Fine Arts

Authors: Cassandra L Burdick, Caleb J Thomson, Troy N Tully, Jacob A George. Mentors: Caleb Thomson. Insitution: University of Utah. The long-term goal of this research is to decode fine motor intent from electromyography (EMG) of hemiparetic muscles. Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States, with 800,000 individuals experiencing a stroke each year. Eighty percent of stroke survivors experience hemiparesis. Severe hemiparesis immobilizes the arm, making it difficult to assess EMG control and motor function on traditional tasks. Here, we introduce a variant of the clinical Box and Blocks Test (BBT) of hand dexterity in virtual reality (VR) to assess fine motor function of EMG control in hemiparetic stroke patients with immobile arms. Our VR variant of the BBT allows individuals to control a VR hand to transfer VR blocks back and forth between two locations separated by a barrier. The VR hand can grasp, rotate, and translate based on EMG commands or other control signals received at 30 Hz via UDP communication. The forces exerted on the blocks and the location of the blocks and hand are logged to assess grasping precision, force regulation, and transfer rate. Multiple block sizes can also be used to assess dexterity with various grip apertures. The ability to assess EMG control in patients with hemiparesis can support the development of myoelectric orthoses. Practicing dexterous myoelectric control in VR may also help alleviate hemiparesis and expedite qualification for myoelectric orthoses.

Authors: Rui Jin, Lindsay C Rupp, Anna Busatto, Rob S MacLeod. Mentors: Rob S. MacLeod. Insitution: University of Utah. Introduction: The electrocardiogram is the most common tool to diagnose and assess cardiac conditions, such as rhythm abnormalities, myocardial ischemia, and heart failure. However, clinical diagnosis and management of heart disease are challenging due to the remote nature of body-surface electrocardiogram measurements, with a median accuracy of 67% among physicians. One approach to improve the accuracy of electrocardiography is to conduct mapping studies in which 10-100 catheter-based electrodes are inserted within the heart. The recorded signals provide more proximity and thus accuracy, but they also require specialized software to analyze, quantify, and visualize. We developed the Signal Processor for Electrogram and Electroanatomic Data (SPEED), a new, open-source, unified pipeline to facilitate effective signal processing and visualization of such cardiac-mapping signals.Materials and Methods: Our pipeline is based on two existing toolboxes, the Preprocessing Framework for Electrograms Intermittently Fiducialized from Experimental Recordings (PFEIFER) and OpenEP. PFEIFER is a toolset for sophisticated signal-processing of cardiac electrograms that allows the user to select semi-automatically fiducial markers, which are time points and intervals of interest within a heartbeat. OpenEP primarily accepts as input complete electroanatomic data, including both processed cardiac electrograms and spatial geometry; OpenEP also provides built-in functions for analyzing and visualizing cardiac electrograms, such as displaying potentials on the cardiac geometry. Since both software packages provide complementary workflows for managing electrograms, our goal was to integrate the two software packages and present it to the user as a new Graphic User Interface utilizing both applications simultaneously.Results: It was natural to develop SPEED in MATLAB as this is also the language used for both PFEIFER and OpenEP. The primary interface to SPEED incorporates a data-centric design such that the user can provide the electrogram and geometry files to be processed, and the algorithm automatically determines the applicable functions based on the input type. Since both PFEIFER and OpenEP can parse data into more interpretable open-source formats, the user can also export the processed data for further analysis in addition to visualizing and quantifying the data features. Through integrating both software packages, SPEED can support the following main functionalities: (1) in-depth filtering and processing of electrogram signals, (2) visualizing anatomic geometry and electrode locations, and (3) mapping three-dimensional potential and activation of cardiac electrophysiology.Discussion: SPEED offers the user a more thorough and unified workflow in the analysis of cardiac-mapping signals than either of its components. The user can utilize the functionalities of both PFEIFER and OpenEP simultaneously, allowing for a versatile and powerful processing pipeline. For instance, the user can extract key features from the recorded electrograms and visualize the location of the corresponding electrodes, a feature that was previously not possible. In addition, the open-source nature of the software packages allows the user to modify or expand the functions to better suit their individual needs. The software design of SPEED is still in the early stages; thus, as with most software, further development and user testing will follow to make the algorithms compatible with more data types and implement additional features. Conclusion: SPEED processes and displays the complex information in a clear and accessible way, allowing the user to perform subsequent interpretations and analyses more easily. SPEED can be used by research cardiologists to facilitate a more efficient workflow, as well as to improve the efficiency and accuracy of clinical diagnosis of heart diseases.

Authors: Lukas Keller, Jixun Zhan, Zhen Zhang. Mentors: Jixun Zhan. Insitution: Utah State University. Curcumin is a common dietary supplement found naturally in the plant turmeric (Curcuma longa). Native to South Asia, the turmeric plant has been an important component in Indian and Chinese folk medicine. Curcumin has long been known to be an effective antioxidant and possesses anti-inflammatory properties. In today’s world, curcumin is a common nutraceutical and plays a part in the billion-dollar supplement industry. However, production and extraction of this compound is difficult and uses vast amounts of resources to cultivate. One solution to produce natural products like curcumin is the use of metabolic engineering to synthesize the product in another organism. The USU Metabolic Engineering Lab has developed a synthetic metabolic pathway to produce curcumin from an amino acid inside genetically transformed E. coli. The use of metabolic engineering techniques can produce larger quantities of the desired compound in greater quantities and purities while using a fraction of the land, water, and energy. To inform the use of these techniques, a predictive computational pathway was developed and is being validated with experimental results. An effective model can help researchers and businesses by allowing them to accurately predict curcumin yield and concentration during production.

Authors: Ezra Bradley, Sam Wald, Steve Francis, Derek Hansen, Jason McDonald, Jon Balzotti. Insitution: Brigham Young University. This presentation discusses the frameworks used to create an extended reality (XR) technical training for use in a nuclear handling context. Many of these insights can be applied to technical equipment training in various applications. In addition to describing the process for the creation of the training, design considerations are also expounded. These include approaches for colocation within the training, content presentation and navigation, and instructional design.

Authors: Keenan Faulkner. Mentors: Jeff Goeders. Insitution: Brigham Young University. FPGAs are a type of reconfigurable computing chip that are often used in mission critical systems in various applications including aerospace, defense, and telecommunications. Hardware netlists are generally converted into a bitstream and loaded onto an FPGA board through vendor-provided tools. Due to the proprietary nature of these tools, it is up to the designer to trust the validity of the design's conversion to bitstream. However, motivated attackers may alter the CAD tools' integrity or manipulate the stored bitstream with the intent to disrupt the functionality of a design.We have put forward a novel approach to verify functional equivalence between a synthesized netlist and the produced FPGA bitstream using a structural comparison algorithm. This presentation aims to demonstrate the fault-injection testing algorithms designed to prove the veracity of our approach. The fault-injection testing algorithms involve making manipulations to wire connections and initialization values in LUTs (lookup tables) from a bitstream reversed netlist, then running our comparison algorithms on the corrupted netlist and the original synthesized netlist to show that the algorithms will catch the errors.

Authors: Braxton Fjeldsted, Joseph Carter, Grant Ogilvie, Josh Hoffman. Mentors: Douglas Cook. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Finding ways to improve crop durability through 3D modeling has tremendous potential to help save plants, time, and resources. Currently, there are many important material properties of maize stalks that have not yet been measured, which presents challenges in creating accurate 3D models. Through sensitivity analysis, it was determined that one of the most critical unknown material properties of maize stalks for creating accurate models is the transverse shear modulus. In this research, we created a testing procedure to determine the shear modulus as accurately as possible. Each sample was put in a torsion test to determine the relationship between the torsion torque and the torsion angle. Both fresh and dry samples were tested in addition to samples with and without the pith. Our team implemented methods to minimize inaccuracies from slipping, cracking, and other imperfections in all elements of the stalks. The transverse shear modulus that we have determined will help to more accurately model maize stalks, thereby making future tests by modeling more efficient and working to provide a path towards improved global maize harvests.

Authors: Payton Jones. Mentors: Jamie Spinney. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Virtual Reality: The Next Step in Technology-Based Education Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers numerous educational opportunities that can enhance high school curriculum. The use of technology in the classroom has been rapidly evolving since the development of the accessible internet. Laptops, tablets, online learning platforms, and interactive projections are several of the technological developments, and now VR appears to be one of the next steps in that evolution. As VR continues to become more affordable and more advanced, there is a commensurate increase in opportunities to enhance curriculum, instructional techniques, and student engagement. For example, VR enables students and teachers to go on virtual field trips to places that are relevant to class material without the challenges and costs of leaving the classroom. The purpose of this study was twofold; (a) to investigate the different applications of VR technology that can be used to enhance high school social science curriculum, and (b) to summarize some of the main benefits and challenges associated with implementing VR in the classroom. The results of this study indicate that VR technology has considerable potential to enhance both the learning experience and student engagement by providing immersive learning opportunities, but these opportunities are unlikely to be widely utilized in the near future.

Authors: Allison Dahl. Mentors: Dallin Bailey. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Using members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a case study, this research explores text reformatting that may address the unmet needs of religious people with aphasia. Aphasia is a language disability that sometimes occurs after a stroke or traumatic brain injury. It can affect both expressive and receptive language, including reading ability. Several studies have already explored what text adaptations are generally preferred by or aid comprehension in this group. However, the unique regard of sacred text may elicit different needs and preferences for those experiencing aphasia. For example, although text adaptation for people with aphasia often includes text simplification, some may find inherent spiritual value in the original wording of scriptural text. Therefore, in this study, other adaptation options are explored, such as font changes and verse spacing. Passages from texts considered holy in the Church of Jesus Christ, such as the King James Bible and the Book of Mormon, have been reformatted in potentially helpful ways. Latter-day Saints with aphasia are being recruited to give feedback on these samples. They will indicate their formatting preferences on a visual scale, and their comments and feedback will also be coded qualitatively. This research will provide guidelines on what text adaptations are most appropriate and helpful for religious texts. Although the samples are specifically geared towards members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the design principles may prove useful for texts used in other faiths as well.

Authors: Josie Allred. Mentors: John Salmon. Insitution: Brigham Young University. From the weekly grocery run to the daily commute to work or school, transportation plays a central role in meeting the basic needs of nearly every American family. Unfortunately, not everyone has equal access to safe, convenient, and efficient transportation. When not carefully planned and implemented, the advancement of transportation infrastructure and technology often favors high income communities. For example, in many areas, shared electric scooters and bicycles have been made more widely available in higher income neighborhoods, leaving lower-income communities with limited access to these micro-mobility options. The result of these and other similar developments is increased economic disparity and barriers to opportunity. One such transportation advancement for which careful implementation is vital is Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) technology for electric vehicles (EVs). WPT technology offers the potential for EVs to charge while in motion on the roads, thereby accelerating the adoption of EVs, and building a cleaner tomorrow. Through this research, we seek to contribute to a future of equitable integration of WPT technology into roadways across America. Because the demographics of Indianapolis closely resemble the US overall, a simulation was run with drivers in the city, using sample data from the US and Indianapolis. The simulation was then used to determine potential locations in which WPT technology could be effectively implemented. Informed by this and other research, WPT technology can be integrated in an intentional manner ensuring equitable access for people of any socioeconomic status.

Authors: Brooklyn Clark. Mentors: Larry Howell. Insitution: Brigham Young University. The application of origami principles in mechanical design has led to novel approaches for dealing with the unique challenges of space applications by improving packing efficiency and increasing customizability. An innovative origami pattern within this context is the "flasher pattern," characterized by its geometric panels and circular deployment. The objective of this research is to develop a robust methodology for optimizing the placement of circular optical wafers within the polygonal flasher panels. These panels have varying polygonal sizes and shapes, and the wafers must be placed precisely in each panel to maximize optical properties for a LIDAR space telescope application based on the flasher pattern. This optimization utilizes existing optimization functions in MATLAB and original code. To achieve this optimization, a process is employed in which a series of random points is generated within the overlapping area defined by the flasher panel's vertices and the optical wafer's radius. Each point is then iteratively tested to determine if it lies within the polygon, the circle, neither, or both. The centroid of the points that were within both shapes is subsequently calculated. This process is repeated with new sets of random points centered on the previously found centroid until an optimal wafer placement is determined. Optimal wafer placement will maximize the usable optical area and performance in a panel. This process can then be applied for each unique panel in a flasher pattern to determine the best placement of each wafer. This process can then be utilized in other origami-based optical applications, leading to a broader impact in the field.

Authors: Sara Peel, Addisyn Bushman, Adam Rice. Mentors: Xinru Page. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Social media has become a tool used in everyday life by individuals worldwide. While this tool can help individuals build new social connections and strengthen relationships, it can be a lose-lose situation for certain populations. Recent work has found that autistic users are one of these populations that experience greater harm and negative experiences using social media. These additional harms stem from differences in how autistic individuals perceive social media norms and interpret online interactions. We have developed 16-week’s worth of digital educational material based on this research to teach autistic young adults social media literacy for Facebook and Instagram, to mitigate some of these social media challenges. With input from a multi-disciplinary team of autism researchers and a panel of autistic students at our university, we created these educational materials to be taught in 1-hour weekly sessions to individuals with autism in a classroom environment. The materials consist of topic-based slides and associated practice exercises that employ a decision-based learning approach that breaks down complicated decisions into several simpler choices. To determine whether participants have learned safer online behaviors, we administer scenario-based assessments at the beginning and end of each session, conduct daily diary-based check-ins, and weekly one-on-one interviews, and analyze behavioral data collected from their personal social media accounts such as posted comments and responses to connection requests.We are currently deploying the 16-week educational course at a local day program to autistic young adults who have no intellectual disability and have had negative experiences using social media. Initial results indicate that the educational materials are helping mitigate the harms of social media. Participants have shared that the educational sessions taught them to disconnect from potentially unsafe users, learn social tags and interaction norms, and change safety settings within each app that they weren’t aware they had control over. In addition to the current longitudinal study, we have several other field deployments planned in the coming months which will allow us to refine the digital assets for this educational intervention in preparation for making them available to the public.

Authors: Austin Martel, Bethany Parkinson, Spencer Magleby. Mentors: Spencer Magleby. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Compliant mechanisms are gaining popularity for use in engineering systems due to their low cost, manufacturability, and predictability. These monolithic structures can accomplish the same function as rigid multi-body mechanisms and can improve the motion and performance of the mechanism. Because they are monolithic, 3D printing has proven to be a simple and favorable method of bringing compliant mechanisms from design to reality. However, fabricating these mechanisms using conventional approaches of 3D printing can negatively affect their mechanical properties. To combat these adverse effects, we need to identify printing parameters that affect the mechanism’s material properties. Then, by adjusting the values of these parameters in the 3D printer’s slicer software we can minimize these adverse effects and create a better-suited set of guidelines to print compliant mechanisms.In this study, multiple compliant mechanisms were designed and tested with different printer settings. The testing started with creating mechanisms and their force-deflection curves. The standard designs of each mechanism were then updated and printed using different parameters from the slicer software. Parameters such as orientation, infill, wall thickness, nozzle path, and ironing were considered and quantified. After printing, the mechanisms were tested on an INSTRON machine to get the experimental force-deflection curves. We iterated upon each design until there was less than a 5% error between the experimental and theoretical data. With more knowledge of the effects of 3D-printing parameters, we can develop a set of guidelines for manufacturing more predictable compliant mechanisms. These guidelines can be applied to any compliant mechanism design for industrial or personal 3D printing.

Authors: Addison Smartt, Timothy Smartt. Mentors: Jeff Edwards. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Since the 1990's, the United States has experienced a crisis of opioid addiction and overdose. The effects of this are found close to home – with Utah being one of 22 states with an overdose rate higher than the national average. The effects of opioids on the ventral tegmental area (VTA), also known as the reward center of the brain, are a major contributor to opioid dependence. Drug dependence is created by molecular and cellular changes in this region of the brain. Therefore, we will examine changes in gene expression in the reward center in response to chronic morphine exposure. To do this, we will employ quantitative PCR on the VTA by first isolating mRNA, then reverse transcribing it into a cDNA library. Next, we created primer pairs for 26 different gene targets that were selected for their participation in the reward pathway. These targets include opioid receptors, glutamate receptors, cannabinoid receptors, and transcriptional regulators. Early results have identified mu and kappa opiate receptor expression downregulation after morphine exposure. Collectively, our data will provide understanding into how morphine exposure changes the expression of important gene targets in the VTA, providing insight into the causes, symptoms, and treatment options for opioid use disorder.

Authors: Jacob Moore, Ian Reid, Brandon Sutherland. Mentors: Tim McLain. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) research depends on autopilots capable of integrating new, low-level estimation and control algorithms. Current autopilot software stacks (eg. PX4 and Ardupilot) are bulky and complex, making it difficult for researchers to easily integrate their own algorithms. The codebases for these autopilots are fully-featured, meaning complete understandability is impossible. Furthermore, these autopilots are targeted towards industry and plug-and-play use, not researchers. A research-centered autopilot, with a lean codebase, capable of easy algorithm integration is a needed tool for productive research. ROSflight is an autopilot designed from the ground up with researchers in mind. Currently it is based on a ROS1 framework, which is old and outdated and is reaching end of life. Our research is to update ROSflight to ROS2, the most current version of ROS. Our work includes revamping the existing fixed-wing autopilot, ROSplane, and multirotor autopilot, ROScopter, and extending ROSflight to support vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Since we started the project, ROSplane and ROSflight now work under a ROS2 framework. We have verified autonomous flight on a fixed wing aircraft, capable of rejecting disturbances. Hardware demonstration of a GPS waypoint-following fixed wing aircraft is in progress. Future work includes hardware demonstration of a multirotor aircraft autopilot and support for a VTOL aircraft.

Authors: Jaren Wilson. Mentors: Joshua Price. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Rural health has been an area of study for population for years as over 46 million Americans live in rural communities as of 2021. Access to healthcare has been suggested as a major disparity of this population. This study examines how the access of healthcare of varying degrees of urbanization impact mortality outcomes, using the number of physicians per 100,000 people as a proxy for the access to health care. Using a dataset over 3,000 counties in the United States over the span of four years we assess the disparities in healthcare access between different geographic locations.The study implores the use of a multivariable regression model controls for time, level of urbanization, physicians per 100,000 people, time, county fixed effects, and other factors regresses the number of mortalities. The goals of this study are to demonstrate the disparities in healthcare access in different geographic locations across the United States.

Authors: Milo E Light, Sohom Mookherjee, J. David Symons, Megan Tandar, Nathan Hill. Mentors: John David Symons. Insitution: University of Utah. Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) deprives cerebral artery endothelial cells (ECs) of nutrients which decreases mTORC1 activity to initiate autophagic flux. We hypothesized that depletion of EC autophagy worsens outcomes of AIS. Methods and results. First, adult male C57Bl6 mice consumed a standard diet (control) or chow supplemented with the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin. After 3-weeks, phosphorylated ribosomal S6 / total S6 was greater (p<0.05) in liver segments of rapamycin vs. control-fed mice, indicating mTORC1 repression. Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO, 60-min;) followed by reperfusion (R, 23 h) increased infarct volume, neurobehavioral deficits, and motor dysfunction, to a greater extent (p<0.05) in control vs. rapamycin-supplemented mice. Second, adult male C57Bl6 mice with intact EC autophagy-related protein 3 (Atg3WT) or inducible depletion of EC ATG3 (Atg3EC-/-) completed tMCAO+R. ATG3 colocalization with VE-Cdh5 increased (p<0.05) after tMCAO+R in ipsilesional vs. contralesional hemispheres of Atg3WT but not Atg3EC-/- mice. Neutrophil infiltration, cell death, microglia and astrocyte activation, and neurodegeneration, were greater (p<0.05) in ipsilesional hemispheres of Atg3EC-/- vs. Atg3WT mice. Further, infarct volume was greater (p<0.05), and motor and neurobehavioral performance were worse (p<0.05), in Atg3EC-/- vs. Atg3WT mice. Third, tMCAO+R evoked infarct volume was less severe after rapamycin feeding in Atg3WT but not Atg3EC-/- mice, underscoring the importance of EC autophagy. Conclusions. Intact EC autophagy is protective concerning AIS, potentially via enabling: (i) recycling of damaged proteins; (ii) nutrient generation from degraded substrates; and / or (iii) arterial vasodilation for nutrient delivery.

Authors: Mitch McEntire. Mentors: Marc Killpack, John Salmon. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Title: Rotational Robotic TriggerPresenter: Mitch McEntire, College of Engineering, Mechanical EngineeringAuthors: Mitch McEntireFaculty Advisor: Marc Killpack and John SalmonInstitution: Brigham Young UniversityRobotic manipulation is commonplace on the factory floor but there are often safeguards that prevent direct human-robot interaction. This study aimed to move human-robot interaction into the next phase from separate tasks, to cooperative ones. We started by trying to understand how multiple human teammates communicate during co-manipulation tasks in order to enable humans and robots to eventually work together effectively. This study analyzed the communication forces sent through an object that was being co-manipulated by a triad and dyad of humans. For this presentation, we focused entirely on the task of rotation along the sagittal axis shared between the individuals. In this case, we are able to notice a torque that was transmitted through the object indicating the desired change in orientation of that object. Each trial consisted of carrying a 55 lb table between two individuals and placing the table in different orientations and positions. Data was collected with force-torque sensors at each handle of the table and position data of the table was being tracked by HTC Vive trackers designed for use in virtual reality systems and that were strategically placed around the table. We analyzed 23 of these trials and we were able to identify specific force trends that indicate the table is about to rotate. Once data was collected and analyzed, potential force triggers were extracted from the data. This data is one small step to understanding how humans manipulation teams work together successfully and enabling a robot to be able to cooperate with humans in applications such as carrying a stretcher or moving furniture.

Authors: Kylee Fernandez. Mentors: Gennie L Parkman. Insitution: University of Utah. Evaluating the role of LRRC1 in melanoma growth and metastasisThe development of brain metastases is a critical problem in Utah, regardless of the novel therapies created for melanoma. The melanoma mortality rates in Utah are 31% higher than the national average and the melanoma incidences are 80% higher. To lower these incidences, our research is aimed at investigating targets in melanoma that play a crucial role in brain metastasis and can be identified as therapeutic interventions.LRRC1 is a gene known as Leucine Rich Repeat Containing 1. LRRC1 is involved in early-stage adipocytic differentiation. Altered gene and protein expression of LRRC1 is observed in melanoma potentially due to the vital role LRRC1 plays in adipose stem cells that differentiate by adopting the phenotypic, biochemical, and functional properties of more terminally differentiated cells. To evaluate the effect of LRRC1 on melanoma growth and metastasis, we are using an established autochthonous in vitro and in vivo model of melanoma based on the RCAS/TVA avian retroviral system. The results of this study will have tremendous potential to contribute to the understanding of the genetics of this heterogeneous disease.

Authors: Adriana Bibo, Nicole Losurdo, Nichole Link. Mentors: Nichole Link, Cindy Greaves. Insitution: University of Utah. Microcephaly is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by occipital frontal circumference (OFC) more than two standard deviations below the mean. It can be accompanied by comorbidities including intellectual disabilities, seizures, and other developmental phenotypes. Microcephaly is attributed to malnutrition and exposure to toxins or infection during pregnancy, but genetic mutations are also a leading cause. To investigate the genetic mechanisms behind microcephaly, our lab collaborates with a physician who has completed whole exome sequencing for two hundred microcephaly patients. He identified potentially pathogenic human variants, which we are studying using Drosophila melanogaster as our model organism. We screened for loss of function phenotypes through RNAi knockdown of fly orthologs to determine if these genes are necessary for brain development. In our primary screen, we found that RNAi knockdown of Bx42 in neural stem cells or post-mitotic neurons causes significantly reduced brain lobe volume. In our current study, we are assessing potential causes for reduced brain lobe volume. We seek to determine if RNAi knockdown of Bx42 in neural stem cells or neurons affects cell number, proliferation, or death in developing brains.

Authors: Grace Moore. Mentors: Aaron Olsen. Insitution: Utah State University. AbstractAnimal care technicians for research labs have many responsibilities in order to maintain the integrity of a research project. However, it is difficult to determine what tasks will require most of a technician’s time and effort. Thus, it is proposed that tracking what each individual does during a given shift can allow supervisors and technicians to create an efficient schedule of how they will work and provide a standard for individuals to meet every day. This project consists of tracking in detail what an animal care technician does in a given “shift”, including observation hours, handling and restraining, working in different biosafety levels, cleaning and prepping caging, and changing the caging. This data collection, over several months of work, finds relationships between tasks, the frequencies of being completed, and the time they take. The key tasks of an animal care technician are observing, providing nourishment, maintaining clean environments for both the researchers and the subjects, and maintaining supplies and accurate records. Additionally, many hours are dedicated solely to observing the animals to ensure their health and safety. Moreover, cleaning and prepping of caging or supplies are completed more than half of the time during a given shift. Finally, working with a given species may require more time to complete a task (such as cage changing or cage preparation) compared to another species despite the task being the same. If each technician were to track their tasks and create a profile of personal statistics, they would be able to easily determine how long a task should take. Moreover, a supervisor would be able to determine if a technician is working more efficiently or even falling behind during daily tasks. Overall, these findings could be used to incorporate better time management or planning for institutions to know what more time or resources may need to be devoted to in order to maintain a safe environment, provide exceptional care for the subjects, and follow every protocol.

Authors: Sylvia Lee, Ainsley Parkins, Rodolfo S Probst. Mentors: Rodolfo S Probst. Insitution: University of Utah. Mutualisms between ants and plants are ubiquitous interactions and have been evolving for over 100 million years. Studies have been done on systems wherein the plants provide nutritional resources for ants, but the dynamics of mutualistic interactions in environments where host plants do not provide obvious nutritional rewards continue to remain elusive, raising questions about their co-evolutionary histories. In these circumstances, associated fauna, such as mealybugs and soft scales (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae and Coccidae), serve as intermediaries of the association, providing honeydew (enhanced plant sap) as a main food source to their host ants. However, the identity of the insects involved in these associations and their co-evolutionary history with ants is poorly understood. By focusing on samples collected in Costa Rica from 33 colonies of the Neotropical plant-ant genus Myrmelachista (Formicinae: Myrmelachistini), we sequenced DNA barcodes (cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 [CO1]) using Oxford Nanopore Technology and employed Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) for both the Myrmelachista ants and their associated fauna. We aimed to identify their taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships and identify unique interactions between ants and their associated fauna. We recovered DNA barcodes for eleven Myrmelachista species and seven putative species of mealybugs (n=5) and soft scales (n=2). For the seven putative species of Coccoidea, our DNA barcodes, when compared to available sequences from the NCBI database, recovered an average of 85% match similarity. The closest matches associated our putative species to Old World Coccoidea taxa, reinforcing the need for taxonomic studies of this superfamily for the Neotropical region. Each putative species of soft scales was found uniquely associated with two Myrmelachista species (M. flavoguarea and M. cooperi). For all eleven Myrmelachista species, five were associated with two putative mealybug species. One putative mealybug species was associated with five different Myrmelachista species; one was uniquely associated with M. nigrocotea. Same associations were found between the associated fauna of M. flavocotea and M. lauropacifica; M. haberi and M. RSP027; M. plebecula, M. meganaranja, and M. osa, respectively. These results suggest that there may be unique associations between some Myrmelachista species and their Coccoidea associates, unconstrained by the ant phylogeny. Our findings also provide insights on Coccoidea taxonomy, emphasizing NGS DNA barcoding as a tool to illuminate how ant-plant associations might have evolved.

Authors: Ainsley E Parkins, Sylvia Lee, Elizabeth J Heath, Thomas Petitjean, Kyle Cink, Kyle Kittelberger, Cagan Sekercioglou, Rodolfo S Probst. Mentors: Rodolfo S Probst. Insitution: University of Utah. Biodiversity loss poses a significant threat, requiring accurate species assessment and conservation strategies. Non-invasive and cost-effective techniques should be prioritized, especially when dealing with threatened vertebrate fauna. By focusing on cryptic Eastern European species within the genus Emberiza (Passeriformes: Emberizidae), we designed an affordable molecular pipeline (including DNA primers and bioinformatics) integrating DNA barcoding with Nanopore sequencing to address species boundaries and provide conservation information for avifauna diversity. We conducted non-invasive DNA extractions from individual feathers of 192 specimens collected in the Aras River Riparian Corridor (ARRC), an important ecological hotspot in Turkey. By targeting the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (CO1) region, our goal was to differentiate Emberiza taxa and identify potential cryptic lineages while using cutting-edge next-generation sequencing (NGS) of multiplexed specimens with portable Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Our focal study examined boundaries in Emberiza subspecies (E. shoeniclus shoeniclus and E. shoeniclus caspia) with subtle morphological differences, utilizing DNA barcoding and Nanopore sequencing. We obtained 182 Emberiza DNA barcodes. Clustering analysis recovered a paraphyletic assemblage (n=32) and a clade, the latter recovering majority of the barcodes (n=150), separated by at least 8% genetic difference. In both cases, we observed a mixture of barcodes from the nominal subspecies and Caspian subspecies, suggesting that cryptic morphological characteristics are not reflected in genetic separation. Our results also suggest putative cryptic Emberiza species, highlighting the importance of the ARRC for conserving avian diversity. We demonstrate that our pipeline, integrating real-time Nanopore sequencing with non-invasive DNA barcoding, can be used for conservation initiatives (particularly aiding cryptic species identification). This study expands our knowledge of avian diversity and highlights the potential of NGS DNA barcodes as a powerful tool for aiding conservation efforts amidst biodiversity loss.

Authors: Alexander Romano, Matthew Hesterman, Rachel Hill, Melodie Weller. Mentors: Melodie Weller. Insitution: University of Utah. Sjogren’s Disease (SjD) is an autoimmune disease diagnosed by symptoms of reduced tear and saliva excretion, accumulation of lymphocyte foci in the salivary glands, and the occurrence of antibodies against Ro (SSA), La (SSB), and nuclear proteins. The cause of SjD is unknown, though previous studies have detected the sequence and antigens of Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV) in the minor salivary gland acinar, ductal, and adipose cells of patients with SjD; without the typical presence of a Hepatitis B coinfection. In this study, murine models were transduced with Adeno-associated virus containing expression cassettes for Luciferase (control), small, large, or a combination of both small and large HDV antigens to evaluate the impact of HDV antigen expression on salivary gland function and SjD autoimmune disease development. After a ten- or four-month period, the models were analyzed. Findings included a significant increase of inflammation for samples expressing both small and large HDV antigens, a significant increase of anti-SSA(La) antibodies in samples expressing the short HDV antigen, and a correlation between increased overall inflammation and decreased overall saliva flow. Performing qPCR methods verified the amount of HDV in the submandibular glands and Illumina sequencing portrayed an increase in glycolysis and beta oxidation metabolism in models with detectible HDV sequence. The models showed significantly increased IgM expression in the HDV exposed murine models, without significant change of other antibodies. Future plans include an ELISA diagnostic assay to verify the antibody levels and further sequencing analysis. With this information we can build a better picture of the direct mechanisms of HDV-mediated changes in salivary gland dysfunction and determine the extent that HDV can inducing systemic SjD symptoms.

Authors: Bradley Lawson, Lukas Keller, Marshall Burrows, Sam Perkins, Emery Wheeler. Mentors: Ronald Sims. Insitution: Utah State University. Subcritical water hydrolysis (SWH) is a developing method of processing organic materials/waste without the use of acids and alkali materials. SWH lyses peptides differently than acid hydrolysis and can produce Maillard products, which have various effects in cell culture. In this study, a batch-mode pressure vessel with a semi-continuous sampling apparatus will be used to optimize temperature and retention time for the hydrolysis of Chlorella vulgaris biomass for the development of serum-free (or low-serum) cell culture media. Hydrolysis will be done at temperatures from 140°C to 300°C and retention times from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. The SWH products will be assessed for their general protein content, lipid content, bioactivity, and carbohydrate content. These efforts will be of use to Upside Foods in its efforts to create sustainable and ethical cultured meat products.

Authors: Jane Damstedt, Kasey Cole. Mentors: Kasey Cole. Insitution: University of Utah. In this project, we are analyzing faunal remains recovered from Utah’s House Mountain Range in the Tubafore cave system to create a paleoecological baseline of life in that location over the past 1000 years. All animals have relatively consistent ecological tolerances and preferences, so comparing the data from the information obtained in this study with contemporary accounts of mammalian ecology in the same area will be useful in evaluating the role of anthropogenic climate change in mammalian ecosystems. In this project, I am identifying the animal remains to the lowest level of taxonomic classification possible to determine what kinds of species richness and environment were present at the time in which the animal was alive. Creating an accurate record of the animals found in this cave assemblage is critical because very little is known about the species richness of the Great Basin area. This data will then be stored and compared to modern zoological data, which came from online databases Actos and Vertnet. The information gathered from this project can be used to inform conservation and sustainability efforts aiming at preserving biodiversity in Central Utah’s Mountain Ranges.

Authors: Ada Cottam Allen, Mikhael T Semaan. Mentors: Mikhael T Semaan. Insitution: University of Utah. Regularly buoyed from thermodynamic equilibrium by complex and fluctuating environments, living systems must continually respond and adapt to external stimuli. Recent tools from stochastic thermodynamics place concrete energetic and entropic bounds on these processes, for systems arbitrarily far from equilibrium both in and out of steady-state conditions, and thus reveal mechanisms by which these systems absorb and dissipate energy to function. Here, we leverage these tools to simulate and calculate the thermodynamic signatures of several models of sodium and potassium ion channels---channels crucial to propagating action potentials in mammalian neurons---as driven by biologically-realistic action potential spiking protocols. Thus uncovering their detailed energetic responses to such complex environmental conditions, these results enable detailed comparison between the thermodynamic functionality of each channel type with driving one would expect in-vivo. When applied to competing models of the same channel, these tools also provide additional criteria for model selection; to this end, we close by calculating expected ionic currents, directly facilitating comparison with dynamically-driven patch-clamp experiments.

Authors: G. Colton Gardner, Lynasi Gapelu, Sohom Mookherjee, Sihem Boudina, J. David Symons. Mentors: J. David Symons. Insitution: University of Utah. With the prevalence of cardiovascular disease increasing world wide and its precise mechanisms remaining elusive, the need for novel treatments is urgent. Autophagy is a conserved process whereby dysregulated intracellular proteins are escorted to the lysosome for recycling. Emerging evidence indicates that autophagy is important in maintaining endothelial cell (EC) proteostasis and function. My laboratory showed that autophagy repression in adult mice ECs produces arterial dysfunction, and indexes of autophagy are repressed in ECs of older mice and humans which display concurrent EC dysfunction. Sequestosome 1 (p62) tethers proteins and enables their entry into the autophagic pathway. The contribution from EC p62 to cardiovascular and metabolic function is unknown and experiments are needed to investigate this. Thus, p62 will be depleted from ECs of adult male and female mice (p62iEC-/-) via tamoxifen regimen, and results will be compared to animals wherein EC p62 is intact (CON). The efficacy and specificity of EC p62 depletion will be evaluated in ECs and vascular smooth muscle by qPCR and immunoblotting. Three adjacent 1 mm thoracic aorta sections will be obtained 14 days after the tamoxifen regimen. The central aorta section will be used to measure intrinsic mechanical stiffness by wire myography, with the other two used to find lumen diameter and intimal medial thickness. These measurements will help create Stress vs. Strain curves and the Elastic Modulus, which will be compared between the groups to show the differences caused by p62 depletion. We expect p62 depletion from ECs to increase intrinsic aortic stiffness.

Authors: Sydney Larsen. Mentors: Joshua Steffen. Insitution: University of Utah. Pollen preserves are crucial to maintaining Apis mellifera’s hive health. This pollen provides bees with a source of protein, amino acids, lipids, and other nutrients that are vital for larvae development (Dharampal et. Al, 2019). In addition to providing these essential nutrients, bee collected pollen also provides the hive with an excellent source of external pollen-borne microorganisms. These microbes provide a variety of benefits including serving as a major dietary requirement for larvae, assisting in biochemical processes such as bee bread fermentation, and assisting in bee resistance to pathogens (Gilliam, 1997). Despite the importance that these organisms play on bee health, there is currently little research on how the microbial composition of bee foraged pollen changes throughout the foraging season in response to abiotic and biotic factors. Rapid advancements in DNA metabarcoding approaches and DNA sequencing technologies have made the assessment of hive level foraging patterns easily accessible. We attempt to leverage the benefits of these new approaches to characterize how microbial composition in pollen provisions changes in relation to shifts in foraging preferences. Here we describe general patterns plant foraging behaviors for two hives across a single foraging season. In addition, we describe the variability of microbial diversity associated with pollen across this same time frame. Our initial description plant and microbial communities present in pollen provisions suggest that pollinator foraging preferences play a significant role in pollen associated microbial communities. This will allow for further research into how the presence of specific beneficial microbes is affected by changes in climate, floral availability, pathogen presence, etc..ReferencesDharampal, P. S., Carlson, C., Currie, C. R., & Steffan, S. A. (2019). Pollen-borne microbes shape bee fitness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 286(1904), 20182894.Gilliam, M. (1997). Identification and roles of non-pathogenic microflora associated with honey bees. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 155(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-1097(97)00337-6

Authors: My Nha Quyen Tran, Cindy Greaves. Mentors: Martin Horvath, Cindy Greaves. Insitution: University of Utah. I have been studying the DNA repair enzyme MutY found at the Lost City thermal field 3000 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean with conditions similar to those that may have shaped the origin of life. With no sunlight and very little oxygen, life at the Lost City is driven by chemical transformations in rocks at extremely high levels of pH and temperature. DNA in all organisms strictly follows base pairing rules in which A pairs with T and G pairs with C. We all think of oxygen as beneficial, but it can cause damage to DNA. Oxidized guanine (OG) violates the base pairing rules and pairs with A. This causes mutations, which can lead to changes in the genetic information. The mutagenic potential of OG was a challenge that had to be solved early in the emergence of DNA-encoded life. The enzyme MutY functions in suppressing mutations and therefore protects us from developing cancer by finding and removing A from OG:A mispairs. In my effort to replicate conditions at the Lost City so as to explore how the DNA repair enzyme MutY evolved to function in this strange environment I need to purify the enzyme. I used DNA cloning to attach the MutY-encoding genes to a soluble bacterial protein called GST that hopefully will make it easier to purify the MutY proteins. Encouragingly, these fusion proteins expressed well in bacteria and appeared to be soluble. I am now exploring different conditions looking for optimal enzyme activity, which I predict to be different from what familiar bacteria can tolerate. Basic science research on how DNA repair enzymes adapted to the strange environment at the Lost City may inform future translational applications to treat and cure cancer and thus ensure a healthy society in Utah.

Authors: William Lee, Rishab Nayak, Cecilia Knapp, Camila Soderholm. Mentors: Ryan Stolley. Insitution: University of Utah. Recent publications have shown pyridine carboxylate functionalized aza-crown ethers coordinate strongly to a number of rare earth elements. Considering their strong coordination, we have modified these crown-ethers with a number of hydrophobic moieties to allow for adsorption to non-polar substrates to enable packed bed isolation of these elements to address the broad use and limited availability of these elements.

Authors: Nathan Jackson, Ryan James, James Crutchfield. Mentors: Mikhael Semaan. Insitution: University of Utah. Symbolic dynamics allows for modeling---and designing for---the effects of imperfectly measuring a time series of data, by partitioning into a finite number of possibilities. The resulting time series of discrete symbols is then made especially amenable to information-theoretic methods for understanding its temporal structure and correlation. In particular, as long as the partitioning scheme is generating, the resulting estimations for entropy rate---the rate at which the process creates information---converge to a measure of chaos in the underlying system, a dynamical invariant.However, the entropy rate is not sensitive to what kind of generating partition: colloquially, an instrument must be at least accurate enough, but can be more fine-grained as desired. In contrast, its breakdown into a piece which affects future measurements (“bound”) and a piece which does not (“ephemeral”) depends quite dramatically on the choice of generating partition. We ask, then: is there a canonical partitioning scheme for which the full suite of information measures relate to dynamical invariants?To tackle this, we simulate the well-known tent and logistic maps, sweeping over all two-boundary partitions, calculating the full information anatomies for each. We find that ephemeral and bound information are extremized by the single-boundary coarsest generating partition, suggesting a canonical role for the simplest “good enough” instrument. The remaining multivariate measures, meanwhile, reveal hitherto-unseen structure in the process of imperfect measurement.

Authors: Brynlyn Hastings, Dante Cervantes, Jaime Analuisa. Mentors: Lindsay Chaney. Insitution: Snow College. Ants are a diverse and ecologically significant group of insects, yet their species identification in the field can be challenging due to their small size and morphological variation. In this study conducted at Snow College, we employed DNA barcoding techniques to unravel the ant species diversity within the local ecosystem of Snow College's Campus. Our research aimed to shed light on the ant species biodiversity concerning areas that had more human interference compared to those with little human interference contributing to a better understanding of local biodiversity.

Authors: Joshua Thlaman, Brynlei Luke, Emily Pattee. Mentors: Lindsay Chaney. Insitution: Snow College. We tested if grasshopper species varied based on locations with constant human interaction vs. locations with little to no human interaction within Sanpete county. Due to how close, (a 6 mile radius), the collection locations are, it was logically reasoned that there will be no differences in grasshopper species between Ephraim and Manti Utah.​This study was performed with grasshoppers collected in Sanpete County: specifically, the town of Ephraim, Ephraim canyon, the town of Manti, and Manti canyon. To do this, we collected grasshoppers from each of the mentioned locations, extracted the DNA samples by humanely freezing the grasshoppers and collected small amounts of the grasshoppers, amplified the DNA samples using PCR, and sequenced the PCR products to help identify the grasshopper species collected using BLAST. ​Our experiment results showed that there was a large variation of species collected, as well as many similar species were present in all collection locations. Ephraim housing and Ephraim canyon only had one type of species present (Melanoplus sanguinipes), while Manti housing showed three other species (Melanoplus differentialis, Dissosteira carolina, Trimerotropis pallidipennis), and Manti canyon showed another species type (Trimerotropis cincta). This suggests that there is more variation within Manti housing and Manti canyon, no variation within Ephraim housing and Ephraim canyon, and only some variation between Manti and Ephraim.

Authors: Michal Hansen, Nathan Werner. Mentors: Nathan Werner. Insitution: Southern Utah University. The preparation of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals requires chemical reactions that make carbon-carbon bonds. Carbon atoms of three different hybridazations are known: sp3, sp2 and sp. Most reactions are specific to the hybridization of the carbon atom. We will study a reaction to bond an sp2-hybridized carbon to an sp3-hybridized carbon. This reaction could then be used to make interesting molecules that contain similar bonds. Specifically, the synthesis of 1,3-diphenylpropene will begin with a hydroboration reaction of phenylacetylene with pinacolborane. These two starting materials are combined with a 9-BBN-catalyst and heated to reflux in tetrahydrofuran at 65 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. The hydroboration product is then purified by aqueous extraction and silica gel flash chromatography. The product from the hydroboration reaction contains an sp2-hydridized carbon-boron bond and is then combined with benzyl bromide that contains a sp3-carbon-bromine bond. This is the reaction that we are studying. They are heated in DMF solvent with a palladium catalyst, ligand and base at 90 degrees Celsius for 1.5 hours. Once the reaction is complete, the cross-coupling product is purified by aqueous extraction and silica gel flash chromatography.

Authors: Cate Bateman, Jose Aurelio De La Rocha Tapia, Ethan Fulwood, Arianna Harrington. Mentors: Arianna Harrington. Insitution: Southern Utah University. The Eocene-Oligocene boundary in North America was marked by climatic cooling and drying. This transition is a key time in mammalian evolution, and studying fossils spanning this boundary could yield important information about how fauna responded to the climatic change. McCarty’s Mountain, a fossil rich geological feature located in Madison County, Montana, has long intrigued scientists due to the many insights it holds into the terrestrial fauna of the region. The sites from McCarty’s Mountain date from the Chadronian North American Land Mammal Age, which corresponds to the late Eocene epoch. The geological strata to produce these fossils were thought to have been deposited in a floodplain, yielding remarkably preserved fossils which have been collected and studied since the early 1900’s. However, the microfossils from this locality have been understudied despite the insights it could provide to the terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene transition in North America. In this study, we aim to close this gap by analyzing microfossils picked from matrix collected from McCarty’s Mountain localities in summer 2023. Preliminarily, we have processed about ⅛ of the collected sediments, and have found several identifiable elements including mammalian teeth, vertebrae, and long bones. We will continue this work by washing and soaking the remaining matrix and quantifying the microfossils retrieved. The fossils recovered may provide future insight to changes in microfauna across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.

Authors: Ashley Hartwig, Dr. Weeg. Mentors: Matthew Weeg. Insitution: Southern Utah University. The physiological benefits of petting pet cats, dogs, and horses have been thoroughly investigated for decades. Studies suggest that the act of handling and being around pets can offer direct cardiovascular benefits, such as lower blood pressure and heart rate as well as indirect benefits such as lowering triglyceride and cholesterol levels. However, the ability of pet reptiles to offer similar benefits has not been explored. In this work, we investigated the effects of reptile handling on the handler, expressed by cardiovascular variables. An automated blood pressure device was used to obtain the blood pressure and heart rate of participants every five minutes over a 20-minute time period. Three different conditions were tested for each participant: one where they handled a snake (Python regius), one where they handled a lizard (Pogona vitticeps), and one where they handled a stuffed animal , which served as the control. Overall, we saw a significant decrease in the systolic blood pressure in subjects during both reptile conditions compared to the control , though there was no change in diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure (MAP), or heart rate. A decrease in systolic blood pressure has also been documented in studies involving mammalian companion animals. Therefore, our results provide evidence that handling snakes and lizards might provide some of the same cardiovascular benefits as handling cats, dogs, or horses. If so, this lends support to the argument that lizards and snakes can also be considered companion animals. These conclusions can be used to advocate for proper reptile husbandry and conservation efforts to protect native species in the fight against stigmas surrounding reptiles.

Authors: Clista Galecki. Mentors: William Anderegg. Insitution: University of Utah. This project will determine whether exposure to wildfire impacts a plant's ability to acclimate to summer drought. This is important because with rising temperatures and droughts there is an increase of wildfires (Diffenbaugh et al., 2015). This question will be address by comparing drought physiological traits of a native tree species, Utah juniper, in burned versus unburned sites in central Utah. The goal of the project is to determine whether plants that survive wildfires are more or less drought resilient. This research may provide insight into whether various tree species are better adapted to survive droughts and wildfires which will help in future ecology predictions of the future landscapes.There are multiple factors in why forests respond differently to drought. The factors include elevation, prior exposure to fire, prior exposure to drought, clade, and species (Anderegg et al., 2020). Severe drought or heat from a fire can result in hydraulic failure (McDowell et al., 2008). This means that the plant has loses its ability to sufficiently move water from the roots to the leaves. Which could indicate that trees burned in wildfires will not be better adapted to summer drought. Whereas there is a possibility that if the tree has had sufficient amount of time to recover from a stressing event that it could be better adapted for future droughts (Anderegg et al, 2020). My project will focus specifically on the effects of prior exposure to fire on Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) drought acclimation ability.

Authors: Logan Whitney, Jaren Wilson, Elley Colledge, Jamie Thygerson. Mentors: Jessica Pullan. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Exosomes are nanosized (40-150 nm) extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted from cells that play a vital role in the human body's intracellular communication.1 The use of bovine-derived exosomes as a drug delivery vehicle provides an innovative approach to targeted drug delivery4 due to their stability, nontoxicity, non-immunogenic properties, and cost efficiency.5,6,7,8,9 The purpose of our research is to establish and refine a raw bovine milk exosome isolation protocol to determine the quality of exosomes. Current standards for small EV identification are currently being established and regulated by the International Society of Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) but center around three main categories: proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids.2 To refer to EVs as exosomes, they must be of endosome origin, otherwise they are referred to as ectosomes, and must be appropriately referred to by their size.13 Upon isolation, we verified the morphology of the small EV’s using Scanning Electron Microscopy, allowing visualization of the size and shape of the small EVs. Our research methods for the quantification of surface proteins include Rose Bengal Assay12 and Bradford Assay. Examination using exosome-specific cell surface markers, such as CD63, demonstrates protein functionality of the small EVs. Quantification of lipids allows for comparison of lipid concentration to surface protein concentration for further evidence of exosome identification. Lastly, RNA quantification ensured the small EVs met the concentration threshold to be defined as exosomes. The combination of these methods will further the work in bovine milk extracellular vesicles by yielding a low-cost, high-yield protocol for the isolation and characterization of EVs that can be further used as biomarkers, drug carriers, and a variety of platforms of delivery to physiological targets. [1] Rayamajhi, S., Nguyen T., Marasini R., Aryal S. Macrophage-derived exosome-mimetic hybrid [2] Théry, C., Witwer, K.W., Aikawa, E., Alcaraz, M.J., Anderson, J.D., Andriantsitohaina, R., et al. Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018): a position statement of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines.  Journal of Extracellular Vesicles 2018; 7:1. [3] Pullan, J. E., Confeld, M. I., Osborn, J. K., Kim, J., Sarkar, K., and Mallik, S. Exosomes as drug carriers for cancer therapy. Molecular Pharmaceutics 2019; 16:1789–1798. vesicles for tumor targeted drug delivery. Acta Biomaterialia 2019; 94:482-494.  [4] He J, Ren W, Wang W, et al. Exosomal targeting and its potential clinical application. Drug Deliv Transl Res 2022;12(10):2385-2402. [5] Munagala R, Aqil F, Jeyabalan J, Gupta RC. Bovine milk-derived exosomes for drug delivery. Cancer Lett. 2016; 371(1):48-61. [6] Rashidi M, Bijari S, Khazaei AH, Shojaei-Ghahrizjani F, Rezakhani L. The role of milk-derived exosomes in the treatment of diseases. Front Genet 2022;13:1009338.  [7]García-Martínez J, Pérez-Castillo ÍM, Salto R, López-Pedrosa JM, Rueda R, Girón MD. Beneficial Effects of Bovine Milk Exosomes in Metabolic Interorgan Cross-Talk. Nutrients 2022;14(7):1442.  [8] Mashouri, L., Yousefi, H., Aref, A.R. et al. Exosomes: composition, biogenesis, and mechanisms in cancer metastasis and drug resistance. Mol Cancer 2019; 18:75.  [9] Radha Munagala, Hina Kausar, Charu Munjal, Ramesh C. Gupta, Withaferin A induces p53-dependent apoptosis by repression of HPV oncogenes and upregulation of tumor suppressor proteins in human cervical cancer cells, Carcinogenesis 2011; 11:1697–1705. [10] Wijenayake S., Eisha S., Tawhidi Z., Pitino M.A., Steele M.A., Fleming A.S., et al. Comparison of methods for pre-processing, exosome isolation, and RNA extraction in unpasteurized bovine and human milk. PLoS ONE 2021;16:e0257633. [11] Osteikoetxea X., Balogh A., Szabó-Taylor K., Németh A., Szabó T.G., Pálóczi K., et al. Improved Characterization of EV Preparations Based on Protein to Lipid Ratio and Lipid Properties. PLOS ONE 2015;10:e0121184. [12] Kishore, S.; Maruthamuthu, M. Binding of Rose Bengal onto Bovine Serum Albumin. Proceedings / Indian Academy of Sciences 1993, 105 (4–5), 279–285. DOI:10.1007/bf02866917. [13] Théry, C., Witwer, K. W., Aikawa, E. et al. (2018). Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018): A position statement of the International Society for extracellular vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines. Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20013078.2018.1535750z

Authors: Mackay B Steffensen, AustinRyan A Kirkby, Kieran L Richards. Mentors: Mackay B Steffensen. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Cyanuric chloride, a 1,3,5-trichlorotriazine, serves as a valuable platform for constructing innovative molecules. This project explores the unique reactivity of triazines to synthesize triazine crown ethers—a class of cyclic polyethers with a central cavity capable of selectively binding metal ions and polar molecules. Temperature-controlled nucleophilic aromatic substitution is employed to selectively substitute the triazine ring, providing precise control over the reaction. The first substitution with a primary amine nucleophile occurs rapidly at 0 °C, while subsequent substitutions at room temperature or 70 °C necessitate longer reaction times. This controlled approach enables the incorporation of three different amines.The project aims to synthesize triazine crown ethers through temperature-dependent substitution using two different methods. The first approach employs a diamine with an ether linkage in the presence of a base, facilitating consecutive substitutions to produce the target molecule. Intramolecular reactions are favored, but intermolecular reactions may lead to unexpected yet valuable products. The second method utilizes templated synthesis, taking advantage of the affinity of crown ethers for metal cations to promote cyclization reactions. A traditional route involving post-synthetic cyclization with ethylene glycol is also considered.The successful synthesis of these molecules opens up opportunities for further research, including characterizing their affinity for metals and exploring other unique properties. The acquired knowledge can be applied to construct more complex molecular structures, making this work valuable in materials science, analytical chemistry, and pharmaceuticals.

Authors: Lonnie Ernst. Mentors: Lane Law. Insitution: Salt Lake Community College. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic bacteria commonly found in water. Microcystis aeruginosa is one such cyanobacteria that is found within the waters of Utah Lake. M. aeruginosa produces the microcystin toxin which is harmful to the aquatic life and contributes to the ongoing problem of eutrophication and, if ingested, is also harmful to humans. Alongside this toxin producing cyanobacteria, Utah Lake is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds. This study aims to offer a method of bioremediation by engineering M. aeruginosa to carry a BPH gene pathway that breaks down PCBs. Using CRISPR, this gene would remove the microcystin producing gene and replace it with the BPH gene resulting in the engineered M. aeruginosa to breakdown the PCB contaminants and halt further production of the microcystin toxin.

Authors: Sydney Pruett. Mentors: Roger Gold. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Microbiologically Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) presents an innovative avenue for sustainable construction and environmental remediation. This biogenic process leverages the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea by microorganisms to generate calcium carbonate crystals, offering a green alternative with carbon sequestration potential, enhanced structural durability, and self-healing capabilities. Sporosarcina pasteurii is currently the predominant microorganism employed in biobrick production due to its notable urease activity. This study endeavors to assess the MICP potential of less explored bacterial strains with comparable urease activity levels. The strains under investigation include Sporosarcina ureae, Bacillus sphaericus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus stearothermophilus. Additionally, we aim to shed light on the viability of these alternative microorganisms for MICP applications, contributing to a broader understanding of this promising technology's adaptability and potential implications for sustainable construction practices.

Authors: Alix Elliston. Mentors: Lane Law. Insitution: Salt Lake Community College. Cyanobacteria (colloquially known as blue-green algae) are photosynthetic prokaryotes commonly found in water. Several genera of freshwater cyanobacteria, including Microcystis, Planktothrix (Oscillatoria), and Anabaena, produce potent hepatotoxins known as microcystins. Eutrophication and increasing temperatures facilitate an overgrowth of toxin-producing cyanobacteria, referred to as cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs). There are several known cyanophages which infect these genera and there has been some research into the role phages play in regulating cyanoHABs. This study aims to isolate microcystin-producing cyanobacteria from Utah Lake, as well as known or novel freshwater cyanophages which can infect the isolates. Any isolated phage will be propagated, have its DNA extracted and sequenced, and studied for use as a CRISPR delivery vehicle to target toxin-producing cyanobacteria, with the aim of knocking out microcystin biosynthesis.

Authors: Ann Day, Shawn Coon. Mentors: Shawn Coon. Insitution: Westminster College. The decades long movement to discredit, defund, and de-professionalize public education has taken many forms. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers have increasingly attempted to undermine public education through state specific programs (Bacher-Hicks et tal., 2023; Peele & Riser-Kositsky, 2020; Friedman & Young, 2022; Perera, 2023; Vasallo, 2023; Walker, 2022). These policies have taken many forms and attempted to address multiple perceived problems. However, the one commonality between all of these policies is that they perpetuate a trend of educational policymaking that tacitly or actively attempts to de-professionalize teachers and teaching (Apple, 2004; Milner, 2013). The state of Utah, and it’s 2023 legislative session, offers a compelling case study into why this legislation continues to emerge, the rationale behind this movement, and the impact these policies have on educators.

Authors: Isaac Wilson, Bree Wilson. Mentors: Arianna Harrington. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Understanding the body size of an organism is crucial for discussing its ecological role, potential trophic impact on its environment, and life history. The sauropod dinosaurs represent the largest land animals known, reaching masses many times that of modern elephants and rivaling the most massive cetaceans in some cases. This study attempts to quantify the body size variation between average and maximum sauropod dinosaurs by using Camarasaurus as a focal genus and comparing appendicular elements from the same quarries. Intraquarry rather than intraspecific variation is chosen due to the difficulty of diagnosing limb elements to the species level, and limb elements are known to scale isometrically in Camarasaurus. In addition to Camarasaurus-centric measurements, extant and extinct ecological analogues with recorded body size ranges are also used to estimate body size variation. While their life histories are not well-known, histological analysis indicates that sauropods were likely tachymetabolic endotherms, and their growth curves were most similar to birds and large herbivorous mammals in terms of extant taxa. This is in contrast to basal sauropodomorphs like Plateosaurus, which is demonstrated to exhibit high developmental plasticity. Minimum intraspecific size variation, collected from the literature and based on birds, nonavian dinosaurs, and large herbivorous mammals suggest that the largest representatives of any given sauropod species could have been between 139% and well over 200% larger than the average. Applying preliminary ratios from the data collected so far to the largest well-preserved sauropod, Argentinosaurus huinculensis, results in a plausible maximal mass of 137-177 tonnes for the genus.

Authors: Seunghwan Shin, Sydney Coates. Mentors: Guizella Rocabado. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Organic chemistry is one of the most feared and failed courses in the undergraduate curriculum. Consequently, studying what makes this course “too difficult” as perceived by students is worthwhile because these perceptions result in many students not considering STEM majors because they require chemistry courses. Our research group has investigated perceived costs in general chemistry, and this study expands our understanding of these constructs in organic chemistry. Students’ perceived costs of a chemistry class can be many, such as task effort, loss of valued alternatives, emotional, and others. These costs might be overcome by students’ interests and goals, yet the level of perceived costs might have a lasting impact on the students’ overall perception of chemistry and their desire to pursue chemistry and other STEM careers in the future. In this study we investigated the mentioned subclasses of perceived costs, other salient perceived costs, and mastery or performance goal orientations and the impact these constructs may have on students’ experiences in organic chemistry classrooms. Expanding on a previous study in general chemistry, we present the results of interviews we conducted with students in this class. Our results reveal that students struggle with the content, pace, and overall difficulty of the material. These results are not surprising; however, we also uncovered the students’ deep desire to learn and understand the material, the motivating effect of having a good relationship with their professor, and many other themes that emerged from our conversations.

Authors: Gabriella Proctor, Luke Alder. Mentors: Marcos Corchando Sonera. Insitution: Southern Utah University. The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is known to cause the disease chytridiomycosis and is notorious for its role in decimating anuran populations worldwide. A highly prevalent invasive species, the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), is understood to play an important role in the transmission of this disease in invaded regions. Notably, American bullfrogs are often largely immune to the effects of Bd, making them important reservoirs of the pathogen. Within southern Utah, this species has successfully invaded the Virgin River watershed, yet this population has not been the subject of prior study regarding its potential as a reservoir for Bd. We hypothesize that the Utah population has also been infected with Bd, potentially endangering native amphibian species. We sampled 46 bullfrog specimens from eight distinct aquatic habitats within the Virgin River basin in southwest Utah. Skin swabs will undergo purification and quantification, followed by PCR and gel electrophoresis to visualize and confirm results. We hope that our findings will be valuable in comprehending the impact of invasive American bullfrogs on amphibians within the Colorado River basin, particularly in relation to the spread and effects of chytridiomycosis.

Authors: Braden Nelson. Mentors: Nathan S Werner. Insitution: Southern Utah University. The stereocontrolled palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction of (E)-2-phenylethenylboronic acid pinacol ester with aryl chlorides to produce (E)-stilbene derivatives was studied. (E)-2-Phenylethenylboronic acid pinacol ester was synthesized by 9-borobicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (9-BBN) catalyzed hydroboration reaction of phenylacetylene with pinacolborane. The reaction conditions of the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of this reagent with aryl chlorides were then evaluated to maximize the yield of the cross-coupled product. The maximum yield of (E)-stilbene, 74%, was obtained when the amount of (E)-2-phenylethenylboronic acid pinacol ester was increased from 1.2 to 1.5 equivalents, RuPhos was used as the ligand, K2CO3 was used as the base, and DMF was used as the reaction solvent at 90 °C. Four other aryl chlorides bearing electron-withdrawing and electron-donating substituents in the ortho- and para-positions were found to undergo facile coupling in 91-100% isolated yield.

Authors: Derek Baker, Lauren Jensen, Dagney Goodfellow, Seunghwan Shin. Mentors: Guizella Rocabado. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Differences in sexes have long been speculated, yet their application in chemistry learning environments has not been well researched. Literature shows that males have larger cerebral volumes for visual capacities more often associated with hands-on projects and courses than female brains. And female brains have larger cerebral volumes for areas associated with memorization and socialization which more highly correlate with lecture-based learning. Given the high attrition of women in chemistry courses, we investigated this phenomenon in organic chemistry topics that are highly visual (e.g. chirality, Newman projections, chair conformations, bond rotations, etc.) and topics that require more memorization (e.g., functional groups, energy values associated with sterics, nomenclature, definitions, etc.). We conducted an anonymous survey with students who are currently enrolled in organic chemistry or have taken organic chemistry in the past. The questions varied in difficulty as well as levels of visualization or memorization required. The results show correlation with the literature that males score better in the visual-based questions, and females score better in the memorization-based questions. In addition, we conducted interviews with male and female students in organic chemistry, and found that the female students self-generated various techniques to visualize 3D rotations (e.g., use their hands, draw arrows, etc). While most male students didn’t adopt these techniques because they were able to do the 3D rotations in their head. With these results, we plan to design course interventions to bridge the gaps between the extremes of visualization vs. memorization-based concepts for the students.

Authors: Andy Sefcik. Mentors: Jamie Johnson. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Utah Valley University's Repertory Ballet Ensemble (RBE) has made it a priority to expose students to contemporary ballet techniques. In the Summer and Fall of 2023, Complexions Contemporary Ballet (CCB) Former Ballet Master, Christina Johnson, and Répétiteur, Jourdan Epstein visited the university to teach NIQUE classes and set repertoire on RBE for the February 2024 concerts. CCB was founded in 1994 by Master Choreographer Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson with the intent of reinventing dance by fusing a variety of styles and techniques. Based on phenomenological field research, gathered during the CCB Winter Intensive, I intend to illuminate the hallmarks of the CCB generated “NIQUE” technique in comparison to Vaganova approaches to ballet technique. In this presentation, I will present phrasework in the style of classical Vaganova ballet technique in comparison to NIQUE technique to create a clear visual difference between the two movement styles. This research shares the fundamentals of NIQUE technique to highlight how it is connected to and how it has developed beyond classical ballet technique.

Authors: Harmony Newbrough. Insitution: Utah Valley University. During the time of Ancient Rome, there were many sarcophagi that were created that had faceless portraits, and it could have been for a number of reasons, whether it be financial or personal. These unfinished portrait faces have puzzled archaeologists and historians alike in trying to find a concrete answer as to why there are so many of them,