parole. I used python tactics to describe my predictions. While making the predictions, I compare time served with parole violator. This shows whether the shorter of time served, has a correlation with whether they will re-offend. My conclusion is that those who were males who committed multiple offenses have higher rate of violating parole.

As people get older they are more likely to develop degenerative conditions that can destroy the functionality of their body. Some conditions degenerate the strength of the bones of the victims, leaving the muscles completely responsive but with a frame that is unable to support their weight without causing pain, which reduces the person’s desire to move. Some of the people affected by these conditions still wish to be autonomous outside the home, so for these longer trips assistance is needed. Assistance moving is often achieved by working with the patient as they attempt to do their desired action such as a walker or cane, so by creating an apparatus that applies force with their movements, they can become more independent. There are many programs that implement this idea, but they utilize it as a rehabilitative tool rather than as an everyday device. 

With the increasing desire and reality of humankind exploring space, we must try to resolve some issues that explorers will face during their travels. Since all astronauts produce body odor and must live in enclosed spaces for extended periods, it will be inevitable that body odor can become a problem. This is where cyclodextrins may prove helpful. Cyclodextrins are biodegradable, non-toxic, low-cost, cyclic oligosaccharides isolated from starch digestion. Cyclodextrins have been utilized to capture dyes for water remediation purposes, encapsulate volatile organic compound (VOCS), and are vital in the technology behind Febreze. In order to model their possible utility in air filtration units, I will be researching β-cyclodextrin functionalized cotton and testing its ability to capture body odor. A model compound, 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3M3SH) will serve as a body odor surrogate because it is the primary vital (stinky) compound found in human body odor. As an extension of the air filter work, I hope to pursue the possibility of designing innovative clothing by functionalizing the garment materials with β-cyclodextrin to capture body odor at the source. 

The development of new and efficient strategies for polymerization is crucial for the use in sealed atmospheres, such as spacecraft, space-based habitation pods, or even submarines. Traditional polymer construction materials, i.e. plastics, often contain non-reacted monomer molecules that may cause some material off-gassing adding to the chemical contaminants in the small, sealed space. Recently, ionic liquids specifically designed to be monomers can be polymerized to make new ionic liquid polymers that are expected to exhibit thermal and chemical stability and have virtually no vapor pressure. In this research, the route to a suitable ionic liquid monomer will involve the preparation of and subsequent polymerization of various isocyanate esters. These isocyanate groups have been demonstrated to undergo ring cyclization reactions in the presence of silver acetate to form substituted imidazole rings. These substituted isocyanates can be linked to form elaborate polyester backbones that also contain the imidazole ring for subsequent conversion to ionic liquids. The research is currently ongoing and this route is expected to be a powerful tool in material science.