2020 Abstracts

Stokes, Jessica; Burnett, Brandon (Weber State University)
Faculty Advisor: Burnett, Brandon (Weber State University, Chemistry)

Mechanochemistry has become a growing avenue for materials synthesis, as it typically requires little to no solvent, and often creates different crystalline phases compared to traditional synthetic methods. Liquid-assisted grinding, a form of mechanochemistry, was used to synthesize porphyrin paddle-wheel frameworks (PPFs). Three different crystalline phases were targeted in order to test the viability of this method on this class of materials and observe any difference compared to traditional solvothermal synthesis. X-ray diffraction was used to confirm the formation of each PPF phase. We found that mechanochemistry was indeed successful to sustainably synthesize PPFs. Additionally, we observed a significant difference in phase preference between the traditional solvothermal synthesis and liquid assisted grinding methods.

Covey, Tracy; Alsup, Garrett; Kreinbrink, Alexia (Weber State University)
Faculty Advisor: Covey, Tracy (College of Science, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Certain over-the-counter medications, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, are known to have an effect on the bioavailability of warfarin, enhancing its anticoagulant properties. The goal of this project is to study how varying the concentration of ibuprofen or acetaminophen affects the amount of warfarin bound to blood plasma proteins. To better understand how strong these drug-drug interactions are with warfarin, we proposed capillary electrophoresis (CE) as an analytical method to separate and detect these compounds. Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and warfarin have all been analyzed using CE in the literature, so we sought to develop a CE method to separate and detect all three drugs together. We are currently optimizing this method and will use this method to investigate warfarin displacement from plasma proteins by ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

McDowell, Trevor; Durfee Dallin (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Durfee, Dallin (College of Science, Physics)

Interference Pattern Structured Illumination Imaging (IPSII) utilizing Mach-Zehnder Interferometry, allows us to surpass the Abbe Limit of traditional imaging techniques. To aid in this endeavor, my primary objective is to utilize a Michelson-Morley Interferometer with one of the arms being a long-distance, 300mm or greater, linear translation stage. Using the long-distance linear translation stage (LDLTS) to test both the repeatability and as well as angular stability of various LDLTS units so we may take measurements of fringe lines at arcseconds approaching a zero degree of angle. Though many designs currently available for consumer use have the linear repeatability needed, most if not all lack the angular stability needed. As such we are currently experimenting with current designs to see where the variances are and work in improvements so we may design our own LDLTS so we may be able to take such extreme angle measurements. In addition to improving the repeatability and angular stability of LDLTS's, the automation of the kinematic mirror mounts utilizing stepper motors is another primary concern. Our current issue is that we need to be able to adjust the reflecting mirrors on both the x-axis and y-axis and to do this the stepper motors need a travel distance of 27mm along the z-axis. The issue we have is we need a stable mount that addresses any torque lash while keeping them still and allowing movement on the z-axis. Through materials research for what to be used with the LDLTS as well as the stepper motor mounts, we will be able to take data points and processes data at a much greater and more accurate rate than we have in the past. Resulting in more time to conduct experiments and less time waiting for results.

Nanasi Sekona, Ashley Balderrama, Carlos Nunez, Kyle Hendricks, Tyson Hillock, and Dr. Olga Kopp (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Kopp, Olga (Utah Valley University, Biology)

Over the last 30 years, the incidence of fungal infections has gradually increased. Mucormycosis is a fungal infection primarily caused by Rhizopus Oryzae. The majority of patients who develop invasive mucormycosis die within 12 weeks of diagnosis. Mucormycosis is commonly treated with an antifungal agent called Amphotericin B (AMB). When used in high concentrations, AMB causes severe side effects such as nephrotoxicity. It has been reported that 99% of microbes exist as biofilm: thus, there is a direct association between mucormycosis and biofilms. Shockwave has been shown to inhibit living bacteria in biofilm, but few studies have focused on the effects of shockwave on fungal biofilm. Previous work in our lab showed that shockwaves were effective in damaging biofilms of R. oryzae; but at the same time helped promote the metabolism of surviving R. oryzae. This study aims to investigate the proteins expressed in fungal biofilms when introduced to different intensities of shockwave coupled with the treatment of AMB. This will be accomplished by culturing sporangiospores and propagating R. oryzae biofilms. Standardized biofilm will be treated with 0.5 µg/mL AMB in 1% DMSO, and/or shockwave treatment of 300 pulses at 0.19 mJ/mm2 energy density to be measured against a control group. The proteins will be extracted, determined by 2D gel electrophoresis, and identified by mass spectrometry. Studying protein expression resulting from combination therapy of extracorporeal shockwave and AMB on R. oryzae biofilm could progress research surrounding the difficulties of mucormycosis treatments. Particularly, research aimed at counteracting the antifungal and antimicrobial resistance contributed by proteins in the fungi's biofilm.

Vilela, Ernie; Seal, Isaac; Ogden, Heath T. (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Ogden, Thomas (College of Science, Biology Deapartment)

We are interested in using transcriptome data, generated with next generation sequencing technology, to investigate the evolutionary trends of specific genes and their associated expression in mayflies. We generated an additional transcriptome for mayflies. RNA was extracted from a freshly frozen specimen preserved in RNAlater® (Ambion) using TRIzol® Reagent (Ambion) and cDNA libraries were prepared from mRNA. RNA-seq data was generated using a paired-end protocol (PE100) on Illumina HiSeq2000 with an expected 60 million reads. In order to effectively investigate the large amount of sequences, we created a bioinformatics workflow to analyze the newly generated transcriptome data along with previous data for mayflies. The workflow consists of these main steps: Trinity (Assemblying the transcripts), Transdecoder (Identifying candidate coding regions), HMMER (Searching biological sequence databases for homologous sequences). We tested the workflow looking at opsin genes.

Forbush, Micah; Gold, Roger (Southern Utah University)
Faculty Advisor: Gold, Roger (Southern Utah University, Biology)

The health of a horse's teeth and oral cavity is strongly correlated with the horse's overall health and well-being. As a horse ages the oral cavity undergoes many distinct physical changes, which may lead to changes in the composition of the oral microbiome as well. While there has been extensive research performed on the oral microbiomes of healthy horses compared to horses with various oral diseases, very little is known about normal changes to the horse oral microbiome as they age. The aim of this study was to use high-throughput sequencing to compare the oral microbiomes of horses in different age categories. Total genomic DNA was isolated from oral swabs taken from horses in the 7 day-old, 1-7 years old, 8-15 years old and 16+ years old age categories. The V3-V4- region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified by PCR and amplicons were submitted for paired-end sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq system. Sample reads were analyzed using the QIIME 2.0 microbiome bioinformatics platform and overall bacterial diversity was compared among age classes.

Terreros, Eduardo N.; Dr. Roberts, Andrew G. (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Roberts, Andrew G. (University of Utah, Chemistry)

Chromatography is an indispensable tool in most chemistry laboratories, as it provides a way to separate multiple components within a chemical mixture. The separation can be evaluated by the use of various chromatographic methodologies that have been developed to target specific chemical properties (e.g. size, mass, molecular interactions) of the desired compounds. Chromatographic methods are utilized to gather qualitative information in order to observe more general trends, or quantitative data to further explore observations in greater detail.

Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) is a well-established method for collecting qualitative data from chemical reactions. Although Quantitative TLC (QTLC) methods have been developed, they are limited due to their high complexity, and cost prohibitive nature. The advancement of a Semi-Quantitative Thin Layer Chromatography (S-QTLC) method will provide a quick, low cost method to track organic reactions. We developed a low-cost alternative that uses readily available materials to gather images of TLC plates and process them into semi-quantitative data. In order to achieve this, we have constructed a small image gathering box made of opaque acrylic fitted with two 254 nm UV lamps and a Raspberry Pi Zero W with a camera module to acquire the images. The images are imported to a PC and processed by a custom built MatLab function. We demonstrated that this system can be utilized to gather qualitative data. Current studies will validate semi-quantitative data collection and reaction tracking and work is currently being done to validate semi-quantitative data collection.

Fazio, Nicholas; Russell, Michael; Krapohl, John; Andrus, Brayden; Hansen, Marc (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Hansen, Marc (Brigham Young University, Physiology and Developmental Biology)

PIM 3 is a proto-oncogene with serine/threonine kinase activity that can prevent apoptosis, promote cell survival and protein translation. Abnormal PIM3 activity contributes to tumorigenesis by phosphorylation of targets that release anti-apoptotic proteins. Pathological PIM3 expression is common in pancreatic and prostate cancer. Inhibiting this kinase activity can be used to therapeutically suppress uncontrolled cell growth in cancerous tissues. Synthetic inhibitors are being developed as therapeutics to treat PIM3 related disorders. Compounds derived from plants and natural sources have therapeutically-relevant biological activity. Additionally, they often well tolerated, making them important starting points for drug discovery efforts. A less widely used approach to discover the biological activity of molecules is built around using a large scale in-silico molecular screening, which has emerged as a critical drug discovery tool. Here, we screen a large (>100,000 compound) virtual library of natural product compounds for binding in the PIM3 ATP binding site, then validate compounds with using cell-based and immuno-based assays. This approach reveals PIM3 inhibition by a saponin scaffold, which suggests potential utility as a therapeutic or as a lead for further optimization.

Leininger, Sara; Minteer, Shelley; Rhodes, Zayn; Sigman, Matt; Pancoast, Adam (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Minteer, Shelley (University of Utah College of Science, Chemisty)

In the effort to improve renewable energy as a response to the depletion of fossil fuels, one important aspect to consider is the availability of such sources. The supply of solar and wind power, for example, faces issues with intermittency. Therefore, it is crucial to develop reliable energy storage methods, with redox flow batteries (RFBs) being of particular interest given their potential low cost and high efficiency. RFBs operate similarly to conventional batteries, except the anode and cathode materials are dissolved in electrolyte solutions, and pumped into the electrochemical cell from external storage tanks. Within the cell, the anode and cathode species are separated by a membrane to prevent them from mixing, which would cause the battery to self-discharge. RFBs can utilize aqueous- or organic-based electrolyte solutions, with organic solvents being especially appealing, as the electrochemical potential window is larger than water. However, one major impediment of using organic solvent is the high chemical crossover rate of anode and cathode species through the membrane, causing rapid capacity fade of the battery. Several research studies have shown that the use of redox active polymers (RAPs) with high molecular weights, paired with a size-exclusion membrane effectively counteracts this problem. The resulting steric hindrance between the small pores of the membrane and these large molecules blocks any crossover from the active species. This study will include the construction of an RFB using two previously developed RAPs demonstrated to have high electrochemical cycling stability as electrolytes. By using RAPs as both anode and cathode materials, it is expected that chemical crossover will be minimized, and the lifetime of the battery will be elongated compared to an RFB with one or both species in monomeric form. This study will be significant in the advancement of RFBs, potentially leading to their widespread use for energy storage.

Phan, Anh; Jensen, Joseph (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Jensen, Joseph (Utah Valley University, Physics)

We have measured the Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) distances to 12 galaxies. SBF is usually used to measure distances to giant elliptical galaxies that have uniform ages and composition. On the other hand, galaxies that are more disk-shaped potentially have a range of ages, they may have an SBF and color gradient. Elliptical masks that match the shapes of disk galaxies can give a more accurate SBF and color gradient than circular masks. The purpose of this study is to measure the discrepancies between the SBF distances using the two types of masks. For giant elliptical galaxies, the two methods give similar results ($\leq$ 2\%). For disk galaxies, the discrepancies are bigger (up to 6\% difference).

Chevrier, Amy; Hinkson, Kent; Brooks, Malisa; Bryan, Craig (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Hinkson, Kent (Utah Valley University, Behavioral Science)

According to the National Center for PTSD, approximately 8% of the US population will experience PTSD in their lives. An average of 10% of women, compared to 4% of men, will suffer from PTSD in their lifetime. Those struggling with PTSD have difficulty sleeping, irritability, trauma-related nightmares, often avoid leaving their house, and several other adverse symptoms. Certain populations appear to experience more trauma, and thus endorse higher rates of PTSD. Among veterans, the rates of PTSD are significantly higher, with upwards of 18-30% of veterans meeting criteria for PTSD. Some studies have found more than 45% of student veterans with likely PTSD. While research has shown that there is a relationship between trauma type and prevalence of PTSD, as well as shown differences between men and women, this information is not available for student veterans. This study sought to answer if there is a difference in the severity level of PTSD and the type of trauma a person experienced and their gender. Student veterans (n=348) from across the country participated in this study. The results generally showed no significant difference in the severity or prevalence scores across trauma types. However, among those who experienced sexual assault, there were some interesting findings across genders. Men who reported being sexually assaulted endorsed more intrusion symptoms than women, along with more severe alterations to cognition and mood, while 57.14% percent of women (36.14% of men) endorsed full PTSD symptoms after a sexual assault. However, more men (96.39%) screened like for major depressive disorder after a sexual assault than women (73.68%). These results illustrate differences across gender in processing sexual assault and provide insight into potential considerations for treatment.

Bostick, Aubrey; Hill, Huiying (Weber State University)
Faculty Advisor: Hill, Huiying (Weber State University, Sociology and Anthropology)

Infant mortality rates for black women are significantly higher than white women. More specifically, during high risk pregnancies. These include pregnancies for women before the age of 20, and between the ages of 40-54. Through quantitative and qualitative secondary analysis utilizing conflict theory, the research indicates environmental and socioeconomic impacts derived from eugenicist practices that uniquely impact black pregnant women. Eugenicist practices are at the root of infant mortality rates for pregnant black women as a consequence of exploitation that formulates modern reproductive care. First, environmental factors to be explored include food deserts, gentrification, geographic location to healthcare centers, and pollution. These factors are essential to explore because they directly create internal factors. Which is why the second area of exploration is the stress of being a pregnant black woman. These factors include societal pressure, medical pressure, and a lack of preventative reproductive and post pregnancy care. Both environmental and internal factors stem from cyclical poverty, and produce chronic healthcare conditions that yield infant mortality. This research offers the unique consideration of diet, and disproportionate access to medical care while encompassing the history of modern reproductive care. This research has the capacity to create a dynamic approach to reducing infant mortality rates specifically for at-risk pregnant black women.

Harley Cragun, Kacy Craig, Josh Parmenter, Renee Galliher, Ryan Berke (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Berke, Ryan (College of Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department); Galliher, Renee (Emma Eccles Jones College of Education & Human Services, Psychology Department)

LGBTQ+ college students are a minority group of people who face the emerging challenges of adulthood and career decision making, as well as the unique challenge of navigating a minority sexual or gender identity. To fill the gaps in literature about the relationship between career development and decision making and identity development, over 400 LGBTQ+ college students of all disciplines from across the United States were surveyed. As part of a larger survey, students provided responses to the following open-ended question — "Please describe any barriers you perceive that might prevent you from achieving your career goals." Engineering has historically been dominated by white, heterosexual males, possibly leading to unique sexual identity and career development experiences of LGBTQ Engineering students. Initial analysis identified 5 main themes of all responses, including health, discrimination, resources, technical skills and emotional ability. Further analysis will be done to compare the reported barriers of Engineering majors to all majors. (We are recruiting for a second round of surveys. If you are an LGBTQ Engineering student, please visit www.berkelab.com/lgbtq.)

Tapoof, Koralene; Soyer, Mehmet (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Soyer, Mehmet (College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology Department)

With the increased development of natural gas in the United States, the northeastern part of Utah lies an area called the "Energy Hub" of the Uintah Basin. The estimated acreage is about five million acres, which 53 percent is controlled by the federal government. It is rich in tight sands and shale gas and has brought about recent gas exploration and development making this area in the Uintah and Duchesne counties of the Uintah Basin the largest oil and natural gas producing in the state of Utah. The purpose of this research is to examine how residents perceive the impacts of Oil and Gas developments in Ute Tribe Reservation. This proposed research will fill the gap in the literature regarding residents' perceptions on the impacts of hydraulic fracturing in Native Indian Reservation. We also explore the perceptions of Ute Tribe members on social, environmental, and health impacts of Oil and Gas Industry. Participants will be a minimum of 20 individuals who live in Ute Tribe Reservation, Fort Duchesne. The interviews will be in-depth and semi-structured. This study will be qualitative and exploratory. NVIVO 12 Qualitative software will be used to analyze collected data.

Shipley, Samantha (Weber State University)
Faculty Advisor: Stevenson, Dr. Mark (Social & Behavioral Sciences, Sociology & Anthropology); Arkush, Dr. Brooke (Social & Behavioral Sciences, Sociology & Anthropology); Yoder, Dr. David (Social & Behavioral Sciences, Sociology & Anthropology)

This study evaluates the ways that gender and women's roles are interpreted in Utah rock art. Over 750 rock art images in the following six counties in Utah were evaluated: Box Elder (47 images), Carbon (488 images), Juab (16 images), Millard (100 images), Tooele (33 images), and Utah (73 images). Along with a review of relevant literature, the study drew on rock art site forms to review any indication of sex/gender attributes. Though some rock art can be more easily interpreted, most is open to interpretation and requires extensive knowledge on the culture and ethnographic analysis. There were not many panels that displayed gender attributes. However, we cannot be sure that anthropomorphic figures did not represent both males and females. Though some rock art motifs can be more easily interpreted, most require extensive knowledge on the culture and ethnographic analysis to reach a probable conclusion. Identifying sex and gender within rock art motifs can be difficult without understanding the cultural construction as we oftentimes have biases and cultural assumptions of our own. Understanding social roles in native Utahn populations is beneficial for furthering anthropological research in the area.

Abdulla, Munawwar; Bovingdon, Gardner; Brophy, David; Cabras, Giulia; Dillon, Michael; Friedrichs, Jorg; Hess, Steve; Holdstock, Nick; Ingram, Ruth; Langfitt, Frank; Roberts, Sean; Schluessel, Eric; Shapiro, Ari; Smith-Finley, Joanne; Torrey, Zachary; Veselic, Maja; Yuan, Zhenjie; Zang, Xiaowei; Zhang, Shawn (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Larsen, Kirk (Family, Home, and Social Sciences; History); Schill, Steve (Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Geography)

The westernmost Chinese province of Xinjiang has in recent years become a hotbed of turmoil. The largest ethnic group in the region, the ethnically-Turkic Uyghur people, has been facing a systematic persecution by the Chinese government; most notably, this includes their forcible placement into "reeducation camps" across the province. Out of the more than eleven million Uyghurs in Xinjiang, it is estimated that up to a million are currently interned in one of these camps ("China's repression", 2018). One especially defining feature of the Uyghur people is their practice of Islam; it is said that they have traditionally practiced Islam since the 15th century, and mosques are prevalent across the cities of Xinjiang (Veselic, 2011; "Authorities in Xinjiang", 2017). The Uyghurs and religion of Islam are tied in such a tight ethnoreligious way that in this review the term Uyghur may generally be used to refer to a Uyghur Muslim in specific (Veselic, 2011). Islam, along with other defining characteristics, set the Uyghurs apart in stark contrast from the Han Chinese majority that makes up over 91% of China's total population (Zang, 2015; Roberts, 2018). In this presentation, I will look at a variety of factors that the Chinese government uses to justify the internment of the Uyghur people. I will also use ArcGIS Pro technology to examine satellite images and camp records to map the current extent of the reeducation camps, in an effort to follow what has already taken place and what the future will have in store for the Uyghur people.

Allred, Madison; Otterstrom, Samuel (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Otterstrom, Samuel(Brigham Young University, Family, Home and Social Sciences, Geography)

Over the past 20 years the behavior of dictatorial regimes have been studied in various social science fields, but so far the extension of analysis into the field of Geography has been minimal. I show that not only can Geography shed valuable light onto these issues, but it is essential to incorporate geographical findings into the global discussion of protecting the sanctity of life and promoting peace.

I aim to show how dictators use the geographic principle of memorialism and change the urban and human landscape to build nationalism in fractured states. I have narrowed the scope of my research by using the reign of Saddam Hussein as a case study. He is the perfect focus for this case study because his reign had a definitive beginning and end, his works are relatively well documented and his name is well known in academic communities as well as by the general populus. Since I want my research to make an impact and grab the attention of academia as well as policy makers, choosing a person that held the fascination of the American public for years was critical.

By examining the available data and utilizing GIS, we are able to come to conclusions of Saddam Hussein's behavior and find correlations only observable by mapping and spatially analyzing the data. My research is relevant not only to the field of Geography, but can be useful to decisions on US Foreign Policy. If it can be proven that Saddam Hussein and other similar dictators utilize memorialism, can evidence of memorialism be used as a key indicator in various foreign policy decisions? If dictators use memorialism to build nationalism, can memorialism be used preventatively in fractured states to prevent the rise of potentially bloody dictatorial regimes? The results of my research call for further action and analysis to be taken by academics and subsequent political action based upon their findings.

Ipsen, Melannee; Allen, Audrey; Urness, Katherine; Thacker, Melinda; Cabbage, Kathryn (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Cabbage, Kathryn (McKay School of Education, Communication Disorders)

Speech delays affect up to 12% of children and are the most common communication disorder treated by speech-language pathologists (Lewis et al., 2006). Furthermore, approximately 18% of preschool-aged children with speech delay will develop dyslexia or other reading impairments (Lewis et al., 2011).
Current research agrees that both children with SD and those with dyslexia have deficits in phonology---the underlying system responsible for processing and organizing speech sounds (Anthony et al., 2011; Snowling, 2000). Both children with SD and children with dyslexia have specific deficits in speech perception (Lof & Synan, 1997; Rosen, 2003). It is unclear the degree to which these groups differ in underlying aspects of phonology, such as speech perception. Prior research suggests that these children may display distinct speech perception patterns based on their SD or dyslexia status (Cabbage, Hogan, and Carrell, 2016; Johnson et al., 2011). Speech components that cause speech perception difficulties for children with SD may be different from those that cause difficulty for those with dyslexia. Specifically, children with SD have been shown to have more difficulty perceiving the rapid temporal aspects, or spectral structure, of speech (e.g., formant frequency transitions) while those with dyslexia have been shown to have more difficulties perceiving the more global structure of speech (e.g., amplitude envelopes, syllabic cues) (Cabbage, et al., 2016; Goswami, 2011; Johnson et al., 2011).
The current study compares speech perception abilities in children with SD, children with SD+dyslexia, and typical peers in speech modified in spectral and global acoustic structure. We expect children with SD or SD+dyslexia will show poorer perception for spectral speech tasks and only children with SD+dyslexia will show poorer perception for global speech tasks. These findings will be used to help detect which children with SDs are at a higher risk for developing dyslexia.