The MU Summer Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum showcases the creative and scholarly activities that undergraduates have been engaged in over the summer. All students engaged in scholarly or creative activity with a faculty mentor are invited to present their work.

Recent Submissions

  • Interactions of gender, age, and reporter on different domains of behavioral autonomy [abstract] 

    Yoon, Yesel; Campione-Barr, Nicole, 1976- (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Autonomy "pertains not to freedom from others, but freedom to carry out actions on one's own behalf while maintaining appropriate connections to others" (Collins et al., 1997) and is a central task of adolescence. The ...
  • Wading in the gene pool: Female preference for long mating calls in gray treefrogs (Hyla versicolor) [abstract] 

    Yi, Si Yol; Gordon, Noah M., 1968-; Gerhardt, H. Carl; Welch, Allison (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Female gray treefrogs (Hyla versicolor) exhibit a clear preference for long mating calls. Moreover, the expression of this preference varies. The "good genes" model of sexual selection suggests that this is because females ...
  • Characterization of soybean genes involved in soybean cyst nematode (SCN) resistance [abstract] 

    Yeckel, Gregory; Ithal, Nagabhushana; Nettleton, Dan; Recknor, Justin; Wu, Xiaolei R.; Nguyen, Henry T.; Mitchum, Melissa G. (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    The expansion of the soybean cyst nematode (SCN; Heterodera glycines) across soybean producing regions of the United States shows no signs of slowing. Resistant soybean germplasm has been used as the primary strategy to ...
  • Chromosomal evolution in Brassicacae: Allopolyploidy, aneuploidy and transgene transmission [abstract] 

    Wright, Kirsten; Ellis, Nathanael; Waheed, Omar; Xiong, Zhiyong; Rehman, Maqsood; Stewart, Neil; Pires, J. Chris (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Polyploidy is a eukaryotic phenomenon common to plants that serves as an evolutionary mechanism for speciation. Diploid species undergo polyploidization through single genome duplication (autopolyploidy) or by the hybridization ...
  • Synthesis of a prosthetic group for radiolabeling of Melanoma targeting peptide Re-CCMSH [abstract] 

    Wolf, Mark; Zhang, Xiuli; Quinn, Thomas P. (Thomas Patrick), 1961- (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    There is currently no cure for malignant melanoma and the best hope for a patient is early diagnosis and surgical excision. A promising approach to early cancer diagnosis is the use of radiolabeled peptides for tumor ...
  • Protecting biodiversity: Riparian buffers directly affect Appalachian headwater salamanders [abstract] 

    Wisdom, Josh; Semlitsch, Raymond D.; Peterman, William Earl, 1982- (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    There is growing evidence of worldwide amphibian decline. These declines are largely due to land use such as timber harvest in riparian zones. The southern Appalachian Mountains have miles of streams and arguably the ...
  • Cultural messages create Hobson's choice for black women [abstract] 

    Wilson-Frails, Maria; Anderson, Carol (Carol Elaine) (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Once only seen as a gay white male disease, HIV/AIDS continues to rise in heterosexual black women and has hit in a way that would have looked like impossible twenty years ago. The reason for this is no mere coincidence, ...
  • On air: Evaluating streaming MPEG4 video performance over wireless networks [abstract] 

    Williamson, Robert; Driscoll, Nicole; Liberman, Joshua; Novinger, Jason; Lu, Haibin; Zeng, Wenjun, 1967- (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    There is not a clear consensus on how open-standard video streaming technologies perform across wireless computer networks. Wireless networking technologies have become nearly ubiquitous, particularly in residential networks, ...
  • Lust for rusty dust: An investigation of MgFeOs around AGB stars with a 13m feature [abstract] 

    Wheeler, Caleb; Speck, Angela K. (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Circumstellar dust is the key to understanding the cosmos. Circumstellar dust forms around a star from the newly-formed elements ejected by the star. The constituent particles of the dust are determined by processes deep ...
  • What nest condition tells us about predators and nest success for birds [abstract] 

    Walz-Salvador, Miles; Faaborg, John, 1949- (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Since the 1990's scientists have become concerned about the declining population of migratory birds. A reduction in available habitat in wintering grounds and stop-over sites during migration may contribute to the decline ...
  • An analysis of wireless security in Columbia, MO [abstract] 

    Walton, Johnathon; Mixon, John; Harper, Clayton; Dale, Matthew; Lu, Haibin (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    The current state of wireless security in most areas can be estimated Based on trends and collected data, but the complete picture is often unknown. Without collecting the information on most wireless access points in a ...
  • Yeast two-hybrid screen of PGAM5 [abstract] 

    Unverferth, Julie; Lo, Shih-Ching, 1979-; Hannink, Mark, 1958- (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    PGAM5 is a member of the phosphoglycerate mutase family. It has been identified as a substrate for BTB-Kelch protein Keap1, a substrate adaptor for a cullin-based ubiquitin ligase. Keap1 plays an important role in cellular ...
  • Test of the half-center model for locomotor activity in adult lamprey spinal cord [abstract] 

    St. Paul, Alison; Hargis, Sarah; McClellan, Andrew (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Rhythmic motor behaviors, such as locomotion, chewing, scratching, copulation, and communication, are critical for survival. In all animals, rhythmic motor activity is produced by central patterns generators (CPGs) which ...
  • Better grains for feed; translational miscoding may lead to amino acid enrichment in cereal crops. [abstract] 

    Stone, Zachary; Folk, William Robert (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    The twenty aminoacyl tRNA synthetases have evolved from either of two distinct progenitors and are distinguishable by their structures and tRNA binding domain. The extant lysyl synthetases (KRS) are an exception, in that ...
  • PPFM to the plant: Just say NO! [abstract] 

    Spencer, Christopher; Witzig, Stephen B.; Polacco, Joseph C., 1944- (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Pink-pigmented commensal bacteria, Methylobacterium spp. are facultative methylotrophs (i.e. they utilize methanol, but they can also use other carbon compounds) commonly referred to as PPFMs. PPFMs associate with seeds ...
  • Determination of conditions for optimum labeling of DOTA-Y3-Octreotate with terbium-161 [abstract] 

    Spatola, Bradley; Cutler, Cathy S.; Engelbrecht, Hendrik P.; Cantorias, Melchor V.; Somashekar, C. (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    DOTA-Y3-Octreotate (DOTA-TATE) and other somatostatin analogs can be labeled with radionuclides for cancer-fighting applications. Specifically, the radiolanthanides are of great interest to the radiopharmaceutical industry ...
  • Assessment of vegetation units within Columbia park and wildlife areas [abstract] 

    Smith, Ellis J.; Nilon, Charles H., 1956- (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    The management of park and wildlife areas is an important aspect of city management. Parks and nature areas are used for numerous purposes; recreation, community events, and exercise are but a few. These areas may also ...
  • Radiative transfer modeling of low to intermediate mass stars [abstract] 

    Smith, Anthony; Speck, Angela K. (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Most stars in the universe, ~95%, are low to intermediate mass stars (LIMS), meaning that their masses range from 0.8 to 8 solar masses. When these stars near the end of their lives, they enter the AGB phase during which ...
  • Separation of radiolanthanides by high performance liquid chromatography [abstract] 

    Sisay, Nebiat; Somshekar, Chandrika; Wilder, Stacey; Embree, Mary; Culter, Cathy (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Studies were carried out to develop a method for the separation of radiolanthanides using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Radiolanthanides are essential for radiotherapy and/or imaging of cancer and their ...
  • In vitro neural stem cell niche grown in 3D scaffold [abstract] 

    Shoults, Catherine; Zigler, Rachel E.; Pierret, Chris, 1972-; Kirk, Mark D. (University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2007)
    Recent studies show that adult neural tissues can harbor stem cells within unique niches. In the mammalian central nervous system, neural stem cell (NSC) niches are present in the dentate gyrus and the subventricular zone ...

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