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COHORT 11 ~ 2005-2006
Testing the Role of Pla2g2a in Azoxymethane-Induced Colon Cancer
Lindsey Bade, Biochemistry/Cell Biology
University of Duluth
Robert T. Cormier, Ph.D., Mentor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Minnesota, Medical School Duluth
ABSTRACT
Testing the Role of Pla2g2a in Azoxymethane-Induced Colon Cancer, uses mouse models to extend previous work done on the secretory phospholipase Pla2g2a by determining whether Pla2g2a can prevent colon tumors in mice treated with the chemical carcinogen azoxymethane. Previous studies have shown that expression of Pla2g2a can prevent tumor development throughout the intestinal tract of ApcMin/+ mice, especially in the colon. In our study, B6 mice are used as the control group as this inbred strain of mice is the background strain on which the Pla2g2a transgene was created. While it is expected that the azoxymethane treatment will cause colon tumorigenesis in both of the genotypes used, it is hypothesized that those mice with the Pla2g2a gene will show a greater resistance to azoxymethane-induced colon cancer, measured by number, size, and progression of tumors. Significantly, this finding would be demonstrate that Pla2g2a can act via an Apc-independent pathway. This study will be used in collaboration of other projects in the pursuit of understanding how Pla2g2a could be used in cancer therapies. To date, weaned pups have been genotyped and given weekly injections of azoxymethane. Mice are currently being sacrificed according to schedule.
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The Mystery of Change and Acquired Confidence
Resultant of the Student Nurse Internship: A Reflection
Amber Carringten, Nursing
The College of St. Scholastica
Carrie Taylor Kemp, M.A., Mentor
School of Arts and Letters - English
The College of St. Scholastica
Introduction
Many professions include an internship or apprenticeship as a rite of passage into the conglomerate working market. The nursing profession is no longer an exception to this tradition, for it has caught on to the concept of this phenomenon and seamlessly incorporated it into the education experience for student nurses.
If one can properly orient and welcome new nurses to the field, it could serve to more effectively provide a means of curbing the problem of a potential nursing workforce crisis. Too many times, students encounter seasoned nurses that carry with them many years of wisdom and knowledge, yet are unwilling to share this treasured resource with the up and coming professionals.
The internship can be a source of remedy for this epidemic of student-directed disdain. It was as a junior student in my college's nursing program that I was first introduced to the idea of internships, and what appealed most to me was the opportunity to practice what had been learned to that point in my education. It seemed that it would make a difference to practice any such lesson in a more professional setting. Coincidingly, Heslop, McIntyre, & Ives (2001) define the academic world as the setting wherein theory and systematic knowledge is taught, and as a means of furthering this head knowledge, the clinical setting allows for the primary practice of professional skills. Not to say that the scholarly clinical setting is not complete in its education, for it does serve to be the student's first opportunity to view the profession at work, however, it does have limitations.
At The College of St. Scholastica, the average clinical experience for a junior nursing student is 10 hours per week, consisting of two five-hour sessions. This adds up to approximately 240 hours throughout the 24 viable clinical weeks of an entire school year. Now consider the summer internship experience: most students fall under the umbrella of working 32-40 hours for each of 10-12 weeks. That equals 320-480 hours of pure clinical time - a 133-200% increase in practice in 42-50% of the time span! What other opportunity does the undergraduate nursing student have for such practice?
As a consequence of this previous limit of hands-on patient experience, many students feel unsure of their clinical abilities and are more than aware of their knowledge deficiencies. They feel strongly that they are "just students." What these unsure learners need is an enhanced opportunity to spread their wings, to test the knowledge they possess, and to grow and build upon that knowledge. Through the correct combination of a motivated student nurse and an empathetic, highly-knowledgeable preceptor in an internship environment, the student will benefit from ample practice as proven by the manifestation of the student's increased level of confidence in his or her abilities and an overall more effective preparation for professional work post-graduation. A. Jones (2001) agrees that operative supervision from practiced registered nurses can assist student nurses to grow into their full potential. Most definitely, student nurse internships are an imperative component to the development of success-producing characteristics in registered nurses of the future.
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The Broken Window Theory: A Small Urban Community's Perception
George Diaz, History
The College of St. Scholastica
Kathleen Cargill, M.A., Mentor
School of Arts and Letters - History, Politics, and Culture
The College of St. Scholastica
ABSTRACT
The objective of this field research pilot study was to establish the perception of The Broken Window Theory in a small urban community. Two components were involved within this research pilot study. The first component of the research pilot study examined the opinion of the citizens and its law enforcement officers from an urban northern Wisconsin city by administrating two surveys that The Broken Window Theory, their opinions about vandalism, and about community /law enforcement responses to vandalism. The second component of the research pilot study consists of a proposal to examine the theory's legitimacy. The proposal will composed of observing and recording all acts of vandalism within an urban neighborhood in a northern Wisconsin city for two weeks. After two weeks, a vehicle would be placed within that neighborhood and become vandalized. Then the vehicle would be observed and recorded for the following two weeks. Data would be analyzed and compared to establish if vandalism increased do to the vehicles placement. This proposal would confirm the validity and accuracy of The Broken Window Theory.
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Is There a Relationship between Veteran status, Homelessness, and Incarceration?
Michael D. Dickinson, Social Work
The College of St. Scholastica
Lee Gustafson, Ph.D., Mentor
School of Health Sciences - Social Work
The College of St. Scholastica
ABSTRACT Many military veterans who have served their country and protected the people of the< United States are being incarcerated for the "crime" of being homeless. These homeless men and women served their country either by fighting during wartime or by maintaining military readiness during peacetime. Some of these veterans voluntarily enlisted into one of the various branches of the military while others had no choice as they fell under the draft during wartime. Many do not have the skills and resources to successfully reenter civilian life and survive in society after they are discharged from the military. They need help in multiple ways: medical, financial, educational, emotional, spiritual, etc. However we as United States citizens do not always support and honor our veterans; rather, we allow many of them to bear the devastating consequences of homelessness.
Per capita, the ranks of the homeless include significantly more veterans than non-veterans. Why are these veterans initially becoming homeless? It may be a combination of reentry into civilian society where their military experience does not necessarily equate to employability, of substance abuse directly related to an inability to re-integrate into society, of various mental illnesses such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and many other variables.
Why are these veterans remaining homeless? Homelessness, as well as the methods that the homeless use to survive, often lead to incarceration in our society. It is significantly more difficult for a person to find housing once they have been incarcerated because normally they no longer have the finances needed and/or they have lost any previous support network. To complicate this matter, it is extremely difficult to find rewarding work that would enable a person to be fully self-supporting once that person has a prison record. Sadly, homelessness and eventual incarceration seem to be an endless cycle with no hope in sight.
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Characterization of T Cell Repertoire and Cytokines
Important for sHIgM12 Generation of T Cell Response
Joseph Dolence, Biochemistry/Biology
The College of St. Scholastica
Larry Pease, Ph.D., Mentor
Department of Immunology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Mayo Graduate School
Gerald Cizadlo, Ph.D., Advisor
School of Sciences - Biology
The College of St. Scholastica
ABSTRACT An IgM antibody found in a Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia patient, sHIgM12, cross-links B7-DC (PD-L2) on the surface of dendritic cells and generates a fast cytolytic T cell response in only six days to numerous tumor cell lines such as B16 melanoma and TUBO. This response is perforin-dependent, a CD8+ T cell mediated response with the features of a classical CTL response. Many cells exist in our T cell repertoire from naïve to memory. The swiftness, strength, and lack of effector cell proliferation of this sHIgM12-generated killing indicates activation of part of the repertoire in the middle of this spectrum. A B16 OVAtk experiment verifies previous work in characterization of this response by stimulating 'idling' cells through sHIgM12 treatment after enough OVA is recognized due to intentional release of OVA peptide through a 5 d. consecutive GCV treatment. These cells kill EL-4 targets pulsed with SIINFEKL, the CD8+ T cell epitope for OVA. This work also addresses important molecules for this fast response. Many molecules potentially play a role from cytokines to adhesion and signaling molecules. Understanding this response is crucial in understanding sHIgM12s therapeutic potential for cancer patients. A new model is developed to tease out important molecules. The model uses a simple strategy of adoptively transferring sHIgM12 treated KO DCs into a host mouse, and 6 days later, we target endogenous lymphocytes collected from the lymph node against the same adoptively transferred DC population. If killing occurs, the knocked out molecule isn't crucial in the 6 d window. If killing ceases, the knocked out molecule must be necessary for DC-T cell interaction and producing the rapid response. In addition to developing the model, we use a classic strategy to discover answers, genetic knockout mice. Using IL-12 KOs, we show this cytokine is very crucial in the 6 d window. IL-12 KOs failed to produce a CTL response against tumor, while WT BALB/c responded. Current work with B6 C4 complement protein KOs indicates the inability of complement to activate through the classical cascade does not effect the generation of 6 d CTL. Throughout these studies, the goal is to understand sHIgM12's therapeutic potential and mechanisms of action in generating such a fast CTL.
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The role of kainate receptors in the off response of the salamander retina
Noelle F. Ekwochi, Biology
The College of St. Scholastica
Robert F. Miller, Ph.D., Advisor
Department of Neuroscience
The University of Minnesota
ABSTRACT
The retina is a vast network of cellular components designed to transform light stimuli into electrical signals for the brain. Bipolar cells are one of the many types of cells necessary for visual processing in the retina. Although mammalian OFF bipolar cells have been shown to contain kainate receptors, little is known about the function of kainate receptors in the amphibian retina. Electrophysiological techniques were used to determine the role of kainate receptors in response to light stimuli in the Tiger Salamander retina. The application of the kainate-specific blocker, SYM 2081 (Tocris), resulted in a decreased on and off response suggesting that kainate receptors are involved in these signals. However, the addition of the kainate receptor antagonist UBP 301 (Tocris) caused an unexpected increase in both the on and off response.
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Investigating the Immortal Strand Hypothesis in Adult Stem Cells
Pamela Knetter, Biology
The College of St. Scholastica
Samuel Boutin, Ph.D., D.V.M., Mentor
James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Department of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
George M. Church, Ph.D., Mentor
Center for Computational Genetics
Harvard Medical School
Jane Wattrus, M.S., Advisor
School of Sciences - Biology
The College of St. Scholastica
ABSTRACT
The low occurrence of stem cells in adult tissues compounded with their lack of distinguishing features makes them difficult to identify and isolate. The purpose of this research was to find a way to detect and count adult stem cells. Murine embryo fibroblasts were induced to cycle asymmetrically and symmetrically using a Zinc-activated promoter on the p53 gene. These groups of cells served as an analog to stem cells and non-stem cells, respectively. Molecular markers such as absent phosphodiester bonds (nicks) and single-stranded regions (gaps) in the double-helix form of DNA were tested for with agarose gel electrophoresis and polymerase colony (polony) reactions. Further research is needed to determine if such differences exist in the DNA of the two cell lines.
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Historical Role of the High School Counselor
Emily Kyllonen, Behavioral Arts and Science
The College of St. Scholastica - Duluth
Mari Trine, Ph.D., Mentor
School of Arts and Letters - History, Culture, and Politics
The College of St. Scholastica - Duluth
ABSTRACT
The body of this literature reviews historical role of the school counselor from when school counseling began in the early 1900s up until the 1980s, predominately focusing on the school counselor's role during the 1940s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. In analyzing the role of the school counselor, it is very clear that the role expectations were changing throughout each decade. Role expectations of the school counselor experienced many changes through the years but many staff were unable to keep up with these changes. Furthermore, role ambiguity persisted in the school counseling profession from the 1940s to the 1980s. To understand the school counseling profession today, it is important to understand its brief history, the changing role expectations of school counselors throughout history, and the role confusion that the school counselors experienced.
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Creating a Culture of Health and Wellness on a College Campus:
A Literature Review
Lindsay Leveille, Biochemistry/Biology
The College of St. Scholastica
Tad Sears, M.A., M.S.W., LICSW, Director
Student Center for Health and Well-Being
The College of St. Scholastica
ABSTRACT
This review of literature investigates the physical, mental, and spiritual health of college faculty and students and how health affects their work and academic performance. Previous studies have shown a strong connection between students' sleeping habits, exercise level, mental state and academic performance. Other related studies have shown that learning capacity and retention depends on the level of a student's health. Studies on college faculty indicate a correlation between work performance and health. The health of both faculty and students is essential for health of a college community as a whole. Students and faculty need to assess their health and well being and take the necessary actions to improve upon it. The findings in the literature contain larger implications related to the assumption that healthy college graduates contribute to society more than unhealthy college graduates contribute.
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Eugenics in American History: A Brief Overview
Jennifer Lund, History
The College of St. Scholastica
Carrie Taylor, M.A., Mentor
School of Arts and Letters - English
The College of St. Scholastica
ABSTRACT
The American Eugenics Movement promoted a new science that claimed humans could further their own evolution through selective breeding practices. This resulted in the implementation of Eugenic practices in all aspects of dominant society including the spheres of religion, education, and law. The effect was the imposed prejudices of dominant society on the mentally disabled, the poor, and people of color. This research will explain these effects as well as consider the future implications of Eugenic practices of the 21st century.
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Basic Human Needs of Immigrants and Refugees Currently Attending
the Duluth Adult Learning Center English as a Second Language Program
Natalie Muehlbauer, Social Work
The College of St. Scholastica
Marcia Runnberg, M.S.W., LICSW, Mentor
School of Health Sciences - Social Work
The College of St.Scholastica
ABSTRACT
The immigrant population of the Duluth/Superior Twin Ports region in northern Minnesota is one that often gets overlooked. In collaboration with the< Duluth Adult Learning Center, the researcher developed a comprehensive needs assessment survey tool. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 23 students attending the English as a Second Language Program. The results indicate some basic needs of immigrants and refugees are going unmet in the Twin Ports Community.
The researcher hypothesized that there will be a correlation between time spent in the Twin Ports and the stated needs and concerns. The researcher also hypothesized a correlation between the stated needs and concerns and if the subject has extended family members living in the Duluth community. The results did not prove this, but instead concluded that a multitude of factors including, but not limited to history, strength, environmental factors, and opportunities available all affect the needs and concerns of the immigrant or refugee.
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Clinical Determinates of Morbidity and Mortality in Heart Failure
Virginia B. Thayer, Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Vicki L. McHugh, M.S.; Ana M. Schaper, Ph.D.;
Sharon I. Barnhart, RN; Michelle A. Mathiason, M.S.
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, La Crosse, WI
Larry Birnbaum, Ph.D., Advisor
School of Sciences - Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Review of Literature
Heart failure (HF) is a challenging disease known for its demand on the individual, the health care system and providers encompassing physical, psychological, and financial magnitudes (Akosah & Carothers 2004; Nohria, Lewis, & Stevenson, 2002). HF continues to widen its embrace on the U.S. population affecting over five million people, numbering 550,000 new patient diagnoses per year (Akosah et al., 2004; Hunt, et al., 2005; Levy, et al., 2006; and Nohria et al., 2002). Due to the number of individuals HF affects, multiple studies on various forms of treatment have been performed in hopes of increasing the survival rate of those with the disease. The rate of HF diagnoses continues to increase despite decreasing death rates from myocardial infarctions and strokes, placing a greater demand on the understanding, treatment and management of the disease (Nohria et al., 2002). HF is a progressive disease and is best managed by those who have had specialized training in HF care (Akosah & Carothers, 2004). The purpose of this study is to determine the mortality of Gundersen Lutheran's HF clinic's patients with concurrent HF and chronic renal insufficiency compared with patients suffering from HF alone. A secondary objective is to evaluate the effects of optimal medical management on the mortality of patients with concurrent renal disease and HF.
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