Tag: Poster 39

Dietary Intake and its Effect on Muscle Atrophy Post Total Knee Arthroplasty

Presenter: Alexander Robinson

Mentor: Hans Dreyer

AM Poster Presentation

Poster 39

Post-operative muscle loss has been singled out as the greatest contributor to long-term strength deficits, explaining 77% of muscle weakness 1-3 years after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). One possible factor contributing to significant and rapid loss of muscle occurring within two weeks of surgery is reduced dietary intake during which our body breaks down skeletal muscle protein in order to liberate amino acids for use as gluconeogenic precursors in the liver. Therefore, inadequate dietary intake may exacerbate muscle loss following surgery. I hypothesize that subjects who maintain a protein intake ≥ .8g/kg or ≥ 2000 calories a day will experience less muscle atrophy following surgery. For this study, subjects completed a total of three 3-day food logs at baseline, 2 and 6 weeks post-TKA. Furthermore, at these same time points bilateral quadriceps muscle volume was determined using MRI. Also baseline and 6-week whole body DEXA scans were performed to determine changes in lean tissue and fat mass. Our preliminary data show at two weeks following surgery caloric and protein ingestion has decreased. Also there is a 16% decrease in lean muscle mass of the quadriceps two weeks after surgery, and this decrease may be partially explained by insufficient dietary intake.

River Stories: Preserving and Sharing Oral Histories and Traditions of the McKenzie River Valley Using Video and Audio Media

Presenters : Starr Hathway, Adrian Robins, Jacob Sembler

Mentor : Kathryn Lynch

Major : Environmental Studies, Cinema Studies

Poster 39

The McKenzie River Valley sustains a unique heritage that is in danger of being lost. The purpose of River Stories is to preserve the oral histories and traditions of the area before they are forgotten. Our goal is to share the stories we collect with the Eugene/Springfield community, as well as the residents of the McKenzie Valley and their families. The River Stories team is collecting these accounts from McKenzie River area residents that run the spectrum from river guides to local artisans. While conducting weekly interviews, the team employs an anthropological approach to capture the endangered community knowledge, specifically using audio and video formats. River Stories then uses transcription, audio logging, and video editing to create a product that is ready for community-wide dissemination. Thus far, 13 weeks of fieldwork have yielded findings that help piece together the McKenzie’s grander story. The team has inter- viewed 20 individuals from over a dozen pursuits including boat building, fly fishing, and sustainable agriculture. This term, the team is developing a mini-documentary series which aims to communicate findings to the Eugene/Springfield community. This project will encourage further documentation and appreciation of the McKenzie River Valley, setting a foundation for the connection of genera- tions and neighboring communities.

Social and Environmental Impacts of River Linking in Tamil Nadu, India

Presenter: Irene Klock

Mentors: Leslie McLees, Geography

Poster: 39

Major: Geography and Japanese 

River linking, the connecting of water canals to divert water to regions that wouldn’t usually receive it, is an important solution to the water crisis in India. The agricultural sector benefits from river linkage through increases in both job and food security on local and national scales. In south India, the water deprived state of Tamil Nadu is planning to create a flood carrier channel by interlinking the Tamiraparani, Karumeniyar, and Nambiar rivers. My research focuses on the potential social and environmental impacts of this flood carrier channel on surrounding villages. I gathered data through a series of surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions with the local communities. I then analyzed how the current water system drives local farming practices and compared it to how the new system could change them through alterations in geography, population, and long term traditions.

Synthesis of Diindenoanthracene Derivatives for use in Organic Field-Effect Transistors

Presenter: Victoria Stanfill

Faculty Mentor: Michael Haley, Geri Richmond

Presentation Type: Poster 39

Primary Research Area: Science

Major: Chemistry

Funding Source: Presidential Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, $5000

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are a type of organic electronic device that determine how and where charge flows throughout a system. They are important to the electronic industry because they are longer lasting and cheaper to synthesize than traditional silicon field-effect transistors. OFETs are ranked on their charge mobility, the speed and quality of the charge transfer. Diindenoanthracenes are a type of organic small molecule with potential to be used in OFETs because of their biradical character, giving them the ability to transport charge. Our research focuses on synthesizing a variety of diindenoanthracene derivatives so we have a large range of molecules with different electronic properties to test in devices. The ultimate goal is to increase the charge mobility of these molecules so that these electronic devices are comparable to traditional inorganic electronics. So far we have created one new diindenoanthracene which has yet to be tested in devices, but we are working towards creating a more generalized synthesis method to make it possible to add a variety of substituents to the general diindenoanthracene scaffold.

Strain-Dependent Differences in Mouse Norovirus Capsid Determine Cell Death and Inflammation

Presenter(s): Ruth Vanelle Nouboussi − Human Physiology

Faculty Mentor(s): Sierra Dawson

Poster 39

Research Area: Natural/Physical Science

The Murine Norovirus is a common virus used in mice experiments in many research facilities. The virus alters the cellular morphology in hematopoietic cells and it is transmitted through fecal or oral routes. This study focuses on CW3 & CR6 strains of the mouse norovirus. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the strains that use the CW3 capsid produces more IL-1α (cytokine released as a measure of the degree of inflammation) and cell death compared to the CR6 capsid. We performed a Mouse IL-1α Elisa on virally infected BMDCs (Bone Marrow-derived Dendritic Cells), a virus-mediated cytotoxicity assay performed on BV2 cells (mice microglia cell line) using CW3, CR6, CW3-VP1^CR6 (CW3 virus strain with the CR6 capsid; VP! shows that there was a capsid swap) and CR6-VP1^CW3 chimeric viruses to determine the necessity for VP1^CW3 in IL-1α secretion and cytotoxicity. Using two-way ANOVA testing, we found that there was more LDH (Lactate DeHydrogenase) released in the supernatant of cells infected with strains that use the CW3 capsid compared to CR6 capsid at MOI (Multiplicity Of Infections) 10, 1 and 0.1, and there was less LDH present in the supernatant of cells infected with strains that use the CR6 capsid compared to the CW3 capsid. We also found significantly more IL-1α in the supernatant from cells infected with strains that use CW3 compared to wild type and CR6 (P < 0.05). These findings demonstrate that the CW3 capsid produced more IL-1α and also caused more cell death compared to CR6.

Transmission of Traditional Ethnobotanical Knowledge Among the Wichí of the Bolivian Gran Chaco

Presenter(s): Itzel Quiroz

Co Presenter(s): Michelle Scalise Sugiyama

Faculty Mentor(s): Michelle Scalise Sugiyama & Marcela Mendoza

Poster 39

Session: Sciences

Western conservation research is increasingly recognizing the value of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) for preserving and managing wild resources. Because indigenous peoples are increasingly faced with the loss of their language and traditional subsistence practices, documentation of TEK is urgently needed. However, it is unclear how this knowledge is stored and transmitted. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that stories (e.g., myths, legends, folktales) are an important means of TEK storage and transmission in indigenous cultures. Focusing on the botanical knowledge of the Wichí of the Bolivian Gran Chaco, we predicted that their oral tradition would contain stories about important plant resources, and that these stories would contain information useful for locating, identifying, extracting, processing, and/or predicting the availability of these resources. To test this prediction, we surveyed a collection of traditional Wichí narratives (n = 319) for stories about plants; the search yielded 39 plant stories, which were then analyzed for information about characteristics, habitat, distribution, ecological cues, management, seasonality, processing, and uses. All 39 stories contained the predicted information, which was cross-checked against the Wichí ethnographic record to ascertain that it matched actual plant use. The study concludes that oral tradition plays an important role in the transmission of Wichí practical ethnobotanical information, and may be useful for reconstructing the TEK of other indigenous peoples facing cultural disruption. Future research will analyze the oral traditions of other first nations to determine how widespread this phenomenon is.