Automated colony counting on agar plates remains a bottleneck in microbiology workflows, with manual counting prone to fatigue-driven error and existing automated systems often requiring fixed imaging setups. We present a distance-invariant colony counting system built on classical computer vision, designed to operate reliably under variable camera positioning and backlit plate illumination. The pipeline detects the plate boundary via Hough circle transform, flattens illumination gradients, and applies watershed segmentation to separate touching colonies before contour-based morphometric filtering rejects non-colony artifacts. A two-layer anomaly detection system flags abnormal colonies: a statistical layer operating from the first plate, and a machine learning classifier designed to activate as labelled data accumulates. The system is organized around organism-by-plate-type profiles spanning 39 organisms and 11 media types, allowing profile-aware interpretation of colony morphology. Central to the design is a human-in-the-loop validation workflow, where users confirm, flag, or correct automated counts through a web-based interface, generating the ground-truth dataset required for the supervised learning layer. We discuss the architecture, design rationale for prioritizing measurement invariance and validation infrastructure, and the system's readiness for biological validation in ongoing work.
Poverty affects children’s school readiness and development by limiting their access to educational resources and early childhood supportive programs. Interventions centered around responsive parenting have shown to reduce the developmental disparities by strengthening parent-child interaction and promoting their socio-emotional growth. This study wants to examine the effectiveness of PlayReadVIP, which is an evidence-based parenting education program that uses video feedback to improve parenting skills and support school readiness in preschool children, using a mixed-methods approach with both quantitative and qualitative measures that assess literacy skills, cognitive stimulation, parenting stress, and child development. The findings from this study will contribute to the expansion of evidence-based parenting interventions in underserved communities and support the efforts to reduce disparities in early childhood development.
Bladder inflammation is a major feature of urological disorders such as Overactive Bladder (OAB) and Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS), which affect millions of people and lack consistently effective treatments. Previous studies have identified purinergic signaling as a key contributor to bladder pathology, while research from our laboratory has shown that ATP release from the urothelium via lysosomal exocytosis promotes bladder inflammation and overactivity. This ATP release is regulated by lysosomal calcium (Ca²⁺) signaling through TRPML1 channels and is often triggered by intracellular oxidative stress, although the signaling pathways connecting oxidative stress to lysosomal Ca²⁺ release remain unclear. This project investigates whether oxidative stress induced by biologically active molecules (Menadione, Angiotensin II, ML-SA1, and ML-SA5) activates TRPML1-mediated lysosomal Ca²⁺ release in urothelial cells. Using Fura-2 calcium imaging, we measured intracellular Ca²⁺ responses and evaluated the effects of the TRPML1 inhibitor ML-SI3 to determine channel involvement. We also examined the roles of BK potassium channels and the CFTR chloride channel in regulating lysosomal ATP release. By clarifying how oxidative stress controls lysosomal Ca²⁺ signaling and ATP release, this research advances our understanding of bladder inflammation and may identify novel therapeutic targets for OAB, IC/BPS, and related bladder disorders.
Zeolites stand out for their porous networks, structural stability, chemical tunability, and high surface area, leading to prevalent industrial uses in gas adsorption. The Wenny Lab’s zeolite project involves probing efficient synthesis methods for zeolites with promising selective gas adsorption properties. By introducing organic species to zeolites, we probe cation-gas-framework interactions, elucidating zeolitic adsorption mechanisms. We will present structural characterization, and gas adsorption data to demonstrate successful synthesis and structure-property relationships in our target materials. These efforts contribute to the development of humidity-resistant adsorbents that will assist in decreasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Formerly incarcerated individuals face significant psychological and social barriers during community reentry, yet the role of existential isolation (EI) in this process remains understudied. This longitudinal study examined the relationships among internalized stigma, anticipated stigma, EI, psychological distress, and recovery capital (RC) over a 6-month follow-up period. Anticipated stigma, but not internalized stigma, was consistently associated with higher EI, greater depression and anxiety, and lower RC. Serial mediation analyses indicated that anticipated stigma indirectly reduced RC through EI and psychological distress. These findings identify EI as a potential barrier to successful community reentry and suggest that interventions targeting anticipated stigma and EI may improve psychological well-being and strengthen RC.
Cell and gene therapies have the potential to treat cancer, genetic disorders, and other life-threatening diseases, yet their high cost and manufacturing variability limit patient access. A major challenge is the lack of real-time monitoring of key metabolic variables in static cell culture systems. Dissolved oxygen (DO), dissolved carbon dioxide (dCO2), and glucose regulate cellular respiration and metabolic balance, but static G-Rex workflows typically rely on incubator setpoints and intermittent off-line sampling, offering limited insight into dynamic culture behavior. To address this gap, we evaluated 10 to 12 day human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell cultures in static G-Rex systems to assess the feasibility of continuous DO and dCO2 monitoring under production-relevant conditions. HEK cells were selected as a model system due to their well-characterized metabolic and respiratory profiles. Using real-time DO sensors and a rate-based approach to estimate dCO2, we demonstrated proof-of-concept for continuous, 24/7 monitoring over extended culture durations. Continuous monitoring provided more detailed insight into culture dynamics than traditional methods. These findings support integration of process analytical technology strategies into static G-Rex workflows, enabling greater automation, improved process consistency, and more informative batch records to support regulatory review and scalable, affordable manufacturing.
As a first-generation college student and Ronald E. McNair Scholar pursuing a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering at Southern University and A&M College, I am driven by a passion for innovation and research. My experience has prepared me to tackle complex challenges. I am open... Read More →
Joint attention is an important social-communicative skill that supports early language development, yet little is known about how tactile communication contributes to establishing shared attention in parent-child interactions involving children who are D/deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH). Previous research suggests that parents of children who are DHH use multimodal communication, including touch, more frequently than parents of children with hearing in the typical range (CTH). This study investigated whether maternal touch is temporally coordinated with joint attention behaviors and whether these patterns differ between parent-child dyads with children who are DHH and CTH. Video-recorded parent-child interactions were coded in Datavyu for touch events and joint attention behaviors, and temporal alignment between these behaviors was analyzed. Parent-child dyads with children who are DHH showed significantly greater temporal alignment between touch and pre-joint attention than CTH dyads, with indirect touch demonstrating the largest group difference. These findings suggest that touch, particularly indirect touch through objects, may play an important role in establishing shared attention before joint attention. This study highlights tactile engagement as a potentially important adaptive behavior of DHH parent-child interactions, which may inform evidence-based strategies for parents, educators, and clinicians seeking to support early communication and language development.
This project investigates how the brain constructs meaning during language comprehension by analyzing intracranial EEG (iEEG) data with millisecond-scale temporal resolution. Conducted under Dr. Kumar Duraivel and Prof. Evelina Fedorenko at MIT's EvLab, this research addresses limitations of fMRI studies, which capture neural activity only at second-level resolution. Language comprehension involves transforming sensory input from auditory/visual cortices into structured linguistic representations through semantic and syntactic processing, then integrating these with higher-order cognitive systems. Previous fMRI research shows incremental comprehension difficulty selectively activates language networks, but cannot capture rapid neural dynamics underlying speech perception, syntax, and semantic understanding. Using iEEG's high temporal resolution, I will model neural effects of comprehension difficulty and working memory, examining how syntactic, semantic, and predictive processes emerge and interact in language-selective cortex during real-time meaning construction.
Gut microbes can play key roles in host health. Mollicutes is a class of diverse bacteria whose symbiotic relationships range from beneficial to parasitic in plants, marine life, and insects. The mollicute Entomoplasma corruscae is species-specific to the Winter Firefly Photinus corruscus and putatively functions as a beneficial symbiont. With fireflies holding cultural significance, inferring the effects of symbionts can improve our understanding of firefly survivability. We hypothesized that E. corruscae plays a beneficial role in Winter Firefly health and predict that fireflies harboring high abundance of mollicutes will survive longer and gain more weight over time. In this experiment we separated nearly 200 fireflies into three groups and exposed them to different dietary treatments: antibiotics, mollicute isolates, and control. An E. corruscae strain was grown in the lab and used in the mollicute treatment. After two months, our PCR results indicate that the abundance of mollicutes was drastically reduced through antibiotic ingestion but remained high in fireflies exposed to a mollicute or control diet. Yet, firefly survival and weight did not differ across treatments. In conclusion, E. corruscae may not directly be involved in host survival and may derive greater benefits from the host than it provides in return.
People with functional seizures (FS) often experience comorbid conditions such as anxiety. Recent research has focused on understanding how FS interacts with various disorders and influences emotional regulation. This study investigates the association between FS and emotional dysregulation through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Identifying prevalence of emotional dysregulation in participants with FS may support earlier, more personalized treatments targeting anxiety, depression, and more.
Studies will be variably coded onto an Excel spreadsheet, recording result data, reliability, sample size, and more. The emotional conflict task (ECT) results were recorded and as key data points for the meta-analysis through R Studio using the metafor package. Emotional regulation questionnaires (ERQ) will be analyzed through independent sample t-tests to investigate group differences, including healthy controls (HC) and FS participants.
ERQ independent t-tests resulted in a significant difference in emotional regulation between HC (M =16.7, SD = 4.35) and FS (M = 10.42, SD = 5.33); t(1147.54) = 22.5422, p =
Wearable biosensors require materials that combine flexibility, biocompatibility, and electrical conductivity to enable noninvasive physiological monitoring. This study investigates the development and characterization of electroconductive chitosan-alginate hydrogel films for future biosensing applications. Conductivity was introduced through in situ polymerization of polyaniline using sulfuric acid, and alternative conductive polymer systems such as pyrrole in sulfuric acid and pyrrole in acetonitrile are being explored to evaluate and optimize the hydrogels' electrical performance. Hydrogel films were characterized through swelling analysis in phosphate buffer solution (PBS), pH stability testing, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and preliminary electrical measurements using a four-point probe to assess conductive behaviors. The swelling and electroconductive analysis tests demonstrated the hydrogel's ability to absorb fluid, while pH testing assessed its structural stability under physiological conditions. FTIR spectroscopy testing confirmed the identification of functional groups associated with chitosan, alginate, polymerized polyaniline, and polymerized pyrrole in both sulfuric acid and acetonitrile, supporting the incorporation of polymer within the hydrogel matrix. Four-point probe measurements were conducted to observe the film's electrical properties, and data analysis has not been completed. These findings establish a foundation for continued optimization of electroconductive hydrogels and support their potential application in flexible, noninvasive biosensing applications.
Workplace microaggressions are the subtle forms of bias that can affect our minoritized workers’ well-being, sense of belonging, and workplace outcomes. This literature review seeks to examine how microaggressions may shape productivity-related outcomes through psychological safety and employee voice. Rather than just focusing only on individual resilience, this review explores how workplace climates influence whether employees feel safe, heard, and able to contribute fully. By combining research on microaggressions, psychological safety, employee voice, and productivity, this review will strengthen the connection between inclusive workplaces, employee well-being, and organizational effectiveness.
Wearable biosensors require materials that combine flexibility, biocompatibility, and electrical conductivity to enable noninvasive physiological monitoring. This study investigates the development and characterization of electroconductive chitosan-alginate hydrogel films for future biosensing applications. Conductivity was introduced through in situ polymerization of polyaniline using sulfuric acid, and alternative conductive polymer systems such as pyrrole in sulfuric acid and pyrrole in acetonitrile are being explored to evaluate and optimize the hydrogels' electrical performance. Hydrogel films were characterized through swelling analysis in phosphate buffer solution (PBS), pH stability testing, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and preliminary electrical measurements using a four-point probe to assess conductive behaviors. The swelling and electroconductive analysis tests demonstrated the hydrogel's ability to absorb fluid, while pH testing assessed its structural stability under physiological conditions. FTIR spectroscopy testing confirmed the identification of functional groups associated with chitosan, alginate, polymerized polyaniline, and polymerized pyrrole in both sulfuric acid and acetonitrile, supporting the incorporation of polymer within the hydrogel matrix. Four-point probe measurements were conducted to observe the film's electrical properties, and data analysis has not been completed. These findings establish a foundation for continued optimization of electroconductive hydrogels and support their potential application in flexible, noninvasive biosensing applications.
Saturday September 19, 2026 11:30am - 11:45am EDT Royal Board RoomLord Baltimore Hotel 19th Floor
Cervical cancer, driven by high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV), remains a leading cause of cancer-related death. Annually, 600,000 women are diagnosed, and nearly 300,000 die from the disease. Current treatments utilize surgery and chemoradiation, which are not selective for HPV-infected cells and are less effective in advanced disease stages. These limitations highlight the need for therapies that specifically target HPV-infected cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. HPV oncogenes, E6 and E7, are the primary drivers of HPV-associated cancers. E6 promotes cancer cell survival by blocking programmed cell death. Identifying the molecular mechanisms enabling E6-mediated cell survival is essential for developing selective therapeutic strategies. Our lab developed a Drosophila model of HPV E6 oncogene expression and demonstrated that E6’s pro-survival function is evolutionarily conserved. Using this model, we identified a target in the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) whose reduction disrupts the pro-survival activity of E6 and triggers cell death. We have demonstrated that the reduction of the target disrupts the pro-survival effect and leads to cell death in HPV-positive cervical cancer cells and Drosophila. These studies have the potential to provide important insights into how HPV-driven cancer cells survive and assess the target’s potential as a selective therapeutic to eliminate HPV-infected cancer cells.
In the 80’s, Gunnar Carlsson introduced a conjecture pertaining to the singular homology of certain finite CW complexes. In 2018, Iyengar and Walker demonstrated that a related conjecture was false using tools from homological algebra and a result on maximal rank of multiplication maps between exterior algebras over vector spaces in a paper by Conca, Herbig, and Iyengar. This presentation will showcase an investigation of maximal rank of a generalized form of multiplication map not discussed in the prior papers. In particular, such a generalized form of multiplication map between exterior algebras is induced by a certain partition of a finite dimensional vector space’s basis. Although more counterexamples can be produced in this way, this research indicates why vector spaces of dimension 2n induce certain multiplication maps that are well-behaved, and why more research is needed for the case of vector spaces of dimension dn.
Social identity shapes every aspect of our lives. Our opinions, decisions, allegiances, and relationships are determined by the social identities we gain throughout our lives. While identity remains central to sociological inquiry, we need more research quantitatively examining how intersecting identities shape the nuance of people's beliefs and allegiances. Intersectionality by Crenshaw explains how people with multiple identities can experience new forms of discrimination, but what if that theory could be used to explore how intersecting social identities shape beliefs and allegiances? Intersectionality, individualism versus collectivism, and linked fate theory each explain a unique aspect of society. Combining these theories, I hypothesize that a person with multiple marginalized identities will make decisions that not only benefit themselves, but also their preferred group via group cohesion, voting behaviors, or advocacy. In my research, I plan to conduct a pilot study of around 25 to 50 people of different identities. Participants will be asked a series of questions, and their answers will determine further follow-up via interview in a future study.
Topological Data Analysis (TDA) uses techniques from algebraic topology to interpret high-dimensional and noisy data. Both multimodal and multiview Machine Learning (ML) aim to understand complex, high-dimensional data as well via the integration of different data types and different views of the same data type respectively. While their combination seems natural, the methods for implementation, the intent for their fusion, and the data sets used are varied across disciplines. This presentation looks at the ways in which TDA is being fused with multimodal and multiview ML from the approach of a systematized scoping review. In the development of this project, the Kitchenham guidelines and the PRISMA checklist for scoping reviews were followed as closely as possible. Of note is that the limited personnel behind the project means that the guidelines nor the checklist were able to be followed perfectly thus the project is instead a systematized scoping review. The papers reviewed were decided based in part by the inclusion of at least one TDA tool, use of multimodal or multiview data, and implementation of a multimodal or multiview ML framework. Preliminary results compare disciplines involved in research, purposes for development, and the ML pipelines used.
Background: The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and estrogen receptor (ER) regulate signaling pathways that influence tumor progression in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Compound A, a compound under investigation, exhibits anti-tumor activity in breast cancer cells, although the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear.
Objective: This study investigates whether the anti-tumor effects of Compound A are mediated through AhR alone or through interactions between AhR and ER.
Methods: Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer cells were treated with Compound A, MeBIO, Indirubin, estradiol (E2), or vehicle control. Subcellular fractionation was performed to isolate cytosolic, nucleoplasmic, and chromatin-bound fractions. Protein localization and expression of AhR and ER were evaluated by Western blotting.
Results: Optimization of fractionation and immunoblotting protocols enabled detection of AhR and ER across cellular compartments. Preliminary findings suggest ligand-dependent changes in receptor localization, providing insight into potential interactions between AhR and ER following Compound A treatment. Quantitative analyses are ongoing.
Conclusion: Characterizing the relationship between AhR and ER may clarify the mechanism of action of Compound A and advance our understanding of receptor signaling in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, informing future targeted therapeutic strategies.
