Volume III – March 2014 | Journal of the Sciences

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

John R. Dekarske ‘14

EDITORS

Christopher M. Ferrante ‘15
Alan J. Fish ‘14
William D. Hudson ‘14
Shaquann S. Seadrow ‘16

ADVISOR

Michael J. Wolyniak
Department of Biology

Cover Photo: The Phamerator database is used to compare whole bacteriophage genomes for similarities and differences that will uncover information on the progression of bacteriophage evolution. The coloration between the lines in the above figure indicate regions of high sequence similarity between the genomes under comparison. (From James B. Hughes ’14)

News from the Hampden-Sydney Science Departments

FEATURE SECTION: PERSPECTIVES ON HOMOSEXUALITY

Genetically Based: The Search for the Gay Gene
Christopher M. Ferrante ’15

The wrong question about the “wrong” group: considering the topic of homosexuality from a humanities perspective
William D. Hudson ’14

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Synthesis and Characterization of Organometallic Catalyst Complexes and Their Ligand Subcomponents
R. Lee Ayscue ’15

Examining Head Injury: The Efficiency and Longevity of a Modern Lacrosse Helmet
W. Burke Best ’13

Interactions between High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) Protein and Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) And Their Roles in Inflammation Responses in the Brain and Liver: A Scientific Review
J. Drake Bishop ’14

The Effects of Ibotenic Acid Lesions to Auditory and Visual Sectors of the Thalamic Reticular Nucleus During a Visual Discrimination Task with an Auditory Distraction
Cody N. Castelvecchi ’13

A Simple Planetary Evolution Model Using the Solar Nebular Theory
Jamshaid R. Chaudhry ’16

Development of LabVIEW Software with NIEHS DOS-based Software Program Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Capabilities for Post-processing ESR Spectra
Meade C. Edmunds ’14

Fluorescent Spectroscopic Comparison of Phenotypes of Different Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with Point Mutations of the BRR6 Gene
Alan J. Fish ’14