Additional Drew Scholars 2023 UURAF Presenters
Over 750 undergraduate Spartans p
articipate in MSU's University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) presenting outstanding research and creative works. We are so pleased to have a number of Drew
Scholars partaking in this incredible opportunity, showcasing their work in creating new knowledge and advancing the academic landscape.
Check out their abstracts below!
Class Level: Senior (graduating)
Minor: Pharmacology & Toxicology
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
COMPARATIVE GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF DUPLICATED GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR GENES IN THE BRAINS OF ZEBRAFISH AND SPOTTED GAR
Mentor(s): Ingo Braasch, Ph.D., Jamily Ramos De Lima, and Julia Ganz, Ph.D.
Genome duplication is an important factor in the evolution of organisms. It is hypothesized that genome duplication causes the evolution of higher cognitive functions and emerging complex brain structures in vertebrates. The teleost fish zebrafish (Danio rerio), an important biomedical model species, went through an ancestral teleost genome duplication (TGD). Over evolutionary time, ~80% of teleost gene duplicates have been lost (non-functionalization), and the remaining single gene serves the primary function. In contrast, metabotropic glutamate receptor (grm) genes have a particularly high rate of 70% retained duplicates from the TGD . Grms regulate synaptic transmission and memory, so it is essential to understand how grm evolved. Generally, retained gene duplicates are thought to evolve by neo-functionalization (gain of new functions) and/or subfunctionalization (distribution of ancestral functions among duplicates). To identify grm gene evolution before and after the TGD, we analyze grm gene expression in spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus), an 'unduplicated', nonteleost fish outgroup that diverged before the TGD. Gar thus can be used as a proxy to the pre-TGD condition to identify the functionalization in teleosts like zebrafish. Using RNA in-situ hybridization on brain sections, we aim to identify the gene expression of grm duplicates in zebrafish and compare to the single grm genes in spotted gar to make inferences about the type of functionalization of grm gene duplicates in teleost. Our results will not only identify the expression patterns of grm genes in two important biomedical models but broaden our understanding of genome duplication and its evolutionary potential.
Class Level: Senior (graduating)
Minor: Computation Mathematics, Science, & Engineering
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
IMPERFECT ACCRETION IN AN ASTROPHYSICAL SIMULATOR
Mentor(s): Seth Jacobson, Ph.D.
Accretion during the late stage of terrestrial planet formation is dominated by collisions between Moon-size to nearly Earth-size bodies. These collisions are not always perfect mergers because they often eject material from the colliding bodies. The projectile may even survive after an off-center impact. Impact outcomes are sorted into several different regimes by the relative impact velocity, the angle of impact, and the ratio of masses between the colliding objects. Depending on the type of collision, the post-impact mass of the target and the amount of material ejected can vary widely. Accounting for the large amount of debris generated in some impacts places a significant strain on CPU-only astrophysical simulators, so neglecting the debris is standard practice; however this may lead to inaccurate results. Here, we show an implementation of imperfect accretion in a GPU-enhanced astrophysical simulator and how different initial parameters result in different collision types. We expect an increase in the computation time as the simulation progresses due to debris generation. It may be that the inclusion of imperfect accretion into the simulator could have a negligible effect on the outcome if most of the debris is recombined soon after each impact, or this could be a significant way of depleting planetary mass and distributing it throughout the Solar System in a new population of smaller objects.
Class Level: Senior (graduating)
College(s): College of Natural Science
USING GENOMIC ANALYSIS TO UNDERSTAND THE ECOLOGY OF A HYPERVIRULENT PATHOGEN OF PLANKTONIC CRUSTACEANS
Mentor(s): Nina Wale, Ph.D.
Determining metabolic functions using genetic analysis is important for the understanding of how organisms function in their environment as well as how their genes impact that determined environment. Spirobacillus Cienkowskii is a bacterial organism that has been studied since the mid-1900s, yet still has very little information known about it today. The genome of Spirobacillus Cienkowskii may be able to give insight into its metabolic functions to provide understanding as to where it survives and thrives, as well as why it is infectious to certain planktonic crustaceans. Kbase is a web-based platform created for the integration and comprehensive analysis of biological data. This platform contains a system called DRAM (Distilled and Refined Annotation of Metabolism), which provides comprehensive annotation of metabolic pathways using genomic sequences. This software will be used to annotate the Spriobacillus Cienkowskii genome to determine which metabolic pathways are present in the organism. These pathways and additional genes present will be analyzed to determine specific survival mechanisms through metabolism, including what it uses as energy sources, as well as how it finds this food to convert to energy. This work provides evidence that Spirobacillus Cienkowskii and other organisms' genetic makeup can help determine their mechanisms for survival including reasoning for infection, by developing an understanding of what it feeds off and how it obtains those nutrients through genomic analysis.
Class Level: Junior
Minor: Cognitive Science
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
DISTRESS ASSOCIATED WITH PSYCHOTIC-LIKE EXPERIENCES IN MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS
Mentor(s): Jacqueline Bao
Background: Discrimination and systemic oppression based on race and gender cause or exacerbate psychological distress and mental health diagnoses, including psychosis-defined by a departure from consensus reality. People of color and gender minorities experience full psychotic and subclinical psychotic-like symptoms (i.e. psychotic-like experiences; PLEs) at increased frequency and intensity than their white cis-gendered counterparts (Lazaridou, 2022). Importantly, however, PLEs are not necessarily distressing to the individual. In the current study, we sought to understand whether PLEs are associated with more distress in individuals from marginalized communities than white cis-gender individuals. Methods: We administered the 21-item Prodromal Questionnaire, Brief Version (PQB), which identifies a risk for psychosis through the exhibition of psychotic-like symptoms and the corresponding extent of distress (Loewy et al., 2010) to 7605 undergraduate students who participated in this study. Participants were instructed to indicate prior experiences with various PLEs. If they endorsed a symptom, they were asked to rate the degree of associated distress on a nominal scale. Within individuals that endorsed a particular item, we compared associated distress across individuals from racial and gender majority and minority groups. Results/Conclusions: We observed a higher average distress score endorsement amongst minority populations. Although our database was primarily composed of white cis-gendered participants, the average distress scores were magnified within intersectionalized minority groups as opposed to the cis-gendered white demographic. These findings suggest that the effect of marginalized status is associated with more distressing and unsettling experiences of psychotic-like symptoms.
Class Level: Sophomore
Minor: Business
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
EVALUATION OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND ASSOCIATED PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS ACCORDING TO ADOLESCENT WEIGHT STATUS
Co-Presenter(s): Chelsea Abulu, Audrey White, and Ayush Ippalapelli
Mentor(s): Hesam Varpaei
Significance and Purpose/Introduction: The purpose was to compare physical activity (PA) and psychosocial factors (PA self-efficacy, social support, motivation) between healthy weight (HW) and overweight/obese (OW/OB) adolescents. Methods: This secondary data analysis used baseline data from a pilot intervention study. Ten- to 13-year-old adolescents from two urban kindergarten-8th grade public schools in one school district participated. The University Institutional Review Board provided approval. T-test and Chi-square test were used. Results: Seventynine adolescents (49.4% male; 50.6% female) participated. Mean age was 11.61 (SD±.86). Most were black (55.7%), 22.8% were white, and 21.5% were multiracial. Over half (51.9%) were in families earning <$20,000/year. Almost half (48.1%) were OW/OB. No between-group differences in demographic factors occurred. Compared to adolescents with a HW, those who were OW/OB had fewer minutes/hour of sedentary behavior (M =40.82 vs. 38.13, p=.030) and higher minutes/hour of light PA (M =16.18 vs. 19.00, p=.004). No between-group differences occurred for moderate or moderate-to-vigorous PA. Approaching significance, minutes/hour of vigorous PA was higher for HW than OW/OB adolescents (M =0.94 vs. 0.63, p=.057). No between-group differences in psychosocial factors were noted. A higher percentage of HW than OB/OW adolescents spent >2 hours gaming, watching videos, 126 and using the phone on a usual school day (71.4% vs. 28.6%; p=.001) and weekend day (65.0% vs. 35.0%; p =.018). Discussion and Conclusion: Efforts may be needed to assist OW/OB adolescents in increasing their vigorous PA and to help HW adolescents reduce sedentary behavior and screen time. More studies may be needed to confirm these findings.
Class Level: Senior
Minor: Muslim Studies
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
Abstract #1
IMPACTS OF THE CHARLES DREW SCIENCE SCHOLARS PROGRAM
Mentor(s): Vashti Sawtelle, Ph.D. and Rachel Henderson, Ph.D.
Nationally, there have been a number of programs that are designed to better support students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic communities and economically disadvantaged students (NASE&M, 2016). Yet, the underrepresentation continues. Education researchers have turned to ask questions about which programs work, why they work, and who they best work for (Estrada, Eppig, Flores, 2019). The Charles Drew Science Scholars is one such program. The Drew program produces results and our research supports the documentation of these results. With an increased GPA, graduation rate, and academic success, the Drew program is doing something right. In this presentation, we will outline the core elements of the Drew Scholars program and describe the outcomes on student success, particularly for students from historically underrepresented communities. We will also outline the implications of this work for future work to support STEM students.
Abstract #2
A ONE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF CHILDREN SCREENING FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SYMPTOMS DURING A 2020 PEDIATRIC WELL-CHILD VISIT: DOES FUNCTIONAL IMPAIRMENT PREDICT POORER OUTCOMES?
Co-Presenter(s): Harsna Chalal, Rana Omar, and Sanjanasri Pothuraju
Mentor(s): Melissa Benbow, M.D. and Rachel Christensen, D.O.
Over the course of 2020, there was a noticeable increase in behavioral health symptoms among children and adolescents. This increase has been largely attributed to school closures, increased anxiety among children's caregivers, and social isolation from peers that occurred in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This study assesses the persistence over a one-year period of clinically significant behavioral health symptoms observed among a large sample of children and adolescents during routine well-child visits at two MSU Pediatrics clinics. Behavioral health symptoms were measured by parents' (and, for children ages 11 to 18, adolescents') responses to a standardized screening instrument assessing internalizing, externalizing, and inattention symptoms. Additional items measured functional impairment at school, home, and with peers. Close to 30% of parents and/or adolescents screened in 2020 reported clinically significant symptoms in one or more areas assessed by the screening instrument. The study assesses whether clinically significant behavioral health symptoms identified in 2020 would be more likely to persist one year later among children who, in 2020, also initially presented with functional impairment than among children who presented with clinically significant symptoms.
Class Level: Senior (graduating)
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
THE ROLE OF AUREOCHROME BLUE LIGHT PHOTORECEPTOR PROTEINS IN NANNOCHLOROPSIS
Mentor(s): Eva Farre Prokosch, Ph.D.
Marine environments are enriched in blue light due to the fact that longer wavelengths can't reach deeper levels in the ocean. Light input can act at different levels regulating a wide range of physiological responses. Stramenopiles are a diverse group of secondary endosymbionts whose plastids originated from red algae. Aureochromes are stramenopile-specific proteins able to sense blue light that contain a light-oxygen-voltage-sensing domain (LOV) that associates with a flavin mononucleotide and a basic leucine zipper DNA-binding motif allowing Aureochromes to act as blue light-regulated transcription factors by associating with an E-box like motif. The objective of my project is to create the constructs necessary to investigate the expression of Aureochrome proteins through the generation of transgenic tagged lines in Nannochloropsis salina. Thus far, I have attempted entry cloning the whole 'mini gene' and coding sequences of the three aureochrome proteins present in Nannochloropsis, as well as constructing the destination vectors. However, through attempting to create these constructs, I learned: the reasoning of molecular biology methods, how to research methods and topics through literature, the troubleshooting of molecular biology methods, the process in optimizing my own molecular methods, and the idea that molecular methods are overall more adaptable than initially thought. The constructs generated will be used to investigate the protein expression dynamics of the three N. salina Aureochromes under different environmental conditions. Furthermore, a mathematical model will be deciphered in order to explain light induced protein levels and light activation of proteins in hopes of attaining control of the process.
Class Level: Sophomore
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH STOCK INVESTMENT: A STUDY OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND CARBON NEUTRAL LOGISTICS
Co-Presenter(s): Shubham Aggarwal
Mentor(s): Antoinette Tessmer and Guanglong Pang, Ph.D.
Sustainable finance integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into financial decision-making. From an environmentalist perspective, sustainable finance is necessary because it directs capital towards projects and companies that positively impact the planet, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable agriculture. According to estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the livestock production and shipping industries combined are responsible for around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. As the most prominent industries contributing to the negative impacts of climate change, livestock production and shipping are also the industries with the most significant potential to curb the ongoing climate crisis. For our research, we built two portfolios in the agriculture sector, particularly alternative proteins, with 15 companies, and the transportation sector, with 16 companies. All the companies in our portfolios are considered sustainable or follow sustainable practices. We will be calculating the daily risk and return from these portfolios. Further, we will measure the performance of these portfolios and compare the results with non-sustainable 40 companies' stock indexes. Our research aims to understand how the stock market values investments that promote sustainable development and address critical global challenges such as climate change. We want to show that stock ownership in the right companies can be profitable and impact the economy by generating a positive ripple effect for other sectors and markets. We want to show that making the right stock investment decisions can help us achieve our sustainability goal much sooner.
Class Level: Senior (graduating)
Minor: Pharmacology & Toxicology
College(s): College of Natural Science
CULTIVATED TOMATO ASAT1-LIKE ENZYME EFFICIENCY IS IMPROVED BY SWAPPING RESIDUES FROM WILD TOMATO
Mentor(s): Jaynee Hart, Ph.D. and Robert Last, Ph.D.
The Solanaceae family of nightshades possess specific protective metabolites contributing to insect resistance. Wild tomato (Solanum pennillii, Sp) and cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum, Sl) secrete protective acylsugars from their trichomes. Acylsugars containing glycosylated myo-inositol acylated with nC7-coA were recently discovered in the roots of cultivated tomato. The presumptive first step of acylsugar biosynthesis in roots is performed by the BAHD family enzyme AcylSugar Acyltransferase 1-Like (ASAT1L), which acylates myo-inositol with nC7-coA in vitro. Even though wild and cultivated tomato ASAT1L only differ by 18 amino acids, SpASAT1L is 57-fold more efficient in synthesizing these advantageous acylsugars. To determine whether the activity of SlASAT1L can be improved, we implemented targeted mutagenesis to swap residues from the wild to cultivated tomato. After swapping residues, 4 separate mutations in cultivated tomato were found to have a notable positive effect on enzyme activity: C38S, L125F, T396M, and V407L+M415I, though these mutation groups alone did not reach the level of activity of SpASAT1L. Considering potential additive effects, single mutant groups were used to make combinations of multi-order mutants. The SlASAT1L mutants were analyzed by enzyme assay and reverse phase Liquid Chromatography-Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometry (LC-ToF-MS) to quantify their relative enzymatic activity. The best single mutant was C38S which produced 39-fold more acyl-inositol, while the best multi-order mutant C38S+V407L+M415I produced 64-fold more acyl-inositol compared to SlASAT1L. The introduced mutations to SlASAT1L have been successful in improving the performance of the enzyme, which sheds light on BAHD structure and function.
Class Level: Junior
Minor: Data Science
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
INFLUENCES OF BACKGROUND ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION ON ION DENSITIES WITHIN THE CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM
Mentor(s): Brian OShea, Ph.D.
The Circumgalactic Medium (CGM) is a large mass of gas that exists in the region just outside the disk of a galaxy. While they are not the most visible feature of a galaxy, they make up almost half of its baryonic mass (the parts of the galaxy that aren't dark matter) and play a vital role in the galaxy's evolution. Currently, in this field we often attempt to study this feature of galaxies via the use of simulations. As a part of this work, we take into account how the intensity of Ultraviolet Background (UVB) Radiation influences the observed ionization states. However, as the true nature of the UVB has yet to be fully characterized, we are often made to make a series of assumptions about the UVB. As these assumptions vary from author-to-author, this introduces a degree of uncertainty to the distribution of ionization states within the CGM. To estimate these uncertainties, we generate a series of ion densities under different assumptions about the UVB and quantify UVB-induced uncertainties based on the variation in the derived densities.
Class Level: Junior
Minors: Global Studies in the Arts & Humanities and Women's & Gender Studies
College(s): Honors College and College of Natural Science
WHAT IS A WOMAN? AN INSIGHT AND APPLICATION OF SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR'S GENDER PHILOSOPHY TO MODERN FEMINISM
Mentor(s): Camelia Suleiman, Ph.D.
Simone De Beauvoir's most famous feminist theory on western societal gender hierarchy was dissected to critique and compare against modern western feminist discussions of intersectionality and anti-globalization. Her life's work "The Second Sex" and late-published novel "Inseparable" were read to gain perspective on the roots of Beauvoir's feminist theory in relevance to her own cultural background as a white, upper-class, French woman in the early 1900s. This Philosophy was then compared to modern western feminist discussions taking place in America. These discussions were categorized through the most popular news articles, journals, speeches, and activities of feminists of the past decade. These modern issues were used to better understand how one of the most famous feminist theories is still relevant today, but also note where it falls short. Aiding me in my analysis is the concept of intersectionality of identity. Beauvoir's most famous question was said to be "what is a woman?" Now it is time to ask the follow-up question: "what is a feminist?"