Research Experiences for High School Science and Math ...



Research Experiences

for

High School Science

and Math Teachers

Summer 2002

Advanced Research Program/

Advanced Technology Program

Texas Higher Education

Coordinating Board

July 2002

[pic]

Supplemental Grants for High School Science

and Math Teachers B Summer 2002

The Advanced Research Program/Advanced Technology Program (ARP/ATP) were created by the Texas Legislature in 1987 as competitive grants programs for faculty members at Texas institutions of higher education. More than 400 research projects are funded each biennium in a number of different disciplines and research areas.

In January 1999, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board extended the programs to provide small supplementary grants to existing grantees who employ high school science and mathematics teachers to work on these projects during the summer. The grants are used by research faculty members primarily to pay for the teachers= salaries for the four to nine weeks they will work in the university laboratories and to cover costs for laboratory supplies and travel.

This program helps build linkages between high school teachers and university research faculty, gives the teachers experiences that they will carry back to their classrooms, and results in increased interest in science and engineering among high school students.

Forty-six teachers participated in research projects in summer 2001. At the end of the summer, almost all of the responding faculty researchers and high school teachers judged the program to be excellent or good.

This document lists the teachers and faculty members participating in the program during summer 2002, and briefly describes the work that each teacher will do.

This summer, teachers are working on projects at 13 different universities, five health-related institutions, and one experiment station. Teachers are engaged in a wide variety of different activities ... from computer modeling to sample preparation to using various scientific instruments to make measurements.

Projects at ... begin on page ...

Baylor College of Medicine 1

Lamar University 1

Midwestern State University 2

Southwest Texas State University 2

Sul Ross State University 5

Texas A&M University 6

Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi 7

Texas A&M University at Galveston 7

Texas A&M University System Health Science Center 8

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station 8

Texas Tech University 11

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center 12

University of Houston 13

University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth 16

The University of Texas at Arlington 17

The University of Texas at Austin 19

The University of Texas at Dallas 21

The University of Texas-Pan American 22

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center 22

TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD

ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM/ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS FOR HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATH TEACHERS

SUMMER 2002

Teachers and Professors Teacher activity as described by grantee

| | |

|Kathreen Lee |Polyethyleneimine-Gene Therapy Given by Aerosol: An Effective Treatment for Pulmonary Metastases |

|Biology and Physics teacher | |

|YES College Preparatory School |Ms. Lee will play an important role in our Technology Development Transfer project aimed at developing aerosol gene delivery technology for |

|Houston |clinical application in the treatment of lung cancer in human pediatric patients. This technology uses a tumor suppressor gene (p53) and/or|

| |a cytokine gene (IL-12) in a unique and patented nonviral formulation which appears to be highly effective in animal tumor models while |

|Charles L. Densmore |exhibiting very low toxicity. Ms. Lee has worked with our collaborator on this grant, Dr. Genie Kleinerman, of the M.D. Anderson Cancer |

|Professor |Center and is already familiar with some of the methodology that will be used. This makes her efforts for the coming summer even more |

|Department of Molecular Physiology |valuable. Ms. Lee has expertise in areas of molecular biology that will enable her to work on redesigning the plasmids we are using in an |

|Baylor College of Medicine |effort to increase the persistence of gene expression. Such an improvement could potentially make the difference between success and |

| |failure in our planned pediatric cancer trials. She will also be involved with animal tumor and tissues culture studies and aerosol |

| |particle size studies. These studies should enable Ms. Lee to transfer her research experience to the classroom. |

| | |

|Bonnie J. Ardoin |Super-Porous Titania/NLO-Coated Fiber Optic Photoreactor for Environmental Applications |

|Chemistry teacher | |

|West Brook High School |Ms. Ardoin will work with two research assistants, under the supervision of the principal investigators, on the synthesis of aerogel TiO2, |

|Beaumont |coating of TiO2 mixed with a nonlinear optical crystal (LiB3O5 or KNbO3) on optical fibers, and measurement of photocatalytic oxidation |

| |efficiency of a selected volatile organic compound in air. These research activities need strong chemistry knowledge and laboratory |

|Daniel H. Chen |experiences. Ms. Ardoin will have the opportunity to learn and use a Nova surface analyzer, X-ray fluorescence spectrometer GC-FID, and |

|Professor |GC-MS. It is estimated to take three weeks in each of the above tasks. Ms. Ardoin will learn from the laboratory work, interact with the |

|Chemical Engineering Department |research personnel, and have the opportunity to contribute to this emerging technology in air pollution control. It will have a significant|

|Lamar University |impact on the high school science teaching. |

| | |

|Janice Lack |Internet- and Component-Based Modeling System for Lake Water Quality and Fish Habitat Projections |

|Chemistry teacher | |

|Central High School |The goal of this research is to develop a modeling system to predict water quality and fish habitat in lakes, which can be accessed by users|

|Beaumont |via the internet. These projections require complex numerical models that integrate various physical and biochemical processes, e.g. |

| |hydrodynamics, air-water surface exchange, and biochemical reactions. The system is designed for three user levels: (1) general audience, |

|Xing Fang |more specifically, science class students in high school, (2) inexperienced and (3) experienced water quality modelers. Ms. Janice Lack |

|Professor |will work on the project and continue her literature review in the areas of lake ecology, limnology, lake water quality, and water |

|Civil Engineering Department |chemistry. Based on her understanding on what has been taught in high school science classes, she will assess and assemble information that|

|Lamar University |should be presented on internet for high school science students to learn water quality and fish habitat models for lakes. She will use |

| |advanced web technology and organize information on the project internet site () in HTML and DHTML format with |

| |multimedia images. She will participate in a research group meeting with Co-Principal Investigators at the University of Houston and |

| |Southwest Texas State University. |

| | |

|Cerise Wuthrich |Flexible Integrated Caching Approach (FICA) for Efficient Content Delivery in Wireless Internet |

|Algebra and Computer Science | |

|teacher |The research project involves the use of web through wireless devices. Ms. Wuthrich will develop web pages based on the new WML mark-up |

|Archer City High School |language. Ms. Wuthrich will then monitor those web pages, which will be accessed by students, gathering data with respect to navigation |

|Archer City |aspects of the defined hyperlinks. This data will be later utilized in the simulation of web caching described in the main research |

| |project. Expected results include the preparation of Ms. Wuthrich for work in a wireless environment and her training on the development of|

|Nelson Luiz Passos |a web site under such conditions. Ms. Wuthrich will also have direct participation in the main research topic by preparing the required |

|Professor |simulation data and making observations to be used in future papers describing the research results. |

|Computer Science Program | |

|Midwestern State University | |

| | |

|Steve Michaud |Improvement of the Performance of Thermoplastic Polymers and Thermosets by Addition of Fluoropolymers |

|Physics teacher | |

|Harlandale High School |Mr. Michaud will work on the characterization of materials made possible by the early phases of this grant. He will use microscopy |

|San Antonio |techniques such as scanning force microscopy and scanning friction microscopy to characterize surface changes at a nanoscale level. Mr. |

| |Michaud has previously worked at Southwest Texas State University in the physics department. |

|Patrick Cassidy | |

|Professor | |

|Department of Chemistry and | |

|Biochemistry | |

|Southwest Texas State University | |

| | |

|Matt Holmes |Species Recognition Versus Mate-Quality Recognition |

|Biology teacher | |

|Lanier High School |Part 3 of this Advanced Research Program project consists of observing the behavior of male sailfin mollies in the field to determine |

|Austin |whether their behavior in the lab correlates with their behavior in their natural setting. Matt is familiar with observing fish in the |

| |field because his project last year in the Principal Investigator’s lab consisted of observing and recording male behavior in a nearby |

|Caitlin Gabor |population. Matt and the Principal Investigator will videotape male interactions in each of the sympatric populations from which males are |

|Professor |tested by visually following males until they move out of sight. They will then bring the tapes into the lab and obtain the following data.|

|Department of Biology |For each focal male (1) the male’s size class will be estimated, and we will count (2) the number of conspecific males, (3) the number of |

|Southwest Texas State University |females within two body lengths from the focal male, and (4) the number of mating attempts (thrusting, and displays) and aggressive |

| |interactions. |

| | |

|Ken Bowen |Polymer-Derived Nanowires for Integrated Circuit Strategies |

|Chemistry teacher | |

|New Braunfels High School |Mr. Bowen will dry-blend block copolymers with the goal of developing improved nanopore/nanowire devices. Mr. Bowen will gain experience |

|New Braunfels |discerning dynamical variables such as volume fraction. This is the variable, when adjusted properly, that has been found to give the |

| |required texture for nanopore development. Working with faculty to undergraduate students, Mr. Bowen will prepare solutions of block |

|Heather Galloway |copolymer/homopolymer blends in good solvents, poor solvents, and theta solvents available for spin-casting. While the literature shows |

|Professor |only theta solvents as those for spin-casting, other solvents will be explored in an effort to gain understanding of the behavior of the |

|Department of Technology |blend systems in terms of the nanopore development. |

|Southwest Texas State University | |

| |Mr. Bowen’s experience will be enhanced through professional activities such as technical meetings, group discussions, and individual |

| |presentations. The experience gained through these interactions will be returned to the classroom environment. Furthermore, Mr. Bowen will|

| |gain experience in the use of super-critical carbon dioxide film processing. Atomic force microscopic analyses will be done under the |

| |expert supervision of the physics department. |

| | |

|Teresa A. Taylor |Microarray-Based Neuropathology Studies |

|Biology teacher | |

|Smithson Valley High School |Astrogliosis is a characteristic response of astrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) to injury and a broad spectrum of degenerative |

|Spring Branch |diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s and HIV-1 encephalitis. Recent studies have identified important marker molecules |

| |related to neurological pathology. The goal of the research described here is to use these antibodies with the chip-based immunosorbent |

|Joseph R. Koke |assay system established at The University of Texas at Austin for the determination of clinically important neuropathology marker molecules |

|Professor |in tissue culture supernatants, plasma and cerebrospinal fluid samples. The long-term objective is to use this novel assay system as a |

|Department of Biology |research tool in conjunction with cellular and animal studies conducted in parallel at Southwest Texas State University to increase our |

|Southwest Texas State University |understanding of the inflammatory and pathological processes that occur in neural tissue. |

| | |

| |Ms. Taylor has experience in immunocytochemistry from previous summer Advanced Technology Program teacher programs. Her activities in this |

| |project will primarily be immunostaining of cells cultured under normal conditions and comparison of these to cells grown on micro-array |

| |chips, as part of establishing baseline conditions for the cell-based taste chip assay. This will expose her to new aspects of |

| |biotechnology and enhance her ability to teach from a first-hand perspective. |

| | |

| |The studies described in this proposal will answer the following questions: 1) can chip-based microsphere arrays (subsequently referred to |

| |as “Taste Chips”) provide a practical, rapid detection of conditions leading to astrogliosis (and thus a rapid detection or diagnosis of the|

| |presence of neurological disorders); 2) can we use the Taste Chip to better understand the factors that cause astrocytes to become reactive |

| |(cause astrogliosis); and 3) can we use the Taste Chip to determine if and how astrocytes confer the reactive state on each other? |

| |Successfully answering these questions will significantly advance detection, understanding, and effective treatment of nerve tissue injury. |

| | |

|Judith A. Koke |Biodesulfurization of Recalcitrant Organosulfur Compounds |

|Aquatic Science and Biology teacher | |

|Smithson Valley High School |The overall goal of Judith Koke’s summer research project will be to screen a library of enzymes for enhanced activity and broadened |

|Spring Branch |specificity. One of the overall goals of this Advanced Technology Program funded project is to screen a library of genetically engineered |

| |bacteria for the ability to desulfurize one- and two-ring recalcitrant organosulfur compounds in crude oil, and Mrs. Koke’s summer research |

|Linette M. Watkins |will be directed at achieving this goal. She will work directly with the principal investigator and the co-Principal Investigator learning |

|Professor |new techniques in analytical biochemistry. Specifically, Mrs. Koke will learn how to conduct high throughput screening of the library using|

|Department of Chemistry and |growth-based assays. Bacteria isolated from the screening experiments will be used to treat hydrodesulfurized fuel. Mrs. Koke will perform|

|Biochemistry |the experiment to characterize the ability of these newly identified strains to remove recalcitrant organo sulfur compounds from fuel. |

|Southwest Texas State University | |

| |Prior to receiving her teaching certificate, Mrs. Koke worked as a laboratory technician for 20 years. Her previous laboratory experience |

| |will enable Mrs. Koke to quickly learn the new techniques in molecular biology and biochemistry and be a productive member of the research |

| |group. In addition to contributing to the success of the Advanced Technology Program funded project, the techniques learned and the |

| |knowledge gained by Mrs. Koke will be incorporated into the curriculum of her biology classes and her students will ultimately benefit from |

| |this research experience. |

| | |

|Amy Causey |Microbial Pathogens and Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria in Irrigation Water and on Vegetables |

|Biology and Environmental Science | |

|teacher |Ms. Causey will perform genetic characterization and strain typing of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains isolated from irrigation waters|

|Fort Davis High School |derived from the Rio Grande. Isolates of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus sp. will be genetically characterized for resistance to several |

|Fort Davis |antibiotics using PCR primers. The enterococcal bacteria will be identified to species using a combination of clinical identification kits |

| |and PCR analysis. Identification to strain in order to determine genetic relatedness of same species isolates will be undertaken using |

|Keith L. Sternes |restriction digests of bacterial DNA that is then separated using pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Techniques used during this |

|Professor |supplemental grant research endeavor, will include: bacterial isolation from sediment and water, DNA isolation from Gram positive and Gram |

|Department of Biology |negative organisms, restriction enzyme digest of DNA, gel electrophoresis, pulsed field gel electrophoresis, and polymerase chain reaction. |

|Sul Ross State University | |

| | |

|Janet Hassan |Analysis of a Statistical Host-Parasite Model for Bees and Mites |

|Calculus and Algebra teacher | |

|Science Academy of South Texas |This grant would support Janet Hassan’s participation in research on stochastic logistic models for African bee colonies. The deterministic|

|Mercedes |logistic population growth model is central in population ecology. Janet Hassan, supported by a 1999 Supplemental Grant, was an active |

| |participant and is a co-author on a paper accepted in Ecological Modeling, which develops a saddlepoint approximation for the equilibrium |

|James Matis |distribution of the stochastic logistic model. The new methodology is relatively easy to use, and we expect that it will greatly expand the|

|Professor |use of the stochastic logistic model in quantative ecology. Our current research is extending the biological realism of the previous model,|

|Department of Statistics |including the addition of multiple colony ‘births’. The research would again develop cumulant approximations directly from assumed (or |

|Texas A&M University |known) population kinetic parameters for bee colonies, and then substitute these approximations into third-order saddlepoint approximations.|

| |Ms. Hassan would again participate actively in helping to develop a new scientific paper and in assisting with a research workshop. |

| | |

|Carol McNamara |Lead Exposure and Polydrug Self-Administration |

|Biology teacher | |

|Bryan High School |Ms. McNamara will work 40 hours per week in a drug self-administration laboratory that is supervised by Dr. Jack R. Nation (Principal |

|Bryan |Investigator). Ms. McNamara will be integrally involved in all phases of a project that is designed to evaluate the effects of |

| |developmental (gestation/lactation) lead or cadmium exposure on the intravenous self-administration of cocaine or heroin. Her activities |

|Jack R. Nation |will include surgery and placement of catheters into the jugular vein of adult male rats that have been exposed to metals in early |

|Professor |development. In addition, Ms. McNamara will be responsible for maintaining patency of the catheters and collecting and analyzing data during|

|Department of Psychology |the grant period. Also, Ms. McNamara will acquire skills in the use of statistical packages such as SigmaStat and graphic design. At the |

|Texas A&M University |conclusion of the project, Ms. McNamara will assist in preparing a written manuscript that summarizes the findings from the project. This |

| |manuscript will be submitted to an appropriate scientific journal and Ms. McNamara will be included as a co-author. |

| | |

|Sharon Doramus |Extension of HF Radar for Water Currents and Direct Observation of Transport Model Coefficients |

|Geometry, Algebra and Calculus | |

|teacher |Managing our coastal resources requires “nowcasts” and “forecasts” of coastal hydrodynamics. This includes currents, waves, and water |

|Calallen High School |quality parameters. This Technology Development and Transfer (TDT) project will extend HF radar applications to predict the origins and |

|Corpus Christi |fates of oil spills, water quality, and thermal and contaminant plume tracking. In addition, we are furthering our environmental sensor |

| |capabilities in the Gulf of Mexico nearshore waters by deploying in-situ real-time sensors that can monitor such parameters as particle |

|James S. Bonner |sizes, total suspended solids, etc. The HF radar and the in-situ monitoring instruments complement our modeling efforts in that the data |

|Professor |from the radar system can be used in groundtruthing our hydrodynamic models and the environmental sensor data helps us verify/calibrate our |

|Conrad Blucher Institute |water quality models. |

|Texas A&M University-Corpus | |

|Christi |As we develop these methods of predicting the dispersion of crude oil using HF radar, field verification will be conducted using tracer |

| |studies in Corpus Christi Bay. Ms. Doramus will have opportunities to work in the field while the tracer studies are being conducted. The |

| |fieldwork will also include working with the in-situ environmental sensors as they are calibrated and deployed in Corpus Christi Bay. In |

| |addition, Ms. Doramus will work with our graduate students on the modeling. This prediction aspect of the research is particularly |

| |intriguing to her and she foresees integrating components of it into her classroom. In particular, the trigonometry unit of the |

| |Pre-Calculus classes would lend itself to the forecasting of waves, etc. As many of these students will take Physics concurrently, she can |

| |envision working with the Physics teacher to incorporate some of the research into that course as well. |

| | |

|Daniel J. Hochman |Vibrio Parahaemolyticus and Texas Oysters: Biology and Public Health Significance |

|Chemistry teacher | |

|Ball High School |Mr. Hochman will directly participate in the Seafood Safety Laboratory’s experimental and monitoring activities involving pathogenic Vibrios|

|Galveston |associated with Texas oysters. This work includes both bench and field studies designed to elucidate the population levels and spatial |

| |distribution of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus. Both of these pathogenic bacteria are present at high densities during the |

|John R. Schwarz |summer months and can cause illness and death in certain high-risk individuals in the general population following raw oyster consumption. |

|Professor |Mr. Hochman will expand the training and experience obtained during Summer 2001 by implementing procedures and techniques learned last year |

|Department of Marine Biology |in the analysis of this summer’s oyster samples. Specifically, he will determine what environmental conditions are present this year when |

|Texas A&M University at Galveston |DNA isolated from Vibrios in oysters matches the DNA of clinical Vibrio specimens isolated from people who in the past have become ill from |

| |raw oyster consumption. PFGE and DGGE electrophoretic techniques will be used to determine the degree to which the DNAs match. A written |

| |report will be required which details how the newly acquired information can and will be utilized in Mr. Hochman’s classes. |

| | |

|Janice Marie Lalor |Biological Activities of Citrus Flavonoids |

|Biology teacher | |

|Skyline High School |Some of the flavonoids have already been purified and sent to our laboratory for testing this summer. Janice Lalor will participate in all |

|Dallas |aspects of the research. Under the supervision of Dr. Miller, she will be involved initially in the care and treatment of the animals. In |

| |addition, she will help with the processing of the tissues for histological evaluation, the analysis of the tumor data, and the preparation |

|Edward G. Miller |of computer generated research presentations. As indicated in Ms. Lalor’s resume, she has worked for two summers in this department with |

|Professor |another investigator on a Health Science Center Tobacco Research Grant. During this time, she was cleared for work with animals and was |

|Department of Biomedical |also trained in histological techniques. This prior experience will allow her to quickly assume an active role in our research project. In |

|Sciences |addition, this research project will give Ms. Lalor insight into another primary risk factor for the development of cancer – diet. |

|Texas A&M University System | |

|HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry | |

| | |

|Mary Booth Lyle |Generating Conditional FMDV Resistance in Cattle by Inducible Ribozyme Degration of IRES RNA |

|Biology and Chemistry teacher | |

|La Grange High School |Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is the cause of a highly contagious disease of cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals. The FMDV genome |

|La Grange |is a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA of 8.4 kb which is translated to produce a single polyprotein that is then processed by proteases |

| |to mature viral proteins. To prevent the spread of the disease to unaffected animals following initial exposure, we propose to express |

|Patrick Dunne |catalytically active sense and antisense RNA (ribozymes) that disrupt the regulatory IRES element on both plus and minus viral strands. As |

|Professor |a first step in developing the system, we propose to generate a set of test ribozymes directed to all predicted conserved single-stranded |

|Department of Veterinary Anatomy |regions in the FMDV IRES. In order to test the efficiency of these constructs, we will fuse the IRES element to a luciferase reporter |

|And Public Health |construct and co-transfect BHK cells with IRES-Luciferase and plasmids containing various ribozymes expression cassettes. |

|Texas Agricultural Experiment | |

|Station |Ms. Lyle will participate in the construction of one or more ribozyme expression cassettes and in testing their efficiency in inhibiting |

| |FMDV IRES-mediated expression of the reporter. Ms. Lyle will learn some of the basic techniques of molecular biology such as PCR analysis, |

| |DNA cloning and DNA sequencing as well as some basic procedures of mammalian cell tissue culture. |

| | |

|Jasson Brock Conner |Conservation of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Open-Lot Cattle Feedyards |

|Chemistry and Agriculture teacher | |

|Amarillo Area Center for Advanced |The purpose of this supplemental Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grant for a high school chemistry and wildlife recreational management |

|Learning |teacher is to introduce the environmental research needs of the Texas Panhandle to area high schools through teacher training, especially |

|Amarillo |for the Amarillo Area Center for Advanced Learning. This training will be designed for Mr. Jasson Conner who teaches in the Amarillo |

| |Independent School District. During week 1, Mr. Conner will be provided a directed study in environmental sciences affecting the Beef Cattle|

|L. W. Greene |Industry of the Southern High Plains. This work will include library research culminating with a seminar to the ATP research team. |

|Professor |Following the seminar presentation, a general discussion of the research in progress and research to complete will be generated by faculty, |

|Department of Animal Science |staff and students involved with the project. Beginning on week 2 of the training, Mr. Conner’s primary workstation will be the Texas |

|Texas Agricultural Experiment |Agricultural Experiment Station Research Feedyard. At the feedyard, Mr. Conner will be responsible for setting up the in vitro air emission|

|Station |chambers to determine volatile ammonia excreted from cattle fed different protein diets. After data samples are collected, Mr. Conner will |

| |then work with the laboratory technician to analyze nitrogen and phosphorus concentration in the samples. |

| | |

|Judy Taylor |Sustainable Cultivated Pasture Systems for Texas Meat Goats |

|Biology, Physics and Chemistry | |

|teacher |Judy Taylor will continue her research into the nutritional anti-quality factors found in recently collected native legume germplasm. She |

|Stephenville High School |has collected plant material in 2001 from germplasm established in 2000 and will collect more material in 2002. These plants will continue |

|Stephenville |to be observed in the field for growth habit, reproductive cycles and productivity. Plant components will be analyzed in the laboratory for|

| |plant dry matter concentrations of neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber residue lignin, condensed tannins and|

|James P. Muir |macro-minerals including phosphorus and nitrogen. Rumen-fistulated goats will also be used to screen both native and introduced legumes for|

|Professor |disappearance rates, an indication of digestibility. This material will be summarized in the Agronomy Society of America annual meeting |

|Research and Extension Center |where Ms. Taylor will present a paper, with project support, in November 2002. |

|Texas Agricultural Experiment | |

|Station | |

| | |

|Glenda Overfelt |Hydrology and Salinity Monitoring and Modeling Along the Middle Rio Grande |

|Environmental Science, Biology, | |

|and Chemistry teacher |Ms. Overfelt will collect water samples from Lake Amistad, contributing tributaries, groundwater wells, and rain gauges for isotopic and |

|Del Rio High School |water quality analysis. She will also be involved in intensive sampling in and around Lake Amistad for the Advanced Technology Program. |

|Del Rio |Ms. Overfelt will participate with investigators to calculating Lake Amistad’s water balance and contributing sources for lake salinity. |

| | |

|Ranjan S. Muttiah | |

|Professor | |

|Blackland Research and | |

|Extension Center | |

|Texas Agricultural Experiment | |

|Station | |

| | |

|David Nitsche |Development of an Early Warning System for Sorghum Ergot Using Doppler Radar and the NPET Network |

|Biology teacher | |

|Amarillo Center for Advanced |A major aspect of our research will be to determine the specific environmental conditions that favor disease development. Dave Nitsche will|

|Learning |be involved in greenhouse and laboratory studies that relate specific temperature and moisture regimes to disease incidence and severity. |

|Amarillo |He will help set up experiments, maintain the study, and collect data. He will learn how to identify the fungal pathogen that causes |

| |sorghum ergot and how to work with the organism. He will learn standard microbiological procedures for working with plant pathogens, how to|

|Charlie Rush |inoculate plants with pathogens, and how to reisolate pathogens from infected tissue. He will be exposed to numerous procedures and |

|Professor |techniques for identifying and differentiating plant pathogens. Based on this experience, Mr. Nitsche should be able to set up new lessons |

|Department of Animal Science |for his biology classes that focus on plant-disease relationships. This is a subject seldom taught in traditional high school classrooms. |

|Texas Agricultural Experiment | |

|Station | |

| | |

|Pamela Sharrock |Anti-Edema Mechanisms: Nitric Oxide and Thromboxane in the Regulation of Lymphatic Function |

|Biology and Chemistry teacher | |

|Centerville Jr/Sr High School |Mrs. Sharrock will be working with a laboratory team consisting of two veterinary students, one undergraduate student, one laboratory |

|Centerville |technician and the principal investigator in a study designed to investigate the mechanisms involved in the control of lymphatic function |

| |and regulation of tissue fluid volume. Mrs. Sharrock will be involved in the acquisition, preparation and instrumentation of the lymphatic |

|Randolph H. Stewart |vessels to be evaluated. She will become familiar with the computer-based system used to acquire, record and analyze data from the |

|Professor |experiments and will be primarily responsible for this aspect of the studies. This data acquisition system (PowerLab, ADInstruments) is |

|Department of Veterinary Physiology |particularly suited for use in a high school laboratory setting because of its flexibility and ease of use and the company’s commitment to |

|and Pharmacology |supplying and supporting teaching laboratories. Mrs. Sharrock will be able to incorporate, not only the techniques learned, but also the |

|Texas Agricultural Experiment |knowledge gained concerning the scientific method and biological control systems into her biology and chemistry classes. |

|Station | |

| | |

|Sonja Crowell |Room Temperature Ionic Liquids – Novel Media for Chemical Separations |

|Physics and Chemistry teacher | |

|Lubbock High School |Mrs. Crowell will be involved in the preparation of new ionic liquids, determination of their physical properties, and application in metal |

|Lubbock |ion separations by microcyclic polyethers. |

| | |

|Richard A. Bartsch | |

|Professor | |

|Department of Chemistry and | |

|Biochemistry | |

|Texas Tech University | |

| | |

|Rubeth Griffing |Vibrational Dynamics of Microconfined Liquids |

|Biology, Chemistry and | |

|Physics teacher |Ms. Griffing worked on this project last summer. She learned how to synthesize and fabricate nanoporous glasses using the sol-gel method. |

|O’Donnell High School |She was shown how Raman spectroscopic measurements were carried out on liquids confined in these nanoporous glasses. Her main focus last |

|O’Donnell |summer was in the analysis of Raman data, specifically, smoothing and fitting the data to Lorentzian lineshapes. This summer, she will |

| |actually run the Raman spectrometer to obtain data on her own. She will use the Raman spectrometer to obtain spectra of neat liquids and |

|Edward L. Quitevis |then spectra of liquids confined in nanoporous glasses. She will use glass samples that she helped prepare last summer. Using the methods |

|Professor |she learned last summer, she will smooth the Raman data for both the neat and confined liquids. The smoothed data will then be further |

|Department of Chemistry and |analyzed using autoregressive analysis to understand the effect of confinement on the Raman lineshape. She will help in the preparation of |

|Biochemistry |figures and tables for poster presentations and manuscripts. |

|Texas Tech University | |

| | |

|Tobi McMillan |Clinical Trial of Oral Interferon Alpha in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis |

|Physical Sciences, Biology, Anatomy | |

|Physiology teacher |This project involves a Phase 2 clinical trial of an experimental drug for possible treatment of a rare disease that compromises the |

|Lubbock-Cooper High School |exchange of gases in the lungs. Life expectancy after diagnosis is 4.5 years and there is no objective evidence that any current treatment |

|Lubbock |increases either the time of survival or the quality of life. In this study, subjects will be treated with the study drug for 12 months and|

| |periodic assessment will be made of their pulmonary function and progression of their disease. |

|Lorenz O. Lutherer, M.D. | |

|Professor |Tobi McMillan, under supervision of the Principal Investigator and the Clinical Research Nurse, will interview potential subjects, explain |

|Department of Physiology |the study to them, maintain contact with the subjects during the study, observe the various tests being done, be involved in data collection|

|Texas Tech University Health |and initial data analysis. Through these activities and interaction with the Principal Investigator, Ms. McMillan will obtain information |

|Sciences Center |to take back to her classroom about the processes involved in developing new treatments for diseases. These include integrating information|

| |from the literature that suggests a drug might be efficacious for treating a certain disease, designing a study to test possible efficacy, |

| |getting approval of the study design from the FDA and the institutional IRB, running the study and evaluating the results. |

| | |

| |On days that no subjects are scheduled for clinic visits and data processing is up-to-date, we propose to involve Ms. McMillan in some |

| |ongoing animal studies exploring the mechanisms for the respiratory responses made by our subjects in order to compensate for the damage to |

| |their lungs. This will give Ms. McMillan a hands-on experience with the same measurements done in the patients. This secondary experience |

| |will very closely compliment what will be seen in the clinical study. Therefore, it will contribute to her having a better understanding of|

| |what is going on in the clinical study and make it easier for her to take a complete and meaningful story back to the classroom. |

| | |

|Richard Lee Franks |Proton Pumps at Cell’s Surface are Targets to Halt Angiogenesis and Metastasis in Breast Cancer Cell |

|Physics, Astronomy, Geology and | |

|Aquatic Sciences teacher |We hypothesize that plasmalemmal vacuolar type H+-ATPase (pmV-ATPase) activity at the plasma membrane can create pH gradients in tumor |

|Lubbock High School |cells. Whether this is sufficient to create a proton motive force (PMF) to drive ATP synthesis via F0/F1 ATP synthase (putatively located |

|Lubbock |also at the cell’s surface), will be tested in this study. To study pH gradients, cells will be intracellularly loaded with SNARF-1, a pH |

| |fluorescent indicator. Then, the pH gradients will be monitored by confocal/spectral imaging microscopy. These approaches will allow Mr. |

|Raul Martinez-Zaguilan |Franks to study pH regulation in discrete subplasmalemmal regions at the single cell level. Pharmacological approaches should allow us to |

|Professor |evaluate the interaction between these pumps. Thus, Mr. Franks will be exposed to two state-of-the-art techniques used to monitor ions with|

|Department of Physiology |high spatial, temporal and spectral resolution. Because of his background in chemistry and physics, Mr. Franks is well suited for this |

|Texas Tech University Health |study. Mr. Franks will further benefit because he will learn about working with living cells. |

|Sciences Center | |

| | |

|Gary Fortenberry |Detection of Airborne Mycotoxins Produced by Fungi in “Sick Buildings” |

|Biology and Chemistry teacher | |

|Monterey High School |Research in our laboratory has examined the role of microbial contaminants in buildings reported to have indoor air quality (IAQ) problems. |

|Lubbock |We have shown that in over 95 percent of “sick” buildings, fungi growing on wetted building surfaces have been the principal source of the |

| |problem. Most notably, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Stachybotrys species have been found growing in heating, ventilation and |

|David C. Straus |air-conditioning systems and on building surfaces. These fungal species produce a number of potent mycotoxins. In order to better |

|Professor |understand the role of mycotoxins in sick building syndrome, we propose the following objectives that Mr. Fortenberry will be involved in: |

|Department of Microbiology |1.) He will learn how to grow fungi on various building products. 2.) He will learn how to characterize and isolate said mycotoxins. 3.) |

|and Immunology |He will learn how to assay for these mycotoxins employing various chemical and biological assays. |

|Texas Tech University Health | |

|Sciences Center | |

| | |

|Thaddeus E. Hughes |Thrust and Exhaust Diagnostics for the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket |

|Physics teacher | |

|Memorial Senior High School |Mr. Hughes worked with us last summer. He participated in the design of the RPA array that we have constructed for installation in the |

|Houston |VASIMR rocket at NASA/JSC. He spent much of his time learning to use the software required to carry out his tasks. This year, we propose |

| |to take advantage of the skills and knowledge developed last year to conduct an investigation into the spatial structure of the VASIMR |

|Edgar A. Bering, III |exhaust plume and to compare that with model predictions. This activity will involve taking and interpreting data from the operation of the|

|Professor |VASIMR taken with the instrument he helped design last summer. |

|Physics Department | |

|University of Houston | |

| | |

|Emily Gresham |Powder Compaction Mechanisms in Manufacturing of Pharmaceutical Solid Products |

|Electronics and Physics teacher | |

|Memorial High School |A series of experiments are being conducted at the Materials Laboratory of the University of Houston. The purpose of the experiments is to |

|Houston |determine the constitutive relations of pharmaceutical powders. This information is important for developing analytic models of compaction |

| |processes. Ms. Gresham will be participating in these experiments, including making the specimens from powders, designing and conducting |

|Yi-Chao Chen |the compaction tests, taking measurements, and collecting and analyzing the data. |

|Professor | |

|Department of Mechanical | |

|Engineering | |

|University of Houston | |

| | |

|Belinda Stanley |Chemoprevention of Skin Cancers by Novel Derivatives of Tempol in Mice and Cultures |

|Biology and Chemistry teacher | |

|St. Thomas’ Episcopal School |There will be two types of experiments that Ms. Stanley will perform with the support of this grant. The first set of experiments involves |

|Houston |the use of cultured cancer cell lines, and the second one employs a hairless mouse model. Both culture and mouse models will be subjected |

| |to UV irradiation to induce cellular damages. The damages in culture cells will be evaluated by MTT cell survival assay. The treatment of |

|Diana Chow |BE-TOPS with various doses and durations, before and after the irradiation will be assessed for its chemopreventive and therapeutic |

|Professor |potentials against the damages, respectively. |

|Department of Pharmacological and | |

|Pharmaceutical Sciences |The study with mice will include short-term and long-term UV irradiations on the animal, followed by sacrificing the mice and harvesting |

|University of Houston |skin samples. The UV-induced changes in the expression of tumor suppression gene, p53, with and without the BE-TOPS treatment will be |

| |evaluated using an established immunohistochemical kit. |

| | |

|Tricia N. Aguas |Thin Film Optical Detector for Retinal Implantations: a “Bionic Eye.” |

|Biology teacher | |

|John H. Reagan High School |Ms. Aguas will participate in fabrication process of the detector in the Bionic Eye project as follows: |

|Houston |1. Photolithography – Activities in this process include spinning time, pre-baking of the photoresist, |

| |uv exposure and development. |

|Alex Ignatiev | |

|Professor |2. Transferring to a polymer carries – Activities include wet etching of the fabricated device for |

|Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center |transferring them from the original substrate to a Polymer film. |

|University of Houston | |

| | |

|Amanda M. Moranville |Dielectric Resonator Antenna Applications in Wireless Communications |

|Algebra teacher | |

|Samuel Clemens High School |Ms. Moranville will assist the Principal Investigator and the graduate assistants involved in the research in several key tasks. She will |

|Schertz |learn to use the electromagnetics software package, HFSS, to simulate various dielectric resonator antenna geometries in the vicinity of |

| |other conducting bodies. The results of these simulations will then be correlated and graphed using Excel. In addition, Ms. Moranville |

|Stuart A. Long |will assist the group with literature searches, both at the library and on the web, and will participate in the preparation of journal |

|Professor |articles and outside proposals for future funding. |

|Department of Electrical and | |

|Computer Engineering | |

|University of Houston | |

| | |

|W. Peyton Schuller |Integrated Multifunctional Fluorescence Sensors for Real Time Environmental Effluents and Water Analysis |

|Physics teacher | |

|John H. Reagan High School |Mr. Schuller will perform a market feasibility study for the sensors developed during the project. Mr. Schuller will also participate in |

|Houston |the fabrication process and testing of the prototype devices developed during the project. This testing will include electrical and |

| |spectral characterization. |

|Nasr-Eddine Medelci | |

|Professor | |

|Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center | |

|University of Houston | |

| | |

|Clyde Alan Price |Self-Aligned Multi-Color Photodetectors Based on III-Nitrades for Advanced Flame/Fire Detection |

|Chemistry teacher | |

|John H Reagan High School |During his previous work at the University of Houston, Mr. Price has shown excellent hands-on experience and skills. On this project, Mr. |

|Houston |Price will work on the development and fabrication of small equipment parts for the processing and characterization of the Nitride based |

| |flame/fire detector prototype. |

|David Starikov | |

|Professor | |

|Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center | |

|University of Houston | |

| | |

|Gary W. Himmler |Scale-Up of Ceramic Composite Components for Advanced Mining and Aerospace Applications |

|Math, Physics, Chemistry and | |

|Computer Science teacher |Mr. Himmler will continue to support our scale-up efforts through completion of the following projects: |

|Lutheran South Academy |Develop reliability models for the 80% Si3 N4 material developed for optimum properties in large |

|Houston |thickness |

| |Work with undergraduate students to collect necessary mechanical property data to validate model. |

|Kenneth W. White | |

|Professor |I expect this work to be his own effort and result in a publication. |

|Department of Mechanical | |

|Engineering | |

|University of Houston | |

| | |

|JoAnn S. Yannazzo |Function and Regulation of Polycystin-2 in C. Elegans – A Model for Polycystic Kidney Disease |

|Anatomy/Physiology, Chemistry and | |

|Microbiology teacher |Research will include testing chemicals on the nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans to observe their effect on intracellular calcium ion |

|North Side High School – High |channels. Fluorescent techniques will be used to quantitate the amount of calcium ions inside the cells. |

|School of Medical Professions | |

|Fort Worth | |

| | |

|Peter Koulen | |

|Professor | |

|Department of Pharmacology and | |

|Neuroscience | |

|University of North Texas Health | |

|Science Center at Fort Worth | |

| | |

|Judi Maddox |Neural and Biochemical Mechanisms Associated with the Affective/Motivational Determinant of Pain |

|Biology teacher | |

|Midlothian High School |It is expected that Judi Maddox will become actively involved in all of the methodological components that are listed in the procedure |

|Midlothian |sections outlined in the current Advanced Research Program funded research proposal. More specifically, experiments that address specific |

| |aim 2 will be completed during the summer months. Specific aim 2 is designed to explore the role of the cingulated cortex on mechanical |

|Perry Fuchs |hyperalgesia and place avoidance behavior. The methodology requires the induction of hyperalgesia using tight ligation of the L5 spinal |

|Professor |nerve, behavioral measurements of mechanical hyperalgesia and escape/avoidance behavior, chronic stereotaxic implant of stimulating |

|Department of Psychology |electrode and guide cannula within the region of the anterior cingulated cortex, and focal brain stimulation and intracerebral |

|The University of Texas at Arlington |microinjection techniques. In most cases, it takes about 3-6 months of training in all the techniques that are listed. However, I do not |

| |expect Ms. Maddox to master all of the techniques, but will be directly involved in either performing the majority of the techniques, or at |

| |least assisting graduate students and the principal investigator. Ms. Maddox will also be exposed to data entry, data analysis and writing |

| |of final projects as part of normal daily ongoing research activities. |

| | |

|Jennifer Stimpson |Nonlinear Optical Devices Fabricated by Ionic Self-Assembled Monolayer Techniques |

|Chemistry teacher | |

|Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet |Ms. Stimpson will be involved in our interdisciplinary research on nonlinear optical devices fabricated by the ionic self-assembled |

|Center |monolayer technique. She will do laboratory work on the preparation of cationic organic polymers and will be involved in the self-assembly |

|Dallas |of these materials onto substrates such as glass. The alternating layers of the cationic polymer and an anionic polymer, which can be built|

| |up to several hundred bilayers and which provides the nonlinear optical properties, will be prepared using our robotic system. |

|Martin Pomerantz | |

|Professor |Since this is an interdisciplinary project, Ms. Stimpson will work closely with electrical engineers and physicists who will study the |

|Department of Chemistry and |optical properties of the systems and devices she prepares and who will make additional devices from her materials. She will present her |

|Biochemistry |work at our group meetings and will also learn about the other aspects of the project from the talks by the students and postdoctoral |

|The University of Texas at Arlington |associates working on the project. Not only will Ms. Stimpson learn considerable new chemistry but she will learn some engineering and |

| |physics and how interdisciplinary research is carried out, all of which will help her in her teaching. Involvement in this |

| |interdisciplinary state-of-the-art research program will also help to keep her enthusiastic about teaching chemistry. We also plan on |

| |discussing how we might get involved in the education of high school students to try and pique their interest in chemistry and physics, and |

| |in science and engineering in general. |

| | |

|Jay B. Atman |Newly Discovered Radiation Detector: Nanometer-Size Liquid Crystal Droplets Dispersed in Polymer |

|Physics teacher | |

|James Martin High School |Mr. Atman is a highly-regarded physics teacher at Martin High School in Arlington. This grant will provide him with an excellent |

|Arlington |opportunity to experience modern techniques of optical characterization of materials. He will gain invaluable hands-on experience with |

| |laser spectroscopy and radiation detectors. I am sure that he will pass his experience, enthusiasm, and knowledge to his students. |

|Suresh C. Sharma | |

|Professor | |

|Department of Physics | |

|The University of Texas at Arlington | |

| | |

|Rodney M. Bond |Mathematical Analysis of Fluid Fingering Problems in Porous Media |

|Physics, Algebra, and Computer | |

|Science teacher |Mr. Bond will continue his summer research project on fluid fingering after his successful work last summer. He has accomplished the |

|Lamar High School |analytic study of short-term and long-term behavior of Hele-Shaw flow. This summer, Mr. Bond will undertake the following activities: (1) |

|Arlington |Finish the coding part of new numerical scheme; (2) Computer simulation of Hele-Shaw flow under various boundary conditions; (3) Compare the|

| |fingerings in Hele-Shaw flow and Reaction flow; and (4) Incorporate the moving grid technique in computer simulation of fluid fingering. |

|Jianzhong, Su | |

|Professor |Mr. Bond will participate in department weekly seminars and meet with the Principal Investigator regularly to discuss progress of the |

|Department of Mathematics |research projects. Also, Mr. Bond will be provided with an office and access to computational facilities in the department to assist his |

|The University of Texas at Arlington |research activities. In all, Mr. Bond will bring his expertise and contributions to this project. Meanwhile, his experience in this summer|

| |project will also help to bring him closer to the frontier of applied mathematics research which in turn benefits the high school students |

| |that Mr. Bond teaches during the regular school year. |

| | |

|Brian Cummings |Application of Cell Recognition Technology to Environmental Studies of Harmful Algal Blooms |

|Physics and Chemistry teacher | |

|Port Aransas High School |The purpose of the Advanced Technology Program grant is to test a new technology, the FlowCam, for recognition of red tide cells in natural |

|Port Aransas |plankton samples. Red tides in Texas are caused by a toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, which contains a potent neurotoxin and causes |

| |extensive fish kills along the coast of Texas. The FlowCam combines the capabilities of a flow cytometer (laser excitation of cells to |

|Edward J. Buskey |measure size and chlorophyll content) with digital image capture of each cell and image analysis to identify cells in a plankton sample |

|Professor |based on size and shape characteristics. |

|Marine Science Institute | |

|The University of Texas at Austin |We will just be beginning this project in the summer of 2002, so Mr. Cummings would be involved in initial trials of the FlowCam. Mr. |

| |Cummings would be involved in both field and laboratory studies. In the laboratory Mr. Cummings would learn phytoplankton and zooplankton |

| |culture methods. Red tide cultures would be grown, and studies of zooplankton feeding rates on red tide would be carried out using the |

| |FlowCam to count red tide cells. Mr. Cummings would also participate in field sampling of plankton populations so that these samples could |

| |be screened for red tide cells. This would provide Mr. Cummings with an excellent opportunity to experience both laboratory and field |

| |studies of marine science. |

| | |

|Dr. Charlotte May |Speedy Delivery – A new Approach for VLSI and Broadband Packaging Interconnect Design |

|Calculus and Algebra teacher | |

|Bowie High School |The goal of this summer project is to investigate new applications for Speedy Delivery Technology. Thus far, the focus of the research |

|Austin |effort during the past two years has been the development of applications related to electrical energy pulse propagation in one-dimensional |

| |transmission lines. One example is in Testing Technology for locating and the evaluation of impairments in telephone lines used for |

|Robert Flake |Broadband DSL data transmission. Analogous test methodologies are found in geophysical exploration involving acoustical energy signals. |

|Professor |There are more examples in other fields. Many of these potential applications of Speedy Delivery Technology involve signal propagation in |

|Department of Electrical and |two or three spatial propagation. The preliminary investigation of Speedy Delivery pulse propagation behavior in higher dimensions and in |

|Computer Engineering |various media will be carried out using spreadsheet data analyses and associated graphical visualization tools. Dr. May has prior |

|The University of Texas at Austin |experience with spreadsheet tools and is proficient in their use. Her assistance in these preliminary studies this summer would be a |

| |valuable contribution to the research effort. |

| | |

|Sarah F. Griffin |Reliability in Electronics Packaging: A New Design-Testing Paradigm |

|Algebra and Geometry teacher | |

|Westwood High School |The project objectives are to develop new design and testing paradigms to increase the reliability of solder joints connecting electronic |

|Austin |integrated circuits (IC) to printed wiring boards (PWB). Modeling and experimental efforts have been underway for two years. Experimental |

| |efforts include thermal cycling electronic assemblies (ICs soldered to PWBs) for the past two years. Assemblies are periodically removed |

|Glenn Y. Masada |from cycling and destructively tested to determine the evolution of cracks and material changes in the solder. |

|Professor | |

|Department of Mechanical |Ms. Griffin will be responsible for developing a teaching module on electronics packaging that would be an appropriate resource for high |

|Engineering |school students. The web-based module would include background material on electronics packaging (types, geometries, material properties), |

|The University of Texas at Austin |critical issues (reliability, size and heat constraints), and future trends. Appropriate links and text will be developed. Ms. Griffin |

| |will also help in gathering and analyzing the data and determine trends based upon the data – take optical microscope pictures of the solder|

| |joints, measure the shape, size and orientation of crack areas, and apply image processing and statistical programs to determine the |

| |correlations between joint locations, number of cycles, types of solders, crack area, and crack orientation. |

| | |

|Heather K. Pedraza |Towards Early Cancer Detection: A Novel Functionally-Integrated Cytoskeleton Model |

|Physics and Chemistry teacher | |

|Stephen F. Austin High School |The project objective is to determine if pre-cancerous cervical cells demonstrate detectable changes in their cytoskeletal elasticity which |

|Austin |are reliable precursors of cancer. The project will develop a quantitative modeling and experimental framework to study the cytoskeleton, |

| |its elastic response and the in vivo contributions of actin filament and microtubules. The experimental part of the study will characterize|

|Tess J. Moon |cytoskeletal elasticity with a series of in vivo whole cell elasticity measurements from an optical stretcher and an atomic-force-microscope|

|Professor |on normal and malignantly transformed cell lines. Ms. Pedraza will be responsible for developing a teaching module on cell structures that |

|Department of Mechanical |would be an appropriate resource for high school students. The web-based module would include background material on cell structures |

|Engineering |(types, geometries, material properties) and how these properties change in diseased cells. Appropriate links and text will be developed. |

|The University of Texas at Austin |Ms. Pedraza will also aid in the model development, carry out experiments, and participate in the data reduction analysis. |

| | |

|Donna Slaughter |Dying Stars, Living Planets |

|Biology. Chemistry, Physics | |

|and Astronomy teacher |Ms. Slaughter will carry out observations of white dwarf stars at The University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory using the recently completed|

|Stony Point High School |Argos CCD prime-focus, high-speed photometer. She will assist in the reduction, analysis and interpretation of the data. The goal is to |

|Round Rock |discover new pulsating white dwarf stars and use variations of the pulse arrival times to search for reflex orbital motion as a signature of|

| |extrasolar planets. This is the first search sensitive enough to detect planetary systems dynamically similar to our own. Ms. Slaughter |

|Don Winget |will be a co-author on publications of the research we carry out this summer. She will participate in the full spectrum of scientific |

|Professor |research from planning to publication, and co-author the scientific papers we submit based on our research. |

|Department of Astronomy | |

|The University of Texas at Austin | |

| | |

|Lee R. Silva |MT Contrast Agents: A New Paradigm in Molecular Imaging |

|Biology teacher | |

|Clark High School |The goal of this research is to develop a new type of MRI contrast agent that “responds” to various biological events inside the human body.|

|Plano |We have recently discovered a new class of lanthanide complexes wherein a Ln3+-bound water molecule is in slow exchange with bulk water. |

| |The goal of this summer project is to synthesize a series of tetra-amide ligands with four appended peptide side chains that form a |

|A. Dean Sherry |secondary structure above a Ln3+-bound water molecule. The peptide will be synthesized on a peptide synthesizer using standard Fmoc solid |

|Professor |phase peptide synthesis protocols. Purification will be carried out using reverse phase HPLC. Circular dichroism will be used to |

|Department of Chemistry |characterize the secondary structure and folding properties of the purified peptides. We will then test the hypothesis that water exchange |

|The University of Texas at Dallas |with bulk solvent can be altered by enzymatic cleavage of those peptide chains thereby exposing the bound water to bulk solvent. This will |

| |be detected using magnetization transfer NMR techniques. |

| | |

|Miguel Torres |A Fuzzy-Based Human Reliability System for Web-Based ACLS Training and Performance |

|Algebra and Geometry teacher | |

|McAllen High School |Miguel Torres will work on: |

|McAllen | |

| |Basic evaluation and analysis of the fuzzy-based human reliability model for the ACLS web-based program. |

|Miguel A. Gonzalez |Assisting the Principal Investigator on the research and evaluation of the web-based ACLS training. |

|Professor |Aid in the improvement and application of the web-based ACLS program by gathering crucial data from end-users from the medical field. |

|Engineering Department | |

|The University of Texas-Pan | |

|American | |

| | |

|Jessica Zenker |Polyethyleneimine-Gene Therapy Given by Aerosol: An Effective Treatment for Pulmonary Metastases |

|Biology teacher | |

|YES College Preparatory School |Ms. Zenker will play an important role in our Advanced Technology Program/Technology Development Technology (ATP/TDT) projects aimed at |

|Houston |developing an aerosol gene therapy technology for treatment of lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases in human patients. This technology |

| |uses a therapeutic gene complexed with a cationic polymer which appears to be highly effective in transfecting lung tissue in vivo while |

|Eugenie S. Kleinerman, M.D. |exhibiting little or no toxicity. Ms. Zenker will work in our labs at M.D. Anderson and in the labs of our ATP/TDT collaborator at Baylor |

|Professor |College of Medicine on several aspects of this important project. She will conduct tissue culture studies to screen new modifications of |

|Division of Pediatrics |our polymer-gene formulations in an effort to further optimize the antitumor responses that we have already reported in several animal |

|The University of Texas M. D. |models. She will learn PCR technology needed to study the biodistribution and clearance of these formulations after they are delivered to |

|Anderson Cancer Center |the lungs by fine particle aerosol. Ms. Zenker will also assist in histological studies to determine which cell types in the lungs exhibit |

| |the highest degree of uptake of the aerosol-delivered complexes and which regions subsequently exhibit the highest degree of gene |

| |expression. These studies should enable Ms. Zenker to transfer her research experience to the classroom. |

Summary of 2002 Supplemental Grants Awards and Participants

|Supplemental Grants to High School Science and Math Teachers B Summer 2002 |

| |

|Awards by Program and Year of Original Award |

| | | | |

| |Number of |Dollars |Number of |Dollars |Number of |Dollars |

|Program |Awards |Awarded |Awards |Awarded |Awards |Awarded |

|ARP |6 |$ 45,900 |12 |$ 85,500 |18 |$131,400 |

|ATP |9 |$ 66,600 |15 |$111,600 |24 |$178,200 |

|TDT |1 |$ 8,100 | 4 |$ 29,700 | 5 | $ 37,800 |

|Totals |16 |$120,600 |31 |$226,800 |47 |$347,400 |

Projects selected in the 1999 and 2001 Advanced Research Program and Advanced Technology Program (ARP/ATP) grants competitions were eligible to receive Supplemental Grants to High School Teachers for summer 2002. Technology Development and Transfer (TDT) grants are made in the ATP to commercialize research discoveries.

One of the teachers participating in this summer research program has a doctoral degree, 20 have master=s degrees (including 10 Master of Science degrees), and 26 have bachelor=s degrees (including 18 Bachelor of Science degrees). The doctoral degree was awarded in math education. The master=s and bachelor=s degrees were awarded in various areas of science, math, education, and engineering.

|Supplemental Grants to High School Science and Math Teachers – Summer 2002 |

| |

|Gender of Participants by Program |

| |

| |

| |Teachers | |Investigators |

|Program |Male |Female |Total | |Male |Female |Total |

| | | | | | | | |

|ARP | 6 |12 |18 | |16 |2 |18 |

| | | | | | | | |

|ATP |10 |14 |24 | |21 |3 |24 |

| | | | | | | | |

|TDT | 1 | 4 | 5 | | 4 |1 | 5 |

| | | | | | | | |

|Totals |17 |30 |47 | |41 |6 |47 |

Technology Development and Transfer (TDT) grants are made in the ATP to commercialize research discoveries.

Most of the participating teachers are female, while most of the investigators are male.

Twenty of the teachers also participated in the 2001 supplemental grants program. Six of the teachers participated in both the 2000 and 2001 programs and one participated in all four years of the program. Twelve of the teachers will be working with the professor who supervised their research during the summer of 2001. One teacher has worked with the same professor for all four summers. Seventeen of the professors with 2002 supplemental grants also received 2001 grants. Two of the professors have participated in all four summers.

Name Index

Aguas, Tricia N.. 14

Ardoin, Bonnie J. 1

Atman, Jay B 18

Bartsch, Prof. Richard A. 11

Bering, Prof. Edgar A., III 13

Bond, Rodney M. 18

Bonner, Prof. James S 7

Bowen, Ken 3

Buskey, Prof. Edward J 19

Cassidy, Prof. Patrick 2

Causey, Amy 5

Chen, Prof. Daniel H. 1

Chen, Prof. Yi-Chao. 14

Chow, Prof. Diana 14

Conner, Jasson Brock 9

Crowell, Sonja. 11

Cummings, Brian 19

Densmore, Prof. Charles L 1

Doramus, Sharon 7

Dunne, Prof. Patrick 8

Fang, Prof. Xing. 2

Flake, Prof. Robert. 19

Fortenberry, Gary 13

Franks, Richard Lee 13

Fuchs, Prof. Perry 17

Gabor, Prof. Caitlin 3

Galloway, Prof. Heather 3

Gonzalez, Prof. Miguel A 22

Greene, Prof. L. W 9

Gresham, Emily 14

Griffin, Sarah F. 20

Griffing, Rubeth 12

Hassan, Janet 6

Himmler, Gary W. 16

Hockman, Daniel J. 7

Holmes, Matt 3

Hughes, Thaddeus E 13

Ignatiev, Prof. Alex. 14

Kleinerman, Prof. Eugenie S. 22

Koke, Prof. Joseph R. 4

Koke, Judith A 5

Koulen, Prof. Peter 16

Lack, Janice 2

Lalor, Janice Marie 8

Lee, Kathreen. 1

Long, Prof. Stuart A 15

Lutherer, Prof. Lorenz O 12

Lyle, Mary Boothe 8

Maddox, Judi 17

Martinez-Zaguilan, Prof. Raul 13

Masada, Prof. Glenn Y. 20

Matis, Prof. James. 6

May, Charlotte, Ph.D. 19

McMillan, Tobi. 12

McNamara, Carol 6

Medelci, Prof. Nasr-Eddine 15

Michaud, Steve 2

Miller, Prof. Edward G. 8

Moon, Prof. Tess J. 20

Moranville, Amanda M 15

Muir, Prof. James P. 9

Muttiah, Prof. Ranjan S 10

Nation, Prof. Jack R. 6

Nitsche, David 10

Overfelt, Glenda 10

Passos, Prof. Nelson Luiz 2

Pedraza, Heather K. 20

Pomerantz, Prof. Martin 17

Price, Clyde Alan 15

Quitevas, Prof. Edward L 12

Rush, Prof. Charlie 10

Schuller, W. Peyton 15

Schwarz, Prof. John R. 7

Sharma, Prof. Suresh C 18

Sharrock, Pamela 11

Sherry, Prof. A. Dean 21

Silva, Lee R 21

Slaughter, Donna 21

Stanley, Belinda 14

Starikov, Prof. David. 15

Sternes, Prof. Keith L. 5

Stewart, Prof. Randolph H 11

Stimpson, Jennifer. 17

Straus, Prof. David C 13

Su, Prof. Jianzhong. 18

Taylor, Judy. 9

Taylor, Teresa A. 4

Torres, Miguel 22

Watkins, Prof. Linette M. 5

White, Prof. Kenneth W 16

Winget, Prof. Don 21

Wuthrich, Cerise 2

Yannazzo, JoAnn S 16

Zenker, Jessica 22

Related documents available from the Division of

Finance, Campus Planning and Research:

Research Experiences for High School Science

Teachers, Summer 2001

Follow-Up Report on the Summer 1999 Supplemental

Program to Provide Research Experiences for High

School Science and Math Teachers, June 2000

Advanced Research Program/Advanced Technology

Program Fiscal Year 1999 Progress Report with a

Special Report on Texas-Mexico Border Research

1998 – 2000

Advanced Research Program/Advanced Technology

Program, 2001 Program Announcements

Advanced Research Program/Advanced Technology

Program, Report of Awards, May 2002

For further information about this program, contact:

Dr. Linda Domelsmith

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Division of Finance, Campus Planning and Research

P.O. Box 12788

Austin, Texas 78711

(512) 427-6150

E-mail: linda.domelsmith@thecb.state.tx.us

Information is also available on our website:



The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board does not discriminate on

the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age or

disability in employment or the provision of services.

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