Allyson is a Senior majoring in Biology, and is currently working with Dr. Nathan Tublitz. Allyson is studying neurological re-growth and regeneration in cuttlefish after damage has occurred. She does this by removing a section of tissue containing chromatophore pigment organs, then taking digital pictures of the damaged area over a period of 50 days. The images are then sequentially analyzed and the developing chromatophores are charted and evaluated. This analysis of external elements acts as an indicator of the re-growth that is occurring internally within the nerve systems that were damaged due to the incision. In this way, the chromatophores can be used to trace the re-growth of the system as a whole. Allyson's goal is to begin quantifying the patterns that exist within nerve regeneration processes in living systems.
Click here to view Allyson's final presentation.
David is a Senior majoring in Mathematics. His faculty mentor is Dr. Arkady Vaintrob. David's project is on Lie algebras and knot invariants. David is working with "Universal Vassiliev Invariants" (U.V.I.), which are functions that are designed to tell knots apart. The U.V.I. is a homogeneous polynomial in two variables, which which can be thought of as a list of numbers, each number on the list corresponding to a coefficient of the polynomial. David's task is to find a formula for each of the numbers on the list which depends only on the intersection graph of the chord diagram (the graphical representation of the knot).
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Nicole is a Senior majoring in Human Physiology. She is working in the Human Cardiovascular Physiology Laboratory with Dr. Christopher Minson. Nicole is studying the effect of synthetic hormones, called progestins, on endothelial function in women who are taking oral contraceptives that contain the hormones. She uses a Doppler ultrasound to analyze the vasodilation of subjects' brachial arteries under various conditions. This method is highly predictive of the health of coronary arteries. Nicole hopes to determine whether the progestins in oral contraceptives are associated with an increased risk of heart disease in young women (as determined by the ability of the blood vessels to dilate properly).
Click here to view Nicole's final presentation.
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