University of Utah Undergraduate Research Abstracts, Volume 11, Spring 2011

^1^1 ^ r TM SPRING 2011 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS VOLUME 11 A PUBLICATION OF THE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM (UROP) A D I I Q I ir»AT>r»^s « e T M E "One of the significant bonuses of studying at a research university is the opportunity to work one -on - one with internationally renowned faculty and advanced doctoral students on a real research project - one where the answers are not known in advance. This journal contains abstracts of papers written by U ofU undergraduates describing the exciting results they have obtained in such research projects. We are very pleased with the important contributions that our undergraduates make to our overall research mission and we hope that this experience has shown them how exciting it can be to study the unknown." David Pershing Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs "Undergraduate research puts students directly in the heart of the creative process. It changes how they think, feel, and solve problems. It takes a entire community to explore the mysteries and solve the problems of our world. That is what undergraduate research is all about." Cynthia Furse Associate Vice President for Research THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH I UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 VOLUME 11 Jill Baeder Charlotte Hansen Terry Editor Honors College Editor Steve Roens UROP Director John Francis Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs The University of Utah Undergraduate Research Abstracts A Publication of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Volume Eleven, Spring 2011 ©2011 by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, University of Utah. u I t u c www.urop.utah.edu Table of Contents A Message from President Young 2 A Message from John Francis 3 A Message from Steve Roens 4 Undergraduate Abstracts 5 A Message from Jill Baeder 104 Research Posters on the Hill 105 Charles H. Monson Prize Winner 131 Undergraduate Research Conferences 133 Undergraduate Research Scholars 134 Health Sciences LEAP Program 135 Undergraduate Student Experts On Teaching Program 157 Honors College 163 Alphabetical Index 211 1 PRESIDENT YOUNG'S MESSAGE As one of the world's preeminent research universities, the University of Utah has become renowned for its ability to not only generate innovative ideas and profound n e w discovery, but also deliver its practical application to those w h o need it most in the form of life-changing medical and scientific technologies. Indeed, it is the hallmark of the U to embrace the idea of limitless possibilities in its approach to ing and discovery. It is found in the mindset of our extraordinary faculty-world-class researchers and scientists w h o c o m e to our campus from all over the world representing a wide variety of disciplines. It also explains w h y undergraduate students at the U have the unique opportunity to engage directly with top faculty researchers and thereby b e c o m e a built-in, integral part of the invention process, examples of which you will see in the pages of this impressive journal. When a student works one-on-one with a faculty mentor on research or a creative project, an amazing dynamic occurs that exceeds the experience available at standard universities. This hands-on approach takes the learning born in our classrooms and allows the student to truly actualize true and vivid understanding, taking theory and putting it to practical test in very powerful and personal ways. The results of this engagement are truly transformative and result in an educational experience that is both unique and highly rewarding. The abstracts presented here represent the work of some of our most extraordinary students and range from groundbreaking research on the frontiers of science to studies that explore aspects of community service and performing arts. The quality is evident in the words of the students themselves, as each abstract describes the research, scholarship, or creative project undertaken, the goals set forth, and the way in which those goals were achieved. Whether from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, Bioscience Undergraduate Research Program, Honors College, or individual research in a faculty lab, students at the University of Utah are true partners in the creation of extraordinary innovation, and are likewise witness to the kind of expansive, intensive, transformative education that only the very best universities of the world can provide. Michael K.Young President THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH MESSAGE FROM JOHN FRANCIS An education at a research university is not simply the transfer of an unchanging body of knowledge from one generation to another rather it is the recognition that knowledge is constantly changing and h o w w e gather and understand that knowledge continues to change as well. The research done by our student that presented in this journal is compelling evidence not only of h o w knowledge changes but the important role that our students have in the creation of n e w knowledge. At a research university, education is best understood as a shared endeavor between the faculty and the students in learning more about ourselves and the world around us. W e build upon the foundations of past scholarship in preparing students to contribute to future knowledge. W e also believe that education takes place both inside and outside the classroom. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the achievements of our students, which take place in all disciplines and media, from the laboratory to the stage. We want our students to be active participants in their education. One way to achieve this goal is to invite our undergraduates to work on research endeavors with our faculty. Our faculty are committed scholars w h o are engaged in a wide range of creative research projects that offer our students countless ways in which they can actively contribute to our collective understanding of the world. In turn, students also initiate many projects which, through the benefit of faculty guidance, become valuable additions to h o w w e understand the world w e live in. These projects inspire not only our students, but also renew the University's commitment to our students and their education. It is an impressive tribute to our students and to our faculty to see the rigorous, thoughtful, and creative work described in this journal. Congratulations to all of the students and faculty mentors whose work is described in this journal. Your achievements are truly commendable. John G. Francis Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs MESSAGE FROM STEVE ROENS Greetings and welcome to the 2011 Undergraduate Research Abstracts. I want to congral ulate all of the students w h o have published their cutting edge research in this eleventh edition. As this journal will attest once again in 2011, undergraduate research continues to grow at the Un of Utah as it does across the nation. Again this year w e see an increase in the number of abstracts w e publish describing the research and creative projects accomplished under faculty supervision by our most talented undergraduates. This issue of the Abstracts contains contributions by many students who received assistantships fro the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). U R O P provides undergraduates with opportunities to work one-on-one with faculty sponsors on research and creative projects. This year w e welcomed a n e w staff m e m b e r to UROP, Cynthia Greaves, w h o began work with us in January 2011 and has already proved to be a wonderful addition to our office. To find out h o w to b e c o m e involved in UROP, please visit our w e b site at http://www.urop.utah.edu. I would also like to recognize the students in the Honors College, the Health Sciences LEAP Program the Undergraduate Student Experts on Teaching program (USET) whose abstracts appear in this journal as well as students w h o participated in the fifth annual Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research, hosted by Weber State University in February, and all other students across the campus w h o have worked on research/creative projects with faculty sponsors, and whose abstracts are included here. In order for undergraduate research/creative projects to take place, faculty sponsors are indispen I want to acknowledge these accomplished professionals who, with full teaching loads and extensive commitments to their o w n research, generously give of their time to mentor students in research and creative projects. I want to give a special thank you to the Lawrence T. & Janet T. Dee Foundation for their generous support of the Undergraduate Research Symposium sponsored by U R O P which provides undergraduates across campus with a venue in which to present their research. I would like to thank Charlotte Hansen Terry, Administrative Program Coordinator, for recruiting Ho students' abstracts for the journal. I would also like to acknowledge the 27 students w h o participated in this year's "Research Posters on the Hill" event at the Utah State Capitol, whose abstracts are published in a special section of the journal, as well as Associate Vice President for Research Cynthia Furse whose office sponsors the event and Jason Perry, Vice President of the University's Office of Government Relations w h o provided ample support for the event and m a d e possible a declaration of the day as the 10th Anniversary of Research Posters on the Hill by Utah Governor Gary Herbert. This tenth anniversary was also marked by a commendation for both Utah State University and the University of Utah by the Utah State Senate. I am most grateful to Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Pershing, Vice President for Research Thomas Parks, and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, Dean of the School of Medicine and C E O of University Health Systems Lorris Betz for their generous support of UROP. Without their help w e would not be able to provide students with the rich experiences in research and creative work that they currently receive. Finally, I am especially grateful to UROP Administrative Assistant Andrea Haag for her excellent wo organizing both Research Posters on the Hill and the Undergraduate Research Symposium and to Associate Director Jill Baeder, w h o is unquestionably the face and spirit of U R O P and the organizational and editorial force behind the Undergraduate Research Abstracts, and finally to Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs John Francis for his support, encouragement, and unending flow of good ideas. Steve Roens UROP Director THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PAIN HYPERSENSITIVITY IN HOX B1 MICE Hannah Aizad (Alan Light) Department of Anesthesiology University of Utah The gene, Hox B1, could play a role in pain hypersensitivity. W e are testing this hypothesis using both heterogeneous and knockout mice. Behavioral experiments (including fatigue, Von Frey, and Hargreaves) demonstrate different responses between the Hox B1 +/- and Hox B1 -/-. Dorsal root ganglia sectioning allows us to observe the cells microscopically. W e also used calcium imaging to observe the neuron responses from both wild type and knockout mice. The neurons are treated with capsaicin, menthol, KCI, and other drugs. The mice with the knockout Hox B1 gene should have increased sensitivity to these experiments. The knockout mice should fatigue more quickly and experience a lower tolerance to the Von Frey, Hargreaves and other behavioral experiments. The calcium imaging experiments using knockout strains should have higher responses to the drugs. Hox B1's role in pain hypersensitivity has a clinical application. It can be linked to patients w h o suffer with certain pain symptoms. Hannah Aizad Alan Light Ron Hughen 5 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS J SPRla THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF BRYOSTA , A NATURAL ANTI-CANCER MOLECULE, Wl AN EMPHASIS ON CREATING THE ACID CHAIN CONNECTED TO THE C RING Kara Arnold Gary E. Keck Kara Arnold (Gary E. Keck, Tom Cummins) Department of Chemistry University of Utah Me0 2 C Bryostatin is a natural product found in the marine organism Bugula neritina. Biological studies of Bryostatin have revealed promising anti-cancer properties in numerous h u m a n cancer cell lines in-vitro. Bryostatin has also been studied in upwards of 80 clinical trials and shown to act synergistically w h e n administered with other known chemotherapeutic treatments. Recently, this noteworthy molecule has also been observed to stimulate the i m m u n e system, which most anticancer drugs have the opposite effect. However, the only way to produce Bryostatin in renewable quantities is through chemical synthesis, since harvesting it would require the destruction of a vast amount of Bugula neritina. A viable synthetic route could also provide the ability to produce structural analogues of Bryostatin which potentially have even better biological properties than the natural product. Br LDA OMe O THF, -78°C 60% CCI4 OMe Benzoyl Peroxide NBS ^ Br. OMe \ A 71% AgOTf, T B S O H TBSO 2,6-di-fert-butyl •4-methylpyridine DCM 67% ^^X^OMe NaOH TBSO >^<^X^OH EtOH/H20 0°C The C ring is the most complex fragment in the synthesis of Bryostatin. Preparation of the acid piece in connection with the C ring was prepared through a series of four reactions. First, an alkylation of methyl isobutyrate (1) was performed using LDA. And second, a free radical bromination of the previously synthesized olefin (2) produced an allylic bromide (3) in place of the olefin. A n experimental route replacing the second reaction was also explored in hope of finding a less expensive and more efficient synthesis. A Wacker oxidation was performed on the original olefin (2) in order to create an allylic acetate. The reaction was found to be unsuccessful. The allylic bromide (3) was displaced with TBSOH, giving the silyl ether (4). Finally, hydrolysis of the ester with N a O H gives the carboxylic acid (5), completing the acid piece of the C ring. After the acid piece is connected to the C ring, it can then be attached to the remaining portions of Bryostatin. This is currently the quickest, most efficient path to synthesize the acid piece of Brvo<;t^tin. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS PREFERRED BODY TEMPERATURE IN ALLIGATORS EXPOSED TO DDE Dani Bain (Jennifer Araneo-Yowell, C.G. Farmer) Department of Biology University of Utah American alligators (Aligator mississippiensis) exposed to organochlorine contaminants, such as D D E (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), suffer a range of consequences including developmental changes, endocrine system abnormalities, and altered sex ratios. In addition to disrupting the health and function of body systems, these contaminants can also have an affect on the behavior of a variety of species. For this study, experimental animals were acquired from a lake known to be contaminated with DDE, while control animals were obtained from a relatively clean lake. The aim of this experiment is to identify any group differences in preferred body temperature between animals exposed to D D E and the control. The alligators were placed in a thermogradient ranging in temperature from 21.5°C to 35°C. Data loggers secured to the backs of the alligators recorded the temperature choices of each animal every two minutes for an eight-hour period. The temperature at which each alligator spent the most time was found by calculating the m o d e . Statistically significant results showed that the contaminated group had a higher preferred body temperature than the control group. This project is part of a larger study on the overall effects of D D E on alligator behavior, cognition and standard metabolic rate. C.G. Farmer 7 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS A CONTRIBUTION OF THE DIAPHRAGMATICUS MUSCLE TO VENTILIATION IN AMERICAN ALLIGATORS (ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS) DURING AN ACTIVE STATE Jessie Barlow Jessie Barlow, T.J. Uriona (C. G. Farmer) Department of Biology University of Utah Crocodilians have a complex way of breathing. Ventilatory mechanics of crocodilians consist of costal ventilation, in which the external intercostal muscles increase the volume of the thorax during inspiration and the internal intercostal muscles decrease the volume of the thorax during exhalation. In addition to costal ventilation inspiration can be supplemented in two other ways. Inspiration is facilitated w h e n ischiopubis muscles rotate the pubes and the gastralia to increase the volume of the thoracoabdominal cavity to help fill the lungs while the diaphragmaticus muscle pulls the liver-lung complex to the tail, which also increases the volume of the lungs. C. G. Farmer We previously found that maximal volumes of breaths (vital capacity), which were induced in fasting juvenile alligators in a terrestrial setting by having the animals inspire C 0 2 gas, were not different between animals with an intact M. diaphragmaticus and animals in which the muscle had been transected (Uriona and Farmer, 2006). It is unclear w h y crocodilians have need of diaphragmatic and pelvic aspiration to supplement inspiration given these recent results. Although there was no difference was found in the resting state, we hypothesized that because more of the thoraco-abdominal muscles are being used while in an active state, there would be a greater difference between the animals with the severed diaphragmaticus. W e tested this by running the gators on a treadmill while measuring ventilation. T w o groups of alligators were used in the experiment, an experimental group, which had the transected diaphragmaticus and a group of control alligators that had received a placebo surgery. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH FEMININE GENDER ROLE CONSTRUCTS AND AGGRESSIVE DRIVING BEHAVIORS Sarah Bell (David Strayer) Department of Psychology University of Utah Sarah Bell Recent research indicates that there is a startling disparity between m e n and w o m e n in terms of aggressive driving behavior. While s o m e of this research has focused on the relationship between sex and aggressive propensities while driving, almost none has actually taken into account gender role constructs as opposed to sex (Deffenbacher, Lynch, Filetti, Dahlen, & Oetting, 2003). The current study examined the relationship of gender role constructs and aggressive driving behavior in a driving simulator. As expected, participants with higher levels of feminine gender role expressed less physical, verbal and vehicular aggression than participants w h o adopted a more masculine gender role construct. Unanticipated results also showed a significant relationship between feminine gender role construct and adaptive driving behaviors. David Strayer 9 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ACADEMIC WRITING INSTRUCTION Bethany Bibb (Randall Eggert) Department of English University of Utah Bethany Bibb The question of h o w to teach grammar, style, and content has long generated debates within the field of academic writing instruction. Based on research from the 1960s, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) called for abandoning grammar instruction (Braddock et. al, 1963; NCTE, 1985; 2006). While s o m e scholars have advocated a focus on style and content (Vassallo, 2003), others favor more emphasis on grammar because college freshmen lack basic writing skills (Jablon, 2004). Given the scholarly divide on this issue, m a n y writing classes do not offer comprehensive coverage of all three elements. Randall Eggert This study compares current perspectives on this issue between university and community college writing instructors and between the instructors and their schools'writing centers. T w o sets of questionnaires, one version for instructors and one for writing center personnel, were distributed at the University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College (SLCC). After completing questionnaires, some participants opted to answer follow-up questions, and s o m e instructors submitted grading rubrics. The collected information was combined and analyzed for pedagogical patterns and suggested approaches to the current instructional trend. Results indicate that instructors and tutors would support comprehensive methods which balance content, stylistic, and grammar instruction. Patterns indicate that University and SLCC instructors do emphasize content and style over grammar. In contrast, several writing center personnel from both institutions reported grammar as most important to students based on requests for help and teachers' comments on papers. Of the instructors, few w h o favored an equal overview approach offered specific ways to incorporate all three elements, but several indicated a preference for context-based grammar instruction. Others w h o leaned toward a comprehensive approach suggested a hierarchy with content first and grammar last. In general, instructors and writing tutors would rather see s o m e form of comprehensive class instruction than equal overview. Drawn from local perspectives, this study encourages college instructors and writing centers to reevaluate existing pedagogies and to consider designing courses to include balanced, comprehensive writing instruction. Such instruction will help students gain the foundation they need for success in academic writing and in future professional writing. References: Jablon, R. (2004). Undergraduate Writing Skills: Or Whatever Happened to Basic Grammar? Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 84 (4), 57-58. National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). (1985). NCTE position statement: On grammar exercises to speaking and writing. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). (2006, October 24). NCTE's position unchanged: Isolated grammar drills do not produce good writers. Retrieved November 15, 2006, from http://www.ncte.org/about/press/rel/125932.htm 10 Vassallo, P. (2003). Writing Correctly is Not Necessarily Writing Well. ETC: A Review of General Se 60(2), 185-189. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON MAXIMUM JUMPING POWER Jacqueline A. Bonn, Steven J. Elmer (James C. Martin) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah Jacqueline A. Bohn Separate authors have reported that passive and active warming of skeletal muscle increases m a x i m u m power during a counter-movement jump. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of passive warming, active warming, as well as passive cooling on m a x i m u m jumping power. Seven college-aged participants (mass 67 ± 15 kg, height 1.73 ± 0.07 m, age 27 ± 7 yrs) performed a maximal counter-movement jump on a force platform before and after three different experimental conditions: passive warm-up, active warm-up, and passive cooling. For the passive warm-up and cooling conditions, participants were immersed up to their iliac crest in 40° C and 18° C water, respectively for 30 minutes. For the active warm-up, participants rested at room temperature for 25 minutes and subsequently performed a five minute warm-up consisting of hopping, jumping, and running at moderate intensity. Ground reaction forces were measured with a force platform and velocity of the center of mass was determined by finite integration of the force-time data. M a x i m u m jumping power produced over the propulsive phase of the jump was calculated as the product of the average vertical ground reaction force and the velocity of the center of mass. M a x i m u m jumping power increased by 7 ± 3 % (1,886 ± 368 vs. 2,009 ± 352 W P < 0.001) after passive warming and decreased by 18 ± 7 % (1,926 ± 357 vs. 1,572 ± 405 W P < 0.001) following passive cooling. There were no significant changes in m a x i m u m jumping power following the active warm-up (1,893 ± 393 vs. 1,997 ± 411 W P = 0.29). Our results support previous work by authors w h o have reported increased and decreased power during maximal effort jumping and cycling tasks following passive warming and cooling, respectively. These data suggest that muscle temperature is easily altered during passive warming, however, the active warm-up may need to be of sufficient intensity and duration to increase muscle temperature. Although there were no significant changes in m a x i m u m jumping power following the active warm-up, five participants increased their power by 10%, and two decreased their power by 6%. These results may illustrate the dichotomous effects of active warm-up, which increases muscle temperature but may also induce fatigue. This information could be useful for coaches and athletes w h e n implementing warm-up strategies during training and competition. W1 Steve J. Elmer James C. Martin D 1 if" -' P 11 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 RECEPTION OF THE IDEOLOGY OF THE TEUTONIC KNIGHTS IN 19TH CENTURY GERMANY Jamison Brogdon Jamison Brogdon (Maria Dobozy) Department of Languages and Literature University of Utah M y research with Dr. Dobozy focuses on the political ideology of the Teutonic Order in the 13th and 14th centuries, and h o w that ideology was received and adapted for use by the 19th century German historian, Heinrich von Treitschke, in his writings from the 1870's - 90's. Treitschke relied heavily on the ideology of the Teutonic Knights w h e n crafting his o w n texts. Using the culturally accepted history of the Teutonic Order, Treitschke was able to apply the crusader message to his current goals of promoting German colonialism. The Teutonic Knights, as a monastic order, were instrumental in expanding the territory of the Germa people and the Christian faith in the 13th and 14th centuries. Texts such as the Livlandische Reimchronik and the Chronik des PreuRenlandes provided the Teutonic Order's perspective on their world and activities. The vocabulary used in these works demonstrates that the knights clearly glorified themselves and demonized their enemies. For example, the Order described itself as pure, honorable and wise while the people of the Baltic were grim, treacherous and arrogant. This word choice helped to justify the expansion of the German crusaders into lands of Northeastern Europe. The Teutonic Knights presented themselves as bringing the Baltic peoples civilization and salvation. Treitschke learned to use selective vocabulary from this period of German history. The words used by Treitschke were chosen to validate the colonial endeavors of imperial Germany. H e described Europe as the 'heart of the world,' with Germany possessing the 'greatest capacity' for colonization. H e even demonized potential colonial peoples calling them 'old peculiar forms of civilization,' whose people would be 'forced into freedom' if need be. In his political writings, Treitschke states that, 'Germany at last sets herself to take her proper the great work of expansive civilization.' Treitschke adopted the policies and ideological structure of the Teutonic Order, but instead of bringing Christian salvation to the heathens, Treitschke sought to bring German civilization to what he termed the barbarians. T h E : L\ . • M • ; •I i\ , BIODISTRIBUTION OF POLY(AMIDO AMINE) DENDRIMERS AS A FUNCTION OF SIZE A N D SURFACE CHARGE Alexander Burckle (Hamid Ghandehari) Department of Bioengineering University of Utah Alexander Burckle Separate authors have reported that passive and active warming of skeletal muscle increases m a x i m u m power during a counter-movement jump. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of passive warming, active warming, as well as passive cooling on m a x i m u m jumping power. Seven college-aged participants (mass 67 ± 15 kg, height 1.73 ± 0.07 m, age 27 ± 7 yrs) performed a maximal counter-movement jump on a force platform before and after three different experimental conditions: passive warm-up, active warm-up, and passive cooling. For the passive warm-up and cooling conditions, participants were immersed up to their iliac crest in 40° C and 18° C water, respectively for 30 minutes. For the active warm-up, participants rested at room temperature for 25 minutes and subsequently performed a five minute warm-up consisting of hopping, jumping, and running at moderate intensity. Ground reaction forces were measured with a force platform and velocity of the center of mass was determined by finite integration of the force-time data. M a x i m u m jumping power produced over the propulsive phase of the jump was calculated as the product of the average vertical ground reaction force and the velocity of the center of mass. M a x i m u m jumping power increased by 7 ± 3 % (1,886 ± 368 vs. 2,009 ± 352 W P < 0.001) after passive warming and decreased by 18 ± 7 % (1,926 ± 357 vs. 1,572 ± 405 W P < 0.001) following passive cooling. There were no significant changes in m a x i m u m jumping power following the active warm-up (1,893 ± 393 vs. 1,997 ±411 W P = 0.29). Our results support previous work by authors w h o have reported increased and decreased power during maximal effort jumping and cycling tasks following passive warming and cooling, respectively. These data suggest that muscle temperature is easily altered during passive warming, however, the active warm-up m a y need to be of sufficient intensity and duration to increase muscle temperature. Although there were no significant changes in m a x i m u m jumping power following the active warm-up, five participants increased their power by 10%, and two decreased their power by 6%. These results m a y illustrate the dichotomous effects of active warm-up, which increases muscle temperature but m a y also induce fatigue. This information could be useful for coaches and athletes w h e n implementing warm-up strategies during training and competition. Figure 1. Biodistribution of PAMAM dendrimers at 8 hours post sub-toxic i.v. injection in CD-1 mice. G7-OH 70 " G6.5-COOH • G7-NH2 DG4-NH2 60 41 4» > o * 50 40 30 " 1*1 20 10 0 i .1 i_i^ Blood Urine Liver Kidney GI Stool Hamid Ghandehari UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 CHRONIC EXERTIONAL COMPARTMENT SYNDROME OF THE LOWER LEG IN A COLLEGIATE RUGBY PLAYER: A CASE REPORT Behle Burns Charlie Hicks-Little 14 Behle Burns (Charlie Hicks-Little) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah Background: Compartment syndrome (C5) can be either acute or chronic, and can occur in any fascially enclosed compartment in the body. Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CEC5) is far more common in athletics than any other form. In CEC5, increased pressure compresses the neurovascular components within the affected compartment, causing numbness, tingling, and extreme pain. A 19 year-old, male collegiate rugby player, presented with severe, bilateral, anterior, lower leg pain after five minutes of running. Preventative taping to increase arch support were used and were unsuccessful. The athlete was referred to a physician for further testing. Differential Diagnosis: Medial tibial stress syndrome, stress fractures, or nerve entrapment syndromes. Treatment: Conservative treatment has been shown to be unsuccessful. Activity modification and fasciotomy are the only proven methods to reduce any signs and symptoms. Measurements of all four left, lower leg compartments were taken by the physician. Bilateral facsiotomy was performed on the anterior and lateral compartments the following week by the athlete's family physician . Five months post-surgery, the athlete returned to the athletic training room with similar anterior shin pain in his left lower leg. Diagnostic measurements remained high within the anterior and lateral compartments, and a re-release was performed. The athlete is six weeks post-surgery and is fully participating in practice and games. Uniqueness: Intercompartmental pressure measurements have a normal pre-exercise reading of 0-15 mmHg. Post-exercise readings between 30-40 mmHg warrant a surgical release of the affected compartment. Measurements as high as the numbers found in this case report are rare (79 mmHg). Re-release of a compartment is uncommon, with Conclusion: CEC5 can be a common occurrence within the athletic population . A delayed diagnosis of C5 can be detrimental to the athlete and result in loss of the affected extremity. Understanding the differences amongst the possible diagnoses of lower leg injuries can decrease the dangers to an athlete with any form of compartment syndrome. TH E UN IVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS INERT GASES AND ZEOLITES Kelly Buskirk (Edward M. Eyring) Department of Chemistry University of Utah Zeolites are microporous minerals that occur naturally and can be produced synthetically. They possess sorbancy properties and are composed primarily of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. Zeolites have "sponge-like" characteristics and behave as a molecular sieve. The demand for zeolite's porous sorbancy is evident in the increasing number of patents granted towards gas separation and purification via sorbance. Zeolites are found across regions of the United States such as Oregon and Yellowstone as well as countries abroad such as New Zealand, Nova Scotia, and Iceland. They are particularly unique for their ability to separate bulk gas mixtures. By injecting a gas into a zeolite, a specific pore size will allow certain gas molecules to pass through the zeolite, while causing other large ions and molecules to "stick" to the surface, thereby becoming trapped. Gas retention in zeolites is possible by perfecting the zeolite parameters. This can be done by optimizing pore size and controlling channel size. Chabazite and mordenite, two naturally occurring zeolites, are the main focus of this research. Differing gas retention was found after experimentation with the inert gases xenon, krypton, and argon. Gases were injected into a gas chromatograph and cycled over the zeolites. A thermal conductivity detector (TCD) measured the retention. By heating the zeolite to different temperatures, we found the rate at which the gas interacted with the zeolite changed noticeably. Temperatures were recorded between 24-45 degrees Celsius, and retention was analyzed for 1 mL Xenon injected on about 0.737 grams of chabazite. Peak analysis was done by gas chromatography using helium as the carrier gas. The peaks analyzed showed first a blow-by peak, which accounted for gas molecules that had no specific interaction. However, gas molecules that were trapped came off later and were indicated by a retention peak. This showed that these molecules were indeed interacting with the zeolite. Kelly Buskirk Edward M. Eyring Henry's law states that at a particular temperature, the amount of a given gas dissolved in a given type and mass of solid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas in equilibrium with that solid, or otherwise stated Pc=KhXc where Pc is the partial pressure of injected gas, KH is Henry's law constant, and Xc is the concentration of the injected gas in the zeolite. Hence the TCD is measuring the vapor pressure at the controlled temperature. As temperature was increased, the amount of time between the initial and retention time decreased, meaning gas retention happened faster as the temperature was increased at a steady interval. By plotting the natural log of this time, ~t in minutes versus 1IT in Kelvin, the slope gives us ~H, or the energy of interaction. By applying the Clausius-Clapeyron equation to solve for Henry's constant, HI Ink H =R- 1 - In where ~ is a constant and R is the gas constant, a linear relationship is formed. Since mass (O.737g chabazite) and volume flow (30 mL/min) were kept constant throughout the experiment, the amount of xenon injected does not affect the time difference between initial and retention peaks. He nry'. LI W Plot O . OO~ 18 OOlXl2 0_0032.2 0.00324 0.00328 0.00028 0.0033 0.00332 11T ('eml> In "'1Il101 15 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS ASSESSING EARLY ESL LITERACY Robert Capps (Rachel Hayes-Harb) Department of Linguistics University of Utah RobertCapps In teaching English as a second language (ESL) to adults, it is sometimes necessary to teach literacy students for the first time. A variety of assessment tools exist for tracking student progress through the intermediate and advanced stages; however, there is no test designed specifically to track early ESL literacy development. Currently, the BEST (http://www.cal.org/aea/) and CASAS (http://www.casas.org/) tests are the most widely used assessment tools for beginning ESL. However, neither test is sensitive to the earliest stages of literacy development. C A S A S targets the beginning ESL level, but the literacy component is very short, and is exclusively multiple-choice. In lacking a production component, it is unable to assess the full range of skills that students m a y be developing for the first time as they learn English. BEST assesses students' functional literacy and speaking skills, but the level is too advanced for the purpose of assessing early learners. The writing component includes tasks such as filling in forms, writing a check and writing a short letter to a teacher. For adult students w h o c o m e from countries where literacy education is not widely available, or w h o s e native languages are normally unwritten, it m a y take years of study before reaching a level advanced enough to be able to d o these tasks comfortably. As a result, nonprofit organizations that provide English language instruction to ESL students lackin basic literacy skills, like the English Skills Learning Center in Salt Lake City, often d o not have an adequate way to track student progress at the earliest developmental stages. This m e a n s that these organizations can show neither their preliterate students, nor their funders, that these students have indeed been making progress, which can be discouraging, and ultimately detrimental, to the students w h o end up labeled by BEST as a level zero or level one for years. In the present work, a new test was designed to better assess early ESL literacy. In order to learn w this would entail, I observed classes of preliterate ESL students and sat in on the administration of the BEST and C A S A S tests. I interviewed ESL teachers and test administers closely involved with preliterate ESL students to find out the areas that they thought a test of early ESL literacy should target, in particular what these students could do and in what ways their skills improve at the earliest stages. Interviews included gathering information about informal strategies already used for assessing a student's reading level, as well as professional opinions about what literacy skills the current tests were missing. The criteria collected were considered in terms of practicality, testability, and relevance to the student population. It was found that an adequate test of early ESL literacy would have to test a variety of skills not necessarily included in the existing assessments. These include the knowledge of the directionality of writing, handwriting skills, recognition of letters and knowledge of their sounds, whole-word recognition, and the pronunciation of progressively more complex words. The test was developed to capture the range of skills that can be accomplished by a student w h o is assessed by BEST as a level zero. It was concluded that the test would require several sections, including speaking, writing, and match components, and that these would capture an appropriate range of skills to assess the level of a student whose literacy skills fall below the level captured by other assessment tools. The findings suggest that the range of literacy skills traditionally tested m a y have to be revised and expanded in an effective early ESL literacy assessment. 16 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS BETA-CATENIN GIVES "TIPS" TO THE DEVELOPING PANCREAS Gabriela M. Cash (Brett K. Baumgartner, L. Charles Murtaugh) Department of H u m a n Genetics University of Utah Beta (B)-cells in the pancreas regulate blood sugar via secretion of insulin, and their destruction leads to type-1 diabetes. Although generating n e w B-cells could provide a treatment for this disease, the precise molecular mechanisms of B-cell development remain unknown. W e are interested in the role of W n t signaling in pancreatic multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs), from which B-cells and other mature pancreatic cells arise. Previous research has shown that development of exocrine acinar cells in the m o u s e pancreas requires B-catenin, a W n t signaling component. Deletion of B-catenin also reduces endocrine islet cell numbers, including B-cells. Our recent studies indicate that both of these phenotypes m a y be caused by defective M P C self-renewal in the absence of B-catenin, and our current research specifically aims to investigate whether B-catenin has a unique function in MPCs, or if it is required at other stages of endocrine and exocrine development. Answering this question will in turn provide valuable information regarding the development of B-cells. Using conditional gene deletion and activation in the mouse pancreas, we can manipulate B-catenin activity at specific developmental timepoints, and in particular pancreatic sublineages, to determine w h e n and where B-catenin is required during development. W e have utilized the Cre/loxP system and a pancreas-specific Cre driver, Pdx1 -Cre, to delete the B-catenin gene (Ctnnbl) in the early pancreatic epithelium. At embryonic age 12.5 days (El 2.5), B-catenin knockout (PBKO) pancreata possess fewer MPCs, marked by expression of the enzyme Cpa1 and localization to distal "tips" of the developing epithelium. This suggests that maintenance of Cpa1-positive tip cells requires B-catenin. At E12.5, P B K O pancreata also exhibit a reciprocal increase in the number of endocrine precursors, marked by expression of the transcription factor Ngn3. However, this increase is not sustained into later stages of development: in E17.5 P B K O pancreata, w e found a 10-fold decrease of overall pancreas size accompanied by a 2-fold decrease in B-cell mass. In attempt to explain this decrease, w e used Ngn3-Cre to delete B-catenin in endocrine precursors and this revealed no significant difference between the amount of B-cells in P B K O pancreata and littermate controls. Therefore, deletion of B-catenin leads to loss of progenitors rather than B-cells, suggesting that only early M P C s require B-catenin while islet precursors do not. Gabriela M. Cash Brett K. Baumgartner L. Charles Murtaugh In order to determine the ultimate fate of B-catenin-deficient cells, we used a tamoxifen catalyzed Cre driver, Pdx1-CreERT, to induce recombination in subsets of cells at specific timepoints while simultaneously marking them with GFP expression. Comparing the resulting mosaic B-catenin knock out (mPBKO) pancreata to littermate controls, w e found that loss of B-catenin at El 0.5 resulted in reduced contribution to Cpa1-positive M P C s at El 3.5 as well as acinar cells at E17.5. Surprisingly, labeling of S-cells remained similar between m P B K O and control at E17.5, suggesting that the loss of M P C s was partially balanced by a shift of mutant cells from multipotency to an endocrine fate. To determine the w i n d o w of B-catenin activity in expansion of M P C s and pinpoint the ultimate fate of m P B K O cells, further experiments will be done at additional timepoints with additional CreERT lines. 17 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 FATE OF SECOND HEART FIELD SUBDOMAIN IN FGF8 MOUSE MUTANTS Chansong Choi (Anne Moon) Department of Pediatrics, Neurobiology, Anatomy, and H u m a n Genetics University of Utah Chansong Choi Fibroblast growth factors (Fgfs) consist of a large family of genes that encode polypeptide signaling with numerous significant functions. Fgf proteins interact with a class of trans-membrane receptor tyrosine kinases called Fgf receptors 2. The Fgf pathway is k n o w n to play a critical role in cell growth, differentiation, migration, and patterning during organogenesis. It has been discovered that Fgfs are key players in pharyngeal, limb, and cardiovascular development. Specifically, Fgf8 is a central player in this family of fibroblast growth factors and operates extensively in cardiovascular development signaling pathway. Nearly 4% of all human infants are born with a congenital malformation and approximately 1 % of those composed of cardiovascular defects. Malformations of the outflow tract constitute nearly 4 0 % of these defects. It has been realized that Fgf8 signaling pathway regulates the activity of the Second Heart Field (SHF), a cell population which contribute cells to the myocardium at the arterial pole of the heart in the outflow tract and right ventricle. Fgf8 regulates SHF behavior and the development of its identity in giving rise to outflow tract myocardial cells. The M o o n lab has already shown that in Fgf8 conditional m o u s e mutants, myocardial cell identity seems to be "mistaken"; that is, mutant myocardium does not fulfill its normal signaling or secretory functions necessary for downstream cell behaviors. Normally, the myocardial cells have "nonworking" identity with particular signaling, secretory, and cell biologic roles that are vital for outflow tract morphogenesis. For example, if Fgf8 is completely ablated in heart precursor cells before the construction of the early heart tube, loss of Fgf8 in this domain specifically produce small heart tubes and outflow tracts. O n the other hand, if Fgf8 is ablated in mesodermal tissue, these mutants have defects in the outflow tract configuration such as doublet outlet right ventricle and transposition of the great arteries. Finally, ablation of Fgf8 function in the early pharyngeal pouch endoderm simultaneously with the mesoderm, mutants are born with outflow tract that failed to undergo correct sepatation. Such results demonstrate various outflow tract phenotypes and confirm spatially and temporally distinct properties of Fgf8 signaling in cardiovascular development 3. Despite its critical role in heart formation, not much is known about the molecular and cellular pathw that are dependent on Fgf8. The overall objective of this research project is to find the role of Fibroblast Growth Factor (Fgf8) signaling in the development and differentiation of heart cells. More specifically, we wish to define the exact requirements for Fgf8 in SHF sub-domains labeled by different "cardiosensor"transgenic lines. Each "cardiosensor" transgene is transcribed in different subdomains of the SHF and are detectable by staining for beta-galactosidase activity. For instance, y96-Myf5-nlacZ-16 transgene expression is indicated in the inferior wall of the early outflow tract and cells caudal to the O F T in the pharyngeal SHF 1. Expression of Mef2cAHF-LacZ transgene in caudal crescent defines A H F precursors and their progeny in OFT and RV 1, whereas the A17-Myf5-nlacZ-T55 transgene tags progenitors are"fated"to superior portion of the O F T 1. Since these cells are marked with these different cardiosensor lines, they can be identified and studied in Fgf mutants. It is highly plausible that these subdomains require and are being exposed to differential signals to achieve their identity. We are currently carrying out the following steps to gather experimental data: (1) breed mice for desi mutant genotypes containing conditional alleles bearing desired Cre switch and control for the timing of ablation of Fgf8 (2) breed mice for non-mutants (wild types) bearing Cre switch (3) collect D N A samples from mice to amplify and analyze D N A using PCR techniques (4) harvest embryos at e9.5 and 12.5 (5) embed and section samples for data analysis. Preliminary data confirms our hypothesis that specific phenotypes of different categories of Fgf8 mutants reflect variable dependence of these subdomains on Fg8 signaling. 18 Works Cited 1 Bajolle, F., Zaffran, S., Meilhac, S.M., Dandonneau, M., Chang, T, Kelly, R.G., Buckingham, M.E. (2008). Myocardium at the base of the aorta and pulmonary trunk is prefigured in the outflow tract of the heart and in subdomains of the second heart field. Developmental Biology, 313 (1), 25-34. 2 M o o n , A. M. (2006, June). M o u s e Models for Investigating the Developmental Basis of H u m a n Birth Defects. Pediatric Research, 59 (6), 749-755. 3Park EJ, O g d e n LA, Talbot A, Evans S, Cai C, Black BL, Frank DU, M o o n A M (2006) Required, tissue-specific roles forFgf8 in outflow tract formation and remodeling. Development 133:2419-2433. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT IN ONLINE LESSONS: THE ROLE OF PERFORMANCE GOALS Domino Taylor Ells, Miranda Maxwell, Andrew Choi (Carol Sansone) Department of Psychology University of Utah The initial results from the Regulating Motivation and Performance Online (RMAPO) project found that w h e n students were provided reasons to value learning basic H T M L skills in an online lesson, they modeled the effects of sample H T M L codes in examples and exercises (Modeled) to a greater degree. Greater modeling, in turn, was related to greater performance (Quiz Scores). Because greater modeling was associated with higher performance outcomes, the purpose of the present study was to examine whether spontaneously cited Performance Goals (participant's will to perform to a certain standard) predicted the degree to which students modeled the sample codes. Undergraduate volunteer participants (n=108) were asked to list goals in regards to what they hoped to gain from the online H T M L lesson ("What are your personal goals for working on this lesson?"). The participants'goals were subsequently coded into the following categories: "performance,""finishing,""affect,""usefulness,""learning," and "credit." Within the lesson, participants were able to engage in examples and exercises at varying degrees. The findings revealed that participants, w h o expressed Performance Goals, were more likely to model the effects of sample H T M L codes in examples and exercises to a greater degree. Although the initial study revealed that enhancing value was shown to lead to a greater degree of modeling, and in turn, higher quiz scores, the findings also reveal that Performance Goals lead to greater degree modeling and subsequently indirectly increase performance outcomes. Findings suggest that both external and internal motivators are factors that lead to increased engagement within an online lesson, which in turn leads to greater performances outcomes (Quiz Scores). Andrew Choi Carol Sansone 19 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 Overstimulation of TRPV4, a pressure-sensitive calcium channel, can cause death of retinal ganglion cells and m a y contribute to degeneration in glaucoma. ShiwaniChauhan David Krizaj 20 Shiwani Chauhan (Peter Barabas, Daniel Aaron Ryskamp, Wei Xing, David Krizaj) Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, Department of Physiology, and Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah School of Medicine Excessive calcium levels in retinal ganglion cells are thought to contribute to neuronal degeneration in glaucoma, a prevalent blinding disease, TRPV4, a calcium permeable mechanosensitive ion channel, m a y contribute to the calcium overload in retinal ganglion cells in response to increase intraocular pressure, which is a major risk factor for glaucoma. To examine this possibility w e tested whether overstimulation of TRPV4 is sufficient to cause the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells. The T U N E L assay was used to quantify cell death in TRPV4 stimulated cells. In the control experiments, 1 hour incubation with AMPA/KA receptor agonist kainate (10 u M ) increased the number ofTUNEL-positive cells by 68±7%, whereas retinal ganglion cells exposed only to control saline supplemented with L-15 Leibowitz mediu m showed little TUNEL signal. Exposure to the TRPV4 channel, the agonist GSK1016790A increased cell death significantly, which was confined to cells with large somata (>6 urn). 25 n M GSK 1016790A induced TUNEL-positive signals in 3 3 ± 7 % whereas 100 n M GSK induced T U N E L labeling in 67±13%of the presumed retinal ganglion cells. GSK1016790A and kainate had very little effect on signals in the presumed photoreceptor perikarya cells (cell diameter 3-5 urn). In conclusion, excessive stimulation of TRPV4 with GSK1016790A has an excitotoxic effect leading to the death of retinal ganglion cells. The action of TRPV4 mechanism in retinal ganglion cells represents a prime molecular target for severe blinding diseases such as glaucoma. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS HOST GENETIC DIVERSITY IMPEDES PATHOGEN ADAPTATION AND VIRULENCE Douglas H. Cornwall, Jason Kubinak (Wayne Potts) Department of Biology University of Utah Douglas H. Cornwall Pathogens are potent agents of natural selection acting on their host populations, and understanding the processes that limit virulence (i.e. harm to host) associated with infection has b e c o m e a major focus in biology. It has been suggested that host genetic diversity can limit the spread and virulence associated with infectious agents, but this is based on fundamental assumptions of the co-evolutionary relationship between hosts and their pathogens. Specifically, it predicts that host genetic diversity is an impediment to pathogen adaptation, and that this places an upper limit on virulence evolution. To test these predictions w e serially passaged Friend virus complex (a mouse-specific pathogen) through mice for three serial 12-day infections via intraperitoneal injection. O n e line of passage was created by serially passaging virus through genetically identical individuals (the pure-passage line). Three other lines were created by alternating a different host genotype in the second round but keeping the genotypes in the first and third round the same as the pure-passage line. This was done in order to test whether one round of host alternation is sufficient to impede pathogen adaptation and associated virulence evolution. W e found that the alternating lines had significantly lower pathogen fitness than the pure-passage line. Additionally, virulence associated with infection by alternated virus stocks was also significantly lower. These results suggest that host populations with low genetic diversity might be particularly susceptible to rapid pathogen adaptation and consequently more severe disease. This has practical implications for m a n a g e m e n t of endangered species and domestic livestock, where use of prophylactic antibiotics contributes to the global antibiotic resistance problem. Wayne Potts 21 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 PENETRATION OF DEICING SALTS THROUGH BRIDGE DECK OVERLAY PROTECTION SYSTEM Yiran Cui (Chris P. Pantelides, Erika Weber) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Utah Yiran Cui The corrosion of rebars in reinforced concrete bridges is a serious problem for the construction industry. The chloride ions from using deicing salts are responsible for this corrosion. Various types of overlays and sealers are used to prevent water and chlorides from penetrating the concrete through the top surface of the deck to rebar. However, their effects under the Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) method are still unclear. Chris P. Pantelides This Bridge Overlay Study is researching on the performance of various overlay systems under ABC conditions, based on the bond strength of the overlay to concrete deck and the resistance of the overlay to chloride intrusion after fatigue loading. Four types of specimens are designed to simulate different situations that occur in A B C methods. Type I simulates the effects of the application of the bridge deck sealant after m o v e m e n t of the deck panel. Type II simulates the effects of the application of the overlay prior to moving the deck panel. Type III or the small sample chemical test is used as a comparison for the penetration of chlorides through the overlay after the ponding test. Test Type IV simulates the freeze/thaw conditions of smaller specimens and compares the bond strength between cycles. A 90-day ponding test with sodium chloride solution and a potentiometric titration test are used to exam the penetration of chloride ions through the overlay systems of these specimens. At this time, ponding tests are being performed for each test type and method, to determine the resist ance of the overlay to chloride intrusion after loading. Plastic walls with 3 % weight sodium chloride will be installed around the specimens for 90 days. After the completion of the ponding period, the specim e n s will be taken out of the solution and checked for the a m o u n t of chloride in concrete using potentiometric titration according to A S T M C114. Figure 1 Using deicing salts on road 22 Figure 2 Ponding test with sodium chloride solution THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS PREDICTING THE KINETIC RELEASE PROFILES OF POLYMER-CONTROLLED ANTIBIOTIC RELEASE FROM ALLOGRAFT BONE TO LOCALLY ADDRESS ORTHOPEDIC INFECTIONS Sherry Davidoff, Brent Call (Benjamin Brooks, David Grainger, Amanda Brooks) Department of Bioengineering Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry University of Utah Systemic antibiotics have a very poor penetration into bone and the surrounding avascular dead spaces often present following trauma or orthopedic surgery. In order to address this issue, the next generation of void-filling bone-graft materials takes advantage of local antibiotic drug delivery to combat peri-operatively introduced infections. In vitro polymer-controlled long-term antibiotic release studies were performed and assessed using a colorimetric assay to determine the amounts of antibiotic released from coated cancellous allograft bone, thereby evaluating the drug release kinetics as a function of the polymer coating composition. However, the current colorimetric assay is limited not only in its ability to accurately quantify released drug but also as a predictive tool for future antibiotic-containing polymer formulations. Furthermore, bioactivity of the released antibiotic must be determined in an independent bioactivity assay. Therefore, to confirm the bioactivity of antibiotic released from this polymer-coated allograft bone system, various microbiology techniques have been employed. Standard minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and zone of inhibition (ZOI) techniques were adapted for use with our specific antibiotic-releasing system. Integrating the bioactivity assay results with the drug release kinetics as determined colorimetrically, a release kinetics model was developed as a critical predictive tool to allow targeted modifications of the allograft polymer coating to alter the antibiotic release profiles and achieve long-term antibiotic efficacy in a surgical scenario. Sherry Davidoff Brent Call Benjamin Brooks Amanda Brooks David Grainger 23 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 CERAMIDE BIOSYNTHESIS IMPAIRS ENDOTHELIAL NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE PHOSPHORYLATION SECONDARY TO PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE 2A ACTIVATION IN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. Nicholas B. Deeter J. David Symons 24 Nicholas B. Deeter, Alexandrea Nichols, Quan-Jiang Zhang, Christopher Kowalski (E. Dale Abel, J. David Symons) College of Health, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Physics, Division of Cardiology University of Utah The fat-derived metabolite ceramide impairs arterial vasorelaxation potentially by disrupting endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS). Appropriate e N O S enzyme function is required for the synthesis of N O which diffuses from the endothelium to vascular smooth muscle to produce vasorelaxation. W h e n e N O S is phosphorylated (e.g., by insulin) at serine 1177 (p-eNOS S1177) it becomes activated and N O is released. Alternatively, cytosolic phosphatases (e.g., protein phosphatase 2A; PP2A) can dephosphorylate e N O S and lower N O release. W e hypothesized that ceramide lowers insulin stimulated pe N O S S1177 secondary to PP2A activation in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs). To test this, BAECs incubated in control media or media containing 500 u M palmitate for 3 h. For the last 10-min of the incubation BAECs were stimulated with saline or 100 n M insulin. In control cells ceramide levels did not increase and insulin-stimulated p-eNOS S1177 was robust. In palmitate-treated cells, ceramide levels accumulate and insulin-stimulated p-eNOS was absent. W h e n palmitate-treated cells co-incubated with the ceramide synthesis inhibitor myriocin (10 uM), ceramide levels did not increase and insulin-stimulated p-eNOS was restored (n=6-50 experiments). Thus, palmitate decreases insulin-stimulated p-eNOS S1177 in a ceramide-dependent manner. Next, BAECs incubated with palmitate in the absence and presence of the PP2A inhibitor okadaic acid (OA, 4 nM). Palmitate-induced reductions in insulin-stimulated p-eNOS S1177 did not occur in the presence of O A (n=6-33). Thus, PP2A activation might be required for ceramide to prevent insulin-stimulated e N O S phosphorylation. To explore this further, BAECs were transfected with either scrambled (control) or PP2A specific short interference R N A (siRNA PP2A) that silenced PP2A expression by - 7 0 % . As expected, palmitate treatment inhibited insulin-stimulated p-eNOS S1177 in control cells. However, the response was prevented in siRNA PP2A cells (n=6 experiments). Thus, ceramide might impair e N O S enzyme function secondary to PP2A activation. NIH R15HL091493, A D A 7-08-RA-164 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS THE COMPLETE WORKS FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO BY VINCENT PERSICHETTI Dexter Drysdale (Hasse Borup) School of Music University of Utah Dexter Drysdale Composer Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987) was one of the most prolific and important American artists of the twentieth century. His vast body of works covers virtually every genre of classical music, from solo pieces to large-scale symphonic works. The Fantasy Op. 15 for Violin and Piano (1941, un-published) showcases the important early period of Persichetti's development as a composer. The composition-style is atonal with strong influences from Stravinsky, Hindemith, Bartok and Copland. Dr. Borup and I have acquired a copy of the hand written manuscript for this piece. The goal is to have a performance-ready copy of the score completed so Dr. Hasse Borup (violin) and pianist Mary Kathleen Ernst can premiere and record the piece with a collection of the complete works for violin and piano by Vincent Persichetti. S o m e of the obstacles that w e have been working to overcome in the hand-written manuscript include compositional decisions as w e study an American composer's original score, and try to decipher his intentions. W e are working on a piece through all phases of its creation and completion, as w e will pull a work out of obscurity, put it into print, and have it performed, and recorded by professional musicians. 25 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 NEURAL DIFFERENTIATION IN COGNITIVE CONTROL: AN ENCEPHALOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES William Dunn William Dunn (David Strayer, Jason Watson) Department of Psychology University of Utah The anterior cingulate cortex has been found to activate w h e n conflict arises within the brain. Will the brain accommodate and return to a somewhat passive form of processing if the conflict appears more frequently than normal? Electroencephalographs have been used in the past to measure the electrical impulses of the brain at times of less than a second. The study used the between-subjects method in contrasting the results of the individual types: high span and low span. These span scores were deter mined by first administering an Ospan test to the individual. The Ospan tests participants on their ability to multitask. In this between-subjects study, electrodes were used dynamically in correlation with a Simon Task to determine whether or not participants grew familiar, on a neurological level, with the conflict stimuli presented to them. The Simon Task asked participants to view an arrow on a computer screen and determine what direction the arrow was pointing in. Participants were to respond, using a controller, to correlate with the direction of the arrow rather than its location in space. A congruent trial consisted of an arrow that was pointing in the same direction as its location in space. A n incongruent trial was present w h e n the arrow's direction and its placement in space differed. Our predictions were that of accommodation; if exposed to more incongruent than congruent trials over a period of time, the participant would answer incongruent trials with similar response time and accuracy as though they were habitual. It is our hypothesis that the brain has the ability to compensate for the mitigated amount of incongruent vs. congruent trials and will compensate for its errors. Jason Watson THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS ON THE NA-0 ANTICORRELATION AND OTHER ABUNDANCES IN NGC 1261 Dan Filler (Inese I. Ivans, Jennifer Simmerer) Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Utah Dan Filler W e present the first high-resolution spectroscopic investigation of the galactic globular cluster N G C 1261, s o m e 50,000 light years away. Through measurement and analysis of the size of absorption lines, referred to as the equivalent width (EW), w e have ascertained stellar characteristics: the overall chemical enrichment of the material from which they formed, h o w hot they are, and the gravitational acceleration at the surface of the star. W e combined our EWs with model stellar atmospheres parameterized by the stellar characteristics, and used radiative transfer calculations to derive elemental abundances. Our derived abundances of sodium and oxygen, in this mildly metal poor cluster ([Fe/H] = -1.24 ± 0.06) span a large range, -0.30 < [Na/Fe] < 0.86, and -0.19 < [O/Fe] < 0.26. The sodium to oxygen anti-correlation rivals that of any other globular cluster. In particular the range of sodium, spanning more than 1.5 dex is larger than any other globular cluster. This anticorrelation is possibly from an earlier generation of stars in the cluster that m a y have polluted the atmospheres of the current generation, or polluted the material from which they were born Further analysis of the iron peak elements such as vanadium, cobalt and nickel, yield respectively [V/Fe] = 0.06 ± 0.03, [Co/Fe] -1.40 ± 0.02, [Ni/Fe] =0.03 ± 0.05. The derived abundance of the alpha elements calcium, titanium I and titanium II, are reported in that order [Ca/Fe] = 0.21 ± 0.02, [Ti l/Fe] = 0.22 ± 0.03, [Ti ll/Fe] = 0.21 ± 0.03. The light elements for which w e derived abundances are carbon and nitrogen, [C/Fe] = -0.08 ± 0.12, [N/Fe] = 0.13 ± 0.12. A m o n g the heavy elements w e derived abundances for were europium, barium II and neodymium, respectively [Eu/Fe] = 0.45 ± 0.12, [Ba ll/Fe] = 0.16 ± 0.15, and [Nd/Fe] = 0.20 ± 0.07. W e have also derived preliminary abundances for other elements including thorium, which may be used to determine the age of the cluster. Inese I. Ivans [O/Fe] 27 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 SELF REPORTS VERSUS SPOUSE RATINGS OF PERSONALITY AS PREDICTORS OF MARITAL ADJUSTMENT AND BEHAVIOR DURING MARITAL DISAGREEMENT Clay F rand sen Clay Frandsen (Timothy W. Smith, Jeanne M. Cundiff) Department of Psychology University of Utah Timothy W. Smith 28 Marriage and intimate relationships are central in the lives of m a n y adults, and the quality of these relationships has important consequences for emotional adjustment, physical health, and overall wellbeing (Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001). A growing body of research indicates that personality traits may be an important influence on the quality of intimate relationships, specifically neuroticism and agreeableness. However, nearly all studies of personality and marital quality have been limited in that both personality and relationship quality are self-reported. Relying solely on self reports likely inflates viewed associations by capitalizing on c o m m o n method variance. Despite this statistical advantage, recent research suggests that spouse ratings of personality characteristics m a y predict relationship functioning above and beyond self-reports, though this has not yet been tested. To test this assertion w e collected self and spouse ratings of neuroticism and agreeableness in a sample of 300 middle-aged and older married couples. W e hypothesized that spouse ratings of these personality traits would predict marital functioning over and above self-reports of personality. W e tested this hypothesis in predicting a) self-reports of overall marital quality, b) depressive symptoms, and c) independent observer ratings of positive and negative behaviors displayed during marital disagreement. W e performed both one-level and dyadic analyses to test this prediction and in both cases found support for our hypotheses. Specifically, w e found that spouse ratings of neuroticism and agreeableness predicted the individual's relationship quality, depressive symptoms and behavior during disagreement above and beyond the individual's self-report of these same traits. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS A SMALL-SCALE ANALOG FOR LARGE-SCALE CRUSTAL MELTING John M. Fullmer (Barbara Nash) Department of Geology & Geophysics University of Utah John M. Fullmer The partial melting of hand-sized, granitic xenoliths incorporated into basaltic m a g m a from the Crater Springs volcanic center in west-central Utah was investigated to determine the melting mechanisms on a microscopic level. Precise chemical analyses of the minerals and glasses were determined using an electron microprobe, whereas physical and textural properties were examined using a petrographic microscope. Results from the study m a y serve as a small-scale analog for large-scale crustal melting that results in large volume, caldera-forming eruptions along the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone hotspot center. Chemical analyses reveal a wide and continuous array of Si02 concentrations in the glass, ranging from 50.7% to 78.3%. This signifies a varied contribution from crustal minerals, primarily quartz and feldspar, as well as from the surrounding basalt. The AI203 content of the melt ranges between 10.7% and 20.5%, resulting from the variable assimilation of micas and feldspars into the melt. Petrographic examination of the xenoliths suggests that the heterogeneity of the melt is directly dependant on the parent magma's proximity to silicic, crustal minerals. Metastable y-AI203 and Al-rich psuedobrookite phases were located along the mixing boundaries of the silicic and basaltic glasses. Preliminary data suggest that the breakdown and melting of muscovite resulted in the formation of a silica-depleted mullite precursor y-Al203 phase. Local disequilibrium conditions are indicated by the simultaneous presence of pseudobrookite, rutile, ilmenite, and hematite. Barbara Nash 29 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX PERMITTIVITY, ANISOTROPY AND MICROSTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN ANTARCTIC SEA ICE Erik S. Gamez Cynthia Furse David Lubbers, Erik S. Gamez, Jacob Hansen (Cynthia Furse) Department of Electrical Engineering University of Utah Sea ice plays an important role in regulating global climate, minimizing sunlight absorption through its high albedo (ability to reflect light) and mediating heat exchange at the boundary between the warm sea water and the atmosphere. Depending on its microstructure, sea ice can behave strikingly differently. The reason for this is that sea ice can be modeled as a composite of two very different substances: ice and brine. Ice has very high albedo, thermal and electrical resistances. In contrast brine presents a very low albedo and resistances. The analysis of sea ice is further complicated by its anisotropic nature and by the different microstructures found in in nature. These factors affect its heat transfer properties, micro fauna population support, light absorption, fluid transport properties, etc. The goal of this project is to analyze the complex permittivity, anisotropy and microstructural chang of Antarctic sea ice. With this in mind, an expedition to the Antarctic w a s organized. This expedition took place from mid November to mid December of 2011. During this expedition over 60 ice cores were extracted from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The ice found during this expedition presented two different microstructures: columnar ice towards the top and platelet ice at the ice-sea water interface. The ice cores were extracted vertically and at an angle in order to compute anisotropic data through statistical analysis. Conductivity measurements were performed using four-wire Wenner array with probe spacings of 10 cm. Permittivity measurements were performed using a LCR analyzer with kelvin probes and using a custom parallel plates set up. Salinity, temperature, and depth were measured for all samples in order to identify microstructural changes. Preliminary analysis of the collected data has shown that ice properties have a strong dependence on depth and temperature. Resistance vs depth shows a trend where resistance steadily decreases initially but starts increasing at a depth of 1.16 m which has been reported by others as the depth where platelet ice is normally found. Bulk salinity presents a decaying trend with no obvious changes in the columnar-platelet ice interface. This data is still being analyzed, so no final conclusions have being drawn yet. At the moment, a trip to the Arctic is being planned. The idea is to extract data and analyze differe between the properties of Arctic and Antarctic ice. 30 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS PREPARATION OF FOSSIL-SPRING TUFA DEPOSITS FOR URANIUM-SERIES DATING: A CASE STUDY FROM KHARGA OASIS, SAHARAN EGYPT Jacob Gottfredson (Kathleen Nicoll, Diego Fernandez) Department of Geography Department of Geology & Geophysics University of Utah Resolving the timing of the emergence of hominin "out of Africa" requires the application of accurate and precise geochronologic techniques. With recent technological innovations in Multi-CollectorInductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS), uranium-series dating has become a high precision method for analyzing sediments in archaeological settings back to ~1 million years ago. This project engaged in critical first steps to analyze samples collected from an important geoarchaeological context in the now-hyperarid Western Desert of Egypt, where ancient fossil- spring carbonates known as tufas encase Acheulian hand axes at Refuf Pass. The objective of this project was to determine which samples collected from the site were suitable for accurate U-series dating methods. Ten samples were selected for chemical pretreatment at the University of Utah. After chemical separation, the isolated uranium of the samples was analyzed in a Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer to determine the isotopic ratios. Three of the ten samples analyzed had low ratios of 232U/235U, indicating low levels of detrital contamination in the carbonate rock, which is ideal for accurate geochronological analysis. To confirm the h o m o g e n o u s nature of these three calcium carbonate samples, additional sample splits of 1 0 0 m g were chemically separated and analyzed. Further statistical analysis suggests that two samples in particular have potential to yield reliable age data for the fossil-spring carbonate tufas, which will constrain the timing of the hominin occupation of the region. These two samples were then further pretreated using a column separation method to isolate the U and Th; this is a rather expensive and time intensive procedure that is necessary to prepare samples for analysis. The uranium and thoriu m isolates for the two samples presently await analysis on the NSF-funded Neptune MC-ICP-MS in the Department of Geology & Geophysics. UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 HEALING Michael Handley (Paul Stout) Department of Art and Art History University of Utah Michael Handley Through the observation of communities, system failure, and personal behavior, I have become intere ed in aspects of force, control, manipulation, and order. In the social battle of right and wrong, these systemic markers and h u m a n habits are at the root of m a n y social problems. It is here where I find the complexity of identity and h u m a n existence occurring. My current body of work grew out of observations of personal behaviors, which seemed submerged and wrapped in negative conditioning. By addressing these issues in m y work, I have discovered that they are not just m y own, but exist as larger social patterns. This realization has further led m e to explore h o w personal and social behaviors are introduced and produced by means of media, education, religion, environment, and family. I am abstracting from human relationships to create a lexicon of objects and materials. These abstr tions interact with one another within staged sculptural systems. In configuring the work, I selectively impose gendered characteristics on particular objects and materials. I choose materials based upon their capacity to represent gender in historical and contemporary use in manufacturing western societies and masculine and feminine identities. The work I am doing is current with western culture's call for individual introspection and change. Movements that make direct calls for social change, such as feminism and civil rights, influence me. Within these cultural movements, there is a notion; change must start with each one us. W e can longer look to others as guides in the development of the world and ourselves. 32 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS NO RESTRAINTS ON THE ROLLER COASTER: ADVANCING PARTICIPATIVE ENTERTAINMENT Rachel Happen (Richard Dunie) Department of Management University of Utah Rachel Happen Innovation occurs in the gaps between precedents. This research attempts to answer the question, "what business model lies between theme parks and extreme sports, and can it be valuable and profitable?"This gap is addressed by testing certain assumptions and outlining the range of possible profitability for this venture through interviews, observation, and grounded theory-building. The outcome of this research is a preliminary order of operational and conceptual priorities necessary to envision a functional business. Observational data includes interviews with a range of participative entertainment companies (skydiving, rafting, mini golf, etc.), production quotes from equipment manufacturers, lease rates from commercial realtors, and observational compilation of pre-existing activities that could be applicable to this business model (i.e. activities from certain g a m e shows or festival rides). Market research indicates that blue ocean opportunities exist between the two traditional models of participative entertainment for an unusual physical activity, like climbing a wall of Velcro in a Velcro suit, through a marathon-like business model. Preliminary conceptual priorities include: physically disorienting activities, segmented activity flow, and monitored m i n i m u m crowd levels. Preliminary operational priorities include: uncompromising safety and insurance protection, broad-base marketing to prioritize crowds over specific market segments, and a balance of simple and complex activities to m a n a g e costs. Working assumptions for the business launch include: modular activity design will lower costs, the probable customer base has a wide range of ages, sizes, and backgrounds, and a certain m i n i m u m crowd size can be collected for an admission price greater than the cost of operations. 33 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS i 2011 BENEFIT ASSESSMENT OF PREMEDICAL ANATOMICAL STUDY FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS ttoi* 1 <••• Noah Harper, Nicholas S. Livdahl (David A. Morton) Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy University of Utah Bi*» A/oa/i Harper Nicholas S. Livdahl Most medical schools, including the University of Utah School of Medicine (UofUSOM), do not requir gross anatomy as a prerequisite for admission. Research has indicated that a premedical gross anatomy course with prosected specimens significantly improves academic performance in med.cal school gross anatomy (Forester, 2002). The purpose of this research study was to evaluate performance ,n gross anatomy, clinical skills and overall grades of students at the U o f U S O M by compar.ng those w h o had taken a gross anatomy course prior to medical school with those w h o had not. Medical students completed a questionnaire that obtained information regarding the extent of parti pants' exposure to anatomical studies as pre-medical students. The questionnaire also obtained subjective data regarding perspectives on the relevance of anatomical study to preparation for medical school as well as the extent that participants were encouraged to pursue anatomical study. Research data obtained from the questionnaire is currently being analyzed and will be completed du ing S u m m e r 2011. Preliminary results of subjective data from the participant pool (n= 115) showed that 1) 8 3 % of medical students felt that taking an anatomy course prior to attending medical school was important, 2) 7 3 % of medical students felt they might have performed better, academically, in medical school had they taken more anatomy courses, and 3) 3 4 % of medical students were not encouraged to take an anatomy course. David A. Morton At completion of the study the research team expects to find that student performance in anatomy related medical school classes will be higher for those w h o participated in pre-medical anatomy courses. Additionally, little data exists in comparing anatomy proficiency with overall performance in medical school. Therefore, a purpose of this study is to determine if there is a link between pre-medical anatomical study and overall academic performance in medical school. These findings would help to support the hypothesis that a strong foundation in anatomical study enhances performance in learning, understanding and synthesizing clinical knowledge. An aim of this study is to provide data for pre-medical advisors and students on the benefit of pre-medical anatomy courses on medical school performance. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH ACQUISITION OF SPATIAL AND VISUAL SEQUENTIAL M E M O R Y TASKS Nathan Hu (Raymond Kesner) Department of Psychology University of Utah Studies have shown that areas of hippocampus sub regions disrupt sequential learning of spatial location information as well as temporal order for objects. The purpose of the study is to assess the capability of rats to learn tasks, which would properly reflect use of temporal order m e m o r y for spatial location and objects. Rats were trained to follow a sequence on a cheeseboard maze. For each correct sequence, the rats were rewarded with food. A n 80-90% criterion was required in order to sufficiently satisfy having learned the spatial location and a visual object sequence. To test for spatial memory, four identical w o o d e n cylinders were used. A food reward was placed underneath one of the objects in a sequence. The rats were able to remember the spatial locations. A n 80-90% criterion was reached for the spatial temporal sequence m e m o r y task. To perform the visual sequential task, four non-identical objects were moved during each of four searches in order to avoid learning spatial location. The rats have not been able to reach an 80-90% criterion on the visual sequential task. More experimental data are needed to further examine processing temporal order information for spatial locations and objects 35 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 FITNESS CONSEQUENCES OF DIETARY FRUCTOSE Sara Hugentobler (Wayne Potts, James Ruff) Department of Biology University of Utah Wayne Potts Since HFCS was introduced in the mid-1970s, diseases such as obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome have reached epidemic levels; HFCS has b e c o m e a leading suspect (Bray, 2004). In order to experimentally evaluate the effect of HFCS on mammalian health, w e conducted a study involving wild mice in a semi-natural environment called the phenotron. This unique model system allows mice to compete for territories and mates, simulating situations mice would encounter in the wild. This model was used in a previous study involving full sibling inbreeding and showed a 5 0 0 % decline in fitness, which had been missed by more conventional approaches. These data suggest this model will be effective for evaluating the effects of environmental exposures on mouse fitness. Mice were competed in two different studies; mice were assigned either a 2 5 % sucrose or sugar free diet and competed against mice assigned a diet of 2 5 % HFCS (defined as a 1:1 ratio of fructose and glucose monosaccharides). Upon release into the phenotron, survivorship, social dominance and reproductive success were monitored. Female mice raised on an HFCS diet experienced a significant increase in mortality (3 times higher) in both studies. Males reared on HFCS suffered a decrease in social dominance (acquiring only 2 0 % of territories) and in reproduction (30% decrease) w h e n competing against animals on the diet free of refined sugars. These results suggest that incorporating HFCS in a mammalian diet adversely impacts health and performance increasing mortality and decreasing fitness. These data show that dietary HFCS at levels experienced by m a n y Americans increases mortality and decreases fitness of mice and suggests that this c o m m o n food supplement might be degrading health in humans and could be involved in a variety of metabolic diseases. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS PARTIALLY SPLICED TRANSCRIPT OF DDX5 GENE IN PLATELETS Benjamin Hunter (Andrew Weyrich) Department of Molecular Medicine University of Utah Benjamin Hunter Platelets are anucleate, hemostatic cytoplasts that are indispensible in coagulation pathways while being involved in several hemostatic and thrombotic disease states. Recent studies have shown that upon activation, despite their lack of nuclei, platelets are able to splice pre-cursor m R N A into mature m R N A as demonstrated with Interleukin 1 Beta (IL-1B) and Tissue Factor (TF). In both cases, the increase in processed message of these genes correlated with increase in respective protein expression. The unusual finding that anucleate cells harbor cytoplasmic precursor m R N A prompted us to ask whether other transcripts might also remain unspliced in the cytoplasm of platelets. Our group has recently profiled the human and mouse platelet transcriptome at single nucleotide resolution using the lllumina g e n o m e analyzer. The sequenced lllumina data suggested that in addition to IL1B and TF in h u m a n platelets, several other existing genes retain an intron(s) in inactivated h u m a n and m o u s e platelets. In this study w e determined to validate the existence of these intronic messages in platelets by PCR amplification of specific intronic regions from platelet m R N A . Of several tested targets, w e found that introns 11 and 12 of the p68 R N A helicase (DDX5) transcript are consistently retained in the m R N A of baseline and activated platelets. D D X 5 functions as an R N A helicase and is essential in pre-cursor m R N A splicing. In addition to the observed unspliced product, w e also found that spliced product was present in both baseline and thrombin stimulated samples. By semiquantitative PCR analysis w e have shown at what relative levels these unspliced versus spliced transcripts exist at in both introns. Our preliminary western blot analysis indicates that D D X 5 protein is present in platelets, though it has not been shown that D D X 5 holds a functional role in platelets. Several more gene targets remain to be validated. Should future targets yield similar results, this data would prompt probing questions in regards to the mechanism through which m R N A transcript arrives and exists in cytoplasm of platelets. Andrew Weyrich . unsplccfdllSOObp) Human DDX5 •- spliced (153bp) Mouse DDX5 Human unspliced (512 D p ) - • -unspliced (4«Dp) unspliced (367 Dpi - * spliced (205 bp) -• spliced (152 op) -» , ODX5 DDX5 spuced UJJDp) OOX5 37 SPRING 2011 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS TELEPHONE-BASED GENETIC COUNSELING & BRCA 1 AND BRCA 2 GENETIC TESTING FOR HEREDITARY BREAST A N D OVARIAN CANCER Ornella Adriana Jimenez (Anita Kinney) Department of Internal Medicine, Cancer Control & Population Sciences University of Utah B A C K G R O U N D : The United States Preventive Task Force recommends that w o m e n w h o are at increased risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) be offered genetic counseling and testing by a trained health care provider. H B O C can be caused by an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA 2 gene. W o m e n w h o live in rural and other medically underserved areas m a y not have ready access to cancer genetic counseling and testing services. However, telephone-based cancer genetic counseling m a y reduce geographic barriers and help rural residents access these services. The Risk Education and Assessment for Cancer Heredity Project (REACH Project), is a population-based randomized equivalency/non-inferiority trial, designed to determine whether telephone-based genetic counseling is equivalent to standard in-person genetic counseling. Anita Kinney METHODS: Utah women who have a personal and/or family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer suggestive of H B O C are recruited through the Utah Population Database and the Utah Cancer Registry. Enrolled participants are randomized to receive either standard in-person genetic counseling or telephone-based genetic counseling with a genetic counselor and are asked to complete a baseline survey and several follow-up surveys. The project's total recruitment goal is 1132 w o m e n with approximately equal numbers of rural and urban high-risk w o m e n . RESULTS: To date, the REACH Project's response rates are 70%. Of the 447 women screened for study eligibility, 237 were determined to be eligible, 130 were screened ineligible, and 79 refused participation. The most c o m m o n reason for ineligibility was prior genetic counseling and/or genetic testing. CONCLUSION: Response rates are better than anticipated. Achieving adequate response rates is necessary to successfully reach the desired sample size, reduce bias and enhance generalizability of the study's findings. Findings m a y help reduce geographic cancer disparities and inform best practices for cancer genetic counseling. REACH • RISK EDUCATION & ASSESSMENT FOR CANCER HEREDITY Project I* I I LEGEND I = Sets of genes # 38 - BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON MAXIMUM CYCLING POWER AND OPTIMAL PEDALING RATE Jerica Johnson, Steven J. Elmer (James C. Martin) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah The primary purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which m a x i m u m cycling power can be altered by passive heating, active heating, and passive cooling of lower-limb muscles. Our secondary purpose was to determine the extent to which these conditions altered the pedaling rate at which maximum power was produced. Twelve participants (mass 69 ± 13 kg, height 1.73 ± 0.07 m, age 25 ± 5 yrs) performed maximal cycling trials on an inertial-load ergometer before and after three different experimental conditions: passive warm-up, active warm-up, and passive cooling. For the passive warmup and cooling conditions, participants were immersed up to their iliac crest in 40o C and 18 o C water for 30 minutes, respectively. For the active warm-up, participants rested at room temperature for 25 minutes and subsequently performed a 5-minute cycling warm-up at 100-120 rpm. M a x i m u m cycling power increased by 6 ± 5 % (906 ± 214 vs. 961 ± 216 W, p < 0.001) and 8 ± 4 % (908 ± 230 vs. 983 ± 249 W, p < 0.001) after the passive and active warm-up conditions, respectively. Conversely, m a x i m u m cycling power decreased by 23 ± 6 % (955 ± 238 vs. 738 ± 187 W, p < 0.001) after the passive cooling condition. The pedaling rate at which m a x i m u m cycling power was produced by 7 ± 9 % (114 ± 13 vs. 122 ± 15 rpm, p < 0.05) and 11 ± 1 0 % (114 ± 9 vs. 127 ± 11 rpm, p < 0.01) after the passive and active warm-up conditions, respectively, whereas passive cooling decreased optimal pedaling rate by 13 ± 8 % (116 ± 7 vs. 101 ±11 rpm, p < 0.001). Our results support findings from previous authors w h o have reported increased and decreased power of lower limb muscles during maximal cycling and jumping efforts following passive warm-up and passive cooling, respectively. These results also demonstrate a velocity dependent effect on temperature related power output changes. Our findings suggest that active warm-up may be an effective initial strategy for increasing muscle temperature and passive warm-up may be used to maintain an elevated muscle temperature w h e n preparing to compete in sporting events. Steven J. Elmer James C. Martin 39 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 RBP4 AND NOVEL PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS Harrison Jones Amy Dursteler Timothy Graham 40 Harrison Jones, A m y Dursteler (Timothy Graham) Department of Molecular Medicine Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, School of Medicine University of Utah Background. Serum retinol binding protein (RBP4) is the sole specific transport protein for retinol (Vitamin A) in circulation. Serum RBP4 is increased in insulin-resistant states such as obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 diabetes, and plays a direct role in causing insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in those diseases. Additionally, increased levels of serum RBP4 correlate strongly with hypertension and dyslipidemia (increased triglycerides and decreased H D L "good" cholesterol), cardiovascular risk factors that cause increased morbidity and death a m o n g individuals with Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. RBP4 circulates bound to transthyretin (TTR), a larger protein which stabilizes RBP4 by preventing renal excretion. While nearly all serum RBP4 can be found bound to TTR, the majority of TTR is bound to small molecules and proteins other than RBP4. Hypothesis. W e therefore hypothesize that RBP4 m a y regulate glucose and lipid metabolism by modulating interactions of TTR with other proteins. Methods. A yeast two-hybrid screen was used to identify novel TTR-binding proteins that might be associated with the indirect regulation of cholesterol levels by RBP4. Results. W e identified several candidate TTR-binding proteins, including the ATP-Binding Cassette Family Transporter A1 (ABCA1), a cell m e m b r a n e protein that transports intracellular cholesterol to circulating Apolipoprotein A1 (ApoAl), a critical step initiating the production of H D L cholesterol. Treatment of cells expressing ABCA1 with either RBP4 or TTR potently inhibited cholesterol transport to ApoAl (reduced 78 ± 1 2 % and 74 ± 1 1 % by RBP4 or TTR, respectively; p < 0.01 for each). Surprisingly, allowing RBP4 and TTR to bind one another before treating cells completely prevented either protein from inhibiting ABCA1 activity. Conclusions. Our findings establish a role for RBP4/TTR in H D L cholesterol synthesis via regulation of ABCA1, and suggest that altered stoichiometry and/or binding affinity of RBP4/TTR could cause the reduction of H D L "good cholesterol" that promotes cardiovascular disease in individuals with Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS WEIGHING ICONOGRAPHY OF EROS IN ATHENIAN ART: BALANCING GREEK IDEAS OF DESIRE IN IMAGES OF EROTES ON THE SCALES OF APHRODITE Hannah Jones (Margaret Toscano) Department of Art and Art History Department of Languages and Literature University of Utah Hannah Jones The ancient Greek fascination with the tensions and emotional extremes implicit in desire, personified as the deity Eros, is apparent in the myriad of artistic depictions of the god and his overwhelming impact on life, love, and religion. Though images of Eros are prolific, appearing in m a n y material and literary sources, scenes of erotostasia, or the weighing of Eros by Aphrodite, are rare and have been historically overlooked in the study of Greek desire. However, the image of Aphrodite raising a balance, an eros perched on either weighing platform, is a powerful visual metaphor that encapsulates desire's elusive elements that fascinated the Greeks and continue to incite debate and artistic expression today. In a prominent erotostasia scene, the profile of seated Aphrodite is a central compositional triangle- her head the apex and feet its stable base. Her raised hand and two erotes m a k e a smaller triangle, which the viewer's eye relates to the larger triangular composition. But because one side of the balance is higher than the other, the close correlation of the two analogous shapes does not truly align. This asymmetrical tension produces the illusion of motion, weighing only possible as a balance's two sides swing into stasis. This m o v e m e n t is forever frozen within the scene, only imagined in the static icon. The near equilibrium of shape and m o v e m e n t only emphasizes the actual discrepancy, imbalance, and lack in the scene. Desire is only present w h e n there is lack, and Eros here is two misaligned points that produces a disjunctive sensation between the imagined fulfillment and actual lack of the viewer. Erotostasia creates a visual syntax for the enigmatic nature of desire, a representation of complex human emotion through the simple language of art. 41 SPRING 2011 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS HIGH RESOLUTION MELTING ANALYSIS FOR SNP GENOTYPING OF LYME ARTHRITIS LINKAGE IN MICE Heydon Kaddas (Janis Weis, KC Bramwell) Department of Microbiology and Immunology University of Utah Heydon Kaddas Lyme disease is caused by an infection of the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, transferred from ticks. S y m p t o m s vary widely, with s o m e patients exhibiting severe tendonitis from inflammation and others displaying few to no symptoms. In m o u s e strains CH3/HeN and C57BL/6 arthritis severity also varies. Crossbreeds of these strains suggest genetic linkage controls this model. To identify candidate genes, genomic regions likely to affect severity must be narrowed using selective breeding. This requires the identification of an efficient method of positional genotyping. Previously, multiple methods of genotyping were explored. None of which were able to produce time efficient, easily readable, or consistently repeatable results, until the method of high resolution meting was tested. This uses real-time PCR to recognizes single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), whose increased density allows for better resolution in linked regions. Janis Weis Using SNP analysis, a large area with the linked region on chromosome 5 has been identified as being previously genotyped incorrectly. A prior method identified a conserved region, which had been excluded in consideration of breeding pairs. Genotyping with high resolution analysis of mice with the supposed conserved region revealed heterozygotes and homozygotes of the opposite strain. In conclusion, the data obtained is; accurate, consistently repeatable, cost effective and easy to interpret. High resolution melting analysis has proven to be the most efficient method tested for genotyping. 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Using SNP's in this same region there are now 25 working markers within the same region THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS UNDERSTANDING THE REGULATION OF MAMMALIAN PAS KINASE Khadija Khan (Jared Rutter) Department of Biochemistry School of Medicine University of Utah Khadija Khan Metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and obesity, have b e c o m e an epidemic across the modern western world. These syndromes are essentially caused by cellular energy imbalance and dysregulation. In order for organisms to adapt to their changing environment, cells have developed complex mechanisms for sensing their nutritional environment and consequently adjusting their metabolism. PAS Kinase (PASK) is a nutrient responsive serine/threonine specific protein kinase. Biochemical and genetic experiments have shown that yeast PASK is responsible for efficient protein synthesis and acts to coordinate glucose partitioning. PASK is also important for proper regulation of glucose metabolism at the cellular and hormonal levels. In cultured pancreatic 3-cells, activation of mammalian PASK is required for glucose-stimulated expression of the insulin gene. Mice lacking PASK exhibit reduced lipid accumulation in liver, increased metabolic rate in skeletal muscle, and resistance to diet induced obesity, suggesting that PASK undoubtedly plays a significant role in nutrient sensing, metabolic regulation, and energy homeostasis. Though the mechanisms of PASK activation remains unclear in yeast and m a m mals, w e hypothesize that this represents a conserved metabolic sensing function of PASK. The PASK protein is composed of two N-terminal regulatory PAS domains and a C-terminal serine/threonine specific kinase catalytic domain. Biochemical studies have shown that the PAS domain can interact with and further inhibit the activity of the kinase domain of PASK. Like most kinases, PASK is considered to be activated via phosphorylation, and several sites (SI 16, S534, T1161, SI 273, S1277, SI 280, S1287, S1289) have been found to be phosphorylated in PASK isolated from cells. W e examine the functional significance of phosphorylation at these sites by sub-cloning the mutation w e are interested in from an Insect cell expression vector (pFAST-Bac/hPASK) into the mammalian expression vector (pCDNA.A/hPASK/V5) followed by expression in mammalian cells. These mutations are expressed in mammalian cells, PASK activity is then measured in the lab by a standard protocol for protein kinase activity measurements. 43 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF INTRAPERITONEAL INJECTIONS OF NALOXONE ON RELAPSE FOR METHAMPHETAMINE CONDITIONED CUES Ryan A. Kirk Ryan A. Kirk (Raymond P. Kesner) Department of Psychology/Neuroscience University of Utah Rats were trained on a variant conditioned place preference test, using visual object cues, to assess the role of peripheral injections of naloxone on relapse from methamphetamine addiction. The hypothesis is that intraperitoneal naloxone injections will disrupt object cue preference for cues which have been conditioned with methamphetamine. Conditioning occurred in a red plexiglass box with a removable partition and two sets of environmental cues. C u e sets were composed of four cues unique to each of the sides, and were labeled "cue set A" and "cue set B". A 15 minute baseline place preference test was used to establish which set of cues the rats initially preferred. During the tests the number of touches for each cue were recorded, and also the amount of time spent on each side. Place preference was determined by which set of cues received the most touches out of the two sides. Intraperitoneal administrations of methamphetamine (4mg/kg) and saline were given, and a partition was placed in the box to condition the rats to specific visual object cues. Rats were conditioned to the initially non-preferred cues following injections of methamphetamine, and rats were conditioned to the initially preferred cues following saline injections. Rats were injected ten minutes prior to the 30 minute conditioning period. Injections of methamphetamine and saline were given in four two day cycles, followed by a 15 minute baseline preference test. If the rats preferred the methamphetamine side this implied that the rats were conditioned to those visual object cues. The rats were given 21 days of abstinence by keeping them in their h o m e cages. They were then given relapse tests. C u e preference tests were performed during this phase. Across rats, tests were counterbalanced with either one or four cues present, and either an injection of naloxone (2 mg/kg) or saline. Note, naloxone and saline admininstrations occurred four days apart. Data suggests that intraperitoneal injections of saline resulted in a relapse of the preference for methamphetamine conditioned cues. Interperitonial injections of naloxone resulted in a disruption of the preference for the methamphetamine conditioned cues. In conclusion, naloxone m a y be a useful drug that can attenuate preference for methamphetamine conditioned visual cues. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS TRACKING BACTERIAL INFECTION IN A TRANSLUCENT ZEBRAFISH EMBRYO - AN IMPROVED MODEL FOR INFECTION Matt Lamont (Michael Redd) Department of Oncological Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute University of Utah Infection is often difficult to track or quantify because of the difficulty in observing the infection in vivo. The translucence of the zebrafish embryo provides an optimal m e d i u m for observing infections. However, current models for observing zebrafish infections are limited, because of the elusive task of imaging the infection sites, which include the heart and blood. A three-dimensional object, like the heart, obscures most of the infection, while infection in the blood moves too quickly to be effectively imaged. W e have developed an assay for imaging infection, utilizing a small fin w o u n d in the threeday-old larvae. This w o u n d site is a flat, two-dimensional, translucent plane, allowing for complete visualization of the i m m u n e response. In utilizing this model, w e have isolated a species of bacteria, Pseudomonas alcaligenes, which has exhibited curious effects in the zebrafish. Pseudomonas is able to chemotax to the w o u n d site with extreme efficiency. In addition, it triggers a massive influx of neutrophils, suppression of macrophages, and prolific cell death. W e hypothesize that Pseudomonas alcaligenes utilizes a type-3 secretion system (T3SS) to introduce toxins into the cytoplasm. Transgenic zebrafish with fluorescent leukocyte markers allow the i m m u n e response to the toxin to be imaged. W e are also developing a fluorescent marker for Pseudomonas, which would afford imaging of the direct interaction between the bacteria and leukocytes. If the T3SS genes can be knocked out, the secretion requirements, virulence and identity of the toxin can be explored. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a close relative to the less pathogenic alcaligenes, has been implicated in a host of pathologies, including lung infection in cystic fibrosis patients. Studying Pseudomonas alcaligenes is convenient because it elicits a similar i m m u n e response, with less risk of pathogenesis. It is our goal to explore s o m e of the questions raised by Pseudomonas alcaligenes, by utilizing the embryonic zebrafish fin wound. This model, developed further, could prove invaluable as a w i n d o w into tracking and understanding the response to m a n y types of bacterial infection. neutrophilresponseto e.coh Matt Michael Lamont Redd neutrophil response to Pseudomonas alcaligenes 45 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 CONVERSATIONS: AMBIGUITY IN STORYTELLING Michael Langer (Paul Larsen) Film and Media Arts University of Utah This project is an experiment in storytelling conducted through the writing and production of a short film entitled "Conversations."The intent is to explore methods in which the storyteller can bring the audience deeper into the emotions and meanings driving the story. The core argument is that by intentionally remaining ambiguous in the expository details of the key conflicts, the audience will attribute details from their o w n lives to the story in order to fill in the blanks. The conflict becomes a reflection of the lives of the audience. The film presents two key conflicts. The first being the deteriorating marriage of the main charact Jake and Stephanie. The second being the indecision experienced by Jake as revealed through conversations with the character's boss, best friend, and a stranger n a m e d Will. With no background expository details given for the audience to build on, they instead rely upon individual interpretation to understand the story. The most intensive stage of development was the creation of the script. With a revisions period of months consisting of gauging reader feedback with questions designed to give us an understanding of h o w closely the reader could associate their o w n experiences with the story. Our most in depth feedback c a m e in relation to Jake's indecision. W e found that m a n y of our readers, not being told in the script what Jake was struggling to figure out, found themselves envisioning an experience from their o w n lives as the core of Jake's internal conflict. Production of the film lasted three fourteen-hour days of shooting. Post-production lasted another three months beyond that. W e decided after shooting the film that w e could better accomplish a more internal experience for the audience if w e edited the film together on a non-linear time line. Images would be juxtaposed with seemingly unrelated dialogue. Again, the goal was to create as many instances as possible where the audience would need to connect pieces of the story together without the abundance of expository information prominent in modern film. The entire process has been a valuable lesson in a specific aspect of storytelling; ambiguity. How both benefit and harm the story being told. Our conclusion was not so m u c h that w e had uncovered a distinct style of storytelling as m u c h as gained an understanding of h o w to infuse m o m e n t s of ambiguity in order to strengthen overall audience connection. Ambiguity can be used effectively to increase audience connection in the film art form. HE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS THE ROLE OF INCREASED GLUT1-MEDIATED GLUCOSE UPTAKE IN PRESSURE OVERLOAD HYPERTROPHY KaChon Lei (Dale E. Abel) Department of Internal Medicine, Biochemistry and H u m a n Genetics University of Utah The increase in glucose utilization that accompanies ischemic preconditioning and cardiac hypertrophy has been suggested to be cardioprotective. Moreover, lifelong transgenic overexpression of GLUT1 in the heart prolongs survival and increases cardiac function after aortic constriction. However, because the increase in glucose uptake preceded pressure overload in these earlier studies, w e sought to determine if a short-term increase in myocardial glucose uptake would confer cardioprotection if it occurred at the onset of pressure overload hypertrophy (POH). Therefore, a m o u s e model of inducible GLUT1 overexpression in cardiomyocytes (G1 HA) was developed, which resulted in a 2-fold increase in basal and 2 5 % increase in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. This transgene expression was induced by doxycycline in 6-week old mice 2 days prior to transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Four weeks after TAC, in vivo systolic and diastolic pressures were assessed by left ventricle catheterization and mitochondrial respirations with palmitoyl-canitine (PC) were measured in Saponin-permeabilized cardiac fibers. G1 H A mice developed more cardiac hypertrophy following TAC than wildtype controls. Expression of the hypertrophy markers ANP, ACTA1 and B N P were increased in both banded groups, but A N P and ACTA1 were further increased in G1 H A banded mice. Systolic arterial pressure and left ventricle pressure were increased and dp/dt was decreased to similar degrees in control and G 1 H A T A C mice compared to sham. Lung weight to body weight ratios, as well as fibrosis were also equivalently increased after TAC in both control and G 1 H A mice, indicating decompensated cardiac hypertrophy and LV dysfunction. State 3 mitochondrial respiration (12.7±0.4 vs. 8.9±0.6 nmol/min/mg, p<0.05) was reduced in control mice after TAC, relative to sham, but was preserved in G 1 H A T A C vs. sham (12.6±0.5 vs. 13.72±0.1, p>0.05). ATP production was reduced by 3 3 % in control TAC mice but only by 1 9 % in G1 H A mice after TAC. Expression of fatty acid oxidation genes, such as PGC-1 alpha and M C A D and glucose metabolism genes such as GLUT1 and P D K 4 was also preserved in G 1 H A banded mice. Thus, short-term cardiac GLUT1 overexpression at the onset of pressure overload leads to increased cardiac hypertrophy with preservation of mitochondrial function, which is not sufficient to prevent POHinduced cardiac contractile dysfunction. KaChon Lei Dale E. Abel 47 SPRING 2011 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF PATIENTS EXPERIENCING GYNECOLOGICAL CANCER IN CONJUNCTION WITH LIVER DYSFUNCTION James Lelis James Lelis (Darren Johnson, Heather Thiesset, Greg Stoddard, Jason Schwartz) Department of General Surgery, Section of Transplantation University of Utah School of Medicine The risk of gynecological cancers is dramatically increased in the setting of obesity, which has been estimated to affect up to 5 0 % of the population. A c o m p o n e n t of the metabolic syndrome, obesity has been associated with fatty infiltration of the liver in up to 2 0 % of individuals, leading to steatohepatitis and overt cirrhosis in the most severe cases. With surgery being the cornerstone of treatment in the case of gynecological malignancies, it is inevitable that surgeons will encounter patients with both diseases. Given that the need for surgical intervention in these patients often conflicts with the high surgical morbidity k n o w n to exist in cirrhotics, the aim of this study w a s to reconcile these contradictions. Jason Schwartz After appropriate Institutional Review Board approval, patients were identified through the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems version 9 codes (Table 1) by the University of Utah Health Sciences Enterprise Data warehouse team. Parameters used were types of surgical procedures used to treat the gynecological malignancies. Although a small sample size was used, its rigorous control methods strengthened the validity of the conclusions. Patients presenting with liver dysfunction exhibited a trend toward a more complicated hospital cours (Table 2). This w a s supported by (A) a higher fresh-frozen plasma usage (an average of 10.46 units higher with P<0.001), (B) a longer average hospital stay of ( an average of 7.69 days longer with P<0.001), and (C) an increase in post-operative complications not associated with c h e m o - or radiation therapy (4.58 x higher with P=0.186). From these results, we concluded that that patients harboring evidence of cirrhosis or liver disease undergoing major gynecological procedures for oncologic indications are likely to incur a set of significant complications post-operatively. Because of this, it is incumbent upon clinicians to screen for the presence of these disorders so that complications can be mitigated. MALIGNANT H I U H Of FALLOPIAN TUJE T«Mc 1 1 |n.,-rr.,t,.™l SlitMialCV>>kv«HI>«l DucnnatlRclalnl l<V*hh IS«Mtw» \ < n u i u l J-LWcd.UIJ«.h Qy-U**CWFM Mean DiH 95"*Cont Int P Value Hospital Stay 7 69 Days 3 45 to 1 1 9 2 < 0 001 Ventilator Days 0 22 Days « 8 7 t o l 32 0 69 ICUDaya 2 03 Days •0 2 3 t o 4 29 0 08 Estimated Blood Loss 385 m l 9 69 to 760 49 0 04 Packed Red Blood Cells 9 72 Units 7 0 0 to 12 44 < 0.001 Fresh Froren Plasma 10 46 Units 8 11 tn 12 82 «0 001 Platelets 1 48 Units 1 11 to 1 84 <0 001 Cryoprecipitate 1 0 0 Units 0 78tol 22 < 0.001 MAUCVVNT NtOfLSM O F t I H\ i \ I I 1 BJ o» i^NDorumx "" "" MALIGNANT NKOPLASM MALIGNANT NIOPLASM OF BROAD UGAMDff Of MALIGNANT NEOPLASM Ol PAJLAMLTRIITH OF MALIGNANT NFOPLA5U »i» i N o m v n MMJIrNWI VTOrLASV "" JJJJ5JJJ MALIGNANT NEOPLASM LTTJUNL ADNEXA twixiim*rrt MALIGNANT NEOPLASM Of BODt Of ( 1) HI i Table 2 2* O u t c o m e o l O d e s Ratio Mined Results Linear Regression Contr oiled lor Procedure CornpfccjtxMii No) Associated Odds Ratio 9 5 % C o n f Int P Value 4 58 0 4 8 t o 4 3 70 0 19 MALIGNANT MbVLASU W/lh O e m o O (LMJIBUCMI 1 MA1JGNANT NBOPUaU CHRONIC LIVE* DISEASE AND CIRRHOSIS UOOUDUC llRRIIOSIS "" „„ w m w i T MENTION or *71J PORTAL HYPERTENSION MALIGNANT NEOPLASM •I anca 4 I n a Dysfunction (•roup ( atwer Onls "1 0\ \U\ A. .till U U A U B M M I MIITIASM •ram JM'NIHCE i s^l'i. inn. NOT Or NEWBORN Table 2 I* Outcome of Me, ontollcdfarProcoAjrc 48 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS DEVELOPING HIGHLY SENSITIVE A N D SPECIFIC TESTS TO DETECT XMRV IN CFS PATIENTS Christopher J. Leonard (Clifford Shin, lla Singh) Department of Pathology University of Utah Christopher J. Leonard X M R V (Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Retrovirus) is a recently discovered retrovirus associated with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Lombardi, et al., found that X M R V was present in the blood of 6 7 % of CFS patients. This presence, however, has since been a source of controversy. Many groups do not find X M R V in prostate cancer and CFS. W e have designed assays using X M R V proteins from viral lysates and recombinant proteins. These tests allow us to detect anti-XMRV antibodies in the blood of CFS patients and healthy volunteers. The development and standardization of reliable and sensitive tests for X M R V detection is necessary to confirm or refute the presence of XMRV. W e tested 300 blood serum samples from patients and self-reported healthy volunteers from the Salt Lake City area, of which 100 samples were from CFS patients. Using the recombinant protein ELISA w e developed, w e statistically determined six samples to be potentially positive. W e tested these six samples by Western blot, and found no reaction to X M R V viral proteins. In conclusion, w e did not find antibodies against X M R V in any of the 300 samples w e tests, calling into question the association of X M R V and CFS. lla Singh 49 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 PATIENT PERCEPTIONS OF EYE DISEASE A N D TREATMENT IN BIHAR INDIA Michael Brayden Lundquist (Nishant Sharma, University of Saskatchewan); (Kirti Kewalramini, Northeastern University); (Nick A d a m Galli) Department of Health Promotion and Education, University of Utah Michael Lundquist Background Preventable blindness remains an important issue in global health. India's health illiteracy is problematic, leading to residents unaware of ocular diseases and treatments. The communities identified in the outreach efforts of the A B Eye Institute in Bihar India, served as an initial assessment of the demograph ic's baseline knowledge of eye conditions and treatment methods in order to develop future educational programs. Methodology A survey was created by the principal investigator in collaboration with the A.B. Eye Institute. Questions were based on prior research, India's VISION 2020 initiatives, and the socio-economics of Bihar to evaluate patient perceptions of eye diseases and treatment. Nick Galli Results Surveys were administered to 304 subjects aged 40 and older (56.1 % male, 43.9% female). Mean age was 53.89 (± 10.851) years, with 61.3% living on 100 rupees or less per day. Previous eye doctor visits were reported by 68.3% of subjects. 25.7% of subjects reported using eye drops prescribed by someone other than a doctor, and of those, 52.6% reported not knowing that a doctor should prescribe eye drops. 71.9% of subjects accurately reported that a cataract is treated by surgery, while 23.4% did not know. Of those aware of cataract treatment, 41.9% learned about treatment from an eye care professional, and 36.4% from someone with a cataract. 17.1% of participants reported diabetic diagnosis by a doctor, and of those, 64.7% inaccurately reported h o w often diabetics should receive exams. Conclusion Future educational programs should be created to help increase population awareness of ocular diseases in Bihar India. 50 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS DETERMINING EXPRESSION OF FCy RECEPTORS ON CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM NEURONS Suzi Liu (John E. Greenlee) Department of Neurology, School of Medicine University of Utah In paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, a patient with cancer produces an i m m u n e reaction against the tumor that cross-reacts with brain neurons. This i m m u n e response, which includes high titers of anti-tumor antibodies, produces neurological damage. These conditions most often occur with small cell lung carcinoma, gynecological and breast malignancies and occasionally with Hodgkin's diseasel. The role of antibodies in producing neurological d a m a g e is a matter of controversy because antigens recognized by the paraneoplastic Immunoglobulin G (IgG) are intracellular and neurons have often been thought to exclude IgG antibodies. However, m y sponsor's laboratory has found using slice rat cultures that living neurons do take up IgGI -4. This suggests that these antibodies can be taken up into neurons and bind to intracellular proteins, leading to cell damage2. Because the IgG antibodies that produce the d a m a g e react with intracellular proteins, a mechanism of entry into neurons for IgG antibodies is needed. While IgG has been found to be incorporated into cerebellar Purkinje cells and other neurons, no initial mechanism of entry for the antibodies has been found2-4. M y sponsor's laboratory has found that for IgG to be taken up by Purkinje cells, the Fc portion (see Figure 1) of the antibody is required4. This leads us to believe that Purkinje cells and possibly other neurons might have receptors for the Fc portion of the IgG molecule. Our studies involved detecting Fc receptors on neurons using antibodies specific to three known Fey receptors: Fcyl (CD64), FcyN (CD32) and FcylH (CD16). Initial studies have been performed on mouse cerebellar slice cultures. Since Fc receptors bind to the Fc portion of all IgG antibodies, w e expected the same amount of labeling across all three receptors, but w e did not. Using indirect immunofluorescence in conjunction with confocal microscopy, w e have detected C D 6 4 receptors on neurons (see Figure 2), whereas our experiments with the anti-CD32 and anti-CD16 antibodies did not show significant labeling on any of the cells. Further experiments are n o w planned to confirm specific binding of antibodies to neurons by removing the Fc portion of the C D 6 4 antibodies and using only the specific Fab fragment (see Figure 3). The presence of Fey receptors on neurons could play a major role in paraneoplastic syndromes, certain autoimmune conditions, and control of viral and other infections. Suzi Liu 2L John E. Greenlee References 1. Shams'ili S, Grefkens J, De Leeuw B, van den BM, Hooijkaas H, van der HB, et al. Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration associated with antineuronal antibodies: analysis of 50 patients. Brain 2003; 126:1409-18. 2. Greenlee JE, Clawson SA, Hill KE, Wood BL, Tsunoda I, Carlson NG. Purkinje Cell Death after Uptake of Anti-Yo Antibodies in Cerebellar Slice Cultures. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol in press. 3. Greenlee JE, Clawson SA, Hill KE, Carlson NG. Anti-Hu antibodies are accumulated in multiple neuronal populations in organotypic rat cerebellar cultures and cause neuronal death. Presented, Annual Meeting, American Academy of Neurology April, 2010. 4. Hill KE, Clawson SA, Rose JW, et al. Cerebellar Purkinje cells incorporate immunoglobulins and immunotoxins in vitro: implications for h u m a n neurological disease and immunotherapeutics. J Neuroinflammation. 2009; 6:31. 51 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF NEXT GENERATION INTRA-ABDOMINAL PRESSURE SENSOR Sean D. Maass (Robert Hitchcock) Department of Bioengineering University of Utah Sean D. Maass Robert Hitchcock Pelvic Floor Disorder (PFD) affects roughly 2 5 % of American w o m e n . O n e in nine w o m e n will undergo surgery to correct the disorder and of these one in three will have their surgery revised within 5 years. The direct costs for the treatment of PFD are approximately 1 billion dollars annually. K n o w n risk factors for PFD include childbearing, genetics, age, and race. O n e unsupported hypothesis stipulates that increased intra-abdominal pressure on the pelvic floor d u e to strenuous physical activity increases the incidence and reoccurrence of PFD. For this reason clinicians strictly limit physical activity for sufferers of the disorder however these activity restrictions are not supported with evidence. Also, a consistent regimen of physical activity can have beneficial effects on one's health. In Dr. Hitchcock's laboratory a novel intra-abdominal pressure sensor has been developed to monitor subjects during daily activity. For this study a next generation device w a s designed which incorporates a battery source, uses an optimized capsule design with injection molding, is filled with non-compressible gel, and includes integrated wireless components. Devices were manufactured, calibrated, and preliminary h u m a n trials are currently being conducted. The h u m a n trials require volunteers to perform specific physical exercises while they are monitored with the sensor. These h u m a n trials are being conducted in hopes of determining a correlation between intra-abdominal pressure and specific physical exercises which could greatly aid in the prevention and treatment of PFD. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS THE EFFECTS OF REPEATED HIGH INTENSITY INTERVALS ON PEAK POWER, MEAN POWER, AND FATIGUE INDEX Timothy Mahas (Timothy Van Haitsma) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah Competitive cycling requires that riders spend significant periods of time (5-20 minutes for a stage race) above the heart rate at onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA). By reducing the time spent above OBLA, sprinters m a y be able to conserve or increase peak power output during the initial acceleration phase at the end of a race. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of time spent above OBLA on peak power, m e a n power, and fatigue index in trained cyclists. Nine trained male cyclists (26.8 ± 4.9 years, 80.2 ± 11.7 kg), c a m e to the lab on 4 occasions. The first visit to the lab consisted of the lactate profile and V02. During the three trials, participants rode at 25 W below OBLA with 0, 2, or 4 three minute intervals above O B L A during a 30 minute session. Immediately following the interval session, participants completed a 30 second Wingate test using 1 0 % body weight. There were no significant differences in m e a n power following any of the three interval trials (p * .05). Peak power was significantly higher following 6(1144; 61.7W) and 12 minutes (1131; 73.8W) above OBLA than following 0 minutes (1061; 65.8W) above O B L A (p = .014 and .011 respectively). Fatigue index was also increased significantly following 6 (24.0;1.8W/sec) and 12 minutes (23.1; 2.1W/sec) above OBLA as compared to 0 minutes (20.9;2.0W/sec). These results suggest that cycling above O B L A for 6-12 minutes is associated with increases in peak power and no change in m e a n power during an immediately subsequent maximal effort. For sprinters, it m a y be advantageous to spend s o m e time above O B L A in order to prepare for the final sprint, as more power m a y be produced early in the sprint while still maintaining mean power. 53 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 THE EFFECT OF BREATHWALK ON CORTISOL LEVLES IN PATIENTS WITH FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME Reetu Malhotra David H. Bradshaw 54 Reetu Malhotra (David H. Bradshaw) Department of Anesthesiology University of Utah Fibromyalgia syndrome is a musculoskeletal chronic pain disorder that induces widespread pain and tenderness, which can cause pain catastrophizing in patients, and also causes abnormal levels of the hormone Cortisol. The purpose of this study was to determine if Breathwalk is more effective in alleviating symptoms of fibromyalgia compared to standard walking. W e predicted that Cortisol levels would vary between the two groups due to the different regimens, and vary over the session. Standard walking and Breathwalk groups were studied. Both groups had hour-long classes twice a week with similar regimens, but the Breathwalk group differed in breathing patterns. Patients from both groups were asked to give Cortisol samples before and after class every other week over the eight-week period. Prior to the intervention, patients filled out the Pain Catastrophizing Scale that evaluated their catastrophizing pain level. A mixed model analysis was conducted to evaluate changes in post-class Cortisol levels. Groups did not differ on any of the catastrophizing measures. Log post-class Cortisol conditioned on log pre-class Cortisol was analyzed, and included catastrophizing as a covariate providing the best fitting model. M e a n change in log Cortisol, conditioned on catastrophizing, differed between groups. The Breathwalk group had m e a n post-class Cortisol levels of 0.384 (s.e. =0.026) compared with 0.487 (s.e. = 0.036) for the standard walking group. M e a n log Cortisol level for low catastrophizers was similar for the two groups, but high catastrophizers in the Breathwalk group had lower Cortisol levels compared to standard walking high catastrophizers. N o within or between group differences were found for change in Cortisol overtime. The study indicates that the Breathwalk treatment produced lower levels of Cortisol and was more pronounced in high catastrophizers. Decreased Cortisol levels in the Breathwalk group could be due to the breathing techniques and deeper relaxation this method provides. Decreased Cortisol levels could result from lower stress levels in Breathwalk subjects following the intervention. A future study utilizing a longer treatment period might reveal whether greater benefits might be found overtime. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS THE ROLE OF GANGLIAR PLEXI IN THE TREATMENT OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION Tyler Marler (Robert Macleod) Department of Bioengineering University of Utah Introduction: Gangliar plexi (GP) are bundles of interconnected neurons found e m b e d d e d in fat pads surrounding the atria of the heart. The function of these neurons is controversial but they m a y form a localized control system for the heart and play a role in the induction of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most c o m m o n form of heart rhythm disturbance. During the treatment of AF, catheters inserted into the heart via the venous system apply radio frequency energy to sites on the inner surface of the heart in order to disrupt the triggering of AF. In m a n y cases, the sites of ablation overlap the locations of the GP and w e hypothesize that the resulting d a m a g e to the G P m a y contribute to success of the ablation procedure. Methods: To identify the sites of ablation and locations of the fat pads containing GP, we acquired late gadolinium enhanced (LGE) MRI scans and dark blood (DB) MRI scans and analyzed them using segmenting software from the SCI Institute at the University of Utah called Seg3D. Regions of enhanced intensity in LGEMRI scans identified the lesion locations, which w e segmented to create a mask or template. The DBMRI scans provided locations of the fat pads, which w e also segmented into six separate locations in each heart. To determine overlap between ablation sites and GP, the LGEMRI and DBMRI images were registered (aligned) and the extent of overlap quantified. Robert Macleod Conclusion: Pending completion of the quantitative analysis, I expect that there will be a strong correlation between fat pad overlapping lesion locations and successful outcome of the procedure. The putative mechanism of this correlation would be greater suppression of AF through ablation of the GP, which would identify a n e w strategy for ablation that could improve outcomes. 55 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 INDUCTION OF C-MYC IN HUMAN HEPATOCYTES DURING ACUTE HEPATITIS C INFECTION Brett McGettigan Brett McGettigan (Curt Hagedorn) Division of Gastroenterology, Departments of Medicine and Experimental Pathology University of Utah School of Medicine Chronic hepatitis due to viral infection is one of the leading causes of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcin o m a in the United States and the rest of the world [1] [2]. Approximately 3 % of the world's population is chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) (including 2-3 million people in the United States [2] [3]), and upwards of 6 0 % of chronically infected persons develop chronic liver disease and eventually cirrhosis of the liver [3]. Curt Hagedorn Despite the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C throughout the world the mechanism for the highly efficient progression from acute to chronic infection (60-80%) remains largely a mystery. Analysis of gene expression in acutely H C V infected liver cells with next generation R N A sequencing (RNA-seq) identified specific transcription factor genes that were highly upregulated during the early stages of infection [4]. KLF4, M Y C (c-Myc), H K D C 1 , and A N K R D 1 were a m o n g the most highly upregulated transcriptional regulatory proteins during acute infection, showing an increased expression of at least four fold between 6 and 72 hours after infection. Quantitative PCR analysis confirmed these findings with M Y C and A N K R D 1 . Although c-Myc is a well-known oncogene, m a n y of the accompanying genes, such as OCT3/4 and SOX2, which are typically upregulated with c-Myc, showed no increased expression in acutely infected cells. As part of an ongoing study to determine how increased expression of these proteins is involved in altering cellular biology and gene expression during acute H C V infection, uninfected hepatocytes were transfected with a plasmid containing c-DNA for c-Myc to drive overexpression of this gene. The transfected cells were tested for increased expression of genes of interest by comparing the levels of specific genes in transfected to control cells. The results are currently being analyzed. Although further study is needed, it was concluded that c-Myc appears to be up-regulating several Pol II RNAs (possibly ncRNAs) from unannotated regions of the h u m a n g e n o m e . The role of these putative ncRNAs in the host response to H C V infection remains to be studied. 56 SPRING 2011 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPECIFICITY OF ADAR2 FOR DOUBLE-STRANDED RNA Bryn McNerny (Brenda L. Bass) Department of Biochemistry University of Utah JL Bryn McNerny Brenda L. Bass Adenosine deaminases that act on R N A (ADARs) bind to double-stranded R N A (dsRNA) and convert an adenosine to an inosine hydrolytically. Three A D A R s have been identified in h u m a n cells (ADAR1, ADAR2, and ADAR3) and are found mainly in the nervous system. Suicide victims have shown increased activity at certain A D A R editing sites in the brain, giving one example of the biological relevance of these enzymes. A D A R s demonstrate a certain level of specificity for their substrates, deaminating s o m e adenosines more efficiently than others. A graduate student in the lab, Ashani Kuttan, did a screen and identified eight single-amino acid mutations in human ADAR2 (hADAR2) that are involved in editing site specificity. Four of these mutants showed increased activity on a preferred substrate, where the edited adenosine was within the context of a U A G sequence. Increased activity m a y be due to greater binding affinity for the dsRNA substrate. In order to test this hypothesis, gel shift assays were done using W T A D A R 2 and the U A G dsRNA substrate. From three gel shift experiments, the dissociation constant (Kd) of the W T enzyme was determined. In this case, the Kd represents the concentration of protein at which half the substrate is bound. Subsequently, gel shifts will be done using the mutant proteins that show increased activity. If data gathered from the experiments show that the mutants have a lower Kd value than W T A D A R 2 , then there will be evidence to suggest that the mutants bind better to the substrate. These results would be consistent with our hypothesis and provide one explanation as to w h y the mutants show increased activity in comparison to the W T . Fig. I Catalytic domain o f h A D A R 2 , mapping eight single mutations, with the aclivc site containing a zinc ion (in pinkl. which lies deep within (he major groove of the d s R N A suhstrate Zinc metal is required for activating H ; 0 . which acts as a nucleophilc in the editing reaction The adenosine al the active site has been modeled in Inositol Hcxakisphospalc (IP.I binds lo the Catalytic domain and is an abundant inositol polyphosphate active in R N A export. D N A repair, endocytosis, and chromatin remodeling M R . el al Science 2005 Sep 2 ) (Macbeth, Fig. 2 Electromobilit) Shift Assays (EMSA) Reaction Conditions: 5 0 p M " U A G " d s R N A substrate. .10°C. lOmin incubation RNA protoin complex Gel-Running Conditions: 150V, 3 hrs, 4°C. 19:1 acrylamide. 6°o native gel [EnzymeJ n M G336D RNA protein complex Fig. 3 The curve fitting for the K d of W T and G 3 3 6 D enzymes is an illustrative representation of the data collected thus far (Enzymel nM 1 08 <£ 0 0 S 04 t ^*~~^~ """ y"^ / (shown below) indicates a greater affinitv for the substrate than the G3.I6D mutant. ./ ./ ' 4, -•- however, the K d for both proteins suggests tight binding. WTADAR2 _•- G33S0ADAR2 58 The K d represents the protein concentration at which half the substrate is bound (dcpiclcd on the y-axis). A low K d value means lhal the enzyme has a very high affinity for the editing site The K d of the W T protein - - Kdor\VT= I l i ti J„M KdofG336D = 5± InM UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH EFFECT OF SPIN Vi RADICALS O N ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES Andrew Merrell;Tek Basel (Valy Vardeny) Department of Physics University of Utah Andrew Merrell Increasing need for renewable energy dictates the importance of efficient solar cell devices. Organic solar cells (OSCs) have the potential to combine commercially low production cost with the advantages of flexible, semi transparent, thin film solar cells. The chief obstacle is to achieve the benchmark power conversion efficiency (PCE) level of 1 0 % . The particular spin Vi radical galvinoxyl has yielded an increase in PCE of nearly 2 0 % w h e n added at the optimal concentration to the bulk heterojuntion P3HT/PCBM device. In this experiment w e sought to improve PCE in bulk heterojunction OSCs by testing the spin Vi radicals T E M P O , BDPA, and Piperdinyl, in differing percentages (by weight) to the active layer of the O S C devices. W e tested the effects of the each radical on three separate active layer blends: P3HT/PCBM, P3HT/BisPCBM, and P3HT/Jalapeno. In measuring PCE w e also observed the effects of each radical on fill factor (FF), short circuit current (Jsc), and open circuit voltage (Voc). W e found that the presence of T E M P O , BDPA and Piperdinyl, each had a detrimental effect on the device efficiency in all active layer blends. The PCE had a steeper decrease with increasing percentage by weight of the radicals in question. Piperdinyl had the most drastic effect, showing more than 1 5 % decrease in PCE with 3 % by weight in P3HT/PCBM device. Though w e did not find increased efficiencies, the results help to broaden the understanding of the interaction of spin V2 radicals in the active layer of OSCs. Calculations of spin-resolved L U M O / H O M O levels of radical and fullerene pairs m a y reveal a resonance requirement for the proposed spin flip interaction between the radical and fullerene. Studying these properties in collaboration with the results obtained by our experiment m a y allow the identification of a radical with the desired effect. Tek Basel Valy Vardeny P3HT/PC60BM Devices 35 x-' w u OH 05 ll 0% 3% 5% TEMPO 0% 3% 6% BDPA 0% 3% 6% Piperidinyl 0% 3% 6% Gavinoxyl 59 SPRING 2011 TOXICITY AND GENOMIC PROFILING OF ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS WITH DISTINCT GEOMETRY AND SURFACE FUNCTIONALIZATION IN HUMAN AORTIC ENDOTHEIAL CELLS Ashlynd Mikkelson Philip J. Moos Ashlynd Mikkelson (Philip J. Moos) Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology University of Utah Manufactured nanoparticles have unique properties due to their size, shape, composition, surface are and chemical composition. These properties can be attractive for a broad range of novel applications in medical applications. Nanoformulations of drugs can improve their efficacy and targeted delivery but less is k n o w n regarding potential adverse effects of these materials. Therefore, understanding potential toxicities related to these materials can lead to the engineering of safer nanomaterials. If n e w nanomaterials are to function in drug delivery, these agents are likely to have resident time in the vasculature and interact with endothelial cells. Since several nanomaterials have elicited pro-inflammatory responses, w e sought to determine if nanosilica and dendrimers produced pro-inflammatory responses in primary h u m a n aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) as the promotion of inflammation m a y suggest that these materials m a y act as vesicants if used in medical applications. W e have generated nanomaterials with distinct geometry and surface functionalization to evaluate the contributions of these parameters to the toxicology of these materials. For geometric evaluations, w e generated 200 n m Si02 nanospheres as well as nanoworms with a 200 n m diameter and lengths of ~1000 n m . While the overall toxicity was similar between the nanospheres and nanoworms, the nanoworms promote a distinct phenotype compared to the nanoSi02 spheres in the HAECs. The nanoworms promote a vacuolization in the interior of the HAECs that is not apparent in the nanosheres. Surface functionalization w a s evaluated using cationic and anionic dendrimers composed of poly (amido amine) ( P A M A M ) with carboxylic acid or amine terminal groups, respectively. The amine terminated dendrimers are considerably more toxic than the carboxylated dendrimers as measured by cell viability assays. Using whole g e n o m e express profiling, we observe the induction of pro-inflammatory genes. Indeed m a n y of the significantly upregulated genes are controlled by the inflammatory regulator nuclear factor kappaB (NFKB). We hypothesize that; 1) an understanding of the mechanisms of nanomaterial toxicity, based on the properties of the materials will lead to the manufacture of safer nanomaterials, 2) that nanomaterials will display size and shape-dependent differences in toxicity, cellular uptake and transcriptional activities 60 urn dioxide (Ti02) are nanomaterials that have found utility in sunscreens and cosmetics for UV prot tion of exposed skin for aesthetic reasons since they are transparent rather than white in color. These materials are generally considered safe, including on intact skin since they d o not penetrate past the stratum corneum layer into the proliferative or live skin cell layers. However, our previous work, and the work of others, demonstrates that commercial grade powders of n a n o Z n O have considerable cytotoxicity w h e n in contact with various live h u m a n cells. W e initiated studies using R K O (colon cancer) cells as w e were concerned with potential ingestion toxicities of a range of nano-metal oxides, but w e have also recently utilized Sk-Mel-28 (melanoma) and HaCaT (transformed keratinocytes) cells in our studies. While n a n o Z n O and nanoTi02 agglomerate into large structures in tissue culture media, the agglomerates interact with the cells and w e observe that n a n o Z n O is considerably more cytotoxic than nanoTi02. In addition, all of these cell types display pronounced transcriptional responses within 4 hours of exposure to nanoZnO. A prominent response is consistent with metal ion responsiveness like metallothioneins and zinc efflux transporter induction. However, the transcriptional responses also show particulate-dependent induction of select genes associated with autophagy. Biochemical evaluation of autophagy also validates that these nanomaterials can promote autophagy. Therefore, a component of nanomaterial cytotoxicity m a y be the induction of autophagic responses. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISM OF ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLE TOXICITY Ashlynd Mikkelson (Philip J. Moos) Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology University of Utah Ashlynd Mikkelson Manufactured nanoparticles have unique properties d u e to their size, shape, surface area, and c o m p o sition. However, m a n y concerns still remain regarding the toxicity of these materials. Nano zinc oxide (ZnO) and titanium dioxide (Ti02) were of particular interest as they are in m a n y sunscreens and cosmetics for UV protection of exposed skin. Although these materials have generally been considered safe as they do not penetrate past the outer most layer of the skin, our previous work, and the work of others, has indicated that commercial grade powders of n a n o Z n O have considerable cytotoxicity w h e n in contact with live h u m a n cells. The mechanism for this cytotoxic response became the object of our experimentation with a focus on apoptosis signaling kinase (ASKI)-mediated apoptosis as a plausible mechanism of cell death based on Zn2+ reactivity with cellular thiols. W e hypothesized that the dissolution of Z n O within a cell will lead to the release of Zn ions and interactions with redox sensitive thiols involved in the control of ASK1 -mediated cell death. To test our hypothesis w e focused on cellular viability assays to determine if ASK1 is activated by direct cellular uptake of nanoZnO. R K O (colon cancer), Sk-Mel-28 (melanoma), and HaCaT (transformed keratinocytes) cells were transfected with wild-type (WT) and dominant-negative kinase mutant (KM) ASK1 constructs and then treated with n a n o Z n O and Ti02 (as a control). Formazan-style assessments of cell viability as well as immunoblot analysis were used to determine the activation status of ASK1. The results of this experimentation revealed that ASK1 was not activated by n a n o Z n O and is therefore unlikely to be the mechanism of n a n o Z n O toxicity. Independent microarray-based gene expression data suggested that the ZnO-mediated toxicity is due to the disruption of protein folding and therefore protein function, which in turn leads to cell death. Based on the genomic studies, w e plan to expand our assessment of nanomaterials to additional materials that have the potential for biomedical applications including dendrimers and nanosilica constructs. Philip J. Moos 61 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 STRESS-STRAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF EPS GEOFOAM FROM NONCONVENTIONALTRIAXIAL STRESS PATH TESTS Jesse F. Moyles Aurelian C. Trandafir Jesse F. Moyles (Aurelian C. Trandafir) Department of Geology and Geophysics University of Utah The stress-strain properties of expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam were investigated under a variety of conventional and nonconventional stress paths (Fig.1) with the purpose of understanding the material's behavior under such conditions. The material w a s tested in the Soil Mechanics Laboratory at the University of Utah using state-of-the-art, microprocessor-controlled, fully automated triaxial equipment manufactured by G e o c o m p Corporation (Massachusetts Ave., Boxborough, M A ) . A total of 16 stresscontrolled triaxial tests were conducted on cylindrical, 7-cm diameter 14-cm tall, samples of EPS with a density of 19kg/m3 under a consistent applied stress rate of 0.018kPa/min. Samples were consistently consolidated for a period of 10-hours under initial confining stresses in order to minimize the effects of creep during the multi-day shear phases. Likewise, errors from cell expansion have been minimized by applying confining stresses across the range used during EPS testing to a rigid steel d u m m y sample while recording volumetric changes within the cell. The experimental results provided a yield surface for EPS geofoam within the positive stress range of the MIT space that is non-linear, has an elliptic shape, and ranges from 23.7 kPa on (o1 - o3)/2 axis to 45.3 kPa on (ol + o3)/2 axis (Fig. 2). This yield surface separates the stress points associated with an elastic behavior of EPS geofoam from the stress points characterized by an elasto-plastic behavior of geofoam under various loading conditions. Additionally, a generalized hyperbolic model has been developed for confining stresses up to 35 kPa (Eq. 1) and the post-yield axial versus volumetric strain ratio (Asa/Aev) has been modeled as a function of confining stress (Eq. 2). 3000 Shearing Loading (conventional) Consolidating 25.00 ^ V -J- 20.00 3 CI 15.00 o £ \4 4• 1 10.00 •• • YieId Points 5.00 Lateral Compression YieId Surface 1 000 0.00 10.00 1 20.00 30.00 (o,-Ki3)/2(kPa) Figure J. -Stress paths used. 62 40.00 50.00 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A BRITTLE OBJECT SIMULATOR TO EVALUATE NEUROLOGIC FEEDBACK FROM PROSTHETICS Jeff Naylor (Sanford Meek) Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Utah Jeff Naylor The rapidly advancing field of neuroprosthetics will soon return major life benefits to s o m e of the 135,000 n e w amputees each year. Neuroprosthetics are controlled by implants e m b e d d e d in the amputee's nervous system, giving the patient the ability to control their limb through thought processes. As a method of evaluation for the control of these prosthetics a Brittle Object Simulator (BOS) was designed and built. If too m u c h force is applied to the B O S a simulated break happens which causes the user to drop the simulator. To design the BOS for use with prosthetic hands certain attributes were necessary. These included many adjustable characteristics such as breaking force, size, weight and surface texture. During the design process a three dimensional working computer model w a s created. M a n y changes had to be made while moving from the design stage into the construction stage of the project due to manufacturing restrictions. In order to achieve a simulator compatible with the hand prosthetics, the grip plates are connected to a four bar linkage which keeps them parallel. The parallelogram also allowed the achievement of an initial thickness of 2 5 . 4 m m (1 inch). Sanford Meek Machined aluminum was used for the pivot plates which are connected by steel shafts. In order to add strength as well as a magnetic property to the pivoting plates they are reinforced with sheet steel. Machining such small precision parts requires a lot of time. Consequently, not all machined pieces were complete in time for the pictures. The BOS has been successfully built and is being used to aid in the research of slip control and feedback from the neuroprosthetic hands. 63 SPRING 2011 COLLEGE STUDENTS' HEALTH STATUS Kami Nguyen (Theresa Martinez) Department of Sociology University of Utah Kami Nguyen College students have a history of lacking health care coverage. It is no surprise that the healthcare reform act has been implemented to take effect September 2010 for family/group plans to cover persons 18-26 regardless if they are a full-time student or not. Even with this health reform act, it seems there are still college students out there without healthcare coverage in part due to lack of education of resources available to college students or financial issues related to either cost of care of having to pay medical bills. Although most colleges due offer s o m e sort of coverage, the coverage seems to be limited in the type of preventative care. Theresa Martinez Specific to Utah, according to the Utah Healthcare Access Survey, Office of Public Health Assessme and the Utah Department of health, young adults m a k e up the largest groups of uninsured Utahns whereabout one in three of males and one in five of females are uninsured between the ages of 19-26 years. For the University of Utah, enrollment by age in the autumn semester census illustrate that 70.8% of the undergraduate students are between the ages of 18-25 years. Medical debt is another obstacle college students face. Although members of healthcare institution seem to understand the financial stance of college students there is not always an agreement on alternative ways of treatment other then prescribing drugs which is an additional cost. Depending on the healthcare insurance policy, prices range for University of Utah students. The main policy used is $1432 per year. Even with a $10 co-pay to see the Student Health Center; under such policy it seems most uninsured students choose to stay without healthcare are unless in dire need of seeing a healthcare provider. Usually this means an ER visit. Emergency room visits are known to show a disparity with high numbers of racial minorities as well. Again the insurance available to students at the University of Utah is a healthcare benefit only, meaning RX, Dental and Vision are not covered. 64 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS MICE WITH TARGETED DISRUPTION OF THE ENZYME DIHYDROCERAMIDE DESATURASE DISPLAY METABOLIC DISTURBANCES BUT NOT VASCULAR DYSFUNCTION IN RESPONSE TO HIGH-FAT FEEDING Alexandrea Nichols Alexandrea Nichols, Nicholas Deeter (J. David Symons) College of Health, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Physics, Division of Cardiology University of Utah Ceramide is a sphingolipid that accumulates in blood vessels of mice with diet-induced obesity. Earlier we showed that w h e n arterial ceramide synthesis is inhibited pharmacologically in mice that consume high-fat (HF) chow, vascular dysfunction does not develop. In this study w e used a genetic approach to limit endogenous ceramide production. The enzyme dihydroceramide desaturase (desl) is required for ceramide biosynthesis. Mice with targeted disruption of one allele of desl (i.e., desl +/- mice) and their wild type littermates (i.e., desl +/+ mice) have similar metabolic characteristics and intact vascular function. However, blood vessels from desl +/- mice have lower (p<0.05) ceramide content and cannot synthesize ceramide in vitro in response to exogenous substrate (n=6 per group). If ceramide contributes importantly to cardiovascular complications then vascular dysfunction in response to HF feeding should be less severe in desl +/- vs. desl +/+ mice. 7-week old desl +/+ and desl +/- mice consumed standard (CON, 1 0 % fat) or HF c h o w (45% fat) for ~12-weeks (9-10 mice per group). At -19 weeks of age systemic disturbances characteristic of the metabolic syndrome existed in HF vs. C O N mice, regardless of genotype. Vascular ceramide (ng ceramide / m g aorta) increased (p<0.05) from 47±4 (CON) to 78±5 (HF) in desl +/+ mice, but was similar between C O N (54.6±4.5) and HF (38.1 ±2.3) des1+/- mice. Endothelium-dependent (EDR) and -independent relaxation (EIR) of femoral arteries (~ 190 urn i.d.) was assessed with acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP), respectively, using isometric tension techniques (n=2 vessels per mouse/18-20 vessels per group). Compared to the respective C O N group, HF feeding impaired (p<0.01) EDR in vessels from desl +/+ but not desl +/mice, while EIR was similar a m o n g groups. These results suggest that ceramide contributes directly and importantly to endothelial dysfunction that occurs in mice with diet-induced obesity. NIH R15HL091493, A D A 7-08-RA-164 J. David Symons 65 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 MARRIAGES AND MASOCHISM: A POETICS OF QUEER CONTRACTS AND RAPE IN CHAUCER Justin Parnell (Thomas Stillinger) Department of English University of Utah Justin Parnell Whether describing serial marriage in The Wife of Bath's Prologue, the sadistic Walter in the Clerk's Tale, or the rape of Philomela, Geoffrey Chaucer is concerned throughout his work with what Carolyn Dinshaw calls articulations of the feminine Other. This project assesses the troubled and unexplored relationship between a queer Chaucerian poetics and the constant refrains of contractual obligation, domination, and sexual violence which echo throughout the Canterbury Tales and the Legend of Good W o m e n . Glenn Burger has argued that Chaucer's pilgrims simultaneously destabilize and reinscribe medieval notions of gender, marriage, and sexuality, while Slavoj Zizek notes a masochistic agreement between the Lady and her knight in the genre of courtly romance. While these critics inform the role of domination and sexuality in Chaucer's texts, they d o not consider the ways in which contracts work with and against these notions. In the Wife of Bath's Tale, Zizek's "courtly contract" is annuled by the rape of the Lady by the knight, but is perversely reconstructed by the "lothly lady" w h e n the knight agrees to marry her. In the Clerk's Tale, Walter makes Griselda an object for sadistic pleasure, but Griselda renegotiates the terms of her contract and is restored to her position of wifehood. In the Legend, Philomela is raped, and recounts her story through a tapestry; but her rapist remains unpunished, leaving Philomela unredeemed. Ultimately, I argue that the interplay of these marital, sexual, and social contracts shows Chaucer's characters in an insistent discursive struggle between the destabilizing capacity of the contract's queer periphery and the gravitational pull of its normative centers of signification. The contract therefore constitutes a n e w site for an analysis of Chaucer's insistent questioning of gender, sexuality, and society. bb THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS MYOCARDIAL FUNCTION AND SUBSTRATE USE IN FAT-FED MICE WITH TARGETED DISRUPTION OF DIHYDROCERAMIDE DESATURASE Brady Petersen (J. David Symons) College of Health, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes University of Utah Brady Petersen Myocardial substrate use is altered and cardiac dysfunction exists in mice with diet-induced obesity. Obesity and excess lipid exposure promote sphingolipid accumulation in peripheral tissues of rodents and humans. Sphingolipids are associated with metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular risk. O n e potentially toxic sphingolipid is called ceramide. Dihydroceramide desaturase (desl) is an enzyme required for ceramide synthesis. To explore whether ceramide contributes to cardiac dysfunction in mice with diet-induced obesity, 7-week old mice with genetic ablation of one allele of desl (i.e., des1+/-) and wild type littermates (i.e., desl +/+) consumed c h o w that contained 1 0 % (CON) or 4 5 % fat (HF; n=9 per group). At 19 weeks body mass, fat mass and area under the curve during a glucose tolerance test (AUC) were greater (p<0.05) in HF vs. C O N mice, regardless of genotype. Ceramide (ng ceramide / m g aorta) increased (p<0.05) from 47±4 (CON) to 78±5 (HF) in des 1+/+ mice, but was similar between C O N (54±4) and HF (38±2) des1+/- mice. Therefore, systemic metabolic disturbances existed in HF mice regardless of genotype, whereas ceramide accumulated in desl +/+ mice only. Hearts were excised from mice and cardiac function and substrate use was assessed using an isolated perfused apparatus. Palmitate oxidation (POX), glycolysis (GLYC), glucose oxidation (GLOX), indices of left-ventricular (LV) function, and myocardial oxygen consumption (MV02) were measured at 20-min intervals for 60-min. Heart rate (HR), LV systolic pressure (LVSP), LV end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), coronary flow (CF), and aortic flow (AF) were measured directly, while cardiac efficiency (CE), LV developed pressure (LVDP), cardiac power (CP), and cardiac output (CO) were calculated. d« • d« 1 • • CON Sdatrafe A&'mfK&.-tm ftt IsdiHi'ii fVarAJrs; ffoart.i V.i? . |K P O X 'i i- i| m E .1 ••. ( J L Y C .;jimol mine dv,-i> 2270 1 4 1 7 G L O X Oxidalion {nmol.'mm'fi duiji (Tn-giy/ Ci¥Ktmptiaf! or*/ Gmfac M V Q 2 <m].'min.'£ dwl> 11- •:"/• 16S i. 33 J. David Symons 1IF CON IIF 393 ± 3 4 2676 • '.7; 5S6 - 76« 1704 • 226 134 1 4 0 21 1 i 107 20 1 i 16 1 0 5 ±0.7 236 i 14 102 I 0 7 192 i 10* 11.0 ±0.6 243 X 11 75 ± 1 * 39 ± ] • 2*1 < 10 7-; i I 224 i 12 7K • 1 3259 ±0.14 3J2±0.07 7J63±0J8 439 i 36 i-i22 • :•;••' 124 A 21 EfficiemyJnhaiririHbrkiMjgi 9vA 2 V. i 12 9.1 iO.s Ctwt\ ii fife/iu mmftra fahotofsd iVuriim; /harts HR<b«rt.vmiiO L V S P .inur-Uc;. L V T O P <nunl^c) 2 7 4 i 12* 74 • Iff CF < ml.'min> J 64 • 0 1 9 S 60 L 0.47 A F T I :r in L V D P <mmlfej> 42 ±1 CP<mWfadwt) J 3.4 A 2 2 720±0JM» 35 ± 1 * 27 J 12.0 rO<ml,min]. 122 • 0 *> 10 S i 0 5 32±]§ 42 • 1 36 ±1 Jl.«il.4 10 M i 0 4 4] ± 1 3.43 ±0.10 7 K0 • 0 J6 J7 • 1 31_3±2J 1 12 i02> * - (p<0.05) HF vs. C O N ; # - (p<0.05) desl +/+ vs. desl +/These data suggest that substrate use is not altered by HF feeding in either genotype. However, reductions in AF existed in fat-fed desl +/+ but not desl +/- mice. As such, ceramide accumulation might contribute, at least in part, to impaired arterial function that exists in obese mice. These data are congruent with our previous findings that both pharmacological and genetic inhibition of vascular ceramide accrual prevents femoral arterial dysfunction in mice with diet-induced obesity. 67 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 POTENTIAL NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF POSTIVE STIGMAS: MEN IN MATHMATICS Tonee Lee Peterson, Tamara Fraughton (Paul H. White) Department of Psychology University of Utah Tonee Lee Peterson Tamara Fraughton Paul H. White This study examined the relationship between identity discrepancy (when an individual holds two different evaluations of the same attitude), positive stigma, and performance for males in the domain of mathematics. Undergraduate males from the University of Utah psychology subject pool (N=110) were measured for identity discrepancy using the Implicit Associations Test (IAT) as well as an explicit Domain Identification Measure (DIM) to assess identification with mathematics. Following these measures, students were exposed to a fictitious article depicting recent findings suggesting there are gender differences in mathematic achievement (i.e., males outperform females). Participants were then administered a GRE-based math exam. W e predicted the positive stigma, that males outperform females in math, would lead m e n with high identity discrepancies to underperform on a difficult math exam. W e also hypothesized that males lacking an identity discrepancy, maintaining both high implicit and explicit attitudes towards math, would see a bolstering effect on performance. Regression analysis indicated that participants with an identity discrepancy, such that they were more identified explicitly than implicitly towards math, performed better overall on the math exam. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH IN VITRO CHARACTERIZATION OF THE EFFECTS OF CSA-13 O N METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS Theresa Pham, Ryan Farnsworth (Kristofer D. Sinclair) Department of Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Orthopedics, Utah Bone and Joint Center University of Utah Infection resulting from resistant bacterial strains is difficult to diagnose and more difficult to treat. The Center for Disease Control reports nearly 500,000 confirmed incidences of Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cases occurring in the United States per year. This increasingly high n u m b e r of M R S A cases can be attributed to an evolved resistance toward antibiotic therapy. To address these issues the novel Cationic Steroidal Antimicrobial-13 (CSA-13), a ceragenin that mimics endogenous antimicrobial peptides, will be incorporated into a silicone polymer coating and examined for its bactericidal potential w h e n used as an orthopedic device coating. Titanium porous coated plugs were coated with varying concentrations of CSA-13 in a silicone polymer to characterize the bactericidal effects of the ceragenin on a k n o w n concentration of M R S A . In vitro experimentation with CSA-13 demonstrated greater than a seven-log reduction of the bacterial population after two hours. N o bactericidal potential w a s demonstrated with the bare titanium plug or the pure silicone polymer coating. With continued experimental success, this novel antimicrobial has the potential to significantly improve clinical care by reducing costs associated with perioperative device related infections. £•«&£ *« Theresa Pham Kristofer D. Sinclair 69 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 DIAGNOSIS OF COMMON VARIABLE HYPOGAMMAGLOBULINEMIA DUE TO MOLECULAR DEFECTS IN TACI Leisa Bitner Price (Attila Kumanovics, Harry R. Hill) Department of Pathology, Pediatrics and Medicine University of Utah Attila Kumanovics Harry R. Hill 70 There are over 130 primary i m m u n e deficiency diseases known today, the most c o m m o n being comm o n variable i m m u n e deficiency. Genetic defects in five genes are known to cause c o m m o n variable i m m u n e deficiency. These are TACI, ICOS, CD19, CD20, and BAFF-R. Mutations in the TACI gene account for 10-12% of c o m m o n variable i m m u n e deficiency, whereas the other four genes each account for less than 2 % of cases. Because mutations in TACI are the most c o m m o n known cause, w e chose to start development with this gene and plan to develop molecular assays for the remaining four in the future. The gene encoding TACI has five short exons, making it highly amenable for molecular testing. W e have been working to develop a molecular assay to test for mutations in these five exons. The test utilizes polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to amplify the TACI exons from patient DNA. High resolution melting is then used to detect variant exons. This is followed-up with targeted sequencing of the variant patient exons to identify the exact mutation causing the disease. After testing several designs and conditions, w e developed primers for exons 1-5 that work under identical PCR conditions. Each primer pair was tested on wild-type and affected D N A to ensure consistency. The primers were then tested on affected family D N A revealing no mutation in the TACI gene for family members assayed. An m l 3 tail was then added to the ends of forward and reverse primers to m a k e sequencing simpler for clinical use. The primers with m l 3 tails are n o w being retested on wild-type and patient D N A for consistency. N o affected D N A from a CVID patient has been found to date. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS INHIBITION OF CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULARIZATION IN Wl/O VIA MORPHOLINO TARGETING OF FLT-1 GENE Anthony Radosevich (Balamurali Ambati) Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, John A. Moran Eye Center University of Utah Anthony Radosevich Vascular endothelial growth factor type A (VEGF-A) plays an important role in signaling the growth of new blood vessels characterized by choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in the eye. The consequences of CNV are severe, often resulting in permanent vision loss due to degeneration of the macula. Normally, said pathology is prevented in the eye through the sufficient presence of VEGF receptor-1 (FLT-1), specifically its soluble FLT-1 isoform (sFLT-1), which is able to sequester and therefore disable VEGF-A. The objective of our research was to shift the alternative splicing of the FLT-1 gene so that expression of sFLT-1 is favored over its m e m b r a n e bound isoform (mbFLT-1). Because mbFLT-1 is not clearly correlated with the inhibition of VEGF-A, w e hypothesized that the extent of C N V would be reduced under sFLT-1 conditions. Balamurali Ambati Morpholinos, stable synthetic molecules analogous to DNA oligonucleotides, were used to block specific regions of the FLT-1 gene, allowing the ratio of expression between sFLT-1 and mbFLT-1 to be altered to strongly favor one or the other. In order to promote sFLT-1 expression, w e designed a morpholino to block expression of the transmembrane domain required by mbFLT-1. As a control, w e also designed a morpholino that favored expression of mbFLT-1 by blocking polyadenylation sites preceding the previously mentioned transmembrane domain. Both morpholinos were first tested for effectiveness in vitro and successfully achieved the expected shifts in expression. Results were then obtained in vivo using a laser-induced C N V model after injecting morpholinos into the vitreous of mice. The sFLT-1 promoting morpholino showed a significant inhibition of C N V - a s measured by area and v o l u m e - w h e n compared to the controls. W e did find s o m e toxicity w h e n exceeding a certain concentration threshold. Regardless, the overall success of this trial indicates potential for similar methods to be used as treatments for conditions benefiting from the inhibition of neovascularization. 71 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 IDENTIFICATION OF PASK SUBSTRATES AND/OR INTERACTING PROTEINS KariAnne Rencher KariAnne Rencher (Jared Rutter, Sarah Fogarty) Department of Biochemistry University of Utah PAS kinase (PASK) is an evolutionary conserved serine/threonine kinase that appears to have a role in the regulation of cellular energy metabolism. It has previously been shown that mice lacking PASK (PASK-/- mice) are resistant to the development of hepatic steatosis (lipid accumulation in the liver), glucose intolerance, insulin resistance and obesity w h e n placed on a high fat diet. These results suggest that PASK could be a potential target for the treatment of type II diabetes and obesity. However, the function of PASK at the cellular level is unknown. The objective of this project is to identify substrates and/or interacting partners of PASK in order to better understand its biological significance and connection to metabolic diseases. Jared Rutter In order to achieve this objective, FLAG and HA dually-tagged constructs expressing wild type (WT) and kinase inactive (Kl) PASK have been generated in a viral expression vector. These constructs were initially characterized in h u m a n embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells. Both W T and Kl PASK could be irmmunoprecipitated using anti-FLAG and anti-HA antibodies and demonstrated the expected kinase activities in a radioactive peptide-based assay. A small-scale tandem affinity purification (TAP) of W T PASK was performed and purified protein could be visualized as a distinct band on a Coomassie-stained gel. HepG2 cells have been successfully infected with viral particles encoding both N-terminally tagged W T a n d Kl PASK. TAP purification is n o w being optimized in this cell line. After purification, PASK-associated proteins will be identified using mass spectrometry and validated by co-immunoprecipitation experiments. PASK substrates will be confirmed by in vitro kinase assays. Stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) will also be used to identify PASK su strates. Cells that have either wild-type or attenuated PASK activity (via treatment with specific PASK inhibitors) will be grown in normal media or media containing isotopically labeled amino acids. Cell lysates will be mixed in equal ratios and mass spectrometry will be used to compare the total amounts of cellular proteins. Differences in the degree of protein phosphorylation between the two samples will also be measured. If the relative level of phosphorylation or total protein expression of specific proteins differs between the two samples (i.e. cells with wild-type or reduced PASK) then it is possible that these proteins are downstream targets of PASK. All potential substrates will be validated to confirm that they are true PASK substrates. 72 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON LOWER-LIMB FATIGUE Camden S. Marshall, Jay B. Rigby, Steven J. Elmer (James C. Martin) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah Jay B. Rigby Warm-up protocols for training and competition must strike a balance between increasing muscle temperature and minimizing fatigue. Previous authors have demonstrated that passive heating of lowerlimb muscles can increase power production during maximal effort multi-joint tasks. Our purpose was to determine the effects of passive and active heating of lower-limb muscles on m a x i m u m power production and fatigue. Four male participants (mass: 77±13 kg, height: 1.7±0.06 m, age: 27±6 yrs) performed 30s maximal cycling trials on an isokinetic ergometer (120rpm) following three different experimental conditions: passive warm-up, active warm-up, and control (resting with no warm-up). For the passive warm-up condition, participants were immersed up to iliac crest in 40oC water for 30min. For the active warm-up, participants rested at room temperature for 25min and subsequently performed a 5min cycling warm-up at 100-120rpm. For the control condition participants rested for 30min at room temperature. Power during the trial was measured using a Schoberer Rad Messtechnik power meter and fatigue index was calculated (Fl = (Peak Power - Min Power) / (Peak Power * 100)). Compared to control, m a x i m u m cycling power produced in the first 3s increased by 1 2 ± 3 % (961 ±101 vs. 1073±88 W , p < 0.01) and 1 6 ± 5 % (961 ±101 vs. 1113±118 W, p < 0.01) after the passive and active warm-up conditions, respectively. Fatigue indices for passive warm-up, active warm-up, and control conditions did not differ (71 ± 7%, 69±5%, and 71 ± 3 % , respectively). These data demonstrate that passive and active heating of lower-limb muscles can initially increase m a x i m u m power. Further, fatigue rates appear to be independent of w a r m up state or initial power. Our results demonstrating increased maximal power production support findings by previous authors and concurrent work in our laboratory. However, our results relating to fatigue do not generally support previous work by Sargeant w h o demonstrated greater fatigue with increased muscle temperature. These findings m a y have implications for athletes who warm-up before performing short duration maximal effort tasks. Camden S. Marshall Steven J. Elmer James C. Martin 73 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 SYNTHESIS OF HYDROXYLAMINES FOR ABASIC SITE DETECTION IN a-HL ION HANNEL Nicole Rosecrans, Na An (Cynthia J. Burrows) Department of Chemistry University of Utah D N A is essential to every living organism on the planet, including humans, and d a m a g e to this biological polymer contributes to cancer, aging, and a myriad of other diseases. Unfortunately for us, it is constantly undergoing d a m a g e by endogenous and exogenous sources, the major consequence of which is the formation of apurinic/apyrimidinic(AP) sites. These are thought to be one of the most frequent source of D N A damage, leading to single-strand breaks and base-pair substitution, while hindering replication and transcription.1 It is estimated that the mammalian cell loses 10,000 base pairs per day,2 and that about 50,000 A P sites exist at any given time in the g e n o m e of a healthy h u m a n liver cell.3 Cynthia J. Burrows Detecting this damage is essential for understanding, early treatment and prevention of diseases. Current detection methods of d a m a g e within a strand do not give crucial information about multiple d a m a g e sites within a D N A strand, or the location of d a m a g e with respect to the sequence as a whole. Fortunately, a n e w method has been developed to potentially sequence single stranded D N A at a single-molecule level and allow the detection of AP sites in multiple positions within a strand. This method proceeds by driving ssDNA, which has negative charge, through an a-HL ion channel via electric gradient. An open channel current is recorded w h e n the a-HL is inserted into a lipid bilayer membrane supported by a glass nanopore. Subsequent migration of each nucleotide blocks the current through the nanopore at measurably different amounts ranging between 80-90%. At the present time, the change in current is not large enough to sufficiently detect the difference between A P sites and native bases (nucleotides). The purpose of this experiment is to chemically modify d a m a g e sites to amplify the difference in measured current. By synthesizing and attaching large, possibly charged adducts to AP sites, the current difference will be detectable. Via click-chemistry, a library of molecules, with hydroxylamine functional groups, were synthesize a decent yield. This functional group was chosen because it can be attached to AP sites in DNA. Out of these, an indole adduct gave good discrimination through the nanopore, with a 2 % detectable difference from A P sites. T w o other interesting adducts were bimane and coumarine moieties, both fluorophores, with the potential for a surface labeling study to confirm translocation through the pore and to produce a unique current signature. References: 1) Serge Boiteux, Marie Guillet, Abasic sites in DNA: repair and biological consequences in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, D N A Repair 3 (Jan. 2004), pp. 1-12. 2) T. Lindahl and B. Nyberg, Rate of depurination of native deoxyribonucleic acid, Biochemistry 11 (1972), pp. 3610-3618. 3) J. Nakamura and J.A. Swenberg, Endogenous apurinic/apyrimidinic sites in genomic D N A of mammalian tissues, Cancer Res. 59 (1999), pp. 2522-2526. 74 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS NEW ESTIMATES FOR THE SDSS-SEGUE STELLAR PARAMETER PIPELINE USING HIGH RESOLUTION SPECTRA Iranga Samarasingha (Inese I. Ivans) Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Utah We analyzed high resolution spectra (R~10,000 - 80,000) of 250 stars to estimate the stellar parameters of the previously obtained low resolution spectra (R-2000) taken for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) project, the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE). SDSS, the largest astronomical survey in history, explores the universe by gathering images and spectra of millions of objects in the sky. SEGUE has gathered spectra covering the entire optical wavelength range of 350,000 stars in the Milky Way. It was designed as one of the main projects of SDSS to explore the structure; formation history; kinematics; dynamical evolution; chemical evolution; and dark matter distribution of our galaxy. Employing high resolution spectroscopic data gathered using a number of observatories and instruments (Keck: HIRES & ESI, Subaru: HDS, HET: HRS, and VLT: UVES), for each star, w e computed the value of the gravitational acceleration at the surface; (surface gravity; logg) to compare with the previously published estimates from SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline (Lee et al 2008). W e have also derived the radial velocities and other stellar atmospheric parameters such as the effective temperature (Teff) and overall chemical enrichment (metallicity; [M/H]). Using special-purpose software to perform the necessary spectrum synthesis calculations, v2.76 of SPECTRUM (Gray & Corbally 1994) w e generated 10,000 spectrum model syntheses by systematically varying the input stellar parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity and metallicity). Then w e compared the model syntheses with each observed spectrum to determine the best fit model using Chi-squared error analysis (figure 1). Finally, the input stellar parameters of the best fit model synthesis provided the best approximations for the stellar parameters of each star. The comparison between our results for high resolution spectra and low resolution data provides an insight on the accuracy of the methods used to derive the stellar atmospheric parameters from the SEGUE spectroscopic observations. These results will also be applied to the significantly larger SEGUE sample, including far more distant stars, too dim to be observed via high resolution spectroscopy. Figure 1 -The best fit spectral matching for the region near the hydrogen Balmer series feature of H-p\ Top: The observed high resolution spectrum (blue) and model synthesis (red) are indicated for the SEGUE star 0982-52466-480. Bottom: The black curve represents the difference between the observed spectrum and the model synthesis. Based on low resolution spectra, Lee et al estimate this star's parameters to be Teff/logg/[M/H] = 6315K/3.789/-2.280. Our optimized high resolution result yields 5800K/0.200/ -3.400. subanj-0982-52466-4B0-H 1 vs t5B00g20m-340 hbeta.gndsyn - - data model ••i^T*" °&4L - error 8 4866 -*rSr4%*K*fiy/^ "Ais References • Gray, R. O., Corbally, C. J. (1994) The Astronomical Journal, 107:742-746. • Lee, Y. S., et al. (2008) The Astronomical Journal, 136:2022-2049. Iranga Samarasingha UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 OPTIMIZATION OF CDNA SYNTHESIS FOR REAL-TIME QPCR Nykole Sargent (Deb Neklason) Department of Oncological Sciences BUS P R O G R A M University of Utah Deb Neklason 76 Real-Time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) technologies allow scientists to precisely quantify and compare R N A levels from different sources. Our primary interest is to determine different m R N A signatures in colonic tissue from individuals with inherited colon cancer predisposition. Low expressing genes are important but can be hard to characterize in qPCR, frequently yielding questionable and unreliable results. A quintessential step in optimizing these qPCR reactions is synthesis of stable copy D N A (cDNA) molecules from the m R N A population. This experiment was designed as a comparison assay using 6 different c D N A synthesis kits and two different qPCR fluorescent reagents with R N A extracted from h u m a n lymphoblast cell lines. Manufacturer recommended protocols were followed. Results were confirmed in normal and neoplastic colonic tissue. The method of analysis uses a 1:10 dilution series of c D N A to construct a standard curve confirming performance with two different qPCR reagents. W e primarily analyzed this data based on the cycle threshold (Ct), efficiency, and slope of the standard curve which confirms an efficient PCR reaction. The kits that produced the best results used oligo dTs or a mix of random hexamers and oligo dTs for primers and either Superscript III or iTaq polymerase enzymes. Results concluded that, of the kits tested, Invitrogen's VILO kit performed best overall with the lowest Ct, and efficiency near 100%, especially w h e n in conjunction with Invitrogen's SYBRGreenER. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS MELTING LINE OF LITHIUM UNDER HIGH PRESSURES Anne Marie Schaeffer, Scott R Temple, William Talmadge (Shanti Deemyad) Department of Physics University of Utah Anne Marie Schaeffer The field of high pressure physics is based upon the understanding h o w a material's structure changes under extreme conditions. A key piece to understanding this underlying change is to track h o w the boundaries of the physical states change with the increasing pressure. In our experiment, our goal is to record h o w the melting temperature of lithium changes under high pressures. As lithium is subjected to increasing pressures, the melting temperature does not remain constant, but rather changes as the underlying structure of the lithium is affected by the extreme conditions. W e will use a diamond anvil cell with argon as a pressure m e d i u m to obtain high pressure, and will use the florescence of ruby to measure the pressure inside the cell. W e will heat the lithium sample with a high power laser, and determine the melting visually. The temperature shall be determined by recording the black body radiation from the heated sample. Theoretically, the melting line of lithium should show a curve as the pressure is increased, this is what w e hope to show in our results. Shanti Deemyad 77 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 HABITUAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY BEHAVIOR DOES NOT INFER HEALTHY EATING PATTERNS IN CLINIC STAFF Abraham C. Schlauderaff Jk>. JBL Janet M. Shaw Abraham C. Schlauderaff (Janet M. Shaw, FACSM) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah W e studied habitual physical activity (PA) and dietary behaviors of health clinic staff to determine whether clinic staff that regularly engaged in >30 minutes of moderate to vigorous (MV) PA were more likely than clinic staff with <30 daily minutes of M V P A to meet c o m m o n dietary guidelines as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Participants were sixty female staff workers in primary care clinics. PA was assessed by 7 days of triaxial accelerometry. Habitual dietary analysis was determined by a criterion measure of dietary intake. The following daily nutrition variables were examined: sodium (mg), calcium (mg), Vitamin D (IU), saturated fat (g), fiber (g), sugar (g), number of vegetable and fruit servings and servings of healthy oils. Height and weight were self-reported and used to compute body mass index (BMI kg/m2). Differences in nutrition variables were assessed by A N O V A comparing those w h o averaged >30 minutes daily of M V P A to those w h o averaged <30 minutes daily of MVPA. Relationships between M V P A and nutrition variables were assessed by correlation. The m e a n age was 37.3 yrs (±11.3); BMI was 30.3 kg/m2 (±7.2). The m e a n daily minutes of M V P A for the entire sample was 17.8 (±14.9). Only twelve participants averaged >30 minutes daily of MVPA; six of these individuals had BMI >30. Average daily minutes of M V P A for this group was 44.5 (±12.1). The remaining 54 participants averaged 11.9 (±6.7) minutes daily of MVPA. For all participants, mean intake of nutrition variables did not conform to the r e c o m m e n d e d levels decided by the CDC. Comparison of nutrition variables between PA groups revealed no significant differences in habitual dietary intake. Further, no significant correlation between M V P A and measures of dietary intake was observed. Habitual PA levels do not necessarily provide information regarding the habitual dietary behaviors of health clinic staff. HE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH CREATING A RECOMBINANT BLOCK COPOLYMER-BASED DEVICE COATING TO COMBAT INFECTION AND THROMBOSIS FOR HEMODIALYSIS CATHETERS Katherine Schoen (David W . Grainger, A m a n d a E. Brooks) Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Utah Demands for improved implantable medical devices continue to increase. Unfortunately, the body's natural defense mechanisms often isolate the implant from host tissue, limiting its functional longevity. Upon implantation, host proteins pre-condition the surface and mediate all normal and pathological cellular interactions with the implant. This protein coating frequently promotes both thrombus formation and infection on the device; however clinical treatment strategies often ignore these parallel etiologies, causing a catastrophic chain reaction that can compromise patient healing and health. The biomedical research community continually develops medical device coatings to passivate the host reaction against the device, promote seamless host integration, contextual functionality, and extend device longevity. Recent medical approaches have targeted natural biological mimetics, such as the heparin-binding motif (HBM), a naturally occurring amino acid motif present in a variety of host growth factors that can bind natural anticoagulant heparin from host fluids. H B M s are also structurally analogous to antimicrobial peptides. Engineering this amino acid motif into proteins to create a surfacecoating alternative for blood-contacting devices m a y effectively combat both infection and thrombosis, thus offering a functional bridge between these device problems. Such a device coating could reduce thrombosis by capturing exogenous heparin from the bloodstream, 're-loading'the surface with heparin in a self-renewing manner. This provides a heparin-enriched coating to an implanted device. Unfortunately, despite its promise, the heparin binding peptide (HBP) is subject to protease degradation, limiting its clinical utility and longevity. To overcome this obstacle, w e genetically linked H B P with a silk-like recombinant protein, providing mechanical integrity and protease resistance to improve coating durability. Using a compatible, non-regenerable cloning strategy, H B P and a silk-like peptide are genetically concatenated, polymerized, and expressed as a functional cassette to yield a durable recombinant device coating for addressing both implant thrombosis and infection. Multiple H B P repeats and silk have been isolated to date. Katherine Schoen David W. Grainger 79 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 ALGINATE COATINGS ON LATTICED MICROELECTRODES Mark Sedlacek (Patrick Tresco) Department of Bioengineering University of Utah * Mark Sedlacek Background: Microelectrodes are small recording devices used to interface between the body's nervous system and external devices. Thus, they represent a means of rehabilitation for those with neural degenerative disorders and missing limbs. Unfortunately, the longevity of these devices is severely hampered by the i m m u n e response they elicit. At the site of insertion persistent inflammation, scar tissue formation, and neuronal loss have all observed [1]. In order to limit this reaction, varying surface coatings and latticed architectures are being explored. These devices, however, allow for tissue ingrowth through the lattice leading to complications during removal. As a m e a n s of limiting this ingrowth w e have devised a method of attaching a gel to the surface of the electrode. Alginate, a naturally occurring carbohydrate derived from algae, provides a low-cost and easy to produce hydrogel to study. Patrick Tresco Methods: The electrodes were first functionalized with an epoxy silane adhesion promoter, 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPS), through a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Following CVD the electrode was dip coated in 1.5% alginate followed by a 2 % CaCI2 solution. This step was repeated to increase the amount of gel coating the surface. The electrodes were dipped once more in CaCI2, and then an Alexa 594 Fluourophor labeled Laminin in order to visualize the coating under a fluorescent microscope. The electrodes were then incubated in growth media, and observed over a period of 15 weeks. Results: Using the above process it was observed that the electrode surface was fully covered after dip coatings in alginate (Figure 1). The coating did not degrade over the 15 week observation period (Figure 2). Conclusions: Using a dip coating method to attach a gel to the surface of a latticed microelectrode both plausible and reproducible. Additional research will need to be done regarding sterilization, cellular reaction, and in vivo longevity. Cellular activation studies are pending. Figure I: Side by side comparison ot coated I U W T I electrodes after one dip coating (topi and two dip coatings (middle!, and 15|im electrode alter two dip coatings (bottom I. Figure 2: Fluorescent (top} and optical ("bottom) microscopic photographs on day I (A,Clandday 104 (B, D ) of incubation. Scale bar is 200urn. [1 ] R. Biran, D. C. Martin, and P. A. Tresco. Neuronal Cell Loss Accompanies the Brain Tissue Response to Chronically Implanted Silicon Microelectrode Arrays. Exp Neurol, 2005. 80 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS ART FOR SELF'S SAKE: ADDRESSING REAL LIFE CONCERNS THROUGH VISUAL JOURNAL EXPLORATION Shea J. Seever (Marnie Powers-Torrey) Department of Art and Art History Book Arts Program, Marriott Library University of Utah Shea J. Seever 'Art for Self's Sake' is comprised of various unit and lesson plans sufficient to conduct an entire semesters worth of art curriculum for high school students. This particular art curriculum is unique in that it deviates away from the slogan 'art for art's sake,' where art is appreciated only for its intrinsic value. Instead, it enables students to utilize art as a m e a n s of formulating socially constructed meaning and extending comprehension of personal identity. The purpose of this curriculum intends to show that art has a far more enduring purpose than an autotelic philosophical approach; that art can prepare students for real-life situations. The vehicle for such exploration is performed through a process called visual journaling. This includes the production of hand m a d e portfolios through bookmaking techniques, the filling of its pages with artistic media, and visually documenting social, environmental, and introspective content. Three primary themes addressed: Marnie Powers-Torrey SENSE OF COMMUNITY- students will assess visual and verbal dialogues that are present within our contemporary culture. Students will understand h o w consumer and media influences can manipulate or modify personal identity. SENSE OF PLACE - students will understand environmental psychology to distinguish how individuals connect with various physical environments (social, built, natural, learning, etc.) and h o w these environments can influence self-experience and self esteem. SENSE OF SELF - students will evaluate the idea of 'self concept,'what it means to be intimately aware of one's personal attributes, abilities and weaknesses. 'Art for Self's Sake' provides students with the capability of developing a sort of visual sensibility where they can think subjectively about the external influences they c o m e in contact with everyday. It promotes self-discovery by creating opportunity for personal reflection; allowing the true self of each student to c o m e forward in an interpretive and evaluative context. It presents a form of communication that is enduring, where empty pages can give place for students to claim inherited knowledge as their own. As a result, students will comprehend h o w the process of visual journaling, the act of creating within itself, has considerable worth, and ultimately discern that art can challenge and prepare one for real-life scenarios beyond the classroom setting. 81 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 CAPABILITIES OF BORNEAN ORANGUTANS (PONGO PYGMAEUS) FOR SELF-REGONITION IN DISTORTING MIRRORS Whitney Seferos Kristen Hawkes Whitney Seferos (Kristen Hawkes) Department of Anthropology University of Utah The capacity of orangutans for self-recognition in regular mirrors has been empirically well established. In this study, I exposed two female orangutans, aged five and twenty years, and one male orangutan, twenty years, to regular and distorting mirrors during one hour sessions on each of five days. I used distorting mirrors to obscure particular visual markers, highlighting the possible critical role of contiguity of m o v e m e n t between the subject and the image in achieving self-recognition. Gazing at the mirror reflection, using the mirror to examine parts of the body that are not visible without the use of the mirror, and looking at the mirror while touching parts of the body which are not visible without the use of the mirror were considered to be self-directed behaviors and indicative of self-recognition, while absence of these behaviors w a s considered to be indicative of non-recognition. The twenty-year-old female showed immediate evidence of self-recognition in regular, convex, concave, and red-tinted mirrors not preceded by social behaviors directed toward her reflections. The distortion produced by the latter three mirrors had no effect on her self-recognition, consistent with the hypothesis of an important role for contiguity of m o v e m e n t . She did not, however, s h o w any self-recognition with the three-paneled mirror that multiplies the mirror image. The five-year-old female and twenty-year-old male showed neither self-directed behaviors in any mirrors nor social behaviors directed toward their reflections, indicating that while they did not achieve self-recognition, they did not perceive their mirror images as those of strange conspecifics. The surprising absence of self-directed behaviors by the adolescent and adult male in all mirrors, and by the adult female in the three-paneled mirror likely resulted from distracting aspects of the social and physical environment and warrant further study. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS FOLIC ACID USE IN PREGNANT PATIENTS PRESENTING TO THE EMRERGENCY DEPARTMENT Jacob Steenblik (Erika Schroeder, Burke Hatch, Steven Groke, Camille Broadwater-Hollifield, Michael Mallin,Troy Madsen) Department of Surgery, U U M C University of Utah Jacob Steenblik Background: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has r e c o m m e n d e d daily folic acid supplementation for w o m e n planning on becoming pregnant in an effort to prevent fetal neural tube defects. W e evaluated pregnant patients presenting to the emergency department to determine rates of folic acid supplementation. Methods: We surveyed pregnant patients who presented to the University of Utah Emergency Department between 1/1/2008 and 4/30/2009 regarding pregnancy history and prior medical care. Results: 135 patients participated in the study. 84 patients (62.2%) reported current folic acid supplementation. Sixty-six patients identified themselves as Caucasian; 69 patients identified themselves as non-Caucasian race. There w a s a significant difference in folic acid use between Caucasian and nonCaucasian w o m e n (p=0.035). The majority of Caucasian w o m e n (71.2%) reported daily MVI use versus approximately one-half of non-Caucasian w o m e n (53.6%). Both groups were similar in accessing a primary care provider (PCP) for pregnancy care prior to the E D visit ( 5 3 % vs. 49.3%, p=0.663), and rates of folic acid use were similar in those w h o had seen a PCP (85.7% vs. 76.5%, p=0.326). Language did not have a significant association with folic acid use. Troy Madsen Conclusion: A large percentage of pregnant ED patients did not report current folic use, and there was a significant difference between Caucasian and non-Caucasian w o m e n in rates of folic acid supplementation. This study highlights the potential role of the E D in screening patients for folic acid supplementation. Figure 1: Prenatal Vitamin Use by Self-Identified Race 80 | Characteristic 70 Total Patients 60 Average Age 25.1 years (16-42) Number of Pregnancies 2.8 (1-9) Previous Live Births 1.1 (0-6) Average Gestational Age 73.2 days (13-147) Non-Caucasian Race 51.1% Current Prenatal Vitamin Use 62% so Percent Table 1: Patient Characteristics 40 30 20 10 Number/Percent (Range) 0 Non-Caucasian Caucasian Race 83 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 GENETIC SELECTION OF TRANSGENIC C.ELEGANS Zach Stevenson (Erik Jorgensen) Department of Biology University of Utah Zach Stevenson Erik Jorgensen A selectable marker is a gene that confers resistance to an environmental condition that kills animals without the gene or that makes animals with the gene look different from animals without the gene. Selectable markers are often introduced in order to indicate the presence of a second gene of interest that was introduced at the same time. The current selectable markers in C. elegans are wild-type copies of genes that are introduced into a mutant background that has a visibly different phenotype than the wild type. Thus, w h e n w e introduce n e w genetic information to the organisms w e also introduce a gene that rescues the phenotype back to a wild type version. This method is simple to use because the mutant background is usually a conditional lethal, so that the rescued transgenics are all that survive. Another gene used as a marker is a fluorescent tag such as G F P W h e n w e see fluorescence in the organisms, w e know that our gene of interest is also present. This method does not require a mutant background, but is more tedious because each w o r m has to be visually inspected to identify the transgenics. We are developing a method of selecting transgenic C. elegans that works in a wild type background and does not require visual inspection. W e have taken advantage of the RNAi machinery present in the worm. RNAi (RNA interference) uses the worm's evolved viral defense mechanism to degrade mRNA. W h e n double-stranded RNA is introduced into the w o r m any m R N A with an identical sequence will be degraded. By having the bacteria that the animal eats express double stranded R N A with the same sequence as a target gene w e can prevent expression of that gene. W e have produced dsRNA in the bacteria with the use of a vector that transcribes the gene for a w o r m muscle protein, unc-97, in both directions. This produces a double stranded R N A with the same sequence as the 3' UTR of unc-97. W e can thus induce an unc-97 phenotype in genetically wild-type w o r m s just by feeding them this special bacteria. To rescue this induced phenotype w e have m a d e a synthetic unc-97 construct where the 3' UTR sequence is different enough to prevent the RNAi machinery from attacking it. W e injected the construct alongside our gene of interest, a GFP marker. Our results show that we can produce a strong selection against C. elegans that are lacking the r gene that is resistant to the RNAi. This n e w genetic technology will allow us to select for transgenic C. elegans without the use of mutant backgrounds or fluorescent markers such as GFP. 84 rHE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS NEURONAL FIRING IN THE NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS DURING DECISION MAKING AFTER ACUTE ETHANOL ADMINISTRATION Nathan C. Swallow, Andrea L. Schwager (Sharif A. Taha) Department of Physiology University of Utah tin Nathan C. Swallow Impulsive behavior is a k n o w n consequence of alcohol consumption, but very little is k n o w n regarding the neuronal circuits governing this alcohol-induced behavioral change. O n e form of impulsivity involves aversion to delayed rewards: impulsive decision consist of a preference for a small immediately available reward even if a larger reward is available after a delay. Acutely administered ethanol causes animals to choose impulsively, through mechanisms that are not understood. In this study w e are testing the specific hypothesis that alcohol directly affects the encoding neurons of the brain responsible for decision-making by decreasing firing rates in response to delayed rewards. To better understand the ethanol effects on circuits mediating decision-making, we recorded neural activity in rats performing a decision-making task (choosing between a small, immediate reward and a large, delayed reward) in the presence and absence of acutely administered ethanol. Neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a component of the mesolimbic dopamine system, are k n o w n to respond to reward-predictive cues, such as those cues in this behavioral task. m Sharif A. Taha Male Sprague-Dawley rats (~350g-400g) were trained in a decision-making task in operant chambers consisting of two levers with cue lights, and a central reward receptacle. Training involved forced and choice trails. In forced trails, one lever was extended; pressing it resulted in receipt of the associated reward, (small or large reward). In choice trails, both levers were extended and rats chose a lever to receive the corresponding reward. After initial training, electrodes were implanted bilaterally into the NAcc core and additional training with injections of ethanol were performed before electrophysiology recording. Our preliminary findings have confirmed that ethanol induces a significant behavioral shift toward the impulsive choosing. Electrophysiology results show that ethanol decreases firing of neuronal responses to cues, lever presses, and reward presentation during immediate rewards. Continuation of the experiment, further results and future novel experimentation are needed to verify and expand on these findings. 85 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 EXAMINING THE ROLE OF CHARGE COMPLEMENTARITY IN AN ENGINEERED PROTEIN ENCAPSULATION SYSTEM Drew Tack (Kenneth Woycechowsky) Department of Chemistry University of Utah Kenneth Woycechowsky 86 Protein capsids play important roles in biology including regulating enzymatic catalysis, and acting as storage containers. Perhaps the most notable examples of protein capsids are those used by viruses to store and transport their genetic material. The important structural feature of protein capsids is their hollow center, which can accommodate 'guest' molecules. Taking inspiration from viruses, the capsidforming protein lumazine synthase has been engineered to encapsulate specific guest molecules in vivo. A lumazine synthase protein capsid from Aquifex aeolicus bacteria (AaLS) was engineering to have a positively charged inner surface (AaLS-pos). W h e n AaLS-pos is expressed in vivo, the positive charge of the inner capsid surface has been shown to result in encapsulation of cellular nucleic acids. By using the AaLS-pos capsid and engineering guest molecules with a negatively charged tail, the charge complementarity encapsulation system was tested. A poly-glutamate tail was added to the cterminus of G F P (GFP-Ex) to act as the guest protein. Glutamate tail lengths of 10, 15, 23, and 30 residues were tested. The same guest molecules were tested with the wild-type AaLS (AaLS-wt), as a control. The rate of encapsulation is directly proportional to the length of the glutamate tail added. W h e n the capsid and guest are expressed in vivo, both the GFP-Ex and nucleic acids are being encapsulated. Increasing the poly-glutamate tail length increases the ability of the GFP-Ex to compete with cellular nucleic acids for binding to the inner capsid surface. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH LOW TEMPERATURE HIGH PRESSURE METHODS Scott Temple (Shanti Deemyad) Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Utah Achieving and maintaining extremely low temperatures is crucially important in a wide variety of scientific fields. For our work in the high pressure physics of low Z materials, w e require low temperatures often; when investigating superconductivity and creating n e w alloys, for example. Our research centers on use of a small press called a diamond anvil cell (DAC) to generate pressures in the million atmosphere range, and localized laser heating of the sample with a high power infrared laser. These extreme temperatures and pressures induce changes in m a n y materials, and light materials, because of their compressibility, are most prone to dramatic changes. Lithium, our primary research interest, shows an unusual melting line and m a n y structural and magnetic phase transitions, and m a y shed light on the behavior of hydrogen. However, it is reactive with diamond; the reaction rate m a y be minimized by low temperature. W e have acquired a specialized superfluid helium cryostat to hold our DACs at temperatures as low as 1.5K while allowing laser heating, R a m a n spectroscopy, A C susceptibility measurements, and in situ temperature and pressure measurements. Shanti Deemyad 87 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY AND DROSOPHILA Samuel C.Thomas, Priscilla Auduong (Alice Schmid) Department of H u m a n Genetics University of Utah Spinal Muscular Atrophy, or SMA, is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by degeneration of motor neurons and results in muscle atrophy and weakness. S M A is considered to be the leading genetic cause of infant mortality. The S M A phenotype is caused by an overall decrease in S M N , the Survival Motor Neuron protein. Alice Schmid The two known genes that encode for SMN proteins are SMN 1 and SMN 2. In individuals with SMA, the S M N 1 gene is truncated or deleted, causing a decrease in the production of full length S M N protein. The S M N 2 gene produces unstable exon-7 deleted protein, which is not able to produce adequate levels of full length S M N . S M N proteins associate with m a n y other proteins and riboproteins to function in the formation and transport of spliceosomal snRNPs, where S M N proteins have been verified to stimulate splicing in post-transcriptional modification of RNA. A clear understanding of S M N protein function in association with the neuromuscular phenotype remains to be elucidated. Although S M N proteins are expressed in most tissues investigated, w e are interested in their role in the neuromuscular phenotype of SMA. Drosophila gives us a cheap and effective way to model this human neurodegenerative disease.To pro duce a model of S M A in Drosophila, the phenotype of s m n mutants was compared to the phenotype of wild-type fly embryos injected with dsRNA specific to S M N protein. These two different smn Drosophila phenotypes are analyzed using confocal microscopy. With this model of SMA, w e hope to understand in greater detail, the role of S M N at the neuromuscular junction and therefore have a better understanding of SMA. In the future we hope to use the genetic mutants for SMN as a model organism to create a high throughput drug screen for SMA. A process has been developed within the lab to permeablize membranes of embryos with mushroom extracts, allowing drugs to be absorbed into embryos. The embryos are able to develop at a normal rate and can then be analyzed using high throughput robotic imaging (Beckman-Dickinson, University of Utah Imaging Core). Examples of wild type filleted Drosophila embryos that were filleted, stained with M A b 1 D 4 and phalloidin on the left, and with M A b 1 D 4 alone on the right. Preparations were stained with preabsorbed G a M secondary antibodies. Images were collected on a Bio-rad Radiance confocal microscope using a 20X objective. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN PROTEIN INTERACTIONS WITH THE HIV GAG PROTEIN Tasha Thompson (Wesley Sundquist) Department of Biochemistry University of Utah HIV is a retrovirus that infects millions of people worldwide and causes AIDS. M a n y current HIV therapies act as competitive inhibitors of important HIV enzymes. While such drugs are capable of extending life expectancy for infected individuals, HIV mutates rapidly and quickly becomes resistant to m a n y therapies. Thus, there is a need to identify and characterize n e w potential drug targets. Understanding the roles and structures of host proteins and determining h o w they synergize with viral proteins to facilitate viral replication is an important component of this strategy. The goals of this project were to identify and characterize h u m a n proteins that interact with HIV Gag, an important viral protein that is crucial to nearly every stage of the virus lifecycle. Candidate h u m a n proteins were first identified by co-affinity purification/mass spectrometry approaches led by researchers at UCSF. For our work, list of direct Gag binders and RNA-dependent G a g binders was developed using GST-pulldown techniques. These targets were then tested for binding against different G a g domains to determine which domain of Gag interacted with a candidate protein. A subset of these proteins was also shown to be required for HIV replication in vivo. Five proteins demonstrated strong phenotypes in viral infectivity efficiency. Biosensor binding experiments on one of these proteins, SF3B4, have shown that the first domain of SF3B4, RRM1, binds G a g m u c h more tightly than the second domain, R R M 2 . N M R experiments have identified the surface on the Nucleocapsid (NC) domain of G a g that binds SF3B4. This information will be used in future single-base mutation binding experiments with NC. Tasha Thompson Wesley Sundquist Alam 89 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 THE EFFECTS OF IRON IN ENERGY METABOLISM David Thorup (Donald A. McClain) Department of Endocrinology University of Utah Donald A. McClain 90 The research conducted in Dr. McCain's lab looks at h o w iron effects m a n y metabolic pathways. The project I have been working on the last few months focuses on the effects iron has in adipose tissue (adipocytes). Adipose tissue produces a very important hormone called adiponectin.This hormone helps regulate glucose uptake into cells. A potential consequence of not producing this hormone can be type II diabetes. W e studied irons effect on adipocytes in mice with a "knockout" gene (ferroportin) in the adipose tissue needed to regulate iron levels, and regular "wild-type" mice (control). Both groups of mice were fed on a high iron diet. O n e method of testing was radioimmunoassay's to measure the mice's adiponectin levels. These mice were also put through glucose tolerance testing (GTT) to test insulin sensitivity. Another method used was a DEXA to determine the lean muscle to fat ratio in the mice. The results of these methods show a small correlation between the control group and the "knockout" mice with regards to adiponectin levels and insulin sensitivity. N o conclusions can be m a d e at this point from the results, but w e are optimistic that the correlation between the control and the "knockout" mice with regards to adiponectin levels and insulin sensitivity will b e c o m e more defined as the mice get older to allow their phenotype to grow and develop. W e are also waiting for further generations of the "knockout" mice that will have a more pure genotype for the "knockout" gene in adipose tissue. The hardest part of m y research is waiting for the breeding and development of our mice with the "knockout" gene since it takes time. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS LOCALIZED DELIVERY OF FLT2-3K INTERCEPTOR INTO CORNEAL GENOMIC DNA Michelle Tiem (Balamurali Ambati) Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, John A. Moran Eye Center University of Utah Angiogenesis, the growth of n e w blood vessels in the body, is a vital component of h u m a n development and function. Research on this biological process will allow for greater understanding and possible future treatment of different diseases and disorders. The process of neovascularization occurs w h e n vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) binds to a tyrosine kinase receptor which initializes the process. The cornea is a good model to study angiogenesis, as vascularization will only occur in response to mechanical trauma or s o m e other stimuli. Our laboratory has previously shown that a recombinant subunit of VEGF receptor 1, Flt2-3K sequesters VEGF and inhibits angiogenesis. Integration of the FLT2-3K gene (domains 2 and 3 of FLT-1, where VEGF binds) into a g e n o m e is a possibility for treatment of neovascular diseases. Neovascular diseases are commonly treated with frequent drug doses that are often delivered by invasive techniques. Newer methods of drug delivery that hold further promise to reduce the frequency and invasiveness remains a major challenge. W e are developing a piggybac and zinc finger based plasmid (pPig Zinc FLT2-3K) that would deliver the gene of interest into the genome, where the zinc finger would guide integration into the point of interest, the ROSA 26 locus. pPig Zinc FLT2-3K and control plasmids were transfected into HeLa cells. Cells were tested weekly for continued expression of DsRed fluorescent protein, where presence was observed more than one month after incorporation. D N A was isolated from the cells and PCRs were performed to detect the integration of the gene into the ROSA 26 locus. Balamurali Ambati Analysis of data indicates that Piggybac Zinc finger based gene delivery appears to be a promising method for long term, targeted, nonviral gene delivery into the genome. 91 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 FATTY ACID INDUCED MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION KyleeTokita (Hannah Gordon, Dale Abel) Department of H u m a n Genetics University of Utah Dale Abel 92 Type 2 diabetes is an emerging epidemic that is characterized by insulin resistance, particularly in peripheral tissues. The molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to this disease are not well understood, but it is known that high levels of fatty acids occur in diabetes. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the development and/or progression of type 2 diabetes. The goal of this study was to determine whether or not mitochondrial dysfunction occurs in the presence of pathologically relevant levels of fatty acids within the cell. W e focused on the recently emerging field of mitochondrial dynamics, which represents the balance of fission and fusion events within the mitochondrial network. Mitochondrial morphology was examined after the incubation of rat skeletal muscle (L6) cell lines with varying concentrations of palmitate. Mitochondrial dynamics are assessed using immunofluorescence of L6 cell lines that harbor mitochondrial targeted-RFP. W e observed that fragmentation of the mitochondrial network occurs following exposure of rat skeletal muscle cell lines to pathophysiological levels of palmitic acid. These results indicate that exposure to the fatty acid palmitate increases mitochondrial fragmentation in skeletal muscle cells. This study will lead to a better understanding of the mitochondrial response to nutrients such as fatty acids, and could increase knowledge of the link between mitochondrial dysfunction and diabetes. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS a9a10 RECEPTORS Hong PhuongTran (Michael Mcintosh) Department of Biology University of Utah Hong Phuong Tran Chronic pain has been a problem for millions of individual all over the world. It causes substantial disability and consumes significant medical resources. Although there are m a n y analgesic medications, these work through a limited number of molecular mechanisms. Even w h e n these are combined, they are still insufficient to treat substantial amounts of pain. Therefore a treatment that can target specifically a distinct molecular mechanism is very desirable. Selective block of a9a10 nAChRs has been indentified to be long lasting analgesia and accelerate the recovery of function after nerve injury, a-conotoxin RgIA and Vc1.1, small peptides used offensively by carnivorous marine snails k n o w n as Conus, have been reported to be selective blocker of a9a10 nAChRs. However their effects on h u m a n receptors have shown to be approximately 60 times less potent than on rat receptors. Our hypothesis was that RgIA peptide isolated from the v e n o m of Conusa type of snail- could be modified through structural and functional tests to be a better selective blocker of a9a10 nAChRs than its native does by making its effect more potent on h u m a n receptors. The strategy was to first synthesize RgIA peptides with different mutations by substituting one or more residues with a different amino acid in the RgIA sequence. Then w e select for the ones that affect human receptors more potent that its native does. Michael Mcintosh Although we have synthesized quite an amount of different RgIA peptides, however we still do not have enough number of varieties to test them through experiments and compare their effects. The collection and analysis of data has not yet been completed and research is still ongoing. 93 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 DEVELOPING A MICRORNA PANEL FOR DETECTING, DIAGNOSING, AND MONITORING SOLID TUMORS FROM HUMAN BLOOD SERUM Sydney Truong (Philip Bernard) Department of Pathology and Huntsman Cancer Institute University of Utah Philip Bernard MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (15-25 bp), non-coding RNAs that play a role in regulating protein expression post-transcriptionally by binding to the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of a target m R N A . A variety of cells have been found to release miRNAs into the blood serum, packaged within small m e m brane vesicles known as exosomes in order to prevent degredation by RNases within the serum. Research as shown that certain miRNA levels within tumor cells show deregulation in comparison to non-cancer cells. The miRNAs exhibiting deregulation are often dependent upon cancer type and are ones that play important roles in regulating the cell cycle and apoptosis. As a result of the specificity of these deregulated miRNAs, they possess great potential in becoming biomarkers for early detection of cancer, tracking progression of the disease, or more accurately determining treatment efficacy. The primary objective of this study was to identify a set of miRNAs that can reproducibly distinguish breast cancer positive serum samples from non-cancer serum samples. Exosomes from the serum of breast cancer positive postients (5) and non-cancer patients (5) were isolated and m i R N A was then extracted from the vesicles. Rapid Amplification of c D N A Ends (RACE) PCR was performed to quantify miRNA levels. The 48 miRNAs selected for analysis were based upon k n o w n deregulation within breast cancer cells, but unconfirmed in blood seruml. Of the 48 miRNAs analyzed, 37 were present in the serum samples. The resulting heat m a p of the data displays a distinct pattern of m i R N A levels between non-cancer and breast cancer positive serum samples, providing evidence that certain miRNAs are differentially present within the serum of breast cancer patients versus non-cancer patients. This in turn further supports the potential of circulating miRNAs in becoming a reliable way to quantify or predict tumor progression. Continued research involves running an Agilent miRNA microarray on pooled serum from various cancer types to identify a subset of miRNAs that can be used to accurately and reliably differentiate each cancer type. Further analysis and validation of the selected subset of miRNAs will be performed on a larger number of samples through quantitative-PCR. References: 1. Blenkiron, C, et al. 2007. MicroRNA expression profiling of h u m a n breast cancer identifies n e w markers of tumor subtype. G e n o m e Biology, 8 94 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS CHARACTERIZATION AND ACTIVITY OF PEPTIDYLGLYCINE a-AMIDATING MONOOXYGENASE FROM CONUS BULLATUS Sabah Ul-Hasan (Pradip K. Bandyopadhyay, Baldomero M. Olivera) Department of Biology University of Utah Sabah UTHasan Cone snails, genus Conus, are predatory marine snails that use v e n o m to capture their prey. This venom contains a diverse array of toxic peptides, known as conotoxins, that undergo posttranslational modifications in the cell by specialized enzymes. These modifications are essential for conotoxin biological activity. Amidating enzymes play an important role in the modification of hormone peptides, such as vasopressin, oxytocin, and gastrin. Improper enzymatic activity of these enzymes have been implicated in diseases; such as Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and Huntington's Disease. The amidating enzyme, peptidylglycine a-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) is typically located in the secretory granules of the golgi. P A M known to carry out two functions, peptidyl a-hydroxylating mono-oxygenase (PHM) and peptidylamido-glycolate lyase (PAL). P H M is a copper containing enzyme that requires ascorbate and oxygen in the order to hydroxylate glycine at the C-terminus of a given Conus peptide. PAL then cleaves the hydroxylated glycine, resulting in an amidated peptide and glyoxylate. In some organisms, such as Drosophila melanogaster, these two functions are present in separate polypeptides. In most, such as with m a m m a l s and in Aplysia californica, P A M activities reside in a single, bifunctional polypeptide. Pradip K. Bandyopadhyay Partial nucleic acid sequences of the PAM gene was obtained from Conus bullatus venom duct transcriptome sequencing. Specific primers designed based on these sequences were used to amplify by PCR the complete gene encoding PAM. The enzyme is 874 aa long compared to 748 aa in Aplysia californica. The enzyme from Conus bullatus is 4 9 % homologous to the enzyme isolated from Aplysia californica. W e have also identified conserved histidine residues, copper type II ascorbate monooxygenase, and an N H L repeat sequence that are characteristic features of the amidating enzyme. Both the P H M and PAL activities reside on the same polypeptide chain in Conus bullatus. Studies of the enzymatic activity in insect and mammalian cells are in progress. Since the venom duct of Conus has a high concentration of amidated peptides, the enzyme isolated from Conus is likely to have robust enzymatic activity. Continuation of this project is essential in being the first to focus on understanding P A M activity in Conus. 95 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 VERIFYING THE PRESENCE OF HYPERFINE INTERACTION IN SPIN VALVE DEVICES Thomas Van Hook (Brian Saam) Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Utah The organic spin valve devices w e are working with are designed to inject spin-selective electrons into an organic semi-conductor (OSEC) layer. The angular m o m e n t u m contained in the spin of the electrons w h e n injected into an O S E C is lost before it fully traverses the thickness of the O S E C layer. O n e possible explanation for this p h e n o m e n o n is the manifestation of the hyperfine interaction through a process called dynamic spin polarization. Through this mechanism, the angular m o m e n t u m in the spin of the electrons is transferred to the nuclei in the O S E C layer. If so, this could be verified through the use of N M R spectroscopy by seeing if the polarization of the nuclei in a magnetic field is affected by the device. W e expect an increase in polarization to yield an increase in N M R signal strength. W e have employed several techniques to optimize and measure the N M R signal strength of both 13C and 1H present in the organic semiconductors at 4K, 77K, and room temperature. Brian Saam 96 Current data is preliminary but progressing towards the end goal of determining whether or not the hyperfine interaction creates this effect w e see. If indeed the hyperfine interaction is present in this device, the design could have further implications in the development of spintronic devices. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS MUSCLE TEMPERATURE AND LOCOMOTOR PROPERTIES Kyle W. W e h m a n e n (Steven J. Elmer, James C. Martin) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah Kyle W. Wehmanen Previous authors have reported that muscle temperature influences maximal power production and have speculated that temperature m a y alter leg spring stiffness. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which passive warming and cooling influence maximal power production and leg spring stiffness. Five participants (mass; 67 ± 16 kg, height; 1.73 ± 0.67 m, age; 23 ± 2 yrs) performed maximal cycling, maximal jumping, and hopping at a self-selected frequency before and after two different experimental conditions: passive warming and passive cooling. For the passive warming and cooling protocols participants were immersed up to their iliac crests for thirty minutes in 40°C or 18°C water, respectively. After participant exposure to passive warming both m a x i m u m cycling and jumping power increased by 6 ± 3 % (p < 0.05). Conversely, after passive cooling m a x i m u m cycling and jumping power decreased by 21 ± 6 % and 17 ± 8%, respectively (p < 0.01). There were no significant changes in leg spring stiffness after passive warming (30.7 ± 7.1 vs. 32.6 ± 6.0 N/m, p > 0.05) or passive cooling (30.8 ± 7.5 vs. 28.5 ± 8.7 N/m, p > 0.1). Our results support findings by previous authors regarding temperature induced changes in m a x i m u m power following passive warming and cooling. Our results relating to leg spring stiffness do not support previous author speculation as to h o w temperature m a y affect leg spring stiffness. M a x i m u m jumping power relies on an eccentric elastic component as well as concentric muscular contraction, whereas maximal cycling relies exclusively on concentric muscular contraction. This difference, along with our data, allows us to speculate that alterations in jumping power are primarily due to changes in muscular properties rather than leg spring stiffness. Although our results did not indicate significant changes in leg spring stiffness it is interesting to note that the m e a n values after passive warming were 6 % greater than baseline, approximately the same increase as in power. Thus it is possible that results for leg spring stiffness would reach significance with a larger sample. These findings could have implications for locomotion in general, and also for track and field events that include high-speed running and jumping. Steven J. Elmer James C. Martin 97 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 DEVELOPING NOVEL THERAPEUTICS FOR LEUKEMIA Seth Welborn (Nikolaus Trede) Department of Oncological Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute University of Utah Seth Welborn Nikolaus Trede 98 T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a cancer of white blood cells characterized by an abundance of lymphoblasts in the bloodstream. To develop therapeutics against this disease, an animal model was needed. A transgenic strain of zebrafish with green fluorescent protein (GFP) incorporated into their T-cell surface markers were individually injected with several thousand compounds, and the compounds that caused a significant decrease in the GFP intensity were cross tested in zebrafish embryos to check for developmental effects. C o m p o u n d s shown to be cytotoxic against lymphoblasts but not detrimental to the development of the organism are k n o w n as "hits." O n e such compound, compound 3 (C3, LDK), has been shown to target a pathway that has been evolutionary conserved in both zebrafish and h u m a n leukemia strains with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of approximately 1 u.M. To determine C3's inhibitory mechanisms, several related c o m p o u n d s have been tested using the colorimetric M T T assay, in which cell viability is proportional to the absorbance of dissolved formazan crystals produced by the metabolism of the tetrazole dye, MTT. These related compounds, or C3 analogs, have similar functional groups as those found on C3, and four were shown to kill Jurkat cells, a h u m a n leukemic strain, with comparable IC50s (between 1.5-3 uM). With further analysis of these analogs, the functional groups responsible for the inhibitory mechanisms, and metabolic pathways targeted can be determined and C3 can b e c o m e an effective therapeutic for T-ALL. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS MAPPING OF A GENETIC MUTATION, HLK,THAT CAUSES T-CELL MALIGNANCY IN ZEBRAFISH Kylie West (Kimble Frazer) Departments of Pediatrics and Oncological Sciences Huntsman Cancer Institute University of Utah Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells and begins when there is no controls over normal cellular growth are lost. M a n y types of leukemia affect humans. Red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are all susceptible to uncontrolled growth and can all cause different forms of leukemia. This project involves the genetic mapping of a mutation in zebrafish (Danio rerio) prone to T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and lymphoblastic l y m p h o m a (T-LBL). T cells, or T lymphocytes, are a type of white blood cell that are part of the i m m u n e system. The Frazer/Trede laboratory at HCI created a zebrafish line with an u n k n o w n genetic mutation (hulk, hlk) that predisposes them to T cell cancer (Frazer, et al., Leukemia, 2009). The hypothesis being tested is that genetic markers linked to this mutation can be used to identify the region where the hlk mutation resides in the zebrafish genome. This strategy will eliminate D. rerio genomic regions that d o not carry the hlk mutation, and is termed "positional mapping." Specific aims for this project are: 1) To isolate large numbers of fish with T-ALL (and hence, carrying the hlk mutation) 2) To identify the genomic region containing the hlk mutation To find fish with T cell malignancy, a transgenic line of zebrafish is used. Zebrafish are a useful model organisms because their T cells are similar to h u m a n T lymphocytes. The fish used in this study express Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) in only their T cells. Thus, their cancers are G F P + and can be identified using a fluorescent microscope. Diseased fish are readily apparent, since they possess large GFP+ tumors or disseminated G F P throughout their body. Healthy fish have only focal GFP in their thymus. Based on prior work, approximately 1 1 % offish are predicted to develop T-ALL. Fish with T-ALL or T-LBL are separated into individual tanks for further monitoring. This involves serial photography over a month-long interval, again using fluorescent microscopy. During this month, "tail-fin clips" are obtained to serve as the D N A source for the genome-wide polymorphic marker screen. After documenting cancer progression and obtaining D N A samples, fish are then used in other experiments. Thus far, several thousand fish potentially carrying the hlk mutation have been screened on a monthly basis for more than one year, and over 200 fish with T-ALL have been collected. By the project's end, our goal is to isolate 300-400 diseased fish, which should be sufficient to localize the hlk mutation to a relatively small genomic region. Kylie West Kimble Frazer References: Frazer, K., et al., Heritable T-cell malignancy models established in a zebrafish phenotypic screen, Leukemia, (2009). 99 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF MUSCULAR FATIGUE ON POSTURAL STABILITY AND MOTONEURON POOL EXCITABILITY IN HEALTHY ADULTS Graydon A. Wickman Graydon A. Wickman, Evan V. Papa (Bradley T. Hayes, Lee E. Dibble) Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Athletic Training Education Program University of Utah Purpose or hypothesis of the study Lower extremity muscle fatigue has been implicated in reductions in postural stability. While previous studies have employed high intensity muscular work as a m e a n s of fatigue, none have exploited the supra-isometric levels of muscular work provided by eccentric contractions. In addition, few studies have examined the effects of mechanisms of fatigue related effects on stability. To gain insight into the influence of eccentric-induced muscle fatigue on postural performance and motor function, w e investigated the impact of fatigue on postural stability and motoneuron pool excitability in healthy adults. Number and kind of subjects Twenty-one volunteers (25.3 ± 4.5 yrs; female n=9; male n=12) participated in the study. Bradley T Hayes -__^_ v = 0 Materials and methods Lower extremity fatigue was induced via a single 10-minute bout of high intensity eccentric exercise. Limits of stability (LOS) testing was used to quantify postural stability, while H-reflex measurements were used to measure motor pool excitability. Both measurements were administered prior to and immediately following exercise participation. isometnc eccentric N . a o / \ lengthening concentric shortening Velocity Fore,e-Velocity Curve of a Muscle Data reduction and data analysis M o v e m e n t velocity, end-point excursion (EPE), and maximal end-point excursion (MXE) were extracted from the LOS testing. H to M-wave ratios were extracted from the H-reflex testing. Paired t-tests were used with a level of significance set to a < 0.05. Summary data and numerical results of statistical tests EPE and M X E in one direction were significantly different from pre to post fatigue. There were no differences in H to M wave ratios with fatigue. Conclusion and clinical relevance Stability limits m a y be compromised following an acute bout of fatiguing eccentric exercise. The lack of consistent changes in postural stability suggests that fatigue m a y affect dynamic tasks more than static standing. In addition, any alterations in stability m a y have a mechanism besides changes in motor neuron excitability. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS UNDERSTANDING "THE REFUGEE" AND THE STATE THROUGH DISCOURSE RenaeWiddison (Nan Ellin) City and Metropolitan Planning, School of Architecture + Planning, BUS Program University of Utah A discursive analysis of refugee representation in Salt Lake City reveals that "the refugee" is more reflective of U.S. political and economic values than of those individuals w h o experience refugee status. The increasing n u m b e r of individuals w h o experience forced migration indicates our collective need to rethink what "citizenship" and "identity" m e a n in the 21st century. Popular discourse avoids this task, however, and instead uses "the refugee" as a discursive tool to reify neoliberal sensibilities while obscuring the systemic violence inherent to the global state system. My analysis aims to explore the discursive context that former refugees enter when they arrive in Utah; a context, I argue, characterized by neoliberal logic. As one of its m a n y strategies, neoliberalism pushes for cultural and institutional shifts towards efficiency, consumption and individualism. M y analysis addresses h o w these ideas are shaping the policies and programming that impact former refugees in Salt Lake City. Nan Ellin Former refugees are quickly transforming the Salt Lake region in exciting and unforeseeable ways. This research contributes to a growing body of inquiry into the dynamic relationships between migration and identity, nation and citizen, and community justice. 101 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS SPRING 2011 MEDICATION COMPLIANCE IN ORGAN TRANSPLANT PATIENTS Spencer Wright (Jason Schwartz) Department of Surgery, Section of Transplantation University of Utah In the world of organ transplantation, medication regimes are extremely important to patient quality of life and ultimately their survival. Rejection is one of the leading concerns of transplant recipients and their healthcare providers. This "therapeutic regimen" consists of several facets including proper diet, monitoring for signs of rejection related symptoms and taking immunosuppressive drugs, the last of which is considered the most important to the prescribed treatment. Non-adherence to any one of the factors has been related to negative outcomes for transplant recipients including acute rejection and even mortality. (Cherubini R 2003) (Barr ML, 2003) (De Geest S, 2005) (Dew M A , 1999) (McAllister S, 2006) (Schweizer RT, 1990). Noncompliance to prescribed medical regimens including and not limited to the aforementioned methods is one of the largest problems facing transplant patients today. (McAllister S, 2006) (Schweizer RT, 1990). This study seeks to understand h o w the relationship between recipients and donors affects the mental health of patients and its subsequent effects on medication compliance. This is a prospective cross-sectional survey designed to analyze h o w the relationship between recipients and donors effects the mental health status of patients and thereby their medication compliance. Patients will be divided into four sub-groups: People with knowledge and a relationship with their live organ donor (group 1), people with a knowledge of their live donor, but have no relationship (group 2), people with a knowledge about their deceased organ donor (group 3), and people with no knowledge of their organ donor and the donor is deceased (group 4). In the study, w e expect to find the majority of people fall into group 4 or about 4 0 % , 3 0 % of the people in group 3, 2 0 % in group 2 and 1 0 % in group 1. By achieving our target number of 100, these results will yield a statistical significance for the study and allow strong links between correlate variables. The study is currently in progress with the data trending toward a correlation between a patient w h o has knowledge about their donor and is adhering to their prescribed regimen. Stoddard References: Barr ML, S. F. (2003). Determinants of quality of life changes among long-term cardiac transplant sur vivors: results from longitudinal data. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. Cherubini P, R. R. (2003). Long-term decrease in subjective perceived efficacy of immunosuppressive treatment after heart transplantation. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation . D e w M A , K. R. (1999). Early post-transplant medical compliance and mental health predict physical morbidity and mortality one to three years after heart transplantation. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation . McAllister S, B. E.-W. (2006). Medication adherence after heart transplantation: adolescents and their issues. Progress in Transplantation . Schweizer RT, R. M. (1990). Noncompliance in organ transplant recipients. Transplantation . 102 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS CHINA'S E-COMMERCE MARKET: EBAY VS. ALIBABA Jiangnan Zhu (Arul Mishra) Department of Marketing University of Utah Jiangnan Zhu At the national level, a country's culture, demographic, economy, information technology infrastructure, industry structure, government policy and consumer preference largely determine the development of e-commerce in the country. As we realize the fact that China is a vast country and the factors mentioned above vary from one province to another, this paper does not intend to give readers a comprehensive analysis of the market. Instead, it intends to help American e-commerce companies such as Overstock.com to gain a basic understanding of the size, scope, constraints and opportunities of China's online retail market. This paper examines the market potential by drawing data from valuable resources like China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), PricewaterhouseCoopers and Nielson. It also analyzes the key factors that act as determinants of success in the e-commerce market in China by illustrating the startling competition between the global giant eBay and a small maverick Chinese company Alibaba. The paper concludes that eBay merely brought a n e w online shopping concept and established a localized w e b site in China. Without understanding the uniqueness of the Chinese market, eBay's standardized global strategy and its assumption that its brand image in the United States could be transferred to the China contributed to its failure. Arul Mishra 103 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH JOURNAL MESSAGE Jill Baeder Associate Director, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program In recent years, undergraduate research and creative work has b e c o m e an essential component of a university education. The University of Utah has long been at the forefront, boasting m a n y excellent programs and an infinite number of opportunities for our students. Our excellent faculty, top notch facilities and Research I, research extensive status allow our students to be at the forefront in the process of discovery. It is our mission that every student at the U enjoys the rich experience of research or creative work, which not only supports class work but also provides the necessary experience for graduate school and the post undergraduate career. As years pass I've advised and assisted hundreds of students. I'm continually amazed at the brilliance and excitement a research or creative experience can generate. Although the majority of my work is with students I would like to express my heartfelt appreciati to our talented and dedicated faculty without whose hard work and commitment none of this would be possible. Your knowledge, time and encouragement are the greatest contributors to the success of our students. I would also like to thank A R U P Directors Mark Astill and Harry Hill M.D. for collaborating with UROP, giving undergraduates the opportunity to work with the outstanding scientists in A R U P laboratories. I'd like to recognize the many, many students across campus that presented their research at discipline specific, professional conferences and campus -wide presentation events this year. In January 2011, 27 students traveled to the Utah State Legislature (represented in this journal) to present research to legislators from their districts and 40 students gave oral and poster presentations at the 5th annual Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research (UCUR) February 18th at Weber State University. The University of Utah Undergraduate Research Symposium April 6th reflected several hundred presentations from every college on campus. O n e of the greatest highlights of the year is the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. The conference was held March 30-April 2nd at Ithaca College, Ithaca, N e w York. The University of Utah was well represented with 20 students presenting research with 3500 undergraduates from 400 colleges and universities around the country. Our students did an excellent job representing the U at this prestigious conference. Next spring the conference will be held at Weber State University where w e hope to have a large group of students presenting. 2011 - 2012 will be an exciting year with the creation of the n e w M U R E , M y Undergraduate Research Experience site. M U R E will enable faculty to post positions and students to search for opportunities. W e will be better able to support our growing campus community and opportunities for students to connect with faculty. It's an exciting possibility to enable m a n y more undergraduates to be a part of the exciting world of research and creative achievement. 104 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH ft I Lw ' i pjM W Bf^V cv 11 lata V "KB| g u 1 h. ii . i iii. s9 fl i aV MI.IS k K I I) t#> J £ n - , ^/* b T l H U m t of Atrial Fibri v* ^afl b-4 .HI » \k •i ^^^^^^^^^^H^^H fl a^ak o ii^H f./ jl I J K^BBI i Htp ^•i £ O H n si r^ ' r UP ON THE HILL 2011 i ^H ^^TM SPRING 2011 u TP^R .**< im/tr ttan^ijj| •-iST- n»i«, • ndaihrilil ( cth A totk«t*r> Ik © at ijj- /.* *k ; LOCI IN I UKEMIA n r and David Nellans) gool of Computing < * i UP ON THE HILL 2011 .4 f .-~jr- w I J « 1 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH •*«>«*V*a««l at^aatSaWM >fr»H"ii««l1rM«. ft .1 1 i X -3$ » -A-l | a; y/P\£ ^' ; *s*3HH! UP ON THE HILL 2011 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL Hormone Activity in Waste and River Water n 1 \'*1 J'iSS J SPRING 2011 u Project Objectives ' """"" i**""™"* ***» T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F U T A H Results - ( enlral Valle> Wiitt-r Reclama laMltaaaat «. - i Facilil) "" lv n . n n o m dllKII, 0. Iltf. > M > BaBM M d n > . o . . ,i«im..-j..dMi. ESTROGENIC A N D ANDROGENIC ACTIVITY IN WASTEWATER EFFLUENT AND RIVER WATER | l ll Background •HA P Rachel Anderson, Brandon Slaugh, Xinhua Li, Otakuye Conroy-Ben Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering ^.>j^.„. C ^ W M UMtTf AMs-EtVOOWt Standard Curves C*WT* V»Mt»V Af*-Ar«mgm :: V jdF 1 i; •o£- ! »,,„„„. » . _ u ™ « « < - .t ™ ^ ~ .b,*w.M.> »"-<-'"'<" *"" ' '"M,. |: J*£ " £.!>-.' " •".«"»-•"- ^jggSSaig Theory •SwMttayH ™ •Sattatri^M u Conclusions ~ „».. . „ ..i>s «««. a a M a • aa -•«• Rachel Anderson, Brandon Slaugh, Xinhua Li (Otakuye Conroy) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Utah "TTT*T < m "*T* 4 J - "*"-!™ » - wBaMptaai " "*" Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC's) are emerging contaminants with the ability to mimic Acknowledgments hormones in the environment. Traces of these chemicals can be found in wastewater effluent and river water. EDC's have been shown to be biologically active at low levels and persistent in the environment. A recombinant yeast screen integrated with h u m a n D N A has been developed to detect estrogenic and androgenic activity in water samples. In the presence of the hormone the altered yeast produces (3-galactosidase, an enzyme that induces a color change in the substrate CPRG. Hormonal activity was determined by measuring color production at wavelengths of 570 and 600 n m . Current/Future W o r k In this study wastewater was tested from local Salt Lake City water reclamation facilities. Biologica activity was also measured along the length of the Jordan River. The Snyderville Water Reclamation Plant (4 M G D ) utilizes an oxidation ditch followed by media filtration and U V disinfection prior to discharge into a local freshwater stream. The Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility uses a trickling filter for biological treatment, followed by chlorine disinfection prior to discharge in the Jordan River. Results showed that Secondary Treatment at the Snyderville Wastewater Treatment Plant reduced estrogenic and androgenic activity to nearly zero. Anti-androgenic activity increased after Secondary Treatment. Secondary Treatment in the Central Valley Treatment Plant reduced androgenic and estrogenic activity in the effluent to below twenty percent. A corresponding increase in anti-estrogenic activity in the Central Valley Plant was observed. Samples tested from the effluent-dependent Jordan River displayed negligible levels of estrogenic and androgenic activity. Corresponding high levels of anti-androgenic and anti-estrogenic activity were observed. 108 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 ADAPTIVE REMODELING E9BI OF PLEXIFORM BONE TISSUE IN THE PRESENCE OF LOAD-BEARING PERCUTANEOUS OSSEOINTEGRATED IMPLANTS m Adaptive Remodeling of Plexiform Bone Tissue in the Presence of Load-bearing Percutaneous Osseointegrated Implants Ik 'Stephen Campbell. '•' Roy U. Bloebaum, and uSuJce Jeyapalina 'The BJRL, D V A S L C H C S . Salt Lake City, Utah 'Department of Orthopaedics School of Medicine, University of Utah u Til T (JN I V F R S I T Y O F UTAH -i Stephen Campbell (Roy Bloebaum] Department of Orthopaedics University of Utah Introduction Experimental introduction of percutaneous osseointegrated (01) implants as an alternative docking system for prosthesis attachment opened n e w opportunities for the treatment of amputee patients. As part of a larger study, the cortical bone of 18 female sheep (2-3 years old) w h o received Ol implants was analyzed to quantify bone remodeling that occured during the implantation period. It is hypothesized that the remodeling behavior of ovine bone can predict that of h u m a n bone. The cortical bone of growing young quadrupedal animals is m a d e of brick-like lamellar units of plexiform bone which is converted by adaptive remodeling into secondary osteonal bone. The number of secondary osteons increases with aging, accelerating with the presence of an Ol implant. It is speculated that the adaptive remodeling mechanism that occurred in ovine tissue would also be present in h u m a n bone. -.w. , - - .i-W u tt Materials & Methods The right forelimb of the sheep were amputated and fitted with an Ol implant to test the hypothesis. After a twelve month period the sheep were sacrificed and the implanted limb harvested. The harvested bone was sectioned and prepared for S E M analysis. Images were evaluated for first and second level bone structures. From the SEM images, the density of second level bone structures (secondary osteons) was measured. Results & Discussion First level microstructural systems of sheep bone consist of long parallel lamellar units of plexiform bone and primary osteons. Analysis for the presence of second level bone structures showed an increase in density of secondary osteons over the twelve month period from an average of 0.136 osteon/mm2 to 0.510 osteon/mm2, a 270 percent increase. This remodeling accommodates the n e w loading patterns introduced by an Ol implant. Conclusion The hypothesis is supported and the data concludes that the remodeling behavior of an Ol model m a y predict the remodeling behavior of h u m a n bone. 109 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL SPRING 2011 Overstimulation of TRPV4, a pressure-sensitive calcium channel, can cause death of retinal ganglion cells and m a y contribute to degeneration in glaucoma Shiwani Chauhan1, Daniel Aaron Ryskamp1*. Peter Barabas1, Wei Xing1, David Krizaj123 'Department of Ophthalmology ana Visual Sciences. John A Moran Eye Center. 'Department ol Physiology, and 'Interdepartmental Program In Nourosclence University ol Utah School ol Medicine. Salt Lake City, U T 84132 u g5> <%> THE UNIVr.RSITY Ot U T A H =13535£ Call death It caused by overstimulation of TRPV4 aZataatha ganglion sal I 0 -i Li IJSaam ~~z.~~T~"-"- •SsSi.r==^. ~~C." "Jy" f'lu'BaB ssss " - • - ii- ,\jj 5rr5^ f ^ T " KriS -iSET Activation ol TRPV4 Incraiiaa R.GC [C«2»]l i : ££SS™E£5HS T R P V 4 l» oipreaaed In R O C a CoBclmJoa H K K mulli demonstrate thai T R P V 4 la expressed w majority of re•nal ganglion celts and optic axon fibers Hrom ihcse remils wc conclude that the Ca-' influx Ii stimulated b) temporary twn.iuion of T R P V 4 and ii T R P V 4 chani cl is coruinuoualy activated the retinal ganglion cells slan to die The T R P V 4 channel mediate* C V influx n reaction to mechanical and OCTKMJC stimulus. Thii channel plays an Impurunl role in entry gale of Of • optic rient head. Our studies ahow that T R P V 4 could possibly have an imponant function in the retinal response 10 chronic Increase to intraocular pressure. OVERSTIMULATION OF TRPV4 TO CAUSE DEGENERATION IN RETINAL GANGLION CELLS Shiwani Chauhan (Peter Barabas, Daniel Aaron Ryskamp, David Krizaj) Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, Department of Physiology, and Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah School of Medicine A.rktnt>*LnJf»Tr.»t.ti Excessive calcium levels in retinal ganglion cells are thought to contribute to neuronal degeneration in glaucoma, a prevalent blinding disease, TRPV4, a calcium permeable mechanosensitive ion channel, may contribute to the calcium overload in retinal ganglion cells in response to increase intraocular pressure, which is a major risk factor for glaucoma. To examine this possibility w e tested whether overstimulation of TRPV4 is sufficient to cause the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells. The TUNEL assay was used to quantify cell death in TRPV4 stimulated cells. In the control experiments, 1 hour incubation with AMPA/KA receptor agonist kainate (10 uM) increased the number of TUNEL-positive cells by 68±7%, whereas retinal ganglion cells exposed only to control saline supplemented with L15 Leibowitz medium showed little TUNEL signal. Exposure to the TRPV4 channel, the agonist GSK1016790A increased cell death significantly, which was confined to cells with large somata (>6 urn, arrowheads). 25 n M GSK 1016790A induced TUNEL-positive signals in 3 3 ± 7 % whereas 100 n M GSK induced TUNEL labeling in 6 7 ± 1 3 % of the presumed retinal ganglion cells. GSK1016790A and kainate had very little effect on signals in the presumed photoreceptor perikarya cells (cell diameter 3-5 urn; arrows). In conclusion, excessive stimulation ofTRPV4 with GSK1016790A has an excitotoxic effect leading to the death of retinal ganglion cells. The action of TRPV4 mechanism in retinal ganglion cells represents a prime molecular target for severe blinding diseases such as glaucoma. NKI/N1H. FnuMUIKHI Itghime Hltnjnov Rcacarch In Proem Blindness and ihank Dr lundc Moinar and Mr Michael BUITO. for help with •alyam, 110 HE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SECOND-TIER TESTS FOR HOMOCYSTINURIA AND SHORT CHAIN ACYL COA DEHYDROGENASE DEFICIENCY RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 & Second-Tier Tests for Homocystinuria and Short Chain Acyl C o A Dehydrogenase Deficiency T. Finch, M . Pasquali Department of Pathology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH* Taylor Finch (Marzia Pasquali) A R U P Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology University of Utah In the United States a broad screening for metabolic disorders is routinely carried out for all newborn babies. Newborn screenings analyze the levels of multiple analytes in blood spots to detect more than thirty disorders. Yet, because m a n y factors can influence the levels of these analytes-some as simple as medical treatment or dietary supplements-these initial high-throughput screens m a y have a high rate of false-positive results. To reduce the number of false-positive results and to avoid the stressful experiences and expensive confirmatory testing associated with them, second-tier tests are being developed which can be more predictive of disorders. Second-tier tests, although not amenable to high-throughput screening, test for very specific analytes which are directly related to a specific disorder. The aim of this project was to develop second-tier tests for two such diseases: homocystinuria and short chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (SCAD). These tests measure the concentration of the analytes homocysteine and ethylmalonic acid (EMA), respectively. Both tests utilize tandem mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography (LC-MS/MS). Both assays were validated with a standard curve (0-100 uM for homocysteine and 0-50 uM for EMA), and three quality control samples at concentrations to capture the low, mid and high end of the concentration range. After analyzing the spiked samples ten times the average, standard deviation and coefficient of variation were calculated. For both curves the % C V was less than 10%. While work continues to further refine cuttoffs for each test, the results obtained indicate the successful development of these two second-tier test methods. Encouragingly, preliminary results indicate that w e have been successful in reducing the number of false-positives by using these second-tier tests. a M .Maxassl AR|P LABORATORIES RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL SPRING 2011 A Bit of Decline in Tracking Performance: i £ An Information Processing Approach David Gerrltsen and Frank Drews, Ph. D. Department of Psychology u. T H E UNIVERSITY OF U T A H • Cell phone converuttoni .s tic.driving h <. •• a negative • • 1 -• • Pcxx driving pajffoflMfKi o o 1 5 • D * • Prodoctaon rata and lanquag* omp*e*»>ty h a v « b * * n m # t n < o.ajnvwMIoncornplw.ty • But peoptecanlritentothoriKloo.MIJbu^iwIlhool significant impairment .-_ _. - - - T " j ~ ~ , ,. - Q - Q :.-f David Gerritsen (Frank Drews) Department of Psychology University of Utah • U U e n m g to radio and talking n p h o n a differ in a m o u n t of md - motion proem ung and It*•el of ni-.i K . i<•• <11 * Reworch qutrvlion H o w m u c h • A n. •••. «x .nlonua.lo^loo^h- I D O I >.• '•• 1 0 n - • iMl'i'i- nl'imi.il H in i,n « ••• .1-1. j d.nuod,.nt«J«l INTRODUCTION INFORMATION THEORY ANALYSIS OF DISTRACTION WHILE TRACKING VERBAL TASK RULES SIMPLE TRACKING TASK Information theory describes the fundamental limits of the representation and transmission of information. In the context of h u m a n conversa""- tion, those fundamental limits have yet to be quantified. Exactly h o w m u c h information is - going through one's conscious mind while, say, "" ZSiSSi " " - driving a car and talking on their cell phone? H o w would performance be affected if the conversaPRELIMINARY RESULTS GRAPHS AND DATA tion were about stocks compared to getting the dog washed? There exist legitimate criticisms of driver distraction research simply because of the heretofore uncalculated specific effects of cognitive load on driving performance. Presently w e are attempting to provide the mile markers, as it were, for cognitive processing demands as a function of bit rate. Summary tpanUn, M l ongoing • Expectation wand • Potential forapplKaltont a burger' « •f.1 ol mlo p . « . w Creation of • VERBAL TASK SCRIPTS Using a verbal information processing task in conjunction with a simple tracking task, this experi will determine precisely the amount by which performance is compromised w h e n participants are engaged in varying degrees of information processing. The method involves a dialog of simple mathematical algorithms to be analyzed by the participant while tracking a cursor on a screen with a joystick. The algorithms are specifically designed to engage cognitive processing at the 1, 2, 3, and 4 bit levels. W e expect that higher levels of complexity will result in lowered tracking performance, longer reaction times, and decreased performance on the verbal task itself. Simply stated, the goal is to quantify the effect that cognitive processing d e m a n d s have on tracking performance. 112 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PREPARATION OF FOSSIL-SPRING TUFA DEPOSITS FOR URANIUM-SERIES DATING: A CASE STUDY FROM KHARGA OASIS, SAHARAN EGYPT RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 9 Preparation of Fossil-Spring Tufa Deposits for Uranium-Series Dating Jake Gottfredson and Kathleen Nicoll, Department of Geography U THT UNIVERSITY Of UTAH Project Goal: T o develop and apply a sample prelrealment method for carbonate samples, thereby enabling Uranium-Series Keocfaronological analysis osing the Nx.--.iin.lul, M ale-of-the art Malti-Collecloi loductiveh Coupled PiaMn.i Mass Spectrometer ( M C - I C P - M S ) at U K . Jacob Gottfredson (Kathleen Nicoll, Diego Fernandez) Department of Chemistry, Deptartment of Geography, Department of Geology & Geophysics University of Utah Analysis of samples via multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) has been successfully applied to the U-series dating of sediments in geoarchaeological contexts. The objective of this study is to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental conditions and develop a high resolution chronology of fresh water fossil spring tufa carbonate samples using MC-ICP-MS. The tufa samples analyzed lie in direct stratigraphic association with Upper Acheulean artifacts that reflect earlier h u m a n occupation of a currently hyper-arid region of Egypt's Kharga Oasis. This study relies on internal, rather than external, calibration by utilizing an Isotope Dilution Method. A n effective correction for the mass-bias effect produced by the ICPMS can be obtained by coupling Isotope Dilution with a systematic method for separating and isolating the uranium series radionuclides contained in these samples. This correction is essential for assessing the ratio of Uranium/Thorium in this low U content system. Corrections for potential detrital contamination are also included in this study. Results of this analysis will provide a precise chronology for prehistoric human activity in Saharan North Africa, and will directly contribute to the fairly scarce literature o n the methodology of preparing arid region dirty calcite samples for U-series dating. 113 SPRING 2011 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL Preserving mitochondrial function in the failing heart by increasing P G C - 1 alpha expression Q B Sylvia Hi/, Ashley Crum, Jeffrey Lei, R m a l a Alambcrt, A d a m Wende, Curtis Olsan and E. Dal* Abel Pmarim m Mo/ocula/ Medio™. OMsion al Endocrinology, HoOboUsm tndDlMbotm u TIIF U N I V E R S I T Y OF a UTAH ;^"JT* q"T-PCR .1 h U Echocardiography . / / / / | Heart weight measurements lota JfJIOl / / / / _ • //// //// Inlnl Hnlnl lolniiini THE ROLE OF PGC-1 ALPHA OVEREXPRESSION ON PRESERVING MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION IN THE FAILING HEART Sylvia H u (Dale E. Abel) Department of Molecular Medicine and Endocrinology University of Utah School of Medicine Objective: Fatty acid oxidation by the mitochondria represents the major source of ATP generation in normal hearts. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivatoMa (PGC-1 a) transcriptionally regulates mitochondrial biogenesis and function. In pathological hypertrophy, reduced oxidative capacity that accompanies the ensuing heart failure is associated with d o w n regulation of PGC-1 a, suggesting that decreased expression of the PGC-1 a could be important for energy starvation of the failing myocardium. The hypothesis tested in this study is that preventing the fall in PGC-1 a expression in a mouse model of pressure overload cardiac hypertrophy will prevent the progression to heart failure. Method: 8-10 week old h u m a n P G C -123 BAC transgenic (TG) mice and wildtype (WT) control mice were s ubjected to transverse aortic banding or sham surgeries. After three weeks, transthoracic echocardiography was performed to test cardiac function, and cardiac tissue was harvested for analysis of m R N A expression, mitochondrial oxygen consumption and ATP synthesis rates. Results: PGC-1 a expression was elevated in both sham and banded TG mice relative to controls. Banded groups developed compensated hypertrophy and showed an increase in intraventricular septum diameter. ATP synthesis was increased in banded TG mice relative to all groups. Hypertrophy markers were higher in W T banded versus sham but there was no significant increase in those markers in TG banded versus sham mice. Conclusion: The protocol used in this study induced compensated hypertrophy that was not severe enough to impair contractile function. Because hypertrophy markers were not increased in the TG banded mice it is possible that PGC1-a overexpression could slow the progression to heart failure in a more severe model. Future experiments using a more severe and prolonged banding protocol will be performed to more convincingly demonstrate a protective mechanism of PGC-1 a in heart failure. 114 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH A GLOBALLY RESPONSIBLE APPROACH TO DEVELOPING BAMBOO ATHLETIC WEAR Clint R. Hugie (Karin Fladmoe-Lindquist) Department of Management University of Utah RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 Globally Responsible Approach to Developing B a m b o o Athletic W e a r Clint Hugie and Dr. Karin Fladmoe-Lindquist Department of Management u Fulfilling Business a n d Social N e e d s TH F UNIVERSITY Of UTAH The B a m b o o Difference Polyester Cotton Nylon A Social Entrepreneurship Business Plan Bamboo Entrepreneurial Tends for 2011 •Health and Fitness •Green Living •Specialized Retail The Why: Ethical Implications Why not combine all three into a more sustainable athletic wear compeny? Eroj^Brealhable. Fulfilling Shareholder Needs 0 Or. K a n n Fladmoe-Lindquist Lightweight and Inexpensive Cons; Petroleum based and synthetic look •Myth: Business isrndoctnnationtowards corrupt and wanton desires •Ail shareholders have c o m m o n desire, success of the company And. lor a company to fulfill this purpose, ii is essential that It maintains strong business ethics Without integhty and ethic consideration, no company can provide for Its shareholders Pros: Inexpensive and commonly known Cons: Retains moisture and bacteria (odor) Proa: Durable and flexible T h e H o w : Legal Considerations •Myth: Laws are either obstacles or mechanisms aimed against producbvtty. •Legal systems are established to protect businesses, not Impair Laws are the 'rules of the g a m e ' thai guarantee a just and fair market Once commercial laws are understood, businesses can maintain their competitive advantage C o m S/ntholic and notch •The Community Sponsoring local athletic events •The Employees: Proud to be part ol a canny company •Tha investors Capitalized niche market = profits •The Environment: Less damaging then competitor s products •The Customers: Receive an a w e s o m e product that performs very well My research has been concerned with introducing bamboo fabric into the athletic wear market. The end result will be a social entrepreneurial venture that will consist of a for-profit business as well as a social conGoing From This.... cern for engage youth of the community to become more physically active. There are two primary parts to chronicle the project. The first section is an exploration piece to identify the reasoning and needs that support a socially focused business. This is broken d o w n into three subsections. The first subsection is the philosophical implications in regards to social ethics that companies should hold, the second being the legal studies that are necessary for international trade and recent changes in the b a m b o o market, and the third includes the business considerations such as h o w w e identified the target market and the methodology behind raising capital. The second part will be a complete business plan that will incorporate the lessons in the previous sections. The idea behind this methodology is that first part is a collection of the means of h o w w e arrived at the information provided within the business plan. T h e W h a t : Business Methodology •Myth: Only non-profit organizations can have social causes •Any business idea without a plan has little chance of success. Including social endeavors Social agendas must be written into business development Without direction, any company will become stasis and perish ...To This The overarching goal of the project is to fully address three unique considerations (Part I) and merge the findings into a feasible Business Plan. By examining the Philosophical Implications and Business Ethics, the project will answer the questions of "Why" start up a business founded in values. By being concerned with the Current Legal Environment, the plan will possess the needed "How" in ensuring the success of the company. And finally, by engaging in the necessary Business Considerations, the plan will fully explore the "What" with knowing the correct business tools and methodology behind its creation. All of these considerations will become immensely useful in the creation of a complete Business Plan. 115 SPRING 2011 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL R B P 4 and Novel Protein-Protein Interactions K u fCiyraxIa i ~ I T U T UNIVERSITY Of lolroductton • R B P 4 ti the t a m e r protein for Vitamin A in blood • R B P 4 leveb in h u m a n s poiiiivcly correlate with components of the pre-Diabetic condition k n o w n u --:, intolcrmncc. dyshpidcmia and hypertension), R B P 4 olio causes these problems w h e n injected into mice .... KBP4-associated dyslipidemia u characicri/ed by decreased H D L cholesterol panicle* - considered • type or "good cholesterol" in blood because 11 m a y ~i reduce < i«> of heart attacks and strokes " R B P 4 circulate* bound to Transthyretin ( T T R ) which prevent* iu creation by the kidney • m e m b r a n e cholesterol transporter protein that secrete* the cholesterol needed to n u k e H D L Here m t h o w thai T T R and R B P 4 each Inhibit A B C A I •mediated secretion of cholesterol < • » 'it. a W e used • yeast two-hybnd screen to find other T T R binding protein*, and idem i tied A H t A l . a cell • RBP4 AND NOVEL PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS UTAH • Metabolic Syndrome (insulin resistance, glucose • E A m y Dursteler1, Harrison Jones', Shyam Shridhar1, Scott Morham 2 , and Timothy Graham 1 'Molecular Medicine Program and Division or Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes, University of Utah and 2Myrexis, Inc., Salt Lake City, L T Harrison Jones, A m y Dursteler (Timothy Graham) Department of Molecular Medicine & Endocrinology University of Utah School of Medicine E n d o g e n o u s Cholesterol M e U b o l I s m Yeast T w o - H y b r i d S y s t e m H D L structural protein, A p o A l Conclusions: ntical Background. Serum retinol binding protein (RBP4) is the sole specific transport protein for retinol (Vitamin A) in circulation. Serum RBP4 is increased in insulin-resistant states such as obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 diabetes, and plays a direct role in causing insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in those diseases. Additionally, increased levels of serum RBP4 correlate strongly with hypertension and dyslipidemia (increased triglycerides and decreased H D L "good" cholesterol), cardiovascular risk factors that cause increased morbidity and death a m o n g individuals with Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. RBP4 circulates bound to transthyretin (TTR), a larger protein which stabilizes RBP4 by preventing renal excretion. While nearly all serum RBP4 can be found bound to TTR, the majority of TTR is bound to small molecules and proteins other than RBP4. Hypothesis. W e therefore hypothesize that RBP4 m a y regulate glucose and lipid metabolism by modulating interactions of TTR with other proteins. Methods. A yeast two-hybrid screen was used to identify novel TTR-binding proteins that might be associated with the indirect regulation of cholesterol levels by RBP4. Results. W e identified several candidate TTR-binding proteins, including the ATP-Binding Cassette Family Transporter Al (ABCA1), a cell m e m b r a n e protein that transports intracellular cholesterol to circulating Apolipoprotein A1 (ApoAl), a critical step initiating the production of H D L cholesterol. Treatment of cells expressing ABCA1 with either RBP4 or TTR potently inhibited cholesterol transport to ApoAl (reduced 78 ± 1 2 % and 74 ± 1 1 % by RBP4 or TTR, respectively; p < 0.01 for each). Surprisingly, allowing RBP4 and TTR to bind one another before treating cells completely prevented either protein from inhibiting ABCA1 activity. Conclusions. Our findings establish a role for RBP4/TTR in H D L cholesterol synthesis via regulation of ABCA1, and suggest that altered stoichiometry and/or binding affinity of RBP4/TTR could cause the reduction of H D L "good cholesterol"that promotes cardiovascular disease in individuals with Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. T T R and R B P 4 act individually to inhibit A B C A I -mediated cholesterol secretion to A p o A I, step in the production of H D L cholesterol particles Allowing R B P 4 and T T R to form a c o m p l e x with one another before treating cells prevents the inhibitory effect o f the individual proteins Therefore, r e d u c e d binding b e t w e e n R B P 4 a n d T T R could b e a direct c a u s e of tbe decreased H D L " g o o d cholesterol" a n d the Increased cardiovascular disease associated with obesity. M e t a b o l i c S y n d r o m e , a n d T y p e 2 dlabelea. These findings arc consistent with recent w o r k by our lab and others s h o w i n g R B P 4 and T T R undergo post-trans lational modifications that m a y reduce their binding affinity in insulin resistant states. Dietary Vitamin A could potentially regulate these effects c m R B P 4 , T T R . and cholesterol. il^ Rrtmol-bmdinH protein 4 and insulin resistance in lean, obese and diabetic subjects N Engl J M c d 2 0 0 6 - . 354<i4> 2552-63 EITecttorTTRandRBP4 transport to the 16 tn ct obesity and type Yana 0 . G r a h a m cTfc, al. Scrum retinol binding protein 4 contributes to insuli 2 diabclcs Nature 2005: 4.16356-362 HDL CurrOpintransporter Lipidol 2005. Lee XV, Parks JS, A T formaiion P - b m d i n g cassette Al and RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH METHYLATION OF GENES IN LEUKEMIC ZEBRAFISH n METHYLATED GENETIC LOCI IN ZEBRAFISH T-CELL LEUKEMIA Joseph C. Kingston (J. Kimble Frazer and David Nellans) Pediatric Oncology and the School of Computing „J* u THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Joseph C. Kingston (J. Kimble Frazer, David Nellans) Department of Pediatric Oncology and the School of Computing University of Utah Epigenetics is the study of D N A modifications that control gene expression Features such as D N A methylation hislone methylation, and hislone acetylation can determine which genes are expressed or repressed S o m e epigenetic changes, like D N A methylation. can be inherited across multiple generations The Frazer group studies D N A methylation in T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (TALL). using zebrafish models Our hypothesis is that gene methylation events can contribute to the development of TALL in zebrafish. and also In humans •f Fluorasccntly usbansd UiymK: h zebrafhih lirtea and wild Introduction Epigenetics is the subject of what controls gene expression. It determines which genes are turned on or off. Epigenetic affects like D N A methylation are often inheritable across multiple generations. J. Kimble Frazer studies familial inheritance of T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL) using a zebrafish model. His hypothesis is that gene methylation contributes significantly to T-ALL in zebrafish. Dr. Frazer is teamed up with m e m b e r s of the School of Computing in order to discover a handful of genes with a high probability of hyper-methylation in leukemic zebrafish w h e n compared to immature T cells. Methods Three different strains of leukemic zebrafish (hulk, shrek, otg) were created to find genes commonly hypermethylated in all three strains. Since immature T cells are very similar to leukemic T cells, the differences between the two likely indicate which genes cause T-ALL. By using a statistical algorithm called SLAM to find abnormally methylated genes w e hope to uncover methylation patterns c o m m o n to the development of T-ALL. Results Initial analysis suggests that certain locations are important in the development of T-ALL. The data in Figure 1 labeled leukemia' is an average of all three families of leukemic fish. Figure 1 shows that certain locations in the g e n o m e show highly abnormal methylation in all three families. If these locations are already known to be involved in the development of T-ALL, then methylation of these genes is a very important target for treatment of T-ALL. Further analysis must be done to determine whether these genes are known to participate in h u m a n T-ALL. 117 SPRING 2011 The Effects of Intraperitoneal Injections of Naloxone on Relapse for Methamphetamine Conditioned Cues £ Ryan Kirk and Dr. Raymond P. Kesner Department of Psychology u T H E UNIVERSITY OF UTAH •The results indicate ihai inu-apCTiioncai injections of saline •Ii is widely acccfiutl (hat the hipoocampu* supports memory function, and c i m n research seeks 10 determine the roll of the resulted in relapse of the preference for methamphetamine conditioned cues. Intraperitoneal injections of naloxone •l"snem completion is a process in which an organ tun construe! previous memory that is triggered by an e m iioramemal cue and npcrimcraal m u l u from C A S lesioncd rodents support the opentun of paflem completion iGotdtt Kesner, 20051 •One model of relapse suggests that drug craving may be indue emirortmeniaJ cues, and it it possible thai pattern completion tupporurL •It is known that pattern completion is mediated by input from i lateral perforarn pathtothe C AJ subregion, and thai the Input I. plasticity is mediated by opiate receptees in the CA3. •This study sought to determine the effects of intrapcruoncal iniecijons of nakmrne land opiate antagonist) on relapse for mcthamphctaroine conditioned cues. The hypothesis it thai drui craving may be reduced by inhibiting opiate receptors, which u thought to disrupt pattern completion, resuhmg in a decrease in relapse for rnethamprittarornc conditioned curs Subjtxu • m u l l e d In a disruption of the preference for mciruniphctaminc conditioned cues These results suggest that peripheral injections of naloxone m a y disrupt pattern completion •Although intraperitoneal injections of naloxone disrupt pattern completion one cannot conclude thai naloxone b effective in disrupting C A 3 function •f mure studies will use localized Injections of naloxone into C A 3 via cannula* Manipulation in this fashion should facilitate inlcrpretalion of the effects naloxone has on the C A 3 subntgjon W age Ryan Kirk (Raymond Kesner) Department of Psychology, Neurobiology University of Utah 04 II M a l e long-Evan rats • EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF NALOXONE TREATMENTS IN METHAMPHETAMINE CONDITIONED RATS is monthi Apparatus Si Transparent, red plexi-glaa box (fig 1 ) The total number of touches for each cue set Procedure Baseline Preference Test (day 1) Conditioning Phase (days 2-9) Post conditioning Preference Test (day 10) Abstinence Phase (days 11-31) Relapse Phase (days 32-44) 118 f Is 1 «i Rats were trained on a variant conditioned place preference test, using visual object cues, to assess the role of peripheral injections of naloxone on relapse from methamphetamine addiction. The . hypothesis is that intraperitoneal naloxone injeccutu tions will disrupt object cue preference for cues which have been conditioned with methamphetamine. Conditioning occurred in a red plexiglass box with a removable partition and two sets of environmental cues. Cue sets were composed of four cues unique to each of the sides, and were labeled "cue set A" and "cue set B". A 15 minute baseline place preference test was used to establish which set of cues the rats initially preferred. During the tests the number of touches for each cue were recorded, and also the a m o u n t of time spent on each side. Place preference was determined by which set of cues received the most touches out of the two sides. Intraperitoneal administrations of methamphetamine (4mg/kg) and saline were given, and a partition was placed in the box to condition the rats to specific visual object cues. Rats were conditioned to the initially non-preferred cues following injections of methamphetamine, and rats were conditioned to the initially preferred cues following saline injections. Rats were injected ten minutes prior to the 30 minute conditioning period. Injections of methamphetamine and saline were given in four two day cycles, followed by a 15 minute baseline preference test. If the rats preferred the methamphetamine side this implied that the rats were conditioned to those visual object cues. The rats were given 21 days of abstinence by keeping them in their h o m e cages. They were then given reinstatement tests. Cue preference tests were performed during this phase. Across rats tests were counterbalanced with either one or four cues present, and either an injection of naloxone (2 mg/kg) or saline. Note, naloxone and saline admininstrations occurred four days apart. The results indicate that intraperitoneal injections of saline resulted in a reinstatement of the preference for methamphetamine conditioned cues. Interperitonial injections of naloxone resulted in a disruption of the preference for the methamphetamine conditioned cues. In conclusion naloxone m a y be useful drug that can attenuate preference for methamphetamine conditioned visual cues. This has implications for the use of naloxone treatements that can prevent relapse in methamphetamine addicts. __ • • 1 1 l_ Flgun 1 l^pt'rimental Results for Relapse Phase •Gold. A I i Kesner. R. P. (2005). The rokofihec*3 subregion of ihe dorsal hippocampus in ipetial ponem c in Use rat. Hdppoeantput, ISibi. MOM-MI 4 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH ASSESSEMENTOFTHE BREATHWALK METHOD OF TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS SUFFEREING FROM FYBROMYALGIA RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 THE EFFECT OF EXERCISE WALKING ON CORTISOL LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME Reetu Malhotra and David H. Bradshaw, P h D Department of Anesthesiology A u fflw 8 [i* THE UNIVERSITY OF U T A H INTRODUCTION _Jj Favomyalgm arndroma (FMSl .* a dtMUbng musculo*****!*) r*rs of F M S often c«t*strophu* about p*.n *ip*cang any p e n M p e n e n c * to t* unOaaarab** Patent* or* Standard Walkinj Breathwalk tystamaiK br*atr*ng paflarna tor irnprovad taaTffJ The purpose o thrs ttudy w a s to d*i*rmin* rf Brsenhwt* « moro *n*cOvo <n Reetu Malhotra (David Bradshaw) Department of Anesthesiology University of Utah Figure 1 Treatment group cono-boro Table 1 Measures of depression catarstroprii2tng and fibromyalgia symptoms by treatment group INTRODUCTION Fibromyalgia syndrome is a musculoskeletal chronic pain disorder that induces widespread pain and tenderness, which can cause pain catastrophizing in patients, and also causes abnormal levels of the hormone Cortisol. The purpose of this study was to determine if Breathwalk is more effective in alleviating symptoms of fibromyalgia compared to standard walking. W e predicted that Cortisol levels would vary between the two groups due to the different regimens, and vary over the session. METHODS Standard walking and Breathwalk groups were studied. Both groups had hour-long classes twice a week with similar regimens, but the Breathwalk group differed in breathing patterns. Patients from both groups were asked to give Cortisol samples before and after class every other week over the eight-week period. Prior to the intervention, patients filled out the Pain Catastrophizing Scale that evaluated their catastrophizing pain level. A mixed model analysis was conducted to evaluate changes in post-class Cortisol levels. RESULTS Both groups did not differ on any of the catastrophizing measures. Log post-class Cortisol conditioned on log pre-class Cortisol was analyzed, and included catastrophizing as a covariate to provide a best fit. Mean change in log Cortisol, conditioned on catastrophizing differed between groups. The Breathwalk group had post-class Cortisol levels of 0.384 (standard error =0.026) compared with 0.487 (standard error = 0.036) for the standard walking group. Figure 1 illustrates the difference in low catastrophizers and high catastrophizers for both groups. The m e a n log Cortisol level for low catastrophizers was similar for the two groups, but lower Cortisol levels were seen for Breathwalk high catastrophizers compared to standard walking high catastrophizers. N o within or between group differences were found. CONCLUSION The intervention revealed that the Breathwalk treatment showed lowered levels of Cortisol that was more pronounced in subjects w h o were high catastrophizers. The decreased Cortisol levels in the Breathwalk group could be due to the breathing techniques and deeper relaxation this method incorporates. Furthermore, decreased Cortisol levels could result because of lowered stress levels in subjects following the intervention. Perhaps a longer session length would be needed to determine if Cortisol levels varied overtime. "•on casastrophinn) n ih* 6 n W h w s a t group had lower MttVgr. up M o wrihtn or b*hv**ri group dcSsrsno** wer* lound n oortaol Of Ih* 0ur-«!ior> ol *••• r*.ar**man period CONCLUSION Th* *fajdy reteart** that th* 8nk*lhw*Ji B-netvuntion produced Bwnsr lews*) of Cortisoltaaowrigctstsstss art (ha* ojferano* <vaa mora pronounoKl in nigh catasVoprttzers OccreaseO corbsol •»•*> lavacs could >««u*fromIon** sir*** arvata r> BnMSfhwa* subsscts toaowng th* int*rvantK»i B^alharae appsaredtopro**** more b*rt*A| tor r»gh ctMMtr^phairig patwnt* tu;ig«s9ng * laoucton tn tsaafcaaal pvnod might produce a v o w b*n*to ov*f U m * RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL g SPRING 2011 k T h e Role of Gangliar Plexi in the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation 7Wi>r Murler Shawn Talc, and Robert MacLeod Ph.D., Department of Bioengineering. University of Utah Rob MacLeod Ph D u THE UNIVERSITY Of UTAH (.angliar plexi (tJPr are bundles of interconnected neurons found embedded in fai pads wirrounding the atria ol ibe heart The function of these neurons is controversial bui they may form a I.I locali/rd control system lor the heart and play a role in the induction of aural libnllation ( A H heart rhvihm disturbance inserted into the heart the most c o m m o n form of During the treatment of AH. catheters via the venous system apph radio THE ROLE OF GANGLIAR PLEXI IN THE TREATMENT OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION Ireqiiencv c-rtcrgs K) sites on the inner surface ol the heart in order to disrupt the triggering of A f In many coses, the silc*. ol ablation Fignrc •*. C o m p a r i n g average percentage of scar tvilfatn fal overlap the locations ol the G P and w e hvpolhoLa-c that the pad between noo-reeurrrnt and recurrent patient*. T h e resulting damage to the O P two -mile-ill sets Jiti-in above coniisted of patients w h o may contribute to success of the ablation procedure. were ablated ooee for atrial fitirillaiwn ( A F ) and cured Figure 2. N e g J D M g m e o t a l t o w of the left alrium of a single patient. T o p Left: D B M R I scan. T o p Right LGI (nou-rrcurreat), and episode lasting longer than M patients who had were an AF seconds leading to a second ablation (recurrent J. M R I seaa. Bottom Left: Fal pads (FP) w.-gmtolcd from the D B MRI scan, Wllow H'"o. <.reeo-FP*l, Parple- FP*J, U t d H V . Blar-FP*2. F P * 4 Is sot s h o w n 1a this figure 4 represents the data that was collected from Matlab. and is the average percentage fal pad overlapped with scar slice of the segmentation. Bottom Right: T h e contour of There arc 16 patients in the r-on-revuireni paticni vrt There the oraoge highlighted arc 10 paiienis in therecurrentset A student T-tesi w a s run part is (he cpicardial surface segmented from t <-J M R I scan. Tyler Lyman Marler (Rob MacLoed) Department of Biomedical Engineering (CVRTI) University of Utah on the two patienl set shown in figure -I and there w a s not a sigmficani difference between the two data sets. The pvaluc w a s m u c h greater than 05 for all of the fat pads Introduction: Gangliar plexi (GP) are bundles of interconnected neurons found e m b e d d e d in fat pads surrounding the atria of the heart. The function of these neurons is controversial but they m a y form a localized control system for the heart ••'••IIHII.II.H and play a role in the induction of atrial fibrillation (AF), the m o s t c o m m o n form of heart rhythm disturbance. During the treatment of AF, catheters inserted into the heart via the v e n o u s system apply radio frequency energy to sites o n the inner surface of the heart in order to disrupt the triggering of AF. In m a n y cases, the sites of ablation overlap the locations of the G P a n d w e hypothesize that the resulting d a m a g e to the G P m a y contribute to success of the ablation procedure. There was not a significant difference between the overlapping of fai pad m the non-rccurreni paiienis and the recurrent paiienis This data suggests that (here is no correlation hefween gangliar plexi. which reside in the fat Figure I. Project Flow Chai pads, and the initiation and or maintenance of A F may I of ablahon and locations ol ihc fat pads To identity the site containing OP. u c a .quired latv gadolinium enhanced ll Ol i M R I scans and dark blot.d ( D B ) M R I scans and analyzed them using vegmcnling vittwan : from the SCI Institute at the I'nivcrsiiv of Utah called S e g J D Regions of enhanced intensity in L O r M R I problematic hul looking at all of the fat surrounding the tell jinum there does not appear lo be an> H ' I H H V I H U I scans IUV™ i fie-J the lesion kxations, which w e segmented to oeafc Figure 3. Depictioo of F P and scar from a J mask ru lempbic The D B M R I scans provided locations ol the anterior view of the left alrlnm. Both Tat pads, which w e also segmented into six separate locations in rendered in S C I R n n . T h e F P are colored We each heart the color scale in the bottom left of ibc rwi [I]S. Po. II Nakagawa. and W scar h Ibe bghtcr gray. N o r m a l heart Itunc is I he darker rJecmtphvjkil. vol 10.2009 lo determine overlap between ablation sites and OP. the L O E M R I and D B M R I images wereregistered(aligned) and the extent ol n u t b p quantified There be a chance thai one of the fat pads could be more wish lo thank Josh Blaucr. Tslcr Marlcr. rugei kholmovski Nathan Burgon, and Nassir Marrouchc Jack m a n J Cardurw. gra> color. Methods: To identify the sites of ablation and locations of the fat pads containing GP, we acquired late gadolinium e n h a n c e d (LGE) M R I scans a n d dark blood (DB) M R I scans a n d analyzed t h e m using segmenting software from the SCI Institute at the University of Utah called S e g 3 D . Regions of enhanced intensity in L G E M R I scans identified the lesion locations, which w e s e g m e n t e d to create a m a s k or template. T h e D B M R I scans provided locations of the fat pads, which w e also s e g m e n t e d into six separate locations in each heart. To determine overlap b e t w e e n ablation sites a n d GP, the L G E M R I a n d D B M R I images w e r e registered (aligned) a n d the extent of overlap quantified. Conclusion: Pending completion of the quantitative analysis, I expect that there will be a strong correlation b e t w e e n fat p a d overlapping lesion locations a n d successful o u t c o m e of the procedure. The putative m e c h a n i s m of this correlation w o u l d b e greater suppression of A F through ablation of the GP, which w o u l d identify a n e w strategy for ablation that could improve o u t c o m e s . 120 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH MUTANT BURKHOLDERIA THAILANDENSIS ABILITY TO INHIBIT SALMONELLA TYPHIMURIUM GROWTH DRUG DISCO VER Y: TAKING AD VANTA GE OF NATURAL ENEMIES. A Karli McMillan and Theodore G. Liou Department of Internal Medicine Ineodore L» Liou, u ABSTRACT TIN UNIVERSITY Of UTAH BACKGROUND Bacteria compete All of our current annrwotics were made b> bacteria first to use again*, other hwrteru There are mull nudes ul f» in.fin.il iiiuirwotrcs in he Burknolderui bacteria eliminate most other present hoctcna in rarbents with C F * If patienis have chronic haarnal airs-, as • Burkholderia mas he pn-dueine gcnci capable u leplactng other bacteria Karli McMillan (Theodore G. Liou) Department of Pulmonology University of Utah School of Medicine RESULTS Acmmplnhed QUESTION f*T~ ^ * * * llvni Successful creanon of genciic mutants Successful growth of iaryei bacteria Sucie-vsful juxiara-aitionol largei and < •uunt boctcna Top Agar added containing *• (jeneratuon of rnutanu * FUTURE DIRECTIONS Screening tatrijiiv ofrnutanuto kill target bacteria. METHODS ., i i l l l l l l CF is an inherited disease which affects the lungs and immune system leading to severe morbidity and early death. The lungs of individuals with CF can be infected by multiple types of bacteria. The species of bacteria depends on the stage of disease. Early in life, the most c o m m o n species are Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenza. Later, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) supplants the original bacteria. A bacterium in the lung of a CF patient causes extensive damage to the lungs by eliciting a vigorous, scarring i m m u n e response in the airway. Airway elasticity decreases, ultimately impairing the ability to breathe. Eventually, CF patients die due to respiratory failure, an overwhelming infection from PA, or both. PA can potentially be supplanted by another adversarial bacterium, Burkholderia cepacia (Be). This species of bacteria can eliminate the PA bacterial infection, as detected by clinical sputum culture, but Be is not without its o w n dangers. Be accelerates pulmonary disease leading to an even more rapid death for the individual. The nature of bacteria-bacteria competition in the lungs and especially w h y Be can supplant PA is unknown. icchniquc» Identify and understand gene or genes rcsp-insible m on random haetrrial gents. the ability to kill tarujci bacteria Try to arow larget htcteria next lo mulanlv I ook linr areas of rn-L'nmih surrounding mi/Unis ma> kill target hacicna and ma) he ahtc produec new aniihMMici. IHicimiH.n showint simttlai THANK.STOOI R SPONSORS growth /ones around m o bacterial colonies. Tnc Hen II and Ira M Margola rami l> Foundauon of I'tah it--1 -. .11. i ihn.-u. i i-j-njjii.t-. My research will isolate one or more genes in Be that allow it to out-compete PA. We are describing the ability of Be to destroy PA in an in vitro system. The discovery will potentially expand the choices for treating PA. The gene and eradication method will be isolated and identified, and potentially allow us to prevent PA infections. 121 jyftS SPRING 2011 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL TOXICITY AND GENOMIC Toxicity and G e n o m i c Profiling of Engineered Nanomaterials in H u m a n Aortic Endothelial Cells Ashlynd Mikkelson, Philip J. M o o s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology PROFILING OF ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS u THE UNIVERSITY Of UTAH © WITH DISTINCT GEOMEi l| «•' TRY AND SURFACE • FUNCTIONALIZATION IN if L* z 'i 1 HUMAN AORTIC ENDOTHEIAL^f^M- CELLS The University of Utah zz, "J'ZTZZZ, 7-^-in«' i». ii...... Illl]! " |- ~ 7. - [ P A M A M Daisdrvnar Ternary i: II . - • Ashlynd Mikkelson (Philip J. Moos, ,U_i !_ * i-.-J.rml"'" • 1 -a. M ILL r- Heather Herd, GiridharTiagarajan, Hamid Ghandehari) Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology University of Utah Manufactured nanoparticles have unique properties ! - • - • due to their size, shape, composition, surface area, and chemical composition. These properties can be attractive for a broad range of novel applications in medical applications. Nanoformulations of drugs can improve their efficacy and targeted delivery but less is known regarding potential adverse effects of these materials. Therefore, understanding potential toxicities related to these materials can lead to the engineering of safer nanomaterials. If n e w nanomaterials are to function in drug delivery, these agents are likely to have resident time in the vasculature and interact with endothelial cells. Since several nanomaterials have elicited pro-inflammatory responses, w e sought to determine if nanosilica and dendrimers produced pro-inflammatory responses in primary h u m a n aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) as the promotion of inflammation m a y suggest that these materials m a y act as vesicants if used in medical applications. W e have generated nanomaterials with distinct geometry and surface functionalization to evaluate the contributions of these parameters to the toxicology of these materials. For geometric evaluations, w e generated 200 n m Si02 nanospheres as well as nanoworms with a 200 n m diameter and lengths of-1000 n m . While the overall toxicity was similar between the nanospheres and nanoworms, the nanoworms promote a distinct phenotype compared to the nanoSi02 spheres in the HAECs. The nanoworms promote a vacuolization in the interior of the HAECs that is not apparent in the nanosheres. Surface functionalization was evaluated using cationic and anionic dendrimers composed of poly (amido amine) ( P A M A M ) with carboxylic acid or amine terminal groups, respectively. The amine terminated dendrimers are considerably more toxic than the carboxylated dendrimers as measured by cell viability assays. Using whole g e n o m e express profiling, w e observe the induction of pro-inflammatory genes. Indeed many of the significantly upregulated genes are controlled by the inflammatory regulator nuclear factor kappaB (NFKB). W e hypothesize that; 1) an understanding of the mechanisms of nanomaterial toxicity, based on the properties of the materials will lead to the manufacture of safer nanomaterials, 2) that nanomaterials will display size and shapedependent differences in toxicity, cellular uptake and transcriptional activities Gene Expression Profiling of H A E C s treated with nSiO ; and l'\'.UM dendnrneT nanomaienali 122 Conclusions and future Dtreciio urn dioxide (Ti02) are nanomaterials that have found utility in sunscreens and cosmetics for UV protection of exposed skin for aesthetic reasons since they are transparent rather than white in color. These materials are generally considered safe, including on intact skin since they do not penetrate past the stratum corneum layer into the proliferative or live skin cell layers. However, our previous work, and the work of others, demonstrates that commercial grade powders of nanoZnO have considerable cytotoxicity w h e n in contact with various live h u m a n cells. W e initiated studies using R K O (colon cancer) cells as w e were concerned with potential ingestion toxicities of a range of nano-metal oxides, but w e have also recently utilized Sk-Mel-28 (melanoma) and HaCaT (transformed keratinocytes) cells in our studies. While nanoZnO and nanoTi02 agglomerate into large structures in tissue culture media, the agglomerates interact with the cells and w e observe that n a n o Z n O is considerably more cytotoxic than nanoTi02. In addition, all of these cell types display pronounced transcriptional responses within 4 hours of exposure to nanoZnO. A prominent response is consistent with metal ion responsiveness like metallothioneins and zinc efflux transporter induction. However, the transcriptional responses also show particulate-dependent induction of select genes associated with autophagy. Biochemical evaluation of autophagy also validates that these nanomaterials can promote autophagy. Therefore, a component of nanomaterial cytotoxicity m a y be the induction of autophagic responses. RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DESIGN A N D CONSTRUCTION OF A BRITTLE OBJECT SIMULATOR TO EVALUATE NEUROLOGIC FEEDBACK FROM PROSTHETICS Jeff Naylor (Sanford Meek) Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Utah Design and Construction of a Brittle Object Simulator to Evaluate Neurologic Feedback from Prosthetics Jeff Naylor and Sanford Meek Department of Mechanical Engineering m III! U N I V F R S I T Y O F 1 UTAH Design Criteria Repeatable break simulation Adjustable force threshold for break Adjustable thickness and height Initial thickness of one inch Adjustable weight Gripping shape appropriate for hand prosthetic Adjustable friction coefficient for gripping surface Brittle Object Simulator Design Process Design Process Experiment Design •1ft*conalrucane a g ~ 0 S»K.:S!S« Th» % The rapidly advancing field of neuroprosthetics will soon return major life benefits to s o m e of the 135,000 n e w amputees each year. Neuroprosthetics are controlled by implants e m b e d d e d in the amputee's nervous system, giving the patient the ability to control their limb through their thought processes. As a method of evaluation for the control of these prosthetics w e designed and built a Brittle Object Simulator (BOS). If too m u c h force is applied to the BOS a simulated break happens which would cause the user to drop the simulator. c M D M mat* Staaa mm orvrwty enoai i To design the BOS for use with prosthetic hands we made a list of attributes that would be necessary. This included m a n y adjustable characteristics such as breaking force, size, weight and surface texture. During the design process a three dimensional working computer model w a s created. M a n y changes had to be m a d e while moving from the design stage into the construction stage of the project due to manufacturing restrictions. In order to achieve a simulator compatible with the hand prosthetics the grip plates are connected to a four bar linkage which keeps them parallel. The parallelogram also allowed us to achieve an initial thickness of 2 5 . 4 m m (1 inch). Machined aluminum was used for the pivot plates which are connected by steel shafts. In order to add strength as well as a magnetic property to the pivoting plates they are reinforced with sheet steel. Machining such small precision parts requires a lot of time, consequently more machining time is required for a few more parts which will be completed shortly. The BOS has been successfully built and is being used to aid in the research of slip control and feedback from the neuroprosthetic hands. 123 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL SPRING 2011 Development of Novel Green Ironmaking Technology with Greatly Reduced C 0 2 Emissions and Energy Consumption n Joshua E. Ramos and Hong Yong Sohn Metallurgical Engineering 4 K S M AiceloiMitlal u IPROXAIR w i-«i - r SSAB aatES Hlil'';4a.;| Develop a n e w Ironmaking T H E BlastU furnace NIVE R S I T YusedO for F U T A H Severstal predominately T s * racseolof} it baafd en Ikt dirta ftiniui reduction of fine Irom oxide concentrate in a leape niton r Ironmaking currently energy c o n s u m p t i o n Merits Objective • Well developed • Significantly reduce energy consumptlo • Reduce CO, emissions. • Reduction of fine concentrate particles In suspension with H } as rsductant • Large size Based on two Important factors • Efficient & Economical • Hydrogen (Natural Oat, Coat) • Direct use of concentrate 'Issues Energy savings will bo significant, by 4 0 % with respect (o average blast furnace operation 7.4 GJ/ton of iron. R e d u c e d process • Significant reduction In C O , generation a n d • Requires Iron Ore Pellets and Coke • Without pelletlzation/slnterlng • Large C O , Emission • Without coke • Large Energy Consumption DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL GREEN IRONMAKING TECHNOLOGY WITH GREATLY REDUCED C02 EMISSIONS AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION Joshua E. R a m o s (Hong Yong Sohn) Department of Metallurgical Engineering University of Utah Elllmlnatlng the use of coke and pmtlmtlzJno/alntarlng, with associated generations of pollutants. 9 0 - 9 9 % reduction In 1-7 s e c o n d s et 1200-1400C; sufficiently fast for a suspension process A research program to develop an exciting new technology for alternate ironmaking is underway in the University of Utah, Department of Metallurgical Engineering. The technology is based on the direct gaseous reduction of fine iron oxide concentrate in a suspension reduction process. The ultimate objective is to significantly reduce energy consumption, C 0 2 emissions and environmental pollution in the steel industry. This project is supported by the American Iron and Steel Institute with financial contributions from 8 - 1 2 member companies. The technology uses gaseous reducing agents such as hydrogen, natural gas, or coal gas, and aims to replace the blast furnace and other alternate ironmaking processes. The research is expected to lead to the development of a direct and continuous steelmaking process. However, before an industrially viable technology can be developed laboratory bench and pilot-scale tests must be carried out. A laboratory-scale furnace is currently being tested in this project. Experiments are also being performed on a bench-scale furnace to determine the energy supply required to maintain the necessary reactor temperature. This furnace iron-making technology will have considerable energy and environmental benefits due largely to elimination of the cokemaking and pelletization/sintering steps that are required in conventional ironmaking technologies. The energy savings will be significant; 4 0 % with respect to average Blast Furnace operations or 7.4 GJ/ton of iron. The total amount of energy savings from ironmaking are estimated by assuming the U. S. produces about 40 million tons of iron annually. In addition, the technology will help to greatly reduce the 1.1 tons of C 0 2 per ton of iron produced by the steel industry as well as other pollutants. Another advantage of the proposed process is that hydrogen reduction of iron oxide yields pure iron containing a very low a m o u n t of carbon, reducing the need for further refinement. 124 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DETECTION OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED MICRORNA LEVELS IN SERUM OF NON-CANCER VS BREAST CANCER POSITIVE PATIENTS RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 Detection of Differentially Expressed MicroRNA Levels in Serum of Non-Cancer VS. Breast Cancer Positive Patients Sydney Truong and Philip Bernard Department of Pathology Sydney Truong (Philip Bernard) Department of Pathology University of Utah MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (17-25 bp), non-coding RNAs that play a role in regulating protein expression post-transcriptionally by binding to the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of m R N A . A variety of cells have been found to release miRNAs into the blood serum, packaged within small m e m b r a n e vesicles known as exosomes in order to prevent degradation by RNases within the serum. Research has shown that certain m i R N A levels within tumor cells show deregulation in comparison to non-cancer cells. The miRNAs exhibiting deregulation are often dependent upon cancer type and are ones that play important roles in regulating the cell cycle and apoptosis. Because of the specificity of these deregulated miRNAs, they possess great potential in becoming biomarkers for early detection of cancer, tracking progression of the disease, or more accurately determining treatment efficacy. This project focused primarily upon identifying a set of miRNAs found in the serum that consistently and accurately separate breast cancer positive serum samples from non-cancer serum samples. Exosomes from ten serum samples (from five breast cancer positive patients and five non-cancer patients) were isolated and miRNA was then extracted from the vesicles. Rapid Amplification of c D N A Ends (RACE) PCR was performed to quantify m i R N A levels. The resulting heat map of the data provided evidence that certain miRNAs are differentially present within the serum of breast cancer patients versus non-cancer patients. This in turn further supports the potential of circulating miRNAs in becoming a reliable way to quantify or predict tumor progression. 125 fl SPRING 2011 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL Characterization and Activity of Peptidylglycine a-amidating monooxygenase from Conus bullatus H I Sabah Ul-Hasan Dr. Baldomero M Ollvcra, Dr. Pradip Bandyopadhyay Biology u IU..J. , - [ > » . . | T H E UNIVERSITY OF U T A H ^ J Background Background f^J I'J CMrt«a Background Praia?kill J f ^ CHARACTERIZATION AND ACTIVITY OF AMIDASE FROM CONUS BULLATUS multaagatur IhfA nriljli'- midi> II e Indo-Pacific rtalon •aalaaaaaal . cmum^iiu. dbcincrrt lo haw !•••'*•• » * * * » " » U » ailaHmaiafaaf C4M«MaaWpaa|k|fl •alMMWMqaati -- fj »_»»»«.»...% »-"-« wqwii imp >•-'•"•' .. hssr Methods »•<*« I * * I M itjfa lataiia-ia h" ". \jxr.rzsr~ Jj 3£-| 0 Type 11 Amjrt>»W-DtpcraiTii S 4 r j n m r a > t m a a » roJViim Cof*CU», aaaataaaaaaAaaatalaBaaaaaa* Junta-. CaaTWll l»t Pllf 'r^TJT" Conclusions Results r > - j H j a j a a j I Q a j ^ ] « ^ i«-i... P < M .~. aajj ' W • y.^^'rasia.tyjgsr»r".^ • Peptidylglycine a-amidating monoonygcnas* (PAM) e n z y m e gene sequence successfully characterized P A M l i t M ilaaaT! Tartr JilTcrnu n u l f r a t 1, L A < J i Cone snails, genus Conus, are predatory marine snails that use v e n o m to capture their prey. This v e n o m contains a diverse array of toxic peptides, known as conotoxins. Peptides contain N-terminus and C-terminus ends, n a m e d after amino Future Directions (NH3+) and carboxyl (COO-) groups respectively. In the cell, peptides undergo posttranslational modifications by specialized enzymes. These modifications are necessary for peptide function. Amidases are a category of enzymes that modify peptides by adding a hydroxyl group to the glycine at the C-terminus end. The enzyme then cleaves the n o w hydroxylated glycine and amidates the peptide. Amidase enzymes play an important role in the modification of hormone peptides, such as vasopressin, oxytocin, and gastrin. This amidation removes the negative charge at the end of the peptide, which is essential for the peptides to be functional. Improper enzymatic activity of these amidases m a y result in diseases such as Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and Huntington's Disease. In cone snail species Conus bullatus, peptidylglycine a-amidating mono-oxygenase (PAM) is an important amidase enzyme located in the secretory granules in the Golgi of a cell. Though the properties of P A M and h o w it alters peptides by posttranslational modifications are known in m a n y organisms, the enzyme has yet to be characterized inConus. Since the venom duct of Conus has a high concentration of amidated peptides, the enzyme isolated from Conus is likely to have robust enzymatic activity. Thus, studying P A M enzymatic activity in Conus bullatus contributes to information about the enzyme and h o w it works in Conus. • PHM and PAL functions encoded in single polypeptide ! ™ [ mm%mmim\mmm • Complete PAM gene sequence cloned in mammalian (plRES2) and insect i p R m H e J ) vectors in preparation of P A M e n z y m e expression A' -^s^pfr^ton Tit LumnhTO (JlmlU' .(*,.-,*./.:. > MfttllOahUMUl r W M O alHE\: laaaMataal Vr: / / | \ //Si, 'JSSX* V ^_ 126 Sabah Ul-Hasan (Baldomero M. Olivera, Pradip Bandyopadhyay) Department of Biology University of Utah • Respective vectors iransfcctcd into mammalian (HEK 293), and insect (S2)ccll lines fur P A M e n z y m e expression •Assay for PAM activity in HEK 293 and S2 cell I •Localize PAM in cells THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH THE SNAI3 TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR IN CD8+ T CELLS OF C57BL/6 MICE RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 The Snai3 Transcription Factor in C D 8 + T Cells of C57BL/6 Mice Wendy Vu and John Weis Department of Pathology T h Unvgiay uf Caa Wendy Vu (John Weis) Department of Pathology University of Utah CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) play a significant role in the adaptive i m m u n e response, killing tumor cells and virally infected cells. Snai3 is a gene belonging to the Snail super family and is expressed in CD8+ T cells. The h u m a n Snai3 gene is present on the human chromosome 16q24.3 in a region implicated for susceptibility to breast, ovarian, and gastric cancers, as well as leukemia. The m o u s e Snai3 protein has been shown to bind to a consensus site of CACCA/TG/T. Binding of the Snai3 protein to target sequences within a gene results in a transcriptional repression of that gene. W e hypothesize that C D 8 + T cells altered to lack Snai3 will display phenotypic differences compared to wild type cells. We have successfully created a strain of Snai3 full knockout mice with a pure C57BL/6 background through performing successive rounds of breeding deleted Snai3 mice on a mixed 129 and C57BL/6 background with wild type mice. While these knockout mice are viable, w e found, using microarray analysis, that two particular g e n e s - N t 5 3 and Eps8l 1 -demonstrated a 4-fold and 18-fold increased expression, respectively. This data suggests that the Snai3 protein acts as a transcriptional repressor on these genes. W e are currently in the preliminary stages of using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and hot polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to potentially confirm the precise location of the Snai3 binding site within the Nt53 and Eps8l1 genes. Our future direction includes investigating the mechanism by which the Snai3 protein represses, as well as examining whether Snai3 full knockout mice elicit an altered i m m u n e response w h e n infected with Listeria monocytogenes and Lymphcyte Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV) infections. Investigating the Snai3 transcription factor and the gene control pathways that lead to C D 8 + T lymphocyte development will potentially give rise to a more comprehensive understanding of genetic diseases and cancers. 127 RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL SPRING 2011 EXPLORING DEPRESSION IN THE LATINO POPULATION OF SLC: A PILOT STUDY Esperanza Zagal (Polly Wiessner) Department of Anthropology University of Utah Beliefs about health and illness vary across cultures and affect health seeking behavior, communication with health care providers, understanding and compliance with treatment. This research explores concepts of mental health and mental illness with a focus on depression in the Latino population of SLC in order to facilitate mental health integration in medical care. Thirty-four interviews were conducted with Latinos in SLC from different age, sex, immigration, and cultural backgrounds. Findings were then quantified and compared. Initial objectives were to find h o w Latinos perceived mental health and mental illness and h o w it was treated in their countries of origin. Focus was then shifted to depression its perceived causes, appropriate response and treatment. Results indicate that: (1) Stigma keeps many Latinos from seeking mental health care. (2) Depression i rarely addressed or treated as mental illness in their countries of origin. (3) Latinos hesitate to regard mild to moderate depression as such an illness, and question the efficacy of medication. (4) Depressed individuals are not expected to communicate psychological distress. (5) Family and friends are regarded as responsible for recognizing and assisting with depression, however m a n y immigrant families have insufficient social ties to get such support. Implications of this study are that health care providers should: (1) discuss depression outside the framework of mental illness with patients to avoid stigmas and (2) seek solutions that rebuild community support systems for patients, both for those w h o are and are not receiving medication. 128 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PHARMACOLOGICAL AND GENETIC EVIDENCE THAT CERAMIDE EVOKES VASCULAR DYSFUNCTION IN MICE WITH DIETINDUCED OBESITY. RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL 2011 Mice with targeted disruption of the enzyme dihydroceramide desaturase display metabolic disturbances but not vascular dysfunction in response to high-fat feeding Alexandrea Nichols, Nicholas B. Deeter, (J. David S y m o n s ) Collage ol Health and Division ol Endocrinology. Matabollsm and Dlabataa, university ol Utah, Salt Lake City, USA, 84112 Spaclal thartkt to U Danlng, OJ Z »Ml»kl. SA Summer* £ 0 AtMl u H THT UNIVFRSITY Of U T A H MI = 11 O • ••a ^ Alexandrea Nichols, Nicholas B. Deeter (J. David Symons) Division of Molecular Medicine and Endocrinology College of Health, School of Medicine University of Utah &i aI »::r I- The prevalence of obesity in the United States exceeds 3 0 % in most age groups. Obesity predisposes individuals to type 2 diabetes. Of the -24 million people in the United States with diabetes, 90-95% have type 2 diabetes. Because diabetic adults have death rates associated with vascular disease that are 2-4 times more prevalent than patients without this condition, an urgent need exists to elucidate mechanisms responsible for cardiovascular complications that exist in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Diet-induced obesity and type 2 diabetes are conditions associated with elevated levels of circulating free fatty acids (FFAs). W h e n excess FFAs accumulate they are delivered to tissues not suited for fat storage and bioactive metabolites can be produced that might increase overall cardiovascular risk. O n e of these fat-derived metabolites is ceramide. Recently w e showed that high-fat (HF) feeding produced vascular ceramide accumulation, arterial dysfunction, and hypertension in mice. In HF animals treated with myriocin, a pharmacological inhibitor of ceramide production, vascular ceramide accrual was prevented and endothelial dysfunction and hypertension did not develop. In the present study w e confirmed these data using a genetic approach to limit vascular ceramide accumulation. Mice with targeted disruption of the enzyme dihydroceramide desaturase (des1+/-) and their wild type littermates (desl +/+) consumed standard (CON) or HF c h o w for = 15 weeks. Desl +/- mice have a limited ability to convert biologically inactive dihydroceramide into biologically active ceramide. As anticipated, HF feeding caused ceramide to accumulate in vessels from des1+/+ but not des1+/- mice. As hypothesized, vascular dysfunction caused by HF feeding was less severe in arteries from desl-t-/- vs. des1+/+ mice. Results using these pharmacological and genetic approaches to blunt ceramide biosynthesis indicate that this FFA metabolite might contribute importantly to vascular dysfunction that exists in individuals with dietinduced obesity and type 2 diabetes. 129 y RESEARCH POSTERS ON THE HILL nu SPRING 2011 Learn to Communicate, Communicate to Learn! Jonathan B. Davies, Lawrence M. Schlitt, James T. Skowronek, and Dr. Cynthia Furse Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering £11 u T H E UNIVERSITY OF u Ecr:- UTAH LEARN TO COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE TO LEARN! Jonathan B. Davies, Lawrence M. Schlitt, James T. Skowronek (Cindy Furse) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Utah Student feedback of Moderated Study Sessions U Answers Forum Website In order to help facilitate Utah's Science and Engineering Initiative, which is aimed at increasing the number of Utah college graduates in all technical fields, our team is developing a culture of support designed to improve the overall educational and social experience for students of science and engineering. Our main motivates are threefold. First, one of the most effective ways for students to learn is to regularly engage their time in re-communicating what they are taught. W e propose that this communication is best aimed towards helping underclassmen. Second, learning to effectively communicate difficult concepts in science and engineering is a morale-boosting activity. This effective communication also contributes to success in life and career. Finally, cross-class communication between students helps to integrate the difficult but critical mental discovery process as part of a more effective and rewarding educational strategy. Conclusions and Future Work Contact Information Our Team: [e-mail] We implemented upperclassman-moderated study sessions over the summer of 2010 for the entrylevel electrical circuits course, ECE1270, and in the calculus-based physics course, PHYS2210; and w e are currently moderating study sessions for the second semester electrical circuits course, ECE2260. Student response has been positive, as it has been suggested that these moderated study sessions are in many ways more helpful than regular class lectures and TA discussion sessions. Also, w e are beginning to implement an online bulletin board/forum where students (university and K-12 students alike) can create profiles and login to ask upperclassmen moderators for assistance in any science or engineering subject. Moderators will be given feedback-points by a rating system based on their effectiveness in helping underclassmen, and points will be tracked in order to offer moderators awards for their efforts 130 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH CHARLES H. MONSON PRIZE WINNER CHARLES H. MONSON ESSAY PRIZE The Office of Undergraduate Studies administers the Charles H. Monson Essay Prize. This award honors Charles H. Monson Jr., w h o was a distinguished m e m b e r of the University Philosophy Department from 1958 to 1974. Professor Monson earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Utah, and received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. During his years at the University, he served as chair of the Philosophy Department and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. H e received the University's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1970. Professor Monson was a renowned teacher with a deep commitment to the understanding of social change. In his honor, an annual prize of $600 is awarded to an undergraduate w h o writes an outstanding abstract and paper on social change. The abstracts are judged by a distinguished panel m a d e of three members of the Undergraduate Council. The paper will consist of a thoughtful analysis on social change in a specific area of modern life. The Office of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Utah is proud to announce: Leonel Nieto Faculty sponsor Julie Stewart As the recipient of the 2011 CHARLES H. MONSON ESSAY PRIZE HIGH EDUCATION AND LOW HOPES: AN EXPLORATION OF THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCES AND POST-COLLEGE EXPECTATIONS OF UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS IN UTAH Julie Stewart is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. Her research focuses on experiences of displacement and h o w refugees and immigrants re-build community, engage in politics and work for economic advancement in their n e w homes. Leonel Nieto graduated from the University of Utah in 2011 with a bachelor of arts in Sociology and a minor in Economics. H e plans to continue his studies and apply for graduate school soon. 2011 Charles H. Monson Essay Prize presentation, April 6, 2011. Undergraduate Research Symposium, Olpin Union. Pictured, l-r: Julie Stewart, Leonel Nieto, Sharon Schatten and Karl Schatten 131 CHARLES H. MONSON PRIZE WINNER SPRING 2011 HIGH EDUCATION AND LOW HOPES: AN EXPLORATION OF THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCES AND POST-COLLEGE EXPECTATIONS OF UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS IN UTAH Leonel Nieto Julie Stewart Leonel Nieto (Julie Stewart) Department of Sociology University of Utah A vibrant economy and high d e m a n d for labor, along with immigrant friendly policies and growing immigrant networks have attracted people to the state Utah, m a n y of w h o m are undocumented. These residents often bring their young children with them or are later joined by their families. The children of undocumented immigrants grow up American; they enroll in public schools and learn American values, yet have limited access to the mechanisms that promote social mobility and integration. Education and good employment are two key mechanisms that often elude these young adults. In 2002, the state of Utah enacted HB-144, a program that allows undocumented students access to higher education at in-state tuition rates. The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationship between access to higher education for this population and their opportunities for integration, whether it be civic, social, cultural or economic. Accordingly, this study explores the mechanisms by which students gained access to the in-state tuition program, their college experiences and their post-college hopes and fears. Our findings draw from 25 surveys and 25 in-depth interviews of participants recruited using a snowball sampling method. Preliminary findings indicate that despite having faced tremendous obstacles and great difficulties in the early years, all of the participants are highly motivated academically and m a n y plan to pursue graduate school or other professional degrees. However, without federal legislation such as the D R E A M Act that would help them adjust their status, twice as many discussed the unlikelihood of finding employment in their chosen profession. Most students surveyed are civically engaged within their community, and although unable to vote, all have participated in major immigrant rallies. Preliminary conclusions indicate that although the state has facilitated access to colleges and universities to undocumented students by enacting HB-144, their unresolved legal status continues to hinder their educational, economic, and social integration. Without the passage of federal legislation that would bring this population into the mainstream, our nation is ensuring that the rich potential of a high achieving group will remain untapped. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH CONFERENCES Undergraduate Research Symposium Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research U C U R National Conference on Undergraduate Research N C U R 133 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOLAR DESIGNATION SPRING 2011 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOLARS 2011 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOLAR DESIGNATION URSD 134 The University of Utah is proud to announce Undergraduate Research Scholars 2011 commencement ^Vi" •• M *•** HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM Message from the Director Carolyn Bliss Begun in 2001, the Health Sciences LEAP Program is a four-year pipeline for students seeking careers in medicine or health and coming from populations historically underrepresented in or underserved by the American health care system. In the first year of this program, enrollees study humanities; in the second, they shadow providers in their future fields; in the third, they conduct and report on research; and in the fourth, they design, execute, and assess a two-semester service project. After completing the third year, Health Sciences LEAP students have earned the designation of University Research Scholar, which goes on their university transcripts w h e n they graduate. All of their projects are presented at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Fourth-year students also approach their service with an initial orientation to research and present their projects at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Our alums are doing great things. They're in graduate work in medicine, nursing and nursing education, pharmacy, dentistry, physician assistant training, public health, health education, and physical therapy. O n e is a Fulbright Scholar; one has his n a m e on an article whose first author is a Nobel Laureate; some have m o v e d into other service fields like educational psychology, law, and social justice; most are pursuing their dreams. Paging through the abstracts collected here, I think you can see w h y they succeed. 135 HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM SPRING 2011 SALT LAKE CITY EMERITUS ALUMNI TUTORING PROGRAM: INFLUENCING THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF MINORITY STUDENTS Emily Ah Ching John Bennion 136 Emily Ah Ching (John Bennion) Department of Emeritus Alumni Board University of Utah With a diverse student body at Bryant Middle School, The Salt Lake City Emeritus Alumni Board at the University of Utah along with a 4th year Health Science LEAP student has examined the effects of oneon-one tutoring with middle school students w h o experience academic obstacles such as language barriers, reading, comprehension, vocabulary etc. on a day-to-day basis. As a result, communication has b e c o m e the biggest obstacle in the students' learning so receiving one-on-one help with a tutor in the area of language arts can aid in the gradual increase of the students'comprehension skills and confidence in learning other academic concepts. 18 voluntary tutors are paired with an ESL student in the 7th or 8th grade and are given approximately 45 minutes for a tutoring session. In order to measure the success of the tutoring program, w e put together an evaluation for both the students and the tutors. Each question focuses on h o w effective the tutoring program has been for both the tutor and the student. Through analyzing the tutor evaluations, all the tutors love their student and have established a strong relationship with their student. Suggestions were brought up in improving the tutoring program and can be organized into 3 categories: 1. Appointing a tutoring coordinator, 2. Having a designated tutoring classroom, and 3. Increasing the tutoring materials and tools for the tutors.The student evaluations allowed us to examine the effectiveness the program for the students. The majority of the students have found that having a tutor is beneficial for their learning. Many have expressed that the tutor has helped in improve their reading, comprehension and most importantly increase motivation to attend school. W e believe that the more support a student has in their academic career, the greater chances the student has of continuing on in education. The Emeritus Alumni Tutoring Program has been a great example of creating a strong support system for students w h o may have lost the focus of their future. N o one knows what the future holds for education but with the Emeritus Alumni Tutoring Program pushing to be incorporated into the school curriculum and continually improving the program, w e an infer that the success of "at-risk, minority students" will increase in the years to come. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY IN DROSOPHILA Priscilla Auduong (Kelley Murphy, Alice Schmid) Department of H u m a n Genetics University of Utah Priscilla Auduong Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is the most c o m m o n l y inherited cause of death in children. This disease is characterized by a loss of motor neurons which lead to muscle degeneration, paralysis, and eventual death by respiratory failure. More than ninety-five percent of the children born with this disease die; SMA occurs at a rate of one in six thousand live births. S M A is a result of the loss of a gene k n o w n as Survival of Motor Neurons (SMN). We hypothesize that SMN is required in motor neurons for proper axonal extension and synapse formation/maintenance, and in muscles to ensure innervation. Using Drosophila melanogaster, w e examined the requirements for S M N in motor neuronal development using R N A interference (RNAi). Preliminary results indicate that, as in higher organisms, a complete depletion of S M N kills the embryo very early in development. Embryos were collected and injected with varying concentrations of double-stranded R N A (dsRNA) that specifically targeted the Drosophila S M N transcript for degradation. Embryos were allowed to develop to late stages of development and were then filleted, fixed, stained and imaged on a confocal microscope. Using the open-source software Image J (http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/), measurements of motor neurons were collected for each image. Kelley Murphy Because dsRNA can be injected in the fly at varying concentrations, we were able to generate titratable loss of function phenotypes. W e observed in pilot studies that 1) S M N is required for axonal extension, but not for motor neuron formation or cell fate specification, 2) that motor axons often fail to extend to their muscle target fields and typically fail to form synapses, as evidenced by 3) prolonged observation of myopodia which are membranous extensions from the surface of embryonic muscles that typically retract once contact with the growth cones are made. W e are currently examining genetic mutants for similar defects and are expanding our model of S M A pathology for subsequent modifier screens. Alice Schmid Observed Phenotypes (RNAi Injections) ISN Pathfinding Errors Defasciculation ofSNfromlSN NoCNSorPNS Development Breaks in ISN -1. . * '-* -. > <* 37 HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM SPRING 2011 BENNION CENTER PROGRAM DIRECTORS: CREATING LEADERS AND BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Kim Oanh Cao Kim Oanh Cao (Carolyn Bliss, Gina Russo) Department of Health Sciences LEAP, University of Utah Lowell Bennion Service Center University of Utah Since its inception in 1987, the Bennion Center has promoted a cascading leadership model, whereby students apply for Student-Directed Programs in one of the five issues areas. Program Directors are, at the most basic level, responsible for recruiting and retaining volunteers for their program. Additionally, s o m e program directors train and orient their volunteers, complete all necessary paperwork for the community partner (e.g., background checks) and attend a weekly office hour in the Bennion Center. Moreover, program directors are available during their office hour to discuss their program and answer any questions, as well as attend meetings with their respective Coordinating group and their cohort of program directors. In m y case, I applied and was selected for the Franklin Elementary Program Director, in the issue area of Education and Advocacy. Carolyn Bliss Franklin Elementary is a Title I School, which means there is a high percentage of students who com from low-income families, are from a minority background, and/or need academic assistance. This also means that the school will receive federal funding to ensure that a high-quality education is still given and there are "no achievement gaps between disadvantaged students and their more advantaged peers" (U.S. Department of Education). Approximately 8 5 % of the students at Franklin Elementary are English Language Learners with Spanish as their first language. The community's current strengths are their community-orientation and wealth of opportunities for assistance in academics. The student's school m a y be the only positive attention a student receives. Many parents are attentive to their child's education, but there are also m a n y w h o cannot give their children necessary attention, due to financial hardship and other issues in their lives. The main societal factor that contributes to these issues is the growing rate of newly-arrived immigrants in the west side of Salt Lake City. Gina Russo The community has identified extra help and tutors as needs in the large classrooms. With many students in one classroom, there is limited time for students to interact with the teacher and get their questions answered. If there were additional helpers in the classroom, all of the students' needs could be met. The resources that would best address this issue is to bring in volunteers that are willing to help during school and after school hours. With the assistance of more volunteers at the school, the students will feel the impact of more individual attention and improve the chances of literacy and basic academic concepts. There is no formal research to support the needs assessment, but the feedback from the community partners and past volunteers/Directors has shown that providing student tutors and mentors in the classroom results in a positive outcome in helping everyone meet their needs. Students have ongoing assessments throughout the program to ensure their progress in literacy through language arts and math. M y proposed approach is to recruit enough volunteers so that there is at least one volunteer per day at the site to assist. I will accomplish this goal by creating fliers, tabling and spreading information during class lectures. 138 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM EVALUATION OF INTER-OBSERVER A N D INTRA-OBSERVER AGREEMENT IN LEFT ATRIAL SEGMENTATION USING DELAYED ENHANCEMENT MRI FOR PATIENTS WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION Paul A. Anderson Paul A. Anderson, Daniel Perry, Wei Ting Chao, Thomas S. Haslam, Alexander Au (Joshua Cates) Comprehensive Arrhythmia and Research Management (CARMA) Center University of Utah Background. Atrial Fibrillation (AF) has been studied using delayed enhancement MRI (DE-MRI) to detect structural remodeling, which naturally occurs in the left atrium (LA) of patients with the disease. In this study, w e assess the inter- and intra-observer agreement using Corview software as a reproducible segmentation method. Methods. Seventy-six DE-MRI segmentations were performed on 16 AF patient-scans who presented to the University of Utah for radio frequency catheter ablation of the arrhythmia. For the inter-observer agreement, four blinded reviewers, experienced in reviewing DE-MRI of the LA, independently performed 2D segmentation of the DE-MRI slices by manually contouring the endocardial and epicardial borders of the LA. To quantify accuracy, w e estimated ground-truth using the Simultaneous Truth and Performance Level Estimation (STAPLE) algorithm, which generates a weighted average from those segmented areas, but does not account for true LA areas left un-segmented. Individual segmentations were also evaluated against ground-truth for accuracy and overlap of total overall pixels within a rectangular cropped area limited by the outer borders of the LA segmentation. The intra-observer agreement was calculated from a random subset of 4 scans segmented three times by the same reviewer in a similar manner. Bland-Altman comparisons were used to compare the overlap/ground-truth and the accuracy/ground-truth. Partial Volume Effect (PVE) variation was also accounted for by excluding 2 slices from the inferior and superior LA from each segmentation, counted from the first slice segmented by all observers. Wei Ting Chao Joshua Cates Results. Ground-truth segmentation was estimated from LA DE-MRI observer segmentations (fig 1, note that the outlying points from each segmentation are given a probability in relation to groundtruth). The Bland-Altman analysis showed good correlation between inter-observers (fig 2, accounting for PVE, p=n.s.). The analysis for accuracy shows 0.96 ± .11 (accounting for PVE, p=n.s.).The intraobserver analysis also had good correlation with Bland-Altman analysis. Conclusions. Inter and intra-observer agreement was validated, using Corview software. Compensating for PVE had no significant improvement on the LA wall overlap and accuracy in segmentations in either inter- or intra-observer analysis. 139 SPRING 2011 HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM MUTATIONS IN THE HUMAN INSULIN-RECEPTOR (hINSR) GENE IN PATIENTS WITH LEPRECHAUNISM AND RABSON-MEDENHALL SYNDROME Michael Do Nicola Longo Michael D o (Emily Rose, Orly Ardon, Nicola Longo) Department of Genetics University of Utah Insulin is an anabolic hormone required for maintenance of glucose and energy homeostasis. It acts by binding to specific receptors located on the plasma m e m b r a n e of a target cells. The insulin receptor is composed of 2 alpha and 2 beta subunits linked by disulfide bonds. Insulin binds to the alpha subunit and induces a conformational chance that results in the activation of the kinase activity of the beta subunit of the receptor. Both subunits are encoded by a single gene located on the short arm of chrom o s o m e 19 and composed of 22 exons. Mutations in this gene cause rare insulin resistant syndromes the most severe of which are leprechaunism and Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome. Patients with these conditions have growth restrictions, dysmorphic features, and altered glucose homeostasis, and early demise. Patients with leprechaunism usually die before 1 year of age while patients with RabsonMendenhall syndrome can survive up to late teenager years. Both conditions are inherited as autosomal recessive traits. In this study, w e developed optimal conditions to amplify and sequence the h u m a n insulin receptor gene. Primers were designed to amplify each of the 22 exons composing the gene. All exons were successfully amplified and submitted for sequencing. The second phase of this project will consist in the molecular analysis of patients DNA. W e have available a large collection of D N A samples from insulin resistant patients Initial studies have shown that cells from patients with leprechaunism have markedly reduced capacity to bind insulin while s o m e of the cells from patients with Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome still retain residual insulin binding capacity. Our hypothesis is that most mutations identified in patients with leprechausnism will affect the binding domain of the insulin receptor in contrast to those of other patients that could affect other portions of the receptor. ItftfI t t M t | f t t | | | i | | HUMAN INSULIN RECEPTOR 19p13.2-p13.3 •• H^4-^h//HHHH-h/rr//ll I ll III I || r 1 2 3 O R F 4 667 4 , 1 4 6 fit 8 9 1011 12 13 14 15 16 1718 19 20 21 22 e x o alternative splicing jaganiggg P I C I I M I M I PRORECEPTOR 1,382 AA ct subunit 731 A A _ p subunit I [a¥aj 140 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM WEAR PINK AND FIGHT LIKE A GIRL: BREAST CANCER AND THE SURGICAL CHOICES PATIENTS ARE FACED WITH Gabrielle Femat (Jay Agarwal) Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery University of Utah BACKGROUND The incidence of breast cancer has increased dramatically during the last few decades. Currently, one in every eight w o m e n will suffer from breast cancer at one point in their lives. There are several forms of treatment that breast cancer patients can opt to have. O n e of the treatment options is surgery to remove the breast/s and plastic surgery to "correct" the removal of the breast/s. The factors associated with the surgical options a patient makes vary from patient to patient. METHODS Over 700 breast cancer patients treated at Huntsman Cancer Hospital from 2007 and forward were given a survey to answer s o m e of the questions regarding the surgical choices that patients m a k e and the factors important to them w h e n making such choices. The survey consists of several questions answered with the use of a scale and a free text space where the patient can elaborate more about their decisions/answers. Patients were selected based on the type of surgery they had. The majority of them had a CPM, contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. Of the over 700 patients that were given the survey, only 240 have given consent for staff at H C H to review their charts to confirm and analyze their data and compare it to other patients. RESULTS Age, marital status, stage and type of cancer were all important factors in the surgical choices m a d e by the patients. CONCLUSION Many factors are associated with the surgical decisions m a d e by breast cancer patients. More research is anticipated to follow in determining the reasons behind such choices. Ft COM HOPE SIfttft AM!L1 F, ilh ft£ CARE PW1 Gabrielle Femat SPRING 2011 UNDERSTANDING STATUS EPILEPTICUS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THERAPIES Caleb Kuehl (F. Edward Dudek) Department of Physiology University of Utah School of Medicine BACKGROUND Status epilepticus (SE) is a neurological condition in which an individual has continuous or recurrent seizures without regaining consciousness lasting longer than 30 min. After 30-60 min, SE becomes refractory to standard treatment with benzodiazepines and thus is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Therefore, there is a need to develop and validate n e w testing procedures to screen for n e w therapies. F. Edward Dudek METHODS Male, Sprague Dawley rats implanted for electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings are pretreated 18-24 h before pilocarpine treatment with lithium chloride (127 mg/kg). Scopolamine bromide (1 mg/kg) is administered 30 min prior to the injection of pilocarpine (50 mg/kg). At various time points after the development of the first motor seizure, either vehicle, or the test c o m p o u n d is injected intraperitoneal. Video-EEG data are collected for 24 h. The EEG data from 0-10 h after the administration of the test drug is band-pass filtered (20-70 Hz) and the power spectral density calculated and plotted over time. To compare across groups, the energy data are fit with an 8th order polynomial and statistical analyses are performed at different times after onset of SE. RESULTS In the pilocarpine model, untreated SE is associated with significant neuronal d a m a g e and mortality. Over time seizure activity becomes refractory to treatment with benzodiazepines. However, the barbiturate, pentobarbital, and the anesthetic, propofol can terminate benzodiazepine-resistant SE. To date, over 50 experimental c o m p o u n d s have been screened in this model with 4 n e w compounds identified as effective in terminating benzodiazepine-resistant SE. W e are performing additional tests to determine whether these 4 c o m p o u n d s have neuroprotective properties. CONCLUSION The animal model of pilocarpine-induced SE has significant mortality, becomes refractory to treatment with benzodiazepines but not to treatment with barbiturates and anesthetics and thus shares many similarities to the h u m a n condition. The results demonstrate proof-of-concept and that this model is useful for the evaluation of n e w therapies for the treatment of SE. 142 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM PROMOTING COLLEGE AWARENESS AMONG UNDERREPRESENTED CHILDREN Nora Homsavad, Kevin Lieu (Theresa Martinez, Carolyn Bliss) Department of Sociology/Health Sciences LEAP University of Utah Nora Homsavad Background: First generation students of color across the United States encounter barriers in achieving higher education. Studies demonstrate that m a n y schools catering to these students do not have the proper college career and college awareness programs due to their limited resources. This leads to low attendance in higher education a m o n g these students. With these issues in mind, students from the University of Utah Health Sciences LEAP program volunteer to mentor underserved children in the local Salt Lake Community. Third grade students from Mountain View and Riley Elementary were chosen because of their diverse student population and the number of students participating in the free or reduced lunch program. Methods: Students from the Health Sciences LEAP program visit Mountain View and Riley Elementary weekly, tutoring children in various subjects. Pre-surveys and post-purveys are administered to see if the students perceptions about college have changed. In addition, four career presentations and activ ities are presented to engage the students to get them to think about college. Kevin Lieu Results: The results are only from one class at Mountain View Elementary. Although fewer students said they think they will go to college, they are more aware of college from the presentations. W h e n the presentations were being presented, the students were very engaged and even asked questions about other careers requiring a college degree. However, our results m a y have been tainted due to the loss of some students and gain of n e w students; therefore the same individuals did not complete both surveys. Theresa Martinez Conclusion: The weekly visits have had a positive influence not only on the students, but on us, as mentors. W h e n tutoring the children in math they show signs of improvement weekly. W e also have developed relationships with each individual student and have gotten to k n o w each student on a more personal level. By expanding this project to other elementary schools, students will be more aware of higher education and the opportunities they have to offer. Carolyn Bliss 143 SPRING 2011 THE IMPACT OF READING IN UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITES Penny Lopez, Shila Zamanyfar (Joel Arvizo) Department of Inclusion and Outreach at the U of U School of Medicine University of Utah Penny Lopez Shila Zamanyfar Joel Arvizo 144 Literacy has always been an issue in excelling academically, so the presence of books in one's h o m e can impact h o w an individual learns and uses that skill. According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (Naal), fourteen percent of residents in the Unites States are illiterate. In the US, adults with a high level of literacy are at 19%, low levels of literacy are at 49.6% and a moderate level of literacy at 31.4%. The US falls into the 27th slot of 205 in comparison to the international data polls. Studying underrepresented communities; w e k n o w the literacy rate is lower based on education levels and the fact that big portions of the people live in underrepresented communities. These communities don't always get access to educational resources and opportunities because of systemic barriers that prevent access; such as income and language policies. In all developing countries, the percentage of children aged 6-11 not attending school is 15 percent. In the least developed countries, it is 45 percent. (UNESCO 1998), W o m e n m a k e up two-thirds of all non-literates and 98 percent of all non-literates live in developing countries. The purpose of the study is to allow children to partake in activities that promote reading and permit them to have access to as m a n y books as they desire at home. In hopes this will motivate reading and in turn boost their comprehension and literacy rates which can stimulate interest in higher education. University Neighborhood Partners and the Office of Inclusion and Outreach at the U of U School of Medicine has set up a Youth Book Exchange Partnership at Glendale Middle School where students have the freedom of attending and exchanging books from h o m e that they dislike or just simply taking a book home. This act allows children that would otherwise not have any books to have literature to read. There are also sessions of discussion and activities where w e try to get students interested in higher education using field trips and games. As of n o w there are no results but w e suspect that after evaluating comprehension rates, w e will see an increase in the students who have diligently decided to partake in the program and w e will monitor the progress as time passes to record improvement .The ultimate goal of the program is to promote higher education by sparking interest in reading via the Youth Book Exchange Program. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM OVEREXPRESSION OF CARDIAC-SPECIFIC MANGANESE SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE REDUCES FATTY ACID OXIDATION THROUGH INHIBITION OF SIRT3 Evangeleena Manzanares Evangeleena Manzanares (Olesya llkun, E. Dale Abel) Department of Biochemistry University of Utah Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in the United States. While a pathogenesis of this complex disease remains under investigation, several studies have pointed to deregulation of cardiomyocyte redox balance through oxidative and reductive stresses. The energy produced by mitochondria is necessary to sustain cardiac function. During mitochondrial respiration, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation complex I, or N A D H dehydrogenase, cleaves one proton and one electron from N A D H , producing N A D + . During this process, superoxide is produced as a byproduct of electron transfer creating mitochondrial oxidative stress. Manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2), a mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme, detoxifies superoxide and is necessary for the maintenance of redox balance. Interestingly, recent findings suggest that transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of S0D2 (SOD2TG) have reductive stress and decreased mitochondrial function. A possible explanation for mitochondrial dysfunction in this model could be alterations in N A D + / N A D H ratios that is secondary to reductive stress. SIRT3 is a N A D + dependent deacetlyase localized to the mitochondrial matrix. SIRT3 regulates fatty acid oxidation and the function of N A D H dehydrogenase. W e hypothesized that induction of reductive stress in the heart by overexpression of cardiac-specific S O D 2 reduces fatty acid oxidation via a mechanism that involves the inhibition of SIRT3. Using SOD2TG mice with the WT liter mates as controls, SIRT3 protein expression was measured with western blotting in and enzymatic assays were used to assess the activity of SIRT3 and the abundance of N A D + and N A D H . In support of our hypothesis, w e found a 7 4 % decrease in N A D + / N A D H ratio and a decrease in SIRT3 abundance (30%) and activity (15%). In addition to a decrease in mitochondrial function, palmitate oxidation was 3 0 % decreased as measured ex-vivo in isolated working hearts. In conclusion, the overexpression of antioxidants in the heart m a y inhibit mitochondrial function by modulating the expression and activity of SIRT3. E. Dale Abel 145 SPRING 2011 TECHNOLOGY AS A BEHAVIOR CHANGE CATALYST FOR ADULTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES Jessica McPhail Jessica McPhail, Lorena Aguilar, Alison Eldredge, R.N., M.S (Nancy Staggers, R.N, Ph.D., FAAN, Jodi Groot, Ph.D., APRN, Lauren Clark, R.N., Ph.D., FAAN) College of Nursing University of Utah Purpose/Aims: The purpose of the "Yes We Can! Again" study was to collaboratively develop, implement, and evaluate a healthy lifestyle program using cell phone and social networking technology with young adults w h o have intellectual disabilities (ID) using a community-based participatory research approach. Background: Young adults with ID (IQ < 70) are twice as likely to be overweight as their age matched peers; however, health promotion programs generally d o not include this population. Little is known about the use of technology as a motivator or reinforcer for positive healthy lifestyle behavior change in general, let alone for individuals with ID. Lorena Aguilar Lauren Clark Methods: Young adults with ID (n=6) who were overweight or obese participated in a focus group and two individual interviews to collaborate in the development and evaluation of a healthy lifestyle program using cell phone technology and a Facebook site. Prior to program initiation and post-intervention all participants were weighed to assess for changes in body weight over the course of the monthlong intervention. The program included daily texts/phone calls from a team of research assistants to encourage setting and achieving exercise and nutrition goals. In addition, the Facebook site included healthy recipes, links to workout videos, and nutrition/fitness quizzes. Following the intervention, participants and their parents attended a final debriefing focus group to share their experiences and evaluate the intervention. Analyses included a paired t-test of pre- post- weight and a qualitative descriptive analysis of interviews, focus groups, and text or phone communications with participants during the intervention. Results: No significant weight loss occurred among participants (p-value=86). Limitations in dexterity and literacy related to sending and receiving text or voice messages were anticipated as barriers for this intervention, and required tailoring the cell phone interactions to meet individual needs. With tailoring, each young adult w a s able to fully participate in health conversations with the research staff. Young adults and parents favorably evaluated the social aspects of the intervention and expressed a desire for a closer relationship with other young adults in the study. The health benefits were viewed as more social than physical by parents, although both parents and young adults identified increased motivation to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors and examples of actual behavior change. Qualitative analysis supported three distinct themes: technology feasibility, social support, and challenges in changing health habits. Implications: We recommend refining a socially-mediated process for behavioral prompts and reinforcement w h e n creating a healthy lifestyle intervention for young adults with ID. W e plan to improve effectiveness of the cell phone and Facebook site as used in the Yes W e Can Again! intervention by adopting motivational interviewing for texts/calls, including explicit peer social support within the group, scheduling predictable daily phone interactions, and using technology as an extension of a healthy lifestyle group intervention. Funded by an Innovation Seed Grant from the University of Utah College of Nursing P* eT\ 4 • 7 1 146 S •• 8 »• o 1 nM THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM REACH FOR YOUR DREAM - EXPOSING 3RD GRADE STUDENTS TO HIGHER EDUCATION Kim Nguyen, Joyce Cardenas (Theresa Martinez) Department of Health Promotion and Education, LEAP Health Sciences University of Utah "Reaching for your dreams" is a program that encourages younger generation students to continue their education. The program educate and help students from less represented communities that that they to have the opportunity to have the career that they have always dreamed of. Students from the University of Utah, such as m y partner and I, visit third grade students on a weekly basis. During our visits, w e tutor, teach, play with the students. W e teach the students different careers using Power Point presentations, hands on activities and in class discussions. Students exposed to higher education at a younger age are more likely to continue on after high school and go to college. Pre-surveys were performed to understand a student's knowledge about college and careers. Results demonstrated students from less represented backgrounds show less anticipation of continuing to college. Using the given results, m y partner and I are determined to influence these students to dare to dream and strive to reach for their dreams. The anticipated results of the post-surveys will verify that students are aware of opportunities that are available to them and w e hope that they will continue to recognize those opportunities as they continue their education. M y partner and I hope to be perceptible examples to these students, enough that they too can accomplish their dreams. Kim Nguyen Joyce Cardenas Theresa Martinez 147 HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM SPRING 2011 SENSORY MUSCLE FATIGUE: FROM MOLECULAR RECEPTORS TO CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME Jordan Nielson, Pansa Lerslerphant (Alan Light, Ronald Hughen) Department of Anesthesiology, Health Sciences LEAP University of Utah Jordan Nielson Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is characterized by physiological and psychological impairment, usually accompanied by wide spread muscle pain and fatigues that result in severe impairment of daily function. Symptoms of CFS become worse after exercise. Right n o w the lab is doing experiments with CFS patients and control subjects to collect measurements, to determine if the alterations in gene expression are related to fatigue and pain. Pansa Lerslerphant The lab took pre-exercise and post-exercise blood draws to do RNA extraction from white blood cells using RNeasy kits. R N A was then converted to c D N A library using reverse transcription with a cDNA archive kit and then stored in a -80°C freezer until analyzed by quantitative, real-time PCR. PCR product was generated from our c D N A libraries and sequenced. All of these sequences were >99-100% identical to the predicted m R N A sequences from transcribed genes. PCR results were analyzed to determine artifacts. Count numbers were exported to an Excel spreadsheet, and analyzed according to the ddCT method. Baseline levels for each gene were used as the comparator for all measures taken after exercise period. This experiment determined the sensory genes are ASIC3, P2X4, P2X5, and TRPV1; the determined adrenergic genes area-2A, (3-1, (3-2, and C O M T ; Sensory genes were determined to be IL6, IL10, TNFa, TLR4, and CD14X.The analysis concludes that exercise increases in metabolic detecting receptors, and greater increases in these receptors were associated with greater fatigue in CFS patients. Post-exercise pain symptoms were linked to ASIC3,TRPV1, a2A, (32, and 1110 increases. Further testing is necessary to determine whether other diseases cause a dysregulation of gene expression. The questions w e have n o w are: can gene expression be used to track treatments, and can it be used to determine optimal training regimens in athletes? Further research will determine the direction that w e are going. Alan Light Ronald Hughen THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM SPIRITUALITY IN HOSPICE CARE Deqa O s m a n (Maija Reblin, Lee Ellington] College of Nursing University of Utah Introduction/Background: Interest in spirituality within the health care setting has increased in recent years. Studies have s h o w n that spirituality plays an integral role for patients and their families, particularly w h e n a patient has a terminal illness such as cancer (Boston, 2006). As m a n y as 47 percent of cancer patients indicate "unmet spiritual needs" (Ferrell, 2007). This finding suggests that the current health care system is lacking in spiritual support for its patients and that m a y have implications for adverse health outcomes and satisfaction with care (Ferrell, 2007). Spirituality is an important factor for terminal cancer patients and their family caregivers facing the unknown. Patients and their families m a y receive spiritual care from their h o m e hospice nurse. H o m e hospice nurses' main duties are to monitor patients' health and teach patients and their family caregivers h o w to m a n a g e the illness including medication administration and physical therapy. However, hospice nurses m a y also help patients and families find meaning in their lives and examine expectations for afterlife, if they are spiritually inclined. The purpose of this study was to describe spiritual discussions that occur during the course of h o m e hospice care between visiting nurses and patients/family caregivers. Our descriptive findings could inform palliative care providers what spiritual needs m a y arise at end of life. Deqa Osman Maija Reblin Methods: Five hospice nurses wore an audio recording device w h e n they visited cancer patients and their family caregivers. The recorded visits were transcribed, reviewed, and dialogue related to spirituality was marked. W e identified themes of spirituality and the process of nurse communication. Results: In total, seven caregivers (5 female, 2 male) and the patient spouse/partner that they cared for (5 male, 2 female) were enrolled. These couples had been together from 2 to 63 years. All caregivers except one had at least a high school education. Types of cancer included melanoma, lung, and bone cancer. Three patients self-identified as Catholic, three as M o r m o n and one as Lutheran. Caregivers reported the same religious affiliation as patients. There were a total of 33 nurse visits (2-11 visits per patient/caregiver). The average visit interaction was 55 minutes. There was at least one spiritual discussion in each case. W e found a total of 5 themes: exploring/searching for meaning, storytelling about religious experiences, preparing and taking care of religious tasks, hope, and discussion of afterlife. The majority of the themes related to "hope" and "exploring/searching for meaning". W e found the nurses engaged in 4 different dialogue processes: sharing o w n spiritual stories and beliefs, describing life after death, exploring through question asking, and helping the patient/caregiver reflect back upon their religious experiences. Lee Ellington Conclusion/discussion: From this project, w e were able to describe the communication processes and the nature of spiritual interactions a m o n g hospice nurses, cancer patients and family caregivers. The themes were mostly related to "searching" for something that would give connection to spirituality or evidence of spirituality in their lives. Another predominant t h e m e was "hope" which seemed to represent life after death or connection beyond death. These findings help us to better understand what spirituality is about for dying cancer patients and their family caregivers. Most of the nurses put their religious and spiritual beliefs aside and they used different communication behaviors to address patient/caregiver spiritual issues. Our findings m a y have implications for nurses to get better training in communication skills related to spirituality. Health care providers w h o offer patients and families the opportunity to address spiritual issues m a y improve quality of life and adjustment to hospice care. 149 SPRING 2011 EFFICACY OF A POLYPHENOLIC SUPPLEMENT TO REDUCE CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTORS IN SUBJECTS WITH METABOLIC SYNDROME Ashley Quadros Ashley Quadros, Shara Biesinger (Thunder Jalili) Department of Nutrition University of Utah Metabolic syndrome, a c o m m o n diagnosis at present, is defined as having three or more of the following criteria; hypertension, increased waist circumference, elevated fasting plasma triglycerides, elevated fasting glucose, and reduced H D L cholesterol. Those with metabolic syndrome have increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Provex C V is a natural supplement containing green tea extract, quercetin, resveratrol, grape seed and skin extract, and gingko biloba, all of which individually have been shown to reduce hypertension and reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as platelet aggregation. The purpose of this double blind, placebo controlled crossover study is to investigate the effects of combined supplementation of these compounds. W e hypothesize that Provex C V will reduce blood pressure and platelet aggregation compared to placebo. U p to 30 male and female volunteers with hypertension and metabolic syndrome will be recruited from the community to participate in the trial. Volunteers will participate in two treatment arms that are each 4 weeks long; one for supplement and another for placebo. Each arm is separated by 2 weeks. Variables to be measured include blood pressure and platelet aggregation. Thus far, data from 12 participants indicates treatment with Provex CV decreases diastolic blood pressure by 3.3 m m H g vs. placebo. N o significant change was observed on systolic pressure. Platelet aggregation was significantly reduced by 3 1 % compared to baseline after treatment with Provex CV. Full results of this study are expected to be complete by August 2011. Thunder Jalili THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM DRUG DICOVERY RESEARCH Rafael Rascon ( Kent Lai) Department of Pediatrics University of Utah Rafael Rascon Background For a long time, penicillin and other antibiotics have been very successful in treating bacterial infections until resistance to these wonder drugs began to surface. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop n e w antimicrobials with different targets. In this study, w e focus on the bacterial enzyme, CDP-ME kinase. C D P - M E kinase is a unique, essential enzyme present only in Gram-ve bacteria and a few other micro-organisms., but not in h u m a n s or higher animals. Method To discover novel chemical c o m p o u n d s which specifically target C D P - M E kinase, w e will need (1) a high-throughput assay for C D P - M E kinase activity; (2) sufficient C D P - M E kinase; and (3) a screening facility which has a huge collection of small molecule c o m p o u n d s with diverse chemical scaffold, and the necessary robotics system to carry out the screening. Kent Lai As of today, Professor Kent Lai's laboratory has prepared sufficient pure CDP-ME kinase (requirement #2) and has access to a screening facility (requirement #3). W h a t he needs is to establish the highthroughput assay (requirement #1). Professor Kent Lai proposed the following enzymatic reaction as the assay for CDP-ME kinase activity: CDP-ME + ATP -»form CDP-MEP + A D P If the c o m p o u n d inhibits C D P - M E kinase, there will be plenty of ATP at the end of the reaction. In order to carry out such reaction, m y task is to prepare a large amount of CDP-ME, a substrate of CDP-ME. Results The starting material for the reaction is close to completion; however, it has a variety of steps that have never been done before and need to be figured out. Once the starting material has been m a d e it will allow for further testing that might lead to an inhibitor for C D P - M E Kinase. Conclusion Due to the lack of the starting material the testing for an inhibitor for the following reaction has not taken place. However, once the starting material is completed, it should allow for m a n y c o m p o u n d s to be tested. 151 SPRING 2011 MICE WITH TARGETED DISRUPTION OF THE ENZYME DIHYDROCERAMIDE DESATURASE (DES) DEVELOP CHARACTERISTICS OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME Julieta Sarmiento J. David Symons Julieta Sarmiento (J. David Symons) College of Health, LEAP Health Sciences University of Utah Our laboratory is interested in mechanisms responsible for vascular dysfunction that exist in dietinduced obesity. To study this w e use a rodent model. Mice that consume high-fat (HF) chow for 10-12 weeks have increased fat mass, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance i.e., systemic disturbances characteristic of the metabolic syndrome. HF fed mice also exhibit decreased vascular function and hypertension i.e., cardiovascular complications. Recently w e tested the hypothesis that the sphingolipid ceramide contributes to arterial dysfunction in mice with diet-induced obesity. W h e n fat-fed mice were treated concurrently with myriocin - a pharmacological inhibitor of ceramide biosynthesis vascular ceramide accumulation did not occur, systemic metabolic disturbances were less severe, and arterial dysfunction was prevented compared to fat-fed mice that were treated with a placebo. However, because two end-points were favorably altered in myriocin-treated mice i.e., vascular ceramide accumulation did not occur and the toxic metabolic environment was less severe - the precise mechanism responsible for the prevention of cardiovascular complications was unclear. To address this issue w e used mice with targeted disruption of dihydroceramide desaturase (des) isoform 1 (desl +/-) and mice that have an intact desl gene (desl +/+). The des enzyme is required to convert metabolically inactive dihydroceramide into active ceramide. W e hypothesized that fat-feeding would disrupt the metabolic environment to a similar extent in both genotypes, but that arterial ceramide would not accumulate in des1+/- mice. If this were true, then these mice could be used to determine whether ceramide evokes vascular dysfunction in a tissue autonomous manner. Des1+/+ and des1+/mice consumed c h o w that contained 1 0 % (CON) or 4 5 % (HF) fat for 12 weeks. Body composition was assessed via dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and a glucose tolerance test was performed. Segments of aorta were analyzed for ceramide content. Fat feeding increased (*p<0.05) body and fat mass, and decreased (*p<0.05) lean mass, to a similar degree in both genotypes (Panel A). Fat-feeding evoked hyperglycemia (*p<0.05) to a similar extent in both groups (Panel B). While glucose tolerance was disrupted (*p<0.05) by HF feeding, the severity was greater (#p<0.05) in desl +/- vs. desl +/+ animals. As expected, ceramide increased in arteries from obese desl +/+ but not desl +/- mice. Taken together, fat fed desl +/- and desl +/+ mice are an ideal model to test the hypothesis that ceramide evokes arterial dysfunction in a tissue autonomous manner. 45 40 35 w 30 A. body composition * - CON HF 250 B. fasting glucose I 25 O) 20 15 10 5 +/+ +/- body mass ll +/+ +/- +/+ +/. lean mass fat mass C A U C during G T T *# * • D. arterial ceramide 46000 40000 36000 <30000 26000 20000 15000 152 1 •l i i * CON HF desl +/+ 1 CON HF desl •/- U) 60 E 0)45 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM AFFIRMING EQUITY: CREATING ACCESS TO COLLEGE CAREERS A M O N G FIRST GENERATION STUDENTS AND STUDENTS OF COLOR IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Tomoki Sempokuya Melissa Do, Tomoki Sempokuya (Theresa Martinez) Department of Sociology, Health Sciences LEAP University of Utah Background First generation and children of color are a big part of the elementary school system in America. Most of these children c o m e from low-income families and schools that are not well funded enough to allow programs that provide information on higher education. With these barriers, children seem to have no interest or knowledge of what is available to them after high school. Providing the children with presentations of college careers and being mentors, will eventually give rise to a more abundant amount of younger children from this population that will want a higher education. Theresa Martinez Methods • Present four power point presentations on professions that require a four-year degree to 3rd grade elementary students located in a low-income neighborhood. • Plan an activity that incorporates the specific career that is presented for hands on approach. • Give a pre survey to determine what children k n o w about college and w h o wants to go to college, then give a post survey after the presentations and mentoring to show what the children have learned and h o w m a n y of them would like to go to college. • Visit the 3rd graders weekly to tutor and mentor in various subjects that the teacher assigns. Results Pre survey results showed majority of the 3rd graders wanted to attend college, but did not k n o w enough information on specific careers to fully m a k e a decision on attending college. Post survey showed an increase interest in college careers, although s o m e students still were unsure if they would attend college or not. Conclusion From our results w e can conclude that the first-generation 3rd graders of color have an increased knowledge of information on college careers because of involvement of university students mentoring and educating children at a younger age. Which in return will be a stepping-stone to b e c o m e more aware of what their future can hold. 153 SPRING 2011 EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF NON-DNA INHERITED PHENOTYPES Joshua Strait Robert A. Mcknight Joshua Strait (Robert A McKnight) University of Utah School of Medicine Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics University of Utah Unlike the g e n o m e designed to conserve information, the epigenome is variable in response to changes in the environment. Of benefit, the epigenome can be used to alter gene expression up or d o w n to adapt to an insult of an individuals environment. It is thought the prenatal epigenome may be most vulnerable to insult w h e n m a n y of the chemical modifications are being assigned to D N A and histone proteins, a process referred to as imprinting. A prenatal environmental insult has drastic long-term metabolic effects on the individual. If the inutero nutritional environment was characterized by either limiting or excess nutrients, this would influence h o w the genes involved in metabolism would preset their expression patterns. The expression pattern of specific genes are changed by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), including insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which is crucial to growth, development and glucose homeostasis. Directly linked to insulin resistance is a decrease in levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in IUGR individuals, both before and after birth. W e believe that the IGF-1 is down-regulated in IUGR rodent models due to alterations in epigenetic modifications. It is shown that the serum IGF-1 levels are decreased at day 21 of a mouse's life, equivalent to h u m a n adolescence. Through epigenetic research we learn genetic information is interpreted much more extensively than formerly understood. While genetic information defines a single sentence of information, epigenetics allows for the interpretation thereof. Excluding mutagens, the environmental factors such as nutrition, nurture, and exercise do not m a k e alterations within the D N A sequence, but alter chemical modifications that interpret the data through the epigenome. Greater accountability relating to variable environmental factors influencing the genetic expression of offspring carry overwhelming implications of societal change. 154 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM EMERITUS ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP: EMPOWERING REFUGEE STUDENTS TO GO TO COLLEGE Linda Jo Taylor (John Bennion, Michelle Stimpson) Office of Academic Outreach, Health Sciences LEAP University of Utah Linda Jo Taylor INTRODUCTION: In the spring of 2010, the University of Utah Emeritus Alumni Board presented a potential scholarship of $5,000 to nine permissible refugee students from Bryant Jr. High w h o have begun their high school career in the year 2010-2011. Each of these nine students has lived lives of hardship and are first generation students. The purpose behind a potential scholarship is to not simply give them m o n e y for college, but to help them succeed through high school so that they are prepared and capable to succeed in college. This is accomplished by mandating that each student must maintain specific academic requirements while in high school in order to receive the EA-Scholarship which they will be able to use towards any college of their choice. John Bennion METHODS: In order to help each student succeed we found that it was significantly helpful to hold a meeting once a month with all nine students together, (they have been split up a m o n g three different high schools), along with their ESL teacher, a college student representative, and the Emeritus Alumni Board representative John Bennion. This meeting allows students to offer social support to one another and discuss struggles, goals, advice, and motivation to their peers to encourage each other to maintain good grades and to walk away with a good experience in high school. As a successful college student with a diverse background I act as a mentor to these refugee students. M y activities include, but are not limited to, visiting them in their schools, keeping in contact with their teachers, tracking their grades, and meeting with the students individually to discuss where they are struggling, h o w I can offer support and encouragement, and by helping them set attainable goals that will keep them focused on a path to success. These methods of intervention will continue all four years of high school until they are ready to advance to the ultimate goal of obtaining a college education. Michelle Stimpson RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS: Because these students are at high risk due to their refugee backgrounds and lack of support (family, language, resources), this program provides an opportunity for them to succeed in life by continuing their education as a college student. Program staff- ESL teachers, project investigator, and college mentor- offer a strong support group w h o are invested in these students and are committed to the success of each student. They constantly promote self confidence in the refugee students that if they work hard and never underestimate themselves they can and will go to college. Keeping in contact with each student throughout high school has thus far shown to be beneficial. This has been proven within the first semester after an intervention was put into place where they sit d o w n with their mentor to set goals and a plan of action. The students then learn h o w to stand up for themselves and take control of their education as they strive to succeed in their classes with a collegebound attitude. The students have been found to react positively to these interventions, which have been proven through an increase in G P A and positive behaviors in the classroom. W e plan to continue this program each year with a n e w set of 8th graders. Each group has and will continue to be exposed to a variety of college campus tours as well as university student speakers for motivation and advice. 155 HEALTH SCIENCES LEAP PROGRAM SPRING 2011 FATTY ACID INDUCED MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION Kylee Tokita (Hannah Gordon, Dale Abel) Department of H u m a n Genetics University of Utah Kylee Tokita Dale Abel Type 2 diabetes is an emerging epidemic that is characterized by insulin resistance, particularly in peripheral tissues. The molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to this disease are not well understood, but it is k n o w n that high levels of fatty acids occur in diabetes. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the development and/or progression of type 2 diabetes. The goal of this study was to determine whether or not mitochondrial dysfunction occurs in the presence of pathologically relevant levels of fatty acids within the cell. W e focused on the recently emerging field of mitochondrial dynamics, which represents the balance of fission and fusion events within the mitochondrial network. Mitochondrial morphology was examined after the incubation of rat skeletal muscle (L6) cell lines with varying concentrations of palmitate. Mitochondrial dynamics are assessed using immunofluorescence of L6 cell lines that harbor mitochondrial targeted-RFP. W e observed that fragmentation of the mitochondrial network occurs following exposure of rat skeletal muscle cell lines to pathophysiological levels of palmitic acid. These results indicate that exposure to the fatty acid palmitate increases mitochondrial fragmentation in skeletal muscle cells. This study will lead to a better understanding of the mitochondrial response to nutrients such as fatty acids, and could increase knowledge of the link between mitochondrial dysfunction and diabetes. Message from the Director Stephanie Richardson The Undergraduate Student Experts on Teaching program (USET) brings undergraduates and faculty members together in an intensive, year-long experience to enhance teaching and learning at the University of Utah. The USET signature experience is a brand-new two semester paid program for undergraduate students w h o are: • Aspiring to be leaders on campus in the teaching mission • Wish to increase connections with faculty in their declared major • Considering a career involving teaching, consulting, or training. There are three parts to USET. In the first (and largest) part, students complete a project under the guidance of their faculty mentor, related to either to pedagogical research or active teaching. Projects build the connection between the student, the mentor, and the major. In the second part, students learn to evaluate and provide feedback on teaching, through a series of eight observations of faculty teaching sessions. Following each observation, they share feedback with the faculty member, including positive and negative impressions and suggestions for improvement. Initially intimidating for students, student confidence and communication skills steadily improve while instructors appreciate the student viewpoint almost immediately. In the third part, students actively participate in a committee on campus involving teaching and learning governance. As a general rule, faculty greatly respect the student voice in committee meetings, while participation in committees reveals the real story behind rules, regulations, and requirements. Undergraduate students apply to the program through the Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence. Explore the program further, and see what student writers have to say about it at in our online journal lessons, all available at www.ctle.utah.edu. SPRING 2011 USING SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS TO ASSESS COURSE SATISFACTION IN YEAR-LONG FRESHMAN SEMINARS IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY FORMATION IN THE CLASSROOM Justin P. Clifford (Jeff W e b b ) Department of Undergraduate Studies University of Utah Jeff Webb Drawing from a growing body of research involving social network analysis (SNA), w e set out to apply this tool to m a p the social networks that form within classes that are part of the LEAP Program at the University of Utah, and to compare the structure of those networks with outcome data, namely student satisfaction with the course and instructor. LEAP enrolls about 3 0 % of entering freshmen at the University of Utah in year-long seminars that satisfy multiple general education requirements in a way that is related to the students' prospective field of study. A stated objective of the LEAP Program is to encourage the formation and utilization of community to ensure a more productive university experience. To facilitate this process, each LEAP section employs a Peer Advisor (PA), a former LEAP student selected to return for a second year, w h o acts as both a peer mentor and teaching assistant. As informal evidence has suggested, our hypothesis is that the formation of social networks exhibiting a high density of weak connections between students and a centrally located PA positively influences student performance and satisfaction in the course. Data required for SNA is to be collected from each of the 29 LEAP sections via electronic survey adm istered near the end of fall and spring semesters, beginning fall of 2010. The survey presents students with a list of their classmates and asks them to rank each classmate in terms of their frequency of contact and subjective strength of relationship. This data is processed NodeXL to determine network density, student centrality, clustering, and to produce graphical representations of the social network. This is in turn evaluated against course and instructor satisfaction gathered from student course feedback surveys administered at the end of each semester throughout the university. Preliminary analysis of Fall 2010 data is suggestive, with both course and instructor satisfaction p tively correlated with network density (p<0.05). Analysis of data from subsequent semesters will provide a more powerful comparison, determine the existence of trends in community formation from fall to spring semesters, and provide insight into best practices in fostering community development and student involvement upon transition to higher education. 158 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT EXPERTS ON TEACHING ORACLES: PEER TO PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM TO INCREASE RETENTION AMONG PRE-MAJOR STUDENTS Jonathan B. Davies, Lawrence M. Schlitt, James T. Skowronek (Cynthia Furse) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Utah In order to help facilitate Utah's Science and Engineering Initiative, which is aimed at increasing the number of Utah college graduates in all technical fields, our team is developing a culture of support designed to improve the overall educational and social experience for students of science and engineering. O n e of the most effective ways for students to learn is to regularly engage their time in re-communicating what they are taught. W e propose that this communication is best aimed towards helping underclassmen. Learning to effectively communicate difficult concepts in science and engineering is a morale-boosting activity and increases their communication abilities. This effective communication also contributes to success in life and career. Upperclassman-moderated study sessions were implemented during the s u m m e r of 2010 through spring of 2011. The courses include the entry-level electrical circuits course, ECE1270, Physics 2210, and the second semester electrical circuits course, ECE2260. Student response has been positive, as it has been suggested that these moderated study sessions are in many ways more helpful than regular class lectures and TA discussion sessions. Also, an online bulletin board/forum where students (university and K-12 students alike) can create profiles and login to ask upperclassmen moderators for assistance in any science or engineering subject has been implemented. This research endeavors to create a standardized program throughout the university with the purpose of motivating students across various classlevels and disciplines to engage in regular peer-to-peer communications, exchanging information useful or pertinent to success as students. The ultimate intent is on improving the educational experience and increasing student retention. (An Oracle refers to a [minimally] committed, supportive upperclassmen or graduate student). Underclassmen are in need of a broader range of support and communication from successful upperclassmen. The typical ratios of underclassmen-to-professor and underclassmen-to-TA are too high in most technical disciplines for a majority of underclassmen to get enough out of their education in the time allotted. Graduating students are entering the workforce or graduate schools unprepared to adequately communicate what they've learned as undergrads. Students need more regular opportunities to re-communicate information that they're absorbing; thereby solidifying their knowledge and improving their technical communication skills in the process. Students are eager to communicate to faculty and administration which curriculum standards and teaching methods are working. But more importantly, they are equally as eager to receive feedback regarding their input. Jonathan B. Davies Cynthia Furse Develop a peer-to-peer culture of support and communication between class-levels and across disciplines wherein Oracles who have mastered a previous course or topic, commit a small amount of time to moderate small groups of underclassmen in current courses, moderate online forum topics (see http://uanswers.eng.utah.edu), and provide feedback to their department(s) regarding information gleaned from their small groups, the U's Director A proposed ratio of no more than 10:1 students to Oracle is suggested in order to motivate productive face-to-face collaborative study sessions. Retention will improve as underclassmen realize the following benefits: Opportunities to gain support from a broad network of Oracles w h o often have more useful insights than professors and graduate students regarding h o w to navigate problematic areas associated with certain courses or topics; because the navigation is still fresh on the minds of Oracles, and there will be more of them to provide support than there are professors, TA's, etc. Greater flexibility w h e n seeking out assistance from Oracles they can relate to, thereby mitigating the negative effects of communication power differentials with faculty and TA's. Networking across class-levels and disciplines will provide for a better awareness of opportunities critical to educational success, and will improve relationships and increase morale. Satisfaction in knowing they are advocates in a design to collect more useful course feedback that will lead to targeted quality improvements; while still remaining anonymous behind a safe-buffer provided by Oracles. Oracles will benefit in the following ways: Students learn more and b e c o m e more capable communicators w h e n they are m a d e to re-teach what they've learned. Uanswers website since it is an interactive website designed for continuous feeds. Because the role of an Oracle is to be someone with w h o m other students can relate and communicate without worry of a power imbalance, it should be expected (but not required) that students be willing to offer s o m e feedback that is not totally anonymous. Such feedback could be sent to their professor, TA, the head Oracle, or the Oracle program supervisor at the student's discretion, or posted on a discussion thread on the Uanswers website. A n o n y m o u s feedback specifically regarding Oracles should also be collected via student course evaluations. If these evaluations were designed to encourage students to give feedback regarding the effectiveness of individual sources used to gather information for a course (e.g. lectures or office hours of professor orTA, communication with Oracle, required textbooks, supplemental textbooks, course notes or website, dept. tutoring center, private tutor, fellow students, etc.), then anonymous feedback could be handled through these evaluations at the end of each semester (and at mid-term evaluations, w h e n applicable). Professors and TA's should also provide feedback regarding any helpfulness (or lack of) they witness from individual Oracles, or any feedback they receive from individual students regarding assistance an Oracle has consistently provided. This feedback can also be tunneled through the Uanswers website. Oracles should also provide personal feedback to the head Oracle regarding their o w n interpretations of their successes and failures, and what they've learned. Through the Uanswers website, again. 159 SPRING 2011 BENEFIT ASSESSMENT OF PREMEDICAL ANATOMICAL STUDY FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS Noah Harper, Nicholas S. Livdahl (David A. Morton) Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy University of Utah Noah Harper Most medical schools, including the University of Utah School of Medicine (UofUSOM), do not require gross anatomy as a prerequisite for admission. Research has indicated that a premedical gross anatom y course with prosected specimens significantly improves academic performance in medical school gross anatomy (Forester, 2002). The purpose of this research study was to evaluate performance in gross anatomy, clinical skills and overall grades of students at the U o f U S O M by comparing those who had taken a gross anatomy course prior to medical school with those w h o had not. Medical students completed a questionnaire that obtained information regarding the extent of part pants' exposure to anatomical studies as pre-medical students. The questionnaire also obtained subjective data regarding perspectives on the relevance of anatomical study to preparation for medical school as well as the extent that participants were encouraged to pursue anatomical study. Nicholas S. Livdahl **1 k David A. Morton Research data obtained from the questionnaire is currently being analyzed and will be completed during S u m m e r 2011. Preliminary results of subjective data from the participant pool (n= 115) showed that 1) 8 3 % of medical students felt that taking an anatomy course prior to attending medical school was important, 2) 7 3 % of medical students felt they might have performed better, academically, in medical school had they taken more anatomy courses, and 3) 3 4 % of medical students were not encouraged to take an anatomy course. At completion of the study the research team expects to find that student performance in anatomy related medical school classes will be higher for those w h o participated in pre-medical anatomy courses. Additionally, little data exists in comparing anatomy proficiency with overall performance in medical school. Therefore, a purpose of this study is to determine if there is a link between pre-medical anatomical study and overall academic performance in medical school. These findings would help to support the hypothesis that a strong foundation in anatomical study enhances performance in learning, understanding and synthesizing clinical knowledge. A n aim of this study is to provide data for pre-medical advisors and students on the benefit of pre-medical anatomy courses on medical school performance. i your opinion, pltai might h*v* performed twcnt *c*OwnieA)t> tn m*dicU i H 160 66 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT EXPERTS ON TEACHING DOES IN-CLASS DISCUSSION INFLUENCE STUDENT LEARNING AND PERCEPTION OF LEARNING? Claire Henriod (Kerry Jacques) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah Claire Henriod The purpose of this study was to implement the use of an Audience Response System (ARS) in a large lecture-based exercise physiology course to determine if the use of an ARS augments interactive learning experiences associated with question discussion. W e hypothesized that the use of an ARS would augment interactive learning experiences and therefore improve student learning and student perception of learning. The study was conducted over two semesters. The Fall 2010 semester (n=109) was used to pilot our questions, and the use of an ARS was implemented during the Spring 2011 semester (n=17). During select lectures each group responded to one or two multiple choice questions related to the course material. The intervention group was instructed to discuss their response to the question with their classmates, while the control group told to answer the question with no discussion. A selection of these questions were placed on exams, and student learning was assessed by comparing scores on these questions between the classes. To assess student perception of learning w e asked the students to rate on a Likert scale (1-5) whether they felt that having a question posed during lecture influenced their comprehension of the course material. Kerry Jacques Both the control and intervention groups had similar mean scores on exam 1 and 2, but when evaluating the data from the comprehensive final exam, students in the intervention group scored higher on the select group of questions than the control group. Regarding perception of learning, both groups reported on the Likert scale that the in-class questions increased their perception of learning, and there was no significant difference in scores between groups (intervention: 4.4, control: 4.6, spring intervention: 4.3). Our study supports the use of an ARS in a large lecture-based exercise physiology course to facilitate discussion and thus improve student learning and perception of learning. Though both groups reported similar perception of learning, the intervention group had higher m e a n scores on the comprehensive final exam. These results lead us to conclude that the in-class discussion of questions had a greater effect on long-term retention and learning of material rather than short-term learning. IN-CLASS OWC " INGAHDPEJW IFLEARMtMC 161 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT EXPERTS ON TEACHING SPRING 2011 OBSERVING SNOW AND WIND: USING THE ENVIRONMENTTO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN 1 SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 1 Alyssa Jenkins (John Horel) Department of Atmospheric Sciences University of Utah Alyssa Jenkins John Horel Undergraduate students, as well as the general public, experience weather every day. Atmospheric sc ence faculty at colleges and universities around the nation routinely build on and incorporate those experiences into undergraduate courses. The local weather in the vicinity of the University of Utah provides opportunities in our department to apply fundamental science concepts in ways that students can recognize as being relevant to them, e.g., health effects of episodes of very poor air quality in the Salt Lake Valley, upcoming weekend weather in the nearby Wasatch Mountains affecting outdoor recreational interests, or major snowstorms that affect arriving or leaving campus. The Atmospheric Sciences undergraduate curriculum has been extensively revised beginning this year to develop an undergraduate program that engages and excites all students, including underrepresented groups, about science. A critical component of this effort has been to increase hands on learning opportunities in the A T M O S 1010 course, Severe and Unusual Weather. Students'awareness regarding h o w weather observations are m a d e is enhanced by having them take weather observations routinely. O n e of the most popular assignments is to measure the type and quantity of snow received on campus, and determine from these results if Utah does have "the greatest snow on earth."The specific educational goals of this project are to 1) increase student proficiency related to the underlying principles and sources of uncertainty associated with environmental instrumentation, and 2) enhance student confidence to use technologies to observe the environment and solve real-world problems. This research study is investigating the effectiveness of the new curriculum coupled with the integ tion of the environmental instrumentation experiential laboratory experience on student learning. This study is examining 1) the quality and effectiveness of instrumentation skills training for faculty and teaching assistants, 2) the extent to which the n e w curriculum and revised laboratory experiences enhances student instrumentation skills, 3) the degree to which student confidence levels were increased w h e n using instrumentation, 4) the growth and degree of change of departmental educational practices and curriculum, 5) the change in numbers of atmospheric science majors, 6) the change in enrollment in the non-major departmental courses, and 7) the attitudes and scientific literacy of non-science majors for science. One of the first steps in implementing this study was to develop an anonymous survey for students t complete at the outset of the semester to be followed by focus group discussions to obtain additional student feedback. A sample of s o m e of the survey questions includes, "What, in your view, is atmospheric science? What makes any science different from other disciplines of inquiry?" and "Is there a difference between a conceptual model and a scientific law? Give an example to illustrate your answer." Formal evaluation is still underway. We will be ending the semester with the post survey similar to pre-survey that was issued at the beginning of the semester. Focus groups a m o n g the students will also be held to discuss the out product of what the students have learned. In addition to support from the University of Utah USET program, additional funding for this effort has been provided by the National Science Foundation under grant 0940558. W e are also grateful for the assistance of Donna Ziegenfuss for developing the online survey. 162 HONORS COLLEGE Message from the Dean Martha Bradley The research presented through the University of Utah's undergraduate research programs engages students in the production of n e w knowledge alongside their scholar professors. This might be in the lab studying genes through the bodies of earthworms or producing choreography in one of the University's m a n y dance studios or stage. The extraordinary range of this research in the various disciplines that m a k e up this Research I University presents a student with a myriad of choices about what they might do with their lives, what is their passion, what will be their contribution to the world? The Honors College believes that every student should have a meaningful experience in research and that excellence in research and writing ought to be celebrated. This is w h y w e are joining with the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program for the eighth annual Research Symposium. In fact, n o w every student w h o graduates with the Honors degree and completes an Honors thesis or capstone project participates in this symposium. This day recognizes our commitment to research, our belief in the immense benefit it provides for students, and our involvement in the larger research agenda of this great university. W e are also pleased to feature the Honors students' abstracts in the University of Utah's Undergraduate Research Abstracts Journal. W e invite you to join us in celebrating the achievements of Honors students in completing their theses, and in making a contribution to the production of n e w knowledge at this University. 163 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE PARENTAL CONFLICT WITH ADULT CHILDREN A m a n d a Alexander (David Carrier) Department of Biology University of Utah Parental conflict with adult children is something that is well k n o w n anecdotally, but has rarely been studied in light of other, more serious conflicts between parents and their children. However, parental conflict with adult children (adult being defined as between the ages of 18 and 25) is something that can be as damaging to relationships as other, better studied conflicts. However, while it is a serious conflict, it cannot be termed aggression in the evolutionary sense, as it often serves to actually increase the reproductive fitness and future success of the offspring with which the mother is conflicting. Our research provides evidence that such conflict exists beyond the anecdotal forms that are so well known, as well as beginning to quantify this conflict and its effects on both parents and their children. Additionally, w e examine the evolutionary constraints on and possible explanations for such conflict, from both a biological and psychological perspective in order to better understand what is occurring. David Carrier THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HIGH TEMPERATURE SURFACE CHEMISTRY Ashley Beckstead (Scott L. Anderson) Department of Chemistry University of Utah Various metal surfaces react with the components of air in different ways at very high temperatures. Although many metal surfaces are used at such high temperatures, not m u c h is k n o w n about these reactions in terms of kinetics. Surface chemistry methods, such as X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and mass spectrometry, can be employed to elucidate the kinetics of these reactions. In this report, the reaction of a Ni(100) crystal lattice with oxygen has been studied. The goal of this research is to better understand such reactions by modeling the reaction rates as functions of temperature. During the previous semesters a commercial XPS instrument was modified to accommodate TPD and a more functional sample transfer system. T P D is a surface chemistry technique that doses the surface with a controlled amount of gas, heats the sample to high temperatures (up to 1300 K using a linear heat ramp), and monitors any gaseous reactants using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Whereas XPS permits the study of the surfaces themselves, T P D makes the study of reactants coming off of the surface possible. In a typical experiment, the Ni(100) sample was subjected to XPS in order to determine the purity of the surface. Then the sample was transferred to the T P D stage, where the resulting mass spectra determined which chemical reactions were taking place between the crystal lattice and oxygen. Additional XPS tests were run to decipher what products remained on the surface. Further experimentation of this reaction will yield qualitative and quantitative data, and as a result, detailed kinetic information can be learned. THE EFFECTS OF EMOTION ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTION Danielle Bowman (Yana Suchy, SommerThorgusen) Department of Psychology University of Utah Executive functions (EF) are cognitive processes that allow us to plan, organize, and successfully execute mental and behavioral actions. Research suggests that EF m a y b e c o m e transiently disrupted by emotional stimuli, but the degree of interference m a y vary across people. For example, people with A D H D have impairments in interpretation and recognition of emotional stimuli, and m a y be less susceptible to distraction by emotional information. In contrast, people with anxiety are particularly sensitive to threatening emotional information, and m a y only show decrements in EF in the face of threatening information. The present study investigated the impact of emotional distracters on performance of Stroop tasks (either lexical or pictorial emotional distracters) a m o n g 28 college students with subclinical symptoms of A D H D or anxiety. W e hypothesize that individuals with A D H D will show little interference from emotional distracters due to impairments in emotional processing. In contrast, individuals with anxiety should exhibit greater decrements in performance in the face of distracters, particularly for negative distracters. T w o repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) were run (one each of word and picture distracters) using response latencies as the dependent variable, distracter valence (negative, positive, or neutral) as a within-subjects factor, and group ( A D H D or anxiety) as a between-subjects factor. W e found no differences between groups on either word or picture distracters. However, w e did find main effects of word and picture valences (words: F[3, 24]=1.723, p=.169; pictures: F[3, 23]=7.948, p<.001). Follow-up t-tests show negative distracters (words and pictures) led to slower response times than positive or neutral. W e conclude that there are no differences between those with A D H D and anxiety on performance of executive tasks in the face of emotional distracters, but negative stimuli are more distracting than positive or neutral across groups. The negative emotional distracters evoke emotional responses, which compete for EF resources to down-regulate emotional arousal. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CONSUMER DRIVEN HEALTH CARE Cameron Brimley (Luis Rayo) Department of Finance University of Utah High deductible / low premium insurance policies used in conjunction with health savings accounts (classically called Consumer Driven Health plans or CDHPs) have b e c o m e increasingly c o m m o n , growing in number by more than 2 0 0 % between 2005 and 2010. In this study I model the effect that increase numbers of C D H P s has on both insurance companies and health care consumers. Surveys showing h o w C D H P s affect the quantity of health services demanded, a m o u n t of claims paid, costs of insurance, and other variables have been applied into the model to determine these specific effects. In addition, I estimate the gain in social surplus caused by this shift as consumption of health services nears a socially optimal level, and project a five-year forecast of these gains based on continued trends of CDHP prevalence and pricing. The key results are summarized as follows: 1. Insurance companies experience zero net gains. 2. Individual and business consumers of health insurance are the primary recipients of the gains from this switch. 3. The cumulative gain in social surplus from 2005-2010 is about $25 billion with a projected $300 billion to be achieved by the end of 2016. Annual gains range from $10 billion in 2010 to $80 billion in 2016. These gains are derived from less health care over-usage that reduces inefficiencies and more preventative care that drives d o w n health care costs. The significance of this study is that it provides a framework to understand the influence cost responsibility has on health care consumers and s o m e residual effects on insurance companies. As health care policy is a priority in m a n y current legislative issues, studies like the present could aid in assessment of policy details and alternatives to help shape what the future of healthcare becomes. SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE NARCISSTIC RESPONSE TO AFFECTIVE PRIMING Chelsey Brothersen (Frederick Rhodewalt) Department of Psychology University of Utah The construct of narcissism, first described as a personality disorder in the clinical literature and psychoanalytical theory, has more recently been conceptualized as a personality type and has generated a great deal of theoretical and research activity (Rhodewalt & Peterson, 2009). Collectively this research describes narcissists as having a fragile self concept that requires perpetual support and bolstering from their social environment (Rhodewalt & Morf, 2005). Narcissists require social feedback that is consistent with the narcissist's inflated self image (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001; Rhodewalt & Morf 2005). However, narcissists are not interested in just any feedback rather they seek feedback that affirms their superiority to others and their desire for admiration from others (Rhodewalt, 2005). Also consistent with this view are the findings reported by Campbell and Foster (2007) indicating that the narcissist's positive self image is based on superiority factors, rather than social affiliation. The proposed hypothesis is that priming a sense of superiority/admiration will have greater positive impact on the state self-esteem of narcissists than the self-esteem of less narcissistic individuals. Participants included psychology undergraduates (n=89 , 27 male, 84.3% white, m e a n age=25).The study utilized a three condition (social motivation priming: neutral, superiority/admiration, affiliation) between-participants design with levels of narcissism, measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, treated as a continuous variable. To measure predicted effects, state self-esteem and entitlem e n t were assessed with the resultant self-esteem questionnaire, (McFarland & Ross, 1982), Texas Social Behavior Inventory, (Helmreich, et al., 1974), and the resource social dilemma paradigm, (Sheldon & McGregor, 2000; Campbell, et al, 2005). Preliminary data analyses indicates that the primes produced a threat response for w h o m the prime w a s relevant to their self-esteem. That is, high NPI participants primed with an admiration scenario relative to low NPI participants experiencing the same prime. In contrast, the acceptance prime triggered a decline in self-esteem a m o n g low NPI participants but had no effect on high NPI participants. This research gives direction for future study of the narcissistic construct in relation to social motivations and its effects. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE IFRS: COMMITMENT TO THE STANDARDS Erica Brown (Marlene Plumlee) School of Accounting University of Utah Erica Brown Since 1973, the goal of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has been to develop a single set of high-quality, understandable, and enforceable international financial reporting standards (IFRS). Presently, over 100 countries require public companies to use IFRS, making it the most c o m m o n l y applied set of accounting standards in the world. Despite the development of a single standard, comparability of financial reports of companies from different countries has been questioned. Differences in interpretation by standard setters, enforcement by regulators, and application by preparers contribute to variations in comparability. Without commitment to consistency in the use of standards across countries that have adopted IFRS, it is difficult to ensure that a single set of standards will actually improve financial statement comparability. Correlations in data gathered from the G-20 revealed country-level commitment to IFRS depends on the following: a country's legal and political system, national culture, the presence of a strong enforcement institution, and global economic influence. These four indicators of country-level commitment help identify w h y certain countries adopted IFRS and w h y others delay convergence. In addition, these indicators highlight significant hurdles that standard setters, enforcers, and preparers of financial statements should be conscious of w h e n interpreting IFRS. Variations between countries also identify changes that are needed to encourage adoption while ensuring that the high-quality standards are maintained. Marlene Plumlee <-:V, XMAP215 TARGETING TO MICROTUBULEORGANIZING CENTERS REQUIRES TWO C-TERMINAL CONSERVED DOMAINS Jeffrey Chumley (David L. Gard) Department of Biology University of Utah Microtubules (MTs) are a dynamic component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton required for several essential processes in the cell. M T dynamics are regulated by a class of proteins referred to as Microtubule-associated Proteins (MAPs). X M A P 2 1 5 is a m e m b e r of the MAP215/Dis1 family of MAPs, a family which traces its origin to the origin of eukaryotic cells and is important for regulating M T growth. In one of its capacities, X M A P 2 1 5 has been shown to work in cooperation with or independently of y-tubulin to nucleate and anchor MTs to microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs), an activity that requires X M A P 2 1 5 itself to be present at MTOCs. The C-terminus of X M A P 2 1 5 is responsible for targeting the protein to MTOCs, however the specific regions required have not been fully elucidated. To define the targeting region of X M A P 2 1 5 in greater detail, I used a comparative approach and first asked whether the divergent M A P 2 1 5 homologs from honeybees (Apis melifera) and fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are able to target to M T O C s in Xenopus laevis cells. I demonstrate that GFP-fusion constructs of the C-terminus from either homolog co-localize with y-tubulin at M T O C s in Xenopus cells. Amino acid sequence comparison of these protein's C-termini reveals two regions which are conserved between X M A P 2 1 5 and its Apis and Drosophila homologs. Structural predictions provide evidence that one of these regions is a previously unidentified TOG-like domain which I demonstrate is necessary for M T O C targeting and is capable of weak association with MTOCs. EFFECTS OF HYPOXIA, TEMPERATURE VARIANCE, AND EGG TURNING ON MORPHOLOGY OF DEVELOPING QUAIL (COTURNIX COTURNIX JAPONICA) EMBRYOS Mark Cipriani (Colleen Farmer, E m m a Schachner) Department of Biology University of Utah This report contrasts the morphological changes between Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) embryos developed under varying environmental conditions. Embryos were incubated in two separate containers, divided into one of three groups as follows: (A) varied temperature, rotated twice daily in normoxia (-21% 02); (B) varied temperature, non-rotated in normoxia (-21% 02); and (C) constant temperature, rotated twice daily in hypoxic conditions (-15% 02). All developmental stages and morphology were compared to that of documented normal embryonic Japanese quail. Embryos were staged according to previously described defining developmental markers. The embryos were then photographed, and measurements of beak length and third toe length were taken. Embryonic samples were taken at days 2 and 4-16. The variation in temperature during incubation had no observable effects on the embryos in group A, which had the highest successful development rate. The non-rotated eggs, group B, demonstrated high rates of death and no embryonic presence despite egg fertilization. Embryos developed under hypoxic conditions showed higher rates of death and morphological defect than either group A or B. Exposure to a hypoxic atmosphere or the absence of rotation significantly decreased the embryonic survival rate of C. coturnix japonica, while variation in temperature showed no detrimental effects. SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE ENCAPSULATION OF QUANTUM DOTS IN METAL OXIDES Royce A. Davidson (Michael H. Bartl) Department Of Chemistry University of Utah Royce A. Davidson Colloidal semiconductor nanoparticles have very interesting, tunable electronic and optical properties, which differ greatly from their bulk counterparts. Since the tunable properties of semiconductor nanoparticles are the direct results of quantum confinement effects, they are also called quantum dots (QDs). Best optical quality Q D s (those with high photoluminescence efficiencies) are synthesized by organometallic/solvothermal methods using hydrophobic organic capping ligands for controlling their sizes and shapes. Unfortunately, the presence of these ligands, which are attached to the Q D surface, makes as-synthesized Q D s insoluble in aqueous media and excludes them from m a n y attractive applications such as in-vivo imaging or water tracing. Michael H. Bartl 172 Recent research in the Bartl group has focused on the development of simple methods to transfer hydrophobic Q D s into water. A promising approach is to encapsulate the Q D s within an inorganic shell. The objective of this honors thesis project will be to search for optimized encapsulation conditions and optimize the shell thickness and robustness of the encapsulated QDs. For this purpose, various metal oxide compounds will be tested as shell materials, including Ti02, Sn02, Zr02 and Z n O and various combinations of them (mixed metal oxides). The robustness of these core/shell Q D structures to harsh conditions (high temperature and pressure) will be tested by hydrothermal studies in autoclaves (temperatures of 300 °C and pressures up to 40 bars) to evaluate the best metal oxide shell compositions. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE BIOPHILIC ARCHITECTURE: UNDERSTANDING NATURE'S ROLE IN DESIGN Randi Domgaard (Ryan E. Smith) Department of Architecture University of Utah This thesis explores the theory of biophilia as described by Edward O. Wilson, and its application in architecture. The relationship between nature, man, and the built environment will be considered on the basis of nature's connection to the soul, humanity's search for beauty, ideal environment selection, and the affinity for nature due to humanity's genetic past. I will then analyze case studies of completed buildings which have implemented biophilic design strategies; specifically the use of environmental features, natural shapes and forms, natural patterns and processes, and the idea of place-based relationships. Integrated into this discussion will be a synthesis of the aforementioned strategies to design my personal concept for a satellite campus for the University of Utah College of Architecture and Planning in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Ryan E. Smith 173 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE A COMPARISON OF DETOXIFICATION STRATEGIES IN T W O POPULATIONS OF BRYANT'S WOODRAT (NEOTOMA BRYANTI Antonia Fitzgerald (Denise Dearing) Department of Biology University of Utah Herbivorous m a m m a l s use liver biotransformation enzymes to m a n a g e the highly toxic plant secondary compounds (PSC's) in their diets. Novel diets m a y require the use of different enzymes depending on the PSC composition. Woodrats (genus Neotoma) provide an exemplary model system for dietary studies, as there are many species that rely on various plants in diverse environments. To date, little work has been done to study Bryant's Woodrat (Neotoma bryanti), s o m e populations of which naturally consume creosote (Larrea tridentata), a plant with heavy chemical defenses. The main objective of this research was to compare liver enzyme quantity in two wild N. bryanti populations w h e n fed a control or 2 % creosote diet. O n e population of woodrats lives outside the creosote range, and is therefore naive to this diet, while the other commonly consumes creosote. Multiple proteins from three major biotransformation families were quantified using western blot: Cytochromes P450 (CYP), Catechol-Omethyl transferase (COMT), and Glutathione S-transferase (GST). The naive population had constitutively higher levels of s-COMT and GST-Ya, and constitutively lower CYP3A1 enzyme levels, than the population accustomed to creosote. In addition, there was a trend for a population and dietary treatment interaction in GST-Ya and s-COMT levels: animals experienced with creosote downregulated these enzymes w h e n fed creosote, while naive animals upregulated protein levels. These results suggest that animals m a y initially upregulate enzyme levels (ex. GST-Ya or s-COMT) upon encountering a new diet, to search for the most efficient detoxification pathway. Over m a n y generations of experience with a particular plant diet, it is possible that a population m a y find more efficient pathways, thus upregulating some enzymes (ex. CYP3A1) while downregulating others (ex. s-COMT or GST-Ya). Identifying the detoxification pathways woodrats employ to feed on different diets m a y shed light on h o w these animals were able to adjust to a changing environment. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE THE STRUCTURE OF TRADE IN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA Jake Frischknecht (Minqi Li) Asian Studies Program University of Utah Jake Frischknecht Starting in 1999, the United States (US) began a decade of unprecedented trade deficits that shows no signs of respite. M a n y blame China for a substantial share of these exponentially increasing deficits, because of its near inexhaustible cheap labor. This paper investigates this claim by analyzing the structure of trade for both the United States and China by examining trade data available from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Economic Report of the President as well as the China Statistical Yearbook from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. These numbers s h o w that international trade is largely determined by trade in goods and that the United States possesses a comparative advantage for producing services, not goods. This limitation prevents the United States from obtaining a trade surplus and has resulted in an average annual trade deficit of about 4 percent of G D P over the last ten years. Conversely, net exports has contributed up to 10 percent of G D P for China. Chinese imports and exports are increasing, and trade is a m u c h larger portion of the Chinese e c o n o m y than the US. China has a clear competitive advantage in goods, especially manufactured goods. A full 20 percent of Chinese exports are destined for the US, while a trivial and decreasing share of its total imports are from the US. The only w a y for the U S to stop losing market share in China and close the gap on trade deficits is to b e c o m e more competitive in producing goods; Chinese goods are not to blame for the United States trade woes. Minqi Li 175 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE SOCIAL SUPPORT AND HEALTH: A COMPARISON OF THE DIRECT EFFECTS AND STRESS BUFFERING MODELS Samantha Fung (Bert N. Uchino) Department of Psychology University of Utah Social Support is an area of great interest to psychologists because it has been found to affect our mental (Reker, 1997) and physical health (Krause, 2004; Parquart, 2002). Beyond the basic relation it has to our well being, it also wields its influence in meaning of life (Krause, 2007; Reker, 2000) and ultimately mortality (House et al., 1988). The Direct Effects and Stress Buffering models are the main theoretical perspectives that explain the effects of social support on health. The Direct Effects Model states that social support and health have an overall positive relationship, independent of stress (Barrera, 1988). O n the other hand, the Stress Buffering Model suggests that social support can act as a protective, or buffer, against the psychological and physical consequences of high life stress (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Thoits, 1982; Cassel, 1976; Cobb, 1976). M u c h research testing the Direct Effects and Stress Buffering models has focused on mental health outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the literature by comparing these models in a longitudinal study to test which model better explains links to physical health. Analyses show that the data supports a Stress Buffering effect and as expected, the data also shows that the health behaviors tested are independent of blood pressure changes, indicating that they d o not provide a strong enough link between social support and health. The results have implications for future research and interventions. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE STUDYING AN IDIOPATHIC MODEL OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER Kevin Garff (Aloisia Schmid) Department of H u m a n Genetics University of Utah Parkinson's Disease (PD) is the second most c o m m o n age-related neurodegenerative disease in the United States. More than 1 million Americans currently suffer from P D and 60,000 n e w cases are diagnosed each year. As the U S population ages over the next 15 to 20 years this number is likely to double, making PD a growing problem. PD is characterized by an extensive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia that project via the nigrostriatal pathway to the striatum. It is also characterized by the presence of Lewy Bodies, depositions of ubiquitinated protein in the cytoplasm of neurons. The extensive loss of dopaminergic neurons leads to visible phenotypes such as: tremor, rigidity in the limbs and an inability to initiate movement (Parkinson 1817). In efforts to better understand PD, animal models have been developed in primates and rodents, using transgenic and toxin-based approaches. W e are currently developing a model of idiopathic (sporadic) PD in Drosophila melanogaster using a toxin based approach. Drosophila is an ideal organism to create a model of P D because it can be used in genetic screens, which will be used in the identification of genes involved in dopaminergic neuronal protection. In order to create a convincing model of PD, we are correlating Parkinsonian phenotypes to loss of dopaminergic neurons. W e quantitatively score the flies using behavioral assays (such as geotaxis, phototaxis, C 0 2 resuscitation and scoring movement) and w e identify and quantify dopaminergic neurons by expressing red fluorescent protein in the dopaminergic neurons via genetic crosses. We are also using our PD model to study gender specific differences in neuroprotection in dopaminergic neurons; specifically the observation of enhanced neuroprotection in females. Using genetic crosses w e are feminizing dopaminergic neurons in male flies to further study the mechanisms of neuroprotection seen in females. SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE RETIREMENT RULES OF THUMB: HISTORY AND ASSESSMENT BY PROFESSIONALS Michelle Glaittli Michelle Glaittli (Robert Mayer) Department of Family and Consumer Studies University of Utah Retirement planning has b e c o m e more an individual responsibility as employer programs have shifted from defined benefit to defined contribution programs. Individuals face n e w and complex investment products, volatile financial markets, a recessionary economy, and uncertainty about the future of Social Security benefits. A n increase in life expectancies has also led to greater uncertainty about h o w to properly plan for retirement. Robert Mayer Some people employ the services of a professional financial planner to ease the challenge of retirement planning, but m a n y people never d o or d o so too late. They rely instead on financial "rules of thumb," that is, broad principles that are meant to simplify the task of retirement planning. Such rules include the percentage of pre-retirement income that will be needed during retirement, the percentage of a person's investment portfolio that should be held in stock at various ages, and h o w much should be withdrawn annually from a retirement nest egg. The goals of this Honors project are to: (1) identify the main rules of thumb applicable to retireme planning; (2) assess their origins and evolution over time, (3) analyze their prevalence in textbooks and books oriented toward popular audiences, and (4) gauge the validity of these rules in the eyes of professional financial planners, including whether they use these rules w h e n advising clients. 178 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH THE RELATIONSHIP OF MUMMY TO THE WINGLESS AND HEDGEHOG PATHWAYS IN DROSOPHILA EMBRYOGENESIS Jerry Guo, Greg Humphreys (Anthea Letsou) University of Utah In the Letsou lab, w e use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to study vital biological pathways during embryonic development. In doing so, w e are able to extend our understanding of Drosophila embryogenesis to analogous systems in humans, in an effort to understand key developmental factors and potentially counteract early onset developmental abnormalities. The biological process we study is the Mummy (Mmy) pathway, mmy is a gene that encodes for the single Drosophila UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase, an enzyme which carries out the final catalytic step in synthesis of the sugar UDP-GlcNAc. This sugar is required for m a n y downstream functions such as glycosylation and chitin formation. Our research also suggests a role for M m y in regulation of extracellular signaling, with particular effects on the Wingless (Wg) and Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathways. W e have shown that m m y possesses shared loss-of-function cuticle phenotypes with w g and hh mutant embryos, leading us to hypothesize that M m y is an important mediator of W g and/or H h signaling. Therefore, our goal is to expand upon this by investigating the mechanism of Mmy's interaction with W g and H h signaling and understand in more detail the range of Mmy's effects. We have found that mmy mutants phenocopy wg mutants (but not hh mutants) in regards to Engrailed expression, supporting our hypothesis that M m y is a positive regulator of W g signaling. Our ongoing studies of stomatogastric nervous system development, a Wg-dependent process, will reveal if Mmy's regulation of W g signaling is restricted to anterior-posterior cuticle patterning, or if M m y functions more broadly. W e are also currently probing embryonic Even-skipped expression, to detect the developmental stage of the embryo at which W g and/or H h signaling become regulated by M m y . SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE ENHANCING DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES FOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE David Hamilton (Troy Madsen) Department of Surgery Division of Emergency Medicine University of Utah Research done at the University of Utah Medical Center's Emergency Department support the advancement of life saving emergency care for patients with potentially fatal cardiac conditions. This research project deals with three small projects combined into one. The projects are: the creation of a treatment protocol for low-risk pulmonary embolism patients, an evaluation of low and moderate risk chest pain patient protocols, and a comparison of echocardiograms to electrocardiograms. Through chart review of pulmonary embolism patients, a potential protocol was evaluated and then created. The protocol risk stratifies patients as high or low risk. The high risk patients will be admitted to an inpatient unit as all patients were before this protocol. The low risk patients will be observed overnight in the Emergency Departments Observation Unit. These patients will receive additional testing including Transthoracic echocardiograms and Bilateral lower extremity venous duplex ultrasound. From retrospective chart review of patients from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2007 an estimate of 75-86% of low risk patients will forego inpatient stays for outpatient treatment after short observation unit stays. The low and moderate risk chest pain protocols were evaluated to be effective and safe. 562 charts showed the protocols effectively separate patients by positive provocative testing 21.3% to 7.3% (p<0.001), inpatient admission rate 16.2% to 9.0% (p=0.028) and requiring surgery 2.9% to 1.5%. X2 tests were used to determine p-values. Chart review also showed the protocols to be safe. There were no cardiac related mortalities after 30 days. There was only one of the 562 patients w h o returned to the hospital for an unscheduled appointment within 30 days. Results on the comparison of echocardiograms to electrocardiograms are still being compiled. The study involved training 24 research assistants to perform echocardiograms. Echocardiograms will be compared to electrocardiograms for their utility in predicting patient outcomes. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE TRENDS IN LIBRARY ACADEMIC JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONS (1991-PRESENT) Michael Hurst (Thomas Maloney) Department of Economics University of Utah Michael Hurst Academic libraries have experienced major challenges in the last twenty years as the information landscape has evolved. In this paper the recent history of academic journal subscriptions of academic libraries is explored. Included are changes to journal prices, subscribers, library budgets, interlibrary loan service between libraries, technology, and the impact of recessions, namely the 1989 and 2008 recessions. Overall library budgets have been cut, prices have gone up, subscribers have gone d o w n , and interlibrary loan services between libraries have gone up. With technology, the switch from paper to electronic format in subscriptions means libraries no longer o w n a copy of the content. The Marriott Library of the University of Utah based in Salt Lake City is used as a case study. The purpose of academic libraries in higher education and their role as a public service is also examined. The library is a system between publishers, librarians, and scholars. Possible futures in academic journals are also addressed. These futures include issues of open access vs. toll access, commercial vs. non-profit publishers, indexes and databases, and blogs and other online self-publications. Thomas Maloney 181 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE EXTENSION OF A MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF BLOOD CLOTTING AND EXPLORATION OF ITS BEHAVIOR Yasmeen Hussain (Aaron Fogelson) Department of Mathematics University of Utah The beauty of a mathematical model is that a very complex biological system can be represented as a system of equations and analyzed with precise control of all experimental conditions and without the expense and time constraints of a traditional lab. The w e b of biochemical reactions involved in coagulation correspond to a set of ordinary differential equations built using the L a w of Mass Action and Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Our particular model corresponds nicely with k n o w n coagulation behavior, and is therefore considered a valid basis for experimentation. It is also novel, due to the inclusion of flow, a parameter that is conspicuously missing from other current models. Aaron Fogelson Experiments were performed in order to test the assertion in the literature that platelet-derived blo factor V is essential to a robust coagulation response and that plasma factor V has little effect on coagulation. The results of these experiments contradict the conclusions in the literature. In another modification to the original model, factor XI reactions were added to the coagulation mode Clinically, factor XI is perplexing in that s o m e patients with severe deficiencies of this protein display no notable symptoms, while others have significant bleeding tendencies. W h y this is the case is not at all understood. However, our extended model offers a novel hypothesis for this variability HONORS COLLEGE THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH EFFORTS TOWARDS THE TOTAL SYNTHESIS OF PESTALAZINE B THROUGH N E W METHODOLOGY TO SYNTHESIZE CONGESTED STEREOCENTERS OF HETERODIMERIC INDOLINES Cortney Jensen (Jon Rainier) Department of Chemistry University of Utah There are a number of natural products that contain congested quaternary carbon centers. S o m e of these interesting natural products include cytotoxic cyclic peptides from the kapakahine familyl, the antibiotic chetomin2, and the diketopiperazine pestalazine B.3 The Rainier group at the University of Utah has developed a concise synthetic route to the creation of heterocyclic quaternary carbon centers or more specifically C(3)-N(1') heterodimeric indolines.4 Through the use of this methodology a total synthesis of the natural product Pestalazine B in nine steps was undertaken. The key reaction in the total synthesis was step six involving the coupling of a diketopiperazine with a bromopyrroloindoline in 3 3 % yield. The reaction yielded the incorrect diastereomer but could be corJon Rainier rected through the use of D-tryptophan instead of L-tryptophan as the starting material. As the n e w bromopyrroloindoline was being synthesized Lera and Balado5 at the University of Vigo in Spain accomplished the total synthesis of Pestalazine B, so the total synthesis was no longer pursued. Pestalazine B X ,. r\ r <>_/ CH2CI2, 5 H r sKOtBu •C i f : crcr < Step 6 References: 1. a) Nakao, Y; Yeung, B. K. S.; Yoshida, W. Y; Scheuer, P. J.; and Kelly-Borges, M. J. A m . Chem. Soc. 1995, 117,8271. b) Yeung, B. K. S., Nakao, Y; Kinnel, R. B.; Carney, J. R.; Yoshida, W. Y; Scheuer, P. J.; and Kelly-Borges, M. J. Org. Chem. 1996,61,7168. (c) Nakao, Y; Kuo, J.; Yoshida, W. Y; Kelly-Borges, M.; and Scheuer, P. J. Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 1387. 2. a) Waksman, SA; Bugie, E.J. Bacteriol. 1944, 48, 527. b) Geiger, W. B., Conn, J. E.; and Waksman, S. A. J. Bacteriol. 1944,48,531. (c) Mclnnes, A. G.; Taylor, A.; and Walter, J. A. J. A m . Chem. Soc. 1976, 98, 6741. 3. Ding, G.; Jiang, L; Guo, L; Chen, X.; Zhang, H.; Che, Y. J. Nat. Prod., 2008, 71 (11), 1861 -1865 4. Espejo, V. R.; and Rainier, J. D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 1294 5. Perez-Balado C; and Lera A. R. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2010, 8, 5179-5186 183 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2011 LIMITATIONS O N LATINO ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE Tyler Kent (Susie Porter) Department of Languages and Literature University of Utah Latinos living in this country (both legal and illegally) face significant challenges in gaining equal and adequate access to healthcare. M a n y studies have shown that Latinos receive less care and lesser quality care than their Caucasian counterparts. This paper attempts to shed light on this disparity. In order to d o so, the American health insurance system is investigated along with a statistical s u m m a r y of how m a n y Americans have access to health insurance. Difficulty in obtaining health insurance and the high cost associated with it is attributed to four factors: Healthcare providers and insurers have a monopoly over the system, improved medical technology, poor lifestyle choices of Americans, and the prevalence of the lack of health insurance and the ensuing negative cycle it fosters. Beyond this, President Obama's Affordable Care Act is scrutinized as well as Arizona's recent Senate Bill 1070. These political actions are examined in order to show h o w they will affect immigrants in this country and their access to healthcare. A snapshot of immigrants' rights and access to healthcare is given as well as a s u m m a r y of h o w m a n y immigrants are residing in the country. All of these factors give context for the main focus of this paper: Limitations to Latino access to healthcare. The four leading challenges that Latinos face in their access to equal and adequate care are racism, cultural and linguistic barriers, their position at the bottom of the American socioeconomic hierarchy, and the growing restrictions placed on children born in this country to undocumented w o m e n . This paper will show that, in nearly all cases, Latinos in this country face indisputable and demanding barriers in their access to healthcare THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE DESIGN OF A BROADBAND DIFFRACTIVE OPTIC FOR INCREASED PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFICIENCY Ganghun Kim (Rajesh Menon) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Utah Ganghun Kim The purpose of this research is to design an optical element that separates various spectral components of sunlight into locations where the solar cells of different materials are placed. This results in increased photovoltaic efficiency. Solar energy is undoubtedly one of the most environmentally friendly sources of energy. Although the use of photovoltaics has been steadily growing, widespread adoption has been limited by its cost. Currently, photovoltaics (PV) accounts for 1 % of the total energy generation in the US. O n e w a y to reduce the energy generation costs of PV is to increase its efficiency. Traditional PV modules lose about 70 percent of the incident solar energy during the absorption process. A m o n g different factors, the thermalization effect, caused by the mismatch between the band gap energy of solar cell material and photon energy, is the most significant source of loss. Using different types of materials of varying band gaps can radically minimize losses due to themalization and non-absorption. Multi-junction PV cells, a stack of 2 or 3 different semiconductors, can achieve efficiency that is twice as m u c h as the traditional PV modules. However, manufacturing a stack of different semiconductors is an expensive process. Rajesh Menon We propose here a more economical approach, by localizing spectrum into proper locations and placing the different materials laterally. A n optical element, which w e call a polychromat, could be used to perform the separation of the spectral bands. Diffractive optics have several advantages for this application. First, it is a dispersive element. Dispersive elements behave differently depending on wavelength. Therefore, diffractive optics can direct blue color spectrum into the center cell, while directing red color spectrum into the left and right cells (Fig. 1). Second, it is very thin. Diffractive optic is a microstructure made of optical material. Typically, they are in the thickness of 1 to 3 micrometers. To design such diffractive optics, we have developed a new design approach that we call Iterative Pixelated Perturbation Algorithm (IPPA). Briefly, IPPA evaluates the effect by a small change of thickness on the optic, and adjusts the initial design to maximize its efficiency. The w a y that IPPA adjusts the optics is to keep the change only w h e n the evaluated effect is desirable, and to discard w h e n it is not. W e have demonstrated a diffractive optic that separates the solar spectrum into four different positions as well as presents an optical efficiency of over 80 percent (Fig. 2). Optical efficiency represents the portion of the light directed properly into the band-gap matching solar cell. i Wvwlvngrtv. Ovi rm» Avr ra«e CTflcIo- Oetalls - Polychromat length = 3 m m • Polychromat material • Photoregist (siei3) Gap = 14 63cm -». 1 =Z rn'°™ "oZ, A I^° 2S>\ - 185 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE WHEN DOES CROWD KNOWLEDGE OUTWEIGH EXPERT KNOWLEDGE? Richard Kimball (Vandana Ramachandran) Department of Information Systems University of Utah Richard Kimball Vandana Ramachandran 186 Organizations traditionally use experts and professionals to conduct internal and external analysis to formulate optimal solutions to their business problems. However, another method to select solutions that is recently gaining popularity is through a process called crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing relies on c o m m o n individuals in great numbers to ascertain the best choice or most correct answer to a specific question. The most effective crowds include the attributes of diversity, independence, decentralization, and aggregation. Of the m a n y forms of crowdsourcing that exist today, w e will focus on the marketoriented model whose primary concern is optimal product designs through contests. Threadless.com and DesignByHumans.com are successful market makers that offer contests and incentives to designers w h o create the products to be sold. A crowd of buyers w h o is interested in the domain votes for the designs (or products) and selects the winners. Key benefits provided by such mechanisms are the economies of scale in production, manufacturing and sales obtained by pooling functions across sellers, and the reduction in d e m a n d uncertainty that often plagues the sale of cultural goods. W e are interested in examining crowd dynamics in such crowdsourced voting markets. In particular, w e study w h e n crowd-based preference aggregation mechanisms perform better than decisions m a d e by experts, and w h e n such crowd inputs or decisions would be affected by fads, social herding and opinion leaders. W e do so using a two-step analysis where w e first examine the impacts of cumulative crowd participation inputs on whether a design wins, and then analyze the secondary factors that drive such crowd dynamics. Our analysis includes a variety of business intelligence methods, scripting and parsing techniques, and statistical and econometric techniques. Our approach lets us discover actionable knowledge that can aid the market maker in designing better crowd-based markets and in making better product-market decisions. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE CONVERTING THE MASSES: EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY, FORGEIN AID, AND UGANDA'S HOMOSEXUALITY DEBATE Tiffany Law (Colleen McDannel Department of History University of Utah This article examines the complicated background of Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill. Junior parliamentary m e m b e r David Bahati proposed the bill in 2009 to eradicate gay people from their society-a society in which m a n y believe that homosexuality does not exist. A largely Western controversy over gay rights became a heated topic in Uganda, generating widespread hostility and violence towards the country's gay minority, including the murder of gay rights activist David Kote. Homosexuality's place at the forefront of African politics is not an African issue but rather a Western one. During the 1980's, m a n y prominent Western powers decided to change their goals from a policy of direct power to what is dubbed "soft power." Western countries, including the United States, decided to shift foreign aid funding from large organizations to small, development-oriented non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, which were perceived to be more effective and economical in providing services directly to people in aid-receiving countries. Since the 1980s, N G O s have m u s h r o o m e d all over Africa. Through this model, Western countries aim to convert a people to their ideas, creating an "invisible" sphere of influence through foreign aid. Colleen McDonnell Many NGOs working in Africa sprouted from former missionizing organizations, and are increasingly associated with American Evangelical Christians. Christianity is a vital part of Ugandan society, where eighty-six percent of the population belongs to a Christian denomination. This paper examines the intersection between African politics, N G O s , foreign aid, and evangelical Christians. My thesis states while N G O s in Uganda are not directly concerned with homosexuality, Evangelical NGO's role as a conduit for foreign policy has been conflated with their moral agenda, thereby contributing to the homophobic environment. 187 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE M O M E N T U M INVESTING PROFITS AND PREDICTIVE VARIABLES Christopher Lee (Michael Cooper) Department of Finance University of Utah Michael Cooper Investors use m o m e n t u m strategies to predict future performance of stocks by reviewing past performance over a three to twelve month period. W h e n investors find positive and negative return trends, they then take a long or short position in the stock, hoping that its m o m e n t u m will continue. In this paper, I analyze m o m e n t u m portfolios dating back to 1927 that buy long the top performing stocks and sell short the lowest performing stocks. I then study the determinants of m o m e n t u m profits by regressing the monthly changes in these portfolios against lagged macroeconomic, market, and the portfolio's intrinsic factors. In addition, I regress the upper-performing 1 0 % and lower-performing 1 0 % of W M L portfolios against the same predictive variables. I find the performance of components of the W M L portfolio-including the prior year's standard deviation and the individual performance of the lower and upper stocks-and the prior year's average market return to most often be significant predictors of W M L performance. Moreover, m y analysis of left-hand m o m e n t u m tail risk can serve as a starting point for real-world m o n e y managers to better m a n a g e rare-event risk in m o m e n t u m related studies THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH MELODIES FROM BEHIND THE BAMBOO CURTAIN Suzi Liu (Heather Connor) Department of Music University of Utah China has thousands of years of musical history with each region of the country establishing its o w n flavor of music. Although traditional Chinese music has been around for millennia, the appearance of western music in the Chinese public is relatively new. The influence of the violin, piano and other western instruments in China is only about four centuries long, yet western music has quickly immersed itself in the Chinese culture and woven its harmonies into the folk songs of the Chinese countryside. This project will explore the beginnings of western music appreciation and composition around the turn of the 19th century in China and h o w the upheavals in the past century sparked the revolutionary process of western and Chinese musical fusion. The "Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto" by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao will be discussed as a world famous example of Chinese folk melodies paired with western harmonies and form (a study and performance of this piece occurred in December of 2010 in conjunction with m y senior recital). This piece, written before the Cultural Revolution, will be compared to pieces written shortly after the Cultural Revolution to explore their cultural significance and impact on Chinese society and music. 1 Tang, X.. The development of Chinese violin music after 1850: Synthesis of Western compositional style and Chinese folk tradition. The art of Ah Bing, Tian-Hua Liu, and Si-Cong Ma. D.M.A. diss., University of Houston, In Dissertations & Theses: Full Text [database on-line]; available fromhttp://www.proquest.com.tproxy01.Iib.utah.edu (publication number AAT 3319291; accessed February 24, 2011). Smith, Ken. "On the wings of love." Strad 116, no. 1381 (May 2005): 56. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 24, 2011). MARKETING THROUGH GEO-NETWORKING TO COLLEGE-AGED CONSUMERS: IS EFFECTIVENESS MEDIATED BY GENDER AND CONSERVATISM? Michelle K. Madsen (Abbie Griffin) Department of Marketing University of Utah Currently businesses face the problem of better reaching the young, modern consumer, w h o is overwhelmed with traditional advertising media. However, geo-networking and other social networking tools m a y provide businesses with a mechanism to customize marketing to current events, allowing them to better reach consumers w h o use these services extensively. Geo-networking is internet-based social networking with updating location-specific information. M y research hypothesis is that geo-network marketing communications will be effective for college-aged consumers, but that effectiveness will differ based on gender, personal conservatism, and peer influence. Applying Gender Schema Theory, I expect that offers from gender-matched stores will affect consumer attitudes toward the store more than for gender-neutral stores (Bern, 1981). Since m e n tend to be less risk averse and enjoy and value w e b advertising more than w o m e n (Wolin and Korgaonkar, 2001), I expect them to be more likely to respond to coupon offers. Using Learning Theory, I expect to see a difference in effectiveness of offers based on personal conservatism. Because more radical individuals are commonly more independent and open-minded, they should be more affected by geo-network messages than conservatives, w h o are risk averse about testing an innovation and rely heavily on peers and word-of-mouth for acceptability. These hypotheses will be tested with a series of simulated shopping scenarios where respondents receive coupons as they are walking by a store. It measures store attitude and behavior changes that these coupons create. A pilot test determined the gender specificity/neutrality of stores used in the scenarios as well as revealed average coupon offers to be 24.87% ± 10.79% for a sample size of 205 coupons. REFERENCES Wolin, Lori D. and Pradeep Korgaonkar., "Web Advertising: Gender Differences in Beliefs, Attitudes Behavior," Journal of Interactive Advertising, Autumn 2005, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, accessed on November 8, 2010. Bern, Sandra Lipsitz, "Gender Schema Theory: A Cognitive Account of Sex Typing," Psychological Review, July 1981, ERIC, EBSCOhost, accessed July 22, 2010. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE SELF-REPORTING "EXERCISE" DISTINGUISHES LEVELS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN FEMALE PRIMARY CARE CLINIC STAFF Nicole Major (Janet M. Shaw) Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah Nicole Major The semantics of physical activity (PA) recommendations are sometimes difficult to interpret. Selfreport assessments of PA are consequently poorly related with direct PA assessments. Investigating the semantics of self-report PA assessments might improve the validity and reliability of the assessments. The purpose of this study was to determine if self-reporting "exercise" as a regular activity distinguished PA levels in female primary care clinic staff, as measured by two self-report assessments and triaxial accelerometry. Fifty-seven female clinic staff (37.8 ±11.3 yrs) wore an accelerometer for seven consecutive days. Following the seven days, participants completed two self-report assessments of PA. O n e assessment inquired types of PA engaged in regularly. M e a n minutes per day of accelerometry-measured PA were calculated for each participant at three levels: moderate-1 (500-1951 ct-min-1), moderate-2 (1952-5724 ct-min-1), and vigorous (> 5725 ct-min-1). At least four valid days and six valid hours per day of accelerometry were required for analysis. Independent t-tests compared self-reported and accelerometry-measured PA between participants w h o did and did not report "exercise" as a regular activity. Pearson correlation coefficients examined the relationship between the two self-report assessments of PA, as well as a combination of weekly moderate-2 and vigorous minutes of PA. Janet M. Shaw The majority of participants worked as medical assistants (49%) and represented both Caucasian (54%) and Hispanic (30%) origins. Twenty-two participants reported regularly engaging in "exercise". Those who reported "exercise" as PA had significantly more minutes per day of vigorous PA (1.7 ± 4.2), and a combination of weekly moderate-2 and vigorous minutes of PA (178.2 ± 143.6) than participants w h o did not report "exercise" as PA (0.05 ± 0.13 and 101.3 ± 96.0; p = 0.02, p = 0.02). Those w h o reported "exercise" also reported significantly more PA on the self-report assessments (p < 0.001). Reporting "exercise" did not distinguish amounts of daily moderate-1 (p = 0.84) or moderate-2 (p = 0.07) levels of accelerometry-measured PA. Self-reporting "exercise" distinguished a combination of moderate-2 and vigorous weekly minutes of PA, as well as minutes per day of vigorous PA, but not moderate-1 or moderate-2 PA levels in female clinic staff. This might suggest that it would be valuable for health providers, and others counseling for and guiding behavior change, to use the word "exercise" w h e n recommending PA to patients, as well as in short self-report PA assessments. 191 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE MODELING THIN FILMS WITH SMALL ANISOTROPIC INCLUSIONS Zachary Matheson (Elena Cherkaev) Department of Mathematics University of Utah Mathematically modeling the optical properties of thin films involves a straightforward application of Maxwell's Equations, but the procedure is complicated w h e n small particles, called inclusions, are added to the film. This project involves modeling such a mixture, for example a paint with aluminum flakes, as a single effective m e d i u m . Our first attempt to d o this, using the Maxwell-Garnett mixing formula, w a s mildly, but not impressively, successful. A second attempt uses M o n t e Carlo-style random simulations of a film to c o m p u t e the so-called spectral function of the composite, which contains the important geometric information. O n c e this function is k n o w n , the effective properties of the mixture may be computed. 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The disease is not evenly distributed across the globe, with developing countries experiencing significantly higher infection and mortality rates. Current diagnostic methods are expensive and time consuming. Consequently, there is a critical need for a rapid, accurate and inexpensive test for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism responsible for the majority of TB infections. A diagnostic test based upon surface-enhanced R a m a n spectroscopy holds the promise of a lower limit of detection of a panel of M. tuberculosis target antigens in a quick and reliable assay. This improved diagnostic platform m a y lead to a more efficient m a n a g e m e n t of the disease, reducing costs and lowering the death toll of the disease. Timothy Mulvihill Marc Porter 193 SPRING 2011 HELPING LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT (LEP) STUDENTS? POLICY A N D POLITICS Tiffany Alma Murillo (Peregrine Schwartz-Shea) Department of Political Science University of Utah To provide equal educational opportunity to Limited English Proficient (LEP) students, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has mandated that school districts take affirmative steps to provide Alternative Language Programs (ALP) where needed. The primary goal of ALP is meant to be the acquiring of English language proficiency as soon as possible in order to reach the greater goal of providing the opportunity for LEP students to perform well academically. A review of the relevant law and policy demonstrates that ALP has been negatively affected by the clashing views of identity politics held by assimilationists and pluralists. Specifically, m y reading of the existing literature suggests that academic achievement has been a secondary focus in the shadow of identity politics leading to limited academic success for LEP students; drop-out rates, low college readiness, and overall low performance amongsuch students supports this conclusion. In this research I focus on academic achievement of LEP students in Utah. (Alternative language programs are allowed the freedom to employ different pedagogical methods depending on local needs.) Addressing both assimilationist and pluralist concerns, I use value-critical analysis (Schmidt, 2006) to conduct a case study of Salt Lake City School District's (SLCSD) ALP policy and politics, a district which has been reviewed by the O C R for noncompliance. The evidence base includes federal policy documents, the policy implementation plans of the district, and, aggregate district data.The policy and politics surrounding ALP m a k e it unintentionally divisive. The evidence reveals that the manner in which the policy is crafted by SLCSD favors a pluralist plan, which may, perhaps, be associated to the unfortunate statistics that LEP students belong to. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE pi ADRENERGIC BLOCKADE PREVENTS CARDIAC DYSFUNCTION AT 24 HOURS AFTER STATUS EPILEPTICUS Lisa Naujoks (Jason G. Little, Steven L. Bealer) Department of Biology University of Utah Status epilepticus (SE) is a prolonged seizure that can lead to cardiac death in the period following seizures in humans. These deaths are not attributed to gross cardiac damage, but to subtle d a m a g e to cardiac myocytes, which increases susceptibility to arrhythmias. The prolonged seizure activity of SE increases activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and levels of circulating catecholamines. While this sympathetic activation and increased catecholamines are known to cause myocyte damage, their effects on cardiac function are unknown. A n assessment of the involvement of increased catecholamines on cardiac performance after SE in the rat was done using self sustaining limbic SE (SSLSE: electrically induced SE) and employed a beta-blocker as a cardio-protective pharmacological treatment prior to SE. Cardiac function was evaluated by measuring stroke volume (SV), heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), ventricular pressure (dP/dt), m e a n arterial blood pressure (MAP), QTc, and QTcd via carotid/jugular catheterization and ECG electrodes for a control group (no SSLSE), SE group (SSLSE), and SE+atenolol group (SSLSE treated with atenolol), 24 hrs following seizures. Results indicate that the SE+atenolol group had hemodynamic values similar to control rats. SE animals showed statistically significant differences from control in MAP, CO, and dP/dt. The SE group had significant increases from control and SE+atenolol in QTc and QTcd, while SE+atenolol had values significantly less than SE but significantly higher than control. The use of atenolol as a cardio-protective treatment for SE seems promising. However, the significant increases in QTc and QTcd in the SE+atenolol group does not have a clear cause. It may result from increased SNS activity present after SSLSE or from a catecholamine independent pathway. Regardless of the mechanism, the prolonged QTc and QTcd in SE+atenolol are acute and recover within 10 days, as previously reported by Little, J.G. and Bealer, S.L. Lisa Naujoks Steven L. Bealer 195 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE GEOLOGY OF RANGE CREEK CANYON, BOOK CLIFFS, UTAH Nora M. Nieminski (Cari L. Johnson) Department of Geology and Geophysics University of Utah Nora M. Nieminski Carl L. Johnson 196 Range Creek Canyon, located within the Book Cliffs in eastern Utah, contains s o m e of the most abundant and well-preserved archaeological sites in North America. Its cliffs and landscapes provide a canvas for rock art panels and a foundation for granaries, ruins, and artifacts of the prehistoric Fremont Indians. In order to place these Range Creek sites within a geologic context, an illustrated geologic field guide was created for the general public. The guide documents the major rock formations in the canyon and m a n y indicators that allow for interpretations of their origins. Outcrops of the Early Paleogene Flagstaff and Colton Formations (-56 million years old) in Range Creek Canyon were investigated in order to interpret their depositional environments. The results help identify the geologic and paleoclimatic conditions present during deposition of these strata. Sedimentary structures, measurement of stratigraphic sections, and outcrop mapping document fluvial (river) systems that interacted closely with a lacustrine (lake) environment. The lacustrine Flagstaff Formation contains limestone beds and fossils of freshwater gastropods, oysters, and turtles, indicating deposition in a lake environment. The unit coarsens upward with an increase of interbedded sandstone layers near the top of the formation. These interbedded sandstones were deposited in and near ancient river channels, suggesting dynamic levels of the ancient lake with overall encroachment of river systems near the contact with the Colton Formation. The fluvial Colton Formation is characterized by discontinuous, stacked beds of sandstone, representing a succession of migrating river channels and inter-channel (floodplain) deposits. The lower part of the Colton Formation is distinguished by a darker red lithology and contains more interbedded mudstone, suggesting that this older unit records lower energy river environments. The Colton Formation exhibits a general upward trend of increased grain-size, and increased channel belt (sandstone bed) frequency and lateral extent. This implies a transition to higher energy river systems through time. These rivers m a y have been flowing generally northward into the Eocene Lake Uinta, recorded in deposits of the Green River Formation north of Range Creek. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF DRUG DANGEROUSNESS: LICIT VS. ILLICIT AND DESIGNER VS. STREET Rhea Novak (Heather Melton) Department of Sociology University of Utah Aims. The aim of this study is to determine if participant perceptions of the dangerousness of various drugs, ranging from caffeine to heroin, relates to their suggestions for the legal status of those drugs (i.e. over the counter (OTC) or illegal). This study also attempts to determine if participant responses related to the drugs current legal status. Methods. The survey was administered to participants in paper form at public locations, such as malls and train stations, undergraduate course websites and a social media network, (N=108). Results. Public perceptions of drug danger are related to the status suggested for each drug in this sample (except caffeine which is likely due to sampling), but there is inconsistency between drugs (e.g. tobacco, though rated as more dangerous than marijuana overall, was suggested as an OTC while marijuana was generally suggested as an illegal substance.) For the most part, participants suggested that drugs maintain their current legal status. Rhea Novak Heather Melton 197 SPRING 2011 THE IMPLICATIONS OF MARKETING G O O D CAUSES TO STUDENT GEN-YERS: EXAMINING PERCEPTIONS OF CAUSE MARKETING Annie Paul (Maureen Mathison) Department of Marketing University of Utah Today m a n y companies are increasingly engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts with the goal of creating a more positive reputation in consumers' minds while increasing sales and revenues. M a n y of these companies implement CSR initiatives by partnering with a charity or another cause championed by a nonprofit. These corporations often seek to promote their commitment to said cause(s) through cause marketing (CM). By linking a firm's cause-beneficial fund-raising activities to the purchase of its products/services, C M achieves two objectives: (1) to help worthy causes and (2) to improve a company's performance. Although the literature shows C M to be gaining ground, little is known about student perceptions, and more specifically, about those of Business students. Nevertheless, s o m e studies show that Millenials (those born between 1980 and 2000), also known as "Gen Y-ers," pay more attention to C M campaigns and are more likely to buy a product if it supports a social issue with which they are sympathetic. Since this is the case, would "tomorrow's business managers," i.e. business students, also share this increasing consciousness with other students? This study examines the C M perspectives of Millenial students through the lens of their personal and professional identities, specifically comparing Business majors' views with those of other undergraduates at a large public university. Results show that from a personal identity perspective, Business students were less likely to support C M compared to other students. However, from a professional identity perspective, all students reported having mixed views regarding companies'partnerships with good causes. Business students saw these affiliations as expenses rather than as benefits to companies, and few students overall recognized these relationships' benefits to consumers. More needs to be done to address the gap between firms'goals with C M and Millenials', particularly Business students', perceptions of these partnerships. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE HAAR WAVELETS AS A TOOL FOR STATISTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF VARIABILITY Ryan Price (Stephan LeBohec) Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Utah In the field of gamma-ray astronomy, irregular and noisy datasets m a k e it difficult to characterize lightcurve features in terms of statistical significance, while also accounting for the trial factors associated with the search for variability at specific times and for specific time-scales. In order to address these difficulties, w e propose a m e t h o d based o n the Haar wavelet decomposition of the data. It allows the statistical characterization of possible variability in terms of a quantitative confidence level. To investigate and demonstrate the power of this method, it is applied to artificially generated data, as well as to the very high energy M 8 7 light curve recorded with VERITAS in 2008 which serves as an example of a realistic application. By comparing these results with those obtained from a direct Chi-Square test m e t h o d it is shown that the m e t h o d investigated here provides greater sensitivity for variability occurring over larger time-scales, but if the variability is so fast that it only affects a few data points, then this m e t h o d has similar sensitivity to that of the direct Chi-Square test. t Stephan LeBohec 199 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE A MATHEMATICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE INNATE AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNE SURVEILLANCE OF TUMOR GROWTH Jonathan Quinonez (Peter Kim) Department of Mathematical Biology University of Utah Peter Kim Mathematical models of tumor-immune interactions provide an analytical framework by which to address specific questions about tumor-immune dynamics. W e present an extension of a mathematical model developed by D e Pillis et al. that accounts for the i m m u n e surveillance of tumors by natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic C D 8 + T lymphocytes (CTL's). N K cells mediate an innate immune response against cancer because N K cells can respond to tumor cells without the need for prior antigen-specific stimulation, while CTL's mediate an adaptive i m m u n e response because they require antigen-specific stimulation before responding effectively. Our extended model incorporates state transitions between naive and primed CTL's and cytokine signaling between N K cells and CTL's. In addition, the model describes tumor-immune interactions focusing on the roles of the innate and adaptive i m m u n e responses in tumor i m m u n e surveillance. The mathematical model describes tumor-immune interactions by utilizing a system of non-linear differential equations with respect to tumor cells, NK cells, CTL's, and antigen presenting cells. The functions describing tumor-immune growth, antigen presentation, i m m u n e response, and interaction rates are numerically simulated with a differential equation solver (GNU Octave). Parameter estimates and model validations are obtained from prior mathematical papers and medical studies related to this topic. W e expect that both the innate and adaptive immune systems play independent and synergistic roles to defend the body from cancer. dC Differential Equation System for Thesis dl = rcC - krNC - k2TeC dN rnNC - = bN-dNN + -2---lnNC dt mn + C dTn - = b, - djn -maApTn dTe = maApTn - dTTe + rTTt,l2 - iTRTe dlf = °h ~dhHn ~ maApHn dt dH = m A H - dHHc + rHHel2 - iHRHc ~di a p n dl, = C,l2 - d,l2 - rHHel2 - rTTel2 - rRRI2 ~d7 dAf, _ ~r~ - r<jC- daAp dR, = bR - dRR dt dRt It = maApRn maApR„ - dRRc + rRRcl, THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEVELOPING A FINANCIAL MENTORING CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Kristina Rodriguez (Elizabeth Tashjian) Department of Finance University of Utah The University of Utah is experiencing greater student enrollment and a continuous increase in tuition. For many students, tuition increases translate directly into growth in student debt upon graduation. The surge in student debt should raise concerns over the students' ability to m a k e repayments on these loans. An increase in default rates will adversely affect the borrowers, taxpayers, and postsecondary institutions. Improved financial education for students m a y help offset the default risk for student loans. This study uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyze the potential benefits of a financial literacy center for students at the University of Utah. This study uses results from a survey distributed to undergraduate and graduate students. O n average, over half of all survey respondents are responsible for at least 7 5 % of their o w n tuition. More than 2 5 % of students would like to have counseling on managing finances post-graduation. Other topics of interest include individual financial counseling, budgeting, and investments. This study also includes information on the experience of other financial centers nationally. The financial center, named ASUU (Associated Students of the University of Utah) Personal Money Management Center, opened in Spring 2011.The study will include challenges faced during the first few months of operation. SPRING 2011 EMERGING NATIONAL TRENDS IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE AND THEIR MANIFESTATION IN SALT LAKE COUNTY, UTAH Matthew Sargent (Julia B. Corbett) Department of Environmental Studies University of Utah Many scientists predict the end of our inexpensive and abundant oil supply within the next few decades. Our current system of agriculture and the related industries of food processing, transportation, and consumption depend upon this declining resource and surely must adapt to the changing set of circumstances. This report begins with a brief summary and critique of our national food system, including its influence upon the world. Then this discusses h o w the problems burdening our food system are being solved by individuals and communities across the globe. The lens through which this subject is viewed is that of the progressive urban planner. The challenges of the rapid urbanization of the twenty-first century are being met with n e w ideas and creative solutions in the field of Urban Planning in relation to our food system. The third section focuses on h o w residents, organizations, municipalities, and communities within Salt Lake County, Utah are envisioning and building our local food system. The ways in which w e grow, trade, process, and consume food are integrally connected to these n e w m o d e s of design and understanding of cities and communities. The conclusion summarizes the growing wave of support for alternative food systems in Salt Lake County and identifies several areas where improvement can be m a d e to strengthen the local food system. THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: AN EXAMINATION OF JUSTICE IN JUDGE - ADVISOR SYSTEMS Amber Shanafelt (Bryan Bonner) Department of Management University of Utah Amber Shanafelt Organizations are constantly faced with determining proper punishment or consequences for employees w h o commit acts contrary to company regulations and policies. C o m m o n l y Judge - Advisor Systems (JAS) are built into the hierarchy of conventional organizations, and they can have an impact on these decisions. In a JAS one or more persons act as advisors giving recommendations or guidance to one or more persons in the judge role w h o ultimately m a k e a decision. This paper examines the impact that Judge - Advisor Systems and the management hierarchy system have on disciplinary decisions m a d e in the corporate atmosphere. The primary research question that it aims to answer is: Does the position of the advisor relative to the judge affect the weight given to the advisor's recommendation by the judge? The study was designed to assess subject responses in a hypothetical human resource case in which the participant acted as the judge and recommendations were given by several advisors playing differing roles in the corporate structure. Subjects' responses were collected through the online A m a z o n Mechanical Turk (MTurk) system. Although the research is still in progress, I predict that the research will show a correlation between the type of advisor and h o w closely the judge followed his or her recommendations for punishment. If a participant is given advice from a direct manager to w h o m he or she reports, it will be more likely that they will follow the advice. To the contrary, participants given advice from managers in a different department or workers on a lower level will be more likely m a k e decisions based on their personal opinions. Bryan Bonner SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE ENHANCING THE STABILITY AND FUNCTION OF THE TUMOR SUPPRESSOR PROTEIN P53 Ali S. Sharif (Mohanad Mossalam, Carol S. Lim) Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry University of Utah All S. Sharif Gene therapy is currently used to not only correct the cellular errors associated with tumorigenesis, but to also provide enhanced cellular functions against tumor development. Over half of all known cancers have either a loss of function or inactive tumor suppressor p53. Gene therapy targeting p53 has been effective against cancers associated with the breast, ovaries, and lungs. Understanding the role and function of p53 is essential and promising in cancer treatment. In response to various stress or oncogenic signals, the tumor suppressor protein p53 mediates cellular response via induction or repression of certain genes. Tumor suppressor p53 functions as a transcription factor controlling genes involved in D N A repair, senescence, cell cycle arrest, and most importantly, apoptosis. Accumulation of p53 in the nucleus is necessary for its transcriptional activities; however, inactivation of the transcriptional activity of p53 has been shown to be associated with tumor formation. Using a combination of'super' p53 mutant constructs, p53_S46F and p53_S121F, located both in the N-terminus and the D N A Binding Domain (DBD), respectively, w e analyzed the link between transcriptional activity and apoptosis. Both the p53_S46F and p53_S121F mutant construct independently have been shown to have enhanced apoptotic activity via increased transcriptional activity. In addition, m a n y cancers have been linked to temperature sensitive p53. Several researches have shown that certain cancer'hot spots'are linked to denaturing of p53 at body temperature. Therefore, w e have produced a novel p53 constructs with both enhanced apoptotic ability as well as thermodynamic stability. Thermodynamically stabilized p53 constructs, specifically p53_N239Y, were combined with both p53_S46F and p53_S121F to create the optimal p53 tumor suppressor protein. C-Termmal Amino Terminus DBD n i MBD 204 PRD 393 pnn NES TD NLS THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE FINANCIAL DESCRIPTORS OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY INVESTMENTS Daniel Smart (Cal Boardman) Department of Finance University of Utah One of the largest considerations for any early stage investor is the future exit and realization of that investment, consisting primarily of acquisitions and initial public offerings (IPO). W h e n evaluating the general market trends for investment exits, academic research suggests that IPOs provide a 22 percent valuation premium. Further, these companies typically have stronger financials and market positioning which allow them to effectively compete with the increased competition. As the most lucrative investment exit w e opined that similar information would be applicable to alternative energy companies. Though the underlying financials of the alternative energy industry were not overly optimistic, with consistent negative net income while revenues were often increasing, the stock prices of firms within the industry did not reflect m a n y of the underlying trends seen in the financial data. Stock prices continued to rise, particularly in the period of 2006 - 2008. Cal Boardman Using common-sized statements on a 3-period cross sectional basis as well as through constructing ramp-up period guidelines, industry standards were established to compare investments to trends and anomalies. W e then evaluated potential causes for the trends demonstrated in the data, including the implications of potential green bubble compared to government policies and financial descriptors. It was determined that government subsidies and incentives are crucial to the current players within this industry, but potentially not the largest determinant of future success. These pieces ultimately combine to demonstrate that an acquisition provides the greatest certainty of return for the initial investor. The increased level of acquisitions will be fueled by venture capitalists and other investors looking for exits within specific time frames, combined with m a n y traditional energy providers and other corporations trying to improve their overall product offerings and green image. These private factors, combined with public incentives and tax breaks, combine to drive future growth within the industry. 205 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE AN INTRODUCTION TO WAVELETS AND CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC HAAR-TYPE COMPOSITE DILATION WAVELETS Kyle Steffen Kyle Steffen (Nick Korevaar) Department of Mathematics University of Utah Wavelets are functions that satisfy special properties, including the property that they generate an orthonormal basis of the square-integrable functions L A 2(R A n). They are used to transform a signal into a wavelet series representation, which organizes the signal in a w a y that makes it easier to analyze. This thesis is in two parts. In part one w e begin by developing the motivation to study wavelets, and then proceed by introducing Haar wavelets, which can be analyzed from a geometric point of view. W e use Haar wavelets to introduce the concept of a multiresolution analysis, introduce and provide motivation for the discrete wavelet transform, and then briefly introduce two dimensional and composite dilation wavelets. The second half is a preprint of an article coauthored with Jeffrey Blanchard and funded by the Department of Mathematics VIGRE program in which w e characterize an interesting class of n-dimensional composite dilation wavelets, and then catalogue the 2-dimensional wavelets of this class. Nick Korevaar 206 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE MAPPING A LEGEND FOR ECOFEMINISM Margaret Jane Stringham (Andrew Hoffmann) Department of English University of Utah Margaret Jane Stringham "Mapping a Legend for Ecofeminism" frames itself around the poetry and prose of Gabriela Mistral, and explores its function as a foundation for ecofeminism with particular regard to the theme of virginity. Mistral's work extends outward into dialectics with Mother Goddess figures, the Virgin Mary, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Q u e e n Elizabeth I. Each show that it is impossible to divorce motherhood from pain-in raising children and in the act of giving birth itself, which translates from Spanish as "to give light." Poetic tropes of water, light, and nostalgia emerge in these dialectics to illuminate the breadth of Mistral's work and h o w it throws us to varied meditations on virginity, pain, nostalgia, and transformation. Close readings of Mistral's poetry and prose in their original Spanish facilitate the ripple or m a p ping effect of the project. The essay attends to etymologies and layered translations. They are the locus from which to explore theoretical and literary relationships between binaries and what occurs upon synthesis and transformation of binaries. Boundaries between conceptual dualisms, like light and dark, function as thresholds for creativity and change. Presenting boundaries not as limiting but instead as thresholds and places of origin is the shaping force in m y essay. It considers both departures from origins and loyalty to origins while births of words and "lights" flow in and away from each other, and shape the layers of chiaroscuro in Mistral's verse. Andrew Hoffmann 207 SPRING 2011 HONORS COLLEGE BLURRING GENDERS OR DELETING THEM: ANDROGYNY AND PERFORMANCES OF GENDER IN A YOUTH POPULATION OF THE NETHERLANDS Chantalle Van Goor Chantalle van Goor (Helene Shugart) Department of Communication University of Utah What is gender? Is it a noun or verb? Where does one 'get' it? H o w is it formed? These questions have been asked time and time again over years of study and societal changes. Conceptions of gender have been and continue to be created from a variety of different perspectives. A m o n g these theories is biological determinism, equating sex to gender; social constructionism, placing behaviors and characteristics in culturally defined masculine and feminine binaries; and gender performativity, supporting the concept of gender as fluid, continually evolving performances. M u c h of the contemporary academic literature in the communication and gender field focuses on the performativity theory, exploring performances of genders and the societal constructions that influence such performances. Using this theory and the concept of androgynous gender performance as its base, this paper explores gender performances in the youth population (approx. 18-25 years of age) of the Netherlands. This is done through a combination of participant observation and rhetorical analysis of the performances observed. Observations suggest that while traditional aspects of gender performances occur in certain contexts, the Dutch youth population is predisposed to blended gender performances and thus exhibits a potential for androgynous gender performances. Analysis reveals a highly masculine lean toward gender performances in all individuals observed, thus reinforcing traditional concepts of masculinity and power while simultaneously and paradoxically challenging traditional forms of femininity. 208 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HONORS COLLEGE ETHICS IN BUSINESS DECISIONS: THE EFFECT OF HARMS, PUBLICITY, A N D FINANCIAL COSTS Ava J. Van Zanten (Bryan L. Bonner) Department of Management University of Utah Ava J. Van Zanten This paper explores the effect of various harms to humans, the environment, the financial well-being of an organization, or the public image of an organization on ethical decision-making in a business context. Individual decision-making data was collected through an online survey-style experiment using a hypothetical decision paradigm. Participants were recruited from a global sample of work-for-hire internet laborers and varied broadly in terms of their demographics. Participants were asked to allocate a hypothetical quality control team member's time to deal with potential concerns with varying consequences thereby allowing for the quantification of the relative importance of these factors in the decision processes. Our primary analysis reveals that participant decision-making behavior changes drastically as a function of our manipulated variables (i.e., the nature of the potential harms being managed), with potential financial costs to the organization in question being a particularly powerful force driving decisions. This research has a n u m b e r of important implications to m a n a g e m e n t practices. Although managers must expect financial costs to be the default concern of their employees, managements can, through action such as training, modeling, and reward systems, increase employee sensitivity to other important factors such as h u m a n or environmental costs. That an individuals' degree of ethics in decisions m a y alter w h e n these factors are present shows the opportunity for businesses to m a n a g e their employees toward making decisions that are more ethical by manipulating these factors. Bryan L. Bonner 209 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2011 QUALITY OF LIFE AFTER PROSTATE CANCER SURGERY. STUDY OF QUALITY OF LIFE OUTCOMES FOR FOUR APPROACHES TO SURGERY FOR PROSTATE CANCER Suzanne Zavodni Donald Strassberg 210 Suzanne Zavodni (Donald Strassberg) University of Utah Erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence represent major concerns for m e n considering prostatectomy for the treatment of prostate cancer. Therefore, appropriate pre-surgical counseling of these m e n requires valid data on the prevalence of the quality of life (QOL) outcomes associated with the various forms of prostatectomy. However, the empirical findings on this issue are somewhat inconsistent. In this study, w e examined these Q O L outcomes, for up to 334 m e n , as a function of the most commonly used prostatectomy approaches. Specifically, w e compared the Q O L outcomes of the radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) vs. robotic assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) and bilateral/modified vs. unilateral nerve sparing (NS) prostatectomy. It was predicted that the greater the nerve sparing amount, the better the post-surgical erectile and urinary functioning would be. It was also predicted that the robotic assisted surgery would result in better post-surgical Q O L outcomes. Overall, degree of nerve sparing had little effect on measures of urinary functioning. In contrast, degree of nerve sparing was consistently and significantly associated with erectile functioning, with those receiving unilateral NS having far poorer post-surgical erectile functioning than those receiving bilateral/modified N S procedures. Method of surgery (RRP vs. RALRP) also had little effect on measures of urinary functioning and its effects on erectile functioning were variable. Surgery method had either no significant effect on erectile capacity or there was a small effect favoring those undergoing open surgery (RRP). It seems that despite its growing popularity and the medical benefits found to be associated with robotic prostatectomy, w e could find no empirical support in our data for its superiority regarding post-surgical erectile and urinary functioning. www.urop.utah.edu INDEX THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Abel, Dale 24, 47, 92, 114, 145, 156 141 Agarwal, Jay Aguilar, Lorena Bramwell, KC 42 Brimley, Cameron 167 Broadwater-Hollifield, Camille . 83 146 Ah Ching, Emily Aizad, Hannah 136 Brogdon, Jamison 5 Brooks, Amanda E Alexander, Amanda 164 Ambati, Balamurali An, Na 71, 91 74 Brooks, Benjamin 12 23, 79 Dibble, Lee E 100 Do, Melissa 153 Do, Michael 140 Dobozy, Maria 12 Domgaard, Randi 173 Drews, Frank 112 23 Drysdale, Dexter 25 Brothersen, Chelsey 168 Dudek, Edward F 142 Brown, Erica 169 Dunie, Richard 33 26 Anderson, Paul A 139 Burckle, Alexander 13 Dunn, William Anderson, Rachel 108 Burns, Behle 14 Dursteler, A m y 40, 116 Anderson, Scott L 165 Burrows, Cynthia J 74 Eggert, Randall 10 Buskirk, Kelly 15 Eldredge, Alison Call, Brent 23 Araneo-Yowell, Jennifer Ardon, Orly 7 140 Arnold, Kara 6 Ellin, Nan 101 Campbell, Stephen 109 Ellington, Lee 149 Ells, Domino Taylor Arvizo, Joel 144 Cao, Kim Oanh 138 Au, Alexander 139 Capps, Robert 16 Auduong, Priscilla 88, 137 Baeder, Jill 104 Bain, Dani 7 Bandyopadhyay, Pradip K . .95, 126 Barabas, Peter 20, 110 Barlow, Jessie 8 Bartl, Michael H 172 146 19 Elmer, Steven J ...11,39,73,97 Cardenas, Joyce 147 Eyring, Edward M Carrier, David 164 Farmer, C.G 7, 8 Cash, Gabriela M 17 15 Farmer, Colleen 171 Cates, Joshua 139 Farnsworth, Ryan 69 Chao, Wei Ting 139 Femat, Gabrielle 141 20, 110 Fernandez, Diego 31,113 Chauhan, Shiwani Cherkaev, Elena Choi, Andrew 192 Filler, Dan 27 19 Finch, Taylor 111 Fitzgerald, Antonia 174 Basel, Tek 59 Choi, Chansong 18 Bass, Brenda L 58 Chumley, Jeffrey 170 Fladmoe-Lindquist, Karin ..115 Baumgartner, Brett K 17 Cipriani, Mark 171 Fogarty, Sarah Bealer, Steven L 195 Clark, Lauren 146 Fogelson, Aaron Beckstead, Ashley 165 Clifford, Justin P 158 Francis, John 9 Connor, Heather 189 Frandsen, Clay 28 136, 155 Conroy, Otakuye 108 Fraughton, Tamara 68 Cooper, Michael 188 Frazer, Kimble J Corbett, Julia B 202 Frischknecht, Jake Bell, Sarah Bennion, John Bernard, Philip 94, 125 Bibb, Bethany 10 Biesinger, Shara Bliss, Carolyn 150 135, 138, 143 175 29 Cui, Yiran 22 Fung, Samantha 176 Furse, Cindy 130 Boardman, Cal 205 Cundiff, Jeanne M 28 Furse, Cynthia Davidoff, Sherry 23 Galli, Nick A d a m 203, 209 99,117 Fullmer, John M Cummins, Tom Bonner, Bryan L 3 21 109 11 182 Cornwall, Douglas H Bloebaum, Roy Bohn, Jacqueline A 72 Davidson, Royce A 6 172 30,159 50 Gamez, Erik S 30 Davies, Jonathan B ... .130, 159 Gard, David L 170 Bowman, Danielle 166 Dearing, Denise Garff, Kevin 177 Bradley, Martha 163 Deemyad, Shanti Gerritsen, David 112 Borup, Hasse Bradshaw, David H 25 54, 119 174 77, 87 Deeter, Nicholas B . .24, 65, 129 Ghandehari, Hamid ....13,122 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Glaittli, Michelle 178 Jimenez, Ornella Adriana 38 Liu, Suzi 51, 189 Livdahl, Nicholas S 34,160 Gordon, Hannah 92, 156 Johnson, Cari L 196 Gottfredson, Jacob 31,113 Johnson, Darren 48 Longo, Nicola 140 Graham, Timothy 40,116 Johnson, Jerica 39 Lopez, Penny 144 Jones, Hannah 41 Grainger, David W 23, 79 Lubbers, David 51 Jones, Harrison 40, 116 Griffin, Abbie 190 Jorgensen, Erik 84 Maass, Sean D Groke, Steven 83 Kaddas, Heydon 42 Macleod, Robert Greenlee, John E Groot, Jodi 146 Keck, Gary E Guo, Jerry 179 Kent, Tyler Hagedorn, Curt 56 Hamilton, David 180 Handley, Michael 32 Hansen, Jacob Happen, Rachel Harper, Noah Haslam, Thomas S 184 Kesner, Raymond P .44, 35, 118 Kewalramini, Kirti 50 Madsen, Michelle K Madsen, Troy Mahas, Timothy Major, Nicole 52 55,120 190 83, 180 53 191 43 185 Malhotra, Reetu 30 Khan, Khadija Kim, Ganghun 33 Kim, Peter 200 Maloney, Thomas Kimball, Richard 186 Manzanares, Evangeleena .145 Kingston, Joseph C 117 Marler, Tyler Lyman 34, 160 139 Hatch, Burke 83 Kinney, Anita Hawkes, Kristen 82 Kirk, Ryan A Hayes, Bradley T 100 Korevaar, Nick Hayes-Harb, Rachel 6 30 Lundquist, Michael Brayden .50 16 Kowalski, Christopher 38 44, 118 206 Mallin, Michael Marshall, Camden S 54, 119 83 181 55,120 73 Martin, James C ..11,39,73,97 Martinez, Theresa 24 64,143, 147, 153 161 122 Krizaj, David Hicks-Little, Charlie Hill, Harry R 14 70 Kuehl, Caleb Hitchcock, Robert 52 Lai, Kent 151 McClain, Donald A 90 187 Henriod, Claire Herd, Heather Kubinak, Jason Kumanovics, Attila 20, 110 Matheson, Zachary 192 21 Mathison, Maureen 198 142 70 Maxwell, Miranda Mayer, Robert Hoffmann, Andrew 207 Lamont, Matt 45 McDannell, Colleen Homsavad, Nora 143 Langer, Michael 46 McGettigan, Brett Horel, John 162 Larsen, Paul 46 Mcintosh, Michael Hu, Nathan 35 Law, Tiffany 187 McKnight, Robert A LeBohec, Stephan 199 McMillan, Karli Lee, Christopher 188 McNerny, Bryn Hu, Sylvia Hugentobler, Sara 114 36 5, 148 Lei, KaChon Hugie, Clint R 115 Lelis, James 48 Meek, Sanford Humphreys, Greg 179 Leonard, Christopher J 49 Hunter, Benjamin 37 Hughen, Ronald 47 McPhail, Jessica 19 178 56 93 154 57, 121 58 146 63,123 Melton, Heather 197 Lerslerphant, Pansa 148 Menon, Rajesh 185 Hurst, Michael 181 Letsou, Anthea 179 Merrell, Andrew Hussain, Yasmeen 182 Li, Minqi 175 Mikkelson, Ashlynd .60, 61,122 145 Li, Xinhua 108 Mishra, Arul 103 Moon, Anne 18 llkun, Olesya Ivans, Inese I 27, 75 Lieu, Kevin 143 Jacques, Kerry 161 Light, Alan 5, 148 Jalili, Thunder 150 Lim, Carol S 204 Jenkins, Alyssa 162 Liou, Theodore G Jensen, Cortney 183 Little, Jason G 57, 121 195 Moos, Philip J Morton, David A Mossalam, Mohanad Moyles, Jesse F *^**&^trth*xk*?0t VKtMMJtk 59 60,61, 122 34,160 204 62 INDEX THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Singh, lla 49 Skowronek, JamesT ..130,159 Mulvihill, Timothy 193 Redd, Michael 45 Murillo, Tiffany Alma 194 Rencher, KariAnne Rhodewalt, Frederick 72 168 157 Smart, Daniel 205 73 Smith, Ryan E 173 Murphy, Kelley 137 Murtaugh, Charles L 17 Richardson, Stephanie Nash, Barbara 29 Rigby, Jay B Naujoks, Lisa 195 Naylor, Jeff 63, 123 Rodriguez, Kristina Roens, Steve Rose, Emily Slaugh, Brandon 201 Smith, Timothy W 28 4 Sohn, Hong Yong 124 140 Staggers, Nancy 146 83 Neklason, Deb 76 Nellans, David 117 Rosecrans, Nicole 74 Steenblik, Jacob Nguyen, Kami 64 Ruff, James 36 Steffen, Kyle 147 Russo, Gina 138 Nguyen, Kim Nichols, Alexandrea 24,65,129 Rutter, Jared 108 43, 72 Stevenson, Zach Stewart, Julie 206 84 131, 132 Nicoll, Kathleen 31, 113 Ryskamp, Daniel Aaron .20, 110 Stillinger, Thomas Nielson, Jordan 148 Saam, Brian 96 Stimpson, Michelle Nieminski, Nora M 196 Samarasingha, Iranga 75 Stoddard, Greg 48 Sansone, Carol 19 Stout, Paul 32 Nieto, Leonel Novak, Rhea 131, 132 197 Sargent, Matthew 202 Strait, Joshus 154 Strassberg, Donald 210 Olivera, Baldomero M ..95,126 Sargent, Nykole Osman, Deqa Sarmiento, Julieta 152 Strayer, David Schachner, E m m a 171 Stringham, Margaret Jane .207 Pantelides, Chris P Papa, Evan V Parnell, Justin 149 22 100 66 76 66 155 Schaeffer, Anne Marie 77 Suchy, Yana 9, 26 166 Schatten, Karl 131 Sundquist, Wesley 89 131 Swallow, Nathan C 85 Pasquali, Marzia 111 Schatten, Sharon Paul, Annie 198 Schlauderaff, Abraham C Perry, Daniel 139 Schlitt, Lawrence M .. .130, 159 78 88, 137 Symons, David J 24, 65, 67, 129, 152 Tack, Drew 86 Petersen, Brady 67 Schmid, Alice Peterson, Tonee Lee 68 Schmid, Aloisia 177 Taha, Sharif A 85 Pham, Theresa 69 Schoen, Katherine 79 Talmadge, William 77 Plumlee, Marlene 169 Schroeder, Erika 83 Tashjian, Elizabeth 201 Porter, Marc 193 Schwager, Andrea L 85 Taylor, Linda Jo 155 Porter, Susie 184 Schwartz, Jason 48, 102 Temple, Scott R 87, 77 Potts, Wayne 21,36 Schwartz-Shea, Peregrine . .194 Thiesset, Heather 48 80 Thomas, Samuel C 88 89 Powers-Torrey, Marnie 81 Sedlacek, Mark Price, Leisa Bitner 70 Seever, Shea J 81 Thompson, Tasha 82 Thorgusen, S o m m e r 166 Price, Ryan 199 Seferos, Whitney Quadros, Ashley 150 Sempokuya, Tomoki 153 Thorup, David 90 Quinonez, Jonathan 200 Shanafelt, Amber 203 Tiagarajan, Giridhar 122 Radosevich, Anthony 71 Sharif, AN S 204 Tiem, Michelle 91 Sharma, Nishant 50 Tokita, Kylee Rainier, Jon 183 Ramachandran,Vandana ..186 Shaw, Janet M 78, 191 49 92, 156 Toscano, Margaret 41 Tran, Hong Phuong 93 Trandafir, Aurelian C 62 Ramos, Joshua E 124 Shin, Clifford Rascon, Rafael 151 Shugart, Helene Rayo, Luis Reblin, Maija 167 149 Simmerer, Jennifer 27 Trede, Nikolaus 98 Sinclair, Kristofer D 69 Tresco, Patrick 80 208 Truong, Sydney 94, 125 Uchino, Bert N Ul-Hasan, Sabah 176 95, 126 Uriona, T.J Van Goor, Chantelle 8 208 Van Haitsma, Timothy 53 Van Hook, Thomas 96 Van Zanten, Ava J 209 Vardeny, Valy Vu, Wendy Watson, Jason Webb, Jeff 59 127 26 158 Weber, Erika 22 Wehmanen, Kyle W 97 Weis, Janis 42 Weis, John 127 Welborn, Seth 98 West, Kylie 99 Weyrich, Andrew 37 White, Paul H 68 Wickman, Graydon A 100 Widdison, Renae 101 Wiessner, Polly 128 Woycechowsky, Kenneth Wright, Spencer Xing, Wei 86 102 20 Young, Michael K 2 Zagal, Esperanza 128 Zamanyfar, Shila 144 Zavodni, Suzanne 210 Zhang, Quan-Jiang 24 Zhu, Jiangnan 103 l/l/ie are especially grateful for the generous contributions of the Office of Undergraduate Studies without which the publication of this journal would not have been possible. To contribute to the Undergraduate Research Abstracts or to a UROP assistantship, please contact Steve Roens at 581-5249 or [e-mail] or Jill Boeder at 581-8070 or [e-mail] THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES 195 SOUTH CENTRAL CAMPUS DRIVE SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84112-051 [phone] FAX [phone] WWW.UROP.UTAH.EDU