Tag: Poster 14

Invertebrate Species Richness on Deep Cobble and Gravel Bottoms off Cape Arago, Oregon

Presenter: Nick Hayman

Mentor: Craig Young

PM Poster Presentation

Poster 14

Although conservation of marine diversity is a major goal of an ongoing process to establish marine reserves in the Oregon Territorial Sea, virtually all subtidal studies off Oregon have considered only fishes and the largest invertebrates. Using dredge samples, we assembled comprehensive species lists of sessile and motile invertebrates on cobble and gravel substrata between 50 and 70m depths off Cape Arago, Oregon. The species richness on cobble substratum (112 species) was much higher than species richness on gravel sub- stratum (31 species). Species accumulation curves suggest that we found most of the species on the cobble substratum but that more samples would be required to fully assess the cobble community. Sessile invertebrates were more common than mobile invertebrates. The data also showed significant patchiness, as indicated by between-sample differences. This study shows that sea-floor mapping that does not resolve substratum particle size cannot be used to predict richness of the rocky-bottom community.

Verifying the Implementation of Secure Multi-Party Computation Systems

Presenter: Jonathan Eskeldson

Mentor: Kevin Butler

Poster: 14

Major: Computer Science/Mathematics 

As technology has advanced, applications have arisen which rely on sensitive data. In the past, users had to trust these application’s creators with private data. However, breaches of private data and abuses of power, such as
the Snowden NSA revelations, have eroded users’ trust. A recent development in cryptography, called multi-party computation (MPC), allows multiple parties to compute a function over sensitive inputs, in such a way that the
inputs themselves are not revealed, bypassing the issue of trust. This is usually done by performing Yao’s Garbled Circuit protocol. This was mostly theoretical work until a few years ago, when systems capable of performing these operations were created. While there is confidence in the theory driving such systems, little attention has been paid to their implementations, which are prone to error due to their large size and complexity. These errors could create discrepancies between what a system claims to do and what that system actually does, which could weaken its security. The purpose of this study is to rigorously evaluate the security of leading MPC implementations, and expose bugs that weaken the system’s security. This research will help inspire confidence in the implementation of these systems, making them suitable for use in areas where security is a high priority, including electronic elections and private auctions.

In Vitro Angiogenesis Increases with Chronic Passive Heat Therapy: Likely Mechanism for Improved Cardiovascular Health

Presenter: Lindan Comrada

Mentors: Christopher Minson and Vienna Brunt, Human Physiology

Poster: 14

Major: Biochemistry

Chronic passive heat therapy (CHT) shows exciting potential for improving cardiovascular health and overall quality of life. Angiogenesis occurs naturally when endothelial cells lining the inside of blood vessels proliferate and reorganize into new vasculature. Heat stress induces expression of many factors that promote angiogenesis which can decrease blood pressure. CHT may therefore be an effective means of increasing vascularization and improving vascular health. Angiogenesis can be assessed easily and non-invasively by using an in vitro endothelial tubule formation bioassay. PURPOSE: To determine if acute heating and/or chronic passive heating has a positive effect on in vitro endothelial tubule formation. METHODS: Six sedentary, healthy individuals (aged 22±1 yrs) were subjected to 8 weeks of heating via hot tub (40.5°C) 4-5 times per week for 36 sessions. During each session, rectal temperature was increased and maintained at ≥38.5°C for 60 minutes. Blood samples were collected into serum separating vacutainers before and after each heating session at weeks 0 and 8. Two in vitro angiogenesis bioassays were performed for each sample by plating cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) onto Matrigel and treating with serum from subjects. After 10 hours of incubation, tubule formation per frame was determined using phase-contrast microscopy at 2.5X magnification by two blinded experimenters using ImageJ software and results were averaged. RESULTS: Total tubule length increased after 8 weeks of CHT from 71.7±1.4 to 75.5±1.6 mm/frame (p=0.02), and tended to increase with acute heating to 74.2±1.5 mm/frame (p=0.19). CONCLUSION: Heat therapy increases the capacity for angiogenesis both acutely (single heat exposure) and chronically, suggesting CHT improves vascular health. CHT is simple enough to be used by many patient populations with little or no supervision and may be an effective means of improving cardiovascular health and therefore quality of life.

Insights into Magma Ascent and Decompression from Diverse Pumice Fragments at the Onset of the Huckleberry Ridge Supereruption

Presenter: Claire Getz

Faculty Mentor: Paul Wallace, Madison Myers

Presentation Type: Poster 14

Primary Research Area: Science

Major: Geology

Funding Source: Mini Grant, UROP, $600

The focus of my senior thesis is to study the gas rich volcanic glass fragments, or pumice, that were ejected from the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano in Wyoming. A supervolcano is a volcano of massive scale. For Yellowstone, this means a volcano with the capacity to erupt over 6000 times more material than the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens. Research suggests that the rising magma in the conduit of the Yellowstone eruption exhibited strange stop-start behavior. This means that there were breaks in the eruption in the order of months to years where magma and ash were not being ejected. To study this theory, a very important piece of information to obtain is the magma ascent rate, which is the rate at which the magma in the volcano’s conduit was rising. I will be studying three members of the eleven member pumice that was ejected during the eruption to find the ascent rate of this eruption. Then, I will use computer programs and high-resolution images to study the pumice and gather data on the character of different layers of the Huckleberry Ridge Deposit. I will be able to calculate and estimate for how fast the magma rose during the eruption by looking at the range of vesicle sizes, shapes, and numerical densities. This research will contribute to a larger project in the Geology department. The goal of the project is to help understand how this supervolcano works.

Transforming the Electron Microscope into an Electron Interferometer

Presenter(s): Gino Carrillo − Physics, Mathematics

Faculty Mentor(s): Benjamin McMorran

Poster 14

Research Area: Physics

In 1924 during the birth of quantum mechanics, Louis de Broglie proposed that microscopic particles such as the electron exhibit wave-like characteristics. Within a few years, electron scattering experiments were being conducted which led to the confirmation of de Broglie’s matter wave hypothesis. This discovery led to the birth of electron optics which includes electron microscopy and interferometry. Arguably the most important component in either field is the electron source. Electron interferometry in particular requires a high quality electron source. Therefore, much work has been devoted to developing the electron source. Instead of improving the electron source, another approach can be taken which is more cost effective. By combining the fields of electron microscopy and interferometry, I will demonstrate that it is possible to conduct electron interferometric experiments within a low coherence Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). This implies that TEM’s all around the world with lower quality sources can be used for new applications, thus extending its capabilities in a cost effective manner. This is accomplished by using nanofabricated gratings which are installed in the TEM to act as the interferometer’s beam splitter. The optics within the TEM are then used to interfere the diffracted beams giving rise to a path separated interferometer.

Structure-Activity Relationship Study of the Ortho and Para Positions of Azide Triggers in Self-Immolative Thiocarbamate Donors

Presenter(s): Rachel Lutz

Faculty Mentor(s): Michael Pluth & Carolyn Levinn

Poster 14

Session: Sciences

Since the discovery of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as a gasotransmitter in the body, there has been a need for organic donors which can release H2S to mimic its endogenous release in cells. H2S is a key molecule for signaling in the body, is a known vasodilator, and is also involved in promoting cell healing. It is important to learn as much as we can about the relationship between structure and activity of H2S donors so that donor design can be optimized. In this study, we used two self- immolative thiocarbamate donors with azide triggers in the ortho and para positions to observe how the position of the trigger affects the rate of H2S release. When the self-immolative thiocarbamate donors are triggered they produce carbonyl sulfide (COS) as a precursor for H2S. The COS is then converted to hydrogen sulfide via carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzyme. Through a methylene blue assay, we were able to measure the rate of release of H2S of both the ortho and para donors. Structural analysis of these donors will allow for more fine-tuning of H2S donors and a better understanding of how to develop fine-tuned donors.