Undergraduate Research & Publications

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Browsing Undergraduate Research & Publications by Department "Biological Sciences"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
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    Calgary Insect Pollinator Diversity and Native Plant Associations
    (2021-10-15) Vermaak, Sarah; Seal, Michaela; Ford-Sahibzada, Taylor; Summers, Mindi
    Insects pollinate roughly 75% of Earth’s flowering plants, and while Calgary hosts a large number of diverse insect pollinators, its insect diversity and plant associations had not yet been cataloged. This study sought to document the diversity of Calgary’s insect pollinators and determine which native plants support them. We observed and combined observations of plant-pollinator relationships collected through iNaturalist (3168 observations) from 2008-2021, physical collections and observations from specific plants in 2020 (1840 observations), and observations of insects visiting flowers during transect (294 observations) and quadrat (225 observations) surveys in 2021. We compared the number and association type for 59 native plants, and nine major insect groups (flies, beetles, true bugs, wasps, solitary bees, butterflies, ants, bumble bees, and honey bees). We identified 63 families, 148 genera, and 194 species of insects. We found the greatest number of species and plant-pollinator associations for flies and solitary bees, followed by bumble bees and butterflies. We also identified ten native plants that were associated with the greatest number of major insect groups. The results of this project will aid conservation and restoration efforts by providing guidance to city planners, landscape designers, and gardeners on which plants best support our city’s pollinators.
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    Elucidation of 3' exon requirements of a novel group II intron
    (University of Calgary, 2018-09-23) Fung, Beatrice
    Group II introns are a type of mobile genetic element. They are composed of a catalytic RNA called a ribozyme, and a protein encoded within the intron called the intron-encoded protein (IEP). Group II introns have the ability to self-splice. Self-splicing is the result of ribozyme activity and produces an excised lariat intron and ligated exons. Mobility of group II introns occurs when the excised intron inserts into DNA target sites using the IEP. In 1994, four group II introns were identified in Escherichia coli. They were named E.c.I1, E.c.I2, E.c.I3 and E.c.I4. Recent research has identified a non-standard mechanism for 5' exon recognition in E.c.I4. Exon recognition is essential during self-splicing. In contrast to the 5' mechanism for exon recognition, the mechanism for 3' exon recognition in E.c.I4 has yet to be elucidated. Two possibilities have been suggested: nucleotide one of the 3' exon may pair with either the delta nucleotide adjacent to exon binding site 1 (EBS1), or with the EBS3 nucleotide. The purpose of this research project was to identify the 3' exon recognition mechanism used by E.c.I4.
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    Insights into food web structure through knowing the helminth parasites
    (2013-11) Chan, S.K. Florence; Lejeune, Manigandan; Carlsson, Anja; Liccioli, Stefano; Behrens, Stephanie; Kutz, Susan J.
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    Lytic Reactivation of Porcine Lymphotropic Herpesvirus 3
    (University of Calgary, 2018-09-24) Luu, Gia; Hundt, Jana; Rowell, Jared; Czub, Markus
    Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has infected more 90% of the world’s population, and is the cause of 2% of all neoplasms globally. In pigs, a closely related gammaherpes virus was identified called Porcine Lymphotrophic Herpesvirus 3 (PLHV3), that also causes lymphoproliferative disorders that resemble those caused by EBV. The purpose of this research is to generate a high titer viral stock of PLHV3 by shifting the viral life cycle from latency to lytic replication using baculovirus expression systems (BEVS) in latently infected cell lines. Infected lymphoblastic cell lines (LCL) will be infected with baculovirus vector carrying two PLHV3 immediate early genes that are crucial for lytic reactivation, BZLF1 and BRLF1. These immediate early genes will become expressed after the infection to produce recombinant proteins in high quantity, thus allowing viral reactivation. BZLF1, BRLF1 and an appropriate mammalian promoter will be cloned into the vector using PCR cloning. Acquiring a high titer viral stock will allow the generation of a chimeric PLHV3-EBV virus that could be used to establish a porcine model for studying EBV.
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    Pure Award Final Report
    (University of Calgary, 2018-09-21) Siddiq, Affan
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    Recruiting for Pragmatic Clinical Trials: Evaluation of Recruitment Methods used in the ACCESS Trial
    (University of Calgary, 2018-09-23) Kakumanu, Sravya
    Recruitment continues to be quite challenging for clinical researchers. The prevalence of the issue is commonly cited in literature; however, little research has been done on identifying the most cost-effective, efficient, and successful ways to recruit people (especially of hard to reach demographics) into studies. Using data from the Assessing outcomes of enhanced Chronic disease Care through patient Education and a value-baSed formulary Study (ACCESS Study), we identified 14 major recruitment strategies used in this study. Out of which we found Pharmacies was the most expensive ($151,100 CAD) and recruited the most participants (n=1217), while Unpaid Media and Word of Mouth had the lowest costs per enrolled participants ($4/pt and $5/pt respectively). Additionally, we found that the mail strategies were very inefficient at getting people interested/enrolled in the study (0.8% of all people contacted by mail ended up enrolling); however, they were successful at recruiting certain hard-to-reach demographics (older seniors). Overall, we saw that no single strategy was able to target all the hard-to-reach demographics, as certain strategies were better for certain populations than others- possibly emphasizing the importance of variety during recruitment. This ambiguity however stresses the importance of continuing this research and understanding why certain strategies work better than others.
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    The Role of RAD51 Paralogs and Their Interactions in the RAD51- Mediated Homologous Recombination DNA Repair
    (University of Calgary, 2018-09-24) Patel, Deepak; Pepper, Jordan; Williams, Gareth J.
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