Category: 2012

Woolf and Tolkien: The Significance of Literary Illustration

Presenter: Tyler Lantz

Mentor: Helen Southworth

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 23

British essayist and novelist Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was a notable literary presence in the Modernist literary movement of the early 20th century. In her 1919 short story Kew Gardens, Woolf’s texts are accompanied by her sister and acclaimed artist Vanessa Bell’s illustrations. Bell was a critically acclaimed painter of the time, and was often compared to male artists of her time, such as to the painter William Blake by critic Diane Gillespie in her 1988 essay “The Sister’s Arts”. The importance of illustration to Woolf’s writing can be compared to J.R.R. Tolkien’s self-illustrated 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit. There are some notable similarities between Tolkien and Woolf’s motivation for including illustrations in their works. First, both Tolkien and Bell’s simple ink drawings provide a subtle guidance to the stories without compromising the imagination of the reader. Second, both sets of illustrations provide a distinctive accompaniment to the tone and intentions of the works. Woolf’s friend and colleague Roger Fry addresses the significance of literary illustration in his 1926 “Transformations: Critical and Speculative Essays on Art”.

A Look into the Growing Trend of Experiential Marketing and an Evaluation of Measurement Metrics to Determine a Campaigns Success

Presenter: Jennifer Klein

Mentor: Kim Sheehan

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 21

With the changing media landscape and proliferation of advertising and marketing messages comes a rising need for marketers to reach consumers in new and interesting ways. The growing practice of experiential marketing offers a way for consumers to experience a product in hopes of developing an emotional connection or positive opinion of the product or brand. This thesis concretely defines the practice of experiential marketing and then proposes a metrics system that will measure the success of campaigns in this growing discipline. Through case study analysis, this thesis presents a concrete set of components that are essential to the experiential genre. The need to measure the success of experiential campaigns relative to other media outlets is a rising concern for marketers. However, there are no widely used metrics systems currently in place. This thesis utilizes qualitative interviews with industry professionals and proposes a two-step metrics approach to determine the success of experiential campaigns.

Gait Performance While Performing Cognitive Tasks Continuously in Concussed High School Athletes

Presenter: Michael Kado

Mentor: Li-Shan Chou

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 19

Approximately 136,000 sports related concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries occur in the high school population annually. This study aims to further understand the initial deficits exhibited in the first 72 hours post injury. We hypothesized that the concussed individuals would walk with slower gait velocities and produce slower reaction times when compared to the control subjects during static and dynamic continuous Stroop testing. Motion data was collected using 29 reflective markers and a 10-camera motion analysis setup. The auditory Stroop task consisted of a computer that presented the word, high or low either in high or low pitch. The subject was then asked to declare which pitch the word was presented in, while ignoring the actual word announced. Each trial was present- ed in increments of four continuous presentations. For concussed subjects significant differences were detected in the gait velocity between level walking and walking while performing concurrent auditory Stroop tasks. This may be due to injury to a region of the brain that is susceptible to injury within 72 hours post concussion. We observed that tests that include divided attention and walking may give an indication of cognitive disturbances experienced post concussion. In the future this finding may be used to assist clinicians with the diagnosis of concussion.

The Genetics of Cell Division in C. elegans

Presenters: Jessica Jang, Sophie Tomczyk and Hayley Standage

Mentor: Bruce Bowerman

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 17

Cell division plays a crucial role in the development of life. The Bowerman lab focuses on the cytoskeletal development and regulation in C. elegans embryos. We use genetic screening for lin-2 and temperature sensitivity to select a viable set of mutants suitable for phenotypic analyses. DIC video microscopy documents time-lapse videos of mitosis in these mutant embryos. Strains with consistent mutant phenotypes, referred to as high penetrance, are submitted for further study. Mutants are categorized into phenotypic classes including osmotic sensitivity, P1 delays, meiotic mutants, and specific cell division defects. Following categorization of mutants, we will perform tests for dominance and complementation to verify if the allele already exists in our database. Complementation tests are not necessary for mutant strains with multiple phenotypic defects. However, if complementation test are performed and show that the allele does not already exist, DNA from the strain is isolated and sequenced in order to identify a new gene in the C. elegans genome. Ultimately, we are looking for the genes necessary for cell division. The study of this species can help reveal valuable infor- mation about the genetics of cell division in other organisms, particularly in humans.

Movement Direction and Shoulder Orientation Alter Elbow Joint Position Sense

Presenter: Tayson Heward

Mentor: Andy Karduna

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 15

Proprioception is the body’s ability to sense its position and movement without visual input. Proprioception of the elbow and shoul- der has been shown to be most accurate when elevation or flexion angles are at 90 degrees. Investigations in shoulder orientation and movement direction may lead to a better understanding of what is playing the largest role in this heightened sense at 90 degrees. This study looks at the effects of shoulder orientation and movement direction on elbow joint position sense (JPS). With an aim to look at what is increasing proprioceptive acuity as you increase flexion angle to 90 degrees, we predicted that an increase in shoulder orientation would increase elbow JPS, but movement direction would have little effect on JPS. Subjects had the same 3 target angles; 50, 70, and 90 degrees, that the subjects would memorize their elbow position then actively mimic the position. There were two different 2-way interactions found; one between angle and orientation, and another between movement direction and shoulder orientation. This indicates that elevating your shoulder to 90 degrees increases elbow JPS. Also, extension at the elbow may be lead to better elbow JPS than flexion, yet shoulder orientation possibly negates this effect. Analysis is ongoing and further conclusions are in development for this study.

Sound-evoked Response Properties of Parvalbumin-expressing Interneurons in Mouse Auditory Cortex: Implications for Inhibitory Gain Control

Presenter: Alexandra K. Hartman

Mentor: Michael S. Wehr

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 13

In auditory cortex, sounds are encoded by neurons ‘tuned’ to specific acoustic features. The sound-evoked response properties of these cells are powerfully shaped by inhibitory synaptic input. All cortical inhibition is provided by local interneurons, which comprise <20% of the cortical population. In contrast to excitatory neurons, inhibitory interneurons can be separated into numerous morphologically and neurochemically distinct subclasses. Little is known about the sound-evoked response properties of different types of inhibitory interneurons, as conventional in vivo recording techniques provide limited information about the identity of recorded neu- rons. Here, we identified neurons as members of the Parvalbumin (PV) expressing inhibitory subclass through light-activation of an optogenetic ‘tag’ (channelrhodospin-2), and measured their receptive field properties. In mouse visual cortex, PV neurons are found to be broadly tuned for orientation and respond more gradually to increasing stimulus intensity than principal neurons. In contrast, our preliminary results indicate that auditory PV neurons are well-tuned for sound frequency and have significantly steeper intensity- response functions than principal neurons. Recent studies have shown that PV interneurons in both cortices function to modulate the gain of principle cells without affecting their tuning. The differences we observe in their response properties may allow them to scale tuned responses in auditory and visual cortex, in identical ways.

Pravastatin Attenuates Preeclamptic-like Symptoms in Rat Model of Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension

Presenter: Haley Gillham

Mentor: Jeffrey Gilbert

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 11

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific condition characterized by an imbalance of circulating angiogenic factors and new onset hyper- tension. Although current treatment options are limited, recent studies suggest pravastatin may improve the angiogenic profile and reduce blood pressure in preeclampsia. We hypothesized pravastatin administration would increase VEGF and reduce arterial pressure (AP) in rats with reduced utero-placental perfusion pressure (RUPP)-induced hypertension. On day 14 of pregnancy (21-day term), silver clips were placed on the inferior abdominal aorta and ovarian arteries to generate RUPP-hypertension. Pravastatin (RUPP+P) was administered i.p. (1 mg/kg/day) through day 19. On day 19 AP was measured via catheter and conceptus data recorded. Blood pressure was increased (P<0.05) in RUPP compared to normal pregnant (NP) dams and pravastatin ameliorated this difference (118±3 vs 91±2 vs 109±2 mmHg). RUPP decreased plasma VEGF when compared to NP dams and this was attenuated by pravastatin (759.8±52.3 vs 924.1±43.6 vs 969.5±85.3 pg/mL; P<0.05). To identify the exact role of pravastatin in restoring angiogenic balance in placental ischemia we will perform further experiments in placental cell lines JAr, JEG-3, and BeWo. These cells will be treated with physiological hypoxic, normoxic, and supraoxic oxygen concentrations of 1.5%, 8%, and 20% respectively. Cells will be treated with pravastatin (0, 10, 20 μmol/L) and samples of conditioned media and cells will be taken at 0 hours, 6 hours, and 12 hours.

An Analysis of Temporal Distance, Executive Function, and Reaction Time Following Concussion

Presenter: Matthew Crocker

Mentor: Li-Shan Chou

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 9

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the gait of high school concussed subjects changes from the time of injury to 2 months post-concussion as well as assessing their reaction times to a Stroop reaction task in static and dynamic conditions. During the auditory Stroop task, the participant was required to listen to a computer generated word (“high” or “low”) that was spoken in either a high or low pitch. The goal for the participant was to answer the pitch of the word rather than the actual word produced by the computer. Twelve concussed subjects were identified by an athletic trainer and then matched by age, height, and weight with 12 controls. They performed 3 tasks: single task walking (walking in a straight line as normal as possible), dual task walking (walking in a straight line while performing an auditory Stroop task), and an auditory Stroop task while seated. Temporal distance parameters (stride length, stride width, and gait velocity) were calculated using a 10 camera motion analysis system. It was hypothesized that concussed subjects would prioritize when performing a dual-task; their gait would become more conservative in order to respond to the Stroop task. When the concussion subjects responded to the Stroop task, their gait velocity and stride length decreased and stride width increased in relation to single-task walking trails. This study is significant in that people of ages 15-19 years old are more prone to suffering a concussion than any other age group.

Effects of Metformin on pro- and anti-angiogenic factor secretion by placental trophoblast cells

Presenter: Susan Capoccia

Mentor: Jeffrey Gilbert

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 7

Maternal endothelial dysfunction, a primary characteristic of hypertension during preeclampsia is thought to arise from excess production of anti-angiogenic factors such as soluble fms-like tyrosine-1 (Sflt-1) and soluble endoglin (sEng), by the ischemic placenta. We and others have reported increased levels of sFlt-1 and sEng in rats with reduced uteroplacental perfusion pressure (RUPP) -induced hypertension and in preeclampsia. While our lab has recently found administration of an adenosine monophosphate kinase (AMPK) pathway agonist restores VEGF levels in the RUPP rats and attenuates angiogenic imbalance, the exact mechanism underlying this observation remains unclear. We hypothesize that stimulating the AMPK pathway via metformin (MET) will attenuate hypoxia- induced increases in sEng and sFlt-1 and promote VEGF secretion. Placental cells were incubated at 20% O2, physiological normoxic 8% O2 and hypoxic 1.5% O2, and treated with MET at 0mM, 50mM and 500mM for 12 and 24 hour periods. Our findings show MET increased VEGF and sENG in JEG cells at all O2 concentrations. sEng levels increased in the hypoxic JAR cells compared to 20 % O2 and 8% O2 and MET decreased these levels. Further studies will determine if the placental MET induced AMPK signaling pathways are similar to those in skeletal muscle. Although MET had differential effects on placental cells, the overall ratio of angiogenic factors may be restored, leading to angiogenic balance and relief of endothelial dysfunction via stimulation of the AMPK pathway.

An Environmental Anthropology: The Effects of the Yacyretá Dam on Communities in Misiones, Argentina in Comparison to the Economic and Environmental Well-being of the Pilcomayo River Basin

Presenter: Megan Brogan

Mentor: Ronald Mitchell

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 5

Do large dam projects create a “sustainable improvement of human welfare” for those directly affected by a dam (WCD 2000, 2)? Scholars have failed to address whether a community suffering from economic hardship would benefit from the construction of a dam, or if there are better means of human welfare development. To determine whether a dam should be built, one must consider the counterfactual: what the community would be like in terms of economic stability, social equality, and environmental sustainability without a dam. This thesis argues that although there may be benefits of leaving a river to run its natural course, the economic gains associated with the implementation of a large hydropower dam bring a greater “sustainable improvement of human welfare” to the community in question (WCD 2000, 2). Despite environmental changes and economic obstacles associated with the Yacyretá Dam, over time, the people that depend on the Paraná River have experienced sustainable development. The initial benefits of allowing a river to run its natural course are the forgone opportunity costs that would be associated with the construction of a dam, such as dam-related downstream and upstream flooding, environmental changes due to the impoundment of the river, construction-induced human displacement, and the overall financial burden of constructing a large dam and funding its operation. However, economic ben- efits such as job growth and and access to electricity have the potential to outweigh these environmental costs.