Schedule and Program - North Carolina Academy of Science

Housing Affordability, Changing Price Index, Unemployment Rate andOther Related PredictorsNailong G. Presenter, Naima Naheed, and Woon-Kwan LamBenedict CollegeBased on the data of U.S. housing Affordability from 1990 to 2010, the changing price index is definedby the ratio of future value of the average houses of a year to the median priced existing home. AfterNondimensionalization of the original data, the index has a direct correlation with the affordability, and adelay behind the latter. Also, the amplitude of the index is about two times larger than that of affordability.Furthermore, implemented is a multilinear regression of the responses in unemployment rate on the predictors inaffordability, changing price index, CPI-U and crime rate, which can be used to predict the unemployment rateand analyze the significance of the predictors.Application of macrophotography to the study of insect biology anddiversityDavid R. GuzmanEntomopixelMacrophotography is often applied in scientific studies to capture images of small subjects for record keeping,documentation of events and publication of results. This branch of photography is sometimes defined asphotography with magnification from X1 to X25. It overlaps with techniques in microphotography (photostaken through a microscope) which involve greater magnifications. In this overview, I present techniques used inMacro with strong emphasis on capturing images of insects in their natural environment, in insect collections andmuseums and in the laboratory. Examples of how these images can be used in insect identification and taxonomywill be briefly discussed.The Role of Myosin VI in Epithelial Cell MigrationKayley H. Hake*, Debbie J. Frank, Kathryn G. MillerMeredith CollegeMyosin VI is an actin-based motor protein that has the ability to move processively on actin to transport cargoesor anchor tightly to actin to stabilize structures or localize cargoes. Myosin VI participates in cell migration,but its role and mechanism are unclear. We are investigating this role using two developmental processes inDrosophila: border cell migration, in which somatic epithelial cells migrate past germ-line nurse cells to reachthe developing oocyte; and dorsal closure, a process in embryogenesis during which two sheets of epithelial cellsmigrate dorsally to encase the embryo. In both cases knocking down myosin VI only in the migrating cellsaffects migration and myosin VI works in concert with cell adhesion molecules. Unexpectedly, when myosinVI is completely absent from the whole animal, migration occurs normally. We propose that the relative levelsof myosin VI expression in neighboring tissues are critical for successful migration. If levels of myosin VI aresignificantly greater or less in one tissue, migration is disrupted due to different levels of stabilization of actin andcell adhesion complexes. To test this hypothesis, we are generating flies in which myosin VI is over-expressedor knocked down in different populations of cells involved in these movements. If the differential adhesionhypothesis is correct, then we should see a defect when neighboring cells have different amounts of myosin VI.By comparing these two developmental cell migration processes, we hope to better understand the mechanisms ofmyosin VI action in cell adhesion and motility.Campbell University - 49