Fine Arts

Authors: Camille Bryner, Alyson Camacho, Bowen J Houser. Mentors: William G Pitt. Insitution: Brigham Young University. In an attempt to combat a growing number of nosocomial infections related to medical devices, many studies have investigated the effect of polydopamine (pDA) coated surfaces on biofilm formation and found them to have antibacterial and anti-adhesive properties. However, we discovered that pDA coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) display strong attractive interactions with many, but not all, species of bacteria. Fe3O4 MNPs were prepared using sodium acetate, ethylene glycol, and iron (III) chloride hexahydrate solutions and characterized by a variety of methods. XRD data confirmed a magnetite pattern characteristic of Fe3O4, then TEM characterization of MNP samples showed successful pDA coating onto iron oxide particles. Bacterial capture efficiencies (CE) by pDA-MNPs for 8 strains of bacteria were measured by optical turbidity and plate counts. We have found that CE is a function of exposure time to and concentration of MNPS; thus some experiments were done with constant exposure time and variable MNP concentration and others were done at variable exposure times and constant MNP concentrations. Additionally, these pDA-MNPs exhibit extremely efficient adhesion to some bacteria such as Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) while being ineffective at capturing some strains of Esherichia coli (E. coli). We propose that such capture ability of pDA-coated MNPs can be employed for detection and identification of bacteria in hospitals and for food science quality control.

Authors: Spenser A Clark. Mentors: Acacia Overono. Insitution: Utah Valley University. It is not uncommon for a college student to see a list of learning objectives when skimming through a syllabus for a program or course. The goal of learning objectives is to set reasonable expectations for student learning and guide their study, as well as providing a framework for the development of teaching practices and assessment. Part of the inception of learning objectives as a means of organizing teaching and assessment in the classroom may be attributable to the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, more commonly referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy. Another taxonomy similar to Bloom's, but much less well known, is the Structure of Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy. Bloom’s taxonomy organizes learning objectives into six categories: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. The categories are structured as a cumulative hierarchy in which mastery of each level is assumed necessary for progressing to the next. The structure of Bloom’s is not derived from any specific learning theory, but a categorization of pre-existing learning objectives. Bloom’s therefore suffers from a lack of a strong theoretical foundation and may not accurately reflect how learning actually occurs. Additionally, although Bloom’s has been widely employed in the context of educational assessment, research has shown that it suffers from low interrater reliability and is inconsistent between educational contexts such as courses and topics. Unlike Bloom’s, SOLO is based upon Piaget’s Stage Development theory and categorizes learning into five distinct stages: Prestructural, Unistructural, Multistructrual, Relational, and Extended Abstract. SOLO does not suggest that learning is unidirectional or hierarchical. It also acknowledges internal cognitive processes rather than focusing solely on observable behaviors. Although very little research has investigated its reliability, it could be an attractive alternative to Bloom’s because it may more accurately reflect how learning occurs. The present work reviews the development and implementation of these two models and compares them.

Authors: Ezra Stein. Mentors: Nicole Dib. Insitution: Southern Utah University. In Simulacra and Simulation (1981), Jean Baudrillard lays out for stages through which a sign (an image or other representation of reality) becomes a simulacrum (a sign with no basis in reality). I argue that the followers of the Qanon conspiracy movement, as detailed in Mike Rothschild’s "The Storm is Upon Us" (2021), follow these four stages in their radicalization into the conspiracy. The first stage outlined by Baudrillard is when the image is a basic reflection of reality itself. We see this stage when Rothschild discusses how QAnon believers discuss the CIA. Adherents of QAnon will often point to the declassified MKULTRA documents released by the CIA for credibility, as this is something that was proven to have actually happened, the sign being a representation of actual reality. The second of Baudrillard’s stages is when a sign takes something from reality and twists and distorts it into something different than what it originally represented. An example of this in "The Storm is Upon Us" is seen in the way Q believers talk about adrenochrome, which is a real but harmless chemical compound, as an elixir of youth used by the elite. Stage three is when a sign claims to be based in reality but is actually based on nothing at all. The originator of QAnon, the man who goes by “Q,” fits within this stage. Rothschild lays out Q’s origins as an anonymous poster on the website 4chan who claimed to high-level military clearance. Q’s claims were supposedly based on real-life military intel, but were actually made up by an anonymous stranger on the internet. The fourth and final of Baudrillard’s stages is the simulacrum. This is when signs do not reflect anything in reality, but instead are based on other signs. The Storm is Upon Us shows that many QAnon beliefs, both major and minor, are based in pre-existing conspiracy theories like blood libel, flat earth, and global cabals that secretly control the world. Those who are completely indoctrinated into QAnon hold these beliefs that are based on other beliefs and are therefore existing in Baudrillard’s fourth stage of the precession of simulacra. My presentation will examine these four stages and demonstrate the overlap between this critical theory and the contemporary conspiracy movement that is taking up a considerable space in the American cultural imaginary.

Authors: Joseph Nielson, Ben Schooley. Mentors: Ben Schooley. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) affects an estimated 30 million Americans and is the third leading cause of death worldwide. A recent effort to curb deaths and hospitalizations involves remote patient monitoring (RPM). Of all possible monitoring parameters, spirometry presents itself as potentially accurate and helpful, but the exact effect and its size remain to be described. A systematic literature review is being performed to describe the current state and future opportunities in RPM systems that use remote spirometry for COPD patients. Only studies that specifically mention the use remote spirometry for monitoring COPD patients were included. The databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO were searched in July and August 2023. Studies are being synthesized by tabulating the study sizes and designs, technological parameters, and interesting findings. Twenty-nine studies have been included spanning feasibility and pilot studies as well as one randomized clinical trial. Remote spirometry for COPD patients has generally been shown to be feasible. Many studies present systems in early stages of development that have yet to be tested thoroughly in large trials. It may be necessary to involve remote spirometry in more large-scale trials soon. Future studies could confirm the degree to which spirometry adds helpful information for monitoring COPD patients.

Authors: A. Kalani Brubaker. Mentors: Nathan Crane. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Binder Jetting is an exciting form of Additive Manufacturing in which a binding agent is selectively deposited on layers of powder to bind the powder together and create a 3D printed part. It is notable for its wide range of materials, energy efficiency, and built-in supports. Much research has been done on how to achieve desirable properties of binder-jetted parts and post-processing, but the fundamental principles of binder-powder interaction and the effects of changing printing parameters are still not fully understood. This research aims to increase that understanding. Each binder-jetted part begins by depositing individual binder droplets in a straight line, and the binder-powder droplets coalesce to form a single line. Adjacent lines are then printed to form a cross-section of the part, the next layer of powder is applied, and the process continues until a 3D part is printed. If the spacing between the droplets is too large or the inter-arrival time too short, the droplets form spheres on the surface of the powder (a phenomenon called balling), and a continuous line is not formed. This research determines how continuous line formation is affected by droplet spacing, inter-arrival time, and controlled misting of the powder bed prior to printing. To examine the effects of these parameters, lines were printed in dry and prewetted powder beds while varying the spacing and inter-arrival time between droplets. The beds were then examined using an optical microscope to determine whether continuous lines were formed. The results were recorded on a graph of inter-arrival time versus droplet spacing, and the “boundary line” for successful line formation was found for each bed. The results showed that the boundary on the prewetted data exhibited a different relationship than dry powder beds, suggesting that a different binder-powder principle may dominate after prewetting. The prewetting also shifted the boundary upwards, making it possible to form continuous lines at higher droplet spacings and shorter inter-arrival times. This increased ability to form continuous lines has the potential to significantly increase the throughput of binder-jetted parts.

Authors: Kaerli Ringle. Mentors: Johnathan Chidester. Insitution: Southern Utah University. This presentation will discuss the way that music affects memory retention, memory recall, and how it can influence the memory of moments, moods, and emotions. The Public Broadcasting System produced an educational video about how listening to music boosts learning and memory. Research from Harvard noted that while neuro-imaging a patient, singing will help a patient during recovery with a brain injury or a stroke. This results because the left-brain region is majorly responsible for our speech function. Researchers also noted that because singing takes place in the right hemisphere, recovering stroke, Dementia and Alzheimer’s patients are able to regain their speech through singing and eventually being able to transition back into speaking. Having knowledge of how music affects the brain can help build great study habits and empower people to retain new information, recall old information, and have influence over their and other people’s emotions. This is important because music is around us all of the time, whether it is walking through the grocery store or playing through earbuds while studying, and if it has such power to influence these things, then why not use it to the fullest of its potential?

Authors: James Wade, Chris Paul. Mentors: Nathan Usevitch. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Soft Robotics offer significant advantages when completing certain tasks compared to other robots and methods. Compliance, adaptability, and energy efficiency are a few of the major advantages. On the moon, where safety, volume and versatility are of high importance, soft robotics may find an innovative niche. NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge for 2024 incentivizes creating new innovative soft robot designs. Our research group is building our facility mentor, Nathan Usevitch’s, work at Stanford University. Doctor Usevitch and his cohort developed an octahedral, inflated robot composed of multiple tubes folded into triangular shapes in a truss-like structure. Each triangle consisted of a long inflatable tube and 3 motorized modules at the nodes of the triangle. The motorized nodes (consisting of a DC motor and rollers) roll along the length of the tube, lengthening one edge of the triangle while shortening the other. By attaching multiple triangles to each other in geometric shapes, flexible structures are created that can adapt their shape to the desired need. Because this system has a constant inflated volume, no external air compressor is necessary, allowing for untethered movement. The bulk of the mechanical work is performed by electric motors, providing a higher energy efficiency than a system of repeated inflation. Furthermore, this design is compactly stored when deflated, optimal for transport into space.To build on this design and optimize it for use on the moon, our research group will make the following changes and improvements:- Developing the physical prototype. This will enable robust and dynamic movement and the support of large loads- Develop a simulation tool that allows us to explore different configurations of the robot for different tasks- Develop a joint system that allows an astronaut to quickly reconfigure the triangles into different structures based on the required task - Develop a control approach that accounts for the underdamped dynamics of large inflatable structuresThrough our research, we hope to expand the possibilities of soft robotics. We are synthesizing the advantages of traditional robotics (robustness, untethered motion) with the unique strengths of soft robotics (flexibility, adaptability, cost efficiency).

Authors: Michelle Stanley. Mentors: Baktybek Abdrisaev. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, much of Europe has been striving to reduce their dependence on Russian energy. Lithuania, however, began this process 11 years ago when Russia raised the price of Russian gas transported through Gazprom. Lithuanian leadership recognized the potential danger of being dependent on Russia and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, those concerns proved to be well-founded. Through its history, Lithuania has experienced Russian oppression and has fought for its sovereignty. The history of Lithuania’s energy relationship with Russia from its declared independence from the Soviet Union in March 1990, its complete dependence on Russia for gas, and the process of becoming the first European Union country to become independent from Russian gas in May 2022. This is a case study which shows that: independence from Russian energy removes Russia’s coercive power over that country, the current European energy crisis is the culmination of long-standing European dependence on Russian energy, and that eventually European countries will have to reconcile with Russia. The article will outline three significant periods of time in Lithuania’s energy relationship with Russia: the Lithuania-Soviet Union energy relationship immediately before the fall of the Soviet Union, the process whereby Lithuania has pursued its energy independence from Russia since 1991, and Lithuania’s efforts to achieve full energy independence from Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Authors: Cassandra Nelson, Braden Richards, Grace Van Buren, Fernando Gonzalez, Ian Kirkpatrick, Paul Dunn. Mentors: Paul Dunn. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Many organisms experience a life history pattern called ontogenescence, a high but declining mortality risk during early life. Ontogenescence can have a large effect on a population’s growth by limiting the number of new recruits to the population. Clearly, and yet paradoxically, death before reproductive maturity should be selected against, yet ontogenescence persists across many otherwise dissimilar organisms. Some intriguing hypotheses to explain this pattern have been proposed but have not been thoroughly tested. One of these hypotheses, acquisition of robustness as a function of age, is perhaps the most intuitive. The goal of our current research is to examine the validity of this hypothesis by using brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) as a model organism.Tracking life-history traits like ontogenescence often requires the researcher to be able to follow an individual throughout its lifespan. In aquatic invertebrates, this means culturing animals individually, which can be quite difficult. Here we report on progress we are making with these culturing methods by testing how food availability and variety affect the early life mortality and development rate of brine shrimp in small-volume culture. Our null hypotheses are that neither of these variables will affect mortality or age to maturity in the animals. Our alternative hypotheses are that increased food availability and variety should lower mortality risk and age to maturity. To test our hypotheses, we hatched brine shrimp cysts in artificial seawater and placed individual artemia into wells of 6-well cell-culture plates filled with artificial seawater. We fed the shrimp one of several food treatments to see how diet affects development and mortality. In our first round of trials, we provided our animals with two different food concentrations (high food vs. low food) of the three food types we evaluated: a unicellular alga (Nannochloropsis), a cyanobacterium (Spirulina), and brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). In our second set of trials, we provided the shrimp with less variety in their diet (only two of the three food types). As the artemia developed, we conducted regular water changes and monitored development and mortality. We tracked the fate of the artemia until all individuals had either died during development or reached adulthood. Our food availability trials resulted in no significant difference in either mortality risk during development or age at maturity based on food concentrations. Trials examining the effects of limiting the variety of food types are ongoing.

Authors: Noah James, Rebekah Hakala, Todd Spencer. Mentors: Todd Spencer. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The Relationship Among Attachment Styles, Couple Satisfaction, and Perceived StressNoah James, Rebekah Hakala, Todd SpencerIntroductionAttachment styles play a pivotal role in romantic relationships. According to existing research, individuals with fearful, dismissive, or preoccupied attachment styles tend to experience elevated stress levels (Candel & Turliuc, 2021; Waring et al., 2019). Conversely, those with secure or preoccupied attachment styles report greater relationship satisfaction (Candel & Turliuc, 2021). By exploring the relationship between attachment styles, stress, and relationship satisfaction we hope to foster healthier relationships and deepen our understanding of the interaction between attachment orientations and emotional well-being (Candel & Turliuc, 2021; Waring et al., 2019).AnalysisThe purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship among attachment styles and couple satisfaction and stress. Our sample consists of 411 married individuals. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale - short form (PSS-4; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), The Relationship Questionnaire (RQ; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991), and Couple Satisfaction Index (CSI-4; Funk & Rogge, 2000). Results of the one way Anova were significant F (3,407) = 10.48, p=<.001. There was a significant difference in levels of relationship satisfaction among attachment styles. Secure attachment (M=15.66, SD = 2.44), fearful attachment (M=14.09, SD = 3.30), preoccupied (M=15.75, SD = 2.35), and dismissing (M=14.05, SD = 3.54). Results of the Bonferroni Post-hoc analysis indicated a significantly higher levels of couple satisfaction than fearful and dismissing attachment styles (p.<.001). There was no significant difference in level of relationship satisfaction between Secure and preoccupied attachment styles. Additionally, there was a significant difference in levels of perceived stress among attachment styles. Secure attachment (M=11.79, SD = 2.47), fearful attachment (M=13.91, SD = 2.55), preoccupied (M=13.20, SD = 3.35), and dismissing (M=11.81, SD = 3.54). Results of the Bonferroni Post-hoc analysis indicated a significantly lower levels of stress among securely attached compared to fearful and pre-occupied attachment styles (p.<.001). There was no significant difference in level of stress between Secure and dismissing attachment styles. Results provide empirical support that secure attachment styles tend to be beficial for both relationship satisfaction and perceptions of stress. Further, dismissive attachment styles reported similar levels of stress as securely attached participants but had the lowest level of relationship satisfaction.

Authors: Alley Fausett, Megan Ritter Martin, Kristin Davenport, Malisa Brooks, Kent Hinkson. Mentors: Kent Hinkson, Malisa Brooks. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Background: University students oftentimes face challenges with well-being and mental health, including depression, anxiety, sleep problems, PTSD, and suicide ideation/behaviors. However, previous research in some areas such as depression and its impact on student’s academic performance has remained generally inconclusive because of the contradictory findings that have often been reported. For example, one study will find a moderate association between grade point average (GPA) and depression, while another will in turn fail to find a significant relationship. Thus, more research is needed beyond simple correlations between GPA and depression to understand possible mechanisms and pathways. The current research hypothesizes that depression symptoms will either not be related or be weakly related to GPA but will be significantly associated with several possible mediating variables such as “turning in assignments late”, “having withdrawn from a class”, and “being placed on academic probation.”Methods: University students (n = 1,359) were recruited to participate in this study from dozens of universities across the United States in 2021. Data was collected anonymously and confidentially through a targeted online survey. Students were compensated with a $10 Amazon gift card for their participation. Zero order correlations were conducted to examine the relationship between variables of interest, which may lead to possible mediating pathways.Results: No statistically significant correlation was observed between depression symptoms and academic performance among students. Yet, several other measures of academic performance beyond GPA were found to have negative relationships with depression including five questions of particular academic activity and items such as withdrawing from class, being placed on academic probation, etc. Further, the strength and significance of the relationship between depression symptoms and these measures of academic performance were stronger and more pronounced in those in their Freshman and Sophomore years. Additionally, the relationships were weaker during their Junior and Senior years, and practically non-existent in graduate programs.Conclusion: In summary, our study contributes to the growing number of often-contradictory studies demonstrating a sometimes-yes, sometimes-no relationship between depression and GPA. However, our study goes beyond this binary comparison to explore other variables of academic performance and found several significant relationships that can help the field better understand the impacts of depression on student’s performance. These findings emphasize the importance of addressing mental health for better academic outcomes for university students. Implementing targeted support systems and interventions within educational institutions could benefit students’ overall well-being and improve academic performance.

Authors: Audrey French, Carl E Hjelmen. Mentors: Carl E Hjelmen. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Chromosome numbers are often one of the first pieces of genetic information we collect about the genome of an organism. These chromosome numbers vary widely across the tree of life and will change due to fission and fusion events, where the number increases or decreases, respectively (Blackmon and Demuth 2015, Perkins et al. 2019, Sylvester et al. 2020, Morelli et al. 2022). As the Drosophila species group has been a model for more than 100 years, there is a plethora of information on their karyotypes, including number, chromosome shapes, and sex chromosome systems. The shapes of chromosomes vary and can be described as metacentric (v), submetacentric (j), telocentric (rod), and small and heterochromatic (dot). In the Drosophila genus, sex chromosome systems can be neo-sex, XY, and X0. The numerous species of Drosophila can be compiled into the major subgenera of Drosophila and Sophophora, which have diverged for around 40-65 million years. The karyotype data of the Drosophila genus has been compiled into an open-source database. I am using this database to find the rates of chromosome number change in the Drosophila genus. This analysis is done through the chromePlus package in R (Blackmon et al., 2019) which will perform a comparative phylogenetic analysis, and a phylogeny of 152 species in the Drosophila genus (Hjelmen et al., 2019). Using these available tools, I can compare rates of fusion and fission between sex chromosome systems and subgenera. This could expand the knowledge on evolution of chromosomes and genomes.

Authors: Nathan Klundt, Violeta Vasilevska. Mentors: Violeta Vasilevska. Insitution: Utah Valley University. In electrical power networks, phase measurement units (PMUs) are sensors used to monitor the network. However, these PMUs are very costly, hence the electric company are interested in using the minimum number of PMUs that will ensure that they can observe the whole network. This real-life problem is modeled in graph theory as a graph coloring game. Namely, the power domination problem [2, 3] in graph theory is concerned with finding a minimum number of these sensors needed to color (observe) the entire graph (network) according to a set of rules. We consider two variants of this coloring problem. The k-fault-tolerant power domination [3] is asking to find minimum number of PMUs needed to observe (color) the whole network (graph) even when k number of the PMUs are faulty but allows only one PMU to be placed on an electric node (vertex). The other variant, called robust power domination [1], asks the same as fault tolerant power domination, but allows for multiple PMUs to be placed on the same electric node (vertex). In this presentation, we introduce these coloring problems through examples, and provide some theoretical bounds on the minimum number of PMUs needed for various families of graphs for both k-fault-tolerant and robust power domination problems. References: [1] Beth Bjorkman and Esther Conrad. (2023). Introduction to Robust Power Domination. arXiv:2305.13430. [2] Dennise J. Brueni and Lenwood S. Heath. The PMU placement problem. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, 19(3): 744-761, 2005. [2] Teresa W. Haynes, Sandra M. Hedetniemi, Stephen T. Hedetniemi, and Michael A. Henning. Domination in graphs applied to electric power networks. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, 15(4): 519-529, 2002. [3] Kung-Jui Pai, Jou-Ming Chang, and Yue-Li Wang. Restricted power domination and fault-tolerant power domination on grids, Discrete Applied Mathematics, 158(10):1079–1089, 2010.

Authors: Mikaela Cowles, Joseph Jensen. Mentors: Joseph Jensen. Insitution: Utah Valley University. We are developing a newly calibrated distance ladder based on surface brightness fluctuations (SBF) to decrease systematic uncertainties in the current measurement of the Hubble Constant. James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations of 14 nearby elliptical galaxies are now being observed to measure a new zero point for SBF distances independent of Cepheids. We have recently acquired 69 images of massive early-type galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). These HST distances have doubled the number of galaxy distances measured using SBF and will be combined with past SBF surveys to calculate the Hubble Constant to help resolve the Hubble tension. These distances will be added to the Cosmicflows-4 database to help map the mass distribution in the local universe. This project will continue with the allocation of an additional 123 HST orbits, from which we expect to add ~40 galaxies in 2024.

Authors: Asher Mitchell, Neil Chilson. Mentors: Neil Chilson. Insitution: Utah State University. With the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence marked by the release of OpenAI’s GPT model and a number of similar models, concerns are being raised about the potential for centralization of control over the technology, which could have implications like control of user data, increased political influence, lack of user choice, and several other potential issues.This paper focuses on an alternative to the currently proposed solutions to this threat; creating a separate regulatory agency for the technology, or legislating conformity to specific standards. We focus instead on different interoperability-based solutions that allow end users to tap into the source code, giving them the ability to ensure control of their data and allowing for competition in the AI market.

Authors: Kacey Rowe, Rachel Arocho, Allison Ensign. Mentors: Rachel Arocho, Allison Ensign. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Mental health amongst IBD patients is often overlooked and forgotten when they are dealing with their personal physical symptoms. There is little research on the benefits of social support for IBD patients. In online forums, it appears some IBD patients report feeling depressed and having negative thoughts about living life on a day-to-day basis. Indeed, prior research has found associations between IBD and mental health; for example, one study found that 17.3% of IBD patients had lifetime suicidal ideation, which is much higher than the general population at a 4.0% rate (Xiong et al., 2022). Another study did physical and mental exams and found on average, people with higher depression symptoms were six times more likely to have their disease be more active (Marrie et al., 2021, para. 16). Due to the high rate of depression, it would be beneficial to design a website to track symptoms and create online forums giving people the opportunity to connect with peers who have IBD. IBD can drastically affect a person’s life, even in a mild case. According to the CDC, IBD is estimated to affect 3 million US adults, a little over 1% of all Americans (Xu et al, 2018). Few people in the 1% category who struggle with IBD have connected online with others who are experiencing the same autoimmune disease. Although prior research has identified the association between physical IBD symptoms and mental health, little has been proposed to help these patients. Our goal is to create a form of social support for people who have been diagnosed with IBD. For 30 days, we will take 20 participants and have them record their symptoms and thoughts through quantitative and qualitative data. To do this, the participants will be asked to use a website which we have created from scratch. They will be using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ). The PHQ-9 will be used to check in on mental health, while the SIBDQ will focus on the physical symptoms of IBD. Each week, they will participate in forums on the website, which will allow them to connect online and anonymously with others who share their experiences. At the start of the month, daily throughout the study, and at the end of the month, participants will report on their health symptoms through a combination of the measures named above and short tracker questions. (Note: Project is still under IRB approval, we aim to start participants by the end of the year.)

Authors: Aubrilin Johnson. Mentors: Yu Ya Liang. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Drought stress negatively affects the growth, survival, and production of crops. Developing drought-tolerant cultivars is an important strategy for maintaining crop yields under undesirable water conditions. Tomatoes are an important crop both grown worldwide and here in Utah. Improving drought tolerance in tomato plants can increase yearly yields and reduce the amount of crops lost during the periodic droughts that Utah has. A way to develop drought-tolerant tomatoes may be through identifying and utilizing genes that enhance survival and growth rates under stressful water conditions. In this study, we will use two varieties of tomato, including drought-tolerant wild species, and susceptible commercial varieties. According to previous studies, drought during late the vegetative stage will significantly reduce the yield, therefore this study will focus on that. Using RNA-seq to find the difference in gene expression between the control and drought groups. Identifying differences will facilitate in finding candidate genes that may have a potential role in drought resistance. Then take the top cultivar and find the specific drought-resistant gene, which can then be used by Utah tomato growers to yield more resistant crops.

Authors: Erica Webb, Joseph Price. Mentors: Joseph Price. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Blocking is a strategy used in machine learning to reduce the number of comparisons that need to be considered. In this paper, we develop a blocking strategy based on the characteristics of two people in the same household. We apply this pair blocking approach to link US census records and show that it dramatically reduces the number of possible matches to consider and can directly identify millions of unique matches at the blocking step. We apply our method to linking records for a few groups that have been harder to link using previous methods, including inter-racial couples and German-born Americans. Both of these are groups that have changed how they report aspects of their identity (race of birthplace) over time. Our approach allows us to dramatically increase the match rates for these couples across adjacent census years.

Authors: Grace McFarlane. Mentors: Michael Rotter. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) is a native shrub to North America, and can be an important component in restoring native plant communities. Members of this genus tend to have physically hard seeds and low germination rates, resulting in a lack of ability to grow this plant by seeds and increasing genetic diversity in restoration sites. We investigated six different methods in order to produce higher germination rates, tracking them over time. Using seeds from three different populations we planted these thimbleberry seeds in groups of 50 for each germination method, monitoring the rates of growth and the success rate percent. These methods included standard planting as our control, cold stratification using a fridge, scarification with sandpaper, hot water bath by boiling the seeds, acid bath with sulfuric acid, and a room temperature soak in water overnight. Our goal is to identify a standard procedure for high germination rates and success.

Authors: Eliya Rodrigues. Mentors: Grant Corser. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Does an Insecure Attachment (Anxious and/or Avoidant) to God and the Contextual Perception of God (Belief that God’s Character is Consistent with what the Bible says about God’s Character) Affect Levels of Distress? People who identify as spiritual/religious that have an attachment to God are associated with having lower levels of depression, while people that have an insecure attachment to God, and a judgmental perception of God have higher rates of depression (Bonhag, R., & Upenieks, L. (2021). The purpose of this research is to investigate if there is a relationship between the style of attachment to God, the contextual perception of God, and levels of distress. The perception element of this research question will be analyzed through the contextual perception of God as defined in appendix D. Data will be collected using Qualtrics and will have three different scales (Attachment to God Inventory, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and Belief of the Character of God Through a Contextual Perspective) consisting of qualitative questions and a few open-ended questions regarding the subject. Data will be analyzed through correlational statistics on SPSS. It is hypothesized that a low score of an insecure attachment to God and regarding scripture in the bible as truth for God's character will decrease levels of distress. This research needs to be conducted because it could be a way for people to evaluate their own attachment to God; the way people view God could lead them to understanding that if part of the distress they experience in their lives is from their own perception and/or attachment to God.

Authors: Lisa Bell, Kelsey Hixon Bowles, Joni Hayward Marcum, Maren Neild, Asmaa Alsharif. Mentors: Lisa Bell. Insitution: Utah Valley University. With the development of artificial intelligence and its breakthrough into the academic sphere, some might argue that artificial intelligence is a better and more effective tutor than human tutors. However, it’s important to acknowledge that peer tutoring itself aligns with High-Impact Practice (HIPs) as coined by George Kuh, and it effectively leverages each core element of HIPS. As a high-impact practice, tutoring enhances student engagement, critical thinking skills, and overall academic and personal development and success. Although evidently peer tutoring aligns with HIPs criteria, it is severely underrepresented in HIPs research and discussions, warranting a closer examination and recognition in the academic community. By integrating writing center research with High-Impact Practices (HIPs) and original Institutional Review Board (IRB) research, this presentation establishes peer tutoring as a High-Impact Practice (HIP) and underscores its significance in education, even in the era of advancing artificial intelligence.

Authors: Viridian Hellebore, Isabella Rodriguez, Stockton Palmer, Sim Perry, Justine Padilla. Mentors: Kirsten L Graham. Insitution: Southern Utah University. The examination of attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community presents a newly found psychological concept that plays an important role in fostering social inclusion, reducing discrimination, and promoting a more accepting society. The purpose of our study is to create a measure that will assess a person's general attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community. In the current social and political climate of the US, there are a multitude of differing thoughts, opinions, and feelings regarding the community- some that are positive, and some that are negative. Current and past research generally only focus on sexuality, requiring the need for a scale that includes all members of the LGBTQ+ community. Such past works include Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gays Scale (Herek 1988) as well as the Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals (Hudson & Ricketts 1980). The Attitudes regarding Gender and Sexuality Scale (AGSS) was created to provide a single scale that will measure a variety of attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community. The AGSS covers fear, understanding, and tolerance- related aspects of these attitudes. Before releasing the scale to the general public, the scale was given to five subjects to assess for face validity. Participants will be recruited from MTurk and social media, and will be asked to respond to 21 questions that envelop the above aspects of attitudes. The participants will answer the “Gender/Sex Diversity Scale'' (Sudson, 2022) alongside AGSS to test for construct validity. The participants will also be asked to answer two scales that are measuring different constructs to test for discriminant validity. Once all of the data has been collected a confirmatory factor analysis will be ran. To test for reliability, we will be using the internal consistency method. For this we will be testing for Cronbach’s coefficient alpha since our scale using a 7-point Likert scale. We hypothesize that AGSS will be able to measure both negative and positive attitudes that are directed towards the LGBTQ+ community. With these results further research could be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-discrimination laws, the reasoning behind these attitudes, and how the attitudes affect the wellbeing of the LGBTQ+ community.

Authors: Maggie Smith, Bryan L Koenig. Mentors: Bryan L Koenig. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Nationwide, Utah ranks 14th for suicide rates (CDC, 2021). To help prevent suicide, understanding suicidal ideation differences among certain populations such as sexual, ethnic, and racial minorities is important. One study found that LGBTQ+ individuals are three times more likely than non-LGBTQ+ individuals to attempt suicide at some point in their lives (di Giacomo et al. 2018). Religious background has also been connected to suicidality. Sterling and colleagues (2002) discovered that active LDS males aged 15–34 years have a lower risk of suicide compared with both less active LDS members and non-LDS individuals. Whereas some studies have samples of diverse ages and locations, research on suicidality among college students specifically in Utah is lacking. The purpose of the present research is to assess how demographic variables such as religious identity, biological sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and racial/ethnic identity are connected to suicidality at a regional university in the Southwestern United States, Southern Utah University. In this study, 1,397 SUU Students took at least one of two surveys that asked about mental health variables and demographics. Suicidal ideation was measured using the Suicidality Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire Revised (Osman et al., 2001). Results indicate that the more minoritized identities students had, the more likely they were to be suicidal. Other findings include that LGBTQ+ students were very likely to be suicidal, cisgender students were less likely to be suicidal, and female students were more likely than male students to be suicidal. Additionally, suicidality was lowest among LDS students and highest among non-religious participants.

Authors: Breanne Herrmann. Mentors: Paul Stavast. Insitution: Brigham Young University. The construction and preservation of the Berlin Wall in 20th century Germany has perpetuated a social legacy perceived differently in various countries. Although the historical facts are unchangeable, their representation by institutions in each country varies and reveals their unique participation with the German Democratic Republic. This paper analyzes the portrayal of the Berlin Wall and surrounding GDR events in museums in both Berlin, Germany and American cities. Die Mauer, The Wall museum at Leipziger Platz in Berlin serves as a model of the German perspective. Its focus on the logistics of the Berlin Wall and the social impact in Germany and surrounding satellite countries is compared to the portrayal in American museums, which assume a more general approach of the Berlin Wall as a symbol of greater political struggles. This includes a consideration of locations of museums in America as well as information presented in the exhibits. Identifying differences between museums in these two countries provides insight into the experience of each during the GDR period and subsequent social perceptions of the Berlin Wall's history.

Authors: Maisie Baird, Hugh Kerry, Samuel Otterstrom. Mentors: Samuel Otterstrom. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Throughout the history of the United States, populations have experienced continual fluctuations across its diverse landscape. Although much research has focused on the growth and decline of cities and counties, many of these studies have focused on the positive population growth in larger cities and counties, insomuch that scholars and the public might have an incomplete or skewed view of the historical population geography of the country. However, this paper presents a broader perspective, including times of both population growth and decrease across regions and multiple decades and showing how these trends do not follow strictly positive trajectories nor exhibit isolated randomness. This paper will focus on specific examples of counties across the United States, highlighting why there were population ‘top-outs’ in these areas. For example, Sheridan County, Nebraska experienced a population boom at the onset of World War I, as it became the United States’ primary source of potash. However, at the end of World War I, potash could again be cheaply imported from Europe so, Sheridan County lost its booming industry, resulting in population decline. This research delves into the concept of population ‘topping out’ in counties, emphasizing a comprehensive understanding achieved through a holistic framework that accounts for geographic, regional, economic, and temporal aspects.

Authors: Kelsey Grimshaw, Julie Pynn, Kirsten Graham. Mentors: Kirsten Graham. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological illness, yet very little is known about it. Studies have found that stigma has created challenges for people with epilepsy in economic and social capacities (Walker, 2018). It is suggested that stigma surrounding epilepsy is due to a lack of awareness (Al-Dossari, 2018). A Qualtrics survey will be administered to a sample of Southern Utah University students to solicit their awareness of epilepsy and their perceptions of stigma regarding people with epilepsy. Additionally, interviews will be conducted with a second sample of people who identify as having epilepsy to discover their perceptions regarding awareness and stigma. The results of the two samples will be compared. It is hypothesized that the stigmas identified in university students will be consistent with experiences described in interviews of people with epilepsy. The findings from this study could aid in the normalization and destigmatization of epilepsy and other chronic illnesses in society.

Authors: Annabelle Crawford. Mentors: Celeste Beesley. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Women who run for office do not fit societal leadership expectations, which hurts their chances of being elected (Bauer 2020; Eagly and Karau 2002). Women who serve in male-coded positions face backlash for confronting issues that are incongruent with stereotypically feminine attributes (Davidson-Schmich, Jalalzai, and Och 2023). I theorize that social role incongruence is exacerbated for women who serve on male-coded legislative committees. Therefore, I predict that women who serve on male-coded committees are reelected less frequently than women who do not serve on male-coded committees. However, I propose that women with leadership roles on male-coded committees are members of the political elite and therefore will be reelected at rates similar to other legislators. This research will employ a census of female legislators from both houses of the U.S. Congress who began their tenure between 1993 and 2022, using data compiled by the Congressional Research Service. Whether a committee is male-coded or female-coded (or gender-neutral) will be determined based on whether men or women dominate the industry associated with the committee. Social role incongruence will be measured by analyzing public perceptions of female legislators during the time they served on a male-coded committee. I will use regression analysis to determine the effect of serving on a male-coded committee on a woman’s gender role incongruence. I will then compare the proportion of reelection races won by women who served on a male-coded committee to the proportion of races won by women who served on a female-coded or gender-neutral committee using difference in proportions tests. I will also compare the electoral success of women who held leadership roles on male-coded committees to the electoral success of other legislators.

Authors: Kirsten Graham, Julie Pynn. Mentors: Kirsten Graham. Insitution: Southern Utah University. This study looks at how the LGBT+ population deals with concerns of identity, societal acceptance, and discrimination. The research identifies three primary coping mechanisms that affect resiliency: problem-focused coping, emotional coping, and avoidant coping. The purpose of the study is to determine how coping strategies and resilience relate to obstacles faced by Southern Utah University students. It makes use of qualitative data analysis, the Brief-Scale COPE, and the Brief-Resilience scales. I hypothesize with the quantitative data LGBT individuals who employ strong problem-focused skills are expected to demonstrate higher levels of resilience scoping, LGBT individuals who employ high levels of emotion focused-coping skills are expected to demonstrate low levels of resiliency, and those that demonstrate high levels of avoidant focused-coping are expected to demonstrate low levels of resiliency. Qualitative data analysis will reveal common thematic patterns in the use of problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant coping skills among LGBT+ individuals, providing insights into their coping strategies related to discrimination, social acceptance, and identity. Understanding how the LGBT+ community at Southern Utah University manages to cope with challenges is crucial because it can result in better support and wellbeing. Results are forthcoming

Authors: Jared Hanks, Kevan LaFrance, Julie Pynn. Mentors: Kevan LaFrance. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Implicit Bias is a form of bias that occurs subconsciously but influences conscious actions. It often occurs as racial bias and in apolitical environments (Gassner, 2014). Research shows those who are more conservative leaning are prone to racial bias (Brown, 2019). This research will broaden our understanding of implicit biases with political preferences taken into account. Using an Implicit Association Test, participants will sort "good" and "bad" words as they sort African-American or European-American faces. Research shows there is a correlation between thought compatibility and speed as connections we subconsciously hold are made faster (West, 2021). We predict those with conservative views will have a higher rate of association between black and bad words than those with progressive views, and those who lean progressive will feel they have more implicit bias when asked. this research will enhance our understanding of political bias and more importantly those who take the test will be given a chance to assess their own biases and be provided some tools to live with bias or seek to combat it. Results are forthcoming.

Authors: Willow Norton, Kaleb Cox, Jaycen Sunderman, Jessalyn Warhurt. Mentors: Kirsten L. Graham. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Positive awe is a feeling of wonder, insignificance, reverence, etc., that is stimulated by man-made or natural events, objects, or circumstances. Monroy & Keltner list the five primary domains of awe as nature, spiritual engagement, music, dance, and psychedelics, but a scale determining the exact origin points of awe has not yet been developed. Upon researching awe more and determining that it is a universally felt emotion, we started looking at where awe may stem from, or what causes it. We have found that there are different types of awe, or that different populations may be able to feel it differently, but we could not find a measure of where it originates. In our study, we attempted to determine the sources from which people experience positive awe by developing the Positive Awe Origin Scale (PA-OS). While developing the PA-OS, we delivered our scale to five peers who tested the face value of our scale about readability and subject matter, and we then edited our scale based on the feedback we received. In the present study, participants will be recruited through social media and MTurk to complete an online survey, via Qualtrics. This survey will include likert scale items rated 1 to 5, with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree.” Psychometric evaluation of results will include a confirmatory factor analysis and an internal consistency measure using Cronbach’s alpha. Discriminant validity will be measured as we correlate our scores with other, unrelated, scales included in the Qualtrics survey, which measure different constructs. Convergent validity will be measured as participants complete an awe subscale of the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale (DPES). We anticipate that the PA-OS will help further identify the various sources of awe and lead to improvements in the research.

Authors: Alexa Smith. Mentors: Iliana Portaro. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Every day, more and more political ads are popping up in Spanglish or even full-out Spanish on screens across the United States. Whether or not these ads are effective is another story. The research conducted here was based on the hypothesis that in America, after its most recent, tumultuous presidential election cycle, given also that Spanish speakers are on the rise, a candidate’s bilingualism could mean the difference between winning a seat or walking home empty-handed. According to an anonymous online research survey conducted in Salem of Marion County, Oregon, this is only the case when a constituent places importance on a candidate’s language ability. Otherwise, the majority of respondents remained largely indifferent. Additionally, this study determines that more can be done to encourage Latinx individuals to participate in the political system, and it all starts with community outreach. The results of this survey are based on a small, mostly Caucasian sample size, but there is still much to be examined.

Authors: Alexis Downey, Kylee Navin, Brice Page, Alyssa Franklin, Hannah Cluff, Julie Johnson Pynn. Mentors: Julie Johnson Pynn. Insitution: Southern Utah University. “Gender expression refers to the way a person expresses their gender identity through appearance, behavior, and interests” (Helgenson, 2020). Previous research has shown that clothing has been used as a form of self-expression and that this expression of self-perception is more important for cisgender women (Strubel and Goswami, 2022). Additionally, previous research has found that conservative beliefs predict generalized prejudice toward gender-nonconforming individuals (Prusaczyk and Hodson, 2020). Felt pressure from peers and the self has been found to relate with greater gender typicality (Jackson et al. 2021), which leads us to believe that images of others may influence comfort and conformity with one’s own gender expression. The purpose of our study is to better understand the effects of appearance and political affiliation on comfort and conformity with gender expression. Participants were exposed to one of two visual manipulations: images of gender-conforming individuals, and images of gender-nonconforming individuals. Participants were asked to complete the Comfort and Conformity with Gender Expression Survey before and after being exposed to the images. We predicted that viewing images of gender non-conforming individuals would decrease participants' comfort and conformity with their gender expression, while viewing images of gender-conforming individuals would increase participants' comfort and conformity with their gender expression. Results will be forthcoming. Gender identity and expression are evolving rapidly, and it is important to examine masculinity and femininity in relation to gender non-conforming individuals rather than just gender-conforming individuals.

Authors: Reagan Wexels, Lauren Davis, Mason Peterson, Oliver Swanson, Rebekah Story, Julie Johnson Pynn, . . Mentors: Julie Johnson Pynn. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Environmental identity may affect an individual's pro-environmental behaviors, along with their association with the world around them (Clayton et al., 2021.) This concept demonstrates how people act according to their personality and values in relation to the natural world (Wesolek, 2020.)The degree of connection that an individual feels can be measured by the Connectedness to Nature Scale (Mayer et al., 2004.) The purpose of this study is to better understand the effect of Peter Kahn’s technological nature (2011) on people's connection to nature. We hypothesize that mindfulness meditation, which utilizes technological nature, will increase the connection to nature experienced by the participants in comparison to wilderness survival instruction utilizing technological nature. Research has established a link between mindfulness and an individual's connection to nature (Adventure-Heart et al., 2017.) Results will be forthcoming. The proposed study is important, because many people feel less connected to nature than ever. Understanding how to reconnect with the environment will allow greater access to the benefits of doing so.

Authors: Jacob Hutchings, Harrison Li. Mentors: Joe Price. Insitution: Brigham Young University. We examine the effectiveness of federal school nutrition policies and regulations; specifically, the recent transitional targets for sodium reduction announced in 2021. We performed web-scraping to gather over 5 million observations representing every U.S. state and over 2000 school districts and then constructed a weekly average of sodium served in school lunches by district. Using this data, we apply OLS regression with district fixed effects and find that the policy caused a significant, one-time reduction in weekly average sodium of approximately 220 mg. We further explore this result by looking at heterogeneous responses to the policy by political partisanship. We find that there is a significant, partisan response to the transitional targets. Lastly, we consider an adverse effect of sodium reduction by looking at potential sodium substitutes in school lunches. Contrary to expectations, our data shows a statistically significant correlation between decreased sodium levels and decreased sugar levels. To conclude, sodium reduction policies reduce sodium and other harmful nutrients but may be less effective across party lines.

Authors: James Hall. Mentors: Paul Stavast. Insitution: Brigham Young University. As of November 2023 the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society's social media pages have close to 4 thousand followers, which shows that interest in Archaeology. From 1955 to around the mid-90s USAS members contributed greatly to the archaeological research and the protection of archaeological sites and the materials created by those people that had called what is now Utah home. Through the partnership of Universities and Museums they had great success and this poster aims to highlight some of those successes and push for Museums to continue facilitating these opportunities.

Authors: Samantha Denbow, Katie Finlinson, Carley Grube, Joseph Johnson, Tanner Dougherty. Mentors: Kirsten L Graham. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Religious affiliation is rapidly declining (Engelman, 2019). Given that religions often perpetuate an in-group out-group dynamic, bidirectional prejudices can be seen between both people who are a part of and people who are not a part of religion (Jackson & Hunsberger, 1999). One explanation for this phenomena of leaving religion and increased prejudice is that there is a shift in attitudes towards religion. Attitudes affect behavior and may explain why people are leaving religion and becoming more prejudiced towards religious and non-religious groups. Our scale Attitudes Towards Religion (ATR) aims to measure attitudes towards religion to better understand why these cultural shifts are happening. We have defined attitudes as “a mostly enduring organization of thoughts, feelings, and behavioral tendencies directed towards objects, groups, events, or symbols” (Breckler, 1984; Hogg & Vaughan, 2005). Little research has been done to determine attitudes as a three part model (affect, cognition, and behavior) when examining religion. The current measures used to examine attitudes towards religion are less defined and fail to address the tripartite model of attitudes by relying more on affective and cognitive components of attitudes (Breckler, 1984). One such scale is called the Astley–Francis Scale of Attitude Towards Theistic Faith, which measures attitudes through affective items on a Likert scale. As demonstrated through this scale and others, many measures are also limited to attitudes of theistic, western religions, rather than encompassing nontheistic religions (Astley et al., 2012; Szydłowski et al., 2021). Attitudes are important to research because they impact daily choices in every individual’s life. Our study sample will be recruited through the Amazon Mechanical Turk survey platform and researchers’ social media pages. We predict our scale will measure attitudes towards religion to further inform current literature concerning religion and religious exit. We will examine reliability in our scale by testing Cronbach's alpha to ensure internal consistency. A small pilot group of 5 undergraduate peers reviewed the items for clarity, readability, and face validity. We then made changes to the items based on the feedback. Because our measure was developed according to a well-established tripart theory of attitude, a confirmatory factor analysis will be used to assess initial factor structure and how well our model fits the data. In addition, we will examine convergent validity by comparing the Astley–Francis Scale of Attitude Towards Theistic Faith with our scale. Discriminant validity will be examined by comparing other non-related scales that measure different constructs with our scale. With this information, further research can be done to understand the correlation between attitudes towards religion and religious participation/exit. The authors for this project are Samantha Denbow, Katie Finlinson, Joseph Johnson, Tanner Dougherty, and Carley Grube. This information will be presented in a poster format.

Authors: Alexandra Osmond, Samantha Stabler, Sara Knowlton, Sam Chipman, Brock Kirwan. Mentors: Brock Kirwan. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Memory discrimination refers to the ability to distinguish between different memories or experiences based on their unique characteristics or details. The Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) is a variant of a recognition memory task that assesses memory discrimination by asking participants to encode a series of objects in long-term memory and later discriminate between targets (repeated items), lures (similar but not exactly the same as previously seen items), and foils (novel items). The similarity of targets and lures is systematically varied resulting in five similarity levels (L1-L5). The goal of our research was to determine if individuals retain memory discrimination abilities after different periods of time exceeding 12 hours. Study recruitment was done on Brigham Young University campus for 18-25 year olds with no known neurological conditions (ADHD, major depression etc.). Thirty participants were tested in each group and they were asked to complete an immediate test. They were then asked to return to the lab for a second test after a 1-day, 3-day, or 1-week delay.Our results showed that the 1-week delay of the MST eradicated an individual's ability to discriminate between the lures of varying similarity. At a 1-day delay, individuals did lose some memory discrimination ability, but were still able to recognize the more distinct lures.

Authors: Aaron Brown, Kimball Jardine, Nathan Schill, Courtney Webb, Joanne Guthrie. Mentors: Joseph Price. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Background: Many school districts consider meeting the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) sodium standards challenging. USDA national survey data indicate that in School Year 2014-15, 28% of lunch menus did not meet the standard. Entrees contributed the largest share of sodium, making their sodium content especially important.Objective: Assess variation in sodium content of popular entrees across a large national sample of school districts.Study Design, Settings, Participants: School menu data including item sodium content were obtained from 1149 school districts using an automated web scraping program.Measurable Outcome/Analysis: Menus were web scraped monthly between August 2022 and January 2023. Variation in sodium content of two popular entrees−pizza and chicken nuggets−was analyzed, with average sodium content compared across different regions in the US and also based on the per-pupil spending of the district.Results: There is statistically significant variation in entree sodium content between regions, with the South having the highest average level of sodium. The average sodium level is also highest in the districts that have the lowest per-pupil spending.Conclusion: Sodium content of popular entrees exhibits significant variation across school districts. This highlights the fact that districts could reduce the amount of sodium in their lunch entrees while still offering the popular entrees they serve.

Authors: Mikel Cressman, Jackie Richey, Dantzel Petersen Hancey, Bianka Geraldo, Kayden Barlow, Ainsley Lumsden, Olivia Hubble. Mentors: Patrick Steffen. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Heart rate variability or HRV is a measure of the amount of time between a person’s heartbeats and is related to their physiological response to stress. Social support is an important component of positive health outcomes and plays a part in mediating distress. More research is needed to better understand the connection between HRV, social support and distress. We hypothesize that those with low baseline HRV will have higher distress scores and lower social support than those with high baseline HRV. We also hypothesized that someone with high distress and high social support will have higher HRV than those with high distress and low social support. In this study, social support was measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), distress was measured using the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS), and baseline HRV was measured using a NEXUS biofeedback device using ECG leads on the collarbones and left rib. Our sample consisted of 236 college students (17-28 years old; 57.6% female; 85.9% white) drawn from an online recruiting software and student development classes. For the first hypothesis, we will use a MANOVA to compare both low and high HRV baseline with mean MSPSS and CCAPS scores. We will use an ANOVA to compare differences in HRV between those with high MSPSS and high CCAPS scores to those with low MSPSS and high CCAPS for the second hypothesis. We expect to find that those in the lower HRV group will have higher CCAPS scores and lower MSPSS scores when compared to the high HRV group. We also expect to find that participants in the high CCAPS and high MSPSS group will have a higher HRV when compared to the high CCAPS and low MSPSS group.

Authors: Elise Bennett, Zenos Thoreson, Blaise Bartlett, Jacob McFadden, Melanie Rosa, Nathan Walker, Logan Fenn, Eric Domyan, Colleen Hough. Mentors: Eric Domyan, Colleen Hough. Insitution: Utah Valley University. A team of 13 biotech students competed in the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Paris, France in the Bioremediation category. The iGEM Foundation is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote education and collaboration for the advancement of synthetic biology. The Grand Jamboree is a 4-day expo where students, academics, investors, industry representatives, journalists, and the public gather while student teams from around the world compete for medals and awards by following the engineering cycle, design, build, test, learn (DBTL) with living organisms. Our team chose to focus on bioremediation of Utah Lake because, not only is it a local issue, it is also used worldwide as an example of toxic algal blooms. Excess nutrient loading in Utah Lake is causing eutrophication, which leads to increased algal blooms that produce toxins hazardous to human, animal, and aquatic life. The excess nutrients are composed mostly of nitrogen and phosphorous compounds that enter the lake primarily from wastewater treatment plants, runoff fertilizer, and naturally occurring inorganic environmental sources. Our goal is to reduce the nutrient load of wastewater entering the lake by engineering a harmless organism to sequester phosphorus and convert nitrogenous compounds to atmospheric nitrogen, which is biologically inert. We chose the microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as the chassis for the genetically engineered machine. A second, long-term goal would be to turn the sequestered nutrients into a product that is usable to the local community. We have a responsibility to the local community, native people, plants, and animals to restore Utah Lake to its natural beauty to be respectably and responsibly shared by all.

Authors: Elizabeth Smith, Melissa Chavez. Mentors: Jared Neilsen. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Suicidality is a growing public health issue, especially in a neurodiverse population. Suicidality rates are higher among a sample of people with ASD (Demirkaya et al., 2016). While the full causes of why people with ASD tend to be more suicidal are unknown, there are people who are trying to address this with different treatments. Some of the treatments that are being used work in neurotypical people. However, there is a lack of treatment use for those of nuerodiverse populations. One of the areas that we know decreases suicidality is talking about it more, which is contrary to the prevalent myth that talking about suicidality increases rates of suicidal tendencies (Dazzi et al. 2014). Knowing that suicidal tendencies are decreased by talking about suicide, we set out to answer the question: Is the same true for neurodiverse populations who are at more risk for suicide? We recruited a total of 72 participatns, 27 from the ASD community, 20 with social anxiety, and 25 neurotypical people (to act as a control group). To answer this question, we sent out nightly surveys that included questions about suicidality as well as having them come in every 6 weeks to administer the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating scale. For the participant’s first visit, we administered the lifetime version, and then at every other visit, we administered the 6 week version. We then compiled the scores and ran them through R. We found that the scores decreased (i.e. participants were less suicidal) across the visits. This indicates that suicidality is lessened through talking about suicide for neurodiverse populations. Further research is needed to confirm this. While the findings from this study are positive, they need to be considered in the light of several limitations such as attrition from the participants and the recency bias on the part of the students.

Authors: Kate Binford, Marissa Roper, Brynn Eyre. Mentors: Sarah Coyne. Insitution: Brigham Young University. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between personal feelings about modesty and the prevalence of eating disorders (EDs) among Latter-day Saint (LDS) men and women. Participants were recruited through social media and announcements on LDS-specific social media pages. The study has a final sample of n=1,271, 431 of which (33%) had an ED. There is a significant positive correlation between feelings of shame about modesty and the prevalence of EDs (r=0.11, p<.001). This means that, in general, more feelings of shame about modesty are related to a higher prevalence of EDs. Implications of these findings indicate that it may be helpful to reduce any shame-based teachings around modesty in order to protect against EDs.

Authors: Jacalyn Richey, Hayley Pierce. Mentors: Hayley Pierce. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Good sleep habits and effective self-control are important components of successful functioning. Unfortunately, chronic sleep loss is a common concern in adolescence as both their autonomy and demands on their time increase. This loss of sleep impacts neural and physical development and is connected with increased mental illness, delinquency, and academic difficulties. Self-control may aid in the prioritization of sleep by curbing impulsive desires and improving decision making around adhering to bedtimes. This study drew on data from the Future of Families and Childhood Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) measuring self-control at age 9 and sleep outcomes at age 15 (N = 3,444; 48.7% female; 49% Non-Hispanic Black). Multivariable analyses indicated that self-control showed statistically significant relationships with social jetlag, falling asleep, and having a regular bedtime after controlling for several relational and economic factors. Improving childhood self-control habits and skills through modeling and instruction may lead to increased positive sleep outcomes, which may increase healthy development in adolescence and beyond.

Authors: Nadia Mando, Josh Shaeffer, Jared Nielsen. Mentors: Jared Nielsen. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Background: “Feeling the Spirit” is an important experience for many active Latter-Day Saints. Feeling the Spirit is often defined by the presence of positive, even if minor, feelings which are perceived to be interactions with deity. However, some Latter-Day Saints struggle to feel the Spirit which can be distressing to them. Recently, LDS leaders have focused on understanding how depressed individuals might experience “feeling the Spirit” differently.Objective: Our pilot study sought to understand the relationship between depression and the frequency and strength of spiritual experiences.Methods: We used the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS21) to measure depression. We created two separate measures to inquire how frequently and strongly participants felt the Spirit in the last six months. We also created a task asking participants to read multiple scripture passages and report how strongly they felt the Spirit while reading each passage. Responses to each passage were averaged to create a state measure of feeling the Spirit. We hypothesized that higher scores of depression would predict lower scores on feeling the Spirit for all three measures.Results: We found that scores on depression (M=11.388, SD=7.844) significantly correlated to frequency (M=3.683, SD=0.760, r= -0.352, p<.001) and strength (M=4.004,SD=0.628, r=-0.453, p<.001) of the Spirit. However, depression scores were not significantly correlated with our state measure (M=2.384, SD=0.903, r=-0.192, p=0.078). In our regression models we found that depression is a significant predictor of both frequency (R2= 0.091, F(1,83)=8.347, p=.005, =-0.029, p=.005) and strength (R2=0.158, F(1,83)=15.523, p<.001, = -0.032) of feeling the Spirit but, not of feeling the Spirit during the scripture task (R2=0.003, F(1,83)=0.236, p=0.628, = -0.463).Conclusion: These findings suggest that depression may affect how LDS persons experience their relationship with God. Our findings take a step toward explaining why some individuals may experience difficulty in “feeling the Spirit”. Future studies are necessary to elucidate these preliminary findings.

Authors: Ashley Swensen, Ruth Kerry. Mentors: Ruth Kerry. Insitution: Brigham Young University. The American West has been experiencing severe drought for over 20 years with changes in climate. Also, the population in certain states has greatly increased putting increasing pressure on the limited fresh water supply. While the agricultural sector is the biggest consumer of freshwater, much is also used to irrigate turfgrass lawns in urban residential areas. The EPA has estimated that about 50% of household irrigation water is wasted by temporal and spatial misapplications. Temporal misapplications can be reduced by using smart sprinkler controllers that take into account recent weather when scheduling irrigation timing. This research investigates people’s willingness to implement more efficient watering practices with and without incentives. It also investigates how an average water bill for a quarter acre lot varies between states and between cities within 5 states in the semi-arid west (AZ, CO, ID, NV, UT). Following comparison of average water bills between states and cities, the potential savings from taking advantage of water saving incentives offered by cities is investigated. The research found differences between the genders and aridity zones in terms of the types of incentive that are favored and likelihood of utilizing methods to improve irrigation efficiency. Water bills were the highest in AZ and lowest in ID and UT. The low water bills in ID are likely associated with the greater prevalence of agriculture in that state than the others studied. Most UT cities had incentives for Smart Sprinkler controllers or to xeriscape. However, in other states several cities did not have incentives for installing Smart Sprinkler controllers. We conclude by trying to assess whether incentives or disincentives are more effective at reducing water use by residential customers.

Authors: Abigail Williams, Kelsie Minga, Abby Baker, Ella Sieg, Olivia Harris. Mentors: Wendy Birmingham. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Background: Research has found positive health benefits in the communication of positive events (capitalization) with others who respond with curiosity and enthusiasm. An expectation is that one’s spouse would respond in such a way. And indeed, if one has a highly supportive spouse this is likely the case. However, not all individuals have a highly supportive spouse and may have a spouse whose behavior is more ambivalent. Such ambivalent, or unpredictable behavior may lead to worse physiological outcomes when sharing good news including increased risk for cardiovascular events. Blood pressure should dip 10-15% overnight (“dipping”). A less than 10% dip is associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk. We looked at capitalization and dipping in ambivalent and supportive couples. Interpersonal Theory asserts that positive or negative behaviors from one spouse can elicit similar responses from the other spouse. Thus we looked at capitalization and dipping for spousal ambivalent behavior, and one’s own ambivalent behavior. Ambivalent behavior, whether one own’s or one’s spouse’s can also impact the quality of the relationship.  Methods: 90 couples were recruited from a local university, social media, and the community. Participants completed measures of marital quality. They were fitted with an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for 24 hours. The monitor took a reading every 30 minutes during the daytime and once an hour overnight. Participants completed a daily diary entry each time the monitor took a reading during the daytime which included questions regarding their present activities (e.g., posture, current emotions, food consumption). Participants returned the equipment the following morning and were compensated.  Results:  Ambivalent behavior was associated with worse relationship quality measured as responsiveness, both in terms of one’s own behavior, and one’s spouse’s behavior. We found no association for systolic blood pressure (SBP) dipping for individuals whose spouse’s behavior was viewed as ambivalent, however diastolic blood (DBP) dipping was in the opposite direction showing ambivalent spousal behavior was associated with healthier dipping. Of interest, when one reported their own behavior as ambivalent when their spouse was sharing good news, their SBP dipping was unhealthy.   Conclusions: Spousal ambivalent behavior seems to be less important than one’s own behavior on SBP dipping. This may be because one is generally aware of their own behavior and understands that such behavior is problematic for the relationship. This awareness, however,  may come with a cost for their health as well as their relationship.

Authors: Stefan Jezik. Mentors: Jocelyn Wikle. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Much preexisting relationship education is focused on adults and those already in romantic relationships. Due to the audience of this relationship education, it is often tailored to fit those experiencing relationship issues in their marriages or with their romantic partner. This form of relationship education frequently fulfills the role of a bandage to a wound, instead of fulfilling a preemptive role that could mitigate the number and severity of relationship problems from developing in the first place. While relationship education can be beneficial for any target audience, research has increasingly turned to this preemptive type of relationship education by recommending that institutionalized relationship education at the highschool level tailor its curricula to youth, teenagers, and emerging adults (Hawkins, 2017; Barber & Eccles, 2003).

Authors: Sara Knowlton, Sam Chipman, Samantha Stabler, Alex Osmond, Brock Kirwan. Mentors: Brock Kirwan. Insitution: Brigham Young University. The hippocampus is a brain structure involved in recognition memory and pattern separation, or the ability to disambiguate potentially interfering or overlapping memory representations. The Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) has been used to assess memory specificity by asking participants to encode a series of objects and later perform a recognition memory test with repeated items (targets), similar but not exact repeats (lures), and novel items (foils). In a single-subject case study, we utilized the MST in evaluating recognition memory over various delays of a subject with anterograde amnesia. Subject MC is a healthy young adult female who underwent a unilateral amygdalohippocampectomy as a treatment for epilepsy. This procedure included the complete removal of her hippocampus in the right hemisphere, which we verified with magnetic resonance imaging. In addition to the MST, we compiled a battery of neuropsychological tests, including the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML-3), the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System, and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II) to more holistically assess MC’s memory deficits. Preliminary analyses showed significantly lower lure discrimination when compared with control subjects, indicating deficits in pattern separation. Further analysis of MC’s MST results are being conducted to evaluate her broader ability for recognition memory.

Authors: Spencer Timmerman. Mentors: Joseph Price. Insitution: Brigham Young University. We develop a method for creating a lexicon of all correctly spelled surnames in historical US records. We focus specially on the full-count 1850-1940 census records which include over 10 million unique spellings in the surname field. We use three steps to create this lexicon. First, we use links across multiple census records for the same individuals and use these links to identify spellings of the same surname. Second, we use data from a large genealogical website to help identify the correct surnames for each person and convert this into training data. Third, we develop a machine-learning approach that uses the frequency of surnames across different record collections to identify a lexicon of correctly-spelled surnames. Our final lexicon of correctly-spelled surnames only includes 500,000 of the 10 million unique found in US census records. We also provide a crosswalk that maps the majority of incorrect surnames into a unique surname in the lexicon.

Authors: Joseph Price, Britton Davis, Alexander Jenks. Mentors: Joseph Price. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Modern data show a strong positive relationship between community-level average income and life expectancy in the United States. We compile a dataset including place of residence, lifespan, and a proxy for income for 27 million unique individuals from the 1900-1940 censuses. In contrast to the pattern in modern data, we actually find that individuals living in an enumeration district with the top quartile of our proxy for income experienced shorter lifespans than those living in the bottom quartile. We show that this negative relationship was largest in the 1900 census and slowly shrank over the next four decades showing how this negative relationship evolved to the positive relationship we see today.