Eesha Acharya Project #1
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Eesha Acharya Project #1 Completed Project, Science, Health and Medical Measuring Vitamin C Levels in Cooked Foods Most people know that raw foods contain the most nutrients. However, many people prefer eating cooked foods. the problem is vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, so when foods are cooked they lose a lot of this essential nutrient. The purpose of this research is to determine which cooking method best retains the most vitamin C in vegetables. The raw vegetable vitamin C information will be compared to that of other cooking methods (grilling, boiling, and steaming) of that same vegetable. tomatoes, brussel sprouts, kale, bell peppers, broccoli, peas, and a tincture of iodine solution, 2-7% elemental iodine, will be used to test the vitamin C content. The food will be tested by mixing 10g of food to a starch-water mixture and straining the water. Drops of iodine will be added to the strained water until the solution turns black. The more iodine added, means the more vitamin C is in the food. Then the number of drops will be divided by 10g of food. This gives the drops per gram of food. This number will be multiplied by the factor. The drops per gram multiplied by the factor equals mg of vitamin C per gram of food This study is designed to help people consume more vitamin C. Many people in the United States have a vitamin C deficiency. Vitamin C is a key that prevents immune system deficiency and cardiovascular disease. So if a proper cooking method can be found, then people can consume more Vitamin C. Amity Regional High School Deborah Day, Teacher Akshar Agarwal Project #2 Completed Project, Engineering, Health and Medical Diagnosing Parkinson's Disease with Artificial Intelligence Parkinson's Disease (PD) is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting more than ten million people globally. The hallmark symptoms of PD are tremors, limb rigidity, and imbalance. PD shares many of these symptoms with other disorders, making it difficult to diagnose. Furthermore, due to the lack of definitive laboratory tests, PD is poorly diagnosed with subjective examinations such as family history evaluations, thereby resulting in high misdiagnosis rates. Recent research shows that an additional symptom, dysphonia, is present in over 80% of PD patients. Dysphonia is a speaking disorder caused by involuntary muscle movement and other neurological factors in PD. In this project, that unique symptom was taken advantage of in designing a machine learning algorithm. A cross-validated neural network was programmed to deliver rapid and accurate diagnoses using biomedical voice data from 195 patients of varying statuses. This automated, machine-learning based PD diagnostic tool was successfully created and functions with over 95% accuracy. This rate includes nearly zero false negatives and few false positives, showing significant improvement over previous attempts which had misdiagnosis rates of nearly 20%. A low probability of false negatives is favorable. The neural network was designed such that overfitting is avoided, and more features/data would further improve the algorithm's accuracy. The algorithm is currently being implemented such that patients can submit their voice recordings through an application for an accurate remote diagnosis. An early and accurate diagnosis is critical for treating PD patients, and this project proposes a way to achieve that. Hamden High School Gregory Hodgkins, Teacher Lazar Agoev Project #3 Research Proposal, Engineering, Physical Science Developing a Generator to Convert Footsteps to Power Phones are very important parts of our lives, but very often we don't have a power source to charge them. It is well known how to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, why don't we harness the energy we use to walk and convert it to electricity. My goal is to create a circuit, which will generate electricity by changing the magnetic field in a coil. This circuit will then be placed in the sole of a shoe. Thus by walking I would move magnets in my sole, changing the magnetic field in the coil. The power produced by my circuit should be enough to charge a phone. Depending upon materials, it should also not be not expensive, so it can be easily produced and people could afford it. This device would generate clean energy for mobile devices. If my project is be inexpensive to create and efficient enough, companies will be interested in producing and selling them, This in turn would make people's lives a little bit easier. Ridgefield High School Patrick Hughes, Teacher Alia Aguilar Project #4 Completed Project, Science, Environmental Regulation of Lemna minor Reactive Oxygen Species through Iodide and Tyrosine Antioxidant Treatments to Maximize Biofuel Yield Landoltia punctata is used as a biofuel for its high starch content, and when put through a nutrient starvation period, its starch levels can accumulate much faster. But during the nutrient starvation period, the plant becomes stressed and releases reactive oxygen species (ROSs) which are harmful in large quantities. Thus, the length of the starvation period is limited due to the potential damage by the ROSs. The species Lemna minor was used for testing. Its peroxidase activity is a stress level indicator, and the procedure to find this was adopted from EPA SOP number 2035 ‘Plant Peroxidase Activity Determination’. The procedure for converting Lemna minor into biofuel was adopted from ‘Mashing and Fermentation’ on the website ‘Make your own fuel’. The LaMotte Ammonia-Nitrogen Test Kit procedure was used to test nutrient uptake of the plant. Preliminary data indicates that Lemna minor peroxidase activity increases during the nutrient starvation period. A starvation period where Lemna minor has been treated with Iodide and Tyrosine has not been completed yet. If Iodide and Tyrosine prove to effectively regulate the reactive oxygen species levels in Lemna minor, a study should be completed to treat Landoltia punctata with these chemicals during a nutrient starvation period. Bridgeport Regional Aquaculture Science and Technology Education Center Kirk Shadle, Teacher Yusuf Ahmad Project #5 Completed Project, Science, Health and Medical Atomistic Models of Phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) Mutations Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disorder caused by a defect in PAH gene. PAH is responsible for creating the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), which breaks down phenylalanine, an amino acid obtained through diet. Without PAH, phenylalanine levels become increased in blood, which is what PKU is. The symptoms can be harsh as some it includes are intellectual disability, seizures, poor bone strength, and brain damage. The purpose of this project was to see how exactly the mutations affect phenylalanine hydroxylase's binding site and determine which mutations have a greater impact. The structure being analyzed has been formed through x-ray diffraction, and it has a resolution of 1.8 angstroms. This structure of phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) was obtained from the protein data bank website. The specific part being used is PAH's binding site, with PHE bound as the allosteric ligand. MATLAB's Bioinformatics tool was used to read the crystal structure. The first method of analysis will be to model each atom with a sphere and calculate the overlaps caused by the mutations. This was will be used to calculate effective energy due to overlaps. Rosetta, a software for protein structure analysis, will then be used to repack the structures upon mutation, and following that, the root-mean-square deviation of the structures will also be calculated. Seeing where overlaps occur can help in making predictions on which mutations have a greater impact, and repacking the protein will allow for better assessment of the mutations. Overall, having a better understanding of PAH's structure-function relationship and its mutations can give new insight for therapeutic discovery. Amity Regional High School Catherine Piscitelli, Teacher Monisha Akula Project #6 Research Proposal, Science, Environmental Genetic Rescue in Leadbeater's Possum About 17,000 species are threatened with the risk of extinction. The loss of animals causes detrimental changes in the biodiversity of ecosystems, and can result in collapse. The government has set up laws to protect endangered species and their habitats. There are studies in progress to help threatened species, and a technique called genetic variation has arisen. Rescue is expected to be particularly useful when individuals with diverse alleles are introduced into small isolated populations with low levels of genetic variation. The Leadbeater's possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri), is an endangered species with a high risk of extinction. In this proposed research, genetic rescue will be implemented into the Leadbeater's possum species, in Victoria, Australia, for recovery of the population. Males with diverse genetic alleles will be placed into the population to increase genetic variation and creation of hybrids. A hybrid is the offspring produced when cross breeding, or combining two different varieties or species. The number of hybrids and non-hybrids will be tracked, along with their offspring and lifespan. It is hypothesized that the hybrids of the population will have diverse genetic data compared to non-hybrids, and thus increase the chance of survival for future generations. The hybrids are predicted to achieve greater reproduction rates and live longer than non-hybrids. Rescue will increase the recovery of a threatened marsupial population to an endangered population by the introduction of a diverse group of hybrids. Genetic rescue is a possible technique to apply in small threatened species to increase population status. Darien High School Guy Pratt, Teacher Nicole Alindogan Project #7 Completed Project, Science, Health and Medical Functional Impact of RBP2 on Cellular Senescence and Pluripotency in Murine Breast Cancer Cell Lines Cellular Senescence is a newly discovered metabolic state of a cell where a cell reaches its full size and then stably exits the cell cycle.