Category: 2022

Developing an In Vivo Assay for Quantitative Analysis of Arp2/3 Complex Inhibitors

Presenter: Maisie Topping – Biochemistry

Faculty Mentor(s): Brad Nolen, Heidy Narvaez Ortiz

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

Branched networks in the actin cytoskeleton are critical for a variety of cellular processes such as motility and endocytosis. New branched actin filaments are nucleated by Arp2/3 complex, and the deregulation of this protein is related to a variety of diseases including cancer. Several classes of small molecule inhibitors of Arp2/3 complex have been discovered, most of which function by blocking an activating conformational change of the complex. These molecules are useful tools because they allow researchers to turn off activity in different processes, and they have potential as drugs due to Arp2/3 complex’s increased activity in some diseases. These inhibitors have been characterized in vitro and have been used in experiments, but they have never been quantitatively analyzed in vivo. My project will develop an in vivo assay for quantitatively measuring the effects of Arp2/3 complex inhibitors on cytoskeleton dynamics. The assay will use Drosophila S2 cells expressing a low level of GFP-tagged actin and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy to extract velocity data from the cell’s actin cytoskeleton before and after treatment with inhibitors. These experiments will lead to a better understanding of how Arp2/3 complex inhibitors affect living things because this assay is a better approximation of biological systems than the currently used in vitro methods. The different assays can be used in concert to provide a fuller characterization of these inhibitors.

Freedom Towns, Freedom Colonies: A Primer for Prosperity

Presenter: Sarada Thomas – Anthropology, Architecture

Faculty Mentor: Richard Margerum

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Connection and Community

The study examines Freedom Towns and Colonies. The newly freed had few resources but established hundreds of these communities. Many were very successful, and some are still in existence today.

Modern African American communities are materially in the same place as those from the early 1800s. Previous research indicates the same methods could be used to create similar economic transformation. The study answers the questions: how did these towns and colonies emerge? What are the lessons, successful practices, and guiding principles from their history? How can policy support and protect efforts to apply them?

A primary literature review framed the study at the intersection of political economics, sociopolitical history, and community development. A secondary literature review of oral histories, government documents, and journalistic articles provided data for analysis.

Primary findings show cooperative and collective behaviors span successful communities while failures were induced externally. The implication is privation among ADOS communities can be alleviated using internal and external solutions drawn from history.

This work is significant in its assumption of ability, motivation, and ongoing effort by ADOS communities. Second the study centers the community’s cultural habits as a solution to their economic, social, and political condition. Third, this work is significant in its clarification of policy’s role to support, promote and protect the community and its efforts.

Visualizations of the IP Address Space with Hilbert Curves to Expose Multifractal Patterns

Presenter: Eugene Tan – Computer and Information Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Reza Rejaie, Chris Misa

Session: (Virtual) Poster Presentation

A critical challenge in understanding the traffic flowing through modern computer networks is the visualization of traffic features associated with a large number of networked devices. These observed IP addresses from these devices are known to cluster within IP address prefixes formulating a multifractal structure. Leveraging the Hilbert curve we simultaneously visualize the multifractal structure of these observed addresses and the traffic features associated with each address, enabling new observations to be made by combining both aspects of network traffic data into a single visual presentation. This is done through the Hilbert curve’s property of locality which enables addresses sharing the same prefix to be mapped to similar locations within the curve resulting in observable clusters in regions of the visualization. We approach this challenge by implementing this visualization tool of mapping addresses to the Hilbert space, utilizing color theory to draw visual feature relationships and patterns that may appear. Therefore, the primary goal of this work is to leverage this visualization tool to examine the relationships between traffic features and the multifractal distribution of observed addresses through a series of case studies.

The Role of Verbalization in Hierarchical Control

Presenter: Emily Stutz – Psychology

Faculty Mentor(s): Melissa Moss, Ulrich Mayr

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

 Performing complex tasks usually requires the cognitive system to handle rules at multiple levels of abstraction, where lower-level rules depend on the status of higher-level rules (e.g., a child may be allowed to eat with her fingers at home, but use silverware in a restaurant). Previous work has identified verbalization (“inner speech”) as critical for such hierarchical control in the context of situations that require following a sequential plan. However, this work did not assess the need for inner speech in the context of non-serial, or cue-based tasks. Further, only relatively simple, two-level hierarchical control sequences were used. The current study used articulatory suppression to assess whether verbalization is important when handling complex serial-order and cue-based hierarchical tasks. Participants executed tasks with one, two, or three levels of either cue-based rule complexity or sequence complexity, while performing a secondary task that manipulated verbalization demands (articulatory suppression versus foot-tapping). Surprisingly and contrary to previous findings, we did not find a decrease in performance in either the cue-based or the sequential tasks with articulatory suppression. These results seem to indicate that hierarchical control does not require inner speech. Potential reasons for the discrepancy with the previous literature results are discussed.

Investigating sexual dimorphic P-granule structures during germ cell development in C. elegans

Presenter: Madison Studer – Neuroscience

Faculty Mentor(s): Acadia DiNardo, Diana Libuda

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

Proper egg and sperm development is crucial for the faithful passage of the genome from one generation to the next. To prevent infertility and genomic instabilities linked to congenital disabilities, the process of sperm and egg development is tightly regulated by small RNA pathways. These pathways silence genes that disrupt the genome and maintain silencing across generations independent of DNA sequence, termed transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the components of small RNA pathways localize to P-granules, liquid-like condensates that form around the nuclei of developing sperm and eggs. ZNFX-1, a recently discovered structural P-granule component, is required for genome maintenance and fertility. Although ZNFX-1 is known to be involved in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance during egg development, the role of ZNFX-1 during sperm development remains unknown. Preliminary data from the Libuda Lab suggests that ZNFX-1 has sex-specific localization, indicating distinct sex-specific mechanisms for genome maintenance in egg and sperm development. To determine the sexually dimorphic localization patterns of ZNFX-1 during sperm and egg development, I am examining GFP-tagged ZNFX-1 localization in wild type and mutant P-granule strains. This work will reveal the sex-specific role of ZNFX-1 in small RNA pathways and provide insights into the molecular mechanisms that maintain genomic integrity and fertility.

How Music is Used to Preserve Ainu Culture

Presenter: Lily Strobel – Asian Studies, Global Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Alisa Freedman, Kathie Carpenter

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Sex, Drugs, & Music

The Ainu are an indigenous population native to northern modern-day Japan who have historically been suppressed and erased by the Japanese government. One of the ways they have resisted this governmental action is through music. In this presentation, how the Ainu use music as a tool to preserve their culture will be analyzed, both historically and in the modern context. To develop an understanding of the Ainu as a population, an in-depth literature review of their history was conducted, particularly as it pertains to music. This information informs an analysis of how music is used in the modern day. Two principal musical approaches were identified: the traditionalist approach, where artists perform music in traditional styles; and the fusionist approach, which combines traditional Ainu music with elements of more modern music, such as reggae or dub. Both of these approaches have the dual purpose of exposing non-Ainu to Ainu culture, as well as a way for Ainu to find belonging and express their heritage. Because the two approaches are drastically different styles of music, they will naturally attract different demographics. By understanding how music specifically is used to preserve Ainu culture, a more robust understanding of how arts in general can be used to the same end will develop. The underlying framework needs only to be slightly altered to map onto other fields, such as dance or literature.

Undocumented Workers in Agriculture: How States can Protect Them

Presenter: Alexis Stinnett – Public Relations

Faculty Mentor(s): Corbett Upton

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Rights of Humans

Agriculture has been and still is the foundation of our economy, and we rely on it to keep our country running. Even in today’s industrialized agriculture system we still see the need for labor in the fields for the backbreaking jobs that cannot yet be done by machines. It is not uncommon that these physically and mentally demanding jobs are typically occupied by undocumented immigrants, who make up about 50% of our work force. Researchers and historians have spent years looking at the history of farm labor in our country, and it is no surprise that in almost every instance it leads back to undocumented labor. Despite our society and economy’s dependence on undocumented workers, there are little to no regulations in place to protect or guarantee them the basic rights that other employees in different fields of work enjoy. The lack of rights and policy around agricultural labor allows for undocumented immigrants to be put in dangerous situations in the workplace as well as making it increasingly easy for them to be exploited. As our system has progressed, our policies and laws have not. There are a variety of social, economic, and political factors that prevent the federal government from passing the legislation that is needed to protect undocumented workers. Because of these factors that prevent the federal government from making the necessary changes, state governments must take initiative and prioritize passing policies to protect undocumented agricultural workers.

Visual Analysis of Kōshirō Onchi’s Family of the Field from Poem no. 2

Presenter: Alivia Stiles – Business Administration

Faculty Mentor(s): Cecilia Rosenow, Alexandria Nanneman

Session: (Virtual) Oral Panel—Read, Speak and Act

Kōshirō Onchi is the father of Sōsaku-hanga, a form of Japanese print popularized in the 20th century during the Shōwa Era of Japan. Sōsaku-hanga, often considered an evolution of the print form Shin-hanga, became a global fine art phenomenon and its development as a result of increased Westernization has been explored by many scholars. This essay contributes to this conversation by additionally lacing the Western influence, particularly among cultural driving events of the 20th century like World War II and the Great Depression, with Eastern tradition and response to these circumstances. This combination provides us with a crucial insight: how these global players affected Kōshirō Onchi’s personal life and identity, thus affecting the art form of Sōsaku-hanga. This delineation is done through the examination of Onchi’s print Family of the Field from Poem no. 2, using a visual analysis to further understand historical and contextual elements presented by previous research in the field. What is indicated by this comprehensive analysis is that there is a certain balance to the contextual and historical influence on Sōsaku-hanga which occurs not only in a culmination of Eastern and Western culture, as well as global events, but also the personal impact of these elements on a single artist, which manifest clearly in the work if one knows where to look. This insight provokes us to think more broadly about what might have influenced visual aspects of a certain artistic piece.

Creation Myths and Science Fiction: The Human Urge to Structure the Unknowable

Presenter: Hayden Stewart – History

Faculty Mentor(s): Dr. Andrea Goering

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Comics, Classics and Analysis

In his introduction to “Sun Songs: Creation Myths from Around the World,” Raymond Von Over writes, “The myths of ancient mankind attempted to resolve such profound and confusing questions, and therefore when reading myths we experience not so much an emotional insight as a sensation of watching something marvelous grow in the mind of early mankind.” It is my belief that science fiction, in its most scientific and cerebral form, is the evolution of the creation myth. A story that symbolizes the question of “where are we going?” rather than “from where did we come?” It is that same growth of something marvelous growing in our minds, but now instead of then. My presentation includes a story that I wrote. It takes place during the Heat Death of the Universe, on the final abode of humankind. It is meant to be a meditation on how far away storytelling can take us, and what it can show us capable of achieving. Much like how the creation myths of our past told of what was before us, and how and why we came to be, this story aims to tell what will come after us, how, and why we should care about so distant a future. Along with the aforementioned text by Raymond Von Over and the myths it contains, I’ll be drawing from works by Isaac Asimov and Ursula K. Le Guin, and consensus timelines of the eventual fate of the universe. It’s my hope that this collection of ideas can add to the conversation of the importance of art for human self-conception and scientific/philosophical progress.

Regulation of the Kynurenine Pathway in Neurospora crassa

Presenter: Haley Speed – Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Eric Selker

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

The kynurenine pathway is a metabolic pathway that degrades tryptophan into NAD+ and several other essential biomolecules. In humans, the kynurenine pathway is closely tied to healthy and disease states, and current research indicates that altering the activity of the pathway could have therapeutic benefits. This ancient pathway is also conserved across all eukaryotes. Previous work from the Selker lab using the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa as a model organism suggested that the regulation of this pathway is intertwined with general chromatin control processes, including H3K36me and chromatin remodelers. My research aimed to identify novel regulatory factors affecting this pathway. I used a phenotypic screen of the Neurospora Functional Genomics Project strains. In addition, RT-qPCR analyses of RNA for kynurenine pathway enzymes helped reveal which strains were abnormally inducing the pathway. In total, five genes of interest have been identified as potential regulators of the kynurenine pathway, including one factor also tied to MAPK pathway induction. Further research is needed to characterize these genes to understand how they may function to regulate the kynurenine pathway, or if their regulatory function is tied to chromatin control.