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About the Collection
The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) provides students with the opportunity to present their research at three annual undergraduate research symposia. This collection contains student posters.
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Assessing Ectomycorrhizal Advantage on Tree Species Within Differing Soil Materials in Spring Mountains, Nevada
Kirsten Soriano, Riley Jones, and Daniel Thompson
11-22-2024Ectomycorrhizal fungi (ECM) form symbiotic relationships with their partner plant, creating root systems which allow for the exchange of nutrients among connected plants. The Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (NRA) in Southern Nevada is the study site for examining ECMs due to its diverse ecosystem with numerous inhabiting species. To assess the effects of ECMs on the tree composition, literature review was conducted to outline previous methods. Through data analysis and observations of the sample sites, it is concluded that ECMs are highly likely to have an effect on tree composition of the Spring Mountains NRA. The purpose of this research is to assess the presence of the ECM community in the Spring Mountains and determine a data collection process for future exploration. Due to research limitations, sampling for DNA extraction was not conducted, but future instructions were listed for further study.
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Immigration: Ancient Counterparts and Processes
Monica Souza Sue
11-22-2024This project sought to inspect parallels between modern and ancient societies, and the commonality of certain events and political markers. This project makes mentions of power dynamics, the position of immigrants as a source of labor, and their commodification as a force. Research used a 'compilation of materials' method. In which, is performed the examination and studying of different materials in relation to the question, compiling findings, and crafting commentary based on the discoveries of the medias. The experiences of immigrants in the United States are strongly comparable to the experiences of metic (immigrant) women in ancient Athens. A small link is also drawn on the commodification of immigrants as a laboring force. In this sense, the convenience of migrant labor and the emphasis of their role in society greatly impacted the manner in which native residents felt about their existence. Modern immigrants from the Global South to the US share a commonality to male metics. Public opinion on metics changed when their labor became necessary (such as in war, or in a shortage of labor). The difference of this historical incident to modern times in the United States is that migrant labor already makes up 18.6% of all labor; 4.6% above 2004's (first year statistic was measured and recorded) 14% total foreign-born workers to the general labor force. Most of this labor is concentrated in industries of great importance to the American economy. Analyzing the difference in economical and political atmospheres will reveal more about this.
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The Effects of Divides Attention on Long-term Memory for Natualistic Stimuli
Gaia Steinberg, Jackson S. Pelzner, Rhiannon N. Soriano Smith, and Colleen M. Parks
11-22-2024The ability to identify previously experienced events is a fundamental aspect of memory. This study investigates recognition memory using naturalistic stimuli, specifically news headlines, to explore both controlled (recollection) and automatic (familiarity) memory processes. Most recognition memory experiments rely on simplistic stimuli like words or pictures, but we aim to extend these theories by using more complex, naturalistic materials (news headlines). Participants completed recognition tasks with both headlines and pictures to establish baseline differences between these stimuli types. The order of presentation between stimulus types was randomized between pictures or headlines first. They were assigned to either full or divided attention conditions during study, with the divided attention group completing an n-back task while encoding headlines. After encoding, participants listened to a podcast and answered questions about it to introduce a delay between taking an old/new recognition memory test. Recollection and familiarity estimates were calculated using the Dual Process Signal Detection model. Previous research has found that dividing attention has been shown to have large effects on estimates of recollection, whereas familiarity typically shows smaller or no effects. Preliminary results indicate that estimates of both recollection and familiarity were higher for headlines compared to pictures across both attention conditions. These findings highlight the need for further research on naturalistic stimuli, including long-form media such as music, podcasts, movies.
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The Motherhood Wage Penalty: Estimation Across Various Factors
Mario Velazquez
11-22-2024Maternity and family leave policies are implemented in the workplace and sometimes even mandated by governments to allow first-time mothers to provide care for their newborns and recover from childbirth. However, these policies vary by country, and previous research publications have found that women face a “motherhood penalty” when they take a leave from work, leading to reduced earnings compared to women who do not have children. The main purpose of this paper is to validate whether new mothers do in fact face a decrease in their earnings over time, to compare this penalty across numerous variables, and to explore if the implementation and generosity of maternity and family leave policies influence women’s employment and earnings. The variables considered include wages, years of work experience, level of education attained, if the worker holds at least a bachelor’s degree, marital status, union membership, and the existence of maternity and family leave programs. The methodology of this study comes down to compiling publicly available data to yield the descriptive and empirical results of women’s earnings and explore the effect of having a child. Additionally, I compare the maternity and family leave policies of the United States and other countries. I predict that the data will prove the existence of a motherhood penalty on wages and that the previously mentioned factors will be statistically significant. The findings will be essential for policymakers in federal and state governments as they consider the expansion of these programs and how they can be financed.
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Exploring Modality Differences in Recognition Memory: Repetition Effects on Recollection and Familiarity
Ivanesa Velikova, Kevin Mohawk, and Colleen Parks
11-22-2024Research has shown that memory for visual objects tends to be superior compared to memory for auditory objects. The present study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of why recognition memory tends to be better for visual information. Recognition memory relies on two processes, recollection and familiarity. Recollection involves retrieving contextual details of a memory while familiarity is simply a feeling that something has been encountered before. We investigated recollection and familiarity in the two modalities by having participants lean a list of auditory objects (e.g., dog barking) and visual objects (e.g., picture of a lion) under full attention (FA) or divided attention (DA) conditions. Specifically, during divided attention participants needed to memorize auditory or visual objects, while identifying whether an interleaved number matched the same number seen 2 numbers before. We aimed to equate visual and auditory memory by decreasing visual performance and increasing auditory performance. This was achieved by showing visual images in gray scale repeating auditory objects 2 times at study. Visual memory was equal to auditory memory in both FA and DA conditions. We also found that recollection was greater for visual than auditory objects. Dividing attention reduced both visual recollection and familiarity. Dividing attention also reduced auditory familiarity, but had no effect on auditory recollection. This suggests that attention is particularly important for the formation of visual recollection. Overall, we concluded that visual memory is superior to auditory memory.
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Effect of Macronutrients on a Rat Model of Clostridioides Difficile Infection
Stephanie Yang, Maria Niamba, Rose Jiang, Ashton Wippel, Efren Heredia, Liliko Watanabe, Katrina Valadez, Erica Bacab, and Ernesto Abel-Santos
11-22-2024Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) is an anaerobic, spore forming, gram-positive bacteria. C. diff is the causative agent of C. difficile infections (CDIs) and is recognized as the leading cause of nosocomial infective diarrhea worldwide. CDI is associated with the use of antibiotics that alter the gut microbiome and C. diff resides in the large intestine where onset of the disease then occurs. Having observed the impacts of CDI on mice models, the Abel-Santos lab now shifts to observing this infectious disease in rat models. Establishing the infectious dosage at 109 spores, this study aims to identify the correlation between diet composition and CDI sign severity. To determine the interplay between diet and CDI, the hypervirulent strain C. difficile R20291 (RT027) was used in a rat model of antibiotic-induced CDI. 8 rats were placed in three different diet groups (high protein, high carbohydrate, and high fat) and given a mixture of antibiotics. After the spore challenge on Day 0, disease outcome was assessed using modified scoring procedures different from the ones used in mouse models. Microbial community dynamics will also be assessed later in the study through fecal sample collections. From preliminary findings, high protein diets resulted in the exacerbation of CDI, whereas diets higher in fat and carbohydrates were found to protect rats from developing severe CDI symptoms. The animals are still undergoing scoring and will be scored for at least two weeks to observe any changes in symptoms if there are potential relapses in symptoms.
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Glial-Specific Genes Are Strongly Associated With Alzheimer's Disease by Gene-based Polygenic Risk Score Analysis
Jennifer Zheng, Faria Tavacoli, Tyrell Pratt, Alice Lee, Tingwei Liu, and Jingchun Chen
11-22-2024Methods: Gene-based PRSs were constructed in AD cases and controls within each gene of the glial cells, according to the GWAS summary statistics of European ancestry. In detail, gene-based PRSs were first calculated for each glial cell type-specific gene for AD cases and controls in the discovery dataset (ADc1234ADA) using PRSet software. A meta-analysis with a fixed model was performed when the signal in both datasets was in the same direction. Bonferroni corrections for multiple testing (at α = .05) were used to determine significance within each of the three glial groups. Forest plots were used to visualize the results of meta-analyses.
Results: Two genes (Bcl-3 and RelB) from microglia were identified to be significantly associated with AD when adjusted with PC1 and PC2. However, when we adjusted with additional covariates age, sex, and APOE ε4 count, the association between BCL-3 and AD turned out to be non-significant. Similarly, the association between RelB and AD was also statistically non-significant.One gene (BIN1) from oligodendrocyte was significant in PC1 and PC2 and also significant when we included the sex, age, APOE ε4 count covariates. None of the genes from astrocytes were significantly associated with AD.
Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the importance of considering cell-type-specific genetic contributions to AD, providing novel insights into the disease's complex biological mechanisms for the disease. In this study, we identified two genes (Bcl-3 and RelB) from microglia and one gene (BIN1) from oligodendrocytes that might play an important role in the development of AD.
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Musical Chills: The Effect of Age and Musical Ability
Isabella Aceituno, Erin Hannon, and Solena Mednicoff
12-8-2023Musical chills mark a peak emotional response to music, characterized by goosebumps, tingling sensations down the back, and raised hair on the skin. Previous research has connected musical chills to changes in music such as crescendos, the entrance of new voices or instruments, unexpected harmonies, or changes in acoustic features. Knowledge of musical structures, such as key and harmony, develop from infancy to adulthood. If children’s musical expectations change with age, so too might their emotional musical experiences.
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The Effect of Sleep and Emotion on Pattern Separation
Sarah Al-Shimary and Alanna Osmanski
4-28-2023The relationship between sleep and memory has been a topic of interest in psychology for decades. Prior research demonstrates that the sleep state is an optimal time for memory consolidation to occur, most commonly through a model known as active systems consolidation. A widely accepted view of emotion is that sleep preferentially consolidations emotional over neutral material. Recent meta-analyses of sleep, emotion, and memory have suggested that this effect may not be as robust as we once thought. A new way to investigate the relationship between sleep and memory consolidation of emotional stimuli is with a pattern separation task known as the Mnemonic Familiarity Task (MST).
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Synthesis of Novel Disulfide Triazole Organophosphate Containing Fire Retardants
Parsa Asaei and Jun Yong Kang
12-8-2023Fire Retardants (FR) play a pivotal role in reducing smoke plume generation in wildland fires, which coincides with one of NSF EPSCoR’s HDRFS project objectives: investigating smoke plume dynamics. With the San Antonio Statement from 2010 banning halogenated FRs, there has been a push in research towards safer and better alternatives. The synthesis of a novel disulfide triazole organophosphate fire retardant (DSTP) would aid in NSF EPSCoR’s HDRFS research as a greener and better alternative. Therefore, our research aimed to i) develop a novel FR that harnesses the synergistic effects of phosphate-, disulfide-, and triazole-functionality that can be applied to mitigate wildland fires and ii) to study the effect of these FRs on the reduction of smoke plumes.
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Positive and Negative Attitudes Towards Skincare Products
Jordan Rachelle Barcenas and Jessica Herrera
4-28-2023Understanding consumer attitudes about skincare products. Rise in skincare products from COVID. More demand for higher quality products. Examine price sensitivity, brand exclusivity, positive results, and clean ingredient preferences.
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A Study on the Development of a Self-Motivation App to Increase Motivation in College Students
Paige Barker, Nathan Guerrero, and Kyla Sannadan sannadan@unlv.nevada.edu
4-28-2023In 2021, the Healthy Mind Network published data which found a consistent decline in the mental health of college students. Mental health struggles is a major factor in lack of motivation in college students. Motivational smart phone applications are prevalent, but there is a lack of applications offering motivation to college students specifically. We hypothesized that a smartphone app geared toward motivating students could positively influence student motivation. To test this hypothesis, we designed and prototyped a new app we call “ Groove”, inspired by the phrase “getting into the groove” which ties in with the notion of productivity or getting started in doing a task.
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How Method and Usage of Coffee Relate to Consumer Attitudes
Vince Benedetto, Jocelyn Perez, and James Iwatsubo iwatsj1@unlv.nevada.edu
4-28-2023Coffee is a staple in many American’s daily routines, with popularity growing globally ever year. User's consume coffee for a multitude of reasons including, health benefits, increasing productivity, social and cultural rituals, and pleasure. Regular coffee users prefer specific methods of sourcing their beverages. Consumer attitudes affect purchasing behavior and provide valuable insights for marketers.
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Municipal Waste in Southern Nevada: Understanding the Obsession with Garbage
Zachary Billot
4-28-2023Southern Nevada’s reliance on inexpensive disposal of waste results in lack of support for sustainable investment in waste diversion programs. Clark County lags significantly behind the US in terms of its municipal waste diversion due to problems related to the collection of materials and incentive for collection, limited institutionalized food waste collection programs, monopolization of waste management, as well as substantial rates of contamination of recyclable materials compared nationally. This proposal recommends a multifactor approach.
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A Genetic Screen for Metabolic Modulators in Drosophila melanogaster
Victoria Campos, Logan Kazimer, Brandon Polimeni, Katelyn Niswonger, and Matthew Meiselman
12-8-2023When environments become unfavorable, to preserve energy, animals will attenuate reproduction and limit growth. This evolutionary strategy requires perceiving and assessing a complex environment, a long-standing role of the nervous system. However, the nervous system’s control over endocrine states remains a monumental challenge. Here, we propose to exploit the genetic accessibility and cellular resolution readily found in Drosophila melanogaster, to fully explore how the brain controls metabolic and reproductive states. This project relies on the Meiselman Lab’s established unbiased neural activation screen, which located new neural circuits that participate in metabolic control. The project proposes the use of the split Gal-4 UAS system, which will isolate both the activation domain (AD) and DNA-binding domain (DBD) of two separate genetic lines in Drosophila melanogaster. When two lines are bred, the temperature-sensitive cation channel known as TrpA1 is expressed ectopically only within neurons labeled by both lines. The TrpA1 channel opens when specimens are incubated at a temperature beyond 25 Celsius. The activation of the TrpA1 channel depolarizes neurons and stimulates synaptic release (Karashima 2009). It is expected that following a 48-hour incubation period in which females reach sexual maturity, a reduction of the number of eggs produced inside ovaries will be observed if the activated neurons are responsible for arresting metabolism. To visualize the newly identified, restricted set of neurons, immunohistochemistry was used. Utilizing this methodology, we aim to find new neurons that are responsible for controlling both metabolic and reproductive states.
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Comparing Measures of Discourse Deficits in Individuals with TBI and CVA
Amanda Carper and André Lindsey
12-8-2023Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), otherwise known as strokes, can both result in discourse deficits. The present study compares the narrative discourse of individuals with CVA to individuals with TBI. This study aims to (1) determine potential diagnostic differences and (2) identify any consistent symptoms that may best guide treatment.
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The Possible Neurobiological Mechanisms Influencing PTSD According to Previous Research: A Review
Tiria Carr and Collen M. Parks
12-8-2023Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a mental health condition that's triggered by either experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. According to the National Center for PTSD, approximately six out of one hundred people (six percent) in the United States report to have suffered PTSD either currently or. This experiment aimed to: Explore the different behavior and brain measures used to evaluate the extent of neurological change that brains with PTSD suffer; Review different experimental procedures; Aims to express a theoretical experiment from the data collected; Hypothesize an effective experimental procedure for measuring neurological change in subjects suffering from PTSD.
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Sense of Relatedness from Racial Groups within Maltreated Youth
Jessica Castillo and Jaelin Isquith
4-28-2023Sense of relatedness is a crucial factor in the development of meaningful interpersonal relationships (Datu, 2017). Interpersonal relationships have demonstrated a significant impact on how individuals cope with their environment (Yulina et al., 2021). Youth in low socioeconomic environments are at higher risk of being exposed to unstable relationships which further increases this vulnerable population to learning ineffective interpersonal skills throughout their lifespan (Colman & Wisdom, 2004). Youth from marginalized groups have higher risk at experiencing negative life experiences, for example economic inequalities, heightened distress, systemic oppression, and economic inequalities (Hatch & Dohrenwend, 2007). Previous research has suggested African-American individuals experience a higher rate of stressors than whites, regardless of socioeconomic status due to systemic oppression and racism (Hatch & Dohrenwend, 2007). Increased traumatic experiences including racism and discrimination may place BIPOC individuals at increased risk for interpersonal difficulties (Umberman et al., 2016).
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Injury Inequity Among Nevada Pedestrians: Assessment Using Measurements of Community Needs
Merika Charupoom; Nicole Bacani; Emily Carter; Emily Strickler; Laura K. Gryder; Kavita Batra; and Deborah A. Kuhls MD, FACS
12-8-2023In 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that Nevada was the 10th highest ranking in pedestrian fatality rates. According to a report by Zero Fatalities, in 2021, there were 84 pedestrian deaths. Underserved communities, the elderly, and low income individuals are more likely to use walking, biking, or public transportation as a primary means of transportation due to vehicle expenses. Older adults, racial/ethnic minorities and those with lower socioeconomic statuses (SES) may bear a disproportionate burden of auto-pedestrian crashes.
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Comparison of Molecular Methods for Absolute Quantification of Low-Abundant Bacterial Communities in Milk
Carmina Chavez, Janet E. Williams, Michelle K. McGuire, and Mark A. McGuire
12-8-2023Milk was historically thought to be generally sterile. However, use of culture-dependent and culture-independent methods has provided strong evidence that milk has a microbiome (Figure 1). Culture-independent methods (e.g., high-throughput sequencing) have demonstrated the diversity of microbes in milk but provide relative abundance data. Culture-dependent methods have indicated microbial communities in milk are of low abundance, but it is challenging to measure absolute quantities accurately. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) has been used to quantify bacterial taxa in milk, However, concentrations often fall below the detection limit (Figure 2 & 3). Digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) allows detection of low-abundant copies of DNA due to its high sensitivity (Figure 4).
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A Timeline of Klinefelter’s Syndrome, XXY
Emma Chevalier, Tyler Venegas, and Mary Salibi
12-8-2023Klinefelter Syndrome (KS) is a non-mendelian chromosomal disorder consisting of supernumerary X chromosomes in males, 80% of which manifest as the 47,XXY karyotype. The resulting gene dosage abnormalities affect both cognitive and physical development, with variable expressivity. The disease was first described by Harry Klinefelter in 1942 and was thought to be an endocrine disorder until the late 1950s, when karyotyping of affected individuals revealed an extra X chromosome.
(It is the most common sex chromosome aneuploidy (1:500 males) and the most common cause of azoospermia. The phenotype for KS is highly contested due to its extremely variable expressivity and the extreme heterogeneity in its clinical and genetic presentation.
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The Role of Prediction Error in Episodic Memory
Natalie Chisam and Natalie Hsiao
12-8-2023Prediction Error and Memory: Memory encoding and retention is influenced by prediction errors (PE), which occur when observed events deviate from expectations. Predictive Based Theories: Several theories have been proposed to predict how PE influences memory.
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The Analysis of Wartime Rape Using Postmodern Feminism in The Conflicts of Sierra Leone 1991, Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992, Darfur 2003
Allyssa Chua
4-28-2023The practice of wartime rape has occurred from the ancient times until the present with the United Nations reporting about 2,542 confirmed cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2020. Estimates tend to be significantly higher, with UNICEF estimating 250,000 rape cases in Sierra Leone’s civil war. Women and girls are disproportionately and deliberately targeted compared to men and boys in sexual violence. This paper uses a postmodern feminist framework in analyzing wartime rape. It contends that the phallocentrism allows rape to become a language of masculine dominance.
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Youths’ Sense of Mastery Scores in Correlation to PTSD Criterion D Scores & Total PTSD-RI Scores
Katherine Conklin and Amanda Mraz
4-28-2023Childhood resilience levels impact the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Resiliency is defined as a personal characteristic fostering effective coping, adaptive functional abilities, and motivation.
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A Young Adult Male With a Neck Fracture from Bronze Age (3146-3130 BP) Non Nok Tha, Thailand
Madelyn Cram
4-28-2023Individual identity is shaped by experience. Trauma & illness �� Individual experience & identity. Bioarchaeology demonstrates the ability to explore how individual experiences manifests into unique identities for past peoples. This poster presents an osteobiography of a young adult male living with a whiplash fracture form Bronze Age Non Nok Tha, Thailand (3146-3130 BP).