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Limulus
NEWSLETTER
Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
Volume 2009, Issue Spring-04
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
THE APRIL LIMULUS
The LIMULUS of this month emphasizes the Eastern Colleges
Science Conference (ECSC) held at Wagner College on April
25. For me it was a great experience and I saw how extremely
well the facilities of Wagner College are suited for a scientific
conference of this magnitude (200-350 participants). Other
contributions address TriBeta elections and activities, and we
received news from an alumn, Thomas Smolka (2004), who
teaches Science at St. John's Lutheran School.
I wish everybody good luck for the final exams, farewell to
the graduating seniors, and a great summer for everybody,
Dr. Horst Onken, The Editor
CURRICULUM NEWS
SENIOR RFT
The rules for the senior RFT have been changed. The experiential part of the senior RFT (BI 400E) must contain an experimental component. BI 400E must be research in the Department of Biological Sciences or an internship in a research
institution. In both cases students need a supervisor from the
faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences. Another
change is that all seniors are expected to write a thesis of a
particular format in the frame of BI 400. More detailed information and template files for the thesis can be found on the
website of the Department of Biological Sciences at
http://www.wagner.edu/departments/biological_sciences/senio
rrft.
These new rules for the senior RFT apply to all those students
who declare(d) their major during or after March 2009. For
Biology majors who declared their major before March 2009
the new rules are optional.
Contributed by Dr. Onken
OPPORTUNITIES
RESEARCH WITH MOSQUITOES AND CRABS
Dr. Onken offers research opportunities for
students in the frame of
a project in which he
collaborates with scientists from Washington
State University, the University of Idaho, and the University
April, 2009
of Alberta (Edmonton, CA). The project is funded by the National Institute of Health and studies the physiology of the
midgut of larval yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti).
Mosquitoes are vectors of a number of parasites, transmit devastating diseases like malaria, yellow fever and dengue, and
are a major threat to the health of billions of people on our
planet. The principal investigators of this project address larval mosquitoes, because it appears more straightforward to
fight these vectors as long as they are confined in an aquatic
habitat.
In collaboration with colleagues from the U.S. (Mt.
Desert Island Biological Laboratories, Maine), Brazil
(University of São Paulo in
Ribeirão Preto, University of
Paraná in Curitiba) and Canada (University of Manitoba in Winnipeg) Dr. Onken pursues
research with Crustacea related to the osmoregulatory capacities and mechanisms of crabs. Together with Dr. Alauddin
(Chemistry) and Professor Beecher (Biology), an ecophysiological study is in an early stage of planning.
Dr. Onken can offer research opportunities for two to three
students. If interested contact Dr. Onken in his office (Megerle
Science Hall Room 411), lab (Room 406) or via e-mail
(horst.onken@wagner.edu) or phone 420-4211.
Contributed by Dr. Onken
I wished more colleagues would like to use the LIMULUS in order to
shortly describe their research and offer opportunities for research collaboration! Then we would not need to read in every newsletter the same
stuff about mosquitoes and crabs!
The Editor
COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITY
Greetings Everyone,
I am Nidhi Khanna and I am currently a sophomore. I am
working with this non-profit organization called Planting
Peace. Planting Peace has many sub-organizations including
one called The Clean World Movement. The Clean World
Movement is trying to encourage more individuals around the
world to recycle and to take better care of the planet. I am
working with The Clean World Movement as the environmental director in my community. I am organizing some clean-ups
in Staten Island during the month of May and throughout the
summer. If anybody is interested in helping out, please feel
free to contact me at nidhi.khanna@wagner.edu. Thanks for
your interest and I look forward hearing from you! If you
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�The Newsletter of the Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College
would like more information about the organization I am
working with, please visit: http://www.plantingpeace.org/.
Contributed by Nidhi Khanna
BIOLOGY CLUB NEWS
The Biology Club visited the BODIES EXHIBIT on Saturday,
April 4th. Members of the Biology Club actively volunteered
at the to the Eastern Colleges Science Conference. There are
also plans for another clean-up at the Arthur Kill shore line.
Elections will take place on Thursday, April 30.
Contributed by Sejmir Izeirovski
NEW MEMBERS OF TRI-BETA:
Congratulations to the new members of Tri-Beta!
Ashley Benvenuto, Medije Mashkulli, Anna Pullaro, Jessica
Cozzolino, Francis Tiripicchio, Almir Spahiu, Peter Pisano,
Shannon O’Neill, Salvatore Valenti, Emily Werkheiser, Violeta Capric, and Nidhi Khanna.
TRI-BETA ELECTIONS
Tri-Beta recently held elections for its new officers. Congratulations to all! President: Yolana Fuks, Vice President: Michael
Stanton, Secretary: Jessica Cozzolino, Treasurer: Violeta Capric, Historians: Robyn McLaughlin and Shannon O’Neill.
Contributed by Nidhi Khanna with photographs by Ryan Rogers
TRI-BETA NEWS
TRI-BETA INITIATION
Tri-Beta held an initiation
ceremony for its new members on Friday, April 17th in
Gatehouse Lounge. Professor Corbo was the honorary
speaker at the initiation. TriBeta’s Executive Board is
composed of all seniors, and
Professor Corbo has helped
each of them during their
time at Wagner. Ryan Rogers stated, “Professor Corbo
has done so much for all of
us. We would like to have
him speak at the ceremony, just to show our gratitude.” Corbo
gave some advice to the new members of Tri-Beta. Corbo
said, “Remember, you can do anything that you want to as
long as you have the passion and drive to do it. There are a lot
of opportunities for Biology students at Wagner. I have benefited greatly from my time at Wagner.” The memorable ceremony was a huge success and couldn’t have been possible
without the help of seniors Ryan Rogers, Tanya Modica, Dina
Hussam, Yulia Seldina, Georgia Dellas, and juniors Yolana
Fuks and Michael Stanton. On behalf of Limulus, we wish the
seniors from Tri-Beta the very best on all of their future endeavors!
EXPERIENCES
EASTERN COLLEGES SCIENCE CONFERENCE
On Saturday April 25th, Wagner College hosted the Eastern
Colleges Science Conference. 271 undergraduate students participated in the meeting with twenty student presentations
from Wagner for this prestigious event. A handful of students
represented the Biology Department in the conference. Participants included: Christopher Cappelli, Georgia Dellas, Sejmir
Izerovski, Lauren Levy, Anna Lysenko, Tanya Modica, Ryan
Rogers, Joseph Scala, Yuliya Seldina and Marlene Streisinger.
Members of Tri-Beta and the Biology Club served as volunteers for the event. Many helped registered visiting participants and acted as student guides. During the afternoon, many
attendees were allowed to listen to three guest speakers who
spoke simultaneously. Dr. Susan S. Kilham, a Professor of
Environmental Science at Drexel University gave a lecture
about global warming and the mountains of evidence that supports it. She does extensive research that deals with the effects
of climate change on various ecosystems. Dr. Alejandra Alonso is currently a Professor of Neuroscience at the College of
Staten Island and she gave an interesting lecture about the research she has completed on Alzheimer’s disease. The third
speaker was Dr. Samuel Gaertner, a Professor of Psychology
at the University of Delaware. He spoke about his research
pertaining to research and prejudices amongst many social and
cultural groups.
The students of the Department of Biological Sciences contributed with manuscripts, platform presentations and posters.
See below for the titles and authors. Two manuscripts and a
poster presentation won Excellence Awards. The Limulus
Staff would like to congratulate all of the participants and
winners for a job well done!
The ECSC was a huge success and could not have been possible without the hard and very successful work of Dr. Donald
Stearns (President of the ECSC), Professor Linda Raths, and
Ms. Stephanie Rollizo.
Contributed by Nidhi Khanna with photographs by Ryan Rogers
MANUSCRIPTS SUBMITTED TO ECSC
GENDER DIFFERENCES CREATED BY URINARY
CREATININE ADJUSTMENTS MADE TO HEAVY
METAL MEASUREMENTS. Christopher Cappelli1, Mary
Gamble2, X Liu3, Pamela Factor-Litvak4, Vesna Slavkovic2
and Joseph Graziano2, 1Department of Biological Sciences,
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�The Newsletter of the Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College
Wagner College; 2Department of Environmental Health
Sciences, Columbia University; 3Department of Biostatistics,
Columbia University; 4Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University (Excellence Award!).
THE ANTERIOR MIDGUT OF LARVAL YELLOW
FEVER MOSQUITOES (AEDES AEGYPTI): EFFECTS
OF NUTRIENTS ON THE TRANSEPITHELIAL VOLTAGE AND STRONG LUMINAL ALKALINIZATION.
Sejmir Izeirovski1, Stacia B. Moffett2, David F. Moffett2 and
Horst Onken1, 1Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner
College; 2School of Biological Sciences, Washington State
University (Excellence Award!).
PLATFORM PRESENTATIONS AT ECSC
THE STUDY OF CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATIONS IN
VICIA FABA AS A RESULT OF EXPOSURE TO UVA
AND UVB RADIATION. Ryan Patricia Rogers and Ammini
S. Moorthy, Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College; 2Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College.
THE EFFECTS OF OSCILLATING ELECTRICAL
FIELDS ON ESCHERICHIA COLI AND STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS. Yuliya Seldina and Joseph Scala, Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College.
Wagner College; 2Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner
College; 3Department of Microbiology, Wagner College
PREPARATION OF THIN SECTIONS OF DROSOPHILA OVARIES FOR EXAMINATION BY TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY. . Tanya Modica1,
Georgia Dellas1, Christopher Corbo2 and Heather A. Cook1,
1
Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College;
2
Department of Center For Developmental Neuroscience,
CUNY Staten Island
USE OF SQUASHED RETINA AND OPTIC TECTUM
TO STUDY REGENERATIVE CAPACITIES OF THE
VISUAL SYSTEM IN ADULT ZEBRAFISH (DANIO
RERIO).Michael Gutkin, Anna Lysenko, Christopher Corbo,
Linda Raths and Zoltan Fulop, Department of Biological
Sciences, Wagner College
THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT ETHANOL CONCENTRATIONS ON THE ACTIVITY LEVEL OF ADULT
ZEBRAFISH (DANIO RERIO). Lauren Levy and Brian Palestis, Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College
PHOTOGALLERY OF THE ECSC
POSTER PRESENTATIONS AT ECSC
ELECTRICAL
SUPRESSION
OF
BACTERIAL
GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION. Joseph Scala and Yuliya Seldina, Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College.
GENDER DIFFERENCES CREATED BY URINARY
CREATININE ADJUSTMENTS MADE TO HEAVY
METAL MEASUREMENTS. Christopher Cappelli1, Mary
Gamble2, X Liu3, Pamela Factor-Litvak4, Vesna Slavkovic2
and Joseph Graziano2, 1Department of Biological Sciences,
Wagner College; 2Department of Environmental Health
Sciences, Columbia University; 3Department of Biostatistics,
Columbia University; 4Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University (Excellence Award!)
THE ANTERIOR MIDGUT OF LARVAL YELLOW
FEVER MOSQUITOES (AEDES AEGYPTI): EFFECTS
OF NUTRIENTS ON THE TRANSEPITHELIAL VOLTAGE AND STRONG LUMINAL ALKALINIZATION.
Sejmir Izeirovski1, Stacia B. Moffett2, David F. Moffett2 and
Horst Onken1, 1Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner
College; 2School of Biological Sciences, Washington State
University
MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NEUROVASCULATURE AND WHOLE BLOOD OF THE
ADULT ZEBRA FISH (DANIO RERIO). Marlene Streisinger1, Lauren Levy2, Zulmarie Franco3, Linda Raths2, Christopher Corbo2 and Zoltan Fulop2, 1Department of Nursing,
PAGE 3
�The Newsletter of the Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College
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�The Newsletter of the Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College
RAHWAY RIVER CLEANUP
On Sunday April 19th, the Biological Honor Society Tri Beta
went on their annual cleanup at the Rahway River. New and
current members of Tri-Beta spent hours cleaning the Rahway
River with Dr. Palestis. While members were picking up trash,
Dina Hussam (Treasurer) found a garbage can in the river
along with a crate! Some members even found traffic cones in
the river! Students collected hundreds of plastic bottles, aluminum cans, take-out containers, and even empty ChapSticks!
Many new members of Tri-Beta thought the cleanup was a fun
bonding experience. After four hours, Tri-Beta collected dozens of bags of trash! The Rahway River Clean-Up was a
memorable experience filled with hours of laughter. The seniors began this tradition about two years ago, and Tri-Beta
hopes to continue cleaning the Rahway River for years to
come.
Contributed by Nidhi Khanna with photographs by Dina Hussam
New member Salvatore Valenti picks up trash near the river.
PUBLICATIONS
Palestis, B.G. (2009, in press). Fluctuating asymmetry in
common tern chicks varies with hatching order and clutch
size. The Auk.
Trivers, R., B.G. Palestis & D. Zaatari. (2009). The Anatomy
of a Fraud: Symmetry and Dance. TPZ Publishers. Antioch,
CA.
ERRATA
STUDENT PROFILE IN MARCH ISSUE OF LIMULUS
Senior Yuliya Seldina can’t wait to start beautifying the Rahway River!
It was brought to my attention that the last issue of Limulus
had a error in the student profile. In Ryan Rogers’ interview, it
should have said that she had “really poor vision” and not
“early poor vision.” I apologize for the mistake.
Contributed by Nidhi Khanna
APOLOGIES
E-MAIL INCONVENIENCE
I want to apologize! Since the beginning of the LIMULUS I
have sent out the newsletter to address lists. I sent these mails
directly to all addresses in the list. Only now I became aware
that this allows everybody to see everybody’s e-mail address. I
hope this did not cause any inconvenience to anyone. From
now on the newsletter will be sent out with the addresses under BCC.
You never stop learning, THE EDITOR.
Tri-Beta poses after cleaning up the Rahway River.
PAGE 5
�The Newsletter of the Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College
ALUMNI
NEWS FROM THOMAS SMOLKA
Thomas Smolka graduated in 2004 with a BS
in Biology. In summer
2005, Thomas worked as
a bear biologist in New
Mexico. Until 2007 he
managed an event production company. Then
Thomas became a technology teacher at St.
John's Lutheran School.
His robotics team recently won the second place
in the first NYC Robotics tournament and was recently featured in the SI Advance. Congratulations!
The article in the SI Advance can be accessed at
http://www.silive.com/siadvance/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/
1237469406265670.xml&coll=1
and the United States has started to increase security at the
Mexican border. Symptoms of swine flu are: sore throat,
headaches, fever, cough, and fatigue. If a person has been infected by swine flu, it is recommended that they take antiviral
drugs. For more information on swine flu, please visit:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28/swine.flu/index.ht
ml#cnnSTCOther1 and
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/health/28hong.html?ref=
health.
Contributed by Nidhi Khanna
DO YOU MISS A SECTION? LET ME KNOW
WHICH AND MAKE A CONTRIBUTION!
PUZZLES, JOKES, QUOTES, CARTOONS
CARTOON:
Dear Alumni,
If you are interested in contributing to our newsletter, you
are very welcome to do so. Contact Dr. Onken by e-mail
(horst.onken@wagner.edu) with your submission, comment,
ideas or questions! We are excited to hear about where you
are, how and what you do!
MISCELLANEOUS
SWINE FLU
The swine flu is making headlines this past week. The last
time a major pandemic wiped out a majority of the world’s
population was in 1919. The Spanish flu killed millions of
people worldwide because the virus started spreading across
the globe. A virus that is found in pig populations causes
swine flu. This virus has strains referred to as swine influenza
virus. There are three types of SIVs including Influenza A, Influenza B, and Influenza C. Influenza A is the more commonly found and the World Health Organization believes that Influenza A is responsible for all of the recent cases of swine flu.
Influenza A can be further examined into smaller categories.
These smaller categories are referred to as subtypes. Influenza
A has five subtypes: H1N1, H1N2, H3NI, H3N2, and H2N3.
The reported cases of swine flu have been traced to the subtype H1N1. Many people around the world are trying to avoid
this flu. Individuals who handle pigs on a regular basis are
more vulnerable for infection. The virus spreads when people
come in contact with certain poultry or pig populations. The
virus strain that is found in pigs can spread to human populations. The SIV strain mutated and this basically means the genetic code of the SIV strain changed. This allowed the virus to
spread from one human being to another. According to CNN,
most people that were reported to have swine flu came in contact with pigs. CNN reported that there are 90 cases of swine
flu in the world and 42 of those cases are in the United States
alone. The WHO believes that the swine flu started in Mexico,
From www.lab-initio.com
The Editorial Board:
Editor: Dr. Horst Onken, Associate Professor
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Rollizo, Dept. Secretary
Student Assistant Editor: Nidhi Khanna (Biology major)
Student Assistant Editor: N.N.
PAGE 6
�
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Title
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Limulus: The Newsletter of the Wagner College Biological Sciences Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Department of Biological Sciences circulates a newsletter that will be updated monthly, culminating in two special issues per year (January and September). The January edition reviews the fall semester and the September edition reviews the spring semester and summer events. The name of the newsletter is LIMULUS and it is made available as pdf files.
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Title
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Limulus Newsletter, April 2009
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Letter from the editor / Horst Onken -- Curriculum news / Horst Onken -- Opportunities / Nidhi Khanna -- Biology Club news / Sejmir Izeirovski -- Tri-Beta news / Nidhi Khanna and Ryan Rogers -- Eastern colleges science conference / Nidhi Khanna and Ryan Rogers -- Rahway River cleanup / Nidhi Khanna and Dina Hussam -- Publications -- Errata / Nidhi Khanna -- Apologies / Horst Onken -- News from Thomas Smolka -- Swine Flu / Nidhi Khanna -- Puzzles, jokes, quotes, cartoons
Creator
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Wagner College, Department of Biological Sciences
Publisher
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
Date Issued
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2009-04
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Wagner College Digital Collections
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application/pdf
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6 pages
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en
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Text