Tag: Poster 28

Interactive Children’s Pet Care System

Presenter: Natasha Michalowsky

Mentor: Jason Germany

PM Poster Presentation

Poster 28

The vov.vov system leverages technology and social media to enhance, elevate and expand dog ownership for children. Children are not great dog owners because they lack knowledge about how to train and care for a dog and require assistance from parents to remember to care for their pet. This product empowers children to learn how to be great dog owners through an informational social network and interactive watch. The slap watch is inherently adjustable to any size wrist. There are no sharp edges to cut oneself on or loose parts that could cause a choking risk. Although it is designed with a focus on children ages 7-10, the system will work for a far wider array of ages. The interface is simple and has both images and words to allow children without developed reading skills to use the system. The touch screen interface is intuitive to any age and simple to use. The social network allows the watch to teach more complex skills over time as the data about the child’s age is factored into the tasks and information in the watch. Consumers are comfortable with the interaction of the analog and digital worlds, which makes the timing ideal for creating a product to help children with their analog tasks using the technology and interaction they enjoy. Technology has successfully made positive changes in adult lifestyles with products like the Nike+ watch and this is the opportunity to expand the market to children.

AICAR Administration Promotes a Cytoprotective and Pro-Angiogenic Stimulation in an Ex Vivo Model of Placental Ischemia

Presenter : Sarah Johnson

Mentor : Jeffrey Gilbert

Major : Biology/Human Physiology

Poster 28

The pregnancy-specific hypertension known as preeclampsia (PE) is widely observed worldwide and is recognized as a leading contributor to sickness and death of a mother and her baby. This pervasive condition is yet to be fully characterized, as is an effective therapy of symptom relief outside of inducing early delivery. We have recently reported treatment with an adenosine-mimetic, AICA-riboside (AICAR), in an experimental model of PE reduces the onset of PE-like characteristics; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Therefore, our hypothesis was AICAR would initiate cytoprotective and pro-angiogenic stimulation in cultured placental tissue explants, and this effect would be mediated by the adenosine (ENT1/2) transporter. Tissues were cultured at 37°C for 12 hours in physiologic normoxic (8% O2) or hypoxic (1.5% O2) conditions, and treated with AICAR (2mM) and an adenosine transporter blocker (dipyridamole, DPM) (100μM). Explants treated with AICAR exhibited a decreased (P<0.05) secreted sFlt-1 in both O2 conditions, and DPM blocked this effect. The energy regulatory protein AMPKα phosphorylation was elevated in the tissues treated with AICAR, but was not statistically significant (0.1>P>0.05). Through modeling placental ischemia ex vivo, we have demonstrated AICAR decreas- es placental secretion of sFlt-1, mediated by adenosine transport activity. In concert with our previous in vivo studies with AICAR, this study further supports a placental specific mechanism of AICAR’s actions in vivo.

Effects of the Aquatic Contaminant Perchlorate on Expression of NIS Clade Genes in Divergent Populations of Threespine Stickleback

Presenter: Amanda Redmond

Mentor: William Cresko

Poster: 28

Major: Biology

Perchlorate is a known endocrine disruptor and a wide spread environmental contaminant that causes hypothyroidism in humans. Our previous work demonstrated that perchlorate results in a masculinizing effect in anadromous threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), but it is not known whether ecotypes of stickleback respond differently to this contaminant. Perchlorate has a known effect of suppressing thyroid hormone synthesis by competitively inhibiting the sodium-iodide symporter (slc5a5). The large slc5 gene family is associated with thyroid function and vitamin/mineral transport in all vertebrates. Using bioinformatic approaches we have identified that
there are several closely related genes to slc5a5 in stickleback including slc5a6a, slc5a6b, slc5a8a, and slc5a8b.
We investigate the effect of perchlorate on developmental gene expression in three genetically diverged populations of stickleback from Rabbit Slough (oceanic), Boot Lake (freshwater), and Riverbend (freshwater) ecosystems. We have developed RNA anti-sense probes for the NIS genes that we will be using for gene expression analysis using in situ hybridization to document the spatio-temporal expression of slc5a6a, slc5a6b, slc5a8a, and slc5a8b genes in each ecotype in response to perchlorate exposure. Because evolutionarily diverged populations of stickleback living in different habitats have different osmoregulatory and developmental nutrient needs, we hypothesize that a single chemical that affects solute transporters may have variable developmental effects among populations. In a preliminary study, we have mapped the temporal and spatial distribution of these genes in Rabbit slough (oceanic) fishes, and have found that they are expressed starting at 8-10 days in numerous tissues including the thyroid and the gonad. Our goal next is to identify gene expression patterns of the slc5 genes in the thyroid and gonad at 8, 14, and 30 days post fertilization (dpf) in the diverged populations, and to test for changes in spatial or temporal expression of the genes based on population, perchlorate treatement, and/or an interaction of both. We hypothesize that a gene by environment interaction (G-by-E) will lead to unique patterns of slc5a5 clade gene expression response to perchlorate in each of the three populations. Using cryosections of both control and 100ppm perchlorate treated fish we will determine the expression of these genes at 8, 14, and 30dpf. Our study will be relevant to understanding more about effects of toxin exposure between very genetically divergent populations of fish and other vertebrates, including humans.

Who Was Chief Paulina? Restoration History and the Reconstruction of Paulina’s Identity in Popular Memory

Presenter: Sarianne Harris

Mentors: Kevin Hatfield, History; Jennifer O’Neal, Special Collections

Poster: 28

Major: Human Physiology

This paper examines the life of Chief Paulina, a Northern Paiute of the Hunipuitoka band, beginning at the time of major conflicts caused by the creation of the Warm Springs Reservation within Central Oregon in 1855 and ending around the time of his death in 1867.Chief Paulina, throughout his life and in popular memory, has been demonized and distorted into a bullet-proof, blood-thirsty, violent war leader who cared for little but the thrill of raiding. I argue that Chief Paulina was, instead, a skilled leader who cared for his people and fought bitterly to protect his homeland. He made necessary decisions, based on the information and resources he had at his disposal, to care for his people and keep their land. I utilize secondary, but focus on primary, resources as I examine the Northern Paiute view of the Warm Springs Reservation, interactions between Chief Paulina and Captain Kelly of Fort Klamath, and Chief Paulina’s behavior regarding the capture of his people. These areas of focus reveal a more complete view of the person behind the legend than the portrayals of Chief Paulina found in history books, Oregon museums, and local histories.

High Energy Particle Studies for the Improvement of Missing Transverse Energy Calculations using a High Granularity Timing Detector

Presenter: Elizabeth Maynard

Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Majewski

Presentation Type: Poster 28

Primary Research Area: Science

Major: Physics

Funding Source: UROP Mini-grant, University of Oregon, $734.96

The purpose of this study is to discover if using a high granularity timing detector, which is a proposed upgrade for the ATLAS particle detection chamber, could improve missing transverse energy calculations. Missing transverse energy is a sign of the presence of particles that we cannot yet detect, and finding these particles could be proof of new physics. The hypothesis is that this detector could be used to identify, and thereby exclude, uninteresting particles (“pileup”) from the calculation of missing transverse energy.

To perform the study, particle collisions were simulated with a variety of parameters using the specialized computer programs ROOT and FastJet. Then, missing transverse energy was calculated after ‘cutting out’ particles based on their timing parameter, to simulate the addition of the timing detector. Currently, only the most basic particle collision types (QCD jets) have been studied. In this case, we expect the missing transverse energy to be close to zero for all events. Without the detector, 42% of events had an energy calculation greater than eighty giga-electron volts in the large pileup case, but with the timing detector this was reduced to 21%. Similarly, in the low pileup case, the percent above eighty GeV was reduced from 26% to 4%.

In conclusion, my study shows that for QCD type particle collisions, the addition of a high granularity timing detector improves missing transverse energy calculations by about 20%, which is a substantial improvement.

Gait Stability Deficiencies In Veterans With Chronic mTBI

Presenter(s): Ravahn Enayati − Human Physiology

Faculty Mentor(s): Li-Shan Chou, Will Pitt

Poster 28

Research Area: Physical Science

While mTBI, or concussion, is typically associated with athletics, head trauma is widespread in the battlefield and combat training, as evidenced by 294,010 documented cases of mTBI in the Department of Defense between 2000 and 2016. It has been shown that veteran subjects with chronic mTBI continue to suffer from subjective symptoms. It is reasonable to believe they may also continue to exhibit impairment in their gait stability when tested under a dual-task condition. Eight veteran subjects diagnosed with chronic mTBI (1F; 32.3 6.5 years old) had their gait imbalance tested. Each subject walked barefoot in two conditions. The first condition involved each veteran providing their undivided attention toward their movements (single- task). The second condition had each subject concurrently completing a continuous auditory Stroop test, which consisted of the individual listening to different auditory stimuli and attempting to correctly identify the pitch (dual-task). A camera motion analysis system was used to collect imaging of each subject’s movements during both conditions. The results were then compared with those of an acutely concussed group of athletes which had a statistically significant gait deficit. The one-time test of the veteran group was compared with five different time points from the acute sample. The results found that in the dual-task condition, there was no statistically significant difference between the medial-lateral sway of the chronic veterans and the acutely concussed athletes. This indicates that the veterans that suffer from chronic mTBI suffer similar gait imbalance as the acutely concussed athletes.

Impaired Erythropoiesis in Notothenioids Predated the Loss of Hemoglobin in White- blooded Antarctic Icefish

Presenter(s): Leandro Marx-Albuquerque

Faculty Mentor(s): John Postlethwait & Thomas Desvignes

Poster 28

Session: Sciences

The 16 recognized white-blooded Antarctic icefishes (Channichthyidae) are the only known vertebrates living without hemoglobin– the protein packed into red blood cells and responsible for oxygen transport throughout an organism. Red-blooded dragonfishes (Bathydraconidae), plunderfishes (Artedidraconidae), and “notothens” (Nototheniidae) are close relatives of icefishes and all possess hemoglobin. All four families are part of the Notothenioidei suborder. While the genetic mechanism that led to the loss of hemoglobin genes in icefish is well understood, whether icefish possess mature red blood cells remains contested. Therefore, our purpose was to decipher if red blood cell development (erythropoiesis) in icefishes progresses as it does in their red-blooded relatives. These investigations were conducted using head kidney histology samples and blood smears from six species of white-blooded icefishes and seven closely related red-blooded fish species (four dragonfish species, one plunderfish species, and two notothen species). We conducted a morphological analysis of erythropoietic cells using principal component analyses to differentiate and compare cell types across species. Our results indicate that icefishes have Pro-erythroblasts and some more advanced cells morphologically similar to red-blooded erythroblasts. Additionally, we observed that in plunderfishes and two of the four dragonfishes, the most developed erythropoietic cells are morphologically akin to erythroblasts. These results suggest that while hemoglobin was lost at the origin of the icefish radiation, the erythropoietic pathway was impaired earlier– likely in the common ancestor of plunderfishes, dragonfishes, and icefishes. Thus, our investigation provides a new perspective into the evolutionary history that led to the unique white-blooded icefish phenotype.