Tag: Poster 64

Where the Wild Things Grow: A Case Study of Ventilation in Bathrooms

Presenter: Hannah Ward

Co-presenters: Alex Collins and Julia Frost

Mentors: Alison Kwok and Tom Collins, Architecture

Poster: 64

Major: Architecture

According to the City of Eugene’s website, newly constructed bathrooms must either have an operable window or “a venting system capable of 50 cubic feet per minute” controlled by “a dehumidistat, timer, or similar means of automatic control.”1 Spaces that do not provide enough ventilation can often be susceptible to damage such as mold growth and dry rot if humidity levels reach a certain point and stay there consistently. As Eugene is a mild and humid climate, many buildings have issues with mold growth because of high humidity levels. This study will assess which ventilation strategies are supportive in reducing humidity levels and ultimately preventing mold growth in a damp climate, such as Eugene. Specifically, this study will test the hypothesis that apartments with continuous bathroom ventilation systems are more capable of maintaining 50% RH [relative humidity] than apartments with non-continuous bathroom ventilation systems. To test the hypothesis, the study used a two-phase approach, which included four HOBO data loggers2 to record the relative humidity of three different apartment bathrooms using three different styles of ventilation, before testing the capacity of airflow from the two bath fans. Our results show that active ventilation techniques are not the only effective way to ventilate a space and, in fact, one of the bathrooms using an active fan actually performed worse than a comparable, passively ventilated bathroom.

The Gut Microbiota Influences Synapse Formation during Zebrafish Development

Presenter: Collette Goode

Faculty Mentor: Philip Washbourne, Alexandra Tallafuss

Presentation Type: Poster 64

Primary Research Area: Science

Major: Biology

The central nervous system depends on the appropriate formation of synapses between neurons to enable communication throughout neural circuits, which generates behavioral and cognitive functions. Recent studies have shown that some individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have an abnormal composition of the bacterial community resident, referred to as microbiota, within their intestine. Studies in mice suggest that the microbiota can signal to the developing brain, indicating that changes in the intestinal microbiota may underlie some of the deficits seen in ASD. We began to test this hypothesis by using zebrafish as a model to learn how the microbiota affect synapse formation. We used immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy to compare synaptic protein distribution in the brains of conventional and germ-free zebrafish. We focused on the forebrain, which is speculated to correlate with complex behavior in zebrafish. We labeled the pre-synaptic proteins SV2 and Synapsin1/2 to allow us to image and quantify synapse density in the telencephalon of germ-free and conventional zebrafish larvae at 6 days post-fertilization. We found a significant increase in the number of synapses expressing Synapsin1/2, but no difference in synapses expressing SV2 in germ-free compared to conventionalized zebrafish. Further study of synapse density, function and behavior of germ-free fish will promote our understanding of the correlation between the microbiome, synapse formation, and prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders.

Systemic Inflammation Increases Expression of Pro-Inflammatory Interleukin-1 Receptors On Neurons And Astrocytes, but Not Microglia, in the Cervical Spinal Cord

Presenter(s): Kelly Royster − Human Physiology

Faculty Mentor(s): Adrianne Huxtable, Austin Hocker

Poster 64

Research Area: Natural/Physical Science

Funding: Adrianne Huxtable’s Parker B. Francis Fellowship, University of Oregon

Inflammation is a component of all diseases, whereby key pro-inflammatory signaling molecules and receptors increase systemically and in the central nervous system (CNS). Systemic inflammation activates astrocytes and microglial cells in many regions of the CNS, which alter neuronal function and lead to behavioral changes. Our work has shown systemic inflammation impairs respiratory function through activation of the pro-inflammatory interleukin-1 receptors (IL-1RI) in the cervical spinal cord, but the roles of different cell types are unknown. To better understand how activation of IL-1RIs undermines breathing, we first need to determine what CNS cell types express IL-1RIs and how systemic inflammation changes IL-1RI expression. Based on the expression of IL-1RIs in other CNS regions, we hypothesized systemic inflammation would increase IL-1RI expression on identified neurons, astrocytes and microglia in the cervical spinal cord. Using immunohistochemistry to fluorescently label cell types and IL-1RIs, we first determined the optimal concentration of the IL-1RI antibody (1:250) by
a dilution series (n=5) in the hippocampus, where IL-1RI was known to be expressed after systemic inflammation. Further, preliminary data (n=2) suggest systemic inflammation increases IL-1RI expression on neurons (labeled by NeuN, 1:500) and astrocytes (labeled by GFAP, 1:500), but not microglia (labeled by Iba1, 1:1000). These results suggest neurons and astrocytes are likely the key cells undermining respiratory function after systemic inflammation. Understanding the mechanisms by which systemic inflammation undermines respiratory function may lead to targeted therapeutic interventions to promote breathing.

Reopening Auditory Critical Periods by Digesting Perineuronal Nets

Presenter(s): Brynna Paros

Faculty Mentor(s): Michael Wehr & Jonathan Saunders

Poster 64

Session: Sciences

Long-term memories are thought to be encoded by synapses, but synaptic proteins recycle within days. Roger Tsien hypothesized that Perineuronal Nets (PNNs) could provide a durable “punch card” for memory storage. PNNs are tightly-regulated protein lattices surrounding some neurons that inhibit new, while maintaining existing synapses. Understanding speech requires learning the low-level acoustic features of a language, which becomes difficult or impossible after a developmental sensitive period. Do PNNs preserve the acoustic features learned during infancy and inhibit learning new sound categories? Our preliminary experiments demonstrated that the enzymatic digestion of PNNs in auditory cortex enabled mice to learn a distinction between english phonemes (/b/ and /g/) that they were previously unable to. We will present these and other pilot data investigating the effect of PNN digestion on the rate of phonetic acquisition. If PNNs serve as a scaffolding to preserve learned low-level sensory representations, they would be an entirely unexplored therapeutic target for children or elderly people with sensory processing impairments, as well as provide a promising new explanation for the mechanistic origin of developmentally sensitive or critical periods.