2017 URPS Poster Abstracts (Pdf)
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS College of Agriculture College of Engineering College of Health and Human Sciences College of Liberal Arts College of Science Purdue Polytechnic Institute Honors College Krannert School of Management Oce of the Provost Purdue Libraries EA/EOU Undergraduate Research & Poster Symposium 2017 Student Abstracts Table of Contents College Page Number Agriculture 2 Engineering 36 Health and Human Sciences 57 Liberal Arts 84 Pharmacy 106 Science 108 Krannert School of Management 153 Purdue Polytechnic Institute 156 2017 Undergraduate Research & Poster Symposium – Abstracts 1 College of Agriculture Innovative Technology/Entrepreneurship/Design Poster Number 50: Tiffeny Spindler The Impact of Soilless Media on Strawberry Growth and Fruit Production Soilless medias are used in hydroponic greenhouse environments for sustainability, efficiency, and environmental control. Soilless medias are substrates that can be used in place of soil, usually in a hydroponic environment. Most soilless medias utilize water and nutrients more efficiently than soil (Barrett et al. 2016). The aim of this experiment was to compare different soilless media on strawberry growth and fruit production in a hydroponic environment. Four different medias were chosen, three of which are conventional. The conventional medias are coconut fiber (coir), Steadygrow, and Rockwool. One media is a ground parboiled rice hull mixture. This media was chosen as a potentially more environmentally friendly option for growers. Four replications of each media were used. Strawberry propagules were transplanted once they were established. A drip irrigation/fertilizer injection system was used to deliver water and nutrients to the plants. Strawberry growth data and fruit yield data were recorded. At the conclusion of the experiment, total fresh and dry weights of the plants along with leaf area were taken. When comparing the different medias, the fruit fresh weight and yield were both considerably higher for the coconut coir and the rice hull mixture. Growth parameters showed that many of the measurements taken, such as height and leaf count, were relatively the same between different medias. Life Science Poster Number 1: Stephanie Bauer Evaluating the Sub‐lethal Effects of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) Mixtures on Lithobates catesbeianus Tadpoles Exposure to PFOS and PFOA at these concentrations did not have an effect on survival but did effect growth and development Mixtures of PFOS and PFOA have a larger effect than individual PFCs T3 concentrations from tissue homogenate and blood serum samples will be analyzed to determine endocrine effects 2017 Undergraduate Research & Poster Symposium – Abstracts 2 Life Science Poster Number 2: Nicolas Bland, Osamudiamen Ogbeifun Effects of fat‐aging on chemical and quality attributes of ground beef patty Postmortem aging has been extensively practiced in the meat industry, as it considerably improves eating quality attributes, such as tenderness, juiciness and/or flavor. While volatile compounds from fatty acids play a central role in contributing flavor development of aged meat, there is little to no information how fat‐aging would affect quality attributes of meat. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of fat‐aging on physicochemical and textural properties of ground beef patties. At 7 days postmortem, beef round muscle and backfat were collected. Beef fat was randomly assigned into five groups as follows; control (unaged‐fat), wet‐aged fat for 2 weeks (2WA; in vacuum bags) or 4 weeks (4WA) and dry‐aged fat for 2 weeks (2DA; without packaging material) and 4 weeks (4DA) in a chilling room at 1 ºC and 80% relative humidity. Beef patties were formulated with 80% ground beef lean and 20% each aged‐fat. The experimental design was a completely randomized block with three independent batches. The addition of aged‐fat slightly decrease pH value of beef patties (P<0.05). However, proximate composition and cooking yield of beef patties were unaffected by the inclusion of aged‐fat (P>0.05). The addition of aged‐fat for 4 weeks (4DA or 4WA) resulted in significantly higher hardness, gumminess, and chewiness of beef patties than control formulated with unaged‐fat. The results of this study shows that the addition of aged‐fat had little impacts on chemical composition of beef patties, but caused considerably different textural properties. Life Science Poster Number 3: Jacob Bosler, Elizabeth Canida, Yvonne Chen Gene Expression Prediction of Bacteriophage AFIS 8000bp‐16000bp This project aims at contributing new mycobacteriophage genomes to databases and literatures. The objective is to characterize, investigate and annotate genes in order to predict gene expression for the mycobacterium phage AFIS (Cluster A1). The annotation of the AFIS genome contributes to the Actinobacteriophage Database (phagesdb.org). The investigation includes calling, evaluating genes and assigning gene functions by using multiple annotation and analysis softwares including DNA Master, Phamerator, and Genemark. The coding potential for each gene is compared between Genemark and DNA Master. Once, a start codon is decided based on the evidence from these software clients, a function called BLAST on DNA Master is used to find similar genes across sequenced genomes in the same cluster. The specific investigated section of the AFIS genome is 8000bp to 16000bp. DNA Master, referencing 2017 Undergraduate Research & Poster Symposium – Abstracts 3 Glimmer and GeneMark databases, auto‐annotated this part of the genome to have 12 genes. After calling each gene, no additional genes needed to be added. A new start codon was assigned for gene 18. A +1 frameshift was found and recorded in gene 23. All of the other genes within this section aligned at least %90 with another phage gene in the database; this is due to the genes being structural proteins, which will be similar to most mycobacteriophage in Cluster A1. Functions of genes 12 to 15 significantly vary. Gene 16 functions as hypothetical protein, gene 17 to 19 are unknown. Genes 20 to 23 function as proteins relevant to tail assembly and communication. Life Science Poster Number 4: Kelsey Bullens Characterization of Left‐Ventricular Thrombus Formation Using High Frequency Ultrasound Heart failure is a leading cause of death in the United States, and cardiac thrombus, a common morbidity associated with heart failure, significantly increases a patient’s risk of embolic events. The objective of this project is to characterize left‐ventricular (LV) thrombus development using high frequency ultrasound imaging in a murine model. C57BL/6J wild‐type mice (n=6) were injected intraperitoneally with iron dextran five times a week for six weeks to increase oxidative stress in the heart. Granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF) was subcutaneously injected daily during the second week to initiate stem cell migration and stimulate endothelial cell activation, thus increasing the hypercoagulability state of the blood. A high‐frequency, small animal ultrasound system (Vevo2100, VisualSonics FUJIFILM Inc.) and a 40 MHz central frequency transducer were used to track LV thrombus progression and evaluate LV function weekly. Four out of six mice developed thrombus, but no significant differences in LV performance were observed when compared to mice that did not form a thrombus. Further investigation is necessary to study the role of attenuated heart function on thrombus formation. Future work will incorporate a murine model of myocardial infarction to investigate if a severely compromised heart increases the risk of or accelerates LV thrombus formation. This study will aid in identifying patients who are predisposed to thrombus formation following a heart attack, leading to more effective prevention and treatment methods. Life Science Poster Number 5: Ashlyn Burns Public Perceptions of Entomophagy & Viability of Sustainable Insect Farming As the global population continues to grow, food security becomes an increasing concern. In order to meet rising demand for food production, finding new methods of sustainable 2017 Undergraduate Research & Poster Symposium – Abstracts 4 agriculture is more important than ever. The benefits of consuming insects are clear but often overlooked in Western cultures. This research study attempted to understand the psychological barriers preventing insects from being exploited as a food source, and surveyed public attitudes towards eating insects in order to determine if entomophagy has the potential to be accepted in the United States. This study also explored the viability of an insect microfarm rearing mealworms for human consumption as a form of sustainable agriculture in order to combat food security. Life Science Poster Number 6: Yufan Chao Effect of probiotic feeding on lipid oxidation stability and heat shock protein activity in breast muscle from chickens exposed to chronic heat stress Heat stress is an environmental stressor reducing the productivity and meat quality of broiler chicken. Our recent study found that the supplementation of dietary probiotics could ameliorate meat quality defects of heat‐stressed chicken. However, underlying mechanisms of probiotic feeding for enhancing oxidation stability have been unknown. Heat shock proteins (HSPs), which are chaperon proteins produced in response to heat stress, could be potentially related to oxidation stability in skeletal muscle by interfering with apoptosis