Fostering a Community of Student Scholars

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Twelfth Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium Celebrating Undergraduate Scholarship and Creativity

15 May 2009 MARY GATES HALL 12:00 – 5:00 PM

PROCEEDINGS

Created by the Undergraduate Research Program with the support of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, the Office of Research, the Mary Gates Endowment for Students, and the UW Alumni Association.

Dedication

In memory of Celia Kelly, a talented undergraduate researcher, colleague, and friend

! The Twelfth Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium is organized by the Undergraduate Research Program (URP), which facilitates research experiences for undergraduates in all academic disciplines. URP staff assist students in planning for an undergraduate research experience, identifying faculty mentors, projects, and departmental resources, defining research goals, presenting and publishing research findings, obtaining academic credit, and seeking funding for their research. Students interested in becoming involved in research may contact the URP office in Mary Gates Hall Room 120 for an appointment or send an email to [email protected]. URP maintains a listing of currently available research projects and other resources for students and faculty at: http://www.washington.edu/research/urp/.

Janice DeCosmo, Director Jennifer Harris, Associate Director Tracy Nyerges, Special Programs Coordinator and Adviser Jessica Salvador, Graduate Staff Assistant Joy Kim, Undergraduate Student Assistant

The Undergraduate Research Program is a unit of the University of Washington’s Undergraduate Academic Affairs UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON TWELFTH ANNUAL UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

OUTSTANDING MENTOR AWARDEES & NOMINEES ...... 8 POSTER PRESENTATION SESSION 1 ...... 13 ORAL PRESENTATION SESSION 1 ...... 74 1A. Engineering Developments ...... 75 1B. Wetlands, Wildfires, Bugs, and People ...... 76 1C. Postmodern Physics ...... 78 1D. Through a Global Lens: Shifting Contexts of Identity, Culture and Politics ...... 79 1E. Psychological Perspectives ...... 81 1F. Neurobiology: Excitability, Development and Disease ...... 83 1G. Developmental Genetics of Human Disease ...... 86 1H. Social Science Foundations to Global Policy Issues ...... 88 1I. Profiles of Place: Locus, Identity and Sociocultural Codes in Metropolitan Seattle ...... 90 1J. Globalization, Governance, and Citizenship ...... 92 1K. Health Monitoring of Biological Systems ...... 93 1L. Neural Systems: From Genes and Cells to Behavior and Disease ...... 96 1M. Molecular and Cellular Biology ...... 98 1N. Beyond Earth ...... 100 1O. Genes, Biomolecules, and Evolution ...... 102 1P. Linguistic and Rhetorical Research ...... 104 1Q. Peace, War, and Politics ...... 106 1R. Beyond Embodiment: Movement, Object, Experience ...... 108 POSTER PRESENTATION SESSION 2 ...... 112 ORAL PRESENTATION SESSION 2 ...... 173 2A. Adventures in Computer Science ...... 174 2B. Environmental Ethics, Religion, and Education ...... 175 2C. Mathematics in the Applied and Computational World ...... 177 2D. Back to the Future: What Yesterday Can Tell Us About Tomorrow ...... 178 2E. Bioengineering Challenges and Solutions ...... 180 2F. Gene and Drug Delivery ...... 183 2G. Race, Ethnicity, and Identity: Community Implications ...... 186 2H. Physical and Chemical Influences on Marine Microbes ...... 188 2I. The Digital Humanities and Technology-Focused Cultural Research ...... 190 2J. World Financial Crisis: An Exploration of Components of the Crisis ...... 193 2K. Nutrients, Longevity, Tissue Maintenance and Renewal ...... 194 2L. Environmental Futures ...... 197 2M. Combating HIV ...... 199 2N. Immune Response and Pathogen Detection in Aquatic Organisms ...... 201 2O. From Balsamroot to Dungeness Crab: Studies of Human Impacts on our Environment ...... 202 2P. Fish Biology and Changing Environments ...... 204 2Q. Better Living through Light and Chemistry ...... 205 2R. Intracellular Mechanisms Mediating Disease ...... 208 2S. Researching Performance/Performing Research in Dance, Music, and Theatre ...... 211 INDEX ...... 213 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 226 PLEASE NOTE: Abstracts are listed alphabetically by the presenter’s last name, unless otherwise noted. ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS!

Undergraduate Research Program To learn more about how to get involved in undergraduate research, the Undergraduate Research Program maintains a listing of current research opportunities available at: http://www.washington.edu/research/urp. Other URP opportunities include the Amgen Scholars Summer Program, the Summer Institute in the Arts & Humanities, as well as courses and workshops. URP staff offer individual advising to undergraduates; email [email protected] for an appointment.

Travel Awards for Undergraduates to Present Research Students who have had a paper or poster accepted to a national conference may apply for funding for travel expenses and registration fees. Applications are accepted on a continuing basis. For more information visit: http://www.washington.edu/research/urp/students/urcta.html. Sponsored by the UW Office of Research, the Undergraduate Research Program and the Mary Gates Endowment for Students.

Mary Gates Research Scholarships These competitive research scholarships are available to enhance the educational experiences of students in all disciplines who are engaged in research closely guided by UW faculty. The next application deadline is in autumn 2009. For more information visit: http://www.washington.edu/uaa/mge/ Funded by the Mary Gates Endowment for Students.

Washington Research Foundation Fellowships & Levinson Emerging Scholars Awards (Application deadline: Monday, June 1, 2009) These scholarships support advanced undergraduate researchers (with at least 3 quarters of prior research experience) who work on creative and sophisticated science, engineering, and biotechnology- related research. For more information and application visit: http://www.washington.edu/research/urp/students/funding.html Funded by the Washington Research Foundation and Art & Rita Levinson.

Library Research Award for Undergraduates The University Libraries’ Library Research Award for Undergraduates competition recognizes UW students who produce significant inquiry requiring use of information resources, the library, and its collections. Application deadline: May 18, 2009. For more information visit: http://www.lib.washington.edu/researchaward/ Funded through the Kenneth S. Allen Library Endowment and the Friends of the Libraries. Through my research, I was able to travel and work with children. I loved going to a new place and learning so much valuable information from the people I worked with. I am also proud that I can give something back to that community. Without my project, I would not have been able to accomplish so much.

-Jessica Chandras, Senior, Anthropology

The most rewarding part of my research experience has been to be able to apply text-book concepts in genetics and molecular biology that I would have only had the chance to read about in classrooms. Today I’m actually performing these assays myself!

-Harpreet Dhaliwal, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular & Developmental) The Undergraduate Research Program and UW Alumni Association Congratulate the 2009 Undergraduate Research Mentor Awardees

For excellence in guiding undergraduates to become scholars.

Martha M. Bosma Associate Professor of Biology

James E. Gawel Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma

Matt R. Kaeberlein Assistant Professor of Pathology

Sheri J.Y. Mizumori Professor and Chair of Psychology

Jentery F. Sayers Graduate Student in English

Undergraduate Research Mentor Awards are sponsored by the University of Washington Alumni Association Undergraduates Honor Their Mentors A selection of nominations from undergraduate researchers

Professor Bosma has been extremely supportive, kind, and generous with her knowledge. She keeps the laboratory atmosphere laid back, but always pushes us to apply our knowledge to our projects. She is very understanding of the concerns of undergraduates but still maintains high expectations for us. Professor Bosma should receive this award because of the atmosphere of learning, understanding and knowledge she fosters in her laboratory.

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As a mentor Jentery Sayers constantly pushes his students to exceed expectations while never demanding perfection. His project-based approach to classroom learning drives students to be competent in both theory and practice. These are difficult fronts to cover, but through computer integration of the classroom Jentery succeeds in creative approaches to authoring, responding, teaching, and feedback to students. The projects that I have developed under him have been an invaluable stepping stone in my academic progress. His emphasis on revision, collaboration, and student feedback should be the standard at this University: it is something I have come to expect from my professors and higher education.

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Professor Schlamminger should be praised for his investment in his students. He seeks to grow my skills as an experimenter. He makes my goals his goals for our work together. When I began talking with him about working with the group, I mentioned my desire to apply for the Mary Gates Research Scholarship. Prof. Schlamminger decided that, since I wanted to apply for the award, I should have a self-contained project to call my own. He was eager to help with my application and rejoiced with me when I received the award. He values my contribution to the research. I was both impressed and delighted by his decision to skip a large regional conference in order to come and hear me give my little 10-minute talk at the Symposium.

! Undergraduates Honor Their Mentors A selection of nominations from undergraduate researchers

Nadine was a constant source of support and energy to our entire task force team throughout our research. She was a driving force behind getting us to Ottawa to conduct interviews that really made our research top notch. Our team’s time in Canada was a truly memorable experience in large part because of Nadine’s enthusiasm for helping us excel at our research.

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Sapna is TRULY the most amazing mentor and guide. I feel comfortable with her because she is excited to help however she can and has given me advice in many areas beyond our project! She makes it seem like she doesn’t have an entire lab with 12+ members, multiple Graduate students and another Honors student. Now multiply that individual care by 15 because she makes everyone else in her lab feel the same importance. She allows the perfect mix of challenge and support to help us develop. She is clearly happy to help, but she always ensures that it’s myself that’s in the driver’s seat. She is a role model, too. I see her at all the educational opportunities I attend, whether it is lectures on or off campus and never is she without such perfect questions. I have worked under many PIs before and Sapna is above and beyond them all in her kindness, intelligence, and in her desire to help students grow!

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Rachel Chapman has gone above and beyond her role as my mentor! Over two years, Rachel has fostered my growth as a young researcher and scholar. She has supported me through my honors research project and graduate school preparation. Her rigorous expectations have challenged me to work harder and become a better researcher. Her passion and commitment have been the sources of my inspiration. Rachel believes in my success therefore pushes me to higher limits. I would not be presenting at the 2009 Undergraduate Research Symposium without her guidance and support.

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Dr. Daniel has been incredibly supportive throughout my research career in his lab. He upholds a friendly environment and encourages students to voice any questions or concerns they may have regarding their research or project. He devotes equal time to every personnel member in the lab, whether they are post-bac, grad students, or undergrad. Dr. Daniel has allowed me to chase my goals without restrictions and wants to see his students succeed. It is for these reasons that I think Dr. Thomas Daniel should be awarded the outstanding mentor award. The Undergraduate Research Program and UW Alumni Association Honor the 2009 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award Nominees

Daniel Schindler ~ Arzoo Osanloo ~ Gabrielle Rocap ~ Joyce Dinglasan-Panlilio ~ Karl F. Bohringer ~ Steven Roberts ~ Joshua Bandfield ~ Megan Dethier ~ Ludmila Moskal ~ Steve Hauschka ~ Bo Zhang ~ Gregory Wilson ~ John Hansen ~ Catherine Carr ~ Shahram Vaezy ~ Sian Davies-Vollum ~ Jim Gawel ~ Paul Nghiem ~ Benjamin Kerr ~ Sharon Doty ~ Maya Gupta ~ Jiangyu Li ~ Matt Kaeberlein~ Nadine C. Fabbi ~ Benjamin Hall ~ Michael Stiber ~ Kristin Swanson ~ Toshiyuki Ogihara ~ Thomas Quinn ~ Ralina Joseph ~ Sheri Mizumori ~ Michael Murias ~ Michael Reese ~ Janelle Taylor ~ Susan Joslyn ~ Tom Daniel ~ Frances Contreras ~ David McDonald ~ Chris Laws ~ Martha Bosma ~ Rachel Chapman ~ Stacy Betz ~ Melissa Grinley ~ Alex Horner-Devine ~ Nikolai Tolich ~ Nancy Rivenburgh ~ Christian Sidor ~ Billie Swalla ~ Alexander Mamishev ~ Alicia Wassink ~ Munira Khalil ~ Cheryl Greengrove ~ Suzanne Hawley ~ Ufuk Ince ~ Baya Friedman ~ Charles Hirschman ~ Steven Pfaff ~ Raphael Bernier ~ Xiaohu Gao ~ Roberto G. Gonzales ~ Jashvant Unadkat ~ Kimberlee Gillis-Bridges ~ Scott Hauck ~ Leo Pallanck ~ Jason DeLeon ~ Barbara Wakimoto ~ Uri Shumlak ~ Stephan Schlamminger ~ Vincent Gallucci ~ Jennifer Nemhauser ~ John Ravits ~ Buddy Ratner ~ Paul Quay ~ Jentery Sayers ~ Steven Goodreau ~ Derek Wood ~ Jennifer Salk ~ Sapna Cheryan ~ Robert Smith ~ Rebecca Price ~ Lalita Ramakrishnan ~ Celeste Berg ~ R.J. Wilkes ~ James Bassuk ~ Lorenz Hauser ~ Brian Flinn ~ Horacio de la Iglesia ~ Joanne Wang ~ Eric Klavins ~ Dorothy Paun ~ Frederick Buckner ~ Marisa Sylvester ~ Teresa Mares ~ Justin Siegel ~ Daryl Haggard ~ Virginia Manner ~ Rob Burke ~ Meghan Halabisky ~ Ursula Valdez ~ Kaishi Wang ~ Christian Hendershot ~ Richard Frock ~ Emily Howe ~ Candace Brown ~ William Grady ~ Mike Karl ~ Michael Town ~ Snow Peterson ~ Catherine Blish ~ Arminda Suli ~ Elsa Raibon ~ Lynne Jones ~ Heather Dungan Lemko ~ Jeremy Riedel ~ Tim McGinnis ~ Mark Matsushita ~ Unique Opportunities: Students Talk About Research

What did research allow you to do that you wouldn’t have done otherwise?

I get to study exactly what I am most interested in because I am working on a project that was entirely my own idea. In my opinion this is by far the most rewarding and worthwhile way to learn.

It has helped me become better at planning and recording what I do. It has forced me to gain practice with public speaking, something that I normally avoid. I have been able to work with experts in the field – my mentors – and use advanced equipment – evaporating metal is pretty neat!

I was given the opportunity to really own my work, be a part of a research team, and be an author on a paper to be published in a scientific journal. Without this undergraduate experience I may not have discovered my interest in research until much later or at all.

My project, in particular, has taught me to constantly reevaluate the things I hold to be true, and that this world is not static, giving us endless opportunities to learn about the new.

My research experience showed me that the more you learn, the more you learn that you don’t know! It takes a lot of time and commitment to do great and helpful research and because of my research I got to learn an amazing amount of material.

I learned how a dance can be used as a tool for social change and to think about movement in ways that are different from my previous experiences.

I was able to make connections with faculty that I would not have been able to make.

Research has definitely been one of the greatest experiences of my undergraduate education – it has taught me that I am indeed capable of anything that I set my mind to! POSTER PRESENTATION SESSION 1 12 NOON - 1PM POSTERS WILL BE ON DISPLAY UNTIL 2:30PM

PLEASE NOTE: Abstracts are listed alphabetically by the presenter’s last name. Footnotes: Crowdsourcing Hikers to Preserve and of SPWM deficits in several psychiatric disorders, such Maintain our Trails as Parkinson’s Disease and Schizophrenia. SPWM is Dong-Jin Ahn, Senior, Informatics strongly functioned by the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and Kevin Merritt, Senior, Informatics the hippocampus (Hip). Recently it has been specifically Benjamin Fields, Senior, Informatics emphasized that the prelimbic area (PL) of PFC plays an Mentor: Batya Friedman, Information School active role in SPWM. Moreover, it has been suggested Mentor: David Hendry, Information School that spatial learning heavily depends on the Hip-PL cir- Over the last two years over 40 million young adults cuit. Despite these findings, further investigation is still went on hikes all over the United States, while volun- necessary to clarify the mechanism of Hip-PL circuit’s teer organizations contributed 80,000 hours maintaining involvement in purely SPWM activities. In this study, these trails annually. Despite these numbers, trail main- the role of PL in SPWM will be studied by measuring tenance still lags behind trail use. All of these young the SPWM ability of mice with inactivated PL. Precisely hikers represent an unrealized opportunity to improve localized bilateral PL inactivation was achieved by re- the system of trail preservation. The way current sys- versible inactivation, involving bilateral local microinfu- tems solicit and aggregate trail information (e.g. send- sions of muscimol, a GABAA agonist, in PL. After the ing an e-mail to a trail organization about a problem) infusion of muscimol, followed by food deprivation of inadequately facilitate this important job. To design a the mice, SPWM was assessed using a plus-maze task. more flexible trail reporting process, this research and Investigating the Influence of Dust Aerosol on the design project investigates the use of crowd-sourcing, a Atmospheric Sulfur Budget in the Marine Boundary technique through which the public helps capture and Layer Using Oxygen Isotope Measurements of systematize large amounts of data. An assessment of Sulfate Aerosol and a One-Dimensional Box Model user needs was obtained by conducting six informal in- Helen Amos, Senior, Atmospheric Sciences terviews with leaders of hiking and trail maintenance Mary Gates Scholar groups and by evaluating key current reporting systems. Mentor: Becky Alexander Suess, Atmospheric Sciences A combination of GPS coordinates, pictures, and the hiker’s intuition were found to generate the most helpful Sulfate is an important chemical species in the atmo- reports. Based on this data, our system was developed to sphere and may be formed by various oxidation path- record everything from wildlife to trail conditions. Foot- ways. A one-dimensional box model was constructed to notes consisting of a mobile application running on GPS investigate the relative importance of six different sul- enabled iPhone, allows hikers to tag “notes” with geo- fate formation pathways using oxygen isotope tracers. graphic location data. Different trail problems and is- Boundary conditions (e.g. temperature, pressure, oxi- sues are categorized, so it helps the users can easily re- dant concentrations) for the box model are specified by port it when they encounter trail issues. We developed GEOS-Chem, a 3-D global chemical transport model. an interactive prototype and website to display a com- Our particular study is concerned with gas-phase oxida- prehensive view of trail conditions for hikers and land tion by OH; in-cloud oxidation by O3,H2O2, and O2 managers. Later, we invited 5 participants to test the (metal-catalyzed); and oxidation by O3 on dust and sea- mobile interactive prototype. Based on their feedback, salt aerosols. Each oxidant is assumed to have a unique we made several design changes which made the appli- anomalous enrichment of δ17O relative to δ18O, which cation easier to use along the trail. With the ability to is quantified according to the expression ∆17O = δ17O aggregate trail information for land managers, Footnotes – 0.5* δ18O. The ∆17O signature of each pathway is is intended to expedite trail maintenance. By harnessing reflected in the sulfate that is subsequently formed (e.g. the hiking community through mobile reporting, a more sulfate formed by O3 oxidation has ∆17O ˜9 whereas accurate log of trail conditions can be established. sulfate formed by OH oxidation has ∆17O = 0 ). To de- termine what the ∆17O of an atmospheric sulfate aerosol Effects of Muscimol Reversible Inactivation of the might look like, the model adds together the mass- Prelimbic Area on Spatial Working Memory weighted ∆17O contributions from each of the six sul- Lisa Akiyama, Senior, Psychology, Biology (Molecular, fate formation pathways. Model estimates of the ∆17O Cellular Developmental) of a sulfate aerosol may then be directly compared to Mentor: Sheri Mizumori, Psychology ∆17O measurements made in the laboratory on a stable Spatial working memory (SPWM) is a specific type of isotope mass spectrometer. We will present a box model- ∆ working memory that temporarily stores and manipu- based interpretation of measurements of 17O(SO42-) lates incoming spatial information. The function of from aerosols collected off the west coast of the Sahara SPWM is essential in human life, and SPWM deficits desert in order to quantify the impact of dust aerosol have devastating effects on humans. Prefrontal cortical emissions on the sulfur budget in the marine boundary malfunction has been pointed out as the plausible cause layer.

14 Contingency Management for Stimulant Use for the high resolution steerable guidewire with eyes allows di- Severely Mentally Ill rect interductal visualization, which can significantly aid Kevin Aranas, Senior, Environmental Health in early detection and treatment of pancreatic ductal ade- Mentor: Michael McDonell, Psychiatry Behavioral nocarcinoma. To demonstrate safety of the new device, Sciences a comparison study is being conducted using a synthetic Contingency management is an intervention where op- pancreas with embedded force sensors. Synthetic pan- portunities for rewards are earned by people for not using creas with a duct was constructed using soft silicone rub- drugs. The goal of this study is to determine the effec- ber material, which has similar mechanical properties to tiveness of contingency management in the reduction of the actual pancreatic tissue. The duct was made accord- stimulant drug use among the severely mentally ill pop- ing to the dimensions and shape of an average human ulation. The study involves 12 weeks of treatment where pancreatic duct, which is about 15 cm long and 2-4 mm people come in three times a week and earn opportuni- in diameter. Two different types of small force sensors ties for rewards for not using stimulant drugs. Partici- considered for the model were piezoelectric and piezore- pants must be suffering from drug addiction and men- sistive force sensors. Due to inherent poor characteris- tal illness. The screening for stimulant drug use is ac- tics of piezoelectric material for low quazi-static mea- complished through urine analysis. Participants who are surements, piezoresistive sensors were chosen for mea- abstinent from drugs earn a chance to draw for prizes. suring forces on the pancreas during insertion. A com- Rewards are based on taking draws, which utilizes a parison will be made between the forces involved in the variable-ratio schedule of reinforcement. The variable- standard ERCP procedure versus using our new steerable ratio schedule involves the absence of pattern in obtain- guidewire with eyes using the synthetic pancreas. ing reward. In this study, that absence in pattern is ac- The Social and Political Transformation of the complished through draws. Variable-ratio reinforcement Latino Populations in the White Center and South is utilized to help maintain a behavior (drug abstinence) Park Neighborhoods, 1970-Present and reduce cost (not give out a reward at every time). Charysa Beeman-Varela, Senior, American Ethnic After 12 weeks, participants are followed for 3 months Studies without being in treatment to measure the length of time Katherine Viola, Junior, American Ethnic Studies the effects of the treatment last. Then, contingency man- Kelsey Bramer, Sophomore, Pre-Arts agement is compared to a control condition. A novel Wendy Grande, Junior, Communication component of the study is that it is being implemented Mentor: Erasmo Gamboa, American Ethnic Studies in a community mental health center. This is being done in order to increase the generalizability of study findings Seattle’s White Center and South Park neighborhoods and to quickly disseminate the treatment if it is found to have historically been home to industrial workers, farm- be effective. ers, low-income families, and European and Asian immi- grants. Since the 1970s, however, these neighborhoods Pancreatoscopy Using Steerable Guidewire With have witnessed a large influx of Latino migration and Eyes immigration. By the time that the Latino population Alexander Babchanik, Senior, Mechanical Engineering began to grow, for various reasons, these areas of the Mentor: Eric Seibel, Mechanical Engineering city had high levels of poverty and crime. Our project Mentor: Cameron Lee, Mechanical Engineering studied how Latinos, one of the area’s largest popula- Pancreatitis is the most common complication after en- tions, has transformed and improved the social and struc- doscopic retrograde cholangiopancreotography (ERCP) tural ecology of White Center and South Park. Latinos which can be lethal. As a result, the popularity of ERCP have become major participants in the community and has declined over the past decade. Development of pan- implemented programs such as community health cen- creatitis can be partially attributed to the damage caused ters, opened up businesses, and organized to enhance the by contact between the pancreatic duct tissue and the quality of public education. In order to map the trans- tools inserted over a standard guidewire without endo- formation taking place in South Park and White Cen- scopic visualization. One way to prevent pancreatitis is ter, our research examined census maps, school enroll- to use a recently developed steerable guidewire with eyes ment trends, and business directories. As a way of doc- for ERCP, an ultrathin scanning fiber endoscope (SFE), umenting how Latinos are impacting these communities, rather than standard guidewire. The SFE has a relatively oral histories were collected from people connected to high resolution by acquiring 500-line images at 30 Hz the areas as well as old and recent photographs of long frame-rate while being only 1.2 mm in diameter with standing buildings in the community. Finally, the re- a 9 mm rigid tip length. SFE also has a wide field of search calibrated the Latino population in South Park and view with electronic zooming capability. Although the White Center with the larger context of Latino immigra- 0.9 mm standard guidewire is smaller in diameter, the tion to the U.S. and Seattle. In effect, the project car-

15 ried out both quantitative and qualitative research in or- The Role of Hypoxia in Germline Stem Cell Division der to study how Latinos have converted the two neigh- and Maintenance in Drosophila Melanogaster borhoods for the better. Our project demonstrates how Jacqueline Benthuysen, Senior, Biochemistry global immigration and migration processes can result Mary Gates Scholar in significant local change. We hope that through our Mentor: Hannele Ruohola-Baker, Biochemistry study, others can understand how immigrants and mi- Mentor: Ellen Ward, Biochemistry grants can improve marginalized neighborhoods. Just as Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are thought to contribute to important, in the process of revitalizing their communi- progressive tumor growth in hypoxic, or low oxygen, ties, our project discloses how Latinos have become cat- environments. In Dr. Ruohola-Baker’s lab at the In- alysts to their own empowerment. stitute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, post- Effect of Temperature on Respiratory Exchange doctoral fellow Julie Mathieu has shown in unpublished Ratios Kinetics in Trained Male Athletes data that hypoxia could be a key factor in the ability Benjamin Lovelace, Senior, Exercise Science, Seattle of human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) to remain un- Pacific University differentiated. This, however, has not been tested in Mentor: JoAnn Atwell-Scrivner, Exercise Science, adult stem cells. Because adult stem cells are difficult Seattle Pacific University to study in mammals, my work in the Ruohola-Baker lab involves the study of the germline stem cells (GSCs) in Much of the research to date observing the relationship the ovary of the Drosophila melanogaster, a model sys- between substrate utilization and exercise has been con- tem that can be easily manipulated genetically. Similar ducted under thermal neutral conditions. Physiologi- to the importance of hypoxia to the division and mainte- cally, it is clear, that temperature, specifically extreme nance of HESCs and CSCs, we have hypothesized that heat, directly impacts the hormonal and cardiovascular the GSCs may need hypoxia to properly divide and re- systems. These acute hormonal and cardiovascular adap- main in the niche, the environment with which GSCs tations, in turn, manipulate the metabolic and bioener- survive. To study this, we knocked out the subunits of getic networks that govern substrate utilization. Addi- the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF-1) homolog, tango tionally, an athlete’s muscle and hepatic glycogen, as an and sima, which are required for survival of a cell in hy- energy resource for working muscle, is limited in capac- poxic conditions. We made homozygous mutant cells ity. Once an athlete transitions from a combination of for the genes tango and sima and we overexpressed HIF lipid and carbohydrate substrate, to a primarily carbo- Prolyl Hydroxylase (HPH), which degrades HIF-1 alpha hydrate substrate, time quickly becomes the enemy as an (sima) in a normal oxygen environment. By observing athlete will run out of carbohydrate resources in about 90 how many GSCs remain in the niche compared to con- minutes. Full depletion of muscle and hepatic glycogen trols using fluorescence microscopy, we can determine can lead to a severe energy imbalance followed by a heat if GSCs require HIF-1 to survive and divide properly as related illness. The combination of these two reactions stem cells, suggesting they are maintained in hypoxia. can end an athlete’s day or even their life if the necessary The initial results suggest that HIF-1 is important to the precautions are not followed. This current research study niche cells, which send signals to the GSCs to remain in will be presented orally and will include observations of the niche and divide appropriately. Determining the role 2-4 collegiate male soccer players [18-24 yr] cycling at of HIF-1 in GSC division and maintenance will allow us 70% VO2 maximum under a thermal neutral (20C) con- another way of studying the importance of hypoxia to the dition, and elevated temperature (40C). Respiratory ex- progression of tumors and the differentiation of HESCs. change ratio kinetics will be measured during cycling at 70% VO2max to pinpoint the speed at which an athlete Large-scale Energy Efficiency in Utility Distribution transitions from a combination of carbohydrate and lipid Planning: Methods and Techniques for Successful substrate, to a primarily carbohydrate based substrate. Infrastructure Deferral Emphasis in this investigation will focus on the speed Alexander Berres, Senior, Electrical Engineering at which these metabolic adjustments take place. This Mentor: Alexander Mamishev, Electrical Engineering research project hopes to add to a growing interest in the As population grows across the country, the demand for field of bioenergetic advancements that specializes in the electricity increases. In order to accommodate these body’s ability to adapt to heat regulation. The ultimate new loads, utilities are forced to build more infrastruc- goal is to contribute to updated safety standards for ath- tures. Planning, building and operating new substations letes participating in a wide variety of sports in varying are very expensive for utilities. Rather than support new temperatures around the world. loads through construction of new equipment, many util- ities are looking to alternate strategies of demand re- duction. One method of demand reduction practiced by many utilities around the world is end-use energy effi-

16 ciency. Energy efficiency projects at electric utilities are school and undergraduate students, a demographic that focused on arbitrary locations around a utility’s service Sage has heretofore not actively cultivated. Through in- territory. This helps to relieve demand on generation, depth lessons, examples, and practice problems, the tu- but does not help to relieve strain on regional distribu- torial warmly familiarizes the reader with Python—the tion substations that are getting close to their capacity. language behind Sage—and the concepts of calculus. In If energy efficiency projects could be focused in regions developing the tutorial and the website that houses it, served by substations nearing their capacity, it may be feedback from professors and graduate students involved possible to slow load growth and defer future substation with Sage was critical in shaping a high-quality product, upgrades, saving utilities money on investment capital. as was my own knowledge of HTML, Javascript, and cal- There are several barriers blocking successful integra- culus. The tutorial is now used internationally in educa- tion of distribution planning and energy efficiency. Dis- tional settings as a teaching resource and aide. tribution planners need to accurately forecast load and determine customer type breakdown in a specific area to Keeping Lines Clear: IV Flushing Techniques in determine whether the area is suitable for large-scale en- Practice ergy efficiency projects. They also need to be able to Liana Brown, Senior, Nursing quickly compare the economic advantages of energy ef- Mentor: Karen Thomas, Family Child Nursing ficiency approaches versus traditional infrastructure im- Intravenous (IV) therapy is a common intervention in provements. This research focuses on development of hospitals. IV access allows for the administration of accurate long-term load forecasting methods for regional life-saving fluids and drugs. Once established, a periph- areas. A software tool program for forecasting load will eral intravenous line can typically be used for three days. be developed based on data provided by local utilities. Keeping an IV line patent for this duration can be a chal- It will employ time series regression and artificial neural lenge. When an IV is no longer being used for a contin- networks to accurately forecast regional substation loads. uous infusion, it is often left in the patient for intermit- This will serve as one piece of the solution required for tent use, this is called a saline lock. Nursing interven- distribution planners to make decisions in regards to al- tions aimed at maintaining the patency of saline locks ternative solutions. include not only routine flushing but flushing techniques Sage: A Free, Open-Source Mathematics Software known as the push-pause method and clamping the line Program with positive pulse pressure. These techniques help to re- Elliott Brossard, Sophomore, Computer Science move debris and keep the line patent for longer periods of Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant time. There has been ample research in determining the Scholar most effective solution to use for routine flushing and the Mentor: William Stein, Mathematics volume needed to flush. However, there is little research on flushing techniques. The lack of research to support Current fully-functional computer algebra systems are these methods has led to inconsistent hospital protocols generally expensive and closed-source. Sage is a free and for flushing techniques. The purpose of this project is open-source alternative to such systems, and encapsu- to evaluate the evidence for flushing techniques in pe- lates a variety of free mathematics libraries in an object- ripheral IV lines and perform an audit of local hospital oriented, user-extensible Python environment. Led by policies. A critical review of literature was performed Associate Professor of Mathematics William Stein at using PubMed, CINAHL, and T.R.I.P databases yielding the University of Washington, Sage’s development team six pertinent articles. Protocols for flushing techniques is a world-spanning combination of student employees, were then audited from five local hospitals. The results professors, and other contributors. Primary methods of of this critical review indicate that the evidence for flush- use comprise browser-based interaction with a Sage web ing techniques is based on expert opinion and clinical ex- server, textual command line input/output, and embed- perience. Three out of five hospitals had instruction for ded Sage code in LaTeX documents. Applications of their nursing staff on flushing techniques to maintain pa- Sage include calculus, algebra, geometry, number the- tency. This critical review of literature and audit of pro- ory, graph theory, combinatorics, data analysis, research, cedures in hospital policies suggest that more research in and many other aspects of math and the sciences. Sage this area needs to be done to establish an evidence-based also acts as a front-end to installed commercial com- practice for flushing techniques in saline-locked periph- puter algebra systems such as Mathematica, Magma, and eral IV lines. Maple, allowing the user to capitalize upon the unique functionality or performance of one system in tandem with Sage or others. I wrote a comprehensive web-based tutorial on both beginning calculus and Sage. The goal of the tutorial is to promote the use of Sage among high

17 Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging as a Tool for ington, St Josephs Medical Center and Tacoma General Probing Pathogenic Protein-Carbohydrate Hospital. Each of these public mission statements reflect Interactions the symbols, premises, and rules of the larger system of Jesse Burk-Rafel, Senior, Bioengineering organized medicine in the US; nevertheless, each hospi- Mary Gates Scholar tal is founded upon opposing social patterns leading to Mentor: Daniel Ratner, Bioengineering a secular or a religious value base, this is demonstrated Mentor: Shivang Dave, Bioengineering within the speech of the mission statements. These Enteric pathogens – including protists, bacteria, and unique codes are tools used to influence staff and there- viruses – cause millions of infections globally each fore affect patients. St. Joseph Medical Center is a faith- year. Diagnostics for characterizing host-pathogen inter- based organization; this is stated explicitly in its mis- actions and therapeutics to disrupt these interactions are sion statement. This hospital’s deliberate ideology is re- desperately needed to reduce the global burden of dis- flected in a vocabulary of morality that is central to the ease. Many of these interactions are mediated by protein- statement. Tacoma General Hospital’s mission statement carbohydrate binding events at the intestinal wall. Ad- is, in contrast with that of St. Joseph’s, a very secular ditionally, flow conditions of pathogens past carbohy- statement. It appears that both statements are addressed drate surface receptors have been shown to greatly in- to the same community causing many shared values, fluence binding dynamics. Thus, to develop effec- though stated through different codes of communication. tive therapeutics in vitro modeling must mimic physi- Speech Code Theory helps reveal the codes and mean- ological flow conditions yet be sensitive, specific, and ings of each statement, affirming several unique speech high-throughput. A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) communities and their dimensions within the larger com- imaging platform, in conjunction with microfluidic tech- munity of Tacoma, Washington. Using these statements nologies, is explored as a means for accurately assess- I was able to examine how the hospital defines: itself, ing protein-carbohydrate interactions between whole- the community it is based in, its relationship with that cells under physiological flow conditions and immobi- community, and modern healthcare system standards. lized ligands. Specifically, type I fimbriated Escherichia Molecular Dynamics Simulations of p53 Cancer coli expressing the adhesin protein FimH are exam- Mutants for Drug Design ined. FimH is known to mediate E. coli binding through Sara Calhoun, Senior, Bioengineering interactions with immobilized mannose structures in a Mary Gates Scholar shear/flow-dependent fashion. The ability of our plat- Mentor: Valerie Daggett, Bioengineering form to detect specific binding interactions whose ki- Mentor: Peter Anderson, Biomedical Health netics depend on flow conditions is assessed by testing Informatics variants of the E. coli with mutated or absent FimH pro- teins.Specific E. coli binding via FimH – mannose (pro- The tumor suppressor p53 is a transcription factor in- tein – carbohydrate) interactions can be reliably detected volved in many important signaling pathways, such as on our platform. Continued work and potential modi- apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest. Over half of human can- fication of our platform is needed to show that binding cers lose p53 function by a single nucleotide mutation in behavior can be modulated by shear conditions. Suc- its gene. Although structures of some p53 mutants have cessful development of our SPR imaging platform to de- not been determined experimentally due to low struc- tect binding interactions under conditions mimicking the tural stability, the structural effects of a single amino- physiological environment of the human body will be an acid change can be predicted using molecular dynamics invaluable step towards subsequent development of opti- (MD) simulations. We have performed MD simulations mized therapeutics. of wild-type p53 and 19 common cancer mutants. Differ- ent single amino-acid changes in the core domain of the Speech Codes in Secular and Faith-Based Hospital protein result in a variety of structural changes. Simula- Mission Statements tions have shown that a few mutations disturb the over- Cherie Cabrera, Junior, Social Sciences, Evening all structure of the protein while other mutations have a Degree Program local effect on the DNA-binding site. Previous experi- Mentor: Gerry Philipsen, Communication mental studies suggest that p53 mutants that affect the The Speech Codes Theory is an important heuristic for overall stability are potential targets for drug rescue by a understanding the structure of communication in partic- small molecule drug. We will use our understanding of ular communities (Philipsen 1997). This theory helps the structural conformations of p53 mutants as a basis to the researcher recognize the social construction of com- design an effective anticancer drug that can bind mutants municative conduct within certain speech communities. and restore function. Speech Codes Theory was applied to the mission state- ments of two healthcare systems based in Tacoma, Wash-

18 Addressing the Mumps, Measles, Rubella Vaccine (= mining the region of origin of a unique marker found MMR-Vaccine) and Autism Debate: A Theory of in a sample of the low elevation (var. insularis) pop- Planned Behavior ulation. Also, as was shown by the previous study of Nicole Calian, Graduate, Germanics Rhododendron macrophyllum done by Wenyu Zhou, dis- Margie Nicklos, Junior, Psychology persal of ancestors of R.macrophyllum (one of the clos- Mentor: Melissa Grinley, Psychology, North Seattle est relatives of R.catawbiense) ocurred from Asia across Community College the Bering land bridge in Eocene times, with south- R.caucasicum, The Theory of planned Behavior (TpB) by Icek Aizen ward migration during the Oligocene. R.aureum R.brachycalyx (1988) is based on the constructs of attitude, subjective and , the three other close rela- R.catawbiense norm and perceived behavioral control. This study ap- tives of , are native to Asia. Thus it will be plies Aizen’s theory to immunization behaviors of par- interesting to use DNA sequence relationships between ents in response to the ongoing debate on the causal rela- these five species to test the hypotheses that ancestors of R. catawbiense R. macrophyllum tionship between the MMR vaccine (Mumps, Measles, and , or a common an- Rubella) and autism. Specifically, we investigate par- cestor of both, migrated from Asia to North America. ent’s attitudes towards the MMR vaccine as well as their Characterization of Unique Ionic Liquid Gas perceived control over their decision to immunize their Chromatography Columns children. Subjective norms were measured using Seat- Tyler Carter, Senior, Chemistry tle School District data. An anonymous questionnaire Brian Fitz, Senior, Chemistry (ACS Certified) was distributed to parents at two elementary schools in Mentor: Robert Synovec, Chemistry the Seattle metropolitan area, at the Little Gym, at North Seattle Community College, and online through an email Gas chromatography is a method of chemical separation list that serves parents (Kinderstube.org). We expect to used to quantitatively determine the presence and/or con- find an inverse relationship between believing in a link centration of analytes (compounds of interest) within a and inoculating children against the vaccine. This infor- complicated chemical mixture. Chromatographic exper- mation could provide important information about pre- iments are important in a wide range of applications in- dicting and understating health behavior for medical pro- cluding environmental studies, determination of the pu- fessionals and public health officials. rity of pharmaceuticals, and even criminal investigations. A gas chromatograph instrument relies on a chromatog- Study of the Evolutionary Relationships among raphy column to achieve separation of the individual ana- Rhododendron Catawbiense Populations Using lytes. The chromatography column consists of a thin sil- Molecular Markers ica capillary tube coated with a complex chemical matrix Chuan Cao, Junior, Exchange - Arts Sciences know as the stationary phase. The ionic liquid columns Mentor: Benjamin Hall, Biology which were studied utilize a stationary phase with one The species Rhododendron catawbiense, native to the or more cationic functional groups bound to a ridged eastern United States, is named after the Catawba tribe of organic backbone. The ionic nature of these columns Native Americans in the southeastern states. It is a dense, causes them to retain polar analytes. Most commer- rounded shrub, 1-3 meters high. The leaves are evergreen cially available stationary phases are nonpolar and have and flowers are usually lilac-purple, occasionally pinkish a high affinity for compounds such as n-alkanes. Hav- or white with faint spots. Given the wide and patchy dis- ing stationary phases available which separate more po- tribution of R. catawbiense from south Virginia to north- lar compounds creates an opportunity to separate ana- ern Alabama, DNA variation is expected via mutations lytes chromatagrpahically which may coelute on a tradi- unique to individual populations and fixation of these tional column. Other polar stationary phases are avail- DNA changes through genetic drift. These differences able but most tend to thermally decompose above 250C. can be scored using PCR- amplification of DNA regions The unique structure of these ionic liquid columns allows followed by sequencing or by electrophoretic analysis of them to remain stable to ˜350 C, allowing for the sepa- fragment size. Six genes have been studied with sam- ration of a much wider range of analytes. The unique ples acquired from the Rhododendron Species Botani- cationic funtional group utilized in each of the ionic liq- cal Garden and so far five DNA markers had been iden- uid columns also provides for the unique retention of tified for ascertaining different genotypes. Further re- specific classes of analytes, and creates the opportunity search on this project will require collecting (in early to study new and exciting properties of the natural world. spring) samples from populations across the range of R. Indigenous Language and the Construction of catawbiense and classifying them using the genotypic Identity in Oaxaca, Mexico markers I have developed. The goals of this project Jessica Chandras, Senior, Anthropology include finding out whether the Northern or the South- Mentor: Jason De Leon, Anthropology ern population of R. catawbiense is ancestral and deter-

19 Language is key in the construction of identity. This Mitochondrial DNA Sequencing and Mutation Rate is especially true among bilingual children who must in the Naked Mole Rat: Studies of a Model of negotiate the use of two languages according to par- Exceptional Longevity ticular contexts and situations. Building upon Break- Tony Chen, Senior, Neurobiology well’s (1992) social psychology studies of the self and Mary Gates Scholar Fuller’s (2007) observations of bilingual children, this Mentor: Peter Rabinovitch, Pathology study explores the role of indigenous language use in the Mentor: Jonathan Wanagat, Medicine construction of identity among indigenous youth at the As the longest-lived rodent, the naked mole rat (NMR), Casa Hogar Benito Juarez orphanage in Oaxaca, Mex- Heterocephalus glaber, has an average lifespan of ap- ico. The state of Oaxaca has the highest number of in- proximately 28.3 years. With species of similar size and digenous language speakers in Mexico. My research ex- same phylogenetic order (such as the rat and mouse) hav- plored the relationship and implications of indigenous ing a lifetime of 3-4 years, the NMR exhibits ten-fold language use in the construction of children’s identities. longer lifespan compared to its closely-related cousins. I focused specifically on how levels of fluency in an in- The current theories of aging propose that increased ox- digenous langugage influenced how children perceived idative stress and increased mutations in the mitochon- themselves. I proposed that high levels of fluency would drial DNA (mtDNA) contribute to aging and age-related reflect high levels of shame, or vice versa. Data were diseases. The NMR, on the contrary, has actually much collected using a combination of interviews and partici- higher oxidative stress despite its extended longevity. pant observation of the interactions of children both with Consequently, there is significant interest in the NMR for peers and adults. I found that levels of fluency displayed studies on aging and age-related diseases, specifically its in the children’s respective indigenous languages had mtDNA which has not been sequenced. So far, isola- no strong correlation with emotions of pride or shame, tion and amplification of the mtDNA using polymerase which suggests that other factors such as age, gender, chain reaction have been achieved. Genome sequencing and ethnicity may be stronger influences on identity for- using the traditional method of dye-terminator sequenc- mation. ing is currently underway. Once completed, compari- Searching for Star Clusters son of the NMR mtDNA to that of other closely-related Rebecca Chang, Sophomore, Pre-Engineering species will help answer whether or not changes in the Laroy Chase, Freshman, Pre-Engineering genome can explain the increase in oxidative stress, and Mentor: Stephanie Gogarten, Astronomy test the current oxidative-stress theory of aging. Next, Mentor: Julianne Dalcanton, Astronomy a Random Mutation Capture assay can be carried out to determine the mtDNA mutation rate in young and old Clusters are the birthplaces of stars, but many of them do NMRs. The assessment of mtDNA mutation rate will al- not last very long - the intense radiation from the newly- low for comparisons across species and correlations to formed stars dissolves the gas in the cluster, and the stars lifespan. Therefore my current research focuses on three gradually drift apart. Other clusters can survive for bil- main steps: (1) sequence the NMR mtDNA, (2) compare lions of years. The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) the NMR mtDNA sequence to that of other species, (3) Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury (ANGST) has Hubble adapt an assay to detect mtDNA mutation load in NMR Space Telescope images of many nearby galaxies of dif- mtDNA. Despite the inevitable impact of aging on all of ferent types, with such high resolution that we can iden- us, its biological processes still remain a mystery. For tify individual stars as far as 12 million light-years away. this reason, the ultimate objective is to understand the Finding all the star clusters in these galaxies can tell us mechanism underlying the aging process so we can elu- about the rate at which clusters form in galaxies of dif- cidate innovative and therapeutic applications to improve ferent types, and the rate at which these clusters are de- healthspan. stroyed. We will examine color images of the ANGST galaxies to find star clusters, and record their positions, Probcast Usability Study sizes, and brightnesses. The resulting catalog of star Gin Chieng, Senior, Psychology, English clusters can be used to investigate the relationships be- Sam Ford, Senior, Psychology tween star clusters and galactic environment, and corre- Mentor: Susan Joslyn, Psychology late our observations with images at other wavelengths, such as ultraviolet and infrared. This poster reports a usability study of a probabilistic weather forecast website. The objective of this research was to examine how well people can extract and un- derstand information from the website. The Probcast website (www.probcast.com) is the only fully probabilis- tic weather website. It provides uncertainty information that gives upper and lower bound of a forecast. An ex-

20 ample would be a forecast of a daytime high tempera- a woman’s diya came to be interpreted as half that of ture of 86 degree, with an upper bound of 90 degrees a man’s. Then, in the second half, it will explore con- and a lower bound of 82 degrees. The upper and lower temporary jurisprudential debates among Islamic legal bound are defined in an explaining that 1 time in 10 scholars who argue for reforming this disparity. chance the temperature will be above (upper bound) or below (lower bound) these values. A talk aloud pro- Halting the Havoc of HIV in the “Land of Smiles”: cedure and screen monitoring were used to assess par- HIV/AIDS Prevention Campaigns in Thailand ticipant’s understanding of uncertainty information. A Kira Conrad, Senior, Nursing, Individualized Studies, total of 17 undergraduate students participated in this Spanish study. There were two parts of this procedure, an ex- Christy Park, Senior, Nursing, Communication ploration phase in which participants planned an outdoor Mentor: Gail Johnson, Psychosocial Community trip using the Probcast website, and a specific informa- Health tion search phase in which they were asked to identify Despite successful prevention campaigns in the 1990’s, specific pieces of information on the Probcast website. HIV/AIDS rates have been on the rise in Thailand. Cur- Participants were able to find the basic information they rent data reports an estimated 610,000 Thai people liv- needed to create outdoor plans, but had trouble finding ing with HIV and approximately 31,000 deaths from specific information and understanding the uncertainty AIDS in 2007. This study addresses the following re- information displayed. Participants were also unsure of search questions: What populations in Thailand are at how the deterministic (daytime high) forecast related to greatest risk for HIV transmission? What are the fac- the upper and lower bounds. Participant’s ability to nav- tors influencing the changing rates and demographics? igate and use the website was good and there were rel- How are these groups and changes being addressed? A atively few errors caused by the usability of the website review of the literature was conducted using PubMed, itself; however, most error came from misunderstanding CINAHL, and ProQuest. Twenty-one articles were iden- the information of the probabilistic forecasts (upper and tified. Epidemiological and statistical data was found lower bounds). Displaying uncertainty in weather fore- through websites including World Health Organization, casts is challenging, but presenting uncertainty informa- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and tion would be helpful for everyday decision making as Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Review. In Chiang well as for severe weather warning. Mai, Thailand we interviewed 21 outreach workers at the New Life Family Friends Center (NLFFC). We also Conceptualizing Gender Status and Criminal interviewed the founder and three student leaders in- Sanctions in a Sharia Framework volved in a school based sex education program for Thai Cynthia Chiu, Senior, Law, Societies, Justice youth at 10 schools in the Northern provinces of Thai- Mentor: Arzoo Osanloo, Anthropology land. The literature review identified two high-risk sub- In Islam, Sharia (Islamic religious law) dictates the ways populations, youth and MSM (men who have sex with in which Muslims should lead their life, spanning from men). HIV volunteers identified the following factors acceptable meals to sexuality and morality. Sharia dif- for the rise in HIV transmission: government funding fers from Western concepts of law because it is shaped cuts, lack of public visibility of the risks, and the success as a social discourse rather than a state establishment. of treatments. Both the literature review and interview States with Sharia influenced laws demonstrate con- data confirmed the need for comprehensive sex educa- founding concepts of personal injury law and criminal tion programs to prevent HIV transmission among Thai law. From this conflation, tensions in punishment and youth. A harm-reductionist approach was taken by both justice emerge. Criminal sanctions in countries with of the community organizations visited. Based on the Sharia based legal systems show discrepancies in appli- literature, analysis of the interviews and observations of cation to men and women. For instance, under Sharia, the community organizations, the most effective inter- when an individual is murdered the perpetrator’s family vention strategies were: education, peer support, and ca- is required to pay a “blood price” or give “blood money”, pacity building. These strategies were applicable to both referred to as diya, in restitution to the victim’s family. high-risk populations identified. Future research should While the Qur’an does not directly speak to diya, le- include comprehensive program evaluations of preventa- gal interpretation has over time expressed the value of tive efforts to determine effectiveness of programs. a woman’s diya as half that of a man’s. This gender dis- Parental Receptivity to HPV Vaccination and parity demonstrates a conflict with Western human rights Availability in the Seattle Area values. Understanding legal justifications for this dispar- Megan Costa, Senior, Individualized Studies, ity is important to the status of women in the countries Anthropology with Sharia influenced systems. This project will first Mary Gates Scholar explore the historical and cultural bases through which Mentor: Steven Goodreau, Anthropology

21 crimes, abortion rates, and public opinion, we more thor- Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted oughly examine the frame through which media portrays disease that can lead to genital warts, lesions, cervical crime news. We expect to find that the media presents cancer, and several other forms of reproductive cancers. crime stories with a marked emphasis on the victim. In A recently released vaccine protects against the 4 major addition, we expect to find that policy makers, as media types of HPV and can lead to 70% fewer cervical can- consumers are also affected by media coverage of crime, cer cases. There are currently about 20 million cases of evidenced by the type of policies they form and enact. HPV in the United States. In most cases, the body can Zine Library Comprehensive Research Survey & clear the infection without individuals ever knowing they Discussion contracted the virus. Other cases may result in more out- Owen Curtsinger, Senior, English (Creative Writing) ward signs of infection, such as genital warts. A three- Mary Gates Scholar dose vaccine was released in 2006 that protects against Mentor: Lisa Fusco, Information School four major types of HPV linked to reproductive cancers. This vaccine is suggested for females aged 8-12. Vacci- Zines are often defined as any independently published nation before sexual debut allows for maximum efficacy, booklet that artfully blends text and imagery and is pro- though it has sparked debate among parents and policy- duced and distributed by hand. Perhaps the most defin- makers. Some parents are concerned receiving the vac- ing characteristic of zines is that they are not produced cine may encourage children to behave more promiscu- out of the need to reap commercial profit. Zine collec- ously than they would otherwise, and many believe they tions and libraries in the United States have, since the have taught their children values that keep them from late eighties, have become a large agency for the re- needing the vaccine. However, the high prevalence of search and expression of alternative media. Because of this particular STD and the potential consequences of an this volunteer-based structure, as well as their relative infection may put even those with only one partner at infancy in the world of library and information sciences, risk. The HPV vaccine is currently included in the Vac- many fundamental logistics of maintaining a zine library cine for Children (VFC) program in Washington State, have not been thoroughly and formally researched. This which allows free vaccine for all children below age 19. study seeks to understand the different ways that zine VFC offers free vaccination when a child visits a health- libraries function and how they are structured and orga- care provider, which uninsured individuals may lack. nized. My project proposes to conduct a survey of ev- Given the vaccine is free and parents must provide per- ery known zine library currently existing throughout the mission, this study measures parental receptivity to both United States, gathering information on the logistics of the vaccine and voluntary vaccination in schools through each library such as collection development statements, a cross-sectional survey. Identifying parental motivation membership, patronage statistics, preservation, and out- for vaccination and their preferred location of adminis- reach programs. Data is collected from such surveys that tration allows for the creation of programs acceptable to are given to people managing zine libraries. Findings parents, which may increase vaccination rates and lower serve as an analysis of zine libraries as well as a refer- cervical cancer and HPV rates in King County. ence for a growing community of zine librarians.

The Mass Media and U.S. Crime Policy: How Examining Ethnicity, Acculturation and Loss of Media’s Frame on Crime Coverage Led to the Rise Face as Correlates of Drinking Behavior in Asian in Punitive Crime Policy Americans Christopher Cunningham, Senior, Political Science Kattie Dang, Recent Graduate, Psychology Elizabeth St Clair, Senior, Political Science, French Mentor: William George, Psychology Heeyoung Park, Senior, Political Science Mentor: Christian Hendershot, Psychology Mentor: John Wilkerson, Political Science Mentor: Asaph Glosser, Political Science Asian ethnic subgroup and acculturation are important factors in understanding drinking behaviors of people In the United States, research indicates that the public re- originating from Asia. Korean ethnicity and accultura- ceives most of its news about society and politics through tions have each been implicated as risk factors for drink- private media sources. For these media, the need to gen- ing among Asian Americans. An additional cultural fac- erate a profit does not necessarily encourage objective tor that has not been examined in relation to drinking reporting of events. One reported effect of the profit mo- behavior is loss of face (LOF). Loss of face is defined tive is a tendency towards over-reporting of highly sensa- by a culturally based construct that involves a concern tional news. Our study looks at media coverage of crime about losing one’s socially sanctioned claims and ful- from 1973-2002. While controlling for other possible filling one’s social roles as a member and representa- influences on incarceration rates such as economic sta- tive of a group. This study examines the effect of eth- bility, actual crime rates for both non-violent and violent nic subgroup and acculturation on drinking behaviors as

22 well as examines the possible predictive value of LOF. using alumina and evaporated again to 1 ml. Finally, this A total of 182 University of Washington students partic- concentrated extract is analyzed to find the concentra- ipated in a study of drinking behavior. The sample con- tions of PCBs or PBDEs by Gas Chromatography/Mass sisted of 67 Korean participants (28 males, 39 female) Spectrometry. The result of this experiment will be com- and 115 Chinese participants (58 males, 57 females). pared to the previous studies and the Environmental Pro- Participants’ age ranged from 18 to 27 years old with a tection Agency standard level of PCBs and PBDEs. mean of 20.2. Students completed web-based measures of drinking behaviors, cultural factors, and demograph- Repetitive Elements in Chromosome 19 MicroRNA ics. Result showed that Korean participants scored sig- Cluster may Facilitate Transcription of Human nificantly higher on drinking measures than Chinese par- Embryonic Stem Cell Specific miRNAs ticipants. Differences between levels of acculturation, Geoffrey Darby, Senior, Biology (Physiology) however, did not significantly influence drinking behav- Mary Gates Scholar iors. Tests that examined interactions between accultur- Mentor: Bradford Stadler, Biochemistry ation and ethnic subgroups also showed no significant Mentor: Hannele Ruohola-Baker, Biochemistry differences in levels of acculturation between different MicroRNAs, miRNAs, are small, endogenous, genes ethnic subgroups. LOF also did not significantly influ- that have the ability to regulate the expression of genes ence drinking behaviors. These results support previous bearing complementary sequences. MiRNAs have been findings in that Korean ethnicity could be a risk factor shown to play numerous roles in regulating developmen- for drinking. However, association of acculturation with tal, metabolic, and maintenance pathways in both so- drinking behaviors reported in other studies was not seen matic cells and stem cells. Although most miRNAs are here. Additional research is needed to clarify the con- expressed by RNA polymerase II, recent data suggests ditions under which cultural factors influence drinking that a cluster of human embryonic stem cell-enriched behavior. miRNAs on chromosome 19 may be expressed by RNA Bioaccumulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants in polymerase III. It is hypothesized that Alu family repet- Fish from the Thea Foss Waterway, Tacoma, WA itive elements interspersed throughout this region of the Hoang Dao, Senior, Environmental Science, UW chromosome are responsible for expression of the neigh- Tacoma boring miRNAs. Our project aims to demonstrate that Mentor: Joel Baker, Center for Urban Waters, UW these Alu sequences are indeed facilitating expression of Tacoma the miRNAs in this chromosomal cluster. The project is specifically examining the mechanism for Alu-induced The Thea Foss waterway is an industrialized waterway expression of the miRNAs, as well as the factors regulat- of Commencement Bay, Tacoma, Washington, which ing this process in human embryonic stem cells. was the focus of a significant remediation and restora- tion project to remove contaminated sediment. The Thea The Effects of Local Warming of Surgical Incisions Foss still receives significant quantities of stormwater Allyne Delossantos, Senior, Biology (General) runoff, however, and its sediments contain elevated lev- Mentor: JoAnne Whitney, Biobehavioral Nursing els of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the flame Health Systems retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). Fish Mentor: Margo Perrin, Biobehavioral Nursing Health are exposed to and accumulate these chemicals via the Systems food web. Ingestion of PCBs and PBDEs at sufficiently high rates may affect both humans and aquatic organ- My research project focuses on a sub-analysis of the isms. Recreational fishing in the Thea Foss waterway is Warming Study, a clinical trial funded by the National common, and these fish may be an important part of the Institutes of Health that is evaluating the effects of warm- diets of some local residents. To evaluate this risk, the ing pad application to surgical incisions in relation to purpose of this study is to determine concentrations of wound healing and infection. My sub-analysis will focus PCBs and PBDEs in skinless fish muscle tissue from En- on the pain scores, wound evaluations, and tissue oxy- glish Sole at the Thea Foss waterway and from a control gen levels of the patients enrolled in the Warming Study. site in the Nisqually River. English Sole were collected In a previous study conducted by Ozan Akca et al, the in 2005 and 2007 by the Washington Department of Fish data shows that poorly managed pain (higher pain score) and Wildlife. In the laboratory at the University of Wash- correlates with reduced tissue oxygen levels, which is ington, Tacoma, 5 grams of fish muscles tissue without related to an increased incidence of surgical wound in- skin are extracted with solvent using accelerated solvent fection. The purpose of my project is to see whether extraction (ASE). The extract is evaporated about 5 ml the same relationship is found with our data. First, I in a TurboVap concentrator at 30 degree Celsius and 15 will analyze the pain scores of all patients at three time psi of nitrogen pressure. Next, the solvent is cleaned up points: PACU, post-op day 1, and post-op day 2. Next, I will compare the pain levels between patients based

23 on the type of surgery they had undergone (weight-loss, coli O157:H7 in forest soils after septage application colon or gynecological). Then, I will look at the sub- could pose a serious human health risk, particularly in set of patients who were randomly assigned to have their the initial period after application or when septage is ap- tissue oxygen levels measured and look at that data to plied near streams. To investigate the possibility that see whether oxygen levels correlate with pain. Lastly, I pathogenic E. coli could survive this treatment and per- will look at the patients with wound infections and com- sist in forest soil after septage application we sampled pare their pain and oxygen levels to the patients with no managed stands at Pack Forest that received experimen- wound infections. If a similar correlation exists, then my tal septage applications between 2006 and 2007. We results would reinforce what Acka et al. had found, and sampled a total of 80 soil samples from six managed it would imply that pain management is critical to reduc- stands that received septage and adjacent untreated con- ing surgical wound infection. trol stands at three different dates from February 2008 to January 2009. Bacterial genomic DNA was extracted Advances Towards Nanobioprotonics from soil and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was per- Yingxin Deng, Freshman, Exchange - Arts Sciences formed using rbfE-specific primers, a gene found only Mentor: Marco Rolandi, Materials Science in the pathogenic strain of E. coli. Positive PCR test re- Engineering sults were obtained from 7 of 8 septage-treated soils in Mentor: Jessica Torrey, Materials Science Engineering February 2008, but there were no positive results from Mentor: Stephanie Vasko, Chemistry July 2008 samples. In preliminary testing of the January Many nanoscale architectures are readily available in na- 2009 samples, four positive results were obtained out of ture, and several exhibit potential technological applica- the 20 soils tested in five different stands. The ability to tions. In this project, the suitability of collagen fibers detect DNA specific to pathogenic E. coli in soils more for devices based on bioprotonics, the conduction of pro- than two years after application is cause for concern, al- tons through biological materials, is being investigated. though presence appears to be inconsistent and viability Collagen is a fibrous natural material occurring in tissue, has yet to be determined. cartilage, and bone. It is theorized that protons can trans- The Potential Costs and Benefits of Two Seed late along the nanoscopic channels of hydrogen-bonded Predating Biocontrol Agents on Cytisus Scoparius water present in hydrated bio-fibers; this phenomenon Jonathan Deschamps, Senior, Biology (Ecology, may result in semiconducting behavior. In order for Evolution Conservation) this technology to be applicable to advances in computa- Mentor: Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Biology tion technology, the long range protonic movement along these fibers must be investigated. Bulk rat tail collagen The use of natural enemies as biological control agents of is dissolved, fibrillated, and aligned on a silicon dioxide invasive species is a controversial subject among conser- wafer. Palladium contacts are deposited on top, creating vation biologists. Proponents argue that biological con- biowires out of the deposited collagen. The conductiv- trol agents can control invasive species at lower densi- ity of the fibers is measured to ascertain the functional- ties without the aid of harmful pesticides or strenuous ity and reproducibility of these devices at different tem- physical labor while opponents argue that biological con- peratures and humidity. Potential applications of these trol agents are just too dangerous because they posses hydrated fibers include biological transistors, protonic the potential to harm non-targeted species. In the Pa- wires for bio-based sensors, and as replacements for the cific Northwest two species of seed predating beetles— membranes in hydrogen fuel cells. Bruchidius villosus and Exapion fuscirostre—have been introduced from Western Europe as biological control Persistence of E. coli 157: H7 in Forest Soils at Pack agents of the invasive legume Cytisus scoparius (Scotch Forest after Septage Application broom) which is of special ecological and economic con- Kimberly Dennett, Junior, Environmental Science, UW cern because it 1) prevents forests from regenerating by Tacoma, Tacoma Dual Enrollment outcompeting tree seedlings for resources and 2) because Mentor: Erica Cline, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, it increases the nitrogen levels in soils and thereby al- UW Tacoma ters native plant communities that are adapted to low nu- Mentor: Gregory Ettl, Forest Resources trient soils. In order to investigate both potential bene- Mentor: Matthew Ridgway fits (i.e. negative impacts on an important invader) and Septage has recently been proposed as a suitable fertil- costs (i.e. negative impacts on native plants) of introduc- izer for forests. Before application, septage is limed to ing B. villosus and E. fuscirostre as biocontrol agents, raise the pH to12 and eliminate microbes and pathogenic seed pods were collected from C. scoparius and native bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, but the effectiveness legumes (Lupinus spp and Vicia spp) in both a major ur- of this treatment under field conditions has yet to be ban park and a South Puget Sound prairie. Seed preda- thoroughly evaluated. The persistence of pathogenic E. tion by the two biocontrol agents on the seeds in these

24 pods was quantified. For C. scoparius, seed predation Critical Enzymes in DNA Damage Response - RNF8 estimates were incorporated into existing population ma- and its New Partners trix models that can project population growth rates. Re- Katja Dove, Senior, Biochemistry sults were used to determine i) whether biocontrol agents Mary Gates Scholar have negative impacts on native legumes ; and ii) how Mentor: Rachel Klevit, Biochemistry the introduction of these seed predating beetles affects Mentor: Catherine Eakin, Biochemistry C. scoparius the population growth rates of . Ubiquitin is a small signaling protein that is involved in Life Cycle and Evaluation Criteria in Engineering nearly all aspects of cell biology including but not lim- Students’ Design Processes ited to protein degradation, apoptosis, endocytosis, and Joseph Douglas, Senior, Civil Engineering DNA damage repair. Ubiquitin attachment to a target Yang Du, Senior, Biochemistry, Chemistry protein involves an enzymatic cascade of three enzymes: Johanna Hayenga, Senior, Bioengineering Ubiquitin activating proteins (E1), Ubiquitin conjugating Laura Julich, Junior, Chemical Engineering proteins (E2) and Ubiquitin ligases (E3). The ultimate Charlene Reyes, Recent Graduate, Electrical fate of an ubiquitinated substrate depends on the topol- Engineering ogy of the poly-ubiquitin chain formed. Substrates with Mentor: Ken Yasuhara, Center for Engineering a Lys48 linked poly-ubiquitin chain are sent to the pro- Learning Teaching teasome for degradation, while substrates with a Lys63 linked ubiquitin chain are recognized and involved in The NSF-funded Center for Advancement in Engineer- DNA damage repair. One of the E3s central in form- ing Education includes the Academic Pathways Study ing Lys63 linked ubiquitin chains on substrates during (APS). This longitudinal study surveyed, interviewed, DNA damage repair is RNF8. It has been shown that and administered design tasks to engineering undergrad- RNF8 interacts with the E2 Ubc13 to form Lys63 fol- uates at four institutions as they progressed through their lowing DNA damage. Here, we show that RNF8 also education. The students were given a design task regard- interacts with other human E2s including Ube2w. In ing a dangerous intersection for pedestrians in their sec- addition, using BRCA1 as the E3 ligase the Klevit lab ond year (153 students) and in their fourth year (66 stu- has posed a new theory for how Lys63 polyubiquitin dents). They were asked to provide solutions to the prob- chains are formed. In order for BRCA1 to form Lys63 lem and an evaluation of their “best” solution. This work polyubiquitin chains with the Ubc13 the substrate must extends our group’s prior research on design by focusing first be “primed” by transfer of a single ubiquitin by the on how students evaluate potential solutions. Although Ube2w. To investigate whether this mechanism can be the engineering education literature discusses courses generalized for other E3s we performed similar activity and methods for teaching design extensively, there is lit- assays with RNF8. Our results show similarities between tle research on undergraduates’ breadth in design with BRCA1 and RNF8 activity. This strengthens our under- respect to life cycle and evaluation criteria. Our first in- standing of general ubiquitination mechanisms and en- quiry assesses student consideration of a design at each hances our knowledge about DNA damage repair. stage of its “life cycle” by coding responses for discus- sion of status quo, design and construction, solution in Design of a Self Sufficient Scalable Water place, and solution maintenance and disposal. Our sec- Purification and Desalination System ond inquiry focuses on criteria used to evaluate solutions, Kenneth Doyle, Senior, Materials Science Engineering e.g., safety, cost, and implementation. Our research Huy Ta, Senior, Materials Science Engineering questions examine differences in life cycle consideration Mentor: Brent Goodwine, Technical Communication or evaluation criteria in students of different class stand- Mentor: Raj Bordia, Materials Science Engineering ing or gender, and the degree to which each gender’s re- There is an estimated 1.1 million people in the world who sponses change between their second and fourth years. don’t have access to clean water. Lack of clean water is Preliminary results suggest that only 25% of second-year the cause of many diseases in these areas. Many have students and 35% of fourth-year students consider ei- looked to the ocean as a source of water to solve this ther the design and construction or solution maintenance problem. In order to turn seawater into water that can be and disposal stages of the life cycle. While second-year used for human consumption or irrigation, it must be de- women were more likely than men to consider design salinated. The majority of the desalination plants in the and construction in their evaluation, the gender differ- world are large in scale and typically use large amounts ence narrows in the fourth year. Our motivation for this of energy. Aside from this, they can only function in very study is to observe the progression of students’ engineer- specialized and expensive infrastructures. The objective ing education concerning breadth of scope. With this, of our research is to design a sustainable water desalina- we hope to help shape engineering education to better tion device that is scalable. Our solution is a desalination develop these abilities. device that is scalable, requires no external power source

25 and very little maintenance. This is made possible by that achieve passive droplet transport by vibration along utilizing both the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radi- microscopically-rough surfaces and active droplet sort- ation given off by the sun. From the sun’s IR radiation, ing by electric signals. The super-hydrophobic surface we will be able to generate power using a sterling engine ratchet and EWOD plate sandwich a droplet; when vi- coupled with a parabolic dish concentrator. The elec- brated the device adopts passive droplet transportation tricity generated from the sterling engine will be used to via the surface ratchet. The EWOD technology is uti- desalinate saline water solutions. This device will drasti- lized at particular junctions to produce several droplet cally improve both the livelihoods of the people it serves specific control functions, including the combination and the environment. of a new ratchet design with an EWOD plate to de- velop a switch (serving the same purpose as a switch Mysterious Disturbance of a Stellar “Frisbee” in train tracks) that sorts 10 µl droplets at a junction. Zachary Draper, Freshman, Pre-Engineering We have implemented a device that takes advantage of Mentor: John Wisniewski, Astronomy surface ratchet’s passive transport characteristics, and A “Be” star is a main sequence B class star which has EWOD’s droplet specific control. Using the integrated H-alpha in emission rather then absorption. These stars system, we have demonstrated three critical functions have gaseous circumstellar disks, which can dissipate that could greatly expand the applications of surface and regenerate over time. 60-Cygni is a “Be” star which ratchets. Now a device that functions primarily through we observed from 1992 to 2006, including a time pe- surface ratchet’s passive droplet transportation, moving riod where it lost its disk. Since the mechanism which several droplets over long periods of time, can be con- controls the disk formation around “Be” stars is not well trolled at specific junctions, stopping droplet flow with understood, studying these stars during disk degenera- a valve, moving droplets backwards with a flow reversal tion and regeneration can help us understand the disk’s device, and sorting droplets at a switch. properties in order to model the phenomenon. Our anal- The Influence of Salmon-Derived Nutrients on ysis of the data has shown that 60-Cyg’s disk loss oc- Juvenile Steelhead in the Elwha River, Washington curred over 750 days. We determined 60-Cyg’s binary Logan Dunphy, Recent Graduate, Aquatic Fishery companion is not responsible for the degeneration or re- Sciences generation of its disk because its orbital period of 150 Mary Gates Scholar days doesn’t match the disk loss time period of 750 days. Mentor: Daniel Schindler, Aquatic Fishery Science We also analyzed 60-Cyg’s spectrum in polarized light to Mentor: Sarah Morley, Northwest Fisheries Science help determine the spatial distribution and density of the Center, NOAA disk. A source of uncertainty to these observations is the effects of the interstellar medium or ISM. We use three Freshwater ecosystems adjacent to the North Pacific methods to overcome this problem; the “field star” tech- Ocean receive significant inputs of nutrients and energy nique, H-alpha line depolarization, and an assessment of from spawning populations of anadromous salmon. Re- the wavelength dependence of the polarization when the search over the last two decades has documented that disk is absent. These observations will be modeled to stream fishes benefit from this seasonally available, high determine the “Be” disk mechanism. quality subsidy. Declines in salmon runs have prompted concern that freshwater ecosystems may be receiving Integrating EWOD with Surface Ratchets For Active considerably less salmon-derived nutrients. On the El- Droplet Transport and Sorting Todd Duncombe, Senior, Electrical Engineering wha River, WA, dams have significantly reduced salmon Mary Gates Scholar runs and excluded them from most of the upper water- Mentor: Karl F Bohringer, Electrical Engineering shed. We added salmon carcasses to the Elwha River to test if this would increase salmon-derived nitrogen in ju- Surface Ratchets are a recently developed microfluidic venile steelhead and increase their body condition and device which achieves droplet transportation on an asym- energy density. Salmon derived nitrogen did increase metrically designed super hydrophobic surface when vi- marginally three months after the addition of carcasses. brated. This technology has the advantage of simplistic, However, energy content and condition factor did not in- reliable droplet transport with minimal actuation energy, crease following the carcass addition. These results sug- but lacks droplet specific control. Electricwetting on di- gest that juvenile steelhead may not have been limited by electric is a more traditional method of droplet trans- food but by other factors such as available habitat. Com- port which functions by applying an asymmetric elec- petition may have increased due to aggregation of steel- tric field on a droplet to alter the solid liquid surface head around carcasses thereby limiting the effect of the tension and pull a droplet towards the higher electric increased food resources at the individual level. Further field. Combining surface ratchets and electrowetting on research should examine how carcass additions may in- dielectric (EWOD) produces novel microfluidic systems fluence overwinter survival, movement and foraging pat-

26 terns. Our first phase analyzes and measures the charge pro- duced. The second phase quantifies the amount of elec- New Face, Post Race?: The Politics of Mixed Race tric charge that could be produced in a given amount of Identity and the Emergence of Post-Race Discourse mechanical stress. After quantifying these parameters Camille Elmore, Senior, Comparative History of Ideas, the next step will be to develop a suitable mechanism for Communication the electric harvesting process. After completion of the McNair Scholar development of this mechanism it will be tested in dif- Mentor: Ralina Joseph, Communication ferent areas. The harvested electric charge could be used Mentor: Audra Gray, Education in different areas to provide an electric power for various Mentor: Manoucheka Celeste, Communication electrical appliances. Racial identification in the United States has been con- ceptualized as a simple process, structured around cate- The Undocumented in Society: Comprehensive gorization in relationship to phenotypical features rather Theoretical Frameworks on Illegal Immigration Julian Estrada, Senior, Sociology than self-identification. Because of this limited and static Zesbaugh Scholar thinking, the concept of mixed race identity seems to be Mentor: Roberto G Gonzales, Social Work radically displaced, pushed to the margins of racial dis- course and left to only enter the spaces of black/or/white. Much of the recent scholarship on undocumented immi- This research project aims to understand on a histori- grants has moved towards new theoretical approaches on cal level why those who are multiracial, are unable to this topic, specifically the reception of undocumented in- appropriate their racial identity as black and white but side the borders. Meanwhile, established sociological are rather categorically fixed as one or the other. To theories have been discarded while this topic has been help illuminate this process through a significant case treated as a social phenomenon. In particular, undocu- study, this project examines the way in which the U.S mented immigrants themselves as a sampling frame have mainstream media has constructed the racial identifica- posed a problem for social scientists due to their illegal tion of Barack Obama, a mixed race man, as a singular status. Moreover, a pervasive politicized atmosphere has black subject - thus revoking his access to accurate self- drawn them further into the shadows. However, draw- representation and appropriation of his multiple identi- ing on established sociological theories and comparing ties. Therefore, this research projects seeks to question the experience of undocumented immigrants with expe- and understand the ways in which multiracial people are riences of other subordinate groups allows for a theoret- unable to appropriate their multiple identities simultane- ical reference and macro-analysis of undocumented im- ously and furthermore, how the media works to situate migrants. This paper revisits major sociological theories multiple identities into one monolithic category, limit- in the context of undocumented immigrants as a minor- ing the rights of self-representation. In addition to the ity while simultaneously comparing the experiences of former, the latter part of this project examines the “post- other subordinate groups as a cross-reference point in ab- race/race-less” discourse that has circulated in relation- sence of currently unavailable research methods. I use ship to Barack Obama and his ability to “transcend in- current literature on undocumented students and draw stitutionalized racism and/or racial discrimination” as a on ethnographic accounts of undocumented students in minoritzed body, a type of racial discourse, this research higher education at California universities. The end re- argues, that has been prompted by the mainstream media. sult of drawing on established theories, experiences of The methodology used in this research project utilizes a other subordinate groups, current immigration literature fusion of comparative content analysis and critical dis- and ethnographic accounts of undocumented students is course analysis of major newspapers (i.e., The New York merging point of old lines of thought with fertile ground Times, Washington Post, Seattle Times) that are used as for future research. secondary sources to analyze the media’s portrayal of Barack Obama’s racial identification. Currently, this re- Childhood Maltreatment and Tonic Immobility in search project is in its final phase of data collection. Female College Students Perry Firth, Junior, Pre-Sciences Piezo Electric Harvesting Mentor: Debra Kaysen, Psychiatry Behavioral Eshetu Eneyew, Senior, Mechanical Engineering Sciences Mentor: Jiangyu Li, Mechanical Engineering Women who experience Tonic Immobility (TI) or a In this project we are trying to analyze an electric har- freeze response during sexual assault experience more vesting mechanism using mechanical stress applied to a severe distress, higher self blame, a reduced response to piezo electric material. Using wind as source energy and psychopharmacological treatments, and engage in fewer converting this wind energy into mechanical vibration to help seeking behaviors post assault than women who do apply the required stress to the piezo electric material. not experience TI (Heidt et al., 2005). Recent literature

27 has found that over 52% of women who have experi- new insight into the relationships of Diplophos within enced child sexual abuse (CSA) report TI in subsequent the Stomiiformes. assaults (Heidt et al., 2005). It has been suggested that Optical Sensing with a Glass Fiber from the Deep CSA induces TI because CSA may diminish the victim’s Ocean perceived ability to escape thus inhibiting the likelihood Elliott Fray, Junior, Materials Science Engineering of resisting a future assailant (Heidt, et al., 2005). How- Mentor: George Mayer, Materials Science Engineering ever little research has examined whether other forms of childhood maltreatment also affect the TI response in The purpose of this study is to investigate the optical adult sexual assault. The present study examined child characteristics and biological significance of the basal physical abuse (CPA) and CSA as predictors of TI fol- spicules (fibers) found in the ‘glass sea sponges’ of the lowing a more recent sexual assault in a sample of col- phylum Porifera and class Hexactinellida. The Hex- lege women (n = 227) who had experienced adult sex- actinellidae are known as ‘glass sea sponges’ because ual victimization. Measures included the Tonic Immobil- their skeletons consist of fibers (spicules) of amorphous ity Scale (TIS; Forsyth et al., 2000), Sexual Experiences hydrated silica (glass containing water). In one example, Survey (SES; Koss & Gidycz, 1985), and the Traumatic the sponge Euplectella aspergillum has spicules which Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ; Kubany et al., 2000). appear to have wave guiding properties similar to single Sixty three percent of the sample had not experienced mode optical fibers. These spicules are important be- child maltreatment, 18% had experienced CSA, 10% had cause their optical and mechanical properties may prove experienced CPA, and 9% had experienced both. TI was attractive for medical fiber optics. In addition to the use predicted by CSA but not CPA, with women with past of basal spicules as anchorage for the sponge, it has been histories of childhood sexual abuse reporting higher TI proposed that they may capture light in the vicinity of following sexual revictimization. These findings suggest the sponge. Because the glass sponges have no known that it is not solely the effects of developmental stage of nervous system, and because many of the sponges live at first trauma exposure, nor is it necessarily prior exposure depths below 500m where there is no ambient sunlight, to inescapable trauma that may elevate risk of TI during it is theorized that the sponges may use their spicules adult sexual victimization, but rather that CSA may have to sense and respond to the bioluminescent light in their unique effects that are associated with elevated TI. surrounding environment. The intention of this study is to measure the amount of transmission for a range of Investigations into the Placement of the Genus light wavelengths in Hyalonema Populiferum (a larger Diplophos (Teleostei: Stomiiformes) using hexactinellid sponge) spicules. The data collected in this Neuroanatomical Characters test will be used to clarify the optical function of spicules Benjamin Frable, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences, in these sponges, and will be used to compare the opti- Biology (Ecology Evolution) cal properties of these spicules to modern fiber optics. Mary Gates Scholar To date, samples of the spicules have been prepared for Mentor: Christopher Kenaley, Aquatic Fishery Science optical analysis, and an adapter is being built to fit these Mentor: Ted Pietsch, Aquatic Fishery Science fibers onto a Newport RS-4000 Optical Table; where the The order Stomiiformes is the most diverse group of fibers can be tested with a single wavelength laser. In deep-sea fishes containing over 390 species. Many the future, it is our intention to modify a Lambda 9 spec- species of this group engage in ecological diel vertical trophotometer to test the spicules over a larger range of migration, inhabiting the epipelagic realm at night and wavelengths. returning to the depths during the day to escape preda- Child EEG and Maternal Depression tion. Although this group has been established as sister Nissa Freed, Senior, Neurobiology to all other neoteleosts, many taxonomic relationships Mentor: Sara Jane Webb, Psychiatry Behavioral within the order are still not completely resolved and a Sciences number of problematic taxa, such as Diplophos, remain Mentor: Emily Jones, Psychiatry Behavioral Sciences unplaced. The most recent work on the phylogenetic relationships of Diplophos places the genus as basal to Depression is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by all stomiiforms based on only six plesiomorphic charac- a wide range of symptoms which vary among individu- ters. Our previous work on lateral line neuroanatomy als; however, a growing body of research has identified in stomiiforms suggests a more derived placement of an electroencephalogram (EEG) profile that may help Diplophos due to several characters shared with more de- to identify patients at risk of depression. These stud- rived photichthyan taxa. In this study we expand on this ies have found that depression is associated with an in- by examining cranial nerve innervation, cephalic pho- crease in right frontal activation which is fairly stable tophore innervation, and, and possibly the histological within individuals and across age groups. In particular, composition of photophores. These characters will bring studies of maternal depression have shown a correlation

28 between right lateralized EEG in mothers and right lat- analysis will hopefully improve our understanding of the eralized EEG in their newborns, suggesting that lateral- Arctic sea ice mass budget, and will provide a founda- ization is at least in part a result of genetic or biophysi- tion to evaluate surface layer parameterizations in cli- cal factors rather than experience or learning. Children mate model simulations, which could lead to a more ac- with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may also show curate representation and prediction of the Arctic sea ice. right-lateralized neural activity (Dawson, 1986). Since there are higher rates of mood disorders in families with Topographic Mapping with LiDAR - A Summary of a child with ASD, it is possible that this lateralization is an Undergraduate Geospatial Technician Internship related to maternal mood disorders rather than directly to Aaron Frye, Senior, Geography ASD. To investigate this possibility, my current work in- Mentor: L. Monika Moskal, Forest Resources vestigates the correlation between maternal mood scores A research internship is a critical and career defining step and EEG data collected from their children in the Tod- in developing a professional portfolio as a geospatial spe- dler Assessment Project (TAP) study. This study in- cialist. One may have all the tools to their disposal, but cluded 38 children aged 18-30 months with ASD, typi- may lack the methods and means to use those tools. The cal development or general developmental delay. EEG following project describes one such experience with recordings were made while children viewed repeated Seattle’s Division of Aero-Metric Inc., which has grown 500 ms images of either their mother or a stranger. Moth- to be one of the largest photogrammetric and geospatial ers completed psychological surveys describing quality firms in the State of Washington. The internship focused of life adjustment and mood including the Brief Symp- on LiDAR data processing and topographic model gen- tom Inventory (BSI), Life Experiences Survey (LES), eration. LiDAR is an emerging geospatial technology, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), and also provided which uses airborne laser scanners to create highly accu- a detailed medical and psychological history. Data anal- rate digital terrain models (DTM’s). This new technol- ysis is ongoing. We predict a correlation between child ogy offers higher accuracy, extent, and efficiency over EEG and maternal mood scores in our study popula- traditional methods of acquiring DTM’s. Since LiDAR tion, potentially suggesting that maternal mood is a fac- is an emerging technology, it does not have a strong pres- tor that needs to be taken into account when analyzing ence in physical geography based courses offered, and as child EEG. a result, much research needed to be done by the intern Moisture Budget on Arctic Sea Ice to acquire the proper methods to manipulate the data. Hugo Froyland, Senior, Atmospheric Sciences When the technician receives the raw LiDAR data, it is Mentor: Stephen Warren, Atmospheric Sciences run through a series of post-processing algorithms that Mentor: Michael Town, Laboratoire de Glaciologie will classify the data coordinates into ground, vegetation, Geophysique de l’Environnement, CNRS/UJF gross errors, etc. It is then run through an extensive re- view, ensuring that no points were classified erroneously Perennial Arctic sea ice is experiencing decreasing in the previous step, and if so, correcting the software’s trends in both area and extent, including a record sum- errors. Finally, the data is prepped for the client, which mer ice coverage minimum in 2007. Sea ice is an im- could mean displaying the data as a topographic contour portant climate regulator, allowing for a high reflectivity map, a gridded digital elevation model, an intensity re- of incoming radiation which maintains the cool temper- turn image, or as a plain XYZ text tile. In conclusion, the atures of the Arctic ocean, as well as providing a source internship offered the opportunity to prepare for a solid of saline water which affects overturning of the ocean as foundation in a geospatial career, beyond the fundamen- well as ocean circulation. Moisture is transferred to the tal of GIS, remote sensing, cartography and surveying sea ice surface during the winter through precipitation offered in a typical university setting. and direct deposition, and to the atmosphere during the summer though evaporation and melting. Due to lack “Business Sense”: An Ethnographic Exploration of of adequate direct observations, and the instability of the Wine and Sex Trades in Northern Sierra Leone models to simulate the near-surface atmospheric fluxes Melissa Garrison, Senior, Anthropology, English in stable conditions, moisture transfer rates over sea ice Mentor: Clarke Speed, University Honors Program are uncertain. During the 1957-1958 International Geo- In Kagbere–a rural village in the Northern Protectorate physical Year pan evaporation and surface meteorology of Sierra Leone, West Africa–poyo, or palm wine, func- measurements were made at a floating Arctic station. We tions as both an economic provision and a cloak to an will compare the 1957-1958 evaporation data set to what immense network of covert sociocultural exchange. Us- is predicted from Monin-Obukhov similarity theory us- ing poyo as an ethnographic foil, I set out to probe ing the surface meteorology data set, and further draw this diagrammatic regime of socio-sexual relationships comparisons between our data set and more recent ob- in Kagbere: which types of relationships form between servations of latent heat flux over Arctic sea ice. Our wine tappers and wine vendors, between wine vendors

29 and wine consumers, and the consumers themselves, and Peace Activism and Media: A Clash of Values how these relationships translate into social and sexual Alyssa Goldberg, Senior, International Studies, power within both Kagbere village and Sierra Leone at Communication large. Through a series of in-depth, qualitative inter- Jacquelyn Allen, Junior, International Studies views with participants on all levels of the wine trade, Tiffany Martin, Senior, International Studies, I have been able to explore in greater depth the com- Communication modities truly at stake in this economy: labor, women’s Laurel Severt, Senior, Economics, International Studies bodies, and sexual exchange. Yet, despite their subju- Mentor: Nancy Rivenburgh, Communication gated economic position within Kagberian society, many American media has been analyzed time and again about of these women are revered for their “business sense”– the depiction and coverage of war and violence, but the their ability to sell wine through sex and sex through media’s portrayal of peace is a topic that has rarely re- both wine, thereby maintaining control of trades–and ceived attention. The public’s understanding of war and take a degree of pride in their work, rather than assum- peace on a local and international level is shaped in large ing the demeanor of the marginalized and the oppressed. part through the press. Peace groups in Washington These women profit in two currencies, both fiscal and State range from those such as “Bike-4-Peace,” who bike sexual. They support their families, male members in- cross-country, to the “Raging Grannies,” whose grand- cluded, with dignity and ingenuity. The network of re- motherly members sing together. In analyzing news- lationships they create–economic, sexual, and familial– paper coverage of 103 peace groups within Washington form the social foundation of Kagbere village: a foun- State and surveying peace organizations, our group of dation within which women are both celebrated and op- 4 undergraduate students sought to investigate how lo- pressed, slaves to those who use them and ruler of those cal press cover peace activism and the implications of who depend upon them. Their stories provide us with a the organizations’ coverage. Prior research suggests that vital and vibrant portrait of the Kagberian woman, and a the values of mainstream media, including conflict and fresh new perspective on feminist theory. simplicity, clash with many of the values in peace ac- The Role of Spatial vs. Temporal Selective Pressures tivism. Although activists rely largely on the media to in Determining Evolutionary Adaptation Trends in spread their message, the media often marginalize peace E. coli movements rather than promote them. Moderate peace Carrie Glenney, Fifth Year, Biology (Ecology Evolution) activists do not fit the mold of what attracts readers and Marc Wiseman, Fifth Year, Biology (Ecology, Evolution is profitable to print. Reporters often depict activists Conservation), Environmental Science Resource through their associations with a ’hippie’ culture or fo- Management cus on the legality of their actions rather than their mes- Mentor: Benjamin Kerr, Biology sage. This coverage undermines the organizations’ goals and puts pressure on activist groups to conform to stereo- The influence of spatial vs. temporal selective pres- types in order to attract coverage. This distorted image is sures is of interest to many evolutionary biologists. A how peace activists have come to be viewed by society at study by Kashtan, Noor and Alon (2007) using com- large. Without peace organizations holding a legitimate puter simulations found that temporal variation, a form voice in mainstream media, the public and government of serial disturbance, sped up evolutionary adaptation may overlook the prospect of non-violent resolutions to and eased transitions along the evolutionary pathway in international conflict. comparison to an undisturbed, fixed environment evo- lution. These results can also be explored within a bi- Screening Dried Blood Spots to Detect Severe ological system using E.coli as model organisms. Or- Combined Immunodeficiency in Infants Karin Golob, Senior, Bioengineering ganisms within environments that undergo regular distur- Mentor: Troy Torgerson, Pediatrics bance should select for greater plasicity, allowing them Mentor: Stephanie Anover-Sombke, Immunology, to adapt to new environments more quickly. We will be Seattle Childrens Hospital evolving E.coli within two different environments, one simulating serial disturbance through a temporally alter- Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease (SCID) is nating carbon source and one within a constant, mixed a universally fatal immunodeficiency disorder that oc- carbon source environment. According to our predic- curs because of a genetic mutation that causes a lack of tions, and the results of Kashtan, Noor and Alon (2007), T cell production and therefore susceptibility to infec- when the strains are competed within a unique carbon tions. If the diagnosis is made early, patients can un- source, the strain exposed to temporally alternating re- dergo bone marrow transplantation to cure the disease. sources should outcompete the constant, mixed strain. If the diagnosis is made after patients get severe infec- tions (often by 2-3 months of age), then the possibility of surviving the disease decreases substantially. The so-

30 lution would be to perform newborn screening for the I observed and classified optical spectra of x-ray sources disorder, hopefully by capitalizing on technologies that in the direction of our neighboring galaxy M31. The are already available in newborn screening labs or by de- types of objects I was classifying, objects that emit light veloping a new cost-effective technology that could be in the X-ray part of the spectrum, typically could be, (1) readily implemented. One technology, already used ex- background active galactic nuclei- where a super mas- tensively utilized for newborn screening is tandem mass sive black hole in a distant galaxy accretes hot gas, (2) spectrometry (MS/MS). Our design of an MS/MS test X-ray binary systems- where a neutron star, white dwarf for SCID has begun with isolation of purified CD3",a or black hole pairs with another star and the distance be- cell surface marker for T cells and identification of key tween them is so small that matter from the star gets ac- “fingerprint” peptides of this protein. The next step is creted by its companion, and (3) supernova remnants- to design conditions for mass spectrometry. Testing will the remains of an already exploded star. I observed spec- begin with purified protein but will then be applied to tra using the Double Imaging Spectrograph on the 3.5 testing of dried blood spots, such as those obtained from meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory, and I cal- all newborn infants, to identify if there is any CD3" in ibrated and extracted the objects’ spectra from the sky the blood spot. The assay will be validated using patient background with standard image reduction and analy- and normal dried blood spots. sis techniques. With these final spectra, and a collec- tion of previously-calibrated spectra, I classified the ob- ChapterOne: Information Management for Sorority jects based on their emission and absorption lines. I then Recruitment compared the lines to known standard emission lines to Kaitlyn Grady, Senior, Informatics determine the ’red-shift’ or distance to each object. With Mentor: Batya Friedman, Information School this information I was able to conclude if the object was Every year nearly 700 potential new members (PNMs) in the galaxy M31 or if it was somewhere else along our participate in sorority recruitment at the University of line of sight. Washington. By the end of the recruitment week, each Mesoporous Silica Encapsulation of Nanoparticles sorority chapter will have narrowed this list to a fresh- for Biomedical Applications man class of roughly 30. While each chapter employs Stanley Gu, Senior, Bioengineering different processes to accomplish this, it is common for Amgen Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar a sorority member to talk to 50 PNMs during one round Mentor: Xiaohu Gao, Bioengineering (of four) in the recruitment week. At the chapter where the system will be piloted, decisions were based on index With the advent of new biological nanotechnologies, new cards that sorority members filled with their opinions on promise has arisen to vastly augment current biomedical each PNM. A small reviewing committee typed infor- applications, such as drug delivery and cellular imaging. mation from the cards into a spreadsheet. This process For instance, the quantum dots, nanoscale semiconductor left the committee little time to decide whether or not particles with unique optical properties, have garnered to keep each PNM through the next round. To facilitate much interest in recent years as a basis for creating new better record-keeping and decision-making, this research biomedical therapies. However, obstacles in applying and design project yielded a web-based system to input these new technologies have also arisen, such as biocom- and manage information during the hectic recruitment patibility and drug release. Many nanoparticles, includ- week, in keeping with traditional recruitment processes. ing quantum dots, are toxic to cells without further sur- The first iteration of the system focused on displaying face modification. Furthermore, methods of controlling a PNM’s picture and interests from her recruitment ap- drug release are important to maximize the beneficial plication. For the benefit of the reviewing committee, effects of drug therapies while minimizing its side ef- PNM application information is displayed with member fects. Mesoporous silica encapsulation is one technique contributions to form a single, comprehensive page of that can enhance the ability of nanoparticles to function information for decision-making. The early system was in a biological environment, control drug/therapeutic re- released to the sorority chapter for user testing. The sub- lease, and serve as a platform for further functionaliza- sequent feedback influenced the final design’s feature set tion. In this project, mesoporous silica encapsulation is and organization. The system is still being improved, but applied in several nanoparticle-based delivery systems. the current version is functional and will be used for re- This proof-of-principle work explores the potentials and cruitment in the fall. limitations of using mesoporous silica by applying the technology in several forms. One example of this is to Analysis of Observed X-ray Sources in our Neighbor use silica encapsulation to functionalize quantum dots, M-31 providing a platform for therapeutic drug loading and Jerica Green, Junior, Astronomy, Physics controlled release while simultaneously reducing toxic- Mentor: Benjamin Williams, Astronomy ity.

31 Afro-Mexicanos Communities in Mexico: ile endophyte-free plants, there were no significant dif- Challenging and Reconstructing Mexican ferences in TCE absorption among plant types. Further Nationalism and Identity analysis has revealed that plants with the original en- Maria Guillen, Senior, Anthropology dophytes contained higher concentrations of TCEOH, a Mentor: Jason De Leon, Anthropology metabolite of TCE. Sterile plants contained significantly Mexico has a complex history of socially constructed less TCEOH. This finding suggests that pre-existing en- racial and ethnic identities. Unfortunately, historic ac- dophytic bacteria mediated metabolism of TCE within counts of Afro-Mexicanos (Mexicans of African de- plant tissue or helped with overall stress tolerance and scent) have often been ignored in Mexican ethnic stud- health of the plant, allowing increased metabolism of ies. By analyzing the history of Mexican Nationalism TCE, and that ultimately, chemical phytoremediation and the Vasconcelos philosophy of racial homogeniza- was driven by plant-mediated absorption and endophyte- tion through Critical Race Theory, I reconstruct the his- mediated metabolism. Future research will focus on tory of Afro-Mexicanos in Mexico. I am most interested comparing commercially available Ipomoea batatas with in how modern Afro-Mexicanos in the Costa Chica Re- native varieties sent from sites in East Africa. gion of Oaxaca and Guerrero challenge and reconstruct The Effects of Past Experience on Baseline Mestizaje and Mexican nationalism. The research pre- Responding in Rats sented here is a combination of a literature review and Haley Carroll, Senior, Psychology, Seattle Pacific preliminary ethnographic data collected during previous University visits to the Coast Chica Region. This information forms Paul Knight, Senior, Psychology, Seattle Pacific the outline for an ethnographic field project focused on University Afro-Mexicanos living in Guerrero that will be carried Jenette Donovan, Senior, Psychology, Art History, out in the summer of 2009. Preliminary results of this Seattle Pacific University study suggest that although the majority of Mexico is Mentor: Baine Craft, Psychology, Seattle Pacific predominately mestizo (mix of Native and Spanish an- University cestry); the number of African-descent people is cur- rently unknown. This is no doubt influenced by the fact Disequilibrium hypothesis effectively describes how re- that the Mexican census form and government do not of- searchers and clinicians can identify and create response- ficially recognize Afro-Mexicanos as a racial or ethnic reinforcer contingencies. This hypothesis proposes that group. It is assumed either that Afro-Mexicanos are in- every response has some probability of occurrence or tegrated into modern Mexican society or that their num- homeostasis. Moreover, responding is due to the com- bers are small enough to not warrant official recognition. bination of an individual’s evolutionary history and past I argue that Mexico is far from homogeneous and that experiences. However, scant discussions exist regard- the current use of the Vasconcelos ideology of Mestizaje ing the factors that contribute to homeostatic/baseline re- disenfranchises modern Afro-Mexicanos. sponding. The current experiment was designed to deter- mine the effects of past experience on baseline respond- Endophtye-Assisted Phytoremediation using Sweet ing. It was predicted that past experience with food de- Potatoes in East Africa privation would influence baseline responding in rats on Gabriela Guncay, Senior, Biology (Environmental a fixed interval (FI) 15s schedule rather than actual depri- Conservation) vation level. Subjects (Sprauge-dawley rats, n=10) were Mentor: Sharon Doty, Forest Resources divided into two groups. Each group was exposed to At various sites near Lake Victoria in Africa, high three deprivation conditions such that subjects in Group amounts of metal contaminants have accumulated in the 1 experienced 90%, 100%, and 90% and Group 2 ex- soil and groundwater. We are testing commercially pro- perienced 90%, 80%, and 90% deprivation relative to duced Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato plants) for poten- ad lib body weight established prior to the experiment. tial phytoremediation, a process where plant roots absorb Subjects’ body weights were manipulated by reducing and degrade chemical compounds in soil and groundwa- or supplementing daily food allotments. During each de- ter available to roots. Our research on bacterial endo- privation condition, subjects were exposed to five ses- phytes (microbes living inside the plant) of sweet potato sions (one session per day, 20 trials per session) of a FI plants have shown increased plant growth and possible 15s schedule using a standard operant response cham- nitrogen fixation, but other conferred benefits like nu- ber. During each FI 15s trial, one operant response was trient and chemical absorption has not been determined. required for one pellet of food. The number of oper- We hypothesized that the native endophytes would not ant responses was analyzed using a Mixed ANOVA and affect TCE absorption or TCE degradation since the post hoc analyses. The results revealed that exposure to plants lacked selective interactions with TCE. When we a particular order of deprivation caused statistically sig- compared normal endophyte-containing plants and ster- nificant differences in operant responding on a FI 15s

32 schedule. These results are meaningful as they suggest mouse cortex, SSA is vital for the development of neu- that responding was not due to level of deprivation but ronal characteristics necessary for normal information due to previous or relative deprivation level. In other processing. As such, how the timing and generation words, homeostatic or baseline responding was the re- of SSA are controlled is a major question in neurobi- sult of past experience with deprivation. Future studies ology. The Moody lab has determined that a discrete should identify the potential combined effects of depri- pacemaker region in mouse cortex is responsible for the vation and evolutionary history on baseline responding. initiation SSA. My research employs patch clamp tech- nique to explore the cellular behaviors and properties of Responsible Recycling in University District both pacemaker and follower cells in order to better un- Restaurants derstand SSA. I analyze single cell recordings to gather Tasha Hanley, Junior, Community, Environment, information about cell characteristics important for ac- Planning tivity, such as input resistance, excitability, burst struc- Mentor: Don Miller, Urban Design Planning ture and resting potential. In comparison with follower This project developed out of an unintentional observa- cells, pacemaker neurons have shown increased burst du- tion (while dining out) of there being a lack of recycle ration, a quality that may play a role in the ability of these bins in a local restaurant in the University District and neurons to depolarize surrounding cells to threshold and an intent to change this. Analyzing how this particu- initiate waves of SSA. Multi-cell calcium imaging has lar restaurant could also improve in other broad aspects shown that increased extracellular potassium concentra- of recyclability resulted in four self-developed criteria. tions lead to an increase in SSA frequency. These data The foci are as follows: when possible, reusable items suggest the possibility that depolarizing cortical cells for eat-in, quicker compostable products for to-go, clear may either allow the pacemaker neurons to initiate ac- and visible reminders to recycle, and finally, recycle bins tivity more frequently or allow follow neurons to re- for paper and aluminum. An informal survey of seven spond to a higher percentage of events in the pacemaker. independent restaurants on the “Ave” was conducted to High potassium patch clamp experiments will explore determine how well each restaurant met these. While the cellular level mechanisms of this increase in burst conducting the informal survey, interviewing restaurant frequency. The characterization of differences between owners on if they would be willing to implement these pacemaker and follower neurons via patch clamp pro- changes resulted in three major areas deterring change. vides the opportunity to elucidate cellular properties that First, belief of inconvenience, second, a lack of knowl- contribute to the initiation of SSA and shape brain de- edge of why making the recommended changes would be velopment. Not until the mechanisms of pacemaker ac- beneficial to them, and last but most cited, a concern with tivity are fully understood can we begin to question the cost factors. The hypothesis is if these businesses are role that pathologies in SSA may play in disorders of the presented with clear cost-analyses of compostable or re- brain in the mouse model or human correlate. cyclable products that show it is equal to or less than their Investigating Pathways of a Palladium Catalyzed current expenditures, they will willingly switch. Proof Organic Reaction of market forces that support being more “green” will Jane Hung, Sophomore, Pre-Major also be key. In addition, if recycle bins and the asso- Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant ciated recycling cost can be partially subsidized or oth- Scholar erwise inexpensive, the restaurants will implement them Mentor: Xiaosong Li, Chemistry for use. Other rewards may also be present, such as posi- Mentor: Christopher Moss, Chemistry tive feedback from the community and city. The amount of refuse that gets redirected back to use as a result of Palladium (Pd) catalyzed hydroamination—a no-waste recycling may be substantial, although the exact impact method that has many applications in pharmaceutical de- is unknown. velopment and organic synthesis—is studied using ab initio computational methods on the computer-modeling Whole Cell Patch Clamp Investigation of the program Gaussian to find the intermediates, transition Mechanisms of Spontaneous Synchronous Activity states, and thermodynamic properties of the system. In in Neonatal Mouse Cortex this reaction, the palladium catalyzes the formation of a Lauren Hanson, Senior, Neurobiology, Individualized heterocyclic ring and allows the functional group from Studies the solvent to attach to the final product. The aim is Levinson Emerging Scholar, Washington to understand the reaction mechanism and the role of Research Foundation Fellow Pd(IV) species. It is expected that one of the computed Mentor: William Moody, Biology mechanisms has a reaction profile that corresponds to Spontaneous Synchronous Activity (SSA) plays a cen- experimental results and therefore indicates the process tral role in mammalian nervous system development. In of the reaction. This information can be used to design

33 more efficient chemical processes for future research on my bus?” To better understand the information needs of chemical synthesis. bus riders we performed semi-structured interviews with eighty people throughout the city of Seattle at bus stops Design of a Microfluidic Biosensor with Capillary and transit centers with the goal of identifying problems Electrophoresis as a Means of Separation and issues commuters have with the current bus system. Leticia Huynh, Senior, Biochemistry Analysis of the interviews provided support for the fol- Amgen Scholar lowing features of an online bus tracking system: a visual Mentor: Daniel Chiu, Chemistry map representation of bus stop locations, route informa- Biosensors, devices for detecting and analyzing the bi- tion, bus direction, and schedule deviation (whether the ological effects of a chemical analyte, are a promising bus is late, early or on time). After designing and im- area of biotechnology. The Chiu lab seeks to create a plementing a prototype, we shall conduct a series of us- microfluidic biosensor using a process in which the tradi- ability evaluations, assessing the ease of use and user tional components of the biosensor are created with mi- satisfaction of these features. Our future goals focus on crofluidic chips, which are blocks of polymer set with extending our program to a mobile phone application as channels, chambers, and other designs and faced with well as continuous improvements in design and usability. glass. This biosensor would perform in three stages: Event Detection for PET Scanner on Ambric firstly, the chemical mixture of interest is separated via Multiprocessor Chip capillary electrophoresis (CE) and secondly, each chem- Chad Jerde, Senior, Electrical Engineering ical component, together with a single cell, is encapsu- Mentor: Scott Hauck, Electrical Engineering lated in a microfluidic droplet. Finally, the droplets are channeled into a chamber where the biological effect of For years Moore’s Law, the doubling of processor perfor- the chemical component on the cell can be viewed via mance every eighteen months, guided the computer in- microscopy. Currently research is focused on integrating dustry. However, as excessive power consumption brings a single-layer membrane valve (developed in the Weitz this scaling to an end processors have been shifting to lab) into the biosensor prototype for more precise con- a multiprocessor approach as a means to increase per- trol of droplet formation. This valve consists of an actua- formance. This trend towards multiprocessors has also tion chamber situated closely to the channel to be closed. taken root in the area of reconfigurable computing with Gas or liquid can be pumped into the actuation chamber, the emergence of massively parallel processor arrays which causes the membrane between the chamber and (MPPAs). One such MPPA is the Ambric multiprocessor the channel to flex across the channel and halt flow. This chip. I have been working with other undergraduates to biosensor, once completed, would be the first to include determine the performance of the Ambric chip in various CE as a means of chemical separation. In addition, due applications. My specific application is event detection. to its small scale, it would be capable of analyzing ex- I have been working alongside a graduate student in or- tremely small samples. It will have numerous applica- der to mirror a portion of his work, “FPGA-Based Front- tions, including drug efficacy testing in pharmacology, End for a PET Scanner” by implementing the event de- chemical warfare detection, and food or water contami- tection portion of his system on the Ambric Multipro- nant testing. cessor Chip. The purpose of this work is to compare performance of FPGA-based and multiprocessor-based Where’s My Bus: King County Bus Visualization designs; FPGAs being the standard for reconfigurable and Improvement computing. Although the performance of the system rel- Mark Javate, Senior, Informatics ative to the FPGA has yet to be determined, a few lim- Daniel Nguyen, Senior, Informatics itations of the MPPA have been noticed. The Ambric Raman Ahluwalia, Recent Graduate, Informatics chip contains 336 RISC processors, however these pro- Evan Hwang, Recent Graduate, Informatics cessors compute units are relatively simple and cannot Alex Poon, Senior, Informatics, Mathematics compute divides. Look-up tables must be used as a re- Mentor: David Hendry, Information School sult. This brings to light another limitation of the Ambric With recent concerns over both global climate change chip, which is that each processor only has access to 2K and one’s environmental footprint, there has been a re- of memory due to its distributed memory, MIMD archi- newed focus on the importance of public transportation. tecture. Another limitation of the Ambric MPPA is that One way to promote the use of public transportation, in it has no real-time clock, which limits it considerably in our case the metro bus system, is by making the sys- what types of applications it can be used. Although it has tem more appealing to commuters. Our project seeks to limitations, its massively parallel architecture allows for do just that by improving the availability of information the potential of an enormous throughput and has great for planning bus trips. Our project seeks to give peo- potential given appropriate applications. ple information to answer this simple question: ”where’s

34 Crown Complexity and Blocking Effect of Leaf-on containing SEPT9. In order to identify causal mutations and Leaf-off Tree Conditions in these families, four candidate genes were screened Philip Johnsey, Senior, Environmental Science based on current literature indicating interaction with the Resource Management Septin9 protein. SEPT7 and SEPT11 were selected be- Mentor: L. Monika Moskal, Forest Resources cause their proteins form complexes with Septin9 via Mentor: Guang Zheng, Forest Resources direct interactions with its N-terminus, possibly includ- Crown complexity is an important parameter in the as- ing the area mutated in other HNA families. HNA SEPT9 sessment of general tree health and productivity. One mutations in have also been shown to disrupt Rhotekin RTKN of the new methods that is being used to obtain data on Rho/Rhotekin signaling. Accordingly, ( ) ARHGEF18 crown complexity is terrestrial light detection and rang- and – a septin-associated Rho guanine nu- ing (LiDAR). Like all of the methods of remote sensing, cleotide exchange factor – were also screened. Three in- terrestrial LiDAR has its limitations. One of the limita- dividuals with HNA unlinked to chromosome 17q25 and tions is the blocking effect, the term used to describe the a fourth unaffected individual were selected for study. loss of information due to obstructions of a scanned ob- Whenever possible, cDNA constructed by reverse tran- ject. The first part of this experiment is to scan a sugar scription of mRNA was utilized for ease of sequencing; maple (Acer saccharum) with terrestrial LiDAR during to differentiate alternative mRNA transcripts and to ob- winter with the leaf-off condition and again during spring tain sequence at the extreme 5’ and 3’ ends of the genes, with the leaf-on condition. These scans will be analyzed genomic DNA was used. Segments of the genes were to determine the amount of information relating to crown amplified by PCR and sequenced following confirma- complexity that one is capable of obtaining when using tion of the product by gel electrophoresis. Analyses of terrestrial LiDAR. The second part is to set up geometric the sequences have revealed no HNA mutations to date, layouts on tables with one-inch cubes and determine how as alterations from the reference sequence have not been terrestrial LiDAR and blocking effect correlate. Height, exclusive to affected individuals. Further work – includ- angle, and distance will be measured independently of ing additional sequencing and a broader genomic single each other. As a consequence, this plan yields a total of nucleotide polymorphism array – will ensue to identify three table layouts, each one set up twice for replication. other loci causing HNA. Hopefully the results will pro- The goal of this experiment is to assess how well ter- vide insight into the pathogenesis of HNA. restrial LiDAR is able to determine essential characteris- Involvement of Red Nucleus in Reward Prediction tics and components of tree-crown analysis by compar- during a Spatial Task ing perfect objects (cubes) to imperfect objects (leaves Graham Jones, Senior, Biology (Physiology), on the sugar maple). The results of this experiment could Psychology yield a foundation for retrieving such parameters as leaf Mentor: Sheri Mizumori, Psychology area index, biomass, and crown dimension with terres- Mentor: Adria Martig, Psychology trial LiDAR. Those who will benefit from this research include, but are not limited to, foresters, tree nurseries, It has been well established that dopamine (DA) plays an and researchers. integral part in learning and memory processes, and is thought to be specifically involved in signaling a reward Analysis of Candidate Genes in Hereditary prediction error. The reward prediction error hypothesis Neuralgic Amyotrophy Pedigrees Unlinked to the postulates that learning takes place when an existent out- Septin9 Gene come is different from the predicted outcome, meaning Jennifer Johnson, Fifth Year, Biology (Physiology) that learning happens in the presence of a novel or sur- Mentor: Mark Hannibal, Pediatrics prising situation. The role of DA in reward prediction Mentor: Angela Collie, Pediatrics is evident when comparing neural activity with reward- Mentor: Phillip Chance, Pediatrics related events, where dopaminergic neurons fire in re- Hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy (HNA) is a rare auto- sponse to an unexpected reward and are inhibited when somal dominant disorder characterized by episodes of an expected reward is not present. Red Nucleus (RN) painful neuropathy in the shoulder region, followed by is a midbrain structure that is typically known for its in- local muscle atrophy and paresis. Though often pre- volvement in motor related behaviors. Yet, lesion stud- ceded by perturbations in immune system homeosta- ies have also indicated that RN contributes to the con- sis, the mechanisms behind the attacks are unknown. trol of DA synthesis and/or release and modulates activ- Approximately sixty-percent of HNA cases have been ity at dopaminergic terminals. In our current study, we attributed to causal mutations in the septin 9 (SEPT9) employed electrophysiological techniques to record the gene, most residing in a highly conserved region of a sin- neural activity from two cells in the rat RN over a 14- gle exon. However, genotyping analysis revealed some day period while the animal learned a spatial task. The pedigrees are unlinked to the chromosome 17q25 region task required the rat to find a fixed goal location on a

35 plus maze from several starting points. Then, after the comparing this model data to the observed spectrum and rat learned the task we introduced several environmen- size of a gravitationally lensed quasar. We hope to come tal manipulations to provide novel learning contexts. We up with a model that will approximately reproduce the analyzed each cell’s activity within and across days to observed data. To accomplish this we use codes written investigate correlations between cellular activity and be- in Interactive Data Language (IDL) and Fortran to de- havior. Preliminary data suggest RN neural activity may velop our models and then compare many possible model play a role in reward prediction and that this activity cor- outputs and to arrive at the best one through the use of responds with learning an appetitive spatial task. a Monte Carlo Markov Chain technique. A successful adaptation of the models will provide quality matches to Imaging the Electric Near-Field Surrounding the gravitationally lensed quasar data. In turn, this will Dimeric Plasmon Resonant Nanostructures allow us to attempt to constrain the mass and accretion Erik Josberger, Junior, Extended Pre-Engineering rate of the black hole in the gravitationally lensed quasar Mentor: Markus Raschke, Chemistry and help us better understand the inner spatial structure Mentor: Andrew Jones, Physics of the quasar.

Surface plasmons are a coherent oscillation of a free Hearing and the Arrangement of Neural Fibers in electron gas at a metal-dielectric interface. In a plas- Chickens mon resonant nano-structure, the spatial distribution of Daniel Kashima, Senior, Music, Neurobiology the electric field associated with an optical excitation Mary Gates Scholar around a nano-structure can be mapped through applica- Mentor: Edwin Rubel, Otolaryngology tion of scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy Mentor: Armin Seidl, Otolaryngology (s-SNOM). The study of this distribution yields impor- tant information about the properties of the plasmonic Auditory nuclei in the brain are organized in a tono- excitation which is relevant for the development of nano- topic manner: the sound frequency to which neurons scale optical devices. In s-SNOM, we use an atomic respond best, progressively and predictably shifts with force microscope (AFM) to scan the topography of a sur- its anatomical position, preserving the neighbor relation- face with an extremely sharp tip with 10nm resolution. ships of the auditory sensory epithelium, the cochlea. By focusing a laser we excite surface plasmons upon In birds, the bilateral nucleus magnocellularis (NM) and metallic particles beneath the tip. The electric field as- nucleus laminaris (NL), both of which form a circuit in- sociated with this plasmon is then scattered by the tip volved in sound localization, are arranged tonotopically into the far-field and focused onto a detector. This al- as well. In each nucleus, neurons in the caudolateral re- lows for mapping of the spatial fields associated with a gion respond best to low frequencies (LF) and those in plasmon resonance with resolution limited by the curva- the rostromedial region respond best to high frequencies ture of the tip (10nm). In our research, we will set up (HF). However, it is not known whether axons project- an AFM and optimize it for use with light in the visible ing from NM to NL, which cross the midline and form spectrum (wavelength 400-700nm). We will then em- the cross-dorsal cochlear tract (XDCT), are also arranged ploy this set up to map the near-field distribution around tonotopically. To shed light on this question, we de- dimeric nano-structures. This is important because the veloped an experimental method that employs detailed interaction of the two nano-structures offers insight into 3D-imaging of the region of interest using a whole-brain the properties of plasmon coupling on the nano-scale. preparation. Two different colored dyes were electropo- rated along different tonotopic positions in NM. One dye Comparing Black Hole Accretion Disk Models to was injected into the HF region and another into the LF Gravitationally-Lensed Quasars region. Over several hours the dye was transported an- John Kalmbach, Senior, Physics, Astronomy terogradely along the axons across XDCT, and after the Mentor: Eric Agol, Astronomy whole brainstem was fixed and made transparent, a mon- Quasars are among the furthest observable objects in the tage of 3D-images was taken of the whole structure us- universe and as a result there are many challenges in ob- ing confocal microscopy. The resulting images show dye serving and studying them. One of the problems that injected into the HF region filling axons in the rostral re- can arise is that a number of quasars are gravitation- gion of the XDCT, while dyes injected into the LF region ally lensed by matter between the source quasar and ob- were incorporated into fibers running through a more servers on Earth. Gravitational lensing occurs because caudal region. These results indicate that the XDCT, like massive objects are able to bend light from a source ob- the cells they originate from and project to, is arranged in ject subsequently distorting, magnifying, or producing a tonotopic manner. This result begs the question about multiple images of the source. Our work involves adapt- the existence of possible molecular cues that might guide ing existing computer models for black hole accretion NM axons in an orderly fashion in XDCT. disks which output model spectrums and radius sizes and

36 Distribution of iron from the hydrothermal vents of frequent landslide activity that contributes to the long- Rumble III and Brothers Volcanoes on the term erosion of the hill. Little work has been done to Kermadec Arc, New Zealand determine long-term erosion rates, though this informa- Celia Kelly, Senior, Oceanography tion would be useful to the scientific community as well Mentor: Susan Hautala, Oceanography as the city and neighborhood residents. The goal of this Hydrothermal vents are not well studied as sources of project is to establish relatively accurate erosion rates iron to the oceans. This project will attempt to quantify for the coastline of Magnolia using a variety of research the amount and distribution of iron using discrete sam- methods. Analysis of LIDAR digital elevation models ples of iron and manganese taken from three vent sources provides a baseline estimate for a long-term erosion rate, of varying depth at Brothers and Rumble III volcanoes and measurements on historic aerial photos provide data in the Kermadec Arc, New Zealand. Manganese sam- on the variable nature of short-term erosion. Landslides ples will be used as an indicator of biological and chem- from the coastal bluffs, primarily at Discovery Park, at ical impacts on the distribution of iron from the vents. the north end of Magnolia, and Perkins Lane, at the The area of interest is a volcanic arc that is created by south end, deposit sediment and boulders on the tidal the subduction of oceanic plates below less dense conti- platform. By obtaining exposure ages for the boulder nental plates which draws water, biologic material, and deposits (which were previously buried in their source other impurities that try to escape to through the crust, stratigraphic unit) and surveying their location in rela- taking with it molten material. This 2,500km long span tion to the present-day bluff, accurate bluff retreat rates of the ocean floor has many incidences of active venting, for these locations were calculated. Cosmogenic isotope which vary in depth from the sea floor at ˜3km to the dating techniques were used to obtain exposure ages for more shallow vents at ˜200m. Vents have the potential to the boulders. be a source to the surrounding water column and mixed Race and Sociodemographic Variables as Predictors layers of the surface. It is even more likely to be a source of Effortful Control in Preschoolers for the shallower vent sites of subduction zones rather Diane Kim, Recent Graduate, Psychology than the more commonly researched deep vents of mid- Nicole Stewart, Senior, Psychology ocean ridges. This could be an important influence on Mentor: Liliana Lengua, Psychology local primary production. Areas in the ocean that are de- pleted in iron are a subject of interest and concern, since Past research has shown that children belonging to a the iron is considered a limiting nutrient in the High Nu- racial minority group are at increased risk for adjust- trient Low Productivity areas. Although this region is ment problems. This is thought to be related to ex- not considered to be HNLC, it is close to the Southern periences of discrimination from being a minority and Ocean, which is one of the major HNLC regions of the to a higher prevalence of other sociodemographic risk world. By understanding the amount of iron produced by factors in racial minority groups. However, little re- hydrothermal vents, implications of the global budget of search has examined the possibility that the effects of so- iron may be better known. ciodemographic risk factors on child adjustment might differ across racial and ethnic groups. This study ex- Quantitative Analysis of Shoreline Erosion at plores the relations among race, sociodemographic fac- Magnolia, Seattle tors, and effortful control in 3-year-old children. Effort- David Kiehl, Senior, Earth Space Sciences ful control is a core mechanism of self-regulation and Mary Gates Scholar is charaterized by processes that inhibit a dominant re- Mentor: Terry Swanson, Earth Space Sciences sponse in order to perform a subdominant response. Ef- fortful control encompasses mechanisms by which de- The shoreline and bluffs of Magnolia hill in Seattle have velopment shifts from reactive to self-regulative behav- undergone significant erosion since the last glaciation. iors, allowing children to manage their reactivity and en- The Puget Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced gage in pro-social behavior (Rueda, Posner, & Rothbart, southward from Canada and covered Seattle and the rest 2005). Previous literature suggests that certain sociode- of the Puget Lowland. When the ice sheet advanced and mographic risk factors that might be related to effortful withdrew from the Seattle area ˜15,000 years ago, it left control also co-occur with each other. For instance, be- thick deposits of unconsolidated glacial sediments. As ing in a single-family household may increase risk of sea level rose due to the melting of large continental ice poverty. We posit that different races will be subjected sheets, wave and tidal action began to erode into the to varying sociodemographic risk factors, which will in unconsolidated glacial sediment comprising the many turn relate to differing levels of effortful control in chil- drumlin-shaped hills along the Seattle shoreline, includ- dren of different races. Effortful control was assessed us- ing Magnolia hill. Due to its high bluffs with ocean and ing maternal responses on the Children’s Behavior Ques- mountain views, Magnolia has long been a desirable res- tionnaire (CBQ). Sociodemographic variables, such as idential neighborhood, but its bluffs are also prone to

37 low income, low parental education, single parent house- Environmental Values: Tool for Greater Public holds; and family risk factors, such as stress, conflict, Involvement in Environmental Issues and Law and maternal depression were assessed using maternal Hoshihito Kondo, Senior, Environmental Studies responses to a battery of parent questionnaires. Race was (International Perspectives) separated into 7 categories: African American/Black, Mentor: Michael Reese, Program on the Environment Asian, Latino/Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Na- Mentor: Beth Bryant, Marine Affairs tive, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, European Amer- Most Americans say that they care about the environ- ican/White, and Multiracial. We expect to find signifi- ment, but there is a disconnect between their concern for cant differences in effortful control among races related the environment and their actual level of engagement in to differences in the presence of sociodemographic and environmental issues. Traditional demographic research family risk factors. has failed to address this disconnect. It is imperative that Sequence Diversity of TprK in Immunosuppressed we understand this underlying disconnect if we are to ad- Rabbits and Immunocompetent Rabbits dress the increasingly grave and complex environmental Eric Kim, Senior, Microbiology issues today, such as global warming. In order to find out Mary Gates Scholar how the environment fits into people’s broader world- Mentor: Sheila Lukehart, Allergy Infectious Diseases views, Earthjustice, the nation’s leading nonprofit envi- Mentor: Barbara Molini, Medicine ronmental law firm, created the Ecological Roadmap, a national study that organizes the American public into Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum is the causative 10 worldviews according to how they rank more than agent of syphilis. A proposed outer membrane protein 130 social values. Earthjustice’s next step involved cre- of T. pallidum, TprK, has seven variable (V) regions that ating an Ecological Roadmap specifically for the Pacific code for antigenic epitopes. Over the course of infection, Northwest, a pilot project called the Northwest Values these regions accumulate change that may allow the bac- Project. My externship project with the Seattle Earth- teria to evade the immune system. To ask whether the justice office builds off of this research and focuses on host’s immune response selects for treponemes express- how to gather more support for Earthjustice’s active legal ing variant TprK antigens, 10 rabbits were infected in- cases. I utilized data from this research to assess whether tradermally with T. pallidum so that syphilis skin lesions any cases have the potential to increase participation by would develop. The experimental group (5 rabbits) was changes in messaging, issue focus, or party participa- treated with an immunosuppressive agent, methylpred- tion. I have found that in general, the 10 worldviews nisolone, and the control group (5 rabbits) was untreated. can be subdivided into 3 groups: the supportive, non- At weekly intervals, lesion biopsies and blood samples supportive, and the unknown. My recommendation is to were taken from each rabbit. The blood was tested using focus on the unknown group, which makes up 44% of the VDRL (Venereal Disease Research Labratory) test the American public, because they have the greatest po- to check for differences in antibody titers between the tential to be more engaged in the environmental issues. two groups. The VDRL tests showed that there was an My work will serve as a model for other Earthjustice re- expected lower antibody titer in the immunosuppressed gional offices in implementing similar strategies to mo- experimental group compared to the control group, con- bilize long-term public support for conservation in a re- firming that immunosuppression was effective in the ex- gion. The broader implication of mapping social values perimental group. DNA was extracted from the lesion in the Northwest is that it will allow leaders in the region biopsies and the tprK gene was amplified by PCR. The to see exactly where there are opportunities to engage PCR products were cloned in E. coli, and sequences segments of the public and expand their base of support. were obtained from at least 10 clones per lesion. At day 28 post infection, there was a significant increase in se- Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Material Surface quence variation of V6 in the control group while the im- Modifications munosuppressed group demonstrated a minimal amount Ursula Koniges, Senior, Chemical Engineering, of sequence change. This suggests that variant sequences Biochemistry accumulate in the tprK gene when the bacteria are un- Mentor: Hongbo Zeng, Engineering, UC Santa Barbara der immune pressure. The fact that sequence diversity of Many commonly used polymers, such as polystyrene tprK is significantly lower in immunosuppressed rabbits (PS) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), are hydropho- supports the idea that the immune response selects for bic and thus not ideal for applications which benefit from treponemes expressing variant antigens and that TprK hydrophilic material surface properties (such as bioma- variation allows the bacteria to evade the immune system terials or micro fluidic devices). Conversely, mica is during infection. This may explain why there is chronic hydrophilic and not ideal for applications which ben- infection in untreated individuals. efit from hydrophobic surface properties. Means of altering the surface hydrophobicity of materials while

38 maintaining bulk properties exist. This investigation Puget Sound in order to better understand the current concerns the surface modification of PS, PDMS, and ecological health of its bottom waters. Foraminifera, ma- mica via introduction of hydrophilic or hydrophobic rine protozoa with calcium carbonate shells, are good in- functional groups to material surfaces. PS and PDMS dicators of the environmental conditions in which they are modified to increase surface hydrophilicity. Mica grew. For this part of the project, grab samples were col- is modified to increase surface hydrophobicity. In- lected between 2001 and 2008 from Port Gardener, near troduction of hydrophilic functional groups is accom- Everett, at water depths of 21 to 22.5 meters. The parti- plished via UV-ozone treatment. Introduction of hy- cle size distribution of the site stayed relatively constant, drophobic functional groups is accomplished via [3- with silt composing about 50% of the sediment, sand Aminopropyl]triethoxysilane (APTES) solution immer- 40%, and clay 10%. Each sediment sample was washed sion. The resulting surface energy effects are exam- through a 124 mm sieve and the foraminifera handpicked ined using sessile drop contact angle analysis. Surface and identified. Between 155 and 242 foraminifera were forces apparatus (SFA) is used to measure deposited collected per sample, and the number of foraminifera APTES monolayer thickness. Results indicate success- found per gram of sediment ranged from 3 to 65. The ful achievement of desired surface modifications. samples were numerically dominated by agglutinated species and common marsh inhabitants. Pollutants found Identification of Enzyme Targets of Anti-Malaria in the water at the time of the sample collection, includ- Compounds ing heavy metals and organic compounds, were then cor- Kuzma Kovzun, Senior, Biochemistry, Psychology related with the found species using concordance cor- Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar respondence analysis. In addition to a comparison of Mentor: Wes Van Voorhis, Allergy Infectious Diseases the species composition of the collected foraminifera Mentor: Gregory Crowther, Medicine for several recent years, and the relative densities of Malaria is a widespread infectious disease in the tropi- foraminifera in the sediments as varied by year, the re- cal and subtropical regions of the Americas, Asia, and sults show the extent to which various pollutants have Africa. Each year, there are approximately 300-500 mil- affected the species composition. These results will help lion reported cases of malaria with 1 to 3 million deaths. to understand how pollutants are affecting Puget Sound The purpose of this study is to aid researchers in de- and the biota that reside in it. veloping new and better anti-malaria drugs to combat Ultrafast Interferometric Investigation of Plasmon this parasite, known as the Plasmodium parasite. The Polaritons and Coherent Phonons project consists of scanning libraries of known anti- Min-Tih Lai, Senior, Materials Science Engineering, malaria compounds from the Novartis pharmaceutical Mechanical Engineering company and the Broad Institute. Using a high through- Mentor: Markus Raschke, Chemistry put “thermal melt” method, Plasmodium enzymes that Mentor: Samuel Berweger, Chemistry have been expressed in E. coli bacteria are tested against a number of anti-Plasmodium compounds in order to de- Various properties of materials can be inferred from termine whether any specific compound binds to and sta- a material’s response to electromagnetic radiation. In bilizes the enzyme. Hit compounds from these thermal nanoscale conductors, free electrons behave similar to a melt assays are then tested for their ability to inhibit en- body of gas under the Drude model and can respond to zyme activity, i.e., the enzyme’s ability to convert sub- radiation by forming polarized electric oscillations (plas- strates to products. After the compilation of data from mons). On the other hand, semiconductors tend to re- the thermal melt assays and the enzyme activity assays, it spond, on the atomic lattice level, with acoustic and opti- will be necessary to test whether anti-Plasmodium com- cal lattice vibrations (phonons). A greater understanding pounds can inhibit the activity of their respective en- of a material’s electronic and structural properties can zymes in living cells. At the conclusion of this project, be learned by observation of how plasmons and phonons researchers will have a good idea of which Plasmodium lose their coherence (dephase). This phenomena is ob- enzymes are acted on by which anti-Plasmodium com- served using an ultrafast Titanium:Sapphire laser in an pounds. This will be very beneficial in future drug de- interferometric “pump and probe” setup. In the interfer- velopment. ometer, the laser beam is split into two arms; the “pump” arm of the interferometer excites the system, while the The Environmental Health of Puget Sound as “probe” arm provides the interferometric juxtaposition Determined by Recent Puget Sound Foraminifera needed for detection. Dephasing mechanisms such as Lynna Kvistad, Senior, Earth Space Sciences coupling and carrier interactions are inferred through (Environmental), Biology (Ecology Evolution) analysis of the second harmonic interference signal at- Mentor: Elizabeth Nesbitt, Earth Space Sciences tained. The extended knowledge and refined methods of This study examines recent benthic foraminifera from plasmon and phonon excitation will be integrated into an

39 Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) as a means of studying cation a single characteristic or attribute of an editor – we the electromagnetic near-field properties in various ma- reveal the multiple categories of self expression that peo- terials with nanoscale resolution. These techniques can ple choose to disclose. By analyzing the frequency and be used to better understand materials from solar cells to studying the wide range of userboxes, we seek to under- biomolecules. stand the alignment between structured and unstructured profiles. Our findings provide a better understanding of The Quest for Meaningful Pedagogies: Cambodian the information elements that may support more effective Americans in Higher Education collaboration in large online communities. This research Jimmy Lal, Senior, American Ethnic Studies is an initial step towards exploring the relationship be- McNair Scholar tween identity and collaboration in Wikipedia and will Mentor: Rick Bonus, American Ethnic Studies influence the design of new tools that nurture teamwork Cambodian American students face social and academic and enrich collaboration in Wikipedia. challenges because of their underserved needs, lack of relevant curriculum, and misrepresentations of their The Risk of Food-Borne Illness in University of community in U.S. higher education institutions. This Washington Students Briana Ledesma, Junior, Anthropology study explores the educational experiences of Cambo- Mentor: Gene Kim, Office of Minority Affairs Diversity dian American students at the University of Washing- ton through interviews with Cambodian American stu- Food-borne illness is a serious problem in the United dents and UW faculty. This research project examines States that is thought to affect more than half the pop- two main things: 1) How Cambodian-American students ulation. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention make meaningful connections between their lives and and other public health professionals hypothesize that education, and 2) How the perceptions, reflections and if people are more informed about food safety and op- recommendations of faculty in higher education can cre- timally have taken a food safety class, they are much ate and improve pedagogies that are culturally respon- less likely to contract a food-borne illness. The goal of sive to the needs of these students. A significant out- my study is to determine how at risk the University of come of this research is a proposed syllabus for a course Washington population is for food-borne illness and for- on Cambodian American history and Culture that will be mulate a plan to help significantly lower this risk. The shared with all research participants. This project will University of Washington is a good sample of different both facilitate meaningful connections between Cambo- types of people from different backgrounds that are ed- dian Americans and higher education and contribute to ucated, but may be at great risk for food-borne illness. the growing literature on cuturally relevant education. My study is in the form of a Catalyst Survey that will be sent to several students via different list serves. The sur- Expressions of Identity in Wikipedia with Userboxes vey includes 6 basic questions about individuals’ back- Linda Le, Senior, Informatics, Psychology grounds and 20 basic food safety questions designed to Mentor: David McDonald, Information School be answered quickly, the entire survey should take ap- Mentor: Ivan Beschastnikh, Computer Science proximately 10 minutes. If students are at risk, they Engineering will continue through life preparing food for others, fam- Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopedia, is composed ily, friends and potentially putting them at risk for these by hundreds of thousands of editors. Underneath the types of illnesses. If students are at the risk that I ex- placid surface of its articles, lives a thriving community pect them to be an optimal solution would be to create a of individuals from around the globe dedicated to im- mandatory food safety class conducted at every advising proving Wikipedia. To facilitate communication and in- and orientation session for freshman and transfers. This spire collaboration among the editors, each person is al- could help eliminate risk and other nutrition problems located a user page. These user pages are similar to on- that are associated with students in college. line profiles seen on social network systems. However, Wikipedia provides few structures or suggestions on how Single-Molecule Sensing Utilizing Solid-State or what kind of information editors should present about Nanopores Hyunae Lee, Senior, Chemistry, Biochemistry themselves. In contrast, social networking sites like Mentor: Bo Zhang, Chemistry Facebook and MySpace suggest content fields that in- dividuals can decide to use in their profile. Our research Cylindrical shape silica nanopores have been developed explores the subject of online identity; how do people and utilized as sensors for single nanoparticles and sin- present themselves? Given a semi-structured environ- gle biological molecules. A nanopore-type sensor has ment like Wikipedia, what information do editors choose a membrane separating two ionic solutions. A sin- to disclose? Through a content analysis of Wikipedia gle nanopore in the membrane allows both the ionic userboxes – small colored boxes designed to communi- species and electrolyte to pass through. A small volt-

40 age is applied to electrophoretically drive charged an- sion of PSME3 is downregulated in most virus-positive alyte molecules to translocate through the nanoaper- tumors. A critical next step will be to introduce synthetic ture. The resulting ionic current is monitored to detect mimic microRNAs in order to determine how they affect the translocation events. Our cylindrical nanopore sen- protein levels in cell lines expressing target genes. sors are fabricated by simply pulling a thick-wall sil- ica capillary to form nanometer-scale channels, followed Effect of AZT Treatment on Oxidative Damage in by sealing the tip of nanochannel in a glass capillary Mouse Skeletal Muscle with low melting temperature and sanding to cut the So Lee, Senior, Biochemistry length of the tip. These sensors have been applied in Mentor: David Marcinek, Radiology the detection of a number of different analytes, includ- The goal of the research is to detemine if azidothymi- ing single bovine serum albumin (BSA) molecules and dine (AZT) treatment leads to increased oxidative dam- polystyrene nanoparticles ranging from 20 to 50 nm. Fu- age and energetic defects in mouse skeletal muscle. AZT ture work will be focused on studying the transport of or Zidovudine (INN) (also called ZDV), is a well-known single molecules, like single-strand DNA. HIV treatment that is known to cause skeletal muscle A Merkel Cell Polyomavirus-Encoded MicroRNA in dysfunction.I will compare oxidative damage in AZT Merkel Cell Carcinoma treated and control mouse skeletal muscle and in trans- Sherry Lee, Junior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular genic mice with elevated mitochondrial antioxidants. To Developmental) achieve my experimental goal I will use SDS gel elec- Mary Gates Scholar trophoresis and Western blotting to detect oxidatively Mentor: Paul Nghiem, Dermatology damaged proteins. I will use gel electrophoresis to sep- Mentor: Kelly Paulson, Pathology arate proteins by mass. After running the gel I transfer the separated proteins to a membrane and expose them Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an uncommon but ag- to antibodies that detect oxidative damage modification gressive type of skin cancer that has a high mortality of proteins. The more antibodies accumulated in cer- rate and greatly increased number of incidences in the tain protein band, the more oxidative damage there is. past 20 years. To better understand MCC pathogene- I expect to see more oxidative damage in mitochondria sis, we are studying a newly discovered human poly- in a mice treated with AZT and that this oxidative dam- omavirus, called Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). age will be reduced in the transgenic mice with elevated Specifically, we are focusing on mechanisms by which antioxidant. This measure of oxidative damage will be the virus may escape immune detection and promote tu- compared to measurements of mitochondrial function to mor growth. To avoid immune detection, the virus may determine if oxidative damage contributes to mitochon- use microRNAs, small, non-coding RNAs to selectively drial dysfunction with AZT treatment. regulate the expression of genes that might be recognized by the host immune system. Using high-throughput se- Identifying Genes Required for Stem Cell Function quencing of 6 MCC tumors and analyzing a total of 28.3 Vivian Lee, Junior, Biochemistry million sequences of small RNAs, we directly identi- Mentor: Hannele Ruohola-Baker, Biochemistry fied an MCV-encoded microRNA. This viral-microRNA Mentor: Ellen Ward, Biochemistry was expressed in strongly virus positive tumors and not Adult stem cells remain undifferentiated and continue to expressed in virus negative tumors. The expression of divide throughout the lifetime of the organism. Proper viral-microRNA in human Merkel cell carcinoma tumors regulation of adult stem cells is critical because reduc- was confirmed by a custom reverse-transcription quanti- tion in their cell division can lead to tissue atrophy, and tative PCR assay. The viral-microRNA was detected in uncontrolled cell division may lead to cancer. In order 7 out of 14 MCC tumors (50%), which corresponded to to identify genes required for stem cell maintenance and 63.7% of virus positive tumors and 0% of virus negative cell division we are performing a genetic screen. Since tumors. A validated in silico algorithm called TargetScan many genes, when they are homozygous mutant it causes was used to predict the viral-microRNA’s human target lethality, to determine if a gene is regulated in an adult genes, which we hypothesize will be downregulated in tissue we are using the FLP/FRT system to make mi- virus positive cells. A promising target we are inves- totic clones to remove the gene of interest. Through this tigating further is the gene PSME3. PSME3 normally loss of function genetic screen, we can identify genes augments processing of antigen fragments that are recog- required for stem cells to remain stem cells and/or are nized by cytotoxic T-cells. This suggests that by reduc- required for stem cell division. For the screen we use ing the expression of PSME3, the virus may be able to Drosophila germline stem cells as a model since they are reduce the presentation of viral stimulatory antigens that easily identified. From the stock center, we receive fly trigger immune responses. With messenger RNA mi- lines with mutations on FRT-bearing chromosomes. The croarray analysis, we found that transcriptional expres- crosses are set up and the progeny are heat shocked to

41 induce clones. The female flies are then dissected and bacteria, such as Burkholderia mallei, these signals are analyzed. Mutations and interesting genes express a phe- often acyl-homoserine lactones (acyl-HSLs). QS de- notype with reduced germline stem cell progeny. Thus pends on transcription factors belonging to the LuxR far, I have screened 128 lines with the result of 12 lines family of acyl-HSL-responsive proteins. B. mallei is with reduced germline stem cell progeny. The most inter- a biosafety level 3 obligate mammalian pathogen with esting of these results are kekkon-1, an EGFR-signaling multiple QS systems. Previous research has shown gene, and abrupt, a transcription factor gene. For further that QS-deficient strains of B. mallei are less virulent research, secondary screens are being done with these than wild type strains. B. mallei BmaI1 mutants are lines. The secondary screen will verify that a given mu- severely impaired in virulence. BmaI1 produces the sig- tation is responsible for its phenotype. This is done by nal octanoyl-HSL (C8-HSL). C8-HSL binds to the B. analyzing the phenotype at two different time points and mallei LuxR homolog, BmaR1. We hypothesize that calculating percentage of clones lost over time. Also I the BmaR1-BmaI1 QS system regulates factors impor- will obtain a second allele for genes kekkon-1 and abrupt tant for B. mallei pathogenesis, and that identification of and analyze mutant germline stem cells for cell cycle de- the QS regulated genes will help us understand how B. fects with a panel of cell cycle markers. mallei causes disease. To begin to test our hypothesis, we are screening a random genomic library of B. mallei Comparing UIS3 Gene Expression of Plasmodium DNA fragments to identify BmaR1 regulated promoters. yoelii and Plasmodium falciparum We screen the library by transforming Escherichia coli Leslie Ratzlaff-Minkler, Sophomore, Biology, Seattle containing a bmaR1 gene with DNA fragments cloned Central Community College upstream of a promoter-less green fluorescent protein Mentor: Vanessa Jacobs-Lorena, Global Health, Seattle (GFP) gene, and testing transformants for GFP expres- Biomedical Research Institute sion with and without added C8-HSL. When a BmaR1 Mentor: Stefan Kappe, Global Health promoter is present, C8-HSL stimulates GFP production. It has been determined that in the rodent malaria parasite We then sequence positive clones to determine the role of (Plasmodium yoelii) with the UIS3 gene deleted from the the QS-regulated gene in B. mallei. We have identified genome, the parasite life cycle cannot be completed. The two positive clones, and have sequenced the promoter objective now is to compare the Plasmodium yoelii UIS3 in one of them, which codes for a protein of unknown gene to that of Plasmodium falciparum, which is the par- function. An understanding of QS and pathogenesis in asite that infects humans, to determine whether both are B. mallei is important for the development of potentially expressed in the same stage of the life cycle, and if so, novel QS therapeutics and drug development. whether the resulting proteins are localized similarly for Mutagenization of scrm-D Seedlings to Locate both organisms. This will be accomplished by construct- scrm-D Suppressor Gene ing a plasmid which contains two important sequences. Alex Lin, Senior, Biology (Physiology) First, the plasmid will contain untranslated regions that Mentor: Keiko Torii, Biology will target the plasmid to an unessential protion of the Plasmodium yoelii genome and second, the Plasmodium Scream-d is a gain-of-function mutant allele in Ara- falciparum UIS3 gene with an epitope tag. The com- bidopsis which causes almost all protodermal cells (em- pleted plasmid will then be introduced into the genome bryonic epidermal cells) to develop into stomata rather of Plasmodium yoelii. If the introduced Plasmodium fal- than into a mixture of stomata and pavement cells. Pre- ciparum UIS3 gene is expressed, it will be detected with vious research suggests that the SCRM protein dimer- an antibody against the tag, and conclusions can then be izes with SPCH, a transcription factor that regulates the drawn as to the function of this gene. stomatal pathway, to push protodermal cells down the stomatal path. The key to this study is figuring out if Identification of Quorum Sensing (QS)-Regulated there is another gene that suppresses the scream-d muta- Genes in Burkholderia mallei tion. To create a suppressor mutation, the Torii lab per- Tiffany Lim, Sophomore, Microbiology formed a brute force screen using homozygous scream-d Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant seeds and ethyl methylsulfonate (EMS). scream-d seeds Scholar were treated with EMS, a highly effective mutagen, Mentor: E Peter Greenberg, Microbiology then sowed onto sterile culture media and screened for Mentor: Amy Schaefer, Microbiology healthy-looking plants. Scream-d plants are short and Mentor: Breck Duerkop, Immunology, UT-Southwestern shriveled relative to wildtype plants because they lack Medical Center pavement cells and the overabundance of stomata hin- Quorum sensing (QS) is a bacterial cell communica- ders photosynthesis. Therefore, a completely suppressed tion system that enables cells to measure the popula- scream-d phenotype would look like wildtype Arabidop- tion density using chemical signals. In Gram-negative sis. Once a putative suppressor is found, reproducibil-

42 ity of phenotype and mode of inheritance will be tested. selective pressure. We then determined the rates of adap- The success of this research could provide great insight tation versus extinction in each treatment and the relative into the mechanism of suppressor proteins and could also fitness and maximum levels of rifampicin resistance in provide a potential general model for suppressor mecha- bacteria from the evolved populations. In addition, we nism in both plant and animals. sequenced the rpoB locus of the common ancestor and isolates from the evolved populations to determine what Synthesis of a Novel Ruthenium Complex for Study kinds of mutations are responsible for resistance and in- of Hydrogen Atom Transfer creased fitness in each treatment group. For isolates with Alexander Lindsay, Senior, Chemical Engineering multiple mutations, we plan to use site-directed mutage- Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant nesis to engineer all combinations of the mutations and Scholar then separately measure their fitness effects in a com- Mentor: Jim Mayer, Chemistry mon background. We expect our results to give insight Mentor: Virginia Manner, Chemistry into the fundamental question of how organisms adapt to Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) is important in changing environments. Our approach of looking at the a wide range of chemical and biochemical processes severity and duration of changing selective pressures has such as tissue inflammation and enzyme catalysis. The relevance for the potential evolutionary effects of climate Mayer group studies a specific group of PCET reactions change on organisms. Using rifampicin and E. coli in our called Hydrogen Atom Transfer (HAT) in which the pro- model also allows us to draw inferences about the evolu- ton and electron are transferred from one molecule to an- tion of antibiotic resistance under different conditions of other in a single mechanistic step involving no interme- exposure. diates. We are currently assessing the effects of decreas- Breaking the Fortune Cookie Myth: Racially and ing the communication between the redox site, where Ethnically Constructed Asian American Identity electron transfer occurs, and the acidic/basic sites, where Wen Liu, Senior, Psychology proton transfer occurs. To study this, organic ligands are Kevin Lam, Senior, Psychology coordinated to the transition metal ruthenium. One lig- Mentor: Sapna Cheryan, Psychology and contains a carboxylic acid functional group, which Mentor: Jennifer Wang, Psychology is responsible for the acid-base chemistry. The metal is the redox site. After the inorganic compound is synthe- Research in the field of psychology has often used race sized, it is reacted with various organic reagents, and the and ethnicity interchangeably when they may be distinc- reaction rates are measured using an Ultraviolet-Visible tively constructed categories for various groups. Specif- (UV-Vis) spectrometer. Products are confirmed by Nu- ically, Markus (2008) proposed that race is socially con- clear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Mass Spectrom- structed and referring to power dynamics whereas eth- etry (MS). Preliminary results have led to a hypothe- nicity is seen in terms of culture and practices. In sis that decreased communication decreases the rate at this survey study we examined the differences between which HAT occurs and that in extreme cases the pro- race and ethnicity among Asian Americans, a group in ton and electron transfers cease to be concerted. These which ethnic and racial identification are often used in- experiments are establishing critical boundaries on HAT terchangeably yet may have very distinct meanings. We and are contributing to a better understanding of various hypothesized that racial identity (i.e. Asian American) is chemical and biological systems, including combustion more associated with experiences of discrimination and of hydrocarbons and charge transport in DNA. prejudice while ethnic identity (e.g., Chinese American) was more associated with cultural practices and activi- Adaptive Evolution of Bacteria in Response to ties among Asian American college students. Forty-four Changing Selective Pressures undergraduate students who identified as Asian Ameri- Haley Lindsey, Senior, Biology (Ecology Evolution) cans at the University of Washington participated in the Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar survey. We asked participants to rate their agreement Mentor: Benjamin Kerr, Biology on 38 items we developed examining various aspects of We are interested in how organisms adapt in response to identity, framed within both ethnic and Asian American changing selective pressures. Specifically, we are explor- prompts (e.g., To me, being Asian American means...). ing if organisms evolve different adaptive mutations in These items focused strength of self-identification, cul- response to a gradual increase in selective pressure ver- tural customs, and perceptions of perceived discrimina- sus a rapid increase. Using Escherichia coli as our model tion. Using a within-subjects design, our findings sug- organism, we have evolved four treatment groups by se- gest that when participants were racially primed, they rial transfer for approximately 160 generations, subject- rated higher on items focusing with discrimination and ing the groups to different gradients of the antibiotic ri- racial conflict including stereotype perception and blend- fampicin to model different intensities in the increase of ing their racial identity with the mainstream. When the

43 participants were ethnically primed, they rated higher strombid and one of the largest shellfish species known on the importance of self-identification with their ethnic to occur in the Caribbean. It is found as far north group. These findings support our hypothesis that racial as south Florida and the Bahamas to as far south as identity for Asian Americans is more associated with dis- Venezuela, and has been exploited as a source of meat, crimination than ethnic identity. Furthermore, our pre- tools and tourist commodities wherever available. Stud- liminary findings suggest that ethnic and racial identities ies of historic (within the last 50 years) and prehistoric are constructed differently among Asian Americans. Queen conch shell fossils in Middleton Cay (Turk and Caicos Islands, British West Indies) show a significant Variability in Behavior and Self-Regulation in decrease in total shell length (TL) over time; the authors Infants At Risk for ASD attribute this to increased fishing pressure, citing simi- Rachel Lowy, Senior, Psychology lar findings in Belize (Stager and Chen, 1996). This Mentor: Sara Jane Webb, Psychiatry Behavioral study tests the hypothesis that S. gigas shell length de- Sciences cline observed in Middleton Cay is present in other ar- Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have eas of the West Indies, presuming increased fishing pres- been shown to have difficulty in regulating their emo- sure over time. Historic juvenile and adult samples from tions. As infants they tend to be more difficult to soothe, Windward Beach were compared to those from two pre- and they grow up to have more trouble when focusing historic (CAL A.D. 400-1400) middens; all sites were attention and inhibiting negative emotion than typically along the Atlantic coast of Carriacou, West Indies. The developing children. This study investigates regulation adult historic mean conch TL and lip thickness (T) in of affect and emotion in infants who are at risk for ASD this study coincides with measurements in other areas (because they have older siblings with the condition). of the Caribbean; conversely, literature values for ju- We looked at affect and emotion across two 15-minute venile historic mean TL are larger than observed here. testing sessions that involved sustained attention to vi- Limited data and small sample sizes excluded juvenile sual stimuli. We predict that infants at risk for ASD and adult samples for TL analysis, but indicate a statisti- will show more negative affect, less sustained attention cally significant increase in juvenile body length (BL) over time: prehistoric juvenile BL=94.1 21.6mm (P- and greater variability in affect and attention both within ± values << 0.05); historic juvenile BL=167.4 20.9mm and between sessions than typically developing infants. ± Participants were 16 six-month-old infants who had sib- (P-values <<0.05). Differences in the relative locations lings with an autism diagnosis (at risk group) and 12- of each site (prehistoric vs. historic) from shore may six-month old typical developing infants (control group). account for the observed results; further analysis using Visual tasks included a habituation task, a disengage- Carriacou paleogeography and larger sample sizes is re- ment task and a preference task. The same tasks were quired in order to more rigorously test these findings. repeated on two visits: one where infants were tested as The Effect of a Cesarean Birth on Subsequent soon as they arrived at the lab, and once where infants Pregnancies were tested after a 90-minute clinical session. Behavior Shari Luchino, Fifth Year, Nursing during the visual attention tasks was coded online and Mentor: Catherine Carr, Family Child Nursing offline into categories (e.g. movement, affect, attentive- ness), and scored on a Llikert scale. Categories were Cesarean births have dramatically increased over the last plotted across time so that magnitude and variability of decade. In 1965, cesarean deliveries comprised 4.5 per- affection and attention over time in both populations can cent of all births in the United States. By 2002, 26.1 be compared. Data analysis is ongoing, but preliminary percent of all babies born in the U.S. were born by ce- results suggest that at-risk infants are more variable in sarean and in 2006 the rate was 31.1 percent. The risk attention across sessions and are less attentive overall of uterine rupture in labor after a prior cesarean has been (increasing the difficulty of data collection). This pat- publicized in both medical journals and lay media. How- tern may influence their ability to perform standardized ever, the risks of the cesarean itself on subsequent preg- visual attention tasks and also reduce their capacity to nancies have had far less attention. The research aims for learn from their visual environment. this project are: 1) examine the effect of a previous ce- Conch Shell Length from Prehistory to History in sarean on subsequent pregnancy and 2) update this item Carriacou, West Indies for the Optimality Index-US (OI-US), a tool developed Hazel Lozano, Recent Graduate, Anthropology, Biology by Fullerton and Murray and used by Certified Nurse- (Molecular, Cellular Developmental) Midwives (CNMs) to evaluate the processes of care for Mentor: Christina Giovas, Anthropology pregnancy and birth. The PubMed database was queried Mentor: Donald Grayson, Anthropology using the following limits: published in the last three years, Clinical Trial, Randomized Controlled Trial, Case Queen conch (“kongk,” Strombus gigas) is the largest Reports, Comparative Study, Controlled Clinical Trial,

44 English Abstract, Government Publications, Journal Ar- Surface Analysis and Petrology of Flood Deposits in ticle, Core clinical journals, Nursing journals, MED- the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis LINE. 252 hits were obtained and 27 primary research Christopher Maffucci, Senior, Earth Space Sciences articles were selected. Articles using Level II or higher (Environmental) evidence were cited. Each selected article was evaluated Mentor: Katharine Huntington, Earth Space Sciences using the criteria of the OI-US. Women who had a pre- The Siang River valley in Northeast India preserves a vious cesarean delivery have an increased risk for com- record of Holocene floods, including a well-documented plications with future pregnancies. These risks include modern flood from a landslide dam failure in 2000. In placental abruption, placental accreta, placental previa, order to better interpret ancient flood deposits I charac- stillbirth and infertility. There are future costs to the ris- terized modern flood and monsoon deposits by examin- ing cesarean rates in the US as well as in other indus- ing the mineralogy, grain size, and spatial distribution trialized nations. Nearly one in three babies is born by and related them to characteristics of the flows that pro- cesarean delivery in this country. The emerging research duced the different deposits. It has been hypothesized should be incorporated into evidence based practice that that there were massive floods in the past that were de- best explains the cost benefit ratio of a cesarean section, rived from glacial outburst dams (81-835 km3of water). thus allowing women and their providers to make more If I can relate sedimentary deposits to the flow charac- informed decisions. teristics from the modern floods I may be able to con- Effect of Lightning on Trans-Ionospheric strain the flow characteristics of these ancient floods to Communications test the hypothesis that the past floods were indeed mas- Austin Lueck, Junior, Pre-Engineering sive. The modern flood (˜3 km3of water) produced a trim NASA Space Grant Scholar line 30-40 m above mean annual river elevation for >300 Mentor: Robert Holzworth, Earth Space Sciences km. It produced sandy deposits containing quartz, mi- cas, and in some samples garnet. These flood deposits When lightning occurs, it creates radio waves that propa- ranged in height from 15 m to the maximum trim line gate between the ionosphere and the earth, causing vari- elevation above the river. The ancient deposits have sim- ations in the electron density of the ionosphere. In ad- ilar mineralogy, grain size, and spatial distribution sug- dition to lightning, neutral wind, temperature, and so- gesting a similar source of sediments. However, the an- lar cycles can all alter the ionosphere. These irregular- cient deposits were at a higher height above the mod- ities are well-documented, but as yet there is no suc- ern river. This raises the question, was the river at the cessful method of predicting when they will occur. The same elevation as it is today? If so, then that suggests Communications/Navigations Outage Forecast System larger ancient floods. Alternatively, if the river has in- (C/NOFS) is a satellite that was recently launched to cised the bedrock since ancient floods, then the ancient measure and predict these irregularities. The World Wide floods could be similar in size to the 2000 flood. This Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) based at Uni- study lays the groundwork for future research to quan- versity of Washington is able to detect the radio waves tify flood recurrence intervals and hazard in this region released by lightning, called sferics, and can record the and to inform policies for future hydroelectric projects location and time of a lightning event. WWLLN has only planned upstream of the research area. been operational since 2004 however, and data analysis still needs to be done. In particular, our work is fo- Student Activism: The Challenges and cusing on lightning event densities, as opposed to sim- Contributions of Collaboration ply locations, to allow for studies over greater time pe- Jaimee Marsh, Senior, Social Welfare riods. C/NOFS will provide data on where and when McNair Scholar ionospheric irregularities occur, and by coordinating this Mentor: Ratnesh Nagda, Social Work data with the data gathered from WWLLN, we can de- termine exactly how the lightning strokes contribute to Collaboration and coalitions are fundamental tools for the irregularities of the ionosphere, and to what extent promoting social change as they enhance activists’ abil- in relation to the other contributing factors. By know- ity to address issues of oppression and inequality com- ing all of the causes of ionospheric irregularities we may prehensively. From this perspective, this study explores be able to predict when they will happen. This is im- how leaders of student organizations invested in social portant because ionospheric irregularities cause scintil- change across cultures and issues of inequality engage in lations in trans-ionospheric radio signals, such as GPS collaboration and alliance building, as well as how fu- communications. The ability to be able to predict iono- ture relationships could be stronger and more effective. spheric irregularities will therefore allow the military and Data collection involved a combination of focus groups commercial companies to know when satellite communi- and individual interviews with student leaders from Reg- cations like GPS will be available. istered Student Organizations (RSOs) and the ASUW Diversity Commissions at the University of Washing-

45 ton around four specific topics: (1) student leaders’ vi- Pseudo-cholinesterase activity was measured utilizing sions of collaboration and its benefits, (2) the reality of a photo spectrometric plate reader. For each subject, how student collaborations do or do not presently oc- cholinesterase inhibition will be measured for each day. cur, (3) strategies that facilitate student collaboration, Significant inhibition is defined as a 5% decrease in ac- and (4) hindrances of student collaborations. The inter- tivity. If Acetaminophen indirectly affects cholinesterase views and focus groups brought student leaders together inhibition, then regular consumption of Tylenol could in- to increase networking and potential collaborations, and terfere with OP pesticide exposure tests in Washington to share knowledge and the findings of this study in or- state field workers. This could result in the incorrect di- der to discuss strategies for implementing potential im- agnosis of OP pesticide overexposure and unnecessary provements. Preliminary observations and communica- removal from job sites. A future plan of this project is tion with students suggests institutional memory and col- to perform an in-vitro study assaying Acetaminophen’s laborative relationships are inconsistent and complicated ability to directly inhibit cholinesterase. by multiple factors including the frequency of leader- ship transitions. The ability of student organizations Endophyte Assisted Phytoremediation to achieve their goals influences the lives of other stu- Rachel Miller, Senior, Environmental Science Resource dents on campus seeking community within the larger Management institution and a voice for their concerns. This study is Mentor: Sharon Doty, Forest Resources unique not only for its potential enhancement of social Mentor: Zareen Khan, Forest Resources collaborations at the University of Washington, but also More than 50% of SuperFund sites in the United States serves as a means to record the continuing histories and are contaminated with trichloroethylene, or TCE. TCE, progress of student organizations and leadership - history a halogenated hydrocarbon, is one of the most common that should be made available to current and future stu- environmental pollutants and can persist in the environ- dents, as well as to student leaders and organizations at ment for decades. It has been used extensively in in- other colleges and universities. dustry and in the military primarily as a degreaser. TCE exposure can result in liver and kidney toxicity, and de- Acetominophen Interference in Organophosphate pression of the central nervous system. TCE is also a Pesticide Testing Ryan Meek, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular suspected human carcinogen. For these reasons, there Developmental), Microbiology is great interest in developing effective yet inexpensive Mentor: Gretchen Onstad, Environmental methods for removal of this pollutant from the environ- Occupational Health Sciences ment. Phytoremediation is the use of plants for the re- Mentor: Christopher Simpson, Environmental moval of contamination. This method of contamination Occupational Health Sciences removal is gaining significant attention as a more be- nign method than some of the current engineering prac- In Washington State, farm workers are tested for tices. One of the major problems with phytoremedia- organophosphate (OP) pesticide exposure by monitor- tion is that even plants that are tolerant to the presence ing serum cholinesterase activity. If as much as a of these contaminants often remain relatively small, due 20% decrease in serum cholinesterase activity is de- to the toxicity of the pollutants that they are accumulat- tected, the workers must be removed from handling of ing. This toxicity can be reduced using microorganism- cholinesterase inhibiting pesticides. OP pesticides com- assisted phytoremediation. Endophytic bacteria has only pete with cholinesterase binding sites thus depressing the recently been considered in relation to degradative ca- enzymes ability to break down important biochemical pacity as part of phytoremediation strategy. My research compounds such as the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine. involves screening thirteen different willow species and Decreased acetylcholine breakdown leads to excess neu- three poplar species for TCE degradative capacity, and rotransmitter in the synaptic clefts. This causes neurons identifying the most effective species. I am propagat- to lose their excitability leading to physiological com- ing internally sterile plants of the same species for fu- plications ranging from muscle fasciculation, to mus- ture comparison. My current research aims to discover cle paralysis at higher doses. The primary objective that fast-growing willow and poplar could be more effec- of this research is to identify pharmacological interfer- tive at removing TCE contamination if appropriate endo- ences with the test for pesticide exposure. In particu- phytes are present. lar, regular dosage of Acetaminophen has been shown to alter liver enzyme levels which may in turn depress cholinesterase levels. To test this indirect inhibition of cholinesterase in-vivo, 15 healthy adults were adminis- tered Acetaminophen at dosages of 1 mg three times a day for 6 days. Serum samples were collected daily.

46 Modeling Glioblastoma Response to Radiation and nized with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), where Chemotherapy serum KLH-specific antibody levels were measured with Julia Moore, Senior, Applied Computational enzyme linked immunosorbant assays (ELISAs) 11-14 Mathematical Sciences (Biological Life Sciences) days post-immunization. We also assessed the ability of Amgen Scholar, Goldwater Scholar, Mary purified na¨ıve B lymphocytes from Myc knockout and Gates Scholar Myc transgenic mice to differentiate into IgG1 and IgE Mentor: Kristin Swanson, Pathology producing cells in tissue culture. Results from ELISAs Mentor: Russell Rockne, Pathology showed that Myc deficiency greatly increased IgE pro- Glioblastoma is an extremely aggressive form of glioma, duction in vivo, while Myc overexpression resulted in a uniformly fatal brain tumor characterized by diffuse more IgM, and lower concentrations of IgG1, IgG2a, and invasion and an average survival time of 6-12 months IgE (with IgE being too low to quantitate). Intracellu- after diagnosis. Currently, treatment of most glioblas- lar flow cytometric analysis suggests that overexpression tomas follows a general pattern. MRI scans are first of Myc inhibits in vitro differentiation to IgG1 and IgE taken, along with a biopsy of the tumor. Surgical resec- producing B cells. Data from our initial reverse tran- tion then occurs, followed by radiation therapy and con- scription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplifica- current and/or adjuvant chemotherapy. However, even tion of germ-line transcription (GLT) for IgG1 and IgE with surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, shows a significant decrease of IgE GLT in Myc trans- tumor recurrence always occurs, invariably leading to genic mice. These results collectively suggest that Myc death. One hypothesis for tumor recurrence is the inabil- may regulate the production of IgE by inhibiting the dif- ¨ ity of medical professionals to determine and target the ferentiation of naıve B cells into IgE producing cells. full range of the tumor, due to both the diffuse nature of Analyzing the Phylogenic Relationships of the the tumor as well as limitations of current imaging tech- Pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the Northwest nology. To better understand tumor growth, Swanson et Region of the United States by Multi Locus Sequence al. developed a mathematical model that describes tu- Typing mor proliferation (ρ) and diffusion (D) within the brain. Matthew Muramatsu, Recent Graduate, Microbiology Using this model as a foundation, we further extend it to Mentor: Mark Strom, Microbiology, Northwest incorporate the instantaneous and the delayed effects of Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, NOAA radiation therapy and chemotherapy. By accurately mod- Mentor: Eric Landis, Northwest Fisheries Science eling these effects, the hope is that better treatment plans Center, NOAA, NWFSC can be developed that more effectively target the tumor and ultimately prevent recurrence. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a bacterium that is found ubiquitously throughout the marine environment espe- Analysis of the Role of the Myc Oncoprotein in cially in coastal and estuarine areas. Currently it is the Immunoglobulin E (IgE) Production leading cause of seafood borne acute gastroenteritis in Christie-Lynn Mortales, Senior, Biology (Molecular, the United States and is responsible for the majority of Cellular Developmental) cases in Japan, Taiwan and elsewhere worldwide. It has Mentor: Brian Iritani, Comparative Medicine been associated with a variety of seafoods including sar- dines and codfish, but is mainly isolated from shellfish Immunoglobulin isotype E (IgE), an antibody produced such as oysters and clams. V. parahaemolyticus strains by B lymphocytes, is involved in the protection against are highly diverse at the genomic level and only a subset certain types of pathogens, especially parasites. Ex- of stains are able to cause disease in humans. Presently cessive IgE production, however, contributes to aller- it is unknown what factors are important for conferring gic reactions and other hypersensitive responses, such virulence in V. parahaemolyticus. Additionally, there is as asthma. Hence, it is important to identify the mech- a lack of reliable genetic markers that can be used to anisms that regulate the production of IgE in B lym- accurately distinguish virulent strains from less virulent phocytes. In this study, we are investigating the role ones. In this study, the phylogenic relationships between of the Myc family of transcription factors in the gener- V. parahaemolyticus strains are analyzed by multi locus ation of antibody-producing plasma cells, with a focus sequence typing (MLST), which compares the DNA se- on IgE. Myc promotes proliferation and cell growth by quences of a suite of housekeeping (HK) genes. Appli- controlling gene expression, but when deregulated, con- cation of MLST to environmental and clinical isolates tributes to tumorigenesis and to the onset of various can- form the Pacific Northwest as well as strains isolated cers. Since IgE production is mediated through germline from around the world has led to a view that strains capa- transcription and DNA rearrangement, we hypothesized ble of causing illness from oysters harvested in Washing- Myc to have a significant influence in the regulation ton State form a distinct and unique clonal complex that of IgE production. To examine this, B cell-specific differs from strains that cause disease elsewhere. This Myc knockout and Myc transgenic mice were immu-

47 study forms the basis for future determinations as to the ful algal bloom (HAB) known as Paralytic Shellfish Poi- genomic differences between clinical and environmental soning (PSP). Alexandrium catenella germinates from stains of V. parahaemolyticus, with the goal of identify- cysts in the sediment to mobile phytoplankton, thus al- ing important virulence genes and accurate genetic mark- lowing them to be filter fed by shellfish and their toxin to ers that would aid detection and risk assessment meth- be concentrated in shellfish tissue, making the shellfish ods. harmful to humans and other mammals that ingest them. In an earlier NOAA/ECOHAB study of A. catenella cyst The Role of Neurotensin in the Positive Feedback concentrations in the surface sediments of Puget Sound, Control of GnRH/LH Secretion in the Mouse Quartermaster Harbor (QMH) was found to have two or- Roxana Naderi, Senior, Biochemistry ders of magnitude higher concentrations than anywhere Mary Gates Scholar else in Puget Sound. This is consistent with frequent Mentor: Robert Steiner, Obstetrics Gynecology shellfish closures in this area by the Washington State Mentor: Heather Dungan Lemko, Internal Medicine, Department of Health due to unsafe harvest levels of UT Southwestern above 80 µg toxin/100 mg of tissue. In order to deter- In female mammals, the hormone estradiol (E) triggers mine what environmental conditions favor the develop- a surge of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and ment of A. catenella in QMH we sampled a seven station luteinizing hormone (LH), which is responsible for in- transect longitudinally through the bay monthly starting ducing ovulation. A specific region of the brain, the an- in October 2006. CTD profiles of standard water prop- teroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV), is attributed erties were collected. In addition, discrete samples were to inducing such hormone surges, but it is unclear which collected and analyzed for chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxy- neurotransmitters in this region are responsible for this gen, nutrients and phytoplankton. The presence of A. activity. Previous studies have demonstrated that the catenella is seen as early as April and as late as Octo- neuropeptide neurotensin (NT) is a prime candidate for ber in the 2008 QMH quantitative plankton counts and playing a role in ovulation. In the rat, E induces NT although present, does not dominate any one month; A. mRNA expression in the AVPV and inhibition of NT sig- catenella does not have to bloom in high concentrations naling blocks the E-induced GnRH & LH surge. We hy- to reach dangerous levels in shellfish. In this analysis, pothesized that if NT indeed played a critical role in ovu- we have examined the environmental conditions, such lation, increasing levels of E would result in higher NT as light, chlorophyll, oxygen, nutrients and stratification, mRNA levels in the AVPV of the mouse as well. Using associated with the presence of A. catenella in QMH. De- in situ hybridization, we were able to measure and com- termining the environmental conditions that most favor pare the number of cells expressing NT mRNA in the the excystment and growth of A. catenella is the first step AVPV in two groups of mice. While all mice had their in predicting harmful algal blooms. ovaries removed, one group was treated with E, and an- other group was treated with a vehicle (oil) implant. We Increasing the Therapeutic Index of Arsenic found that E-treated animals had greater numbers of NT Chemotherapy Treatment with Triptolide cells in the AVPV compared with vehicle-treated mice. Ronald Ng, Senior, Biochemistry We then conducted a double label in situ hybridization Mentor: Sung Woo Hong, Environmental Occupational experiment to determine the extent of NT coexpression Health Sciences with mRNA for Kiss1, a gene whose peptide product is While arsenic trioxide is commonly known as an en- known to play a critical role in the GnRH/LH surge. We vironmental toxic metal, it is also an FDA-approved found that although NT- and Kiss1-expressing cells were chemotherapy drug for acute promyelocytic leukemia, identified in the AVPV, very few cells actually expressed and recent studies show that arsenic can induce apoptosis both mRNAs. Thus, we conclude that NT neurons in in a wide spectrum of other types of cancer cells. How- the AVPV may act as a distinct circuit in mediating the ever, the severe side effects of arsenic treatment are a ma- E-induced GnRH & LH surge in mice. jor obstacle to expanding arsenic clinical utility. Previ- ous experiments with microarray technology have found The Presence of Alexandrium Catenella in Relation that the signaling pathway in arsenic-induced cell death to Environmental Conditions in Quartermaster is different in cells lacking functional protein 53 (p53) Harbor, Puget Sound when compared to normal cells. P53 is an important tu- Ashley Nepela, Senior, Environmental Science, UW mor suppressor that signals for cell cycle arrest in or- Tacoma der to allow for DNA repair or apoptosis of cells with Mentor: Cheryl Greengrove, Environmental Science, irreparable damage, and p53 inactivation is found in a UW Tacoma majority of all human cancers. The finding of an alterna- The dinoflagellate, Alexandrium catenella, is one of a tive mechanism for arsenic toxicity in p53 deficient cells few species of phytoplankton that causes a form of harm- therefore suggests that, for a majority of cases, arsenic

48 causes cell death in cancer cells using a different path- Phytochelatins as a Bioindicator Suggesting Metal way than in regular cells. By selectively increasing ar- Stress in Douglas-fir Trees Treated with Municipal senic toxicity for only p53-deficient cancer cells through Biosolids the addition of complementary agents, the efficacy of ar- Quyen Nguyen, Senior, Environmental Science, UW senic in cancer treatment can be enhanced. Therefore Tacoma the amounts of arsenic required in treatment can be re- Mentor: Jim Gawel, Environmental Science, UW duced, allowing for greater clinical utility. Triptolide is Tacoma a compound found in the Tripterygium wilfordi hook F Mentor: Erica Cline, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, plant and was found to modulate similar pathways to the UW Tacoma p53-independent pathway of arsenic. We are currently Biosolids are materials removed from municipal wastew- performing an in vitro study on wild-type and p53 defi- ater treatment plants after undergoing treatment. Munic- cient mouse embryonic fibroblasts to test the effects of ipal biosolids commonly contain heavy metals such as arsenic when combined with the triptolide. Early results arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, show that combined treatment with arsenic and triptolide nickel, selenium, and zinc. Applications of municipal results in higher levels of toxicity in p53-deficient cells biosolids may result in elevated soil levels of toxic heavy than in wild-type cells. metals. However, metal concentrations in soils, or even plant tissues, do not necessarily indicate metal stress to Investigation into the Fluorescence Resonance plants growing in the area. A better method for deter- Energy Transfer (FRET) of Novel Donor-Acceptor mining metal stress in the environment is to measure Pairs Mylinh Nguyen, Senior, Biochemistry phytochelatins —intracellular metal-binding peptides in Mentor: Trisha Davis, Biochemistry plants and some fungi that act as an indicator of metal Mentor: Luther Arms, Biochemistry stress. Phytochelatins are synthesized from gluthathione, a component of the antioxidant defense system, in re- Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is the sponse to higher intracellular metal levels. This study ex- process in which energy is transmitted from a donor flu- amines the concentrations of phytochelatins, glutathione, orophore to an acceptor. A singular fluorophore is ex- and cysteine in Douglas-fir needles and roots collected cited at a specific wavelength of light, causing it to flu- from three plots treated with different biosolids amounts oresce and emit light at another wavelength. However, at Pack Forest, and these concentrations are compared when in close proximity to an acceptor fluorophore, the with metal levels in soils and foliage. Phytochelatins, donor also resonates energy to excite the acceptor. This glutathione, and cysteine are quantified using high per- principle has been utilized to determine if two proteins formance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluoro- closely interact by labeling one protein with a donor metric detection. Our results show that the plot treated and another with an acceptor. Typically the labels, or with intermediate biosolids amounts is higher in phy- “tags”, used have been yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) tochelatin concentrations in Douglas-fir needles, in soil and cyan fluorescent protein (CFP). Independently, these metal concentrations, and in the percentage of organic tags can be used to track individual proteins within liv- content in soil. Conversely, the concentration of phy- ing cells. When used together with FRET, a successful tochelatin in Douglas-fir roots is highest in the plot not energy transfer indicates interactions between the indi- treated with biosolids. Possible mechanisms responsible vidual proteins. In a previous experiment, core proteins for these results are discussed. in the spindle pole body (SPB) of the model organism An Investigation of the Mechanical Responses of baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were tagged Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic, Steel and with YFP and CFP. Then the organization of the core Aluminum Under Low Velocity Transverse Impact proteins within the architecture of the SPB was mea- Loading sured and determined by FRET. This study utilizes the Nickolas Stelzenmuller, Sophomore, Mechanical same core proteins from the yeast SPB in order to assess Engineering, Seattle Central Community College the donor-acceptor pairing of green fluorescent protein NASA Space Grant Scholar (GFP) and mCherry as an alternative to CFP and YFP. If Mentor: Timothy Briggs, Mechanical Engineering proven to be successful, this novel donor-acceptor pair Mentor: Mamidala Ramulu, Mechanical Engineering could become the preferred option in FRET analysis. Unlike YFP and CFP, GFP is highly photostable and has High performance composite material systems, namely a lower spillover factor, allowing FRET analysis to be- carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), due to their light come much more reliable. weight and high stiffness and strength properties, are be- coming the material of choice for many of today’s en- gineering applications. However, the dynamic mechani- cal response and damage initiation and growth behavior

49 are yet to be fully understood for these novel materials, havioral reactions during the CTA process. Using a hy- which makes it difficult to predict in-service loading be- perdrive recording technique, neural activity of several havior and appropriate design allowables. This investiga- single units can be simultaneously recorded while an an- tion, therefore, examines the mechanical performance of imal performs a task. CTA learning targets neurons in the three engineering material systems subject to low veloc- midbrain area, which is known to be a major source of ity impact loading – CFRP, Steel and Aluminum. Force- dopamine in brain functioning. Our main interest in this time response was directly measured from the impact study is how midbrain neurons process the same taste experiments with the incident kinetic energy of the im- stimulus (e.g. saccharin) differentially according to the pactor held constant at 10 J for each case. Velocity- animal’s familiarity or novelty associated with the CS. time and displacement-time responses were derived us- This study provides a new aspect of the dopaminergic ing Newtonian mechanics with the appropriate initial role in reward processing, which can broaden our un- conditions, which allowed dissipative energy calcula- derstanding in human domains of learning, such as drug tions to then be performed. Post processed data has been addiction. normalized by the material’s density and specimen thick- Rethinking our Future Uses of Wastewater in King ness to give additional insight and allow quantitative County comparisons amongst the different materials. A clearly Raffaela Oeler, Senior, Community, Environment, defined damage threshold load (DTL) was observed in Planning the CFRP material, which is thought to be the onset of Evan Lewis, Senior, Geography, Community, subsurface delamination, however, this phenomenon is Environment, Planning absent with the steel and aluminum, which both show Mentor: Dennis Ryan, Urban Design Planning signs of strain hardening and localized plasticity. From Mentor: Christopher Campbell, Undergraduate the measured data, along with pre and post-impact op- Academic Affairs tical micrographs, correlations have been elucidated in regards to the material composition, impact response Almost all wastewater treated in King County is cur- mechanisms and damage formation and growth behav- rently discharged back into local water bodies. However, ior. Finally, recommendations have been made based on modern technology now allows wastewater to go through these findings for appropriate engineering applications additional treatment and be “reclaimed” for other uses, for each of the material systems. including recharging streams, irrigating parks, gardens, farms, and golf courses, recharging groundwater, wet- The Role of Dopamine in Novelty and Taste Aversion land enhancement, and industrial processes. For this rea- Learning son, King County is in the stakeholder outreach stage in Alix Norton, Senior, Psychology creating its Reclaimed Water Comprehensive Plan. This Mentor: Sheri Mizumori, Psychology stage will weigh the costs and benefits of expanding the Mentor: Min Jung Kim, Psychology County’s capacity to produce reclaimed water. Several Dopamine (DA) plays a crucial role in the neurobiol- decades ago it was citizen activism that helped estab- ogy of learning and memory by providing information lish King County’s current wastewater system. Once about reward prediction error, incentive salience of en- again, citizens have the opportunity to shape the course vironmental cues, and the novelty value of a particular of King County’s water and wastewater future by getting stimulus. The neural function of DA in the processing of involved in the creation of the Comprehensive Plan. The rewards has been thoroughly explored in the last several UW Reclaimed Water Seminar informs and empowers years. More recent studies have begun to focus on the students to become involved in this important planning role of DA in response to aversive stimuli and condition- process. The Seminar also serves as a case study for ing. In the current study, we explore a form of aversive involving a new generation in local infrastructure plan- conditioning known as conditioned taste aversion (CTA). ning. The rich history of citizen involvement in water CTA is a type of classical conditioning in which animals and wastewater planning in King County led us to incor- remember a taste stimulus and avoid consuming it once porate this case study into a broader research report on they have experienced the pairing of a novel taste (CS, the people’s history of wastewater in King County. This conditioned stimulus) followed by the sensation of nau- report will revisit King County’s water and wastewater sea (US, unconditioned stimulus). In a typical laboratory past, in order to more conscientiously predict and inform experiment, a sweet taste such as saccharin is used as the its future. CS, and LiCl (lithium chloride, a nausea-inducing agent) as the US. The dramatic changes in behavior after this aversive taste conditioning period have been well pre- sented in previous studies. Our research focuses on both the dopaminergic neural activity as well as relevant be-

50 Using a Distributed Liquid State Machine Simulator women use cognitive mechanisms to deliberately con- to Explore Bursting Behavior in ex Vivo Cortical trol their sexual response upon instructions to maximize Cultures or suppress arousal, this data is limited. For example, Allan Ortiz, Senior, Computing Software Systems, UW sexual activity often occurs in the context of alcohol in- Bothell toxication, which could impair women’s cognitive abil- Cory Mayberry, Senior, Computing Software Systems, ities to control their arousal. To investigate these re- UW Bothell lationships, female participants (n = 178) randomly re- Mentor: Michael Stiber, Computing Software Systems, ceived either a control beverage, a low dose (.06%), a UW Bothell moderate dose (.08%) or a high alcohol dose (.10%). Cultures of dissociated cortical cells grown on multi- Once participants reached a criterion BAC, they were electrode grids are a tool used by computational- given instructions to either maximize or suppress their neuroscience researchers to investigate the computa- arousal while watching two erotic film clips. Physiolog- tional behavior of cortical cells. Experiments using corti- ical sexual arousal was assessed through vaginal photo- cal cultures are often complicated by entire-culture burst- plethysmography. Subjective sexual arousal and strate- ing activity that is not present in vivo. Having a bet- gies to control sexual arousal were assessed through self- ter understanding of this activity could allow researchers report measures. Analyses indicated that instructional to better design and understand their experiments. To set was significantly associated with the type of cogni- explore this phenomena, we developed a simulator us- tive strategy used to control arousal. Instructional set ing the (LSM) and leaky-integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron also influenced the total number of strategy types used, models. Our model incorporates neurons with synapses in that women who received directions to maximize their whose facilitation and depression are dependent on their arousal reported using a higher total number of cognitive activity. Connectivity is dynamically modeled, with each strategies than those instructed to suppress. Women’s neuron attempting to reach a state of equilibrium be- perceived effort to maximize or suppress and their sub- tween input strength and connectivity radius. Previous sequent perceived levels of success were also influenced attempts at exploring bursting behavior have run into a by instructional set, revealing that women instructed to serious computational complexity barrier. In such at- maximize their arousal reported higher levels of effort tempts, complexity issues were mitigated by limiting the and higher levels of perceived success than their suppress simulation size to a 10x10 array of neurons (100 neu- counterparts. Alcohol suppressed physiological arousal rons). Their results were primarily confounded by both and increased subjective arousal regardless of instruc- the large percentage (36%) of neurons lying along the tional set. This study replicates previous findings re- edge of the array and the almost complete level of con- garding the effects of alcohol and instructional set on nectivity between all of the neurons in the array. We pro- female sexual arousal and also presents novel informa- pose to increase the size of the array to 100x100 (10,000 tion regarding the cognitive mechanisms women employ neurons). Projecting from previous research, such an in- to control their sexual arousal. The implications of these crease will come at a projected cost of at least 80 days findings for women’s sexual health will be discussed. worth of computer time per simulation. Further compli- Event History Analysis of Dengue Fever Outbreaks cating the project is the need to run numerous simula- in 9 Different Endemic Regions tions in a search of our model’s multidimensional pa- Daniel Parker, Senior, Anthropology rameter space for the parameters that produce spiking Mentor: Darryl Holman, Anthropology patterns most closely replicating data from real cortical culture experiments. Our solution is to custom build a Dengue fever, the world’s most common arbovirus dis- distributed simulator with the capability of making use ease, is a major public health concern. Disease modeling of our scientific computing grid. If we are successful, we is an important component in public health surveillance will be able to investigate the cause of bursting activity and prevention systems, and the way demographic, bi- and conduct further experiments with simulated cortical otic, and abiotic factors affect distribution and frequency cultures. of dengue outbreaks is an active area of research. This research examines how demographic and environmen- The Influence of Alcohol, Instructional Set, and tal factors (covariates) affect the duration of dengue epi- Cognitive Strategies in the Control of Female Sexual demics and the time between outbreaks. A logistic model Arousal Jacqueline Otto, Recent Graduate, Psychology was used to analyze epidemic and inter-epidemic spells Mentor: Kelly Davis, Social Work from 9 different endemic regions. Mean monthly tem- perature was the most important factor affecting time Women’s ability to control their sexual arousal in a vari- until outbreak, while the duration of outbreaks was sig- ety of contexts may have important implications for their nificantly affected by average monthly temperature and sexual health. Although extant research suggests that vapor pressure. This research suggests that dengue epi-

51 demics are, in part, mediated by climatic factors. ments. So far, the instruments have been verified and de- termined to be working correctly, data has been classified Motivation of Math Students at the Community and bad data has been discarded, programs that are used College: Do Personal Epistemological Beliefs to process data have been revised, and calculations have Determine the Type of Motivation? been checked. This work should be able to reveal long Pauline Houx, Sophomore, Pre-Major, Seattle Central term trends in cloud coverage and patterns in the devel- Community College opment of weather conditions. Preliminary results show Mentor: Allen Harbaugh, Science Math, Seattle that the calculated cloudiness is similar to observations Central Community College made by weather observers. However, the interpretations In order to better understand the motivation of commu- of the spectrometer measurements are more accurate and nity college students who take a math class, students consistent with each other. In the future, this research from various math classes, in three different colleges, can be used to study the earth’s climate. were invited to participate in an online questionnaire. Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway is Required for The questionnaires were given at the beginning of the the Development of Median and Pectoral Fins in quarter and at the end of the quarter. The following hy- Zebrafish pothesis will be tested: Students’ epistemic beliefs are Dai Pham, Senior, Biology (General), Biochemistry related to their Achievement Goals. If there is not a sig- Mentor: Benjamin Martin, Biochemistry nificant difference found between the epistemic category Mentor: David Kimelman, Biochemistry and one of the achievement goals, we should then ana- lyze if there is a difference between the enacted and es- The Wnt signaling pathway plays a variety of role in poused values of the student. The questionnaire has a development such as cell-cell interaction, cell specifica- set of 25 quantitative questions to assess students’ epis- tion, and dorsal-ventral axis formation. We used two heat temic beliefs, using Factor Analysis, in one of the follow- shock transgenic lines of zebrafish: HS::deltaC-TCF and ing five personal epistemic categories: certainty, simple, HS::dkk1-GFP to temporally inhibit the canonical Wnt quick, innate, and authority. Likewise, Factor Analysis pathway at various development stages. They show con- is used to analyze a set of 19 quantitative questions to sistent results of lacking both pectoral and median fins measure students’ achievement goals, namely: learning, at five days post fertilization (dpf) when they were heat performance, or work avoidant. Using a mixed-methods shocked between 15 and 25 Somite stages. We have de- strategy, when the student’s epistemic beliefs do not cor- termined that Wnt signaling plays a critical role in the respond with the expected motivation, we will look at re- initiation of all fin developments during this develop- sponses for qualitative questions. The answers to this set mental window. We are now trying to determine what of open-ended questions have been coded and analyzed genes lie downstream of Wnt signaling during the initia- with a special software package (we used N-VIVO) and tion of fin development by looking at genes known to be these enacted values are compared with the espoused involved in fin development. epistemic values to validate the instrument tool. “Don’t Sell Your Children”: An Analysis of Framing Cloud Detection over a Section of Sky in Antarctica by Anti-Trafficking Organizations Juliette Peyroux, Senior, Aeronautics Astronautics Nancy Pham, Senior, Communication, French NASA Space Grant Scholar Mentor: Nancy Rivenburgh, Communication Mentor: Michael McCarthy, Earth Space Sciences Media scholars have long known the effects of fram- A recent study uses a high-resolution optical spectrome- ing on public perception. This study looks at how anti- ter, a device located in Antarctica, to collect data about trafficking organizations frame the topic of human traf- atmospheric temperature. However, clouds interfere ficking on their official websites. The focus of the study with the data because they interrupt the spectrometer sig- is on how the members of these organizations specifi- nal, so it is important to know about cloud presence be- cally use the “About Us” portion of their websites to fore analyzing the study’s results. The goal of this re- present their organizations and talk about human traf- search is to study Antarctic cloud coverage by measur- ficking as a whole. Different frames used about vari- ing the thermal radiation from the water particles that ous organizations create different understanding of the make up clouds. The cloud detector uses nine iden- issue among various audiences, such as the general pub- tical sensors that point in the eight compass directions lic, governments, and potential donors. Different types and one straight up into the sky. Each sensor contains a of frames might provoke different types of response from thermopile, which measures the thermal radiation of the those groups. Using a coding scheme based on Robert atmosphere, and a thermistor, which measures the tem- Entman’s model of what constitutes a frame, a framing perature inside the sensor. The amount of cloud cover- analysis was conducted on over 60 organization web- age can be determined by comparing these two measure- sites in order to discern what frames exist within anti-

52 trafficking discourse. Distinctively different frames were Although considered a preventable disorder, diabetes found correlated to organization size and region. has reached epidemic proportions, affecting 21 million Americans. Being overweight is the greatest single risk The Role of Activity State and Gender on Diving and factor for the development of type 2 diabetes, therefore, Swimming Parameters in Southern Resident Killer weight reduction is essential. Waist circumference is an Whales important and independent risk factor for diabetes. It Sophie Pierszalowski, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences, also positively correlates with blood pressure, insulin re- Biology (General) sistance and cardiovascular events. Assessment of waist Mentor: Dawn Noren, Conservation Biology, NOAA measurement or weight can be stressful for patients. NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center To gain insight into the general public response to pre- There are inherent difficulties in inferring marine mam- measured waist circumference ribbons to assess and ed- mal activity state from surface observations, particularly ucate for diabetes and pre-diabetes risk. Patients will be because these animals spend much of their time under- more inclined toward an alternative, tangible, and num- water. However, the collection of individual behavioral berless form of measurement that encourages weight loss data in conjunction with the collection of group activ- and facilitates understanding about their risk of develop- ity state data may allow us to better quantify subsur- ing diabetes or how to improve their health in relation to face activity. The goal of this study was to understand diabetes. This descriptive study documents responses to how swimming and diving behavior differ by activity the pre-measured waist ribbons. The sample will consist state and how these parameters vary by sex in Southern of a convenience sample that visit a diabetes information Resident killer whales. Dive duration, surface duration, booth at Harborview Medical Center between the months swimming speed, and respiration rate were recorded con- of February and March 2009. Data will be collected tinuously from individual focal whales in nearshore wa- at multiple Harborview Medical Center sites and a cen- ters from May through August in 2006. The activity tral location at the University of Washington. The study state (resting, foraging, traveling, socializing, defined by includes observations, documentation of interest, and a Ford 1989) of the group of whales associated with the simple short survey. If the reaction from public partici- focal animal was also recorded every 10 minutes. All pants is positive, waist ribbons could be implemented for diving parameters and swimming speeds varied signifi- standard use in primary care offices or in public health cantly (all p<0.001) across activity states for both males initiatives as a risk management tool for central obesity and females. Most diving parameters and speeds also and diabetes. varied by sex. For example, during forage, dive dura- Ultrasound Tongue Features in Relation to tions of males (mean: 39.5 2.0 SEM sec) were greater ± Craniofacial Skeletal Patterns in Open Bite (p=0.006) than those of females (mean: 35.4 2.7 SEM ± Inna Piskorska, Senior, Biology (General) sec). Similarly, dive durations for males were longer Mary Gates Scholar (p=0.004) than those for females (44.5 1.1 SEM sec ± Mentor: Zi-Jun (Zee) Liu, Orthodontics vs. 40.5 1.1 SEM sec) during travel. Also during ± travel, males swam faster (p<0.001) than females (2.3 To investigate anterior tongue motion in relation to cran- 0.0 SEM vs. 2.1 0.0 SEM m/s), while females had iofacial skeletal pattern in this specific ethnic group ± ± higher respiration rates (p=0.029). Conversely, speeds of with and without Anterior Open Bite (AOB) using ul- foraging and resting and dive durations of resting killer trasound and cone-beam CT(CBCT), ten 10-13 year-old whales did not differ significantly by gender. Differences East African subjects, 6 with AOB or AOB tendency in diving parameters and swimming speeds suggest that (group A), and 4 without AOB(group C), were recruited. activity states differ in their function. Furthermore, sex Ultrasound scans of the tongue were taken in sagittal differences in diving and swimming parameters within and coronal projections from the submandibular location behavior states might be attributed to differences in so- during rest, gum chewing, and water swallowing. Ul- cial affiliations with other pod members and/or the sexual trasound images were traced and analyzed for the shape dimorphism in body size. (curvature and thickness) and motion (range and veloc- ity) of the anterior tongue by using MATLAB software. Making Ends Meet: Central Obesity and the Risk CBCT scans were taken when subject was asked to sit for Diabetes at rest. Scans were processed for linear, angular, and Anadel Piol, Senior, Nursing volumetric measurements to examine craniofacial skele- Christina Escoto, Senior, Nursing tal pattern with CB-Works software. Non-parametric Mentor: JoAnne Whitney, Biobehavioral Nursing statistics was used to test the group differences and as- Health Systems sosications between measurable variables. Compared Mentor: Dawn Corl, Clinical Education, Harborview to group C, subjects in group showed more flatten cur- Medical Center vature of dorsal surface and larger thickness in the an-

53 terior 1/3 tongue; range of the motion during chewing standing the retreat dynamics of the Puget Lobe and pro- and/or swallowing were significantly larger with ten- vide new estimates for the differential erosion rates expe- dency of faster velocity. On the other hand, group A rienced by subglacial stoss-and-lee bedrock landforms. tended to have smaller mandibular body length, ramus height, and bilateral condyle width. The gonial angle Building a Transportation Information System Using and internal ramus inclination also tended to be larger. Only GPS and Basic SMS Infrastructure Correlation analysis between tongue shape and motion Anthony Poon, Recent Graduate, Computer were closely associated with craniofacial skeletal pat- Engineering, Sociology terns, particularly in group A. The AOB children have Mary Gates Scholar an unusual shape of the anterior tongue at rest and the Mentor: Ruth Anderson, Computer Science anterior tongue moves larger and faster during chewing Engineering and/or swallowing. Steeper mandibular orientation and Mentor: Gaetano Borriello, Computer Science reduced mandibular mass are the typical skeleton pattern Engineering of these AOB children. The tongue features may reflect Transportation of goods and people is key to economic the functional compension for skeletal abnormality. Fur- and human development, and many people in the world ther investigation on a larger sample size will help con- rely on shared transportation resources to obtain these firm obtained results. goals. However many developing regions face barriers Landscape Evolution Beneath the Cordilleran Ice to efficient public transportation due to poor infrastruc- Sheet: A Bedrock Erosion Study using Cosmogenic ture and limited resources. The work presented here con- 10Be sists of two main components. A longitudinal ethno- Zachary Ploskey, Senior, Earth Space Sciences graphic study was conducted in Kyrgyzstan that demon- (Environmental), Anthropology strated the importance of transportation resources in the Mentor: Terry Swanson, Earth Space Sciences developing world and allowed us to plan for an appropri- Mentor: John Stone, Earth Space Sciences ate information and communication technologies (ICT) solution. Secondly, a proof-of-concept system was en- The timing of the retreat of the Puget Lobe of the gineered to create a bottom-up, transportation informa- Cordilleran Ice Sheet out of the Puget Lowland dur- tion infrastructure using only GPS and SMS. The sys- ing the last glacial cycle is roughly understood by geo- tem, *bus, involved the development of a hardware de- graphically scattered limiting dates. While beneath ice vice, a *box, containing a GSM modem and a GPS unit, cover, many bedrock landforms were exposed to sub- that can be installed on a vehicle and used to track its lo- glacial abrasion and plucking that eroded the surface. cation. The *box communicates via SMS with a server The magnitude of this erosion varies across the land- connected to a basic GSM phone. The server runs route form along the direction of ice flow, but few quantita- a prediction algorithm and users can send SMS messages tive estimates of the amount of rock removed have been to the server to find when a bus will arrive at their loca- made. To date the deglaciation and estimate bedrock ero- tion. We discuss the system and early testing, as well as sion rates beneath the ice sheet, five samples were taken the development implications for a range of urban and from quartz veins in bedrock exposed near the summit rural environments where transportation is scarce or in- and steep lee (down-ice) surfaces of Mt. Constitution, a efficient, and where a central authority or institution is bedrock landform on the eastern side of Orcas Island. By not in a position to provide robust information resources measuring the concentration of the radioactive isotope for users. We describe how the solution is also situated 1 Beryllium-10 ( 0Be) using accelerator mass spectrome- within technology usage patterns common to the devel- try (AMS), it is possible to estimate both the timing of oping world. Transportation is a very important shared ice sheet retreat past that point and the depth of glacially resource, and enabling efficient and effective use of such eroded rock. Since the ice retreated past Mt. Constitu- resources aids overall development goals. tion, cosmic ray bombardment of the earth’s surface has produced 10Be in quartz near the surface at a known rate. Perfluorinated Carboxylic Acids in Water Samples At sites where glacial erosion has removed enough rock from Quartermaster Harbor, Puget Sound to remove all of the 10Be accumulated prior to glaciation, Shristi Prakash, Senior, Environmental Science, UW cosmic ray exposure ages indicate the time since ice re- Tacoma treat. On the stoss (up-ice) side of the landform near the Mentor: Joyce Dinglasan-Panlilio, Interdisciplinary summit, where the subglacial erosion rate is thought to Arts Sciences, UW Tacoma be lower, there may be bedrock that contains 10Be pro- Perfluorinated carboxylic acids or PFCAs are synthetic duced before the last glacial period, in which case the chemicals applied in carpet, paper and textile industries depth of rock removed by glacial processes can be cal- to render products water and oil repellent. These com- culated. These 10Be dates can help to further the under- pounds are also used as processing aids in the produc-

54 tion of fluorinated polymers typically used as non-stick sion in ice front position of glaciers Jakobshavn, Kanger- coatings in items such as pots and pans. The chemical lussuaq, and Helheim from June to August 2008, an ob- structure of PFCAs consists of a hydrophobic perfluo- servation consistent with summer melting. In addition, rinated chain of various lengths and a carboxylic end- I noticed a recession in ice front position of Jakobshavn group. The widespread detection and bioaccumulation and advancement of ice front position of Kangerlussuaq of PFCAs in the environment is of increasing concern. and Heleim in comparison to the winter 2005 position. Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) the 8 carbon version of PF- The advances are consistent with large scale, ice calving CAs has been detected in various environmental sam- events that occurred just before the 2005 measurements. ples including sediment, biota, ground and surface wa- However, lack of prior summer ice front data allows no ters as well as human blood. The potential toxicity of sufficient comparisons amongst yearly maximum reces- these compounds is also of concern. Studies have been sions. Thus, my observations will serve as a summer done on rats, mice and monkeys where PFOA has been baseline for future ice front measurements. In addition, shown to cause cancer and immune system failure as my scripts will allow future researchers to collect im- well as reproductive and developmental toxicity. This agery data of any specific region of Greenland efficiently study will present preliminary monitoring data on var- from downloaded ASAR files. ious PFCAs in water samples taken from Quartermas- Biological Function of an FMR1 gene protein ter Harbor in the Puget Sound. Samples will be an- isoform alyzed using solid phase extraction (SPE) and quanti- Ayu Rahardjo, Senior, Biochemistry fied via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrome- Mary Gates Scholar try (LS-MS/MS). There have been no studies examining Mentor: David Morris, Biochemistry the presence and concentrations of these organic contam- Mentor: David Brackett, Biochemistry inants in the Puget Sound to date. Restoration efforts on the Puget Sound should not only be limited to the clean Alternative splicing of the Fragile X Mental Retardation up of legacy pollutants but also of examining levels of (FMR1) gene produces a family of structurally similar new and emerging classes of contaminants such as PF- protein isoforms known as Fragile X Mental Retardation CAs. protein, FMRP. Transcriptional silencing of the FMR1 Satellite Imagery Analysis of the Greenland Ice gene results in Fragile X syndrome which is the most Sheet common known cause of inherited intellectual disability Christopher Raastad, Senior, Computer Science, and is an aggregate effect of the loss of the 12 protein iso- Mathematics (Comprehensive) forms. Although there is a great deal of ongoing research Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant on full-length FMRP isoforms, an understanding of how Scholar the other truncated isoforms function is absolutely lack- Mentor: Benjamin Smith, Polar Science Center, Applied ing; the specific contributions to brain development and Physics Lab behavior is unknown for most FMRP isoforms. The re- Mentor: Ian Joughin, Polar Science Center search I am presenting focuses on developing a mouse model that will enable an investigation of the function This study is conducted at the Polar Science Center at the of a single FMRP isoform, isoform 12. It is the short- University of Washington who study mass balance of the est protein product of Fmr1 gene and is retained in the Greenland ice sheet. The mass balance of an ice sheet nucleus due to a lack of nuclear export signal. This iso- quantitatively describes the total change of ice mass as a form is also missing phosphorylation and methylation function of snowfall, run off (melting ice), and discharge domains that are important for post-translational mod- (ice leaving the sheet in the form of icebergs).Thus, mass ification. To better understand the mechanism of this balance is a direct measurement of an ice sheet’s contri- disease and the biological function of this particular iso- bution to sea level. My work focused on creating and form, a “knock-in” mouse that only expresses isoform optimizing methods of collection and analysis of Euro- 12 is created. A mammalian targeting vector has been pean Space Agency (ESA) Advanced Synthetic Aper- designed and constructed that will produce only isoform ture Radar (ASAR) satellite data collected from every 12 when the Fmr1 gene is turned on. The construct is location on earth periodically about every two days. I designed to undergo homologous recombination within constructed functions and scripts in MatLab to conve- the exon 1 of the Fmr1 gene. The recombinant mouse niently acquire and process ASAR data from existing will allow us to study the contribution of this isoform databases to create usable images. After implementing 12 to brain development and behavior, and will provide these methods of data collection and processing, I ob- insights into the mechanism of Fragile X syndrome. served the ice front locations of various glaciers of in- terest over the course of summer 2008 and compared ice front locations to winter 2005 data. I observed a reces-

55 Placing the Face in Social Context: Cultural bidity and mortality among wild and hatchery stocks, Differences in Emotion Recognition Between particularly in high susceptibility species such as Chi- Japanese and European Americans nook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Enzyme- Rika Reid, Recent Graduate, Communication, linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the most widely Psychology used method of assessing infection, although quantita- Yuri Yano, Recent Graduate, Psychology tive real-time PCR (qPCR) is rapidly gaining popular- Mentor: Janxin Leu, Psychology ity. Although each method measures different bacterial Culture influences emotion recognition in facial expres- macromolecules (protein vs DNA), it was expected that sions. Masuda et al. (2008) demonstrated that Japanese the assays would provide related measurements of bac- may be more likely than European Americans to take terial load. To test this assumption, infection assess- into consideration the emotional expressions of sur- ment of free-living salmon was performed and showed rounding people when judging a person’s expressions. that ELISA and qPCR levels are not necessarily cor- In this study, we tested the hypothesis that Japanese peo- related. Evaluation of naturally infected fish treated ple would be more likely to use social context (i.e., other with macrolide antibiotics, which are protein synthe- people, situation, social role) to judge a specific individ- sis inhibitors, was performed to characterize the post- ual’s emotion, than European Americans. We also hy- treatment profile of infection. The results suggest each pothesized that European Americans may be more likely assay provides different information about the status of than Japanese to use facial features to judge an individ- an infection. ual’s emotions from their facial expression. One hundred DAKA and twenty-four Japanese and 179 European American Katherine Riggs, Recent Graduate, Comparative participants were asked to view four pictures of smil- History of Ideas ing and angry facial expressions modeled by White and Undergraduate Research Conference Travel Asian females. Participants first completed open-ended Awardee questions about what the model is feeling and why the Devin McDermott, Senior, Dance model is feeling that way. Then, participants rated the Anh Nguyen pictures on ten scales of emotion intensity, ranging from Alice Gosti, Recent Graduate, Dance 0 to 8. The emotions included disgust, fear, happiness, Mentor: Jennifer Salk, Dance contempt, sadness, anger, surprise, amusement, content- Mentor: Hannah Wiley, Dance ment, and pride. The open-ended data were reliably coded by four research assistants. The results showed In the spring of 2008, Alice Gosti presented ’3’ an origi- that, Japanese mentioned a greater number of specific nal dance composition for the Dance Major’s Concert at situation(s), other people, and specific roles the model the University of Washington. ’3’ began as an experi- could be filling to explain their judgment of a facial ex- ment, a study of the distinction between mere execution pression, compared with European Americans. On the of movement and performance authored by three indi- other hand, White Americans were more likely to men- viduals. Alice’s desire was to escape body virtuosity and tion facial features such as smiles or frowned eyebrows meaningless movement. In other words, movment not as the reason for judging a facial expression. Our study just for movement sake, but rather for communication replicated past research in showing that Japanese ref- to their viewers. Each dancer was given a pen and pa- erence other people more than European Americans in per, directed to write about central issues or ideas in their judging facial expressions (Masuda et al., 2008). We lives. For example: the over involvement in loved one’s also demonstrated that Japanese use more situations and lives, managing communication and grappling with re- imagined roles to judge an individual’s emotional ex- lationships. From then on, for nearly three months, the pression, compared with European Americans. dancers created, added, cut, and played with movement derived and inspired from these writings. This developed A Comparison of Analytical Methods for Detecting into a coherent performance piece in which three solos Renibacterium Salmonarium in Salmon Kidney happen at the same time. In the end, the solos appeared Tissue to have virtually no common elements yet succeeded in Michael Riederer, Junior, Extended Pre-Engineering relating and talking to one another. Due to the success Mentor: Linda Rhodes, Aquatic Fishery Science, of ’3’, Alice and dancers formed DAKA (Devin, Alice, Northwest Fisheries Science Center Katherine, Anh), an art collective to continue their exper- Mentor: Shelly Nance, Microbiology, NOAA Fisheries/ imentation in the art world, not just thinking of dance as NWFSC their medium. In September 2008, DAKAwas invited to perform ’3’ at Anticorpi XL; Network di Giovane Danza Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) in salmon and trout is d’Autore (Showcase for Young Dancers and Choreog- caused by Renibacterium salmoninarum, a microbe that raphers) in Italy. In our presentation we hope to share is endemic among Pacific salmon. BKD causes mor-

56 with you some highlights from our touring experience: the implant device provides for microbes. Success of videos, photography, journal entries and one on one dis- implants depends not only on the bone–implant integra- course about DAKA’s adventure. As of now, DAKA con- tion, but also on the presence of a sterile environment tinues to work on new movement and collaborations to around the implant, which will prevent bacterial infec- build their repertoire in hopes to continue traveling and tion. The generally prescribed oral antibiotics are not performing. always effective in combating implant-associated infec- tions for a variety of reasons including the inability to Spectroscopic Analysis of LDEF Craters reach the infection site in bone tissue, and an increase Michael Rodruck, Senior, Astronomy, Physics in bacterial resistance. In the present study, we offer Mentor: Don Brownlee, Astronomy a means to distribute antimicrobial peptides at the site My research deals with performing x-ray spectroscopy of implantation to help reduce the chance of bacterial on meteoroid impact craters from NASA’s Long Du- infection around the implant device, through titanium ration Exposure Facility (LDEF) satellite. The craters binding peptide-antimicrobial peptide conjugates. We are typically one millimeter in diameter and are formed designed a bifunctional peptide that exhibits both an- by hypervelocity impacts of particles from asteroids and timicrobial and titanium-binding properties, by linking comets. LDEF was a large cylinder launched in orbit in two previously discovered peptides: a titanium binding 1984 and retrieved in 1990 by the space shuttle. It was peptide (TiBPS1) and an antimicrobial peptide (AMP). gravity gradient stabilized so one end of the cylinder al- The mechanism of action of this antimicrobial peptide, ways faced away from Earth. We collected craters from like others in its class, is still unknown, however, sev- the space facing end in order to get craters mainly due to eral models suggest that the cell membrane of microbes meteoroid impacts and not space debris, which is com- is disrupted resulting in the death of the microbe. Devel- posed of human generated junk, from discarded rocket oping resistance to antimicrobial peptides of this nature boosters to paint chips. Typically, a meteoroid will cre- has proven to be minimal, likely because it would require ate a bowl shaped crater with a fragile lip, containing microbes to modify their cell membranes. varying amounts of residue. We use a high power optical Surge Opposition Effect in Sloan Digital Sky Survey microscope to pick out craters with significant amount of Asteroids debris in them, and then use a Scanning Electron Micro- Amy Rose, Senior, Astronomy, Physics scope (SEM) to examine the craters in high resolution. Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant Our SEM also has an x-ray detector that can perform Scholar spectroscopy, so we can determine the composition of Mentor: Andrew Becker, Astronomy the residue, and hence the meteoroid. When the elec- trons strike the crater, they create x-rays that are unique Little is known concerning the composition of a large to each element found in the crater. However, our x-ray majority of asteroids in the solar system. By loosely detector cannot “see” into the bottom of our craters, be- determining the surface composition of a few thousand cause any x-rays emitted from the bottom are blocked individual asteroids we can gain a more general under- by the crater wall. We are currently in the process of standing of asteroids as a whole. Using asteroids found building a magnetic beam bender, which will be able to previously in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data, we bend the beam of electrons emitted from the SEM such plan to study the opposition surge effect. Marked by an that our x-ray detector will be able to see x-rays from the increase in brightness, opposition surge occurs when the bottom of the crater. Earth approaches the line between the Sun and the aster- oid. The strength of the surge is an indicator of small- Local Therapy for Prevention of Bacterial Infection scale surface texture and composition. By querying the in Implant-Tissue Interface by Titanium Binding Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) horizons website for ob- Peptide- Antimicrobial Peptide Conjugates servations of each asteroid, we can obtain the observed Mary Rood, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular brightness of each asteroid, and their solar phase angle. Developmental) If there are enough observations of the asteroid at solar Mentor: Mehmet Sarikaya, Materials Science phase angles close to opposition, the strength of the surge Engineering can be determined, and a loose determination of surface Mentor: Candan Tamerler, Materials Science composition can be constrained. Engineering Mentor: Hilal Yazici, Materials Science Engineering

Infections associated with implants are an uncommon but serious complication in transplant patients. Such in- fections have proven to be difficult to treat due to the unique microenvironment inside the human body that

57 Pore Optimization through Directional Freezing and This cycle has three main steps: (1) The C-H bond is ac- Mechanical Strengthening using Carbon Nanotubes tivated, broken by the Pt(II) complex, and the carbon is in Chitosan Based Polymer Scaffolds bound to the platinum center, followed by (2) the oxida- Michael Rossol, Senior, Materials Science Engineering tion of platinum from Pt(II) to Pt(IV). Finally, (3) the Mary Gates Scholar platinum-carbon group is functionalized and released, Mentor: Miqin Zhang, Materials Science Engineering regenerating the Pt(II) catalyst. This process is hampered Mentor: Narayan Bhattarai, Materials Science by catalyst decomposition and use of an expensive Pt(IV) Engineering complex as an oxidant. Current studies in this field are In the field of tissue engineering the use of synthetic scaf- working towards more stable catalysts for C-H activa- folds has been a promising approach to promoting the tion. The work is directed towards developing platinum re-growth of damaged tissue or new growth in missing complexes that can activate C-H bonds and be stable in tissue. Due to the diversity of structures and cells in the the presence of oxidants. Towards this goal, I have con- body, scaffolds must be tailored to each tissue type. For ducted a series of reactions with a platinum complex con- porous polymer scaffolds this means being able to tai- taining a phosphorus-nitrogen ligand with a nitrogen in lor the scaffold’s pore size and structure to best fit the the backbone in place of a carbon as prior studies have tissue type with which it will be integrated. For almost done. These studies have revealed that my complex can all material types the use of directional solidification is a activate C-H bonds when heated, chemistry which is not simple and extremely effective way to closely control the observed in the analogous carbon-containing complex. size and structure of a products microstructure. During This underscores the participation of the ligand in this re- the production of porous polymer scaffolds directional action. I have characterized the intermediates and prod- freezing will be used to control the pore size and struc- ucts and this research will now focus on delineating this ture of the ultimate scaffold. Directional freezing will be new route by which platinum complexes can activate C- accomplished by insulating all but one end of the poly- H bonds. mer gel with Styrofoam to the cold, forcing nucleation Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance-Based and growth of frozen solution to start at one end of the Anti-Maltose Detection Using Genetically scaffold. Once the effect of freezing rate and direction Engineered Peptides on pore structure can be characterized and understood, Matthew Rutherford, Senior, Chemical Engineering directional freezing will allow for polymer scaffolds to Mentor: Mehmet Sarikaya, Materials Science be tailored towards applications with multitude of tissue Engineering types. While polymers are an excellent material for scaf- Mentor: Turgay Kacar, Materials Science Engineering fold production due to their biocompatibility, low cost, and manufacturability, there low mechanical strength has The development of new biosensors will need robust ar- been a limiting factor to certain applications. The addi- chitecture that could detect analyte concentrations as low tion of a reinforcing agent, such as carbon nanotubes, hy- as a few molecules. To achieve this goal, molecular im- droxyapitate ceramic particles, or a stronger co-polymer, mobilization needs to be efficient and detection of tar- will be used in an attempt to strengthen existing chitosan get molecules should be specific. Apart from the con- based polymer scaffolds. ventional approaches containing chemical agents, e.g. silane and thiol based molecules, recent studies at our Studies toward the Activation of C-H Bonds with Center have shown that inorganic binding peptides iso- Pt(II) Complexes lated through phage display and cell surface display pro- Matthew Ruppel, Senior, Chemistry (ACS Certified) tocols can provide an alternative approach to protein im- Mary Gates Scholar mobilization with advantages. Genetically Engineered Mentor: Karen Goldberg, Chemistry Peptides for Inorganics (GEPI) could provide opportu- Mentor: Kyle Grice, Chemistry nities in developing biosensors for a variety of target molecules when they are genetically fused with appro- The carbon-hydrogen (C-H) chemical bond in alkanes priate probes, e.g. Maltose Binding Protein (MBP), Al- is notable for its lack of reactivity, meaning many com- kaline Phosphatase, etc. to achieve oriented assembly. pounds, such as methane, have few useful chemical In this study, the detection of Anti-MBP was examined applications. Much research has been conducted to- using a fusion protein of MBP and gold binding peptide wards functionalizing these compounds, thereby increas- (AuBP), i.e., MBP-AuBP, as a probe through Localized ing their value for research and industry. The study of Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) obtained from gold transition metal catalysts has made great strides towards nanoparticles which display a strong UV-vis absorption achieving this goal. In the 1970’s, Alexander Shilov band. They were immobilized on a silica surface through found that four-coordinate platinum(II) complexes were a bifunctional peptide composed of quartz and gold bind- capable of activating and functionalizing methane into ing regions, i.e. QBP-AuBP. MBP-AuBP was then al- methanol in a process now known as the Shilov cycle.

58 lowed to bind to the gold nanoparticles and attachment gation to biomolecules, and being stable under a range was verified using LSPR by examining a red-shift in the of chemical and biological conditions. maximum wavelength (λmax) of the absorbance. Sub- sequently, introduction of Anti-MBP allowed for binding The International Longshoremen’s Association and to MBP-AuBP and initiated another red-shift in LSPR the International Longshore and Warehouse Union: A Comparison of Union Organizational Structure λmax. It was found that attachment of MBP-AuBP caused a red-shift of 40 nm. This biosensor allowed Carrie Sachse, Junior, Political Science for detection down to ˜30 nM of Anti-MBP with a red- Jung Hwang, Sophomore, Political Science, shift of ˜7 nm. Future research will be directed towards International Studies: Asia studying lower concentrations of Anti-MBP and detec- Hester Angus, Senior, Finnish tion in complex biological media, e.g. serum. The re- Mentor: Margaret Levi, Political Science search is partially supported by NSF-MRSEC Program We are conducting a comparative study between two through the University of Washington GEMSEC (DMR labor unions that represent waterfront workers in the 0520567) and NSF-BioMat program. United States. The International Longshore and Ware- Separation and Modification of Chlorin Derivatives house Union (ILWU) represents longshoremen working from Copper Chlorophyllin for Photodynamic on the West Coast and the International Longshoremen’s Therapy Association (ILA) represents longshoremen on the East Scott Ryken, Senior, Chemistry (ACS Certified), Coast. We are interested in identifying as many simi- Anthropology larities and differences between the two unions as pos- Mary Gates Scholar sible, in an attempt to explain the unions’ differences in Mentor: D. Scott Wilbur, Radiation Oncology political ideology and levels of internal corruption. The broader question we hope to address is as follows: What Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is a binary therapy that makes some unions work to advance a broad, socially combines light irradiation with photosensitizing agents progressive agenda while other unions focus strictly on to kill tumor cells. To be effective, the light used must the ’bread and butter’ issues important to their member- have a specific wavelength at which the photosensitizer ships? The ILWU has a history of radical leftist poli- efficiently absorbs, and the photosensitizer must have a tics, well-documented by its membership. The ILA has specific structure that efficiently converts the absorbed a history of rejecting leftist politics, and has also suf- energy into cell-damaging singlet oxygen and free rad- fered from a great deal of internal corruption. What ac- icals. While several combinations of light sources and counts for these differences? We use recorded interviews photosensitizers have produced effective PDT agents, a with retired longshoremen that Dr. Howard Kimeldorf major issue that limits their use in cancer therapy is the (sociologist at the University of Michigan) conducted in depth of penetration of the irradiated light. Circumvent- the 1980’s. We analyze these interviews to draw con- ing that shortcoming is the overall objective of the re- clusions about what the workers themselves felt shaped search being conducted. Since light penetration in tis- their unions, and we are able to compare our conclusions sues increases exponentially with increasing wavelength, with those of Dr. Kimeldorf and other scholars. We hope the research goal is to develop photosensitizing agents that our research will lend some insight to some of the that absorb light at longer wavelengths. The initial task contemporary labor issues being faced by America to- in the studies has been to obtain appropriate photosensi- day: the decline of unionism in general, and the lack of tizing materials for chemical conversion to higher wave- a strong voice to advocate for working people. length absorbers. Due to its relatively low cost, the ma- terial chosen to work with is copper chlorophyllin. The Reducing Wingtip Vortices Strength using Vortex purification and separation of the components of cop- Breakdown Methods per (II) chlorophyllin yields three to four chlorin deriva- Namiko Saito, Senior, Aeronautics Astronautics tives. These chemical components will be used as start- Mary Gates Scholar ing materials for the synthesis of the new photosensi- Mentor: Dana Dabiri, Aeronautics Astronautics tizing agents. My research has been directed at sepa- When an airplane departs, ensuing wingtip vortices cre- ration and isolation of these light sensitive and easily ate downwash behind its wings. In normal wings (a typi- decomposable components by high performance liquid cal wing geometry for commercial airplanes), this down- chromatography (HPLC), and their characterization by wash is so strong that it could flip over the airplane flying proton NMR and mass spectrometry. From the isolated behind it. Therefore, it is necessary to have a long time components, a variety of compounds with varying func- separation between consecutive departures or landings. tional groups will be synthesized with the eventual goal On the other hand, in delta wings (a typical wing geom- of obtaining molecules having long wavelength absorp- etry for fighter airplanes) this downwash is destroyed by tions (e.g. 750-850 nm), having functionality for conju- vortex-breakdown phenomena. In this project, a normal

59 wing model with a delta wing tip was tested in a wa- ing this model, the existing techniques rely on the as- ter tunnel using dye flow visualization as well as Digital sumption that the modulation envelope for speech is real Particle Image Velocimetry which allows for quantitative and nonnegative. However, it has been shown recently analysis of the flow such as velocity, vortex, and circula- that a more useful model allows the envelope to be com- tion field. The objective is to investigate the possibility plex (involving imaginary numbers). Thus, we need a of inducing vortex breakdown in normal wings, allowing way to extract the complex modulator. Adapting existing more frequent departures and landings. technology, we have developed a new way to determine the complex modulator of speech (specifically voiced Climate Responses to Biomass Burning Aerosols speech) by tracking the pitch information. In most ap- over South Africa plications, speech is analyzed using a short time window Naoko Sakaeda, Senior, Atmospheric Sciences (20-30 ms) shifted along fix intervals. However, in our Mentor: Robert Wood, Atmospheric Sciences method these shifts are synchronized with the pitch in- The effects of aerosols emitted by biomass burning on formation resulting in non-fixed shifts. Thus when the Earth’s radiation budget are significant but their magni- pitch is higher the shift rate is slower and vice versa. tude and extend are not yet fully undersood. Southern Moreover, we have shown that for a simple model con- Africa is one large region where intense biomass burn- sisting of harmonics (approximating voiced speech), and ing emissions are observed especially during the months given a high enough sampling frequency, the resulting of June to October. A layer of aerosol particles lofted frequency domain spectrum does not have interference. over the land is advected by the prevailing winds above Discrete frequency transform can then be further applied clouds over the South Atlantic Ocean. These aerosols on parts (envelope) of this spectrum to yield the final both reflect and absorb solar radiation, which changes modulation frequency spectrum. Our method is novel the radiative balance of the lower atmosphere and may in that the modulator is both complex and free of in- affect other fields of climate such as clouds, precipita- terference. Although the results are theoretical they do tion, winds, and temperature, that are all interconnected. have practical importance. In our research we hypoth- We use a global atmospheric model, the Community At- esized that using a complex representation of the enve- mosphere Model (CAM) to examine the impact of the lope should yield better results in many speech process- biomass burning aerosol layer in the regional and global ing technologies. One such example is the automatic ex- scale. By comparing a 20 year simulation in which the traction of one person’s speech from a recording of mul- aerosol layers are present with a simulation in which the tiple talkers. As we can show, a PhD student in our lab, aerosols are removed we can examine the effect of the Brian King, has been able to apply this theory to separate aerosols on the climate system. Inclusion of biomass multiple talkers in a recording. burning aerosols causes a net decrease in the incoming Mapping the Concentration of Alexandrium solar radiation over the region where the aerosols are Catenella Cysts in the Surface Sediments of concentrated. Effects on other climate fields are highly Quartermaster Harbor dependent on surface albedo, the reflectivity of solar ra- Mitchell Schatz, Senior, Environmental Science, UW diation. Marked changes to clouds are found which mod- Tacoma ify the direct radiative effects of the aerosols. Cloud Mentor: Cheryl Greengrove, Environmental Science, cover and precipitation decreases over land while oppo- UW Tacoma site are seen over the ocean. Surface winds are weakened Mentor: Julie Masura, Environmental Science, UW while mid-tropospheric winds are strengthened implying Tacoma changes to the regional circulation. Additional work is required to ascertain the robustness of the results, and Alexandrium catenella is a marine dinoflagellate that further simulations will be conducted to assess the mech- produces saxitoxin, which when bio-accumulated in ma- anisms for how the aerosols drive changes in climate. rine filter-feeders can result in Paralytic Shellfish Poison- ing (PSP) for mammals that ingest the shellfish. Blooms Pitch Synchronous Complex Modulation Envelope of A. catenella occur at various locations around the Extraction of Speech world, including Puget Sound and have resulted in shell- Paramjit Sandhu, Senior, Computer Engineering, fish harvesting closures locally. A. catenella spends part Electrical Engineering of its lifecycle as a benthic cyst in the sediment and Mary Gates Scholar has been shown to germinate when temperatures exceed Mentor: Les Atlas, Electrical Engineering 13-14oC in Puget Sound. In 2005, a NOAA/ECOHAB study of Puget Sound found that Quartermaster Harbor A mathematical model for speech consists of a carrier (QMH), on the sound end of Vashon Island, has the high- and a modulator. The carrier can be visualized as the est concentration of A. catenella cysts of any surface sed- pitch content in speech, while the modulator shapes the iments in Puget Sound. The NOAA/ECOHAB distribu- pitch into distinct and informative phonetic sounds. Us-

60 tion study was based one sample in the bay. In 2008, we Evolution of Large Software Compilations did a follow-on cyst mapping study, courtesy of fund- Scott Shawcroft, Senior, Computer Engineering ing from the Russell Family Foundation, by collecting Mentor: David Notkin, Computer Science Engineering and analyzing 24 surface sediments samples through- Linux distributions are a compilation of hundreds or out QMH. These samples were processed, stained, and thousands of software pieces centered around the Linux counted for A. catenella cysts. Sediment samples were kernel. Each of these pieces evolves largely indepen- also analyzed for particle size and total organic carbon dently of all the other pieces. Recently there has been (TOC). A map was created showing the relative concen- discussion of synchronizing software development and trations of A. catenella cysts in the surface sediments of distribution development. The hope is that the distribu- QMH. We found a higher concentration of surface sedi- tions will feature the latest software pieces leading to in- ment cysts in the inner bay of QMH than the outer bay. creased stability, features and security. However, this is Lowest concentrations of cysts were in the outer bay near currently not the case; different distributions accumulate the mouth of the harbor. Knowledge about the distri- new software at different times. Some distributions con- bution of cysts in the bay could help shellfish managers tinuously accumulate new and updated software while avoid high shellfish risk areas for harvesting. others gather them in batches once or twice a year. We Exploration of an Information Ground for the are studying the relationship between individual software International Community developments and their addition to distributions. Some Jared Scott, Recent Graduate, Informatics of the aspects we are looking at are the distribution’s Mentor: Batya Friedman, Information School software management system, its purpose and its com- Mentor: David Hendry, Information School munity. By looking at these aspects we hope to recog- nize possible optimizations to the release processes of I build upon Karen Fisher’s theory of information both individual software and distributions. These op- grounds – focusing on “place” and social interaction timizations will increase the likelihood that software in – to examine information flow within the international distributions are current. community at the UW Foundation for Understanding Through Students (FIUTS) Wednesday lunch. For pur- Foreign Object Recognition Through Phagocytosis Alyssa Sheih, Senior, Bioengineering poses of this research, the term international community Amgen Scholar, NASA Space Grant Scholar refers to a group of people who have interest in foreign Mentor: Hong Shen, Chemical Engineering cultures; membership is defined neither by race, culture nor ethnicity. Information grounds refer to environments Phagocytosis is the engulfment of particles by the cell that are created when individuals gather for a common membrane, often initiated by receptor-ligand binding. purpose which lead to a spontaneous sharing of informa- This process is employed by the immune system to clear tion. The FIUTS Wednesday lunch is a 2-hour weekly foreign bodies such as bacteria and viruses. Although free event; anyone may come to eat and talk. Approx- Fc-receptor-mediated phagocytosis has been extensively imately 250 people attend weekly. To investigate how studied, little is known about how phagocytic targets are (if at all) the lunch functions as an information ground, selected in various cell types. Here, we explore the size data was collected consisting of documentation, 20 hours of particles as a possible criterion for target selection. of observation, 20 surveys, and 20 in-situ interviews (8 Specifically, we are interested in how the size of spheri- males, 12 females, ages 17–75) with participants of the cal particles affects the efficiency of phagocytosis by dif- Wednesday lunch. The survey/interview consisted of 35 ferent cells. Different sizes of fluorescent polystyrene questions tailored to elicit understanding about the par- beads, 0.05 – 3 µm, were presented to the following ticipant’s activities, goals, and information sharing. The types of cells: monocytes, epithelial, neuronal and glial instruments took into account language proficiency as cells. For each size, we monitored phagocytosis kinet- well as cultural dimensions. Results showed that (1) FI- ics and the number of ingested beads in each cell type. UTS volunteers and organizers did not regulate informa- We expect different cells would exhibit distinct phagocy- tion flow; (2) information targeted toward participants tosis kinetics of different beads and a strong preference was negligible; (3) most interviewees did not have an towards engulfing certain sizes of particles. Our studies explicit information goal; and (4) most interviewees’ pri- would provide critical information for designing delivery mary motivation for attending the lunch was to interact platforms to avoid clearance by macrophages and more with others in the international community. In addition, efficient uptake by targeted cells such as cancer cells. seven non-mutually exclusive role types were developed: Furthermore, an immune response can be triggered or Sages, Adventurers, Wallflowers, Tourists, Organizers, avoided by carefully designing the features of particles Ambassadors, and Socialites. This work may help in- to prevent or promote phagocytosis by immune cells. form organizers on how best to disseminate information to their subjects.

61 Water Properties in Quartermaster Harbor: several billion dollars and as a result has low operation Dissolved Nutrient Trends efficiency. I am investigating the interaction between the Benjamin Shetterly, Senior, Environmental Science, UW gas-liquid flow and the mass transfer within microchan- Tacoma nels which can replace the former system by providing Mentor: Cheryl Greengrove, Environmental Science, an affordable, highly efficient microreactor for biomass UW Tacoma FTS reaction. In this work, I use a high speed camera The phytoplankton species Alexandrium catenella has and an inverted microscope to record the intrinsic prop- historically been found in Puget Sound waters, and con- erties of microchannels by varying the flow rates, surface tinues to receive attention for its role in Paralytic Shell- hydrophobicity, and the device design. These parame- fish Poisoning (PSP) outbreaks. This dinoflagellate pro- ters aide in the derivation of the capillary number and are duces a neurotoxin called saxitoxin, which can become useful for determining the gas-bubble velocity within the concentrated in shellfish, and lead to PSP if the shell- microchannel. fish are consumed by mammals. Located near Vashon Analysis of Birth Practices in the Context of the Island, Quartermaster Harbor (QMH) sediments have Healthcare Systems in Indonesia, Thailand and the been identified as containing a significantly high popu- United States lation of cysts of A. catenella, compared to other Puget Jane Silver, Senior, Nursing, Women Studies Sound sites, and shellfish harvesting in QMH is closed Mentor: Catherine Carr, Family Child Nursing on occasion due to potential poisoning. The University of Washington Tacoma has been conducting research in Maternal mortality in 2006 for Indonesia, Thailand and QMH, with the aim of better understanding environmen- the United States is as follows: 230, 44 and 14 (all tal factors that may have led to this higher cyst concen- per 100,000) respectively. Infant mortality is 38, 21 tration. A seven station transect was sampled approx- and 8 (all per 1,000) respectively (WHO). Government- imately monthly from October 2006 to February 2009. mandated health practices, as well as the political cli- CTD water property profiles (temperature, salinity, den- mate surrounding birth practices and the relationships sity, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence (chlorophyll a), and between the two predominant sectors of maternity care, transmissivity) and discrete oxygen, chlorophyll a, dis- obstetrical-medical and midwifery models, play a statis- solved nutrient and phytoplankton samples were col- tically significant role in influencing the above outcomes lected. This study focuses on the temporal and spatial of birth–infant and maternal mortality. There are two variability of nutrients in QMH and investigates possible components to this study; the first is to perform a crit- causes of this variability as related to physical forcing ical literature review of maternity healthcare in the three conditions, such as seasonal weather patterns and tides, systems being analyzed, and second is to conduct inter- and general estuarine biological and chemical processes. views with midwifery professionals to better understand The dissolved nutrient concentrations during the growing their perspective of the state of maternity care within season show the inner harbor’s surface waters tend to re- each country. A total of 6 articles related to Indonesia, main depleted or low in nitrate and phosphate from April 9 to Thailand and 15 to the United States with respect to September, while less protected waters beyond the to healthcare and birth outcomes were collected from mouth of the bay rebound from the spring blooms’ up- Pubmed using the following limits: published in the last take of these nutrients. Stratification of the water column 5 years, only full text links, English, and randomized in the warmer months is a factor in these trends, as the control trial. Nine of these were relevant, selected and pycnocline provides a favorable environment for certain reviewed. A convenience sample of 7 birth practition- phytoplankton species. Moorings and continued prop- ers were interviewed about the state of maternity care in erty monitoring in QMH will prove valuable when stud- their location. The investigator designed the open-ended ied alongside phytoplankton population assessments. interview questions. Interviews took place in person in Ubud, Indonesia, Chiang Mai, Thailand and Seattle, the Gas-Liquid Flow and Mass Transfer within United States. Content analysis is currently being con- Microchannels ducted from the recorded interviews to identify under- Nasim Shomali, Junior, Extended Pre-Engineering lying themes. The study is currently in progress. The Mentor: Amy Shen, Mechanical Engineering results will be described in the context of the healthcare Mentor: Gengzhi Yu, Mechanical Engineering system and linked to birth outcomes from the literature review. If the results show significant themes, recom- With elevated carbon emissions and fuel shortages, the mendations will follow from this analysis. necessity for biofuels is accentuated. The current tech- nology used to convert biomass to biofuel is accom- plished through biomass gasification and followed by Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) which initially had been designed for coal to fuel conversions, costs up to

62 Development of Sensitive Skin for Use in Prosthetics distantly related to mammals. Dinocephalians radi- and Robotics ated into a diversity of forms, including large carni- Anthony Simon, Senior, Electrical Engineering vores with fierce-looking canines like Anteosaurus, to NASA Space Grant Scholar gigantic head-butting herbivores like Moschops. Climat- Daniel Hemmons, Senior, Electrical Engineering ically, the Middle Permian was a time of global warming, Brittney McKenzie, Freshman, Bioengineering which permitted dinocephalians to thrive across Pangea. Mentor: Alexander Mamishev, Electrical Engineering Their remains have been found on the supercontinent Mentor: Kishore Sundara-Rajan, Electrical as far north as what is now Russia and as far south Engineering as South Africa (paleolatitudes of roughly 40 N and Mentor: Gabe Rowe, Electrical Engineering 60 S, respectively). Other dinocephalian records come Mentor: Glenn Klute, Electrical Engineering from Zimbabwe, Brazil, and China. Despite their suc- Many people have lost limbs due to the secondary effects cess, dinocephalians dwindled to extinction by the end of diabetes, or from trauma. Although many improve- of the Middle Permian, making them useful for biostrati- ments in prosthetic limbs have been reached, still there graphic correlation of rock strata as well as for dating are many problems experienced by amputees. Standing rock formations. In the summer of 2007, a team led effects of pressure and shear stresses between skin and by Christian Sidor discovered the first terrestrial verte- prosthesis of amputated limbs frequently cause extreme brate fossils from the Ruhuhu Formation of the Ruhuhu pain and temperature fluctuations. Our focus is to de- Basin in southern Tanzania. ‘Talon and heel’ morphol- velop a conformal sensor and cooling array which mea- ogy of the recovered teeth indicates that these fossils are sures and regulates temperature, including shear stresses dinocephalian in origin. Careful analysis of the teeth and pressure across the residual limb surface. This re- and other dinocephalian remains, and comparisons with search will deploy micro-fabrication techniques to man- other dinocephalian specimens will help identify the type ufacture a “Sensitive Skin” comprised of polydimethyl- of dinocephalian present in Tanzania as specifically as siloxane (PDMS), a common synthetic rubber. Micro- possible. Not only are these the first terrestrial vertebrate fabrication and computer aided design/computer aided fossils to be found in the Ruhuhu Formation, but they manufacturing (CAD/CAM) techniques will be used to provide us with an accurate constraint for its age. In ad- develop manufacturing processes to create a system of dition, the newly recovered fossils provide us with a new cooling chambers into the thin layers of skin, allowing geographical distribution for these important therapsids. coolant to be pumped through to regulate temperature. Data Management and Application of Methods for Testing will likely include strain gauges and load cells Digital Analysis of the Movements and Cocalizations which provide control measurements, determining a cor- of Neotropical Birds of Prey relation between measured capacitance and the apparent Elizabeth Smith, Senior, Biology (Environmental shear and pressure applied to the skin. Anticipated re- Conservation) sults will be a successful test trial on a larger simple Kayla Helem, Senior, Biology (General) sensor array sample, which will be able to provide pre- Scott Hardwick, Recent Graduate, Biology (General) dictable results based upon a given sheer and/or pressure Mentor: Martha Groom, Interdisciplinary Arts application. Upon successful results, the technology can Sciences, UW Bothell be scaled down into a compact “Sensitive Skin” array, Mentor: Ursula Valdez, Biology which has many useful applications. Because PDMS is a common material in bio-medical products, the likeli- Neotropical birds of prey are among the least studied bird hood of commercialization of developed technology is species and little is known about their ecology and be- increased. Implications of the research results will help havior. In this project, we developed methods to per- veterans and people with prosthetics to be more com- form digital analysis of previously collected field data fortable in and have a higher quality of life. Applica- (U. Valdez, unpub. data), focusing on analyses of the tions extend into the field of robotics, enabling robotic movements and vocalizations of five species of forest- limbs to interact with foreign objects in the surrounding falcons from southeastern Peru: Micrastur semitorqua- environment, creating breakthroughs in human-robot in- tus, M. ruficollis, M. gilvicollis, M. mirandollei, and M. terfacing. buckleyi. A data base in ACCESS was created to man- age location data for individual forest- falcons studied in The First Record of Dinocephalians in Tanzania the field (n=25). This information was then processed Rachel Simon, Senior, Biology (General) using LOAS and spatial analysis software (ARCView) Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar to generate maps with the frequencies of area use for all Mentor: Christian Sidor, Biology 5 bird species, which will be used for further analysis Dinocephalians were very large Middle Permian ( 288- of species’ activity ranges and area overlap that will be ± 260 million years ago) therapsids, a group of tetrapods conducted by the principal investigator. In addition, we

63 conducted a preliminary visual analysis of forest-falcon Gliomas are highly invasive brain tumors that account vocalizations obtained in the field. Using sound analysis for nearly half of all primary brain tumors. Since cur- software (Raven 1.2.1) we examined the basic charac- rent medical imaging techniques only detect a portion of teristics of the vocalizations of the 5 species of forest- these cancerous cells, a computational model was devel- falcons and generated sonograms, and measured 10 call oped by Dr. Swanson to give more information about variables such as frequency, amplitude, duration of call the extent of the tumor invasion below the threshold of and maximum power. With these analyses we identi- imaging and to give a prediction of glioma growth that fied the basic characteristics of the vocalizations of each can be tailored to an individual patient’s tumor. This study species, which have been the first data analyzed for computational model is based on two elements: cell pro- these birds of prey. These analyses form a foundation for liferation and cell diffusion. In previous tumor simula- future analysis and application as we begin to learn about tions, cell diffusion was assumed to be isotropic, how- these rare species. ever, it is commonly accepted that glioma cells migrate preferentially along the direction of white matter tracts. Response Properties of Dopamine Neurons in the To model this observed diffusion, I am writing a pro- Ventral Tegmental Area during Spatial Learning gram that simulates the anisotropic growth of gliomas in and Changes in Context a 3D virtual brain. To determine the direction of glioma Kelsey Smith, Senior, Psychology, Neurobiology cell migration at a given location in the brain, I use Mary Gates Scholar a published technique utilizing diffusion tensor images Mentor: Sheri Mizumori, Psychology (DTIs), which show the directional orientation of brain Mentor: Adria Martig, Psychology matter and therefore indicate the direction that glioma Hippocampus (HPC) is an area in the medial temporal cells tend to migrate. I will compare the results of our region of the brain that is known to be involved in spatial simulations to observed tumor growth to determine how learning and memory, context discrimination and nov- accurately we can predict the growth of gliomas with elty detection. Dopamine has been shown to modulate anisotropic diffusion. We expect that after modifying the performance on spatial tasks such that learning is im- model to include anisotropic cell diffusion, the simulated paired when dopamine is depleted from HPC and en- tumors will more closely reflect the growth of tumors hanced when dopamine agonists are infused into HPC. that we observe in vivo. Dopamine may influence spatial learning and mem- Evaluation of Benzaldehydes and Oxylamine ory through a reward prediction signal. In addition, Chemistry for Application to Bioconjugation dopamine neurons increase their firing rates in response Casey Somers, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular to novelty. These types of signals from dopamine neu- Developmental) rons in ventral tegmental area (VTA), to HPC are thought Mentor: D. Scott Wilbur, Radiation Oncology to enhance learning. It has been suggested that when HPC receives novel information from the environment, We are evaluating oxime formation as a method for bio- HPC relays the information to VTA, which affects the conjugation of molecules with monoclonal antibodies. firing properties of dopamine neurons that project back There have been few literature examples of oxime for- to HPC. In this way, HPC and VTA may be involved in mation as a method for bioconjugation, so little is know a functional loop, which facilitates learning. Our current about what makes an optimal reagent for this reaction. study investigates how dopamine cells in VTA correlate Since concentrations of reagents are very dilute in bio- with spatial learning and also if these same cells respond conjugations, we are particularly interested in the rate of to changes in context. One rat was implanted with four oxime formation at high dilution. In the investigation the independently moveable electrodes to obtain extracellu- relative rates of oxime formation from reactions of sev- lar recording of neural activity in VTA. We recorded cel- eral substituted benzaldehydes and an oxylamine deriva- lular activity from N=7 cells while the rat was learning tive are being evaluated and compared. Two important a plus maze task and during context manipulations af- considerations arise from oxime formation in aqueous ter the animal had learned the task. Preliminary analy- solution, those being water insolubility of reagents and ses suggest that there are context and learning dependent Le Chatelier’s principle regarding the reaction mecha- changes in cellular activity. nism. First, lack of water solubility may limit the rate at which the reaction occurs. Addition of polar and hy- Simulation of Anisotropic Growth of Gliomas Using drogen bonding substituents on benzaldehydes increases Diffusion Tensor Imaging their water solubility and thus may increase reaction Rita Sodt, Senior, Computer Science rates. The second important consideration arises from Levinson Emerging Scholar, Mary Gates electronic affects of substituents on the two-step mecha- Scholar nism of oxime formation. The first step in this reaction Mentor: Kristin Swanson, Pathology involves the nucleophilic attack of the carbonyl carbon

64 by the free pair of electrons on the nitrogen of the oxy- systems as opposed to relying solely on one product. lamine, forming a tetrahedron intermediate. This step of the reaction is favored by electron withdrawing groups Predictors of Adherence to a Six-Month Yoga either adjacent to or in resonance with the carbonyl car- Intervention among Post-Treatment Breast Cancer bon. In contrast, the second step of the reaction requires Survivors the dissociation of water, which is favored by electron Rachael Stovall, Senior, Individualized Studies, French donating groups. Since the reaction takes place in an Mentor: Alyson Littman, Epidemiology aqueous solution, the presence of water in solution may In the United States, more women develop breast cancer shift the reaction equilibrium towards the tetrahedron in- than any other cancer. Given the relatively high survival termediate (Le Chatelier’s principle), in effect hindering rate, improving quality of life for breast cancer survivors the reaction. Thus, the investigation will help determine is a concern. There is some evidence that yoga amelio- how the oxime forming reaction rate is affected by the rates mood and overall wellbeing, and it has been eval- type of benzaldehyde substituent (i.e. electron withdraw- uated on cancer survivors in past epidemiologic studies. ing groups (favors step 1) or electron donating groups We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial in 63 (favor step 2)). breast cancer survivors, in which half were assigned to Remote Sensing by Satellites: A Comparison of an perform yoga immediately and the other group was as- Active and a Passive Sensor in Deriving Cloud signed to wait 6 months until beginning yoga. As part of Fraction and Cloud Phase the yoga intervention, women were encouraged to attend Jayson Stemmler, Junior, Atmospheric Sciences a weekly instructor-led yoga class at Fred Hutch Cancer Mentor: Theodore Anderson, Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (FHCRC) and to perform yoga on their Mentor: Robert Charlson, Atmospheric Sciences own 4 days per week for 6 months. Participants com- pleted baseline questionnaires that assessed their demo- At this time, satellite-borne instruments provide the abil- graphic characteristics and behaviors, and physical, men- ity to derive cloud properties through a variety of sensing tal, and emotional well-being. Additionally, their weight techniques and post-processing methods. One common and height were measured at the beginning of the study. satellite product is ‘cloud fraction’ (CF), which provides Many previous studies on adherence may not be gener- the fractional coverage by clouds in a given domain. CF alized to breast cancer survivors practicing yoga because is critical for determining cloud albedo, or how much of their unique life circumstances. Therefore, the aim sunlight clouds reflect back into space. Cloud albedo of this study is to determine predictors of adherence to is an important component in calculating the radiation a 6-month yoga intervention. To accomplish this goal, budget for the Earth. Currently, the two main methods we are analyzing their questionnaires and attendance to for the remote derivation of a CF product are through 1) class data. We will assess whether age, education, work passive sensing, such as that from the Moderate Reso- status, body mass index (BMI), fatigue, yoga knowledge, lution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the distance from FHCRC, and social support, among other AQUA and TERRA spacecraft and 2) active sensing factors are associated with adherence. Preliminary anal- such as that from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogo- yses suggest that age, marital status, BMI, and fatigue nal Polarization (CALIOP) aboard the CALIPSO space- did not predict adherence; employed women were more craft. Satellite-derived cloud properties (including CF) likely to adhere than unemployed women. Data anal- result from significant post-processing of the raw data yses are ongoing, and results and conclusions are still into a number of customized products, often with similar being determined. Better understanding and identifying names but different inherent meanings. In this project, I correlates may help to ensure high adherence in future, compare the several CF products from MODIS to the ar- larger-scale studies. ray of CF products from CALIOP. Spatial and temporal collocation is essential to this comparison and was made Control of Pluripotency and Cardiac Differentiation possible by the fact that the Aqua and CALIPSO satel- Potential of Stem Cells using Defined Media lites fly in close formation. The purpose of this project is Conditions to guide further analysis - especially integration of pas- Nina Tan, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular sive and active data - to choose the most appropriate CF Developmental), Economics product from each sensing method appropriate to ques- Mary Gates Scholar tions being pursued. After examining the array of CF Mentor: Charles Murry, Pathology products from an active and a passive sensor, it is clear Mentor: Lil Pabon, Pathology that each method has its own attributes and shortcom- Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the ings, especially in cloud phase detection. As a result, United States. Organ transplantation is the primary ap- further studies utilizing CF should note the availability proach that is currently available to treat severe forms of an array of CF products from various remote sensing of cardiac dysfunction, but the demand for donor hearts

65 far exceeds availability. The application of stem cells and will also include questions related to neighborhood to facilitate repair after a heart attack has exciting thera- context on topics such as adequate transportation, con- peutic potential. The maintenance of human embryonic venient access to amenities, adequate childcare, etc. I stem cells (hESCs) in a pluripotent state, where they re- will be interviewing the project architect, developer and tain the ability to differentiate into any cell type, requires property manager, as well as residents to discover if the either the use of a fibroblast feeder layer or media that original design and development intentions are meeting has been conditioned by fibroblasts. The common use of the needs of the current manager and residents who inter- primary mouse fibroblasts not only presents a potential act with the building and neighborhood on a daily basis. source of contamination, but also creates a level of vari- able experimental conditions that can affect differentia- Monoallelic Expression In Stem Cells tion efficiency. In order to use this technology in a clini- Brandon Thomas, Senior, Biochemistry cal setting, it is important that differentiation conditions Mary Gates Scholar are as consistent as possible and that the human cells are Mentor: Tony Krumm, Radiation Oncology free of contaminating products. We are testing whether The differentiation of stem cells to a variety of cell types hESCs can maintain pluripotency in maintained in fully is controlled by genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. In defined media, and whether these cells can then differ- addition, there is compelling evidence that epigenetic al- entiate efficiently into cardiomyocytes. We have exam- terations play a critical role in the pathogenesis of can- ined two types of defined media (Stem Cell Techolo- TM cer, diabetes, and heart disease. These modifications gies’ mTeSR 1 and Lonza’s X-VIVO10) and compared are likely present in every cancer type, and many mod- them to standard fibroblast conditioned media. We are els now show that the driving force in tumorigenesis is currently analyzing the effects on pluripotency by assess- epigenetic. One such example of an epigenetic mecha- ing RNA and protein levels of markers of the undifferen- nism relating to gene regulation is monoallelic expres- tiated state, such as Oct-4. We will characterize the ef- sion. Diploid organisms are expected to express both fects on the initial stages of differentiation by analyzing their inherited paternal and maternal alleles at a given lo- the expression of the mesendodermal marker, brachyury cus, but recent research shows that monoallelic expres- T. Subsequent differentiation will be characterized using sion of only one allele is much more widespread than the early cardiac marker Nkx 2.5, and markers of more previously thought. These genes are regulated in a way mature cardiomyocytes such as beta myosin heavy chain. that limits expression to a single allele and with many The goal of this research is to achieve comparable and current researchers directing their focus towards epige- efficient cardiac differentiation using completely defined netic studies, it seems urgent to understand how and why culture methods. certain genes reduce expression to the level of monoal- The Role of Design in Community Preservation lelic discrimination. It is currently unclear how these Sylvia Tatman-Burruss, Senior, Community, genes are regulated, but early work indicates that there Environment, Planning may be key proteins involved in the insulation of spe- Mary Gates Scholar cific genomic loci. We have developed an experimental Mentor: Michael Pyatok, Architecture strategy to identify genes transcribed on either the mater- nal or paternal allele across the human genome in order Affordable-housing design is sometimes given less prior- to categorize genes at the level of monoallelic expres- ity over market-rate developments. Affordable-housing sion. The ability to generate a catalogue of epigenetic design often reflects the attitude that people of modest alterations will provide molecular signatures that are es- means need only a place to sleep and store their belong- sential to the development of novel tools in the diagnosis ings. When designers recognize the need for attractive and therapy of human disease. architecture both for the pride of residents and for the acceptance of the surrounding community, they are of- Objects as Stereotype-evoking Factors in a ten limited to choosing between affordability, design and Classroom Environment location, not a well-balanced union of the three. With Amanda Tose, Junior, Psychology careful design and planning strategies, however, archi- Mary Gates Scholar tects can reach a balance where all parties are satisfied Mentor: Sapna Cheryan, Psychology with a product which families can call home. Through my research, I will be conducting a retrospective case Stereotypes about computer science, such as its reputa- study to better understand the effect of architectural de- tion for “geekiness” and masculinity, can affect women’s sign and neighborhood context on the lives of residents interest in the field (Cheryan et al., 2009). Can objects in of an affordable-housing community within the Interna- computer science evoke these computer science stereo- tional District of Seattle. I will adapt some of my inter- types? How might this affect feelings of identity within view questions from Post-Occupancy Evaluation surveys these environments? In my study, subjects are asked

66 to look at images of various objects (e.g., video games, as gyroscopic sensors. These results provide further ev- Star Trek posters, tech magazines, lamps, nature posters, idence that moth antennae are crucial components of a and general magazines) and answer questions about how mechanosensor-mediated flight control circuit. much they feel the object is related to the computer sci- ence stereotype, how much they associate it with class- In Out of the Rain: Client Perspectives of Medical rooms, and how surprising it would be to find it in a Respite for Homeless Youth classroom. We hypothesize that there will be a differ- David Tucker, Fifth Year, Nursing ence between the objects in their levels of stereotypical- Mentor: Josephine Ensign, Psychosocial Community ity and association with classrooms. These results would Health Nursing suggest that the mere presence of objects in an environ- Mentor: Aileen Panke, Psychosocial Community ment can activate stereotypes. Stereotype priming of this Health Nursing nature is known to have an impact on behavior (Bargh, Homelessness among young people is a growing prob- Chen, Burrows, 1996), and we will see if this also applies lem, and is associated with an increase in acute illnesses to women’s interest in computer science. This study will and injuries. The purpose of this project is to evaluate help one of our main lab projects transition from looking homeless youth perceptions of overnight medical respite at the effects of computer science stereotypes in a com- and barriers to the use of MEDREST, a UW School of pany setting to the effects in a classroom. The results will Nursing (UWSON) project designed to provide medical also be used to select appropriate stereotypical and non- respite overnight stays for homeless youth ages 18 to 24. stereotypical objects for another study in which subjects MEDREST is coordinated through the UWSON with the will encounter these objects in virtual environments. To Country Doctor Teen Clinic and the 45th St. Teen Clinic better understand women’s perceptions of computer sci- in Seattle, WA. This research will attempt understanding ence, future studies may also include an analysis of the of youth perceptions of MEDREST services and exam- objects’ femininity/masculinity to see if a correlation ex- ine perceived and actual barriers to use of respite ser- ists between ratings of stereotypicality and masculinity. vices. This project is an investigator designed program Stimulating Antennal Muscles Leads to Path evaluation based on a focus session with homeless youth Changes in a Moth’s Flight Trajectory at the 45th St. Clinic and evaluation by providers and co- James Tse, Senior, Biology (Physiology) ordinators. A qualitative content analysis was performed Mentor: Tom Daniel, Biology and themes identified. MEDREST services were under- utilized by the Seattle homeless youth population. I will Previous work has shown that mechanoreceptors at the attempt to explain barriers and strengths of the struc- base of the antennae in the crepuscular hawkmoth Man- ture of the MEDREST program and give some solutions duca sexta are necessary for stable flight control. They that could help future pilot programs providing medical mediate flight responses by acting as vibrational gyro- respite to homeless youth. scopes, detecting Coriolis forces that appear during body rotations (Sane et al. 2007). We hypothesize that artifi- Disinfection Byproduct Formation from Camping cially introducing a force that is applied out of the anten- Water Treatment nae’s vibrational plane should lead to compensatory re- Benjamin Vellek, Sophomore, Pre-Major (Arts actions and therefore to changes in a moth’s flight plan. Sciences) To test this hypothesis, we created small tungsten elec- Mentor: Gretchen Onstad, Environmental trodes that are implanted in the dorso-medial side of the Occupational Health Sciences scape, targeting specific extrinsic muscles that lead to an- Mentor: Christopher Simpson, Environmental tennal retraction (out of the natural vibrational plane). Occupational Health Sciences We used a low current 5 V square wave stimulus gen- Chlorination is a widely used method of water disinfec- erated by an Arduino board at 100 Hz with a duty cy- tion but is known to produce carcinogenic disinfection cle turned to elicit an antennal retraction without sup- byproducts (DBPs) when there are high levels of dis- pressing flight behavior. The stimulus is delivered to solved organic carbon in source water. Two types of the implanted electrodes via a cable of ultrafine stain- organic DBPs are regulated by the U.S. Environmen- less steel wire regulated by the X-Moth electrical stimu- tal Protection Agency including five haloacetic acids (60 lator. The moths are attached to the experimental appa- µg/L total HAAs) and four trihalomethanes (80 µg/L to- ratus and thus permitted to fly . Preliminary experiments tal THMs). Formation of these DBPs is a function of show that, in 9 out of 16 animals in which electrode im- the concentration of chlorine and the amount of chlo- plantation was attempted, stimulation of the left antennal rine consumed by the source water. This research fo- muscles leads to a high probability of left turns immedi- cused on the formation of four THMs, chloroform, bro- ately following the stimulus. The direction of the elicited modichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bro- responses agrees with what is expected if antennae act moform through common methods of portable water dis-

67 infection like those used by hikers and campers. Source Variation in Social Rationales among Union Locals: water for treatment was collected from urban surface wa- A Cross Sectional Analysis of the ILWU ter sites in Seattle. Applied treatments included methods Igor Voloshin, Senior, Political Science with chlorination (MSR Sweetwater, MSR MIOX, Pur Mentor: Margaret Levi, Political Science Packets) and those without (UV Steripen, iodine, and Mentor: John Ahlquist, Institute for Research on Labor chlorine dioxide tablets). To collect data for these treat- Employment, UCLA ment methods a Hach colorimeter was used to measure Conventional wisdom in America considers the domestic residual chlorine as free and total chlorine. The THMs workforce and viable labor unions as motivated by nar- were then extracted by liquid-liquid extraction and run rowly rational calculations, strictly functioning to pro- through a gas chromatograph with electron capture de- mote ’bread and butter’ needs (e.g. improving working tection to determine which ones were present and their conditions and wages). However, within the labor move- relative concentrations. By analyzing THM levels of ment, scholars have demonstrated the existence of “de- different treatment methods the optimum portable water viant” unions who provide their membership with bread treatment method will be chosen. and butter goods while also mobilizing their membership Analysis of Usage Patterns of a Web Site for Patients to act on behalf of political agendas that are not directly with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease related to their personal economic calculations. After (COPD) a historic 1934 victory against employers, the Interna- Rikki Voie, Fifth Year, Nursing tional Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) estab- Mentor: Huong Nguyen, Biobehavioral Nursing Health lished itself as such a case. Yet, even this ’radical’ union Systems is not a monolithic bastion of ideologues. Rather it’s lo- cals developed unique affinities for political causes prior As the population in the United States ages, chronic dis- to, and once in the union. This study explores how and eases are becoming increasingly prevalent; patients with why Seattle, Tacoma and San Pedro locals of the ILWU chronic conditions are primarily responsible for their developed distinctive political beliefs that motivate ag- self-care. In order to facilitate patient autonomy, numer- gregate behavior in the form work stoppages (my de- ous web-based tools and online forums have been devel- pendent variable). This comparative case study explains oped and are readily accessible to patients. These re- how institutional, cultural, sociological and environmen- sources have the potential to help patients better man- tal determinants have shaped the membership’s collec- age their chronic conditions and improve their quality tive preferences (which I term, ’social rationales’). For of life. The UW School of Nursing has been testing the methodological basis of my research, I compiled data the effects of an Internet-based shortness of breath self- on stoppages and strikes undertaken by the ILWU and its management program for patients with Chronic Obstruc- affiliated Locals from 1934 to the present to form a com- tive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Patients enrolled in the prehensive timeline. The data was coded into a typol- program have access to multiple web-based tools; how- ogy of stoppages: industrial, solidarity or political. This ever, we have very limited information on what tools are provides an empirical demonstration of how each local actually being utilized. To examine web site usage pat- varied in its commitment to political causes. Sources in- terns by patients with COPD who are participating in clude Pacific Maritime Association records, the ILWU an Internet-based shortness of breath self-management newspaper, BLS reports, Congressional briefs, internal program. Patients have access to the following tools union documents and oral histories. I argue that the vari- on the study web site: personal journal, exercise plans ation is a consequence of differences in the cadre of lead- and tracking, symptom tracking, medication record, se- ership and the institutions of the Local. I also exam- cure messaging, live text chats, discussion board, and ine the explanatory power of divergent histories, demo- audio-narrated education modules. We will analyze de- graphics, and the nature of work itself at the ports. indentified automated usage log data for up to 22 pa- tients. The usage data will be analyzed in March 2009. Effects of Neonatal Stress with/without The findings from this analysis will help us better under- Hypoxia/Hyperoxia on Proliferation of Hippocampal stand the utility of various web-based tools to educate Neurons and Glia in Morphine-Treated Neonatal and support patients with COPD. This information will Mice likely be useful for the management of other chronic con- Gerard Wallace, Senior, Psychology, Neurobiology ditions as well. Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Sandra Juul, Pediatrics Preterm infants are often exposed to a variety of stress- ful and painful stimuli in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). These stressors include painful medical proce- dures; hypoxia/hyperoxia; and maternal separation. Ad-

68 ditionally, they are often administered morphine in an particular interest are the provinces on the periphery of attempt to reduce the pain and stress they experience. Tawantinsuyu, positioned at the extreme limits of direct Opioids are regulators of glial activity and neurogen- state control and in close proximity to societies lying be- esis and may interact with stress to alter glail activ- yond the Inka realm. Through an examination of rele- ity and neurogenesis. To study the effects of stress on vant literature, this study investigates the different ways neonates receiving morphine we have developed a mouse in which the influences of these competing cultures were model of stress incorporating handling, maternal separa- mediated by the inhabitants of three such “border zones” tion with gavage feeding, and hypoxia/hyperoxia. Us- of the empire: the northern edge of Chinchaysuyu (the ing this model we have shown that neonatal stress and northernmost quadrant), the eastern boundary of Anti- morphine interact to produce a dynorphin-mediated glio- suyu (the easternmost province) on the edge of the Ama- sis in the mouse hippocampus. We hypothesize that zon, and the southeastern border of Kollasuyu, located the hippocampal gliosis resulting from the interaction in what is today northwestern Argentina. Based on prior of our stress model and morphine treatment is depen- research, this study hypothesizes that in each of these re- dent on exposure to hypoxia/hyperoxia. To investigate gions the degree to which local peoples conform to stan- how hypoxia/hyperoxia contributes to hippocampal glio- dard Inka practices, as evidenced in the artifact assem- sis in our model, neonatal mice were subjected to one blages and structural features of relevant archaeological of four experimental conditions: morphine treatment, sites, is contingent upon both the relative input and in- morphine treatment plus maternal separation, morphine vestment of the state to these regions and the degree of treatment plus hypoxia/hyperoxia, and morphine treat- influence exerted by cultures external to the empire. ment plus maternal separation and hypoxia/hyperoxia. All mice received injections of bromo-deoxy-Uridine Effects of Fire and Stand Management on Early (BrdU), which is incorporated into DNA during mitosis, Winter Habitat Formule Deer allowing cell proliferation to be tracked. The hippocam- Matthew Weintraub, Senior, Environmental Science pus and nucleus accumbens were stained for gliosis us- Resource Management ing glial acidic fibrillary protein (GFAP), BrdU labeled Mentor: Aaron Wirsing, Forest Resources cell proliferation, and cell death using terminal deoxynu- Mentor: Dale Swedberg, Sinlahekin Wildlife Area, cleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) Washington Dept. of Fish Wildlife and Fluoro Jade B. In a subset of animals urine concen- Direct and indirect anthropogenic actions have con- trations of the stress hormone corticosterone were mea- tributed to a vast shift in available habitat for mule sured. Analysis of this data is ongoing. This data will deer (Odocoileus hemionus) throughout Western North allow us to determine the effect of the hypoxia/hyperoxia America since the onset of Euro-American colonization. in our neonatal stress model on glial activity in the devel- While these animals generally prefer lands that can be oping mouse hippocampus and to document any struc- described as open and park-like, much of this habitat has tural changes which may result from our stress model. been altered by various means such as fire suppression, Mediating Cultural Influences on the Periphery of timber harvesting, and both urban and agricultural devel- the Inka Empire: A Comparative Archaeological opment. These landscape level changes have also facili- Study of Key Border Regions of Tawantinsuyu tated the encroachment of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus Matthew Warren, Senior, Anthropology, Biology virginianus) into regions previously only inhabited by Mentor: Donald Grayson, Anthropology mule deer. A case example of these changes can be found in North-Central Washington’s Okanogan County The Inka Empire, known as Tawantinsuyu (“The Land of and in particular, the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area (SWA). the Four Quadrants”), was a vast polity stretching from In an effort to promote native species, restore ecological northern Ecuador to central Chile, from the arid west- regimes, improve forest health and safety, and increase ern coasts of South America across the Andes to the usability by visitors, a prescribed burn and forest thin- edges of the Amazon Basin. From its Andean capitol ning were completed in 2005 within the SWA along with of Cusco, the Inka state exerted power over millions of another burn on adjacent lands managed by the Washing- people belonging to hundreds of ethnic groups. This di- ton Department of Natural Resources (DNR). While haz- versity of peoples and environments resulted in differ- ardous forest fuels were reduced, no quantitative study ing degrees of resource input and attention from the Inka has been undertaken to determine if the restored ecosys- state across different regions. The manner in which the tem provides better habitat for the regions native mule governing class maintained rule over its far-flung popu- deer population. This study will look at plant abun- lations varied due to a number of factors such as distance dances, most notably understory shrubs and the nutrient from the capitol, the degree to which important resources contents of key browse species to determine whether or could be extracted from particular regions, and the rela- not the treatments were successful. Additionally, stand tive loyalty of different ethnic groups to the empire. Of structure and relative use of the area by deer will also

69 be evaluated. I will determine whether or not the burns cused on making nano-scale ceramic coatings on metals and thinning treatments completed all of their goals and and from these obtain the inherent interfacial strength. if it should be recommended that these actions continue So far, several samples of thin films have been made across a larger portion of the SWA. on Inconel substrates, which will be inspected under a Scanning Electron Microscope to estimate their thick- Selective Bio-Sorption of Bi-Functional Peptides nesses. The samples will be fired at a range of tem- onto Patterns from Atomic Force Microscope peratures (up to 800C) in air to convert the polymeric Lithography coatings to a ceramic. After pyrolysis, the samples will Kyle Wetzlar, Senior, Mechanical Engineering be tested in tension. Perpendicular cracks will begin to Mentor: Marco Rolandi, Materials Science form in the coating until they reach a minimum spacing, Engineering which along with the tensile stress at the formation of the Mentor: Jessica Torrey, Materials Science Engineering first crack and final crack will be related to the interface The ability to reliably pattern and assemble biological shear strength using available models. molecules onto inorganic substrates is key for the devel- Albedoes of Main Belt Asteroids opment of hybrid architectures such as biological sen- Brian Wold, Junior, Astronomy, Physics sors, and bioassays. Bi-functional peptides, or short Mentor: Lynne Jones, Astronomy polymeric chains of amino acids that are selectively ad- hesive, are ideal candidates for the assembly of bioinor- The purpose of this research was to calculate the albedo, ganic hierarchical structures. In this project, we in- or surface reflectivity, of several Main Belt asteroids. At vestigate the specific assembly of bi-functional peptides visual wavelengths, sunlight is partially reflected by the onto silicon oxide patterns written with the sharp tip surface of asteroids; the non-reflected light is absorbed of an atomic force microscope and polydimethylsilox- by the asteroid, heating the surface and causing the aster- ane (PDMS) stamping. Experiments are conducted to oid to emit infrared radiation. By comparing the bright- determine the most effective oxide geometries for opti- ness of an asteroid at different wavelengths in the visual mal peptide binding and assembly of functional nano- and infrared, it is possible to calculate the albedo. Under- objects. These experiments entail the exploration that standing the albedo distribution of asteroids help us un- varying parameters such as substrate preparation tech- derstand their physical composition and surface proper- niques, oxide deposition voltage, deposition rate, and ties. In addition, knowing the albedo of an object allows surface pacification have to create a surface suitable for us to predict the size of the object, and in the case of as- discriminate peptide binding. Of particular interest is teroids, can lead to size distribution estimates. We have enabling the assembly of gold nanoclusters on a sili- obtained ground-based observations from the Canada- con surface to develop applications in plasmonic waveg- France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) to provide visual pho- uides, and surface plasmon resonance biosensors. The tometric measurements, taken in green and red filters, on research is partially supported by NSF-MRSEC Program January 22 and 30, 2004. Our infrared data comes from through the University of Washington GEMSEC (DMR measurements made by the space based Spitzer telescope 0520567) and NSF-BioMat program. at approximately the same time as the ground observa- tions. These observations were taken at 8 and 24 mi- Interface Shear Strength of Polymer-Derived crons during the Spitzer First Look Survey – Ecliptic Ceramic Thin Films Plane Component (FLS-EPC). Combining the data will Chris Wituchowski, Senior, Materials Science yield measurements for albedo. Particularly important Engineering is that these measurements were obtained close together Mentor: Kaishi Wang, Materials Science Engineering in time - asteroids vary in brightness significantly at dif- Mentor: Raj Bordia, Materials Science Engineering ferent times in their orbits, thus comparing visual and Polymer-derived ceramic thin films are becoming an ex- infrared measurements from the same time is necessary. tremely attractive material to coat metals that are ex- Known asteroids were identified in the Spitzer survey ob- posed to high temperature corroding environments, such servations. Their positions in the CFHT images were as those in coal power plants. The measured interfa- then determined using the ephemerides provided by the cial strength is strongly dependent on the surface rough- Minor Planet Center. The asteroids were then located ness and the thickness of the film. Our analysis shows in the visual images from CFHT. Photometry measure- that there is an inherent interface strength that is ap- ments were taken from these images and were combined proached as film thickness approaches zero. Experimen- with the Spitzer data. We will present an albedo distri- tal research, so far, has measured the interface strength bution and compare it with theoretical expectations. for thick coatings (of the order of 10 – 20 microns). It is not possible to accurately predict the inherent interfacial strength from these measurements. My research is fo-

70 Preparation of Bioceramics with Precisely intensive behavioral therapy that included a face recog- Controlled Pore Size nition training component. The face recognition test was Yun Xiao, Freshman, Exchange - Arts Sciences administered when children were 24 to 60 months old. Mentor: Buddy Ratner, Bioengineering Toddlers were asked to “point to mom” from a compila- PMMA template can be used to fabricate bioceramics tion of six photographs which included distracters. Pre- with pore size precisely controlled. Bioceramics are ce- liminary results indicate performance on the face recog- ramic materials used to repair, augment or replace dis- nition test did not differ significantly between groups. eased or damaged tissues. In bone tissue engineering, However, 26 /48 children tested scored 100% on the the scaffold material must be biocompatible and have task. Notably, thirteen subjects from the ASD-UW group enough mechanical strength to provide structural sup- (68%) were able to successfully complete the entire task port during bone growth and remodeling. In addition to compared with only four toddlers in the ASD-C group these, researchers show that a 3D interconnected porous (31%). Preliminary results suggest that toddlers in the structure is necessary for cell attachment and biofluid DD, ASD-C and ASD-UW groups performed similarly movement. Since the increase in porosity results in a on the face recognition tasks, although a ceiling effect decrease in mechanical strength, the pore size is very may mask underlying trends. Toddlers in the ASD-UW unique for the scaffold. A number of techniques have group were three times as likely to complete the test as been developed to fabricate porous bioceramics for bone toddlers in the ASD-C group, suggesting that intensive tissue engineering, but the pore size is poorly controlled. intervention including training on facial picture identi- Using PMMA beads as sphere templates, we can fab- fication might facilitate compliance during a testing sit- ricate materials with monodispersed, uniformly shaped uation. Further analysis includes examining the errors pores. The PMMA template will sublime at the high made by children during picture selection to examine in- temperatures during the process of casting the ceramic. dividual differences in face recognition strategies. Sol-gel process allows one to obtain glass of higher pu- Unraveling the Function of Agho in Drosophila rity and homogeneity at a relatively low temperature. In melanogaster this research, we will combine the sol-gel method with Teiona Yoko, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular the PMMA template to fabricate porous materials. With Developmental) pore size precisely controlled, we can investigate the in- Howard Hughes Scholar fluence of its size on the tissue response. This material Mentor: Barbara Wakimoto, Biology can be an ideal tool to research what the proper pore size for bone tissue engineering is and balance porosity and Fertilization is a chain of events, in which a single in- mechanical properties. terruption of any step can lead to sterility. For my re- search, I am using Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit Effects of Early Intervention on Face Memory Tasks fly, to understand the cellular processes and molecules in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders involved in sperm function. The agho gene, when mu- Linnea Xuereb, Junior, Pre-Major (Arts Sciences) tated, arrests fertilization immediately after sperm entry Mentor: Sara Jane Webb, Psychiatry Behavioral into the egg. Previous studies in the lab have shown this Sciences arrest is a result of a defect in the acrosome, which is Mentor: Emily Jones, Psychiatry Behavioral Sciences a membrane-bound organelle that develops in the an- Mentor: Kaitlin Venema, Psychiatry Behavioral terior end of sperm head. Specifically, the agho mu- Sciences, CHDD Autism Center tant produces sperm that completely lack an acrosome. Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder Molecularly tagging Agho with Green Fluorescent Pro- (ASD) exhibit social and communicative impairments; tein (GFP) allowed me to track Agho in cells and tissues one contributing factor may be an inability to accurately using fluorescence microscopy. Complete rescue is ob- process information from faces. Improving such face served when the trans-gene is introduced into the agho recognition skills may be a fruitful early intervention tar- mutant background, supporting that the fusion protein is get. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of an inten- fully functional and can substitute for the regular pro- sive, randomized intervention on improving performance tein. Agho-GFP is expressed in primary spermatocytes, on facial recognition tasks for children with ASD. Tod- cells which later give rise to sperm. Within these sper- dlers were divided into three groups: those with general matocytes, Agho-GFP is present in the cytoplasm, and developmental delays (DD group), those with an ASD is particularly bright in what appears to be the Golgi, an who participated in community intervention programs organelle known to sort lipids and proteins and package (ASD-C group), and those with an ASD who partici- them into vesicles for certain cellular destinations. Agho pated in the University of Washington Denver STAART is not detected post meiotic elongation of spermatids or model of intervention (ASD-UW group). The UW inter- in mature sperm, suggesting that Agho may be involved vention (Smith, Rogers & Dawson, 2008) was a two year in an early step in acrosome formation. In addition, a

71 second mutation of agho whose sequence predicts a trun- cation of the protein has shown to be viable, indicating that Agho does not play a role in necessary vital func- tions, but acts specifically on male fertility. It is my goal to not only discover the role of agho, but also understand how its loss results in loss of the acrosome in male germ cells. Developing an Automated System to Recognize and Classify Denmark Strait Eddies Krysta Yousoufian, Junior, Computer Science, Applied Computational Mathematical Sciences (Discrete Mathematics Algorithms) Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant Scholar Mentor: James Girton, Applied Physics Laboratory Mentor: Erika Harnett, Earth Space Sciences

The Denmark Strait Overflow (DSO) is a dense current flowing southwest through the Denmark Strait. Not only is the DSO a crucial current to the global ocean network, changes in it could also be an indicator of climate change due to its position near Greenland. Although the DSO is located deep in the ocean, it causes surface eddies, or cir- cular currents, above its path. Because the eddies mix colder and warmer surface water along a temperature front, they appear on satellite images of sea-surface tem- perature (SST) taken by the Advanced Very High Reso- lution Radiometer (AVHRR). Our goal is to develop rou- tines in the MATLAB data processing language that will automatically mark the size and location of eddies visible on AVHRR images and classify each eddy as one of three types: a “spiral,” characterized by swirls of warm and cold water; a “blob” of cold water surrounded by warm water; or a “bump,” a slight deviation in the path of the temperature front. The first step is to download AVHRR images from NOAA’s Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System. We then modify the image files with the NOAA CoastWatch satellite utilities and de- velop the routines using MATLAB, the M Map software package, and the MATLAB neural network toolbox. Au- tomation will enable large-scale collection of eddy data, allowing us to look for seasonal and interannual variabil- ity in the eddies. Tracking variability and changes in the eddies could potentially be a way to track changes in the DSO, which is a highly important current but is difficult to study directly.

72 Surprising Moments: Students Talk About Research

What surprised me most about my undergraduate research experience was…

…the people I met and their passion.

…how often “going back to the drawing board” really happens!

…how much respect, responsibility, and independence I was given; I always felt like an important part of the research team.

…how hard it would be.

…realizing the truth behind “you learn from your mistakes.”

…how little I knew about my major.

…how much out there is still left to be discovered.

…the friends I made in the process.

…that learning never stops.

…how powerful psychological hurdles can be, yet how easily they can be cleared with help and encouragement from a mentor.

…the amazing work that is being done locally.

…the joy and sense of accomplishment I felt about developing and seeing the research project from start to finish. ORAL PRESENTATION SESSION 1 1:00 - 2:30PM

PLEASE NOTE: Abstracts are listed alphabetically by the presenter’s last name, unless otherwise noted. tial in understanding crash performance and optimizing crashworthiness of composite structures. SESSION 1A Calibrating Spectroscopic Instruments for ZaP Flow Z-Pinch Plasma Investigation Genia Vogman, Senior, Aeronautics Astronautics, ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENTS Mathematics Session Moderator: Paolo Feraboli, Aeronautics Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant Astronautics Scholar Mary Gates Hall Room 074 Mentor: Uri Shumlak, Aeronautics Astronautics

* Note: Titles in order of presentation. The ZaP Flow Z-Pinch experiment is an innovative plasma confinement concept that uses a JXB force to Using Potential Differences in Trees to Power compress and a sheared flow to stabilize an otherwise Electronic Circuits unstable column of plasma. The applications for such Carlton Himes, Senior, Electrical Engineering a steady-state plasma configuration include high-energy Mentor: Babak Parviz, Electrical Engineering space propulsion and efficient fusion power generation, the latter of which can potentially make fossil fuels ob- As vascular plants transport water, nutrients, and inor- solete. To study the characteristics and longevity of the ganic ions through xylem and phloem conduits, they pro- plasma column, the experiment utilizes an array of di- duce standing electrical potential gradients which vary agnostics including spectroscopy, which is the analysis throughout the plant and relative to the soil. We per- of discrete light spectra emitted by the ions in a plasma. formed experiments to characterize these electrical prop- This method of data collection is particularly useful be- erties with a voltmeter in an effort to determine their vi- cause it allows for non-perturbative analysis of overall ability as power sources for electronics. These exper- plasma behavior. Fiber optic telescopes are set up on the iments included testing a tree’s ability to drive current experiment in order to capture twenty chords of light data into a variety of load resistances, as well as a week-long corresponding to twenty different locations along the di- test to determine the stability and sustainability of the ameter of the pinch. Investigating light intensity and measured voltages. After finding voltages of sufficient wavelength in specific locations and times of the pinch magnitude and stability, we successfully powered two lifetime yields qualitative and quantitative information circuits: a low-voltage boost converter and a sub-Hz os- regarding its impurities, temperature, bulk velocity pro- cillator using only the internal potential differences of a file, and density. The latter measurement is of particu- Bigleaf Maple tree. lar interest to understanding plasma characteristics; how- Crashworthiness and Energy Absorption of Carbon ever, it relies heavily on the accuracy of spectroscopic Composite Structures measurements. To ensure accuracy in these measure- Bonnie Wade, Senior, Aeronautics Astronautics ments, it is necessary to define an instrument function Mentor: Paolo Feraboli, Aeronautics Astronautics by calibrating and normalizing each chord’s intensity of response to the same light signal. The survey involves The amount of energy a structure is able to absorb dur- the use of discrete-wavelength ion lamps whose intensity ing a vehicle impact event is crucial in the design of a versus position functions are used to compare optic fiber safe vehicle. Crashworthiness is the ability of a vehicle throughputs and generate calibration factors that when to sustain a crash event with minimal or acceptable dam- applied through code, correct for variance and thereby age to the occupants, cargo, and structure. Devices such diminish instrument error significantly. The results of as the tubular front end framework in cars and subfloor this calibration are then used to make adjustments to vertical stansions in airplanes are designed to dissipate the spectroscopy diagnostic so as to ensure precision in energy under controlled collapse in order to improve the spectral surveys and calculations involving light radia- crashworthiness of the structure. Carbon composite de- tion from Z-pinch plasmas. vices have been shown to absorb larger amounts of en- ergy more efficiently than metals, dissipating more en- Radiated Power Measurement on the HIT-SI Plasma ergy away from occupants in a crash. There are currently Confinement Experiment no standard test methods for the characterization of spe- Mark Chilenski, Senior, Aeronautics Astronautics cific energy absorption (SEA) of composite materials. In Mary Gates Scholar addition, an analytic model which appropriately matches Mentor: Thomas Jarboe, Aeronautics Astronautics the crush behavior of the physical test needs to be gen- A bolometer is a device that measures radiated power. erated. Developing a standard test method and model- Bolometry is being used as an integral diagnostic in the ing guidelines for crushed composite specimens is essen- study of the formation and sustainment of fusion plasmas

75 by helicity injection. The Helicity-Injected Torus (HIT- of the nitrogenase gene cluster in one of the most exten- SI) is a plasma confinement device exploring the gener- sively studied strains. Next, we will assess the ability ation and sustainment of plasmas by a novel AC process of the endophytes to improve plant growth in nitrogen- known as Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (SIHI). In limited conditions with the expectation that the nitroge- SIHI, the magnitude of the total radiated power in the in- nase mutant will not aid plant growth while the wild-type jector region is of particular interest. In the bolometers endophytes will. This research should not only increase in use on and under construction for HIT-SI, an AXUV the knowledge of bacterial interactions with plants, but silicon photodiode with a very flat spectral response (In- also help to create a healthier planet. ternational Radiation Detectors, Inc.) is used to measure the total intensity of the plasma’s emission. The design The Effects of Temperature on Zostera Marina of a bolometer originally built for HIT-II, and currently Seedling Development and Determination of Seed operated on HIT-SI, has been updated and optimized, and Viability two new units are under construction for HIT-SI. This Frederick Dooley, Senior, Biology (General), research will enable a better understanding of the power Anthropology balance in plasmas formed with SIHI. Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria, Friday Harbor Labs Mentor: Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh, Biology

Zostera marina is a species of seagrass that lives in tem- SESSION 1B perate waters. It has recently declined in abundance in some areas and many hypotheses, some related to cli- mate change, have been proposed for these declines. The purpose of this study was to test the possibility that seed WETLANDS,WILDFIRES,BUGS, viability and seedling survival is impaired by elevated AND PEOPLE seawater temperatures. First, seedlings were grown in mesocosms maintained with flowing seawater from the Session Moderator: Michael Kucher, Interdisciplinary nearby bay. The effect of temperature on seedling sur- Arts Sciences, UW Tacoma vival and growth was measured over 10 days. Seedlings Mary Gates Hall Room 082A are very vulnerable to temperature stresses and have poor performance at temperatures of 25oC or greater. Temper- * Note: Titles in order of presentation. atures of 30oC are almost always fatal. It has been noted Nature’s Fertilizers: Nitrogen-Fixing Endophytes that there is genotypic variation among seeds within sites from Willow and Poplar Trees and this could explain different tolerances. Another hy- Jacob Bale, Senior, Biochemistry pothesis would be that after the breaking of dormancy Mary Gates Scholar seedlings just die. While these explanations are unlikely Mentor: Sharon Doty, Forest Resources they should be explored by expanding the number of Mentor: Zareen Khan, Forest Resources replicates used within the experiment and possibly ex- plore Z. marina plants through the lifecycle. In the sec- One of the major factors limiting plant growth is the ond experiment, the viability of seeds collected in the availability of fixed nitrogen. This crucial nutrient is of- Fall of 2005, 2006 and 2007 was determined by immers- ten scarce in the environment and is one of the main com- ing a sub-sample in 1% solution of vital red stain (TTC) ponents of the fertilizers used to improve plant growth. and seawater In this test, viability is determined by the Some plants, however, benefit from the ability to obtain amount of stain present on the cotyledon after 24 hrs. fixed nitrogen through symbiosis with bacteria. Our lab Viability declines with each consecutive year of storage has isolated and performed preliminary analysis on en- and after three years drops below 50%. In Spring 2009, dophytic bacteria obtained from willow and poplar trees a follow up experiment is underway to assess the viabil- indicating that these bacteria may form a novel type of ity of stored seeds from the same years tested in Spring nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. If this is true, then these bac- 2008 as well as those collected in Fall 2008. After this teria could be used to inoculate willows, poplars, and po- the relationship between the seed viability through the tentially a variety of other plant species, thus acting as a TTC staining method and the determination of true via- natural fertilizer to improve plant growth. In turn, this bility through germinations will be determined. could increase the ability of plants to perform phytore- mediation, to sequester carbon dioxide, and to serve as a source of biofuel. Research is currently focused on better characterizing the growth of these bacteria in nitrogen- free media, as well as constructing a knockout mutant

76 Temperate to Tropical: The Trouble with Using cal wildfire patterns in Montana and human responses to Temperate Aquatic Insect Analysis Methods in them suggest that changes in policies and treatments may Costa Rica provide biofuels while protecting multiple resources. Dana Giffen, Recent Graduate, Environmental Studies Combined stocking levels and stand characteristics cre- Mary Gates Scholar ate a forest vulnerability index allowing for adaptive Mentor: Michael Reese, Program on the Environment management alternatives. The vulnerability assessment Mentor: Susan Bolton, Forest Resources along with wildfire causes, wildfire responses, and the With the burgeoning concern for the ways climate quantity of fires indicates the need to manage forest change affects sensitive environments, especially in the health in the face of climate change and the increased tropics, finding reliable ways to characterize the biolog- probability of catastrophic wildfires. Furthermore, the ical integrity of aquatic systems has increased in impor- forest vulnerability index identifies the counties within tance. Using benthic macroinvertebrates to gain a holis- the state best suited for alternative wildfire management. tic view of long-term stream quality has grown in pop- The alternative management would mitigate both wild- ularity (Clark 2007). Aquatic insects live in the streams fire danger and forest management costs through sus- for extended periods of time and are therefore good indi- tainable forest thinning for methanol production. This cators of long-term health. However, almost all analysis research addresses constraints on sustainable thinning methods for families of aquatic insects have been devel- projects and options that may remove or by-pass such oped for temperate streams, and these have only limited constraints. applicability to tropical systems. This baseline study ex- A Study of Puget Sound Shorebirds at the Allyn amined physical properties including pH, hardness, al- Long Dock and their Possible Association with kalinity, canopy cover, substrate dynamics, fish popula- Degraded Shellfish Growing Areas: A Citizen tions, and the composition of aquatic insect populations Science Project in three headwater streams-the Juco,´ the Grande, and the Lari Seever, Senior, Environmental Studies Chires-near Mastatal, Costa Rica. This study analyzed Mentor: Julia Parrish, Aquatic Fishery Science seven indexes developed for temperate waters; Family Mentor: Michael Reese, Program on the Environment Biotic Index, Taxa Richness, Ephemeroptera-Plecoptera- Trichoperta Index, and Shannon-Wiener Index, Simp- Water quality degradation due to bacteria is a significant son’s Index, number of endemic taxa, and one newly problem in the United States due to the human health created index specific for Costa Rican aquatic insects– and economic implications. High levels of coliform bac- the Springer Index. The results illustrated the difficulties teria will lead to closures of shellfish beds due to the risk of determining the relevancy of indexes developed for that contaminated shellfish pose to human health. Bird temperate freshwater systems in analyzing tropical data. feces has been implicated as the leading source of the In this study, the seven indexes examined used widely coliform bacteria in certain shellfish beds surround the variant tolerance values for different families, leading to Port of Allyn. This project’s goal is to build a citizen sci- inconsistent results based on the index used. The family- ence program to find data on the birds which congregate specific indexes did the poorest job of characterizing the and produce feces on and around the Allyn long dock. streams, while generalized diversity indexes were more The data found will be analyzed and public outreach ma- comprehensive. It appears that some of these indexes terial will be developed to communicate the findings to were not appropriate to assess tropical streams (Davis et the general public. al. 2003 and Deliz Quinones 2005). This research ef- Analysis of Long Term Change in Arid Wetlands fort finds the need for more diagnostic studies to be con- Christopher Vondrasek, Senior, Environmental Studies ducted comparing the efficacy of various indexes, and Mentor: Meghan Halabisky, Forest Resources cautions researchers to use a variety of indexes when at- Mentor: L. Monika Moskal, Forest Resources tempting to characterize a reach of a river. Wetlands are essential ecosystems. They offer critical Energy Crisis and Catastrophic Wildfires: Can habitats for plants, and both resident and migratory an- Management of Montana’s Forests Solve these imal species. They provide important ecosystem ser- Problems? vices. Wetlands moderate seasonal water cycles, aid Troy Lane, Senior, Environmental Science Resource erosion control, help the recharge of groundwater sup- Management (Sustainable Forest Management) plies, and support a range of natural food sources. In Mentor: Kristiina Vogt, Forest Resources arid climates, wetlands hold a key role as reservoirs Mentor: Daniel Vogt, Forest Resources of water and life. The possibility that we might un- Future demands for energy cannot be satisfied by the derstand these wetlands, especially their potential for existing supply; necessitating the adoption of innova- change and persistence in a landscape wide context, can tive and alternative energy production systems. Histori- be increased with more complete and contextual knowl-

77 edge of them. Remote sensing and geospatial analysis Modeling Bose-Einstein Condensates in Double technology provides tools that allow research to consider Wells wetlands and the landscape around them in spatial and Cory Schillaci, Senior, Physics temporal terms. This research uses historical aerial pho- Mary Gates Scholar tographs from 1970, 1987, and 2006 to quantify spa- Mentor: William Reinhardt, Chemistry tiotemporal changes in the wetlands of arid regions in Mentor: Douglas Faust, Physics Douglas County, WA. Wetlands from the 2006 aerial In 1924 the field of quantum physics was still in its images were previously delineated using an hierarchi- infancy. Nevertheless, Einstein, while extending work cal object-based feature extraction method and classified done by Bose, discovered a curious phenomenon. He by texture, shape, and other identifying characteristics. found that the new theory predicted an interesting phase The 1970 and 1987 historical photographs are georefer- of matter, in which a large fraction of the particles in enced, and classified in the same way in order to quantify a gas of bosons (particles with integer spin which lack the spatiotemporal wetland dynamics. This research also the famous Pauli exclusion principle familiar to students tests whether these extraction and analysis methods are of chemistry and physics) simultaneously populate the accurate ways to measure long-term change of arid wet- quantum ground state at small, but non-zero, tempera- lands. tures. This novel state is now known as a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Because the necessary temperature is incredibly small (typically on the order of nano-Kelvin), Einstein’s prediction waited over seventy years to be re- SESSION 1C alized experimentally in dilute gasses of Alkali atoms by Cornell, Wiemann and Ketterle in 1995. The field ex- ploded and groups around the world were soon repro- ducing the feat; Cornell et al. were promptly awarded the POSTMODERN PHYSICS 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics. BEC’s are very exciting be- Session Moderator: Gerald Seidler, Physics cause they exhibit quantum behaviors, such as coherent Mary Gates Hall Room 085 matter wave interference, on a macroscopic scale. Where experiments flourish, theoretical tools are also necessary * Note: Titles in order of presentation. to make sure that the experiments are accurately inter- preted. Several tools are available for the modeling of Improving Qubit State Detection Through Hardware BEC dynamics, but the best known are effective only in Aaron Avril, Senior, Physics, Mathematics certain limits. Gross-Pitaevskii theory allows physicists Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant to model condensates which are trapped in “smooth” po- Scholar tentials. On the other hand, the Bose-Hubbard model is Mentor: Boris Blinov, Physics effective for condensates which are split by large barri- We are testing the viability of Barium-137 as an optical ers through which they cannot tunnel. Our project is to qubit for quantum computation. The ion is contained in develop a simulation technique which is valid in the in- a Linear Paul Trap and manipulated with lasers tuned to termediate limit, with a weaker but non-zero potential stimulate desired electron transitions. I am assembling barrier between two wells of a trap. I have extended the and programming a pulse programmer that will allow the simulation from 1-D to 2-D, and used it to analyze the lab to be controlled by a single program. It will serve conclusions of an experiment by the Cold Atom Group as a central computer to the lab. This will synchronize at MIT. all of our equipment to one clock, allowing for more Measuring the Mass of a Hill: Refining Precision precise control over trapped ions. It receives transistor- Measurements of Gravitational Interactions transistor logic (TTL) pulses as inputs that may be used Carin Schlimmer, Senior, Physics to record data or as triggers for the program. To com- Mary Gates Scholar mand equipment, the programmer outputs TTL pulses Mentor: Stephan Schlamminger, Physics and sine waves with user-defined frequency, amplitude, and phase. This allows any desired waveform to be syn- Although General Relativity describes gravitational at- thesized, which will improve the control that we have traction very well, theorists are struggling to integrate it over our ion-manipulation lasers, thus improving the vi- with successful descriptions of the other fundamental in- ability of our ion as a cubit. teractions observed in nature. Alternative ideas such as string theory, M-theory, and quantum gravity have been proposed, but many violate the long-held principle that all bodies fall with the same acceleration in a uniform gravitational field. The EotWash¨ group at the University

78 of Washington is conducting a precision experiment to rate against solar activity data to see if there is any evi- search for such modifications to gravity. Unfortunately, dence of correlation between the two, either confirming since gravitational interactions cannot be shielded, the or denying the original claim. experiment is also sensitive to masses in the vicinity of the laboratory. These masses produce false signals, which need to be established in a separate measurement. Of great concern to the EotWash¨ experiment is the sig- SESSION 1D nal produced by the nearby hill, which varies in time as the moisture content of the soil changes. Currently, due to lack of a dedicated instrument, the field produced by the hill is measured only every few months. The interpo- THROUGHA GLOBAL LENS: lation between measurements is a major source of error in this experiment. We have designed and built a dedi- SHIFTING CONTEXTSOF cated torsion pendulum experiment to measure the hill’s IDENTITY,CULTURE AND gravitational field continuously. The mass distribution of the pendulum is optimized for maximum sensitivity to POLITICS the hill’s field. The pendulum is made of aluminum to Session Moderator: Roberto G Gonzales, Social Work reduce weight and allow for precise machining. To de- Mary Gates Hall Room 206 crease electrostatic interactions between the pendulum and its environment, we coated the pendulum with gold. * Note: Titles in order of presentation. Disturbances due to air currents are eliminated by taking Drawing Turkish Identity: The Ataturk¨ Mausoleum measurements in vacuum. The pendulum’s position is Design Competition recorded with a laser readout system built for this exper- Scott Claassen, Senior, Architectural Studies iment. We calibrated the torsion balance’s response by Mentor: Brian McLaren, Architecture accurately placing known masses at specific locations, thus changing the field by a calculable amount. We hope The international competition to design Mustafa Kemal to present the first calibrated measurements of the hill’s Ataturk’s¨ mausoleum is a record of the search for a Turk- gravitational field and its variations by late spring. ish national identity. Dramatic renderings reveal not only the form, but also the intent of the designs, which reflect Investigating Claims of Perturbations in Nuclear the debate over the direction of the Republic of Turkey Decay Rates During Solar Flares following Ataturk’s¨ death in 1938. Due to his role as Andrew Palmer, Senior, Physics the founder and first president of the new secular state Mary Gates Scholar of Turkey, Ataturk¨ was a symbol of the Republic. He Mentor: Alejandro Garcia, Physics sought to maintain its legitimacy by creating a collec- In a recent paper [arXiv:0808.3156] Fischbach and Jenk- tive identity for the Turkish people that was both modern ins make two bold claims. Their first claim is that the and rooted in nationalism. He strove to make Turkey sun emits more neutrinos during a solar flare than it oth- competitive, while encouraging Turks to seek inspiration erwise would during normal solar processes. The second from the land of the Anatolians and Hittites, revered as claim is that neutrinos affect the decay rate of Manganese the roots of their civilization. Projecting an image was 54. Evidence is given for these claims through an exper- crucial, and architecture became a tool for this. Compe- iment which measures the decay rate of Manganese 54 titions to design the new Grand National Assembly and and shows dips in this rate which the authors interpret the capital city of Ankara gave political ideas a graphic as corresponding to solar flares. Our project sets out to expression. In a similar manner, the drawings for the search for the claimed effect in order to either back up Ataturk¨ Mausoleum Design Competition demonstrate a this extraordinary discovery or disprove it. Our exper- wide variety of approaches to how to express his legacy, imental setup consists of a sample of radioactive Man- as an addition to portraying the building form they al- ganese 54 with a half-life of 312 days and a second sam- lowed these architects to take a position on the issue ple of radioactive Americium 241 with a half-life of 432 of Turkish identity. How they represented modernity, years. In the experiment we record the number of nu- nationalism and religion through the drawings demon- clear decay events of both samples over time intervals of strates the conflicts within society as well as the aspira- four hours (the same time intervals used in the original tions of the new Turkish State. experiment) using a Germanium detector. The Ameri- Thick Passports, Thin Excuses: Debunking the cium is used as reference because of its very long half- Neocolonial Myth of Tourist Contact life. Over the next few months we will constantly record Kristen Hogue, Senior, Communication these nuclear decay events and plot the resulting decay Mentor: Crispin Thurlow, Communication

79 making in the camps. As a step towards filling this gap, I “I think many of our problems as a country would be have interviewed camp survivors, members of survivors’ solved if people had thick passports.” This assertion families, and consulted written sources to examine the by celebrity Matt Damon was displayed prominently on types and the roles of music for the Japanese Americans. a recent cover of the Conde´ Nast Traveler magazine, I have found that Japanese Americans performed a vari- which also showed a centered, self-assured Damon in the ety of genres, including Western Classical music, swing foreground of an exoticized African landscape. This sen- music, and most likely practiced Japanese Classical mu- timent echoes a well-known quote from Mark Twain’s sic. Although the camps furnished the basic necessities Innocents Abroad published 140 years ago: “Travel of life such as food and shelter, it lacked the spiritual is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness”. and humanistic aspects. I argue that Japanese Americans Both comments reflect an enduring myth at the core of practiced music in this environment in order to fill this tourism: that travel is in itself sufficient for dissolving void. When people are placed into a senseless situation, prejudices and bringing about intercultural, global un- they have to come up with activities to give some mean- derstanding. In this presentation, I argue that the myth ing and direction to their lives beyond that of physical of tourist-host contact expresses a neoliberal ideal which survival. These stories help illustrate this point and are itself is rooted in neocolonial visions of Other and post- also valuable on their own as they help to preserve an im- colonial fantasies of equality. To this end, I consider portant part of Japanese American and American history. exaggerated claims for the nature, extent and impact of From “Isroel” to “Bukharskiye Yevrei” to contact between tourists and local people that are key “Bukharian Jews”: Issues of Identity and not only to tourism discourse but also to social science Community for a Central-Asian Jewish Enclave discourse in the form of the well-known Contact Hy- Ruben Shimonov, Senior, International Studies, Near pothesis (CH) proposed by Gordon Allport in his 1954 Eastern Studies (Culture Civilization) book The Nature of Prejudice. A careful review of the Mary Gates Scholar CH research literature in fact shows that the “optimal” Mentor: Martin Jaffee, Jackson School of International prejudice-reducing conditions for contact cannot hold for Studies tourism. The few CH studies that do address travel – as tourism or study abroad – also show far lower rates of de- Bukharian Jewry, a group with a 2000-year history creased prejudice. In fact, some studies indicate that the in Central Asia, has received minimal attention in kind of fleeting contact that characterizes both tourism academia. This is a shame not only because of the and study abroad can actually increase prejudice. The gap it leaves in our understanding of world Jewry, but truth, it seems, is that intercultural contact is hardly ever also because of what the Bukharian experience can con- enough to overcome prejudice, least of all in the context tribute to Near Eastern Studies. Furthermore, an anal- of tourism where (a) the extent of tourist-host contact is ysis of Bukharian Jews can offer valuable information greatly exaggerated to begin with, and (b) any contact to Immigration Studies—since the majority of Bukhar- is unavoidably structured by political, economic and his- ians have immigrated to the United States within only torical relations of power. the past two decades. This project investigates forms of identity that have emerged among Bukharian Jews Japanese Americans and Music Before and During by looking at both their historical presence in Central the Incarceration Camps Asia and their very recent immigrant experience to the Daniel Kashima, Senior, Music, Neurobiology U.S. The project’s underlying theoretical link is the con- Mary Gates Scholar cept of “the other”, as Bukharians have always consti- Mentor: Christina Sunardi, Music tuted minority enclaves within societies in which they have lived—whether under Islamic empire, Tsarist rule, One response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor was the Soviet governance, or American society. To explore signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin this project’s main query—how various environments, Delano Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This Order in which Bukharians always formed minority commu- resulted in the forced displacement of Americans of nities, have affected their identity—this paper relies on Japanese ancestry into ten desolate incarceration camps. both literary and ethnographic research. The literary re- This population included those who immigrated from search synthesizes the scarce textual information found Japan, the first generation Japanese (Issei) and their in books, community newspapers, new media, and pri- American-born children (Nisei) who were raised in a mary documents. The ethnographic research consists very different setting. While many studies have ex- of both qualitative and quantitative work—i.e. in-depth amined this incarceration—investigating issues includ- interviews and mass surveys. The paper argues three ing the government’s violation of Nisei civil rights to points: Bukharian conception of what it has meant to the expression of cultural roots and identity through arts be “Bukharian Jewish” is continuously transforming— and crafts—there remains a paucity of research on music

80 since Bukharian Jews have always been in close dialogue to gain support from donor nations under a banner that with the dominant, changing communities in which they highlights the “inherent vulnerabilities” of their islands. have lived. Moreover, this evolution is in constant ten- These vulnerabilities include being spatially constricted sion with the discourse of an essentialized Bukharian and isolated. However, through interviews conducted narrative. Both of these phenomena—the reformulating within Tonga, I found the language the government uses of identity and its tension with an internalized past— on the international stage conflicts with how Tongans have come to play a key role in Bukharian U.S. immi- characterize themselves and their relationship to notice- grant communities; in such, the relationship between the able environmental changes. International emphasis on historical narrative of Bukharian Jews and their current inherent spatial vulnerabilities fails to recognize how is- social predicaments in the U.S. is intimately linked. landers identify with their land and community. These discursive differences led me to explore the intrinsic Changing Body Image and Beauty Standards in power behind spatial representations, and the relation- China ship between the spatial discourse of islanders and their Mckinley Smith, Junior, Anthropology identity. Mentor: Stevan Harrell, Anthropology

With the increased globalization of media imaging, the global nutrition transition, and the correlated increase of urbanization leading to higher accessibility of food and SESSION 1E media marketing and distribution, eating disorders have gone global. The current generation of young women in China struggle when they encounter cognitive disso- nance between the food rules and beauty expectations PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES of their post-Mao China mothers, and their place in Session Moderator: Steven Buck, Psychology the globalization socioeconomic strata. My fieldwork Mary Gates Hall Room 228 in Western China focused on how young women in ur- ban Chengdu, Sichuan have adjusted to a more global * Note: Titles in order of presentation. lifestyle, and how their interaction with western foods, cultural ideals, and media imaging have effected their Correlates of Sexual Assault Perpetration in a body image and personal dietary ideology. I surveyed Sample of Male Community Social Drinkers 20 women: ages 18-22, all students at Sichuan Univer- Lauren Burris, Recent Graduate, Psychology sity, Sichuan Normal University, Sichuan Sports Uni- Mentor: Michele Parkhill, Alcohol Drug Abuse Institute versity, and Chengdu Modeling School. My study in- Mentor: William George, Psychology cludes semi-structured interviews, anthropometric mea- Sexual assault is extremely prevalent on both college surements, participation in the Chengdu cheerleading campuses and in the community. Recent studies have team, and magazine and modeling school observations. found that between 25% and 64% of men report perpe- While the results gives insight into to broader impact of trating some form of sexual assault (Abbey et al., 2006; globalization on female body image in urban China, it Davis et al., 2008; Koss et al., 1987) While most re- only gives direct information on the current transition in searchers focus on victimization, it is important to look Chengdu. I hope that through this study, I will assist the at the characteristics associated with perpetrators in or- global efforts to recognize and assist in the prevention der to accurately inform prevention and intervention pro- and treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating. grams. The confluence model is a useful predictive Small Land/Expansive Relationships: Tonga’s model of sexual assault perpetration that focuses on two Conflicting Identities on the International and Local groups of risk factors – hostile masculinity and imper- Level sonal sex attitudes and behaviors (Malamuth et al., 1991, Andrea Waade, Senior, Earth Space Sciences 1995). Although the model usually predicts the number (Environmental), International Studies of sexual assaults perpetrated, this study examined cor- Mary Gates Scholar relations between known predictors of perpetration and Mentor: Holly Barker, Anthropology the severity of sexual assaults perpetrated. Participants Mentor: Deborah Porter, Jackson School of were 167 men from the Seattle community who were 21 International Studies – 35 years old, single, and social drinkers. After fill- ing out personality and experiential measures, men com- As citizens of a small island developing state (SIDS), pleted the Sexual Experiences Survey (Koss et al., 1987), Tongans are currently experiencing the mounting envi- which measures the frequency and severity of sexually ronmental and political challenges of climate change. aggressive behaviors. Men were categorized accord- The government of Tonga has allied with other SIDS ing to the most severe type of sexual assault reported:

81 nonperpetrators, forced contact, sexual coercion, and at- intervention designed for heavy drinking young adults tempted/completed rape. It was predicted that adult sex- who report that when they drink, most of the time it is ual assault severity would be significantly and positively for emotion regulation reasons. Beyond-BASICS is a correlated to child sexual assault severity, impersonal sex one-session, one-hour intervention delivered in a Moti- attitudes and behaviors, sexual sensation seeking, gen- vational Interviewing style (Miller & Rollnick, 2002). eral drinking behaviors, and both sex-related and general The aim of this intervention is to address the emo- alcohol expectancies. As hypothesized, adult sexual as- tional component of drinking by introducing three se- sault severity was positively correlated with all of the in- lect skills from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) dependent variables except general drinking behaviors. (Linehan, 1993): Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Current These findings are consistent with previous work on the Emotion and Opposite Action. At the one and three confluence model. These results demonstrate the need month time points following the intervention, partici- for prevention and intervention programs that focus on pants reported consuming fewer drinks per week, drink- childhood sexual assault experiences in addition to alco- ing less for emotion regulation reasons, and experiencing hol consumption. fewer episodes of binge drinking and the occurrence of drinking-related problems. We also found improvements The Effects of Portraying Emotionally Complex in depression, anxiety and difficulties in regulating emo- Roles on the Actors Who Portray Them tions. We wished to explore whether participants’ uti- Emily Atwood, Sophomore, Psychology, North Seattle lization of the DBT skills introduced during the inter- Community College vention was predictive of these changes seen in drinking Christi Proffitt, Sophomore, Psychology, North Seattle and emotion regulation. Participants were contacted and Community College asked to complete a short survey indicating whether or Nathan Weinstein, Junior, Pre-Sciences not they had practiced these DBT skills to help manage Mentor: Melissa Grinley, Psychology, North Seattle their feelings, and if so, to provide specific examples. Community College This presentation indicates whether the practice of DBT Do actors experience lingering adverse psychological ef- skills predicts improvements seen in drinking, anxiety fects after playing an emotionally complex character? and depression within this population of heavy-drinking This study investigated whether or not actors experi- young adults. ence this sort of emotional residue, and what the expe- Cluttered Workspace: A Distraction to Focus on rience was like for them. Three actors were interviewed Tasks and asked to think about a specific, emotionally diffi- Patty Neil, Sophomore, Psychology, Business, North cult role they have played and to describe their emo- Seattle Community College tional and physical states before, during, and after the Soona Moxon, Junior, Psychology, North Seattle portrayal, as well as any applicable techniques they used Community College to prepare, act, or disengage from that character. The Norma Renteria, Psychology, North Seattle Community interviews were recorded on an audio recording device, College and the data was subsequently transcribed so the core Li Min, Psychology, North Seattle Community College responses to each question could be determined. Two Mentor: Melissa Grinley, Psychology, North Seattle participants reported clear emotional after-effects from Community College playing emotionally difficult roles, and all 3 participants were found to put considerable preparation, effort and Previous studies have shown that clutter in the workspace personal emotion into playing their roles. Suggestions diminishes the ability to focus on a task. This experi- for further research include a larger sample size and ment assigned a control group to clutter-free workspaces more detailed psychological inquiry into the processes and an experimental group to workspaces cluttered with actors go through to portray emotionally involved char- magazines, desk toys, and crumpled paper to test the acter roles. ability of participants to complete a written test. Ques- tions compiled from various standardized tests ranging Does Use of Select DBT Skills Predict Change in from 8th grade to 10th grade difficulty as well as one Young Adults’ Drinking, Anxiety and Depression question from the GRE test were included in the test. Levels? It was expected to require 20 minutes for completion. Susan McKay, Senior, Psychology The allotted time for the test was 15 minutes to provide Mary Gates Scholar, Undergraduate Research a range of completion for comparison between randomly Conference Travel Awardee assigned participants and to avoid a ceiling effect. The Mentor: Ursula Whiteside, Psychology experimenters believed the data analysis would support Mentor: Mary Larimer, Psychiatry Behavioral Sciences the hypothesis that those in the cluttered environment This project includes the assessment of a psychological would perform worse on the test than those in the clutter-

82 free environment. difference between the two groups was not statistically signifigant. However, we identified key problems with, Getting Better, Looking Better: Is It True? and countermeasures for, our test manipulation and mea- Joscelyn Rompogren, Senior, Psychology sures. The results of this study could prompt more rigor- Diane Kim, Recent Graduate, Psychology ous research into the effects of appearance on sentencing Mentor: Marsha Linehan, Psychology, Behavioral to avoid possible discrimination by judges and juries in Research and Therapy Clinics situations such as courthouse teleconfrencing. Many studies in the past have used specific instruments to assess whether an individual has benefited from ther- apy, but no research has been done to determine if a per- son simply looks improved after treatment. The current SESSION 1F study seeks to establish whether there is a noticeable difference in a person’s appearance post-treatment ver- sus pre-treatment. Twenty-two participants have been selected from a pool of subjects who have completed NEUROBIOLOGY:EXCITABILITY, Dialectical Behavior Therapy and obtained a score of 1 (very much improved) or 2 (much improved) on the DEVELOPMENTAND DISEASE Treatment Change Scale post-treatment. Each subject Session Moderator: Martha Bosma, Biology was videotaped during assessments both before and af- Mary Gates Hall Room 231 ter the year of therapy. Two-minute video clips of the subjects have been identified both at pre-treatment and * Note: Titles in order of presentation. at the 12-month mark when treatment was completed. Uncovering the Molecular Basis of Lou Gehrig’s These clips will be shown on mute in random order to Disease blind observers who will not be told which clip was taken Kennet Ploeger, Senior, Biochemistry, Business at pre-treatment and which was post-treatment. The ob- Administration (Finance) servers will be asked to guess, based on clients’ appear- Mentor: Valerie Daggett, Bioengineering ance, which clip was taken before therapy and which Mentor: Amanda Jonsson, Biomolecular Structure was from the 12-month stage. The number of correct Design responses will be recorded. In a pilot trial of four video clips, observers were correct 100% of the time. Thus, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or more com- we hypothesize that the number of correct responses will monly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects over be significantly greater than chance. Implications from 30,000 Americans, and as yet there is no known cure. these findings may contribute to the growing research on In ALS, the protein Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) un- stigma, since people suffering from mental illnesses may dergoes conformational changes that lead to aggregation, be treated differently based on how they look. which disrupts motor neutrons and eventually leads to the loss of control over voluntary movement. Through Effects of Appearance on Jury Decision Making our research we look to understand the conformational Zach Lym, Sophomore, Psychology, Design, Usability, changes in SOD, in the hope of developing insight into North Seattle Community College possible targets for drugs that could stabilize SOD and Jessica Benson, Junior, Extended Pre-Major control the disease process. Based on the initial structure Eli Boer of SOD, we suggest two hypothesizes for the beginning Mentor: Melissa Grinley, Psychology, North Seattle of the conformational changes; either the two β-sheets Community College that comprise SOD monomers separate in their entirety During sentencing, judges and jurors are instructed to as whole sheets, or the individual strands comprising the examine the severity of a crime; consideration by a ju- β sheets separate and disrupt the sheets. Both of these ror of physical characteristics of the defendant would be processes would then lead to instability as the hydropho- morally compromising. Yet, prior research has shown bic core of the protein is exposed to solvent molecules. attractiveness and appearance of the defendant subcon- To study this process, our lab uses computer molecular sciously effects jurors’ decision making. Our experi- dynamics (MD) simulations it bypasses the need to pre- ment linked a picture of either a “well put-together” or an pare SOD in solution, a challenge that faces modern bio- “unkempt” woman (same woman with different makeup, physical methods because of the tendency of the SOD clothing, and hair) with a fictional court case. Eighty six aggregates -formed from unstable SOD monomers - to participants filled out a survey determining the amount be insoluble. In MD simulations, each atom in the pro- of punishment, such as jail time, community service, tein has its movement modeled through the use of New- and monetary fines, the woman should receive. The tonian laws of motion. These simulations allow us to

83 watch changes in conformation over time and to char- acterize it through measurable properties. Preliminary Gliomas, the most common primary brain tumors, are research seems to support the first hypothesis, that SOD extremely aggressive and uniformly fatal, recurring in- monomers first undergo a separation of the two β sheets evitably despite treatment by surgical resection, radia- which then exposes the hydrophobic core and destabi- tion therapy, and chemotherapy. This is especially true lizes the protein. of high-grade, rapidly growing glioblastoma multiforme Integration of Tumor Tissue and Mathematical (GBM), which account for nearly half of all gliomas. Modeling of Glioma Growth and Invasion Current medical imaging techniques are unable to as- Julia Hamilton, Senior, Biochemistry, Music sess the full extent of diffuse glioma invasion; the in Mentor: Kristin Swanson, Pathology vivo dynamics of each tumor remain unclear. Mathe- matical modeling is an ideal approach to enhancing the Gliomas are brain tumors that grow and invade ag- diagnosis and treatment of this insufficiently understood gressively and are deadly even with treatments such as disease. Using a model for glioma growth that has been surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. The lab focuses shown to have prognostic significance as well as spatial on bio-mathematical modeling glioma growth and diffu- accuracy in predicting disease distribution, progression, sion informed by imaging techniques such as MRI. Dr. and recurrence, GBM aggressiveness can be described Swanson’s mathematical model has been proven to ac- in terms of the diffuse invasion (net dispersal rate D) curately present and predict growth of untreated gliomas. and proliferation (net rate ρ) of malignant cells. My re- The basis of the model is net invasion and net prolifera- search investigates the influence of a glioma’s anatom- tion of glioma cells; these two parameters are specific to ical location on its growth kinetics as quantified by the each patient. My research has two main goals: to connect model parameters and the radial velocity of tumor expan- immunohistochemistry of tumor tissue with the patient- sion. Routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data specific model-defined metrics for proliferation and in- from 140 newly diagnosed GBM patients was reviewed vasion kinetics. My research concentrates on determin- to categorically assess the tumor’s spatial relationship ing how biological factors correlate with model-based to central brain structures. Image analysis yielded tu- metrics for growth and invasion of gliomas by associat- mor volumes and radii, allowing subsequent calculations ing model-predicted growth kinetics with tissue obtained of the patient-specific model parameters and velocity of from actual patients in the Swanson lab database via im- tumor growth. Results from statistical analyses across munohistochemistry, among other techniques. Through all spatio-anatomic classifications showed no significant immunohistrochemistry techniques, I will be able to look differences in range or variability for the distributions of for biological factors present in the tissue such as Ki-67, D, ρ, D/ρ, or velocity, which implies that the biologi- which is a protein that serves as a cellular marker for cal aggressiveness of gliomas is independent of anatomic proliferation. Ki-67 is a good marker to determine the location. This is a direct contradiction to previous stud- growth fraction of a given cell population. Thus, Ki-67 ies that have proposed a link between anatomical loca- provides a direct connection to the net proliferation rate tion and aggressive glioma behavior associated with poor from the model. Other important biological factors can patient survival. Future work will consider the effects yield a connection between tumor tissue and the imaging of anatomic barriers and relative white matter location component of the lab; vascular endothelial growth fac- on observed differential growth patterns, while quantita- tor (VEGF) signals proteins involved with angiogenesis. tively controlling the rates of biological aggressiveness Among other contributions, high levels of VEGF stim- implicit in the model. ulate vascular permeability which is typically excessive in highly proliferative high-grade gliomas. Through in- Activity-Dependent Regulation of 5HT-Positive vestigating biological factors such as Ki-67 and VEGF, Raphe Neurons in Developing Mouse Hindbrain these connections will link protein expression of tissue Mark Shi, Senior, Biochemistry, Neurobiology to the growth model and imaging. Analysis of these pro- Mary Gates Scholar teins will occur by first establishing the tissue bank of Deva Wells, Senior, Neurobiology samples taken from patients in the Swanson lab database. Mentor: Martha Bosma, Biology This research contributes to the goal to lead to improved In many regions of the developing nervous system, treatment and diagnosis of gliomas. spontaneous synchronous activity (SSA) plays a role in Anatomic Variation in Quantitative Measures of synaptogenesis, cell positioning, ion channel develop- Glioma Aggressiveness ment, and neuronal migration. SSA has been observed Mindy Szeto, Senior, Biochemistry, Sociology in the hindbrain, the most caudal of the three primary Amgen Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar, divisions of the developing vertebrate brain that devel- Washington Research Foundation Fellow ops into the cerebellum, pons, and medulla. These re- Mentor: Kristin Swanson, Pathology gions coordinate complex muscular movements, equilib-

84 rium, and autonomic functions. In previous studies, our function of Tbr2 in this process is not clear. We use retro- lab has identified an internal pacemaker, which drives viral vectors to manipulate the expression and function of SSA during a discrete window of time during embry- Tbr2 in order to gain some insight as to whether Tbr2 is onic development; this pacemaker region is a cluster necessary and what purpose it serves in adult hippocam- of serotonergic (5-HT) neurons located between rhom- pal neurogenesis. Understanding the transcriptional pro- bomeres (r) 2 and 3. We are currently examining the gram regulating adult neurogenesis is the first step in ex- mechanism by which SSA develops in the hindbrain. ploring new treatments for many diseases. Using intracellular calcium imaging to visualize electri- cal events, we have observed SSA primarily propagating Correlation Transfer in Stochastic Based Neuron rostro-caudally along the midline of hindbrains at em- Simulations bryonic day (E) 11.5. Culturing hindbrain tissue from Evan Thilo, Senior, Neurobiology E10.5 to E11.5 has allowed us to pinpoint requirements Mary Gates Scholar for SSA in vitro. We have shown that hindbrains cultured Mentor: Eric Shea-Brown, Applied Mathematics in the presence of ketanserin, a blocker of the 5-HT2 re- Populations of neurons in the retina, olfactory system, vi- ceptor, have SSA with reduced frequency at E11.5, and sual and somatosensory thalamus, and many cortical re- fewer 5-HT-positive neurons, as shown with immunocy- gions show temporal correlation between the discharge tochemistry. Tissues cultured in high concentrations of times of their action potentials (spikes). But how are extracellular potassium or Valproic Acid (VPA), the lat- these correlations transmitted throughout the brain? This ter of which is a model for autism in mice, exhibit an in- study examines the transfer and creation of input corre- creased frequency in SSA. Furthermore, tissues cultured lations in simulated populations of neurons that receive with VPA have SSA with greater amplitude that extends partially overlapping inputs. These neurons are governed beyond the midline to lateral regions. We therefore pos- by differential equations derived in the Nobel Prize work tulate in this model of cultured hindbrain that activity of Hodgkin and Huxley in 1952. Previous studies us- itself is able to regulate the appearance and excitability ing simplified spiking models such as the “integrate and of the cluster of 5HT-positive pacemakers that drive SSA fire” model showed that as the spiking rates increased, in the hindbrain. the transferred correlation among these spikes also in- The Functional Fole of Tbr2 in Adult Hippocampal creased. This has potentially important consequences Neurogenesis for neural coding and information transmission. Since Roderick Yang, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular the leaky integrate and fire model is a simplified ver- Developmental), History sion of the Hodgkin-Huxley model, we hypothesized our Mentor: Robert Hevner, Neurological Surgery system would display similar trends in firing rates and Mentor: Rebecca Hodge, Pathology correlations. Using Monte-Carlo simulations to investi- gate our hypothesis, we found that the Hodgkin Huxley The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is one of two model displays more complex characteristics: there are sites where neurogenesis – the growth of new neurons regions in the parameter space where increases in spiking – is known to occur in the adult mammalian brain. The rates vary directly or inversely with correlation. These existence of adult neurogenesis has only recently been neurons display oscillatory, poisson-like, and bursting demonstrated in mammals. There is a relationship be- behaviors. Measuring correlation at certain timescales tween adult neurogenesis and many neurodegenerative show that output correlation decreases within the pa- conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease; rameter space that involves bursting. Our future direc- in patients with such diseases, pathologies can arise in tion is to see if input correlation is transferred over long some specific regions of the brain involved in normal timescales at the level of entire bursts rather than individ- adult neurogenesis. Furthermore, neurogenesis in the ual spikes, so that the bursting phenomenon is connected adult hippocampus may have implications for memory to unexpected trends in correlation. and learning, as the hippocampus is an important struc- ture in those functions. Our research is concerned with The Effect of Membrane- Impermeable Tbr2, a transcription factor in the brain that plays a role Cysteine-Modifying Reagents on Eag-1 in controlling the expression of many other genes. Ex- Benjamin Drum, Senior, Neurobiology, English isting research on Tbr2 in the embryonic cerebral cortex (Creative Writing) shows that it is a key regulator in early brain develop- Mary Gates Scholar ment. Tbr2 was also found to play a similar role in the Mentor: William N. Zagotta, Physiology Biophysics adult hippocampus. In particular, it is expressed in an Mentor: Anne Carlson, Physiology Biophysics intermediate progenitor cell (IPC) population within the Eag-1 is a voltage-gated K+ channel found in neural tis- dentate gyrus; it may be important in regulating the mat- sue. Although healthy somatic cells do not express Eag- uration of the IPCs into neurons. However, the actual 1, it is expressed in every type of cancer cell studied thus

85 far, and is used clinically as a tumor marker. The channel p120 catenin respectively, work together to either pro- also has a binding site homologous to cyclic-nucleotide mote cell motility or adhesion, which we study using binding sites, but it is currently unknown what role this the zebrafish embryo model. We hypothesized that when domain plays in channel gating. Eag-1 channels are com- p120 is at the plasma membrane, it binds and stabilizes prised of four subunits, each with six transmembrane the cadherins, causing cell clustering and increased adhe- domains (S1-S6), where S4 is the voltage sensor and sion, and when p120 is in the cytoplasm, it activates Rac1 S5-S6 make up the pore domain, analogous to the K+ and inhibits RhoA (two RhoGTPases), which causes cell Shaker channel. Very little is known about the physiol- motility. By morpholino induced knockdown, we found ogy and significance of Eag-1, including its specific role that p120 catenin depletion caused defects consistent in brain tissue and the pathways that regulate it. How- with the loss of cellular migration. In addition, increas- ever, it is known that Eag-1 plays an important role in ing levels of Rac1 in embryos are proportional to em- cellular excitability. I used intracellular patch clamp and bryo abnormality rates, but Rac1 mRNA in moderation applied cysteine modifying reagents to Xenopus oocytes has the ability to rescue p120 catenin-depleted embryos. expressing the mouse form of Eag-1 to help elucidate These results demonstrate that p120 catenin is crucial Eag-1’s structure and function. There are eighteen cys- for normal cell motility in developing zebrafish embryos teines per channel subunit, but it is unknown whether and suggest that a balance of supporting proteins is also these cysteines are accessible or near the pore. I as- necessary for normal embryogenesis. These studies on sayed the response of Eag-1 to two cysteine-modifying the regulation of cell motility can help to elucidate larger reagents, MTSET and MTSES. Because MTSET and signaling pathways, leading to additional effects on cell MTSES are charged molecules, they are membrane- survival, growth, and invasiveness, all of which may be impermeable. MTSET is positively charged and MTSES caused by the upstream p120 catenin. is negatively charged. Thus, I assayed the role of various cysteines in the intracellular side of the protein. I deter- Isolating the DNA Binding Sites of the FGF-10 mined that both reagents block the channel almost com- Protein and Identifying the Genes Which it pletely. This block occurs almost instantaneously with Regulates concentrations as low as 5 µM and is irreversible. In Bryson Hicks, Senior, Biochemistry the next steps of my research, I will attempt to rescue Mary Gates Scholar the effect of MTSET and MTSES by mutating cysteine Mentor: James Bassuk, Urology, Seattle Children’s residues that are hypothesized to be near the pore. Research Institute The mitogen Fibroblast Growth Factor 10 (FGF-10) plays a crucial role in the regulation of cell prolifera- tion in urothelial cells. The body produces FGF-10 in SESSION 1G the lamina propria and transports it to cell surface recep- tors on urothelial cells, where FGF-10 stimulates several cellular pathways. Urothelial cells endocytose FGF-10 and transport it to the nucleus, where fluorescent mi- DEVELOPMENTAL GENETICSOF croscopy has shown FGF-10 to bind certain chromoso- mal regions. Recombinant FGF-10 has strong potential HUMAN DISEASE as a treatment for accelerating wound healing because it Session Moderator: Celeste Berg, Genome Sciences stimulates cell proliferation. However, previous research Mary Gates Hall Room 234 does not reveal which specific genes or DNA sequences FGF-10 binds or regulates. To learn more about FGF- * Note: Titles in order of presentation. 10’s effect on gene regulation, I have used the Chro- p120 Catenin and Signaling Pathway Necessary for matin Immunoprecipitation method to isolate the DNA Cell Motility sequences to which FGF-10 binds in vitro. As a part of Cynthia Hsu, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular this process, immortalized urothelial cells were grown Developmental), Biochemistry and fed recombinant FGF-10, then the nuclear proteins Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar were crosslinked to the DNA with formaldehyde. Next, Mentor: Merrill Hille, Biology the cells were collected and lysed in order to collect the nuclei, which were fragmented using sonication. After Gastrulation is a crucial step in embryogenesis, creating that, the crosslinked DNA-FGF-10 complexes were im- differentiation between ectoderm, mesoderm, and endo- munprecipitated using mouse- and goat-anti-FGF10 an- derm and forming necessary organs. On the molecular tibodies and centrifugation. It was then necessary to am- level, transmembrane and juxtamembrane proteins lo- plify DNA for sequencing. To do so, I used a commercial cated at the adherens junction, such as cadherins and kit from Sigma-Aldrich called “Whole Genome Amplifi-

86 cation” (WGA). Bacterial cloning techniques were used Comparative Analysis on the Effects of Lamin A to isolate each individual fragments from this amplified Mutations that lead to Muscular Dystrophy DNA. Following bacterial cloning, dideoxy-sequencing Sara Mamman, Senior, International Studies, Biology using the primers on the plasmid vector revealed the im- (Molecular, Cellular Developmental) munoprecipitated DNA sequences. Next, gel-shift as- Mary Gates Scholar says will verify FGF-10 binding to the DNA motifs iden- Mentor: Steve Hauschka, Biochemistry tified by sequencing. Performing a BLAST search will Mentor: Richard Frock, Biochemistry identify to which human genes these immunopreicipi- The LMNA gene codes for lamins A and C, nuclear inter- tated sequences belong. Before we can use recombi- mediate filament proteins, and mutations in the gene are nant FGF-10 for such applications as tissue engineering associated with a spectrum of human hereditary diseases or wound healing, we must first understand with which called laminopathies, including Emery-Dreifuss muscu- genes FGF-10 interacts. This project has sought to iden- lar dystrophy (EDMD), limb girdle muscular dystro- tify these genes. phy (LGMD) and familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD). Identifying Genes Required for the Formation of A complete knockout of the LMNA gene in mice pro- Tubes duces progressive muscular dystrophy with symptoms Philip Louie, Senior, Business Administration, Biology that are similar to EDMD in humans. However, a sig- (Molecular, Cellular Developmental) nificant difference that separates EDMD in humans from / Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar the Lmna− − model is that EDMD in humans is gen- Mentor: Celeste Berg, Genome Sciences erally an autosomal dominant disease (where one mu- tant allele is sufficient to cause the disease) whereas het- +/ The tube formation process is a significant step in devel- erozygous Lmna − mice that lack one normal copy opment and leads to the construction of many organs in of the gene do not exhibit muscular dystrophy. We our bodies. Shortcomings in this process are responsible hope to take the study of lamin-related muscular dystro- for birth defects that occur in 1 out of every 33 babies phy a little closer towards understanding the molecular born in the U.S. each year. To learn about the compli- mechanisms of muscular dystrophy in humans by using cations involved, one must understand the actual process retroviral infection to incorporate specific LMNA muta- +/ of development. We use the formation of the dorsal ap- tions into Lmna − muscle cells. Thus, this technique pendages (DA) in Drosophila melanogaster, the common will mimic laminopathies in human patients by allowing fruit fly, as a model system to study tube formation. The cells to respectively have the equivalent of one normal fly genome, which contains approximately 16,000 genes, and one mutated copy of the LMNA gene. Specifically, has been fully sequenced and exhibits remarkable con- we would like to determine whether EDMD (R453W) servation with the human genome. In order to investi- and/or LGMD (Q312H) mutations result in increasingly +/ gate the biological process involved in tube formation, I delayed differentiation in Lmna − myoblasts and if study DA formation when altered by mutations. Specif- there are differences with candidate myogenic factor reg- ically, I use the GAL4-UAS system to express RNA in- ulation that are previously known to be perturbed in / terference (RNAi) constructs in cells that make the DA Lmna− − myoblasts. We plan to infect myoblasts with tubes. RNAi is a mechanism that inhibits gene expres- retroviruses containing cDNA’s of the various lamin mu- sion at the stage of translation or by hindering the tran- tation constructs. The most recent development in this scription of specific genes. I conducted a genetic screen project was the successful infection of our cDNA con- +/ in which I interfered with 35 genes to observe effects on structs into Lmna − myoblasts. the follicle cells and dorsal appendages during oogene- sis. From the screen I have selected two specific genes Identification of the DNA Motif that Binds SPARC analyze their biological roles in follicle cells and DA for- Using Chromatin Immunoprecipitation mation. Act42a-RNAi and Act79b-RNAi both produced Adam Mina, Senior, Biology (General) drastic phenotypic effects when expressed during ooge- Amgen Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar, nesis, including shorter appendages and smaller eggs. I Undergraduate Research Conference Travel Awardee am currently conducting further in-depth experiments to Mentor: James Bassuk, Urology, Seattle Children’s determine specific effects of Act42a-RNai and Act79b- Research Institute RNAi constructs on a molecular level. Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) inhibits the proliferation of urothelial cells in culture. Urothelial cells are the stratified squamous cells lining the ureters, bladder, and urethra. The goal of this project is to develop a recombinant form of SPARC protein that may be used as a therapeutic in the treatment of uro- logical diseases. Specifically, this research is relevant

87 in developing treatments for bladder cancer, the fourth oping countries lack the political and legal infrastruc- most prevalent cancer in the U.S. male population. Pre- tures to combat trafficking, how do we account for de- liminary data indicates that SPARC may bind to DNA. veloped cities that serve as destination countries for sim- We will better characterize the role of SPARC in cellular ilar rights violations? Why are women and children still proliferation by identifying a DNA-binding site within being exploited as sex slaves despite the existence of do- the human genome. This sequece will help to eluci- mestic and international laws that are meant to protect date the pathways that the protein may induce or in- them? This research project will examine the nature of hibit as a transcription factor. We have isolated from rights protection and anti-trafficking policies in devel- human urothelial cells using chromatin immunoprecip- oped cities to eliminate the stereotype that sex trafficking itation (ChIP), a procedure that allows sheared DNA is a phenomena of the ‘developing world’ and to identify fragments bound by SPARC to be selectively enriched the legal, social and political factors that trap women in using antibody and agarose beads. DNA fragments of the vicious cycle of trafficking. Through an analysis of 400-1000 nucleotide base pairs have been pulled down three developed global cities of today, Tokyo, Dubai and by ChIP, and are distinct from DNA products obtained New York, this research project will reveal patterns that from a no-antibody negative control. The fragments ob- underlie the factors that directly and indirectly facilitate tained from ChIP have been amplified by ligation medi- sex trafficking. In particular, this project will demon- ated polymerase chain reaction (LM-PCR). The ampli- strate how domestic and international laws fail to effec- fied products are cloned and transfected into E. coli bac- tively provide remedy for victims of sex trafficking. teria, using kanamycin antibiotic selection, and plasmids are isolated for sequencing. Sequence analysis will be DNA Determines Family Reunification: U.S. Refugee performed to identify pathways that SPARC may regu- Programs Halted in Africa late. Melody Hearten-Johnson, Senior, Interdisciplinary Studies (American Studies), UW Bothell Mentor: Julie Shayne, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, UW Bothell Mentor: Bruce Kochis, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, ESSION S 1H UW Bothell In this paper I will address U.S. refugee law in relation to the recent use of DNA testing to verify family ties. SOCIAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONS Hundreds of thousand of people have been stranded in TO GLOBAL POLICY ISSUES destitute and precarious conditions in areas of Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Guinea, and Ghana due to civil wars. Session Moderator: Luis Fraga, Political Science, Yet on August 20, 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported Office of Minority Affairs Diversity that the U.S. State Department suspended refugee pro- Mary Gates Hall Room 238 grams in these five nations. The suspension is due to DNA evidence showing fraudulent claims among appli- * Note: Titles in order of presentation. cants who reported family members living in the U.S. Sex and the City: An Analysis of Trafficking One of the top priorities of the U.S. Refugee Admis- Phaik Goh, Senior, Psychology, International Studies, sions Program is to reunite families, thus family reuni- Law, Societies, Justice fication cases are given higher priority than first time Mentor: Arzoo Osanloo, Anthropology refugee applicants. However, the process of determin- ing family membership based on DNA testing has limi- Sex trafficking is a global phenomenon that involves the tations. For example, defining family through DNA ev- recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or ob- idence carries implications that would violate an indi- taining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex vidual’s human rights under the UN Declaration of Hu- act. According to the U.S State Department, 600,000 man Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights to 800,000 individuals are trafficked across international does not explicitly define family, nor does it mention that borders every year. While globalization has inadver- family has anything to do with sharing the same blood- tently facilitated the trafficking of women, it has also line. Article 16 states that “family is the natural and allowed for an international awareness and consensus fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to pro- about the atrocities underlying sex trafficking. Yet, de- tection by society and the State.” In other words, the spite the proliferation of international institutions, con- State is responsible for protecting the right to family re- ventions and agents united by a common agenda to com- gardless of DNA makeup. Through secondary source bat trafficking, sex trafficking still a growing, transna- library research and meetings with human rights agen- tional process. While it is easy to assert that devel- cies in Washington, D.C. I consider the ramifications of

88 U.S. Refugee Programs which define family exclusively tion of the world. The Polar Regions experience the ef- through DNA testing. fects of climate change with greater severity than any- where else in the world and as a result of the rapidly melt- Enacting the VCCR in Domestic Legislation ing ice the Arctic is becoming more open to marine ship- Liam McGivern, Recent Graduate, Interdisciplinary ping routes such as the Northwest Passage and Northern Studies (Global Studies), UW Bothell Sea Route that could reduce travel between the Atlantic Mentor: Bruce Kochis, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, and Pacific Oceans by thousands of miles. Furthermore, UW Bothell oil and gas beneath the continental shelves of the Arc- The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) tic nations are targeted for increased exploitation raising entered in to force on March 19, 1967. Since the VCCR environmental concerns. Finally, the region is the home- opened for signature in 1961 over 165 states have rati- land for hundreds of thousands of aboriginal peoples fied the treaty. “Enacting the VCCR in Domestic Leg- who now find themselves at the center of worldwide at- islation” establishes the Vienna Convention on Consular tention. Although the Arctic nations of Russia, Canada, Relations as a mechanism for the protection of the hu- U.S., Norway, Denmark, have signed various Arctic and man rights of individuals detained in a foreign land. Law maritime agreements, and indigenous circumpolar orga- enforcement authorities within the U.S. routinely fail to nizations exist, issues such as the sustainable develop- alert the foreign nationals they detain of their right to ment of resources, navigation and shipping, environmen- consulate with their native consulate upon their arrest. tal preservation, militarization, and national sovereignty This issue came to a head when the Mexican govern- remain unresolved. The Jackson School Task Force on ment filed suit against the U.S. in the International Court Arctic Sovereignty and Governance has compiled a com- of Justice (ICJ), alleging that 51 Mexican nationals ar- prehensive set of policy recommendations for interna- rested in the U.S. had not received notification of their tional and indigenous stakeholders in the Arctic. The rights under the VCCR. The ICJ ruled in favor of Mex- Task Force report specifically addresses environmental ico, ordering the U.S. to “review and reconsider” both concerns in the Arctic, multilateral governance, interests the convictions and sentences of the individuals named of Arctic nations, the emerging indigenous “voice” in in- in the suit, among them Jose Ernesto Medellin. The State ternational foreign policy, and navigation in the Arctic. of Texas refused to comply with the rul-ing and contin- The report was greatly influenced by a weeklong fact- ued with its plans to execute Medellin. The case reached finding mission in Ottawa where lead experts in Arctic the U.S. Su-preme Court, where it was ruled that this diplomatic relations, science, and indigenous represen- treaty, which was ratified by the U.S. Con-gress, was tation were interviewed about pressing concerns in the not enforceable in state jurisdictions as it is not a “self- Arctic. The fate of the Arctic concerns the world. We be- executing” treaty. This paper argues that in light of a lieve that the policy recommendations in this task force United States Supreme Court ruling that the VCCR is report will contribute to the ongoing dialogue between not directly enforceable in U.S. courts, the United States state and non-state stakeholders regarding cooperative Congress must pass legislation enacting the provisions development of the Arctic. of the treaty as domestic U.S. law. Failure to do so fur- Intellectual Property Rights in China: Formal ther weakens the reputation of the U.S. as a human rights Adjudication of Trademark Disputes through Court leader, weakens the international human rights regime, usage in Guangdong Province and endangers U.S. citizens who live, work and travel Nathan Snyder, Senior, International Studies overseas. Mentor: Dongsheng Zang, Law Task Force on Arctic Sovereignty and Governance Kristen Olson, Senior, International Studies The extent to which China has implemented a system Naama Sheffer, Senior, International Studies that protects intellectual property rights (IPR) is a mat- Gustaf Andreasen, Senior, International Studies ter of contention for China scholars and institutional Stephen Printz, Senior, International Studies economists such as Douglass North. Economists suggest Andrew Schwartz, Senior, International Studies formal institutions that protect IPRs are a necessary con- Alison McKay, Senior, International Studies dition for economic growth, but China has been growing Marta Schwendeman, Senior, International Studies at nearly 10% a year for three decades despite institutions Julia Troutt, Senior, Comparative History of Ideas, that have been nearly universally recognized as imper- International Studies fect at best or non-existent at worst. Paradoxically, many April Nishimura, Senior, International Studies scholars suggest an institutionalized system that protects Mentor: Vincent Gallucci, Aquatic Fishery Science IPR will only be instituted once there is sufficient do- Mentor: Nadine C Fabbi, Canadian Studies mestic demand. However, there is currently no method to quantify how much domestic demand is necessary to The Arctic is a region increasingly capturing the atten- stimulate the creation of such a system, nor when such a

89 point is reached by a developing country. While China around the three main dimensions of space described by has a recently written a relatively well-developed legal Lefebvre: conceived (i.e. imagined), perceived (i.e. ma- system for IPR protections on paper, there has been little terial) and lived (i.e. experienced). I have also used a research of how effectively this system has been imple- range of approaches for exploring these dimensions: his- mented. By surveying recent court cases on trademark tory, textual analysis, participant observation, and derive.´ disputes in Guangdong province, this paper attempts to I start by examining how a “touristic” vision of the The better understand the extent to which the court system Ave is imagined by both the University of Washington has been implemented and is being used to adjudicate and the City of Seattle in such a way that overlooks or IPR disputes in the most developed regions of China. obscures certain cultural groups and not others. Then, in The cases used are published by the Chinese courts and, order to explore the material spaces of The Ave, I im- while imperfect, are the most complete and extensive merse myself by borrowing the idea of derive,´ taking a court data available. Given that Guangdong is one of “wander” through the neighborhood with a more critical, China’s most developed regions in terms of the need for more open eye. Finally, to better understand life on The domestic trademark protection, I expect to find a high Ave, I place myself in key locations and “people watch,” level of domestic use of formal adjudication through the observing everyday interactions and other exchanges. By court system. This would suggest the most developed re- asking questions about space and the ways our identities gions of China may have recently reached a level of de- are shaped by the meanings of space, my goal is to look velopment where a system of formal protections of IPR a little more carefully and critically at the place so many is now necessary to protect domestic trademarks. of us call home. Seattle’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Way: A 40 Year Reflection on a Dream Timothy Thomas, Senior, Sociology SESSION 1I Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Stewart Tolnay, Sociology

Since 1968, cities around America have memorialized PROFILES OF PLACE:LOCUS, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through the renaming of public spaces in his honor. The renaming of streets, in IDENTITYAND SOCIOCULTURAL particular, stimulates dialogue, controversy, and stigma, CODESIN METROPOLITAN as well as honor. Road names are significant, even more so than commemorative buildings and parks, due to their SEATTLE influence in everyday lives as locations where people Session Moderator: Dennis Ryan, Urban Design live, conduct business, and demonstrate for causes. My Planning project focuses on profiling the area around Seattle’s Mary Gates Hall Room 242 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way before, during, and after the name change from Empire Way in 1983. I will compare * Note: Titles in order of presentation. and contrast the characteristics of block-groups around Re-imagining The Ave: Culture, Place and MLK Way to the characteristics of block-groups in the Intercultural Exchange greater city of Seattle from the 1970 Census to the 2000 Gillian Shepodd, Senior, Comparative History of Ideas Census using GIS and statistical analysis. These char- Mentor: Crispin Thurlow, Communication acteristics include educational attainment, family struc- ture, unemployment, black population, total population, Inspired by Guy Debord, Michel de Certeau and Henri per capita income, and poverty. I will also compile an Lefebvre, this paper reports my study of University Way historical biography of the area derived from interviews (The Ave) as a site for the staging of culture, the produc- and literature reviews to understand the events that took tion of place, and the creation of intercultural identities. I place during the name change, as well as investigate the am particularly interested in examining how space influ- iconology of designating a road in honor of Dr. King. ences or shapes culture and its performance within that My hypothesis is that the area around MLK Way will space, following Edward Said’s notions of Orientalism show evidence of socioeconomic decline through time and “knowing by seeing”. The University District is a contrasted with an era of prosperity for the rest of the city unique Seattle neighborhood – a cross-section for cul- of Seattle. The MLK Way area will also have a higher tural exchange and relations of power, especially those concentration of African Americans as well as histori- shaped by the “town and gown” ethos of the University cal indications of controversy associated with the name community and those who share the neighborhood with change. This area might even include a common stigma us. I have organized this study of my own “backyard” that is found with other MLK streets across America as

90 a disadvantaged locus of high poverty and crime rates. These messages are often at odds creating segmented identities in Cambodian youth. As a result, tensions be- The Seattle Freeze: An Ethnographic Study of tween child and parent create an unstable relationship Discourse Surrounding a Local Social Phenomenon due to a lack of understanding of cultural differences. Angeline Candido, Senior, English, Communication My research suggests that mentors from both inside and Mary Gates Scholar outside of the Cambodian community serve as the cat- Mentor: Gerry Philipsen, Communication alyzing force that bridges the gap in understanding be- This research focuses on the “Seattle Freeze”, a phrase tween parent and child. The child’s quest for academic coined on a cover story run by Seattle Times to describe success within this group is the product of the mentor’s Seattleites’ polite (i.e., agreeable) but distant (i.e., in- effort to foster an environment that facilitates the devel- troverted) demeanor. The belief expressed in the dis- opment of an affinity toward education. The role of the course of the Seattle Freeze is that while Seattleites are mentor bridges the rift between the cultural messages re- very pleasant on the surface, beyond these social niceties ceived outside of home and within. The pursuit of aca- they simply do not desire to extend invitations of friend- demic success in second generation Cambodian youth ship and instead prefer to either remain antisocial or en- relies on the mentors ability to foster a compromise be- trenched in their already formed cliques. Although the tween external and internal environmental factors. This term has made its way into the local discourse, little is crucial to the development of a self identity that fosters scholarship has been done on this social phenomenon. the motivation to continue their education. This research Using Speech Codes Theory as a heuristic and interpre- discusses the implications of these findings for under- tive guide, the present study seeks to understand the Seat- standing the segmented identities of second generation tle Freeze as a speech code within the city and to un- Cambodian American youth. cover some of the rules and premises that underlie this A Radical Food Politics: Struggles for Food supposedly chilly demeanor. Through an assembled cor- Sovereignty in the Puget Sound Foodshed pus containing local texts from the internet and the me- Yecelica Valdivia, Senior, Anthropology, Women Studies dia, I analyze the conversations surrounding the Seattle McNair Scholar Freeze. Studying the placement of this communicative Mentor: Devon Pena, Anthropology code within the city’s discourse lends insight into the Mentor: Teresa Mares, Anthropology ways Seattleites uniquely construct and negotiate the so- cials rules of their everyday interaction—possibly con- Culturally/ethnically diverse and low-income communi- structing them in ways that others would deem impolite ties are often excluded from the current dialogue of re- and antisocial. localizing the Puget Sound food system. My research seeks to open this dialogue through a historical, ethno- Segmented Identities: Second Generation graphic, and political ecological study. First, I outline the Cambodian Americans in Pursuit of Post-Secondary historical and current state of the Puget Sound foodshed. Education I will explore the aforementioned food system and the Stephen Uy, Senior, International Studies local/regional programs and initiatives associated with it Mentor: Kathie Friedman, Jackson School of and how these initiatives fit into, and potentially chal- International Studies lenge, the context of the range between food security and The life journey of second generation Cambodian Amer- food sovereignty. One of the initial steps of the project icans is a unique and never-ending process due to their is to create a series of maps depicting the state of the increased vulnerability to delinquency. Generally speak- Puget Sound foodshed. One such map will depict the ing, second generation Cambodian Americans are more existing indigenous cultural regions accompanied by tra- likely to become involved in gang-related activities than ditional knowledge of local flora and fauna, both for food their other Asian American counterparts. Although the and medicinal purposes. The second map, in conjunction existing literature on this subject is satisfactory, research with the use of archival and Web-based research, will on Second Generation Cambodians who have chosen the depict current and developing Puget Sound food system path of academic accomplishment through the pursuit of alternatives (i.e. farmer’s markets, CSA’s, community post-secondary education is inadequate. The objective gardening, urban farms/gardens, dumpster diving, and of my study is to shed light on the factors that under- gleaning locations) as well as emergency services and re- lie these individuals’ decision to pursue a post-secondary sources. I will collect data on-site at ten locations within education. My data, which was collected through inter- the vicinity of Seattle on the map throughout the Febru- views and surveys, comes from university students in the ary and May 2009 using participant observation and in- Western Washington region. I consider cultural adap- formal open interviews. In concurrence with on-site data tation and compromises in cultural messages received at collection, I will analyze local/regional initiatives and home and outside between generations of young and old. policies including the language in which these are writ-

91 ten. Lastly, I will propose future steps that communities, return forms from major national, feminist, urban devel- especially culturally/ethnically diverse and low-income opment, Washington State, and local NGOs in the pe- communities and their allies in the Puget Sound can take riod of 1997 to 2005. An examination of income, ex- in order to promote a more sovereign and just local food penditure, and employment data from these tax returns system in tune with the environmental, cultural, and po- confirms our hypothesis that NGOs have become civil litical economic conditions in place. society juggernauts by expanding and professionalizing their operations. This quantitative analysis will be sup- plemented by responses from local NGO staff members collected through an anonymous Catalyst-published sur- SESSION 1J vey addressing staff duties and changes in organization structure over the past decade.

Saving the Women: American Transnational Feminist Advocacy in the Global War on Terror GLOBALIZATION,GOVERNANCE, Ashley Baker, Senior, Anthropology, French, Political AND CITIZENSHIP Science Session Moderator: Judith A Howard, Sociology Mary Gates Scholar, McNair Scholar Mary Gates Hall Room 248 Mentor: Arzoo Osanloo, Anthropology The Global War on Terror has provided new opportuni- * Note: Titles in order of presentation. ties for feminist organizations to inform policy affecting NGO Professionalization: Public Advocacy in a New women internationally, especially women in Afghanistan Era and Iraq. This research will: 1) examine the relationship Garrett Strain, Senior, International Studies, Economics between the U.S. government and American feminist or- Elizabeth Lyons, Senior, International Studies, ganizations working to improve women’s conditions dur- Economics ing the Global War on Terror and 2) consider what this Mentor: Sabine Lang, Jackson School of International relationship tells us about the limitations and opportu- Studies nities of transnational feminist advocacy. While these feminists claim to be working toward the empowerment The latter half of the 20th century has seen the rise of of all women, many scholars and locally based and fo- non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as one of the cused women’s organizations accuse them of being hege- dominant forms of civil society organization. Commen- monic and culturally insensitive. They argue that Ameri- tators generally perceive NGOs and their advocacy net- can transnational feminist advocates, consciously or not, works as inherently strengthening public spheres by pro- work with the U.S. government to legitimate the Global viding platforms to otherwise disenfranchised citizens. War on Terror by taking agency away from the women This research traces the development of two interre- they are purporting to help. I will do a discourse analysis lated phenomena in the NGO sector. First, civil society of academic journals and government archives, as well has undergone a process termed “NGOization,” whereby as the primary sources available from three feminist or- civic actors, both large and small, have come to orga- ganizations: NOW, Feminist Majority, and CODEPINK. nize themselves in the form of NGOs. These organi- These sources will explain what the objectives of these zations demonstrate increasing budgets in management, groups are, how they go about achieving these objec- employee salaries, and fundraising expenditures over the tives, and both the academic and governmental response past decade. This spike in NGOs’ professional capac- to these efforts. I will also use interviews with staff and ities enhances their ability to serve as “proxy publics” volunteers from the three groups to explain how they per- as they become more accessible, regulated and resource- ceive their role in the Global War on Terror and their rela- strong. As “proxy publics,” NGOs have become the go- tionship with the government. While American feminists to civil society actors for government, foundations, and have pressured the U.S. government to implement policy the media. Involving NGOs in the democratic process that they believe will benefit women, some charges of has become synonymous with involving the broader pub- cultural incompetence are founded. Many of the poli- lic, however the true inclusiveness of an NGO dominated cies that these organizations support have been formed civil society must be closely reviewed. Does the prolif- without engaging directly with the women who will be eration of an NGO network advance the voice and ca- affected. Working closely with the government may lead pacities of the public, or does increased attention and organizations away from their original principles, but it bureaucratic structure create a business-like environment may also provide unique opportunities to influence broad that limits organic public advocacy? These phenomena change. are explored through an empirical analysis of I-990 tax

92 Internet Microfinance and the Re-Scaling of in the areas of high-end retail and luxury housing devel- Citizenship opments, we focus on a complementary and comprehen- Roy Burstein, Senior, Art (Design Studies), Geography sive set of indicators of high-tech industrialization and Mentor: Matthew Sparke, Geography globalization. We focus on three cities (Bangalore, Shen- Mentor: Stephen Young, Geography zhen, and the San Francisco Bay Area) as case studies of Recent work on globalization has explored the possi- successful high-tech economies and gather information bilities for practicing citizenship beyond the scale of from archival materials, scholarly literature, and more the nation-state. The emergence of the internet, the in- contemporary sources, ranging from corporate annual creasing globalization of both corporations and advo- reports to community wikis and interviews with prop- cacy networks, and growing opportunities for travel, are erty managers to white papers and policy reports to arti- seen as evidence of a world on the move. As such, cles from marketing materials and the popular press. In new spaces, scales and practices of citizenship have also studying the efforts of communities to attract and sup- emerged, which shape and respond to these global mobil- port the high-tech industry and the resulting integration ities. However, we still know relatively little about how of western business principles and cultural ideals into lo- inclusive, progressive and democratic these new global cal cultures (and the broader patterns of globalization), communities are in-practice. Our research focused on we hope to better understand not only the successful poli- one example of a new forum for global citizenship. We cies a community can adopt to foster the growth of the examined the recent growth of KIVA, an internet-based high-tech industry but also appreciate the effects of this microfinance organization. Taking inspiration from Mo- industrialization on existing living patterns, consuming hammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank, KIVA enables online patterns, and traditional cultures more generally. members to make small loans to entrepreneurs of their choosing in the developing world, and thereby “build a global community expressing support and encourage- ment of one another.” We have recently distributed a sur- SESSION 1K vey to KIVA members via their website to assess who is involved, how and why they decided to join, and what they believe it can achieve. My presentation will then draw from this primary research to examine the possibil- HEALTH MONITORINGOF ities and limitations that KIVA presents for a new kind BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS of global citizenship. Session Moderator: Wei-Chih Wang, Mechanical Global Silicon Valleys Engineering Emily Cernak, Senior, Business Administration Mary Gates Hall Room 251 (Finance), Business Administration (Marketing) Mary Gates Scholar * Note: Titles in order of presentation. Jessica Salo, Recent Graduate, History Engineering Robust Designs for Synthetic Biology Mentor: Margaret O’Mara, History Alexander Bratt, Recent Graduate, Bioengineering Shenzhen, China: once a rural agricultural area, now Mentor: Herbert Sauro, Bioengineering a bustling metropolis with nineteen Starbucks retailers. It has been shown that prokaryotic transcriptional gene Similarly, globalization and the high-tech industry have regulatory networks (GRNs) can be engineered in vivo converted sleepy Bangalore into the “Indian Silicon Val- to perform pre-programmed functions (e.g. act as sen- ley.” While Silicon Valley has been a region synony- sors, produce oscillating concentrations of specific pro- mous with innovation and high tech entrepreneurship teins). However, engineered GRNs tend be delicate— throughout our lifetime, the industrializing world is en- they cease to function if perturbed. Unfortunately, per- gaging in a catch-up process. Global Silicon Valleys turbations such as gene sequence mutations and environ- seeks to understand this phenomenon, or how the hunger mental changes are frequent and often unpredictable in for and implementation of high-tech parks and the re- rapidly dividing cellular systems like E. coli (a popular sulting economic development transform communities. engineering target). It has been the goal of this project to By studying 1) the initial drive to industrialize and the find robust network schemes that can be used to generate attempts of communities to capitalize on the marketing computer models of GRNs that function properly under cachet of the silicon valley label (for example, Ireland a wide range of conditions. Each GRN model comprises as the “Silicon Isle”); 2) the roles of national industrial a series of differential equations representing the rates and community planning and higher education policies of degradation and synthesis of transcription factors in in encouraging the proliferation of the high-tech indus- the network. One transcription factor in each network is try; and 3) the resulting transformation of communities

93 arbitrarily designated as the network output and model Evaluation of a Computer-Controlled Turbidostat simulations are carried out deterministically. A genetic for Long-Term Culture Growth and Evolution algorithm has been developed to search for robust mod- Wayne Gerard, Senior, Computer Engineering els. In the genetic algorithm—a search technique that Mentor: Wenying Shou, Basic Sciences, Fred operates on the principles of natural selection—a large Hutchinson Cancer Research Center initial population of randomly generated GRNs is cre- Mentor: Justin Burton, Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson ated. That population is then subject to fitness testing Cancer Research Center and selection whereby only fit networks are allowed to A turbidostat is a continuously-stirred bioreactor, similar progress to the next generation. The results of this work to a chemostat. Both devices maintain a constant volume show that network topology is a strong (if not absolute) of cell suspension in the culture vessel, and thus the sup- determinant of robustness. It is hoped that the robust net- ply rate of fresh medium must equal the dilution rate of work schemes generated here will help guide future ef- cell suspension. However, in a chemostat, culture growth forts to design transcriptional gene regulatory networks rate is set by the supply rate of fresh medium. The cell in vivo. density of the culture is determined by the concentra- Application of Bioconjugate Techniques to AFM tion of the limiting growth factor in the fresh medium Cantilevers for Studies in Force Spectroscopy and in the culture vessel, and can change during evolu- Verne Donnet, Senior, Bioengineering tion. In contrast with a chemostat, a turbidostat adjusts Mary Gates Scholar the supply/dilution rate to maintain a constant biomass Mentor: Wendy Thomas, Bioengineering (turbidity, a measure of the cell density and cell volume suspended in the solution), and in theory, one could mea- Specific adhesion and control of the colonization of a sure changes in growth rate based on the amount of di- surface are of interest to bacterial researchers. Under- lution over a period of time. To study cooperative mi- standing how bacteria adhere to various surfaces, ei- crobial consortia consisting of multiple species, the use ther by their own means or by introducing particular of a chemostat could be problematic because growth of chemistries, assists in the development of clinical treat- the consortia may be additionally limited by metabo- ments and preventions for bacterial infection. This lites that species of the consortia exchange. Since we project addresses these needs twofold. First, it seeks are interested in studying the evolution of cooperative to apply established chemistry in another field (protein microbial consortia, we have constructed a computer- conjugation) to applications in bacterial studies. Sec- controlled turbidostat. In our turbidostat, turbidity is ond, it will increase confidence in the studies that rely on measured via an infrared LED and detector, which is Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) force spectroscopy by then used as feedback for controlling the dilution rate. reducing unintended noise. The goal of this project is to A computer program, written in LabView, automates the apply the combination cross-linking and surface chem- measurement and dilution procedures for the turbidostat istry to the conjugation of bacteria to an AFM cantilever. and exports the measurement data to be analyzed. We Our aims include a high level of reproducibility (be- are currently evaluating the performance of our turbido- tween cantilevers) and low noise (minimization of non- stat. Preliminary results indicate the ability to maintain specific force measurements taken with the probe). The turbidity within a narrow pre-set range for an extended application of the protocol should increase the level of period of time. Once the turbidostat has been success- certainty in measurements taken with the finished prod- fully implemented, we plan to use it to evolve a cooper- uct and increase the confidence in comparisons between ative system and measure how growth rate changes over experiments which varied in conditions (different days, time. temperatures, etc.). The approach focuses on the appli- cation of covalent bonds, which should decrease charge Efficient Directed Evolution Using a Turbidostat Alexander Leone, Junior, Pre-Engineering, Physics effects present in many electrostatic methods. The pro- Mentor: Eric Klavins, Electrical Engineering cedure intends to preserve the cell so it can continue to grow/live even when conjugated to the surface. Current Evolution can produce highly optimized systems with a findings show successful immobilization of bacteria to minimal amount of design, but only with specific initial treated surfaces and sustained function in these cells. Fu- conditions, the right environment, and a time-scale of ture work will include applying this method for studying many generations. To enhance the efficiency of directed the dynamic force behavior exhibited by various types of evolution, we use the feedback inherent in a turbido- bacteria. stat; turbidity, or optical density, of a constant volume of bacteria is controlled by changing the dilution rate. A laboratory instrument for effective directed evolution is essential in synthetic biology; synthetic enzymes of- ten show very low activity. To improve performance, a

94 turbidostat is loaded with a strain of bacteria genetically Surface Modification of Polypropylene 96-Well modified to express the enzyme and controlled to give Plates with Ultra Violet Ozone (O3) Treatment to a selective advantage to bacterium with better synthetic Improve the Matrix Chromatin enzymes. Because of the constant dilution by nutrient Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) Assay inputs, the bacteria are always in growth phase and have Daniel Mar, Senior, Bioengineering a generation time of 20 minutes. After only three days Mentor: David Castner, Chemical Engineering in the turbidostat, there will have been over 200 genera- Mentor: Karol Bomsztyk, Medicine tions. To study the speed of directed evolution in a tur- Mentor: Gilad Zorn, Chemical Engineering E. Coli bidostat, we will optimize lactose utilization in . Epigenetics is the study of the environmental factors that Previous results by Dekel and Alon, using a serial dilu- cause changes in gene expression and of accompanying tion method of evolution, took over 3 months. In a tur- genetic activity, in contrast to inherited genetic informa- bidostat, this process should take seven days. By build- tion. Epigenetic processes have been shown to influence ing a turbidostat, we have made directed evolution a vi- diseases such as cancer and diabetes. If these processes able tool in synthetic biology. could be better understood, the treatment for such dis- A Force-Sensing Glove for Clinicians eases would be dramatically improved. One way to un- David Linders, Senior, Bioengineering derstand epigenetics is to examine changes in chromatin Levinson Emerging Scholar, Mary Gates using the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. Scholar This method uses antibodies to quantify the amount of Mentor: Wei-Chih Wang, Mechanical Engineering interaction between a protein and a particular section of DNA. A recently developed technology, Matrix ChIP, al- For many clinicians, their effectiveness is dependent on lows for the simultaneous tracking of multiple genes and the forces they apply to their patients. Physical thera- is a substantial improvement over previous ChIP meth- pists conduct strength tests and pain thresholds to diag- ods. The Matrix ChIP assay is based on first adsorb- nose new patients or to evaluate recovery after surgery. ing Protein A onto the surface of the polystyrene 96-well Chiropractors apply specific forces to muscles and verte- plate wells. Then the antibodies, which are necessary brae to treat spinal ailments. Although these forces must to isolate the chromatin, are bound to the adsorbed pro- be accurate and repeatable to protect patients and give tein layer. The final step of the assay involves heating to the most effective care, current strategies lack quantita- 98C, but since polystyrene deforms at that temperature tive feedback to the clinician. Therefore, my objective the experiment must first be transferred to a polypropy- is to develop a disposable force-sensing glove to provide lene (PP) plate. Our overall goal is to allow the entire real-time quantitative feedback to assist in clinical diag- Matrix ChIP assay to be performed on PP plates, thus nosis and treatment. To minimally affect a clinician’s saving resources by avoiding a sample transfer and use function, obtain maximal signal in a medical environ- of an extra polystyrene plate. In addition, consolidation ment, and maintain patient safety, a fiber optic sensor of the entire assay onto one plate will be a major step has been developed for this application. The sensor’s de- toward high-throughput compatibility and clinical diag- sign is based on the bendloss properties of optical fiber nostic use. PP plates are currently not used for the en- whereby the attenuation of light through a fiber is related tire assay due to their limited Protein A binding capa- to the bending of that fiber through a series of corrugated bility. Our project aims to modify the surface of PP to teeth. The sensor itself is produced in two parts, sand- improve Protein A binding capability. We investigated wiching the fiber between alternating teeth. The base the effect of treating PP with UV and ozone and quanti- part secures the fiber on both ends while the thin top part fied these changes using contact angle and x-ray photo- deforms under an applied load to bend the fiber over the electron spectroscopy (XPS). Subsequently we verified teeth. The amount of light lost depends on the amount of Protein A immobilization with colorimetric assays and bending that the fiber experiences over the teeth. In this Matrix ChIP. way, the force applied can be related to the light lost. The sensor, fabricated at 10 x 8 x 1 mm, achieved an appro- A Microbead-Based Microfluidic Assay for priate clinical thickness while providing force feedback Multiplexed, Point-of-Care Nucleic Acid Testing Mark Sena, Senior, Bioengineering with a range of 20 pounds and resolution of 0.1 pounds. Amgen Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar, The sensitivity of the sensor followed an exponential re- Undergraduate Research Conference Travel Awardee lationship similar to theoretical calculations. This op- Mentor: Xiaohu Gao, Bioengineering tical biomedical sensor will provide force feedback to Mentor: Paul Yager, Bioengineering improve clinical effectiveness for patient diagnosis and treatment in a wide variety of clinical applications. New diagnostic tools are needed for HIV nucleic acid testing (NAT) at the site of patient care. Current tech- nologies for monitoring HIV viral loads rely on analyt-

95 ical systems found only in clinical laboratories. Mean- equally divided into neurons expressing either the neu- while, cold-chain shipping of frozen patient samples to ropeptide enkephalin or dynorphin; these neurons have those laboratories is difficult to execute in low-resource different synaptic targets and presumably different func- settings. In order to address these issues, we are devel- tions. A viral vector expressing Gi/o-coupled human oping methods for extraction and stabilization of viral muscarinic4 DREADD receptor (designer receptor ex- RNA from patient serum with the goal of eliminating the clusively activated by a designer drug; hM4D) was de- need to freeze samples before shipping them to a central veloped to exclusively infect enkephalin neurons, and is laboratory. In addition, we are developing a microfluidic activated by the inert ligand clozapine-N-oxide (CNO). assay that measures levels of HIV nucleic acid markers Activation of this receptor is thought to silence neurons with the goal of providing preliminary diagnostic infor- through opening potassium channels to hyperpolarize the mation following patient sample collection. So far, we cell, and through decreasing activity of adenylyl cyclase. have found that 1) commercially available borosilicate- c-fos is a transcription factor expressed in response to glass-fiber filters and plunger syringes can be used in increased adenylyl cyclase activity, among other stim- place of expensive centrifuge-based miniprep kits for uli, and can be used as a marker of neuronal activity. rapid HIV RNA extraction 2) magnetic and fluorescent Haloperidol is a dopamine2 receptor antagonist that in- microspheres conjugated to oligonucleotide probes can creases c-fos expression primarily in enkephalin neurons be used to optically detect mock HIV nucleic acid mark- in the striatum. This experiment sought to confirm that ers at the nanomolar concentrations, and 3) disposable, activating hM4D receptors in enkephalin neurons results poly-laminate microfluidic cards that utilize magnetic in functional silencing by measuring c-fos protein. To separation have the potential to facilitate low-volume test this hypothesis, striatum of male Sprague Dawley sample handling and increase the sensitivity of fluores- rats were stereotaxically injected with enkephalin neu- cence detection. In collaboration the Program for Ap- ron specific viruses expressing either GFP or the hM4D propriate Technology in Health, we hope that this work receptor. After allowing 1 week for sufficient protein will help improve HIV NAT for patients with limited ac- expression, CNO was administered (ip), followed by cess to standard testing facilities. haloperidol (ip). After waiting 2 hours for maximal po- tential c-fos expression, rats were perfused and the brains were prepared for immunohistochemical detection of c- fos. Quantification of haloperidol induced c-fos expres- SESSION 1L sion is currently underway. We predict that rats given hM4D receptor virus should express lower levels of c-fos than rats given GFP virus. These findings will be useful in future experiments to clarify the role of enkephalin NEURAL SYSTEMS:FROM GENES neurons in addiction. AND CELLSTO BEHAVIOR AND Extent and Distribution of TAR DNA Binding Protein 43 (TDP43) Intracytoplasmic Abnormalities DISEASE in Lower Motor Neurons of Amyotrophic Lateral Session Moderator: Horacio de la Iglesia, Biology Sclerosis Mary Gates Hall Room 254 Jae Kim, Senior, Biology (Physiology), Biochemistry Mentor: John Ravits, Neurology, Benaroya Research * Note: Titles in order of presentation. Institute Effects of Silencing Enkephalin Neurons using TAR DNA Binding Protein 43 (TDP43) has previously Viral-Mediated Gene Transfer on Haloperidol been shown to be of critical importance in Amyotrophic Induced C-fos Expression Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) nervous systems, but its role in Hannah Demeritt, Senior, Biology (General) disease pathogenesis is largely debated. Our study quan- Mentor: John Neumaier, Psychiatry Behavioral titatively examines the extent and distribution of TDP43 Sciences intracytoplasmic abnormalities in ALS nervous systems Mentor: Susan Ferguson, Psychiatry Behavioral across the entire lower motor neuron column to further Sciences elucidate the importance of TDP43 in ALS nervous sys- tems, and to determine whether these abnormalities can Addiction is a worldwide problem, making understand- be formed as a topographic spreading of ALS as hy- ing the mechanisms underlying this disease a high pri- pothesized by the neuropathological gradient in different ority. The striatum is a brain region thought to be crit- studies. We thoroughly examined the nervous systems ically involved in the processes contributing to addic- of controls (n=5) and ALS patients (n=20) on all 4 major tion. While 95% of the neurons within the striatum neuraxis levels (medulla, cervical, thoracic, lumbar) and are medium spiny projection neurons, these are roughly

96 determined that TDP43 abnormalities show enormous havior driven by a biological clock with a period of inter-nervous system variation and is not correlated to around 24 hr. The circadian system of animals is orga- spread of disease, raising important new questions about nized hierarchically with one or more master pacemakers the role of TDP43 in ALS. and “slave” oscillators in the rest of the brain and periph- ery. Both master and peripheral oscillators are consti- Exploring Flight Control in Animals Using tuted by single-cell oscillators that exhibit transcription- Implantable Electronics translation feedback loops of clock genes. In rodents, Susan Loudon, Senior, Biology (Ecology, Evolution the light-dark (LD) cycle entrains the master circadian Conservation) clock located within the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic Mentor: Tom Daniel, Biology nucleus (SCN), which synchronizes peripheral oscilla- Mentor: Zane Aldworth, Biology tors. When animals are exposed to daily restricted food All animals, including humans, use multiple sensory sys- access (RFA), however, this hierarchy is altered and the tems to drive multiple motor pathways to control move- rhythms of clock gene expression in peripheral organs ment. It is probable that a single sensory input may af- entrain to food availability, leaving unaffected the phase fect multiple motor outputs. We study the role played by of clock gene expression in the SCN. The molecular multiple output factors in insect flight control. Insects pathways by which RFA entrains peripheral oscillators use rapid body rotations that are generally considered to are unknown. We conducted similar RFA experiments in be initiated by the wings for flight control. Flight con- zebrafish under both LD and constant light (LL) condi- trol is also mediated by movement of other body parts, tions to determine whether this stimulus is equally effec- such as the head, legs, or abdomen, to influence flight tive in synchronizing peripheral oscillators as it is in ro- path. However, it is unknown to what extent abdominal dents. By using zebrafish, we can capitalize on genome- movements themselves can be used to initiate changes in wide approaches and induced mutagenesis to identify the flight path. To address this issue we elicited abdom- molecular pathways specifically involved in the synchro- inal movement in flying hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) nization of peripheral clocks by food. Under LD condi- through direct electrical stimulation. Current was deliv- tions animals with RFA during the night show a phase ered using multisite tungsten microelectrodes implanted shift in the rhythm of clock gene Period1 (Per1) within in the thoracic ganglion. We used multiple high-speed the liver but not within the brain. Under LL conditions, cameras to film the 3-D flight trajectories. Four body preliminary data show no phase shifts in Per1 oscilla- points were digitized from flight sequences, and used to tions in the brain or liver of the randomly fed animals extract flight parameters such as yaw and pitch, as well and in the brain of the scheduled fed group. In contrast, as the abdominal motion in the dorsal-ventral and lateral the liver of the scheduled fed group appears to have a flexion planes. We used correlation analysis to determine similar Per1 acrophase to the LD mid light fed group. the relationship between the abdominal movement and Thus, clock gene expression in the liver suggests food observed changes to the flight path. Three key results availability in the absence of light cues can entrain the emerged from our study: (1) 100 Hz square wave stim- liver in a brain-independent manner. uli via multisite electrodes effectively control abdomi- Sensory/Motor Neuropathy with Ataxia (SMNA) and nal flexion, extension, or lateral motion of moths during Candidate Gene IFRD1 on Chromosome 7q22-q23 flight; (2) mean flexion responses of 16 degrees were ob- Tiffany Vu, Senior, Biology (General) served during rigid tether (N= 4 animals); (3) abdominal Mary Gates Scholar movements correlated with changes in body rotation fol- Mentor: Wendy Raskind, Medicine lowing stimulation in 8 of 11 trials (N= 5 animals). To re- Mentor: Mark Matsushita, Medical Genetics move possible artifacts of tethering, further investigation Mentor: Zoran Brkanac, Psychiatry will include wireless stimulation. Taken together these results demonstrate that body attitude can be controlled The five-generation Irish-American family in this study by externally stimulated abdominal motions. Thus we exhibits a novel phenotype where affected members show that, in addition to wings, abdominal motion plays have symptoms of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) as well a significant role in flight control. as hereditary sensory neuropathy (HSN). The affected members show signs of sensory loss in addition to loss Restricted Feeding Time Resets Per1 Expression in of muscle control. Given the family pedigree, we con- the Liver Peripheral Oscillator but not in the Brain clude the mode of inheritance to be autosomal dominant. in Zebrafish To date, more than 28 loci in the genome are reported to Erica Tartaglione, Senior, Biology (Physiology) be involved with autosomal dominant SCAs. The main Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar change at many of these regions is an expansion in a Mentor: Horacio de la Iglesia, Biology polyglutamine tract (CAG repeats), often leading to at- Circadian rhythms are oscillations of physiology and be- rophy of the cerebellum, and eventual loss of motor con-

97 trol. Patients with sensory neuropathy experience a loss thesizing and testing sPLA2 inhibitors. In this I use a of sensation in their extremities due to degeneration of variety of techniques including cell culture and confo- dorsal root ganglia and motor neurons. These effects are cal microscopy, radiolabeling assays, enzyme-linked im- detrimental because patients lose the ability to sense in- munosorbent assays (for detecting very small amounts jury to such areas, experience chronic ulcers, and may of proteins in cells), and fluorescence assays for enzyme lose muscle mass in the legs and feet. A whole genome activity. My current project involves utilizing confocal linkage analysis and fine-mapping analysis ruled out any microscopy with fluorescent sPLA2 substrates. I have known loci as the disease locus in this family, and in- been working to utilize a synthetic phospholipid which stead revealed that a region on chromosome 7q22-q32 changes color when the fatty acid portion is released. segregates with the disease. Following mass sequenc- This will allow for direct visualization of enzyme activ- ing of the exons of 297 genes located in this approx- ity within living cells. If this experiment works, it will be imately 22Mbp region (NCBI Build 36.2), single nu- possible to identify where and when the enzyme is active cleotide changes were identified in three of the genes. within cells. Furthermore, by adding inhibitors, we can We performed SNP Genotyping on controls to verify that identify whether the inhibitor is actually reaching and in- each alteration was not an unreported benign polymor- activating the enzymes, or whether there is any kind of phism. Although more analysis is required to determine barrier preventing this. whether one of these mutations is pathogenic, we pro- pose that the mutation in IFRD1 may disrupt gene func- Enter the Domain of Death: Elucidating the Role of tion. MyD88 in Fas Signaling Alison Eastman, Senior, Neurobiology, Microbiology Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Bill Altemeier, Medicine SESSION 1M Acute lung injury (ALI) is a sudden onset of respiratory failure following various insults to the pulmonary sys- tem including pneumonia, sepsis, and inhalation. It af- fects an estimated 190,600 Americans a year, of which MOLECULARAND CELLULAR 74,500 patients are expected to die of the condition. ALI BIOLOGY is characterized by a period of inflammation consisting of an influx of neutrophils to the lung tissue after cy- Session Moderator: Hannele Ruohola-Baker, tokine release, and followed by a fibroproliferative re- Biochemistry sponse characterized by collagen production. Implicated Mary Gates Hall Room 271 in the progression from the early inflammatory response to the fibroproliferative response is the cell surface death * Note: Titles in order of presentation. receptor Fas. Our lab has shown previously that death- Probing Secreted Phospholipase A2 Function in domain containing intracellular adaptor protein MyD88 Cells plays a role in modulating Fas signaling. Mice deficient Nathan Cermak, Senior, Biochemistry, Sociology, in MyD88 (MyD88-/-) show a decreased inflammatory Applied Computational Mathematical Sciences (Social response to Fas activation with the Fas-activating anti- Behavioral Sciences) body Jo-2. Other labs have shown that Jo-2 administered Mary Gates Scholar, Washington Research to wild type (WT) mice results in an increase in colla- Foundation Fellow gen content of the lung by day 21 (d21). We hypothe- Mentor: Michael Gelb, Chemistry sized that MyD88-/- mice treated with Jo-2 would show Mentor: Rob Oslund, Medicinal Chemistry a decreased early inflammatory response combined with a reduced incidence of apoptosis at day 7 (d7) compared Secreted phospholipase A2 enzymes (sPLA2s) are inter- to WT mice, and a decreased fibroproliferative response facial enzymes, which bind to cellular membranes and relative to WT mice as indicated by collagen content at release fatty acids from phospholipids. In humans, there d21. Jo-2 or its isotype control antibody was adminis- are currently nine known sPLA2s. While the function tered at a dose of 2.5ug/gram body weight via oropha- of a few of these have been reasonably well-established, ryngeal aspiration once daily for three days to either WT it is not clear what the others are there for. However, C57BL/6 mice or MyD88-/- mice on a C57BL/6 back- various sPLA2s have been linked to asthma, arthritis, ground. Necropsies were performed at d7 or d21 to as- atherosclerosis, and colon and prostate cancer. Further- sess lung inflammation, caspase activation, and collagen more, the catalytic activity of the enzyme suggests an content. We found that MyD88-/- mice had decreased important role in a wide variety of inflammatory pro- pro-inflammatory cytokine production at d7. However, cesses. My research in the Gelb lab focuses on syn- in contrast to that reported in the literature, Jo-2 did not

98 result in increased collagen deposition at d21 preventing evaluation of the role of MyD88 in Fas induced lung fi- Understanding p53 degradation is critical knowledge in brosis. cancer research as p53 plays a major role in cell viability. Enhancement of a Computationally-Designed Over 50% of all cancers have a p53 mutation. The ma- Enzyme: A Contribution to the End of Global jor regulators of p53 in vivo are the proteins Mdm2 and Warming Mdmx. Mdm2 and Mdmx can exist separately as ho- Catherine Louw, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular modimers or form a heterodimer. These complexes are Developmental), Biochemistry part of a signaling process called Ubiquitination. Ubiq- Mentor: David Baker, Biochemistry uitination is a highly conserved process which covalently Mentor: Justin Siegel, Biochemistry attaches a protein called Ubiquitin to other proteins in a cell for recognition by the proteasome, ending in protein Global warming is a pressing issue worldwide and find- destruction. The ubiquitination process involves three ing new ways to control excess carbon dioxide is be- critical proteins: an E1, E2, and E3. Eukaryote cells coming increasingly important. This study aims to de- encode for 2 E1s, 20-30 E2s, and potentially thousands velop a novel biological system which converts car- of E3s. Ubiquitination is highly dependant on the activ- bon dioxide into small sugars. To create this sys- ity and specificity of an E2 and E3 protein interaction. tem, a new metabolic pathway is being constructed Mdm2 and Mdmx are E3 proteins. My project seeks which employs six naturally-occurring enzymes and to answer two major questions. First, although the E3s one computationally-designed enzyme called Formo- for p53 are clearly established, what E2 proteins inter- lase. Formolase is derived from a naturally-occurring en- act with the E3 homodimers and heterodimer? Previous zyme, Benzaldehyde Lyase, which ligates two benzalde- studies of other E2 and E3 interactions indicate differ- hyde molecules together, while the desired reaction of ential activity and specificity with homodimer and het- Formolase is to ligate three formaldehyde molecules to- erodimer protein pairs. Second, what mechanism exists gether to create dihydroxyacetone. A computer program for the transfer of ubiquitin to p53? Activity assays of the called Rosetta was used to create Formolase, identify- purified heterodimer and homodimers with different E2s ing four mutations to make within the active site in or- will elucidate a possible signaling pathway. These com- der to drastically alter substrate specificity. The enzyme plexes will be subjected to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance would now catalyze the polymerization of formaldehyde (NMR) spectroscopy, a powerful tool for determining the over that of benzaldehyde, and when tested, these mu- precise location of atoms in a protein. NMR will provide tations altered specificity as predicted. In order to fur- a testing ground for a functional understanding of Mdm2 ther understand this change in specificity, I determined and Mdmx interactions with p53, Ubiquitin, and E2 pro- the contribution of each mutated residue to the activity teins. on formaldehyde. This study illuminated the key muta- tions necessary to maintain desired activity, as well as miRNAs Play an Important Role in Human mutations which could be changed in the future to im- Embryonic Stem Cell Division prove the activity of the enzyme. Although Formolase Jia Wang, Junior, Exchange - Arts Sciences demonstrates enhanced activity on formaldehyde, the ac- Mentor: Hannele Ruohola-Baker, Biochemistry tivity must be increased further before it can be used in Mentor: Junlin Qi, Biochemistry the metabolic pathway. Therefore, I am now working Embryonic Stem (ES) cells are the most pluripotent of on mutating additional residues in order to enhance ac- all stem cells, derived from the inner cell mass of blasto- tivity. We also plan to alter the structure of the protein cysts during the early stage of mammalian embryo de- by adding new loops and tails to form more contacts velopment. Because of their plasticity to differentiate with the formaldehyde ligand, which we hypothesize into all cell types of the adult body as well as the po- will further improve our enzyme. Once sufficiently ac- tential to self-renew infinitely while retaining their un- tive, Formolase will complete the novel metabolic path- differentiated and pluripotent state, ES cells have pro- way and provide an alternative method for converting vided us both a potent tool for embryology and a promis- carbon dioxide into a more useful material. In this way, ing tool for regenerative medicine. ES cells prolifer- global warming can be controlled and the amount of car- ate more rapidly than other cell types but how the care- bon dioxide in the atmosphere decreased. ful regulation of cell division is accomplished is not A Mystery Of p53 Degradation: Who Controls The fully understood. Recently a class of 21-nucleotide Mdm2 And Mdmx Proteins? non-protein-encoding RNA molecules called microR- Christopher Pierini, Senior, Biochemistry NAs (miRNAs),which serve as genetic repressors of spe- Mentor: Rachel Klevit, Biochemistry cific target gene expression by binding to their messen- Mentor: Peter Brzovic, Biochemistry ger RNAs (mRNAs) and causing mRNAs degradation Mentor: David Fox III, Biochemistry or post-translational blockade, have been found to play

99 important role in suppressing cell cycle regulators in of the the composition of interest within the image is mouse ES cells. To further understand the mechanism identified and recorded. All of the information extracted by which miRNAs involved in human ES cell cycle, we from the images is cataloged in a spreadsheet and placed has used RNAi technique to generate stable Dicer knock- in context with compositionally interesting surfaces via down (KD) human ES cell (hESC) lines which have re- a distribution map created in JMARS. From the petrol- duced microprocessor activity and thus reduced canon- ogy of the rock, inferences are made about the forma- ical miRNAs. My specific role is to characterize the tion conditions present on Mars and how it compares to efficiency of Dicer KD constructs by using quantitative igneous and aqueous processes of Earth. For example, PCR and Western Blot to check Dicer mRNA and pro- studies using THEMIS data have revealed the presence tein expression level in knockdown cell lines. Dicer KD of highly evolved lavas on Mars that are produced by lines have shown slower proliferation, delayed G1/S and magmas that undergo crystal fractionation. This indi- G2/M phase transition of human ES cell cycle and up- cates that volcanic processes on Mars could rival those regulation of some cell cycle inhibitors, suggesting that of Earth in complexity. The information acquired from miRNAs regulate gap-phase checkpoints in human ES the analysis of these images can be used for planning fu- cell cycle. Further studies are needed to identify individ- ture missions and will eventually lead to an understand- ual miRNA function in the process. ing of the geology of Mars and its history and assist in the search for life. Forcasting the Weather on HD 189733b James Bushong, Senior, Astronomy, Physics SESSION 1N Mentor: Nick Cowan, Astronomy Mentor: Eric Agol, Astronomy

Apart from the Sun, there are many other stars in the BEYOND EARTH galaxy that have planets of their very own. A large frac- Session Moderator: Nick Cowan, Astronomy tion of the planets that have been detected so far are large Mary Gates Hall Room 284 Jupiter-size planets that orbit extremely close to their host star. These are known as ’hot Jupiters’. Since these * Note: Titles in order of presentation. planets are much fainter than their host star they cannot be observed directly. In a handful of rare cases a hot Extrapolating Martian History and Geology via the Jupiter will pass directly behind its parent star, causing a Analysis of THEMIS Images brief decrease in infrared brightness of the system as the Laura Mayorga, Sophomore, Chemistry planet disappears from view and allowing astronomers Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant to estimate the brightness of the planet’s day-side. We Scholar combine a series of such ’snapshots’ of the planetary Mentor: Joshua Bandfield, Earth Space Sciences system HD 189733 taken with the Spitzer Space Tele- scope. We test two photometric methods and use a sim- Many questions about the development of Mars and its ple model to verify whether or not the planet’s day-side differences from Earth remain unanswered. By analyz- exhibits any variability (storm cycles, etc) over a period ing the Martian surface using infrared measurements, of days, weeks or months. We find that the brightness scientists are able to infer the processes that have shaped of the planet’s day side varies by 5-10% over a two year the Martian surface throughout its history. Most rock- period. forming minerals have characteristic colors at infrared wavelengths that allow for their identification using re- Using Simulations to Determine the Evolutionary mote infrared observations. Specifically, this study uses Processes of Galaxies images from the 2001 Mars Odyssey Thermal Emis- Lauren Pope, Junior, Astronomy, Physics sion Imaging System (THEMIS), which are in nine NASA Space Grant Scholar different thermal infrared wavelengths. Because these Mentor: Thomas Quinn, Astronomy wavelengths cannot be seen with the human eye, false color images are constructed using combinations of three The standard paradigm of galactic evolution involves the wavelengths, assigning a color (red, blue, or green) to creation of large structured galaxies from repeated merg- each wavelength. Based on the color combinations of ers with smaller dwarf galaxies. Analysis of simula- the terrain seen in the three images, the minerals in the tions of these intergalactic acts of cannibalism help as- rocks can be identified, providing compositional infor- tronomers to understand the evolution of galactic struc- mation about the rocks. Using a Geographical Informa- ture and how galaxies are affected by mergers and inter- tion System (GIS) program called Java Mission-planning actions. Beginning with a smooth particle hydrodynamic and Analysis for Remote Sensing (JMARS), the location model of a galaxy as it evolves, I created a detailed analy-

100 sis of the brightness of the bulge and disk components of (SMBH), which can have up to 20 billion times the mass several galaxies. I used a program called Sunrise, which of the Sun. In some galaxies, the SMBH is accumu- creates images of the simulated galaxies that are compa- lating material via a hot, bright accretion disk, thereby rable to telescopic observations of actual galaxies. With increasing its mass and emitting enormous amounts of the images from Sunrise, I “observed” each galaxy and light across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Galax- analyzed it using methods which are similar to those used ies with a growing black hole are known as “active by observers. I also decomposed each galaxy into it’s in- galaxies” and, if they are extremely bright, “quasars.” dividual bulge and disk components so that they could be Our research group studies broad absorption line quasars analyzed separately and compared to the Sunrise images. (BALQSOs) because these objects, in particular, probe Continued research in this area involves processing addi- the high velocity gas very close to the central black hole. tional simulations of a variety of galactic interaction sce- Our project aims to determine what timescales are ap- narios and further improving the efficiency and accuracy propriate to detect changes in BALQSO spectra. The of simulating, imaging and analyzing these galaxies. variability timescale can constrain the size of the emit- ting and absorbing gas cloud near the SMBH. We have Template Rotation Curves for Simulated Galaxies observed seventeen BALQSOs with the Fred Lawrence Whitney Kropat, Senior, Astronomy, Physics Whipple Observatory’s 1.5m telescope’s FAST Spectro- Mentor: Fabio Governato, Astronomy graph. These objects are first observed across 3 consec- Mentor: Charlotte Christensen, Astronomy utive nights, then for one night at 9, 27, and 81 days, and As the Earth’s speed around the Sun allows us to measure later at 1, 2, and 6 years. We also obtain a set of control its mass, so the orbital speed of stars in disk galaxies can non-BAL quasar spectra, in which we expect to see little be used as a dynamical tracer of their mass distribution, variability. We plan to create synthetic spectra using the which can then be explored by analyzing galactic rota- interactive data language (IDL) to simulate variability by tion curves. In a recent observational study, Catinella testing how the BAL region is affected when different et al (2006) created template rotation curves for a set kinds of outflows are added to real data. The spectra will of 2200 observed galaxies over a range of magnitudes. be run through an IDL data analysis code to imitate the These template rotation curves characterize the distribu- limits of our instruments and to determine whether or tion of dark matter within galaxies. Observers find that not we can detect the variability that has been added to the ratio of dark matter to luminous matter in galaxies is the spectrum. We will then assess real variability in the related to both the galaxies’ radius and mass. This ra- observed spectra of our BALQSOs and determine what tio varies inversely with total galactic stellar mass, while constraints our investigations have put on the outflows in each individual galaxy it varies directly with radius, impacting the BAL region. with dark matter dominating at large radii. Addition- Adding the Spectral Energy Distribution of an ally, the slope of the rotation curve at high radii varies Active Galactic Nucleus to a Polychromatic with galactic mass. We are seeking to reproduce their Radiative Transfer Code results with a set of 990 simulated galaxies. These simu- Joel Leigh, Senior, Physics, Astronomy lated galaxies span a wide range of masses, and were cre- EIP/Presidential Scholar, NASA Space Grant ated in two cosmological volumes using numerical sim- Scholar ulations. We calculated template rotation curves for our Mentor: Thomas Quinn, Astronomy simulated galaxies in a set of magnitude bins correspond- ing to those in Catinella et al (2006). Using these, we Using a smooth body hydrodynamic model of a galac- compared the shape of simulated and observed galactic tic merger as a template, the spectral energy distribution rotation curves and found that the outer slope of our ro- (SED) of a modeled, accretion-rate scalable active galac- tation curves becomes increasingly negative with higher tic nucleus (AGN) is assigned to the particle at the center luminosity. This is consistent with a lower dark matter to of each merging galaxy which represents the supermas- luminous matter ratio in high luminosity galaxies. sive black hole located there. Images are created using a polychromatic radiative transfer code. Ongoing diagnos- Probing Black Hole Outflows with Broad Absorption tics are performed to assess the accuracy of the radiative Line Quasar Variability transfer code in processing the input SEDs. This involves Kenza Arraki, Senior, Astronomy, Physics calculating the broadband AB magnitudes of the model EIP/Presidential Scholar, NASA Space Grant SED input into the radiative transfer code and making Scholar a comparison to the magnitudes measured in the output Mentor: Scott Anderson, Astronomy when the code is run in a non-scatter (i.e. no dust) mode. Mentor: Daryl Haggard, Astronomy Some factors considered which could affect the accu- Most galaxies in the universe, including the Milky Way, racy of these output magnitudes include AGN particle are thought to contain a central supermassive black hole size, obscuration/occultation by star particles, galactic

101 flux, wavelength range truncation, inappropriate assign- ence of furfural. However, xylitol biosynthesis was af- ment of AGN particles as young stars (causing dust ob- fected by the presence of furfural in the fermentation me- scuration), and possibly inconsistent interpolation meth- dia. The effects of higher concentrations of furfural (10 ods used in scaling the SEDs. The galaxies are analyzed and 20 g/L) and the effects of 5-HMF and acetic acid on from a variety of simulated camera angles and in an ar- the ethanol and xylitol yields will be presented as well. ray of filters to assess effectiveness and accuracy. The This yeast has the potential to improve the economics evolution of the model is then observed over an approxi- of commercial woody biomass to bioethanol conversion mately two gigayear timespan to monitor the accuracy of and this study is the first step in evaluating that potential. the output SED at several significant epochs during the merger process. After finishing calibration of the input Characterizing the Role of SIR2 in Yeast Aging SEDs the radiative transfer code is run in its normal, dust Brett Robison, Senior, Chemistry, Biochemistry scattering mode and the scattered images are analyzed. Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Brian Kennedy, Biochemistry Mentor: Kristan Steffen, Biochemistry

My research involves using yeast as a model organism SESSION 1O to study aging. In the single-celled budding yeast Sac- charomyces cerevisiae, the SIR2 gene (Silent Informa- tion Regulator 2) has been implicated in regulating ag- ing. Strains containing two copies of SIR2 live longer GENES,BIOMOLECULES, AND (by ˜40%) than those with only one. The mechanism by EVOLUTION which SIR2 is believed to regulate aging is by inhibiting the accumulation of toxic extrachromosomal rDNA cir- Session Moderator: Benjamin Hall, Biology cles (ERCs). If two copies of SIR2 extend lifespan, can Mary Gates Hall Room 287 additional copies extend it further? In fact, experiments have shown that overexpressing SIR2 ˜50X is lethal. To * Note: Titles in order of presentation. characterize the role of SIR2 expression in lifespan, I Increased Tolerance of Inhibitors during Biological am currently creating strains in which it will be possible Production of Ethanol and Xylitol by a Novel, to control the expression between these two extremes. Genetically Unmodified Yeast Genes in other organisms that are homologous to SIR2, F Kohlmeier, Senior, Biochemistry called sirtuins, have been implicated in the regulation Mary Gates Scholar of aging in worms, flies, and mice; however, there is Mentor: Renata Bura, Forest Resources no evidence that toxic ERCs occur in these organisms. This suggests that there may be a conserved mechanism The ability to convert residual woody biomass to ethanol by which sirtuins regulate aging independent of ERCs. could produce a powerful new renewable biofuels from In order to explore the possibility of a conserved ag- products otherwise considered waste. The pretreat- ing mechanism, I am engineering a strain with two trun- ment of lignocellulosic (woody) biomass, however, cated SIR2 genes that will not be able to inhibit ERC for- produces fermentation inhibitors such as furfural, 5- mation to see whether the aging phenotype is retained. hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF), and acetic acid. These In a broader scope, diseases associated with aging have compounds are known to decrease ethanol yields in tremendous effects on the ability of people to live healthy yeasts normally used in bioethanol conversion. A novel, lives, and only by understanding such processes in model naturally occurring, yeast has been discovered by the organisms can we hope to gain insight into how these dis- Bioenergy Lab in the College of Forest Resources that eases are caused and ultimately how to treat and prevent may produce better ethanol yields in the presence of in- them. hibitors. Using synthetic media to model the pretreated biomass, a systematic study of the effect of furfural, 5- The Interaction of Two Growth Hormones in HMF, and acetic acid on the fermentation of glucose and Arabidopsis Seedlings xylose by this yeast was conducted. The influence of Rachel Denney, Senior, Environmental Health furfural in different concentrations (from 1 to 5 g/L) on Mentor: Jennifer Nemhauser, Biology the growth of novel yeast under cultivation in synthetic Mentor: Cristina Walcher, Biology nutrient media was small. The yeast grew well in pres- Auxin(IAA) and brassinosteroids(BR) are two crucial ence of furfural and resembled controls in growth and hormones that control plant development. When present, fermentation. Ethanol and xylitol yield from glucose and they cause an increase in growth and an increase in ex- xylose were of 90% and 70% of theoretical, respectively. pression of specific genes. These hormones are shown Ethanol yields from glucose were not influenced by pres- to have a synergistic relationship, implying that these

102 hormone pathways are interconnected. Currently we cells. I will then be able to test how my findings hold are performing a genetic screen to find plants with a in horticultural varieties (natural mutants) of Thalictrum greater response to BR and IAA. In our screen, we thalictroides, one of which in particular appears promis- use two assays to visualize hormone response: ex- ing in the study of MIXTA since it has been observed to pression of a reporter gene, which is sensitive to both have more conical cells than have previously been found BR and IAA levels, and measuring the length of the in the wild type. This study of MIXTA in a lower eudi- hypocotyls. We began by performing an EMS muta- cot lineage will allow for evolutionary implications to be genesis on SAUR15::GUS seeds. We then collected assessed, since all plants where these genes have been seeds from M1 plants and examined M2 seeds, looking characterized before are more recently derived eudicots. for segregation of tall seedlings. Next, we performed a secondary screen using the assays mentioned above to Inferring Phylogeographic Relationships of find the best mutants for further study. Mutant plants Rhododendron Macrophyllum were then crossed to a different accession (Landsberg), Michelle Stitzer, Senior, Biology (General), where we know that there are many sequence polymor- Anthropology phisms when compared to the mutant background. In Mentor: Benjamin Hall, Biology the F2 generation, we grew seedlings in the presence of Rhododendron macrophyllum is the state flower of hormones to identify those seedlings showing a mutant Washington and a rhododendron native to the Pacific phenotype. We then extracted and amplified the DNA Northwest. Its range extends from British Columbia to from these tall seedlings at specific polymorphic mark- as far south in California as Monterey Bay, and it is most ers spread throughout the genome. By utilizing the con- closely related to Asian Rhododendron species. Fossil cept of genetic linkage, we looked for an increase in the palynological evidence suggests dispersal of an ances- occurrence of the homozygous mutant genotype in our tor of R. macrophyllum to North America by the mid- mapping population–meaning that a marker is close to Eocene. Later, Pleistocene glaciations covered much of the gene of interest. We are now in the process of fine the current range of R. macrophyllum in Western Wash- mapping to ultimately identify the mutation causing our ington. This indicates that the R. macrophyllum popu- phenotype. Once the gene is found, we will further study lations present today are geologically young, either de- the functions and mechanisms of this specific protein for rived from glacial refugia in the Olympic or Cascade a better understanding of plant hormone pathways. Mountains, or repopulated from a southern portion of the Who Wants to be a Model Anyway? Learning more range that was less affected by climatic cycling. Previ- about Floral Developmental Genes by Looking in an ous work has identified genetic variation between plants Early-Diverging Non-Model System of the Puget Sound region and those of the Cascade Anjelique Schulfer, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular Mountains. I collected plants from the region between Developmental) these populations, traveling to sites around the southern Mary Gates Scholar end of Puget Sound, and gathering samples at locations Mentor: Veronica Di Stilio, Biology identified by the Western North American Rhododen- dron Species Project (WNARSP). To investigate the rela- Since the time when Darwin remarked on the incredi- tionships between the samples, non-coding nuclear DNA ble diversity of flowers, the mechanisms leading to this from three genes was sequenced or genotyped. Evidence striking variation have comprised one of the most mar- of regional variation among populations of R. macro- velous puzzles in biology. In several model systems, phyllum is present in the genes examined, with heterozy- flower morphology is influenced by a gene (MIXTA) that gosity for several markers along the geographic distance encodes a transcription factor which belongs to a well between the two populations, but no smooth clinal transi- known gene family. MIXTA is particularly known to tion. The evidence points to a genetic bottleneck homog- cause epidermal cells to develop a conical shape. In enizing individual populations, with subsequent radia- the petal, this has been shown to make the color of the tion of the haplotypes. This observed genetic diversity flower appear to be deeper and have more dimension, may be accompanied by morphological difference, as which has also been indicated in attracting pollinators. plants from the Puget Sound have a traditional elliptical I have characterized a relative of the MIXTA gene from leaf shape, while some from the Oregon Cascade Moun- an early-diverging system, Thalictrum thalictroides. Af- tains show an obovate leaf shape. Further work on vari- ter determining the role of this transcription factor with a ation and possible selective pressures between plants in functional analysis project, I have been working to si- the high elevation, mountainous habitat and those from lence the gene in various species of Thalictrum. The the coastal habitat could provide evidence of speciation results of these knock out experiments along with ex- in action. pression studies will give greater insight as to how this transcription factor relates to the development of conical

103 bilingualism. Prolonged language contact has culmi- nated in several structural shifts in the Russian language, SESSION 1P providing multiple opportunities to examine language change in a dynamic and evolving environment. Upon comparison of studies conducted by Verschik (2005) INGUISTICAND HETORICAL and Avina (2006), I have identified key differences in L R the morphological integration of foreign elements by RESEARCH bilingual Russian speakers in Estonia and Lithuania. Session Moderator: Ellen Kaisse, Linguistics Data presented by Verschik indicate a consistent non- Mary Gates Hall Room 288 assimilation of Estonian morphemes into the Russian morphological matrix. Conversely, Avina’s study shows * Note: Titles in order of presentation. fluid and comprehensive integration of Lithuanian mor- phemes by Russian speakers. My research analyzes the Praise, Blame and Advocacy: An Examination of disparity in successful morphological integration by ex- President George W. Bush’s Post-9/11 Discourse and amining the phonetic, morphological, and phonological the Rhetorical Genres That Define It structures of Estonian and Lithuanian morphemes used Joshua Hubanks, Senior, Communication by Russian speakers. I argue that the crucial factor in- Mentor: Leah Ceccarelli, Communication fluencing successful integration is the phonetic distance Numerous scholars of the social sciences and humani- between a speaker’s L1 (Russian) and L2 (Lithuanian or ties have analyzed President George W. Bush’s rhetor- Estonian). Data used in my study was retrieved from ical response to the September 11th terror attacks on online forums, blogs, as well as radio and television the United States. Whereas some have viewed his dis- broadcasts. A thorough analysis has revealed several course as participating in the epideictic genre, designed significant patterns in the morphological integration of as a non-argumentative attempt to unite Americans and Lithuanian and Estonian morphemes. First, Estonian identify enemies, others have noted its overt tendency to- morphemes ending in vowel phonemes are integrated ward implicit policy advocacy and viewed it as belong- with less success than corresponding Lithuanian mor- ing to the deliberative genre. At present, no research has phemes. Second, Russian speakers pervasively hybridize attempted to bridge the gap between these apparently Lithuanian morphemes with Russian derivational and in- disparate viewpoints. Should the rhetoric be viewed as flectional affixes to create new parts of speech, whereas an epideictic reaction to tragedy, extolling the values of the hybridization of Estonian morphemes is restricted America while condemning those of its enemies? Or to a limited class of morphemes. The pattern of non- should it instead be viewed as a deliberative attempt at integration of Estonian morphemes suggests that the un- advocacy, anticipatorily positing fear-based arguments derlying phonetic and phonological structure of Estonian for soon-to-be-made shifts in American foreign and do- interferes with pervasive and successful morphological mestic policy? Indeed, do simplified generic distinc- integration. Understanding how languages interact at a tions remain the useful tools of rhetorical classification fundamental level provides us with the ability to better that they once were, or has their inconsistent applica- assess and predict the outcomes of language contact and tion since antiquity rendered them unimportant? Draw- their contribution to language evolution. ing from a number of studies in the humanities and social Effects of Style and Gender on Fronting and Raising sciences, as well as from classical rhetorical theory, this of /æ/ and /"/ before /g/ in Seattle English study asks: On what rhetorical basis should George W. Robert Squizzero, Senior, Linguistics Bush’s post-9/11 discourse be assessed, and to what ex- Mentor: Alicia Wassink, Linguistics tent can such an assessment be definitive and useful? Contrary to popular belief, the comparatively understud- Morphological Integration of Foreign Elements in ied variety of English used in the Pacific Northwest has Russian: A Comparison of Bilingual Speakers in pronunciations that systematically distinguish it from Lithuania and Estonia other varieties such as “Standard American English.” Cameron Rule, Senior, Russian Language, Literature, One piece of evidence for this is a difference in the qual- Culture ity of the vowels in words like “beg” /"/ and “bag,” /æ/ Mary Gates Scholar, Undergraduate Research which in the Pacific Northwest are produced higher and Conference Travel Awardee more forward in the mouth than in other regions, merg- Mentor: Kat Dziwirek, Slavic Studies ing with the vowel in “vague” /e:/. These vowels ex- Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, isolated Rus- hibit this effect when they occur before the consonant sian communities in the Baltic States have transitioned [g], which is the final consonant in the words “beg,” from predominant monolingualism to various degrees of “bag” and “vague.” This study examines the effect of

104 sociolinguistic style on this variable. Style refers to the Syntactic Processing in Pre-Adolescents: An register of speech that a person uses in a particular so- Event-Related Potential Study cial and interpersonal context. In other US dialects, the Vanessa Montoya, Senior, French, Speech Hearing vowel in “beg” /"/ is distinct from the vowel in “bag” /æ/ Sciences (Communication Disorders) (Labov, 2006). Sociolinguists have found that mergers EIP/Presidential Scholar, McNair Scholar like “bag” – “beg” often begin in one speech style and Mentor: Stacy Betz, Speech Hearing Sciences spread to others (Labov, 1994). This study hypothesizes The goal of this study was to use event-related poten- " that the vowel in “beg” / / will not change with style, tials (ERPs) to investigate how children process gram- but the vowel in “bag” /æ/ will vary. We expect these matical errors. We were interested in syntactic errors linguistic variations to be taking place primarily below involving tense and subject-verb agreement marking on the level of consciousness. Acoustic measurements will verbs, specifically errors in the use of third person singu- be taken on corpus data from the Pacific Northwest En- lar present tense –s (e.g., She walks every day). These glish Project (Wassink and Conn, in progress) for three errors can occur because of either an overt, inappropriate male and three female speakers to establish scientifically use or an omission of the grammatical -s ending. This if and how these vowels are merging. This study also study explored how the brain processes these types of examines the possible effect of gender on this merger, as syntactic errors. One way to measure neural processing it has been shown to influence variation of the vowel in is to use ERPs. ERPs measure the electrical changes of “bag” /æ/ (Labov, 1994). large groups of neurons in the brain when the subject Stress-Affecting and Non-Stress-Affecting Suffixes in is processing information. The timing and amplitude of English: The Suffix Pattern Hypothesis these electrical changes can be used to determine how Michael McAuliffe, Senior, Linguistics children process syntactic errors. We are investigating Mentor: Ellen Kaisse, Linguistics a well-established syntax-related ERP component, the P600. The P600 is a positive change in electrical po- The English language has undergone significant change tential that occurs 600ms after a stimulus is heard and in the past thousand years, especially in the area of stress, is indicative of syntactic reanalysis and repair processes and as a result, there are two varieties of suffixes in En- following the presentation of a syntactic error. Partici- glish. Suffixes can either affect the stress of the stem they pants for this study were 24 children ages 12-14 years attach to or leave it intact. One suffix that leaves stress old. All participants were right-handed and had typi- intact is -ment, as seen in GOVernment, which has stress cal language, hearing, and intellectual abilities. ERP on the first syllable just as GOVern. A suffix that affects measurements were taken while children listened to sen- stress is -al, so governMENTal has had stress shifted. tences presented through loudspeakers. Sentences con- The analysis that I present to explain this distinction is tained either an overt or omit error on the third person the Suffix Pattern Hypothesis, which states that the pat- singular –s. We are currently analyzing the data to deter- tern which a suffix shows when it enters English with mine the presence or absence of a P600 following each regards to affecting stress on a stem determines the pat- error type. Based on previous studies we expect to find tern which future uses of suffix will use. In other words, a P600 following both error types, but the amplitude and if there is a consistent pattern of stress differences be- timing of the P600 may differ between conditions. The tween suffixed and unsuffixed forms of the stem, then study of grammatical processing in typically developing that suffix will be deemed as stress affecting, and will children is important for understanding the characteris- cause stress shift in future coinings with the suffix. The tics of normal language acquisition. Future studies can predictions of this hypothesis relate specifically to suffix use these results as a comparison group for investigations origin. If a suffix came from Old English, then it can- of children with language impairments. not affect stress, as the Germanic stress system always placed stress on the first syllable, so suffixes would not Negative Quantification and Definiteness: A Look at have counted. If a suffix came from elsewhere, then it Natural Language Quantifiers can be either stress-affecting or non-stress-affecting, de- Thomas Trimble, Senior, Linguistics pending solely on the pattern that it exhibited upon en- Mentor: Toshiyuki Ogihara, Linguistics tering English. Despite its Germanic heritage, English The linguistic study of meaning, Semantics, attempts to currently has a stress system that is regarded as closer to create a link between a native speaker’s intuition of what Latin, which placed stress according to a syllable’s posi- a linguistic expression (word, sentence, etc.) means, and tion from the end of a word; thus suffixes affected stress how the rules of language (grammar, syntax, etc.) put in Latin. An appropriate explanation of the nature of suf- these pieces together. Studied intensely throughout Se- fixes in English is crucial to understanding the evolution mantic literature, quantifiers (e.g. every, some, few, one) of English’s stress system. not only have interesting structural behavior, but also harbor some interesting semantic properties. Milsark’s

105 Generalization (Gary Milsark), a theory of the ungram- primary and secondary sources, the paper tests the ex- maticality of the combination of existential sentences planatory power of perceptual realism through two lines (there is/are. . . ) and noun phrases with strong determin- of inquiry: 1) whether misperception was present in the ers (all dogs, every pig, etc.), has been studied, exam- decision-making process; and 2) whether misperception, ined, and cited countless times. However, there are some not realism alone, explains the Soviet Union’s policies. interesting properties of the determiner “no” which are The evidence drawn from scholarly articles, first-hand as of yet unexplained. Using empirical studies, I have accounts and government reports supports both hypothe- looked for the properties of the negative quantifier and ses and shows that perceptual realism capably explains how it functions in relation to other quantifiers. Search- the Winter War. Further research will explore the the- ing through native speaker intuitions and empirical sup- ory’s generalizability and its limitations. port, my research has looked for a link between various readings and theoretical applications. My first results Peace Through Democratization: Does It Really show a split between theory and intuition, such that intu- Work? itively, “no” can, in fact, denote or refer to specific enti- Elizabeth Cady, Senior, Biology (Ecology Evolution), ties. Within the framework of Semantic Theory predat- Sociology ing the Minimalist Movement, the implications of such a Mary Gates Scholar claim would be hard to integrate. Current Semantic The- Mentor: Stephen Sulzbacher, Psychiatry ory also does not seem accepting of such claims. There- Recent US foreign policy has worked on the theory that fore, it seems necessary to modify Semantic Theory in democratic states are more peaceful than their nondemo- such a way to incorporate native speaker intuitions re- cratic counterparts, and thus the way to create enduring garding the negative quantifier. peace in the world is to establish democracy in nondemo- cratic states. While a large body of research indicates that democracies tend not to go to war with each other (dyadic peace), it’s less clear that democracy creates a SESSION 1Q more generally peaceful state (monadic peace). This pa- per focuses on monadic peace, to see if democratization reduces the incidence of internal conflict. Using Cox re- gression on the Political Instability Task Force (PITF) PEACE,WAR, AND POLITICS and the Pippa Norris Democracy Timeseries datasets, we Session Moderator: Joel Migdal, International Studies aim to investigate both claims of monadic peacefulness Mary Gates Hall Room 295 and of the stability of transition between forms of gov- ernment. As a result of this research we intend to present * Note: Titles in order of presentation. suggestions for US foreign policy under the new admin- istration. Perceptual Realism and the Winter War of 1939 Julia Abelev, Junior, Philosophy, Political Science The Question in Algeria: French Intellectuals and Mentor: Elizabeth Kier, Political Science Atrocities, 1955-1960 Mentor: Moon Yeong Choi, Political Science Gavin Campbell, Senior, History, Economics Mary Gates Scholar Frequently no single variable is capable of fully explain- Mentor: Raymond Jonas, History ing an international event. In the case of the Winter War of 1939 between the Soviet Union and Finland, nei- The Algerian War of 1954-1962 was a unique and bru- ther the systemic nor individual levels of analysis suf- tal colonial war. The war, which ended one hundred and fice. Consolidating the two approaches and developing thirty years of French rule, was so brutal not just because the theoretical framework of perceptual realism allows of the French desire to preserve their colonial jewel and for a more nuanced explanation of the conflict’s incep- the important economic role Algerian goods and services tion. I combined them on the basis of accepting realism’s played in France, but also because of the long-standing assumptions regarding the distribution of power and an- presence of some one million European settlers. Even archic nature of the international system, but removed though the Europeans represented one-ninth of the to- the notion of states as unitary actors. Instead, individuals tal Algerian population, many had roots that went back operate as the independent variables that perceive and over a century, and many viewed Algeria as their home interpret the balance of power and security threats. In just as much as the indigenous Arab population did. In this way, realism explains the contextual variables that 1954, the FLN, an Arab nationalist group, began an up- incited tension and established the strategic importance rising against the French authorities which would spread of Finland, while the cognitive biases of Soviet leaders into a broader struggle for Algeria’s future . In a war led them to consider war as the final option. Based on where the stakes were so high, both sides created propa-

106 ganda to justify the atrocities they committed: the French of the states. troops sent in to end the rebellion used torture systemat- Michele Bachelet: Chile’s First Woman President ically, while the FLN carried out attacks against dissi- Xheni Diko, Junior, Interdisciplinary Studies (Global dents and unarmed civilians, both Arab and European. Studies), UW Bothell These atrocities elicited strong reactions from French in- Mentor: Julie Shayne, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, ellectuals, two of the most famous being Jean-Paul Sartre UW Bothell and Albert Camus. This research examines how these two intellectuals reacted against torture and civilian mas- This research paper is about Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s sacres, and how the context of the Algerian War itself first woman president. A textual analysis of her polit- shaped the reactions of both Sartre and Camus. Ulti- ical experiences was conducted using methods such as mately, we need to regard the opinions of both intellec- biographies, interviews, and articles. The findings show tuals as specific responses to the conditions of the Alge- Bachelet’s political experience may have influenced her rian War, not as broader treatises on the issue of wartime role as President. Bachelet was born on September atrocities. We must remember this, as examples from 29, 1951 to Angela Jeria, an archeologist, and Alberto the Algerian War are constantly brought up in modern Bachelet, a General in the Chilean Air Force during discussions of the war on terror. This project seeks to democratically elected socialist Salvador Allende’s ad- examine the extent to which we can draw lessons for the ministration (1970-1973). On September 11, 1973 Army present day from these intellectuals. General Augusto Pinochet led a coup against Allende. Michele Bachelet and her mother were detained, held Family Matters: Implications of Family Ties of captive for a few weeks, and tortured by Pinochet’s secret Undecided Voters in Game Theoretic Models of police force, for her involvement with the Socialist Party. Presidential Elections After her release, Bachelet and her mother were exiled Alvin Chen, Fifth Year, Mathematics to Australia and eventually East Germany where she en- Mary Gates Scholar rolled at Humboldt University Medical School in Berlin. Mentor: Kazimierz Poznanski, Jackson School of Upon Bachelet’s return to Chile in 1979, she continued International Studies her medical studies at the University of Chile, graduat- The family, as an institution, plays significant roles in ing as a surgeon. She worked in the public health system many different arenas, including elections for the high- until 1994 when she applied to work for the Ministry est office. Family ties influence the choices of voters, and of Health. By 2000, President Ricardo Lagos (2000- subsequently those of candidates. The project explores 2006) appointed Bachelet as the Minister of Health, but the role of family in Presidential Elections. The structure in 2002, assigned her as the head of the Defense Min- of the Electoral College, particularly the winner-takes-all istry. Bachelet stepped down from her position in 2004 rule, has spurred many debates concerning democratic to launch her presidential campaign. In 2006, Bachelet representation. Does the rule favor residents in populous won the election with 53.5 percent of the votes. During states over those in sparsely populated ones? Using a the election, Bachelet focused on issues such as improv- game theoretic model for presidential campaign resource ing public schools, health care services, and social equal- allocation, Bram and Davis theorized that candidates al- ity. In these three years as president, Bachelet has faced locate resources to a state in approximate proportion its many challenges including multiple strikes. The world electoral votes to the 3/2 power. Thus they argue that, continues to watch her closely as she finishes the second under the current system, candidates favor inhabitants of half of her presidential term. populous states. Colantoni, Levesque, and Ordeshook From Free Press to Nazi Propaganda: A challenged this idea, noting that in any given election, Comparison the competitiveness of a state matters more than its pop- Evi Sztajno, Senior, Politival Science, European Studies, ulation. My research combines elements from the works Seattle Pacific University of both sets of authors. First, at the heart of my research Mentor: Luke Reinsma, English, Seattle Pacific is a new game theoretic model, which reflects the strate- University gic nature of elections similar to that of Bram and Davis. However, the model does not assume that undecided vot- In 1932, Germany, although in political and economic ers are homogenous. Instead, it accounts for the compet- turmoil, boasted of 3,362 newspapers – the largest itiveness of states by considering the family ties of un- amount of press in the world. Despite the burden of decided voters, which make them unequally attractive to reparation payments, the spirit of democracy survived. the candidates. For instance, undecided voters of single- One year later, following Adolf Hitler’s election as Re- person households are prone to vote Democratic. In this ich Chancellor, the idea of a free press in Germany model, at equilibrium, the resource allocation depends disappeared. Replaced by state ownership or shut- more on these family ties than on the overall population down completely, newspapers slowly became another

107 tool for spreading Nazi propaganda. Goebbels’ propa- methods of pursuing those respective ideals of peace. ganda machine, imitated by later regimes, dictated the daily agenda of all mass media. This ten-minute pre- Economic Factors in the Fall of the Han Dynasty sentation will follow the journey of one such publication John Yip, Senior, Business Administration (Finance) Die Berliner Illustrirte, a weekly newsmagazine started Mentor: Patricia Ebrey, History at the end of the 19th Century and owned by the Ullstein Mentor: Jeongwon Hyun, History family. Due to their Jewish heritage and democratic be- The Han Dynasty was a time of unprecedented national liefs, the Ullstein’s automatically lost ownership of their prosperity for China. Thus, its decentralization into three paper upon Hitler’s election and were replaced by pro- separate feudal kingdoms in 220 CE came as a shocking Nazi employees. Though they were able to reclaim their end to its former grandeur. Existing research on reasons publication after the war, Herman Ullstein’s Rise and for the fall of the Han Dynasty have identified numerous Fall of the House of Ullstein describes the chilling ex- contributing causes, including the loss of the “Mandate perience of suddenly finding oneself in the midst of a of Heaven” legitimacy, Taoist fanaticism, and a political Nazi newsroom. Die Berliner Illustrite continues publi- power struggle among the Confucian scholars, the eu- cation to this day, now known as Die Berliner Morgen- nuchs, and the empresses and their families. My research post. By comparing the time periods before Hitler’s elec- focuses on the economic reasons for the decentralization tion as Reich Chancellor up to the beginning of World that toppled the Han Dynasty. By consulting primary War II, this presentation will answer the question of texts by ancient Chinese historians and secondary texts how Goebbels’ propaganda system affected print media. by contemporary scholars, I discovered that even though Specifically, the presentation will focus on a gradual two- the aristocracy and some merchants enjoyed lives of lux- phased transition from a free press into a Nazi version of ury, many peasants became destitute as a result of nat- People magazine. Finally, the presentation will seek to ural disasters and nomadic invasions. To sustain them- draw universal conclusions from the time period to the selves, the peasants had to borrow resources from the recent situation of the print media in the United States, wealthy at high interest rates, causing them to fall even particularly in regards to the Iraq war. deeper into debt. As a last resort, some peasants became Reconciliation or Revenge: The Choices of feudalistic serfs, who worked in the landlords’ manors, Spaniards in the Face of Violence while others turned to rebellion. The subsequent rise of Rachel Hug, Senior, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences feudalism concentrated political, economic, and military (Global Studies), UW Tacoma power in the hands of the regional warlords rather than Mentor: Amos Nascimento, Interdisciplinary Arts in the hands of the central government. When a Taoist Sciences, UW Tacoma peasant rebellion known as the Yellow Turban Rebellion devastated China in 184 CE, the warlords seized power Most people agree that peace is desirable and right. But in the name of protecting their serfs and formed small ideas differ concerning how to achieve peace. In the clas- kingdoms, which would culminate in the fall of the Han sic apologetic, City of God, Augustine states that “even Dynasty and the rise of the Three Kingdoms. when men are plotting to disturb the peace, it is merely to fashion a new peace nearer to the heart’s desire; it is not because they dislike peace as such. It is not that they love peace less, but that they love their kind of peace SESSION 1R more.” Thus, what is peace to one person may be per- ceived as oppression to another, and, therefore, deserving of a response such as war – all for the purpose of reach- ing towards a “higher” peace. For Spain, a country that BEYOND EMBODIMENT: only 65 years ago was bathed in the blood of the Spanish Civil War, and that now faces the very real threat of ter- MOVEMENT,OBJECT, rorism, peace is a fleeting concept. This paper explores EXPERIENCE Spain’s historically varied responses to violence: reac- Session Moderator: Phillip Thurtle, Comparative tions of both violent retaliation and peaceful, nonviolent History of Ideas action. Special attention is given to the religious motiva- Mary Gates Hall Room 389 tion that often underlies both the Basque separatist group ETA and the nonviolent movements within recent Span- * Note: Titles in order of presentation. ish history. The Catholic faith, inherent to the Spanish identity, has motivated divergent political expressions. Two different definitions of peace have emerged from the same religious canon, fueling distinctly dichotomous

108 Augmented Experience of Movement and Energy in think and live in new ways. Ideally, this research will Film take the form of a fully functional Theremin suit. Anna Czoski, Senior, Digital Arts Experimental Media, Individualized Studies Object History Awareness Mentor: Shawn Brixey, Center for Digital Arts Sol Hashemi, Senior, Art (Photography) Experimental Media Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: David Halsell, Center for Digital Arts Mentor: Phillip Thurtle, Comparative History of Ideas Experimental Media My research has led to the production of a series of pho- Film allows an experience of time and image that aug- tographs that seek to reveal the agency and motion in- ments our perception, which makes it an ideal medium herent in all objects. A chair causes you to move to it to for exploring motion. By using the totalization technique sit down, just as you can then move the chair. Objects of stop animation with long exposures, I will investigate have a history full of movement and are shaped by their the way we can see changes in movement and energy. interactions with this world they inhabit. A scratch on a Our every day experience grounds us in the mindset that bucket is like the scar on my leg; both are the residual materials have a discreet mass, where objects are defined marks of specific events. I am also investigating space by states of being – stopped, moving, evaporating, etc. and time. Photographs of a floor or ceiling get placed on – in our cause-and-effect experience. The totalization a wall and, when part of a grid, start to confuse the view- method is a tool to develop an aesthetic environment set ers’ perceptions of gravity. A group of images is seen at in a new visual physics, which encourages viewing ob- once, compressing a duration into an instant. The pho- jects in terms of potentials and paths of motion rather tographs become exercises in awareness; they force one than simply state changes. I plan to use stop-motion an- to link specific activities to still images as well as objects imation to depict changing movement through time, so themselves. It is my hope that through these visualiza- that the subject becomes energy and probability. I have tions, one can come to better appreciate the world they begun experiments with isolated movements of the body, share. simple mechanical devices and other moving objects in Wooden Sculptures order to define a visual language. Through this film, I Jason Hirata, Senior, Art (Photography), Comparative hope to shift how people view objects towards seeing History of Ideas them as depictions of augmented experiences of space Mary Gates Scholar with indefinite histories and alternate futures. Mentor: Paul Berger, Art Theremin Shirt: Hyper-Sensory Apparel Sohroosh Hashemi, Junior, Business Administration It is easy to get so close to a body of work that the idea it- (Entrepreneurship) self - the topic of interest - begins to fade into patterns of Mary Gates Scholar repetition and changes of scale. Working as an artist us- Mentor: Axel Roesler, Art ing photography, Wooden Sculptures is a project I started Mentor: Phillip Thurtle, Comparative History of Ideas by placing myself at a distance from the creative process. Mentor: Jentery Sayers, English Friends and family come to my studio and are presented with a set of 14 wooden beams of different proportions. How can spatial relationships be sonified through ap- They are given tasks to be completed with the beams parel? Can this sonification enable new ways of think- such as “place three long beams at least five feet above ing? This question led me to the idea of sonic apparel, the ground, touching the floor only within the space four through which the wearer (and everyone else nearby) inches from the wall” or “touch the ceiling”. As I iden- could actually hear the acoustic space of any given en- tify participant’s methodologies and propensities toward vironment. To explore this possibility, I created a mock- different types of structures I craft new objectives to ei- up of a Theremin shirt, or a sound-producing t-shirt, af- ther challenge or cultivate these concepts. ter researching current technologies and projects in the field of wearable computers and wearable art. I used au- The Mediated Body and the Flattened Surface: dio and video to develop an idea of how the Theremin Memory in Contemporary Times shirt would sound and presented my mock-up, audio and Laura Paul, Senior, Comparative History of Ideas video at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery. This investigative Mary Gates Scholar process has presented me with questions related to en- Mentor: Phillip Thurtle, Comparative History of Ideas gineering, design, and music. When continuing this re- I am interested in the biology present in all things, search, I will further examine how apparel can facilitate and how it can be so easily forgotten in post-industrial tactile, sonic, and visual interaction between the wearer spaces. I have confronted this idea in many ways, and environments. By amplifying or repurposing the through traditional academic research, writing, film, sensual interactions the wearer has with apparel, we can photography, and installation art. I feel that these var-

109 ious mediums give the entirety of my work the ability to confront the controls and restraints prevalent in the spaces in which we live in unique and diverse ways. I am interested in the life of organic materials and crea- tures, such as a live animal or a piece of wood as their individual compositions determine how they act and re- act in very specific ways. Ultimately I aim to find what can be learned from these traces, and how we remember and capture these processes of life. While we as people may be contained in the vast multitudes of images and systems we are put in, we still have the ability to alter that environment in creative or destructive ways. Plant life may not be able to grow in the concrete confines of urban spaces, but it can survive a short time period with minimal soil and water. I see each aspect of my work as reminders of the permeability of all things. We all as living entities ultimately stand out as beings of life and rebellion in the self-made constructs and the impressing realms of the habitats we all live in. Threshold Allison Urban, Senior, Digital Arts Experimental Media Mentor: Shawn Brixey, Center for Digital Arts Experimental Media Mentor: David Halsell, Center for Digital Arts Experimental Media

Communication is a fundamental human technology and throughout history methods of conveying information accurately have iterated from symbolism, such as cave painting, to abstraction, such as language. We have ar- rived at a unique place in history where the rate of tech- nological advancement is steadily increasing towards what is referred to as the technological singularity, or the point at which transhumanism, or the ability to transcend the limitations of the body through integration with tech- nology, could potentially come to fruition. Closely as- sociated with the concept of transhumanism is post lit- eracy, or the idea that written language will be replaced by an unknowable, wordless medium that is more pre- cise and articulate in facilitating communication. In this theoretical next chapter of human history, information is fluid, divorced from form, allowing for pure communi- cation devoid of abstraction and interpretation. My re- search deals with creating objects that are representative of the threshold between current technological achieve- ment and the technological singularity, between literacy and post literacy, between form and fluidity in informa- tion, between an embedded history and a shift to in- stantaneity. By utilizing artistic inquiry as my research medium, I am able to take advantage of an inherent flexi- bility in investigating ideas, and in connecting these vari- ous communication paradigms toward a coherent under- standing of their tangible qualities, eminent poetry and relationship to the trajectory of human progress.

110 Surprising Moments: Students Talk About Research

What surprised me most about my undergraduate research experience was…

…that I developed a strong support system of faculty and graduate students.

…how long it took to build just the right circuit!

…how much fun it is!!

…the amazing travel opportunities it fostered.

…how integral my project became to my everyday.

…I could do it.

…how supportive other people working in the field were.

…how much respect and help professors and graduate students afforded me.

…I could write a 75 page paper.

…research never turns out to be the way you have planned!

…how exciting it was. I thought research would be boring.

…the graciousness of my mentors.

…realizing that research consists of hundreds of attempts and dozens of people coming together for that one ‘aha!’ moment. POSTER PRESENTATION SESSION 2 2:30 - 3:30 PM POSTERS WILL BE ON DISPLAY UNTIL 5PM

PLEASE NOTE: Abstracts are listed alphabetically by the presenter’s last name. Age-Related Deficiencies of DNA Repair Pathways Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to develop new methods and in Budding Yeast gain insights about genetic networks which can be ap- Hossein Abadi, Senior, Biochemistry plied to complex diseases in humans. We have charac- Mentor: Daniel Gottschling, Genome Sciences, Fred terized a collection of more than 80 S. cerevisiae strains Hutchinson Cancer Research Center isolated from a variety of sources (e.g. laboratory strains, Mentor: Jessica Hsu, Medicine and Molecular Cellular clinical isolates, wine or sake brewing, soil samples) and Biology geographic locations (e.g. North and South America, The necessity for aging research is shown by the mor- Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia). We have developed a tality rate of age-associated diseases, such as cancer; a rapid, automated method for isolating the recombinant disease that takes over six million lives globally every progeny derived from crossing these parents, which will year. We believe a better understanding of the processes allow us to generate vast numbers of progeny from a sin- that govern aging will have enormous implications on gle cross and score them for a variety of traits. The lab medical communities. We are particularly interested in will use this information to help understand the extent of one specific aspect: to determine whether DNA repair gene interactions in natural yeast isolates, to determine pathways become deficient with age. DNA repair path- the structure of these genetic networks, and to develop ways are crucial to the health of a cell. Cells lacking computational tools to analyze complex traits in humans. these pathways accumulate irreparable mutations. Stud- Exploring the Consistency of Organized Labor as an ies suggest that an increased cellular mutation rate or Interest Group in American Politics a gradual accumulation of mutations increases genetic Kyle Albert, Senior, Political Science, Sociology instability within a cell. Genetic instability has also Mary Gates Scholar been implicated as a cause of aging and therefore could Mentor: Jake Rosenfeld, Sociology be the link between cancer and aging. By identifying DNA repair pathways that may become deficient with This paper examines the persistence of labor in poli- age, we hope to learn more about the biology of ag- tics as represented in testimony before the US Congress ing, and gain insight into the mechanisms linking ag- and in congressional campaign contributions, despite ing and the development of age-associated diseases. To severely diminishing union density rates and budgets in identify DNA repair pathways that become deficient with recent decades. To explore this topic, I am assembling age, we will investigate how the response and tolerance a large dataset composed of a large sample of congres- to various DNA-damaging agents differ between young sional hearings (obtained through the LexisNexis Con- and old yeast cells. Each DNA-damaging agent causes gressional database) covering selected years since the a specific kind of lesion, which is then repaired by a early 1970’s that are being coded based on whether per- particular DNA repair pathway. Studies in young yeast sons affiliated with the labor movement provide testi- cells have shown that defects in certain DNA repair path- mony (and, if so, information about the affiliation of the ways result in a characteristic and unique DNA damage. person providing testimony). I am also collecting data For these aging experiments we will use our preliminary on labor’s donations to political campaigns to document data to subject cells at various ages to extrinsic DNA- the extent to which their contributions correlate with damaging agents, and assay for changes in DNA repair their representation in congressional testimony (and their ability based on the resultant phenotype. We will further falling membership rates). I hypothesize that the major characterize and examine the specific components of the unions are redoubling their efforts to influence congres- pathways that become defective with age. For any candi- sional policymaking as a response to their diminishing date proteins that are defective, we will test for aberrant membership rolls and loss of power in other areas of protein modification and altered protein function and ac- society; consequently, I expect my project to document tivity. the entrenched position that interest groups can take on Capitol Hill even as their constituency base shrinks dra- Analyzing Complex Genetic Interactions in Natural matically. Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Vida Ahyong, Senior, Microbiology, Biochemistry Enhancing Diversity and Improving Stereoselectivity NASA Space Grant Scholar in the Three-Component Synthesis of Mentor: Aimee Dudley, Genome Sciences Dihydropyridin-4-ones Amanda Lynn Marshall, Senior, Chemistry-Biology, The advent of personal human genome sequencing re- Seattle University quires a fundamental understanding of genetic networks Mentor: Peter Alaimo, Chemistry, Seattle University in order to be used as a predictive and preventative medical tool. Because of the complexity of the human Since the passing of the Pollution Prevention Act in genome and the difficulty of analyzing complex traits in 1990, chemists have placed greater emphasis on devis- human populations, the Dudley lab uses baker’s yeast, ing synthetic methods that reduce or eliminate the use

113 and generation of hazardous substances. As a result of of the Milky Way’s halo. We find that there is a distinct these efforts, many different “green” synthetic methods main-sequence turn-off and subgiant branch. The best- have been developed. Our lab has recently focused on the fit theoretical model gives the galaxy an age of close to green production of biologically active molecules con- 14 billion years, with the stars being very poor in heavy taining the 2,3-dihyproyridin-4-one (DHP) scaffold, be- elements. This sparsely populated dwarf galaxy is domi- cause it is found in numerous alkaloids and biologically nated by dark matter, and has a spread in chemical com- active synthetic targets. For example, DHPs are known position, which indicates the supernova ejecta of the first to possess antifungal and antitumor properties, and are generation of stars was retained by the unseen mass of being investigated as enzyme inhibitors. Due to the the system. therapeutic potential of DHPs as antitumor agents, we have developed a green tandem reaction that generates Measuring Recombination Efficiency in variously substituted DHPs using an indiumtrichloride- Agrobacterium Tumefaciens catalyzed imino-Diels-Alder reaction. Using this reac- Ashley Gregoire, Senior, Biology, Seattle Pacific tion a panel of DHPs was synthesized in good to excel- University lent yield. Currently we are investigating an enantios- Mentor: Derek Wood, Biology, Seattle Pacific University elective variant of this reaction to produce enantiopure Generation of insertional mutations in bacteria is facili- DHPs. This goal represents an important extension of tated by homologous recombination, a process mediated our prior research since nearly all pharmaceuticals and by the recA gene. In Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58, their biological targets are chiral. This presentation will recombination requires a minimum of 1,500bp of ho- describe the strategy and results obtained to date. mologous DNA. In contrast, efficient recombination in Tactile Feedback for Neuroprosthetics Azotobacter vinelandii requires only 300bp. In order to Anibel America, Senior, Bioengineering improve recombination in C58 we are replacing its recA Mentor: Ralph Lin, Bioengineering gene with that of Azotobacter. To test the effectiveness Mentor: Yoky Matsuoka, Computer Science of recombination in this strain we are constructing three Engineering test vectors that contain 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5kb of homol- ogous DNA flanking a kanamycin resistance gene cas- Within the last decade, many advances have been made sette. The vectors are designed to replace gene Atu0944 in neural control of prosthetic limbs. Numerous interface and the efficiency of this replacement will be tested for modalities such as cortical electrodes, EEG, nerve cuffs all three vectors in both wild type recA and recAAvin and EMG have been used to decode motor intent and C58 backgrounds. Generating a recombination efficient move various robotic prostheses. However, nearly all of C58 strain will support the development of functional ge- this work has been focused on open-loop control of effer- nomics tools in this model organism. ent signals (motor output). We have taken a preliminary look at integrating afferent tactile signals for prosthetic Tandem Repeats: Protein Function, Toxicity, and control. Specifically, we are interested in examining re- Adaptation flex arcs, which have been shown to play a role in how Jacob Bale, Senior, Biochemistry humans adjust their grip force on an object. We present Mentor: Christine Queitsch, Genome Sciences EMG data from subjects gripping an object subject to un- Mentor: Soledad Undurraga, Genome Sciences predictable loads and compare reflex responses resulting DNA sequences repeated in a head to tail fashion, known from cutaneous detection of slip to volitional force exer- as tandem repeats (TR), are present in many protein cod- tion on an object. We then propose how this EMG signal ing regions of eukaryotic genomes. These genetic ele- may be used for controlling grip forces and discuss sev- ments can change size rapidly through polymerase slip- eral implications of reflex neural control of a prosthetic page and unequal recombination. Mutations in repeat device. regions occur 10-10,000 times more frequently than in The Age and Metallicity of the Bootes I System non-repeat regions and they often yield functional pro- Anne Bossi, Senior, Physics, Seattle University teins. Thus, we hypothesize that intragenic TR facilitate NASA Space Grant Scholar rapid adaptation to changing environments. Plants are Mentor: Joanne Hughes Clark, Physics, Seattle an ideal system in which to investigate this phenomenon University because their immobility places them under high pres- sure to adapt quickly to changing environments. Of the We present photometry, in the Washington CT1T2 filters, over 13,000 intragenic TR found in the model plant Ara- of the Bootes I dwarf spheroidal galaxy, discovered in bidopsis, we have chosen to focus on six, which are the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We detected 165 objects found in key genes of growth and development. One of in the field, and we determined statistically that about these repeats is located in PFT1, a light-quality sensing 40% of them are not members of the galaxy, but are part and flowering time gene. This TR consists of a period-

114 ically interrupted polyglutamine repeat of 88-90 amino The Micro and Macro Level Impacts of Greece’s acids that is highly conserved in size, which suggests Membership in the European Union that this particular length confers optimal function to Aspasia Bartell, Senior, International Studies: Europe PFT1. In addition, pure polyglutamine repeats of this Mentor: Carol Thomas, History length are usually toxic, playing roles in disorders such The European Community opened its doors to Greek as Huntington’s disease in humans. Thus, the viability membership in 1981. Since then the European Commu- of plants containing this repeat indicates that periodic in- nity (now the European Union) has made considerable terruptions may mitigate toxicity. These hypotheses are financial contributions (through structural and regional being tested by the generation and characterization of funds) in an effort to improve Greece’s economic per- PFT1 transgenic plants containing with repeats of vary- formace, as well as increase its economic competitive- ing length and or purity. We expect the plants carrying ness in the common market arena. The EU planned to TR lengths other than the 88-90 amino acids observed in do this by utilizing community funds to rebuild Greece’s natural accessions will exhibit altered flowering pheno- aging infrastructure and increase opportunities for eco- types. We also anticipate that plants carrying pure polyg- nomic/business growth through economic integration. lutamine repeats will either cause lethality or will signifi- However, time has shown that the European Commu- cantly change flowering time. This work should increase nity/European Union’s recipe for sucess has yielded var- our knowledge of TR function and toxicity, including ied results, providing for increasing successes at the their role in medical disorders and rapid adaptation. macro level (government and business), but growing dis- Integrating Germany’s Muslims: Faces of the appointment at the micro (citizen and consumer) level. German Islam Conference This poster presentation will delve into the explanations Angela Barnard, Senior, Political Science for this phenomenon through an analysis of economic in- Mentor: Steven Pfaff, Sociology dicators and a review of existing literature on the topic. It will give an analysis of the current situation and will Germany today is the product of marked demographic disucss possible future implications. It will also include change due to immigration, notably from Turkey. This information from 10 interviews conducted by the author change forces the citizenry to grapple with questions per- on the ground in Greece. taining to integrating a cultural Other, in this case the Turkish Muslim immigrants, some of whom have differ- Large Transported Boulders along the Eastern Sicily ent modes of dress, religious and cultural practices, and (Italy) Coastline even linguistic distance from the ethnic Germans. His- Janet Bautista, Senior, Earth Space Sciences torically, more than other immigrant groups such as the Mentor: Breanyn MacInnes, Earth Space Sciences Italians, Greeks, or Yugoslavs, the Turks have been “con- Mentor: Jody Bourgeois, Earth Space Sciences sidered unassimilable because of allegedly unbridge- The eastern Sicilian coastline has a prominent scattering able cultural differences” (Lucassen 2005). In order of large transported boulders. Eastern Sicily has expe- to achieve sucessful integration, cooperation is needed rienced several tsunamis as well as storms that gener- from both groups, the Turks and the Germans. In re- ated large waves. The mechanics behind these powerful cent years the German government has acknowledged forces may be key to understanding how these boulders this need and seeks to address it through dialogue with were deposited along the coastal terraces. I worked with the principal Muslim organizations in Germany, includ- a group of students at a locality called Capo Campolato ing: The Alevi Society of Germany, Islam Council for located on the northern end of the Mt. Tauro Penin- the Federal Republic of Germany, The Turkish Union sula in Southeast Sicily, where we measured a beach for Religious Affairs, The Association of Islamic Cul- profile, made lithologic descriptions, and mapped boul- tural Centers, The Muslim Coordinating Council, and ders. Many boulders are isolated, some have fossils in- The Central Council of Muslims in Germany. This study dicating origin near sea level, and some were found in investigates the goals being pursued by the Muslim or- an area that has been farmed. Direct observations of ganizations and the German government at the annual each boulder (size, GPS location, and estimated weight) German Islam Conference, founded in 2006. It is imper- are being used to determine whether tsunami, storm, ative that we understand what goals each group brings to or a combination of both could have transported the the table in order to assess the perspective from which boulder. Using certain approximations (uniform den- each is approaching negotiations at the conference, and sity, pre-transport environment, and ellipsoidal shape), to project what form of concrete results to expect from I am working with sediment-transport equations to dis- these proceedings. An understanding of the dialogue at tinguish between tsunami and storm-generated waves as the German Islam Conference can be applied to other the mechanism of large-boulder movement. I will also political contexts where cross-cultural negotiations are use a case history from the 2006 Kuril tsunami to test necessary, or already taking place. my methods.

115 The Impact of Urbanization on the Microbial day. If insulin is shown to have a significant effect on Community in Lakes of the Pacific Northwest fibroblast proliferation and migration, further investiga- Helen Bekris, Senior, Biology (General) tion will determine whether elevated levels of insulin ef- Mentor: Claire Horner-Devine, Aquatic Fishery fect proven interactions between dermal fibroblasts and Science mesenchymal stem cells. The development of freshwater lake shoreline can greatly The Six S’s to Success (6S): Controlled Porous affect the resident microbial community. Twenty-one Structured Biomaterial lakes in Western Washington State and Southern British Devon Benedict, Junior, Extended Pre-Engineering Columbia, Canada were sampled and analyzed for bac- Mentor: Buddy Ratner, Bioengineering terial enumerations, nutrient concentrations and other physical-chemical parameters at three depths. These The Six S’s to Success (6S) project developed a con- lakes spanned a gradient of anthropogenic shoreline de- trolled porous structured material that acts as a host for velopment that ranged from 0% (pristine) development directing cells down healing, regenerative pathways. At to 100% developed. Bacterial abundance was deter- the point of contact between the cells and the 6S bio- mined by epifluorescent microscopy, and these data were material, fibrous encapsulation is dramatically reduced compared to physical-chemical parameters to examine while capillary blood vessel growth is increased. This the impact of urbanization on microbial abundance. We causes normal tissue to be produced at the site instead found that in the epilimnion layer the average number of tough scar tissue. The pore sizes are experimentally of cells per milliliter was significantly correlated with determined and optimized for different types of cells in shoreline development, where in both the hypolimnion the body. The pores are connected by channels roughly and the metalimnion there was no relationship between 40% of diameter of the pore, which allows cells to pen- abundance and development. We also did not observe a etrate deeper into the material. My part in the research significant relationship between bacterial abundance and project consists of making these materials and develop- ammonium and phosphate concentrations in each layer. ing new fabrication methods to guarantee consistent and In ongoing work, we are examining variation in bacterial uniform structure. Both crosslinked silicone polymer community composition in these same lakes. and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) have been used for the biomaterial. The construction process Effect of High Insulin Levels on Dermal Fibroblasts consists of filling a mold with micron scale poly(methyl Proliferation and Migration methacrylate) (PMMA) spheres and sintering them in the Austin Bell, Senior, Biology (General) oven. The sintering process causes the beads to slightly Mentor: Anne Hocking, Surgery melt together where touching, which later creates chan- In today’s society, both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are a nels in between the pores. The interconnected bead cake rising problem. Patients with diabetes show significantly is surrounded with the monomer of choice, which is then impaired wound healing, often resulting in chronic non- polymerized. Polymerizing the monomer causes it to so- healing wounds. A recent study in our laboratory investi- lidify to a rubber-like consistency. The beads are then gating interactions between resident skin cells and bone dissolved out using a solvent, and the product is a porous marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells has shown the biomaterial. Some applications for the material being re- promise of stem cell-based therapies to improve cellu- searched include continual functioning internal glucose lar response to cutaneous injury. We demonstrated that sensors, permanent hip replacements, and reduced heal- bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells induce ing time for wounds. dermal fibroblasts to proliferate and migrate. My aim is Efficient Modeling of Disulfide Bonds with Rosetta to determine whether high levels of insulin, a condition Spencer Bliven, Recent Graduate, Biochemistry, characteristic of type 2 diabetes, effect fibroblast prolif- Computer Science eration and migration. I will culture dermal fibroblasts Mentor: David Baker, Biochemistry in both high levels of insulin and no insulin, as a control, Mentor: Jacob Corn, Biochemistry, Howard Hughes and then measure the effect on dermal fibroblast prolif- Medical Institute eration and migration. For the proliferation assay, I will count viable fibroblasts on days 3 and 4 after initiation The Rosetta macromolecular modeling suite has shown of culturing in high levels of insulin and compare to cell success in a wide range of structural biology problems counts of the control condition. Dermal fibroblast mi- such as structure prediction, protein design, and predic- gration will be studied using a ‘scratch’ wound assay. In tion of protein interactions. All of these problems rely this assay, a confluent dermal fibroblast monolayer cul- on an accurate model of the energies involved in each tured in both control and high insulin conditions will be system. One factor critical to the structure of extracel- scratched. The percent scratch wound closure will then lular proteins is disulfide bonds. The current version be determined by measuring the scratch area on each of Rosetta contains explicit energy functions to model

116 disulfides, but these require the position of both sulfur ter tests instead of being used as practice aids to assist atoms to be known with high accuracy. This is suitable learning. for many applications, but particularly computationally intensive methods speed up computation using a sim- Analyzing the Composition and Geology of Mars plified model of amino acids where a single ’centroid’ Using the Thermal Emission Imaging System atom is substituted for the side chain atoms. The cen- Jennifer Braun, Sophomore, Computer Science troid method offers increased performance by reducing NASA Space Grant Scholar the number of degrees of freedom, but is incompatible Mentor: Joshua Bandfield, Earth Space Sciences with the disulfide energy functions based on sulfur atom The Mars Odyssey spacecraft, launched in 2001, is con- conformation. As a solution, I have introduced energy tinuing to provide geologists with informative infrared functions which evaluate the strength of a disulfide bond images of Mars. Recently, anomalies discovered in the in the centroid representation. Five factors are consid- infrared images of the surface have given rise to ques- ered to coarsely model disulfides: the Cß-Cßdistance, tions regarding the supposedly uniform composition of centroid-centroid distance, Cα-Cß-Cßangle, Cα-Cß-Cß- the planet. Mars is thought to be primarily composed Cα dihedral angle, and N-Cα-Cα-C dihedral angle. A of basalt, a volcanic rock with a relatively low silica statistically-derived energy function for each parameter content. However, through analysis of Thermal Emis- was determined from disulfide configurations found in- sion Imaging System (THEMIS) images using a program PDB structures containing disulfide bonds. These energy called the Java Mission-Planning and Analysis for Re- functions will be essential to future enhancements to mote Sensing (JMARS), differences in the composition Rosetta, such as the prediction of disulfides bond forma- of the surface of Mars have been observed and recorded. tion during folding and the design of disulfide-containing JMARS allows these regions to be noted and visually proteins. mapped to allow for easy observation of patterns in the Trainmaster: Adaptive Flashcard System distribution of these areas. Reviewing THEMIS images Colin Booth, Senior, Informatics has revealed the presence of an unidentified substance Trisha Smith, Senior, Informatics, Mathematics to the south and west of Olympus Mons that appears to Mentor: Bob Boiko, Information School be soft and easily eroded. This has yet to undergo spec- Mentor: David Hendry, Information School tral analysis, but the thermal inertia of this substance, a value derived by temperature, density, and thermal con- The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a special ductivity, has shown that this unit is composed of very alphabet used by linguists to represent all the sounds fine particles. Thermal inertia, which can be translated present in human languages, with a one-to-one relation- to particle size, is calculated using a thermal model in a ship between symbols and sounds. We are designing program called Davinci. In addition, deposits of olivine a web application to help students with the memoriza- and areas with an unusually high silica content are be- tion of the IPA through the use of a dynamically gen- ing recorded and analyzed using JMARS and thermal erated question set. To design and create this applica- inertia. Such minerals can provide evidence about the tion we conducted interviews with current phonetics stu- history and geology of Mars. For example, hematite, dents who are studying the IPA, working with them to (iron oxide) which occurs in Terra Meridiani and Aram refine our initial prototype design and to discover neces- Chaos, is formed by water-based processes. This sug- sary functionality. Learning the IPA is an ideal candidate gests that these regions’ unique topography could have for a computerized teaching tool as it is a memorization possibly been formed by water. Further studies of the activity that cannot be learned using traditional flashcard unknown substance and silica-rich areas can provide in- drills because sound is one of its core components. Ad- formation about the history of Mars as well and could ditionally, one of the major shortcomings of flashcards provide future landing sites that will contribute valuable is that they do not track user progress, nor do they scale information about Mars. question difficulty automatically. Our project addresses National Identity and the Intersection of Gender both of these limitations in order to make a more effec- Equality and Ethnic Minorities in Denmark tive learning aid, allowing students to quickly judge what Kristiana Brix, Senior, International Studies places they should focus their studies by showing stu- Mentor: Christine Ingebritsen, Scandinavian Studies dents their progress for any given question. While we Mentor: Deborah Porter, Jackson School of are developing this tool for a specific application, it is International Studies our desire to create a system that is able to adaptively help with student memorization tasks regardless of the Denmark has faced serious challenges to integrating eth- type of data that is given. Programs currently exist for nic minorities (i.e. immigrants and descendents of non- this type of answer-driven dynamic question generation; Westerns nations) into Danish society. This paper evalu- however, these programs are typically used to adminis- ates the integration of ethnic minority women into Dan-

117 ish society since 2001. This exploration uses three ar- flectance at these wavelengths, the clustering algorithm eas of participation: legal, political, and economic mea- achieved 95% confidence in assigning each 250 meter sures, to assess the integration of both ethnically Danish grid cell to the most similar classification of sea ice type. women and ethnic minority women to compare how na- Visual inspection supported the classification by noting tional identity affects equality initiatives. The paper ana- consistent regions and gradation between of open water lyzes EU, Danish government, and other primary publi- and pack ice. These results will be used to improve ac- cations detailing equality measures targeting these two curacy in sea ice concentration studies as they relate to groups. Denmark’s traditional valorization of gender marine mammal in the Arctic. equality in its national identity has facilitated the govern- Access, Visualize, Analyze: Wastewater Monitoring ment’s approach to female immigrants as a unique demo- Michael Canfield, Senior, Informatics graphic. As a result, ethnic minority women benefit from Dustin Dickson, Senior, Informatics Danish gender equality norms. This is most effective and Mentor: David Hendry, Information School visible in native female labor market participation and Mentor: Batya Friedman, Information School small, yet successful programs aimed at engaging ethnic minority women in the workforce. As a result, this ‘fe- Critical infrastructures such as transportation systems, male’ perspective allows Denmark to better integrate im- electricity generation, public health, water supply, and migrant women through labor market institutions, which security services are essential to creating human sustain- is one area of Danish society in which gender equality ing environments. To control and monitor these com- is particularly apparent. The analysis finds compelling plex infrastructures, engineers use Supervisory Control evidence in support of expansion of labor market inte- and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems which consist gration programs to more effectively include ethnic mi- of various data gathering and transmission technologies. nority women in Danish society. This project addresses perhaps the most fundamental and vital system to humans: our water supply. A local Ground-Truthing Remotely Sensed Sea Ice Data in wastewater district operates a SCADA system built upon the Arctic legacy technology that uses paper printouts to both re- Thomas Broomfield, Junior, Exchange - Arts Sciences port and store system metrics. This system does not pro- Mentor: Miles Logsdon, Oceanography vide aggregate computations or afford rapid data analysis Mentor: Kristin Laidre, Polar Science Center that could potentially lead to more efficient pump station In April 2008, an aerial survey was conducted over Baf- usage and employee work practices. To better under- fin Bay and West Greenland. Four independent obser- stand this problem, we conducted field observations and vation platforms were equipped with bubble windows contextual interviews with wastewater district engineers. allowing complete visual surveillance of the track line Research confirmed that real-time and historical analy- straight below the plane. Four observers recorded marine sis of data is difficult due to the high cognitive workload mammal sightings from either side of the aircraft (two in when analyzing static paper printouts. Engineers desired front and two in the rear). Digital still images were col- a web-based user interface to dynamically access and an- lected every 10 seconds together with continuous video alyze digitally stored data. These research results drove recordings. A protocol for trackline position indexing an iterative design process involving sketches and rapid of ‘ice presence‘ and ‘ice absence‘ was created and ap- paper prototypes. Usability tests provided valuable user plied to all tracklines. Satellite-based measurements of feedback that we incorporated into our design process. sea ice were obtained from the NASA MODIS (Moder- Using adaptable and extensible web technologies, we are ate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor. This developing a database, web service, and user interface poster addresses the primary research questions of: 1) that integrate with the current monitoring system. This How well do fine resolution digital products obtained at provides web access and data storage for alarms, data vi- low altitude agree with remotely sensed estimates of sea sualizations, and real-time and historical reports used on ice data products and 2) How much of large spatial ex- a daily basis. These improvements will enable engineers tents of sea ice go undetected (over or under estimated) to more comprehensively monitor the district. If our due to cloud cover or due to MODIS algorithm error. The work is successful, this enhanced system will also help surface reflectance data recorded by three of the MODIS the wastewater district further protect their customers’ bands between the 459nm - 670nm wavelengths, was re- health, provide support for increasing demands on their sampled to a spatial resolution of 250 meter grid cells. system, and to ensure work practices and resource allo- This multi-spectral image was then classified into four cation increase environmental sustainability. classes of sea ice (open water, light pack, medium pack, and heavy pack) using the Isodata clustering algorithm available in the ERDAS Imagine 9.2 image processing software. Based upon the strength of absorption and re-

118 Effects of Aging on the Perception and Neural onal outgrowth, and synapse formation. The Moody lab Representation of Frequency has previously characterized SSA in the mouse neocor- Jordan Cannon, Senior, Speech Hearing Sciences tex, where it occurs as synchronous bursts of electrical (Communication Disorders) activity and associated intracellular calcium transients Mary Gates Scholar generated by virtually all cortical neurons. In calcium Mentor: Kelly Tremblay, Speech Hearing Sciences imaging experiments, this activity originates bilaterally Mentor: Chris Clinard, Speech Hearing Sciences in ventrolateral pacemaker regions and propagates as a It is well established that hearing declines with advanc- wave across both hemispheres. We have discovered SSA ing age. However, even when hearing tests reveal no in the septal nucleus, a sub-cortical structure that is im- significant hearing loss, many older adults still complain portant in the reward and memory systems of the brain. about difficulties understanding speech. One hypothesis SSA has not been previously reported in the developing is that aging affects the physiological ability to encode septal nucleus. We have recorded about 900 waves of frequency information contained within sound. For ex- SSA at high time resolution (20-100 frames/sec) using a ample, the frequency content of a signal helps people dif- high-capture, low-power microscope that can image en- ferentiate between vowels, consonants, and background tire brain slices in a single field of view. Analysis of noise. Little is known about the effects of aging on fre- these image streams shows that septal activity can trig- quency coding so the purpose of this experiment was to ger the cortical pacemaker, be triggered by cortical SSA, evaluate the effects of aging on perception and the phys- or occur independently of cortical SSA. These data in- iologic representation of frequency. Thirty subjects par- dicate a complex relationship between SSA in the two ticipated in a behavioral task where they were asked to structures. In our next experiments, we will investigate discriminate between two tones of different frequency. the developmental time course of septal SSA and iden- The distance between the two frequencies was adjusted tify the neurotransmitters involved in its generation. This such that each subject’s threshold, or difference limen, research has implications for pediatric neurology, given could be established. A small difference limen means that it involves neural activity centered on the time of a person could detect smaller frequency changes than birth. Pediatric seizures can lead to long-term deleteri- someone with a larger difference limen. The physiol- ous effects that may be caused by disruption of the de- ogy measure used was the frequency-following response velopmental functions carried out by SSA. The unique (FFR), a steady state encephalography measure. The intrinsic properties of developing neurons that make the FFR is a physiological response from the central auditory infant brain more seizure susceptible than the adult brain nervous system (CANS) that is sensitive to the frequency also afford them the ability to generate SSA. Character- of an auditory stimulus. FFRs were analyzed using am- ization of septal SSA will increase our understanding of plitude and phase coherence (degree to which the FFR the physiological basis of infant and childhood neurolog- was synchronized to the stimulus) to determine how well ical disorders. each stimulus frequency was represented in the CANS. Normal and Shear Stress Tests of Long Beach Bridge A FFR with high amplitude or phase coherence would Deformable Connector Tabs indicate a good neural representation of frequency. Our Dean Chahim, Junior, Pre-Engineering results showed a decline in behavior and physiological NASA Space Grant Scholar responses with increased age. Behaviorally, this means Mentor: Jeffrey Berman, Civil Environmental that a person’s ability to distinguish changes in frequency Engineering degrades as they get older. Likewise, the physiological measures decreased with increasing age, indicating the Earthquakes can cause extensive and dangerous dam- brain’s ability to represent frequency also declines with age to complex components of bridges that are time- age. Collectively, this evidence demonstrates a biologi- consuming and costly to fix. As a means of limiting cal link to the age-related declines in perception experi- earthquake damage, structural fuses can be designed for enced by older adults. bridges where the sacrificial fuse elements absorb seis- mic (earthquake) energy and protect the rest of the struc- Characterizing the Relationship between Septal and ture. Shear links are one such type of structural fuse Cortical Activity in the Neonatal Mouse Brain and they can be designed to be easily replaceable, thus Emily Cedarbaum, Senior, Biochemistry, Neurobiology reducing post-event repair costs. Such links have been Mary Gates Scholar employed in the new west span of the San Francisco- Mitra Barahimi, Senior, Neurobiology Oakland Bay Bridge and are being designed for a pro- Mentor: William Moody, Biology posed cable-stayed bridge in Long Beach, CA that will replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge. Since the Spontaneous synchronous activity (SSA) has been ob- shear links serve a critical function, it is important that served in different regions of the CNS and has been their behavior be well-understood. Sophisticated com- shown to play critical roles in neuronal migration, ax-

119 puter models of the shear links are being developed by to increase life span in many species, including yeast, others to analyze their behaviors under seismic forces. worms, flies, fish, spiders, and rodents. Recent stud- To assist with the calibration of these models, testing ies suggest that life span extension from dietary restric- of the steel that will be used to fabricate the shear links tion is mediated, in part, by reduced signaling through will be performed. The testing will seek to characterize the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) kinase. Reduced TOR the stress-strain behavior of the steel under large cyclic signaling in response to DR leads to increased protein shear and normal strains (on the order of 10%). A uni- degradation via autophagy and reduced mRNA transla- versal testing machine capable of applying cyclic load- tion through ribosomal S6 kinase and mRNA translation ing will be used for the testing utilizing a unique ap- initiation factors. Our group and others have found that paratus that was designed this summer to carry out the inhibition of TOR, mutation of S6 kinase or mutation of testing in shear. Strains, deformations, and loads will translation initiation factors is sufficient to increase life be recorded using strain gauges, extensometers, and load span in the nematode C. elegans. Based on these ob- cells respectively. Experimental control and data acqui- servations, we have developed the hypothesis that one sition will be performed with LabView software and the mechanism by which DR may slow aging is by improv- data will be processed in Excel. The results of this test- ing protein homeostasis through altered mRNA transla- ing will help accurately calibrate the computer models tion. Here we report the results of several experiments simulating seismic stress on the bridge, thus improving designed to test aspects of this hypothesis. We observed the safety and effectiveness of the final bridge design. a significant decrease in reproduction in long-lived trans- lationally deficient mutants, suggesting that reduced pro- Water Purification using Zirconium Hydroxide tein synthesis may result in a shift in energy expenditure Hok Chan, Senior, Materials Science Engineering from reproduction to somatic maintenance. We also ob- Mentor: Raj Bordia, Materials Science Engineering served that DR or mutation of S6 kinase lead to reduced Zirconium Hydroxide was recently found to be a poten- mRNA translation and a decrease in growth rate and tial candidate for water purification. Research showed maximum adult body size. DR also induces autophagy, that it can help remove the natural organic matters consistent with inhibition of TOR, and we are currently (NOM) in water, which prevents the formation of harm- testing whether mutation of S6 kinase has any effect on ful and regulated disinfection by –products (DBPs), and autophagy in control and DR animals. Given the highly also removes taste, odor and color. The proposed mech- conserved nature of DR and TOR signaling as modi- anism of NOM removal was by adsorption – the Zr fiers of aging, it is essential to understand which TOR- species has higher charge density, which significantly regulated targets also influence aging and the mecha- improves charge neutralization and subsequent NOM re- nism(s) by which they do so. moval. In this research, experiments are being conducted Structural and Functional Differences between to investigate the effect of processing conditions on the Young and Aged Mice Type-I Collagen Extracts in nature of the Zirconium Hydroxide and its effectiveness 3-D Collagen Gel in NOM removal. Major variables for Zirconium Hy- Christopher Chang, Senior, Neurobiology droxide processing are pH, ageing time and calcination Mentor: May Reed, Medicine temperature. The synthesized Zirconium Hydroxide will Mentor: Mamatha Damodarasamy, Gerontology be studied using Thermogravimetry Analysis (TGA) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The performance of the fab- The majority of past studies have focused on the various ricated Zirconium Hydroxide would be investigated by effects of aging on young and aged cells, using three- doing a batch test and a column test on water with con- dimensional Type-I collagen to effectively mimic the ex- trolled amount of types of NOMs. tracellular matrix. Although a great deal of information has been found in regards to aging cells, less is known Lifespan Extension via Decreased Protein Synthesis about the effects of age on the extracellular matrix it- in C. elegans self. Type-I collagen from the tails of “young” mice Devon Chandler-Brown, Junior, Biology (General), (aged 4-6 months, n=10) and “aged” mice (aged 20-24 Biochemistry months, n=10) were extracted and then compared for Mary Gates Scholar functional and morphologic differences. Human fibrob- Mentor: Matt Kaeberlein, Pathology lasts from young and aged donors were obtained from the Mentor: Lara Shamieh, Pathology Coriell Institute for Medical Research’s cell repository. Many environmental and genetic interventions are SDS-PAGE with and without collagenase showed that known to influence the rate of aging in model organ- the compositions of both samples were similar. How- isms, the best characterized of which is dietary restric- ever, when compared to young collagen, aged collagen tion (DR). DR is defined as a reduction in nutrient avail- formed fibrils at a noticeably slower rate. The fibrils ability in the absence of malnutrition and has been shown were less densely packed and smaller in diameter (deter-

120 mined using transmission electron microscopy). Further- ing just to maintain some semblance of order in the class- more, the aged collagen gels were much more malleable room. I propose to use a nationally representative sample and contractible by human fibroblasts. RT-PCR analy- from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) ses, using a cell and matrix adhesion molecule pathway of 1988 in which eighth graders were initially surveyed array, were performed on human fibroblasts cultured for and surveyed again with four follow-ups. I will do a re- 18 hours in young or aged collagen. The two cultures dif- gression analysis of the data from NELS to describe the fered in transcripts for specific integrin subunits laminin association between a person’s socioeconomic status and subunits, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), transform- their college major choice, controlling for race. ing growth factor beta-1 (TGF-beta 1), and SPARC. Ad- ditionally, Western blots and zymography showed a de- The Effect of IR Radiation to Exclusion-Zone in Salt crease in transcripts for integrin alpha-2 while showing Solution an increase in transcripts for SPARC. MMP-1 and MMP- Ruying Chen, Freshman, Exchange - Arts Sciences 2 expression appeared similar in both cultures. Polymer- Mentor: Gerald H Pollack, Bioengineering ization, structural and physical properties, and the influ- Mentor: Binghua Chai, Bioengineering ence on gene and protein expression by fibroblasts dif- It is generally thought that the impact of surfaces on the fered significantly in collagen extracted from aged mice contiguous aqueous phase extends to a distance of no relative to that obtained from young mice. Further stud- more than a few water-molecule layers. However, some ies will examine the influence of young and aged colla- other studies showed that on hydrophilic surfaces, wa- gen on expression of molecules that regulate benign and ter molecule can form a more ordered structure very dif- malignant cell growth, such as angiogenesis promoters ferent from bulk water. Colloidal and molecular solutes and inhibitors. suspended in aqueous solution will be excluded from this Socioeconomic Status, Race, and College Major region, forming an “exclusion zone”, or EZ. The size of Selection such exclusion zones is not anticipated. It’s typically a Sophia Chang, Senior, Sociology few hundred microns and can be observed in the vicin- Mary Gates Scholar ity of many types of surface. It’s also found that radiant Mentor: Susan Pitchford, Sociology energy expands these zones profoundly, and presents evi- dence for a charge-separation-based mechanism underly- Selecting a college major is a crucial point and dictates ing the expansion. Earlier studies showed that water has what profession or which graduate program the student a strong absorption peak of Infrared (IR) lights at a wave- will enter upon graduation. With this knowledge, we can length of 3.05—3.10 µm, and the size of EZ expansion find ways to better serve the college population, provide is a function of both time and intensity. The presence of the necessary encouragement to certain students, and an- such long-range forces between solutes could have sig- ticipate future needs. While scholars maintain that aca- nificance for molecular interactions in both natural and demic ability is the top factor of college major choice, so- artificial systems. On the other hand, the phenomenon cioeconomic status correlates with college major choice. of exclusion provides a new basis for water purification. Able working-class students who have already reached My project is to study the effect of IR on different salt college are more likely to perceive college as a means solutions. In this experiment, we used Nafion as the of social mobility and are more likely to enter lucra- hydrophilic surface. At first, Nafion tubes of 3—4mm tive fields that are more technical, such as engineering were taken and pre-treated in DI water for 5 min. Then or business. In contrast, middle-class students of simi- Nafion tubing was placed in a NaCl and carboxylate- lar academic ability perceive their undergraduate experi- microsphere suspension in a chamber. The chamber was ence with a longer-term plan, enrolling in less lucrative placed under a microscope with a LED source closely fields that allow them to attend professional or graduate above the Nafion tubing. The Nafion tubing was exposed programs. Does the association of socioeconomic status to IR for 5—15min. The EZ expansion was compared to with college major choice vary within different races? the control group (without IR exposure). So far the test Despite the growth of community colleges that provide result showed the EZ increased for more than 1.5 times opportunities for students to continue their education in a after 5 and 10 minutes IR exposure in 50mmol NaCl so- postsecondary institution, it channels working-class, mi- lution. nority, and female students to the bottom of an “unof- ficial status hierarchy.” Additionally, general arts pro- The Pursuit of Happiness in a Depressed Nation: grams within colleges are “dumping grounds” for minor- Cultural Differences in the Influence of Positive ity and working-class students. Throughout minority stu- Emotions on Depression dents’ lives, teachers lack the cultural context and under- Hsiang Cheng, Senior, Psychology standing to properly teach and discipline students, and Wen Liu, Senior, Psychology the teachers have given up on teaching students and hop- Mentor: Jennifer Wang, Psychology Mentor: Jennifer Wang, Psychology

121 chronous spinal stimulation can enhance the recovery of Previous research has found mental health disparities be- forelimb function in rats after incomplete cervical spinal tween Asian Americans and White Americans in the past cord lesions. Rats are trained to perform a forelimb two decades. In addition, US-born Asian Americans reaching task to retrieve food pellets prior to spinal in- have lower self-reported mental health (e.g., depressive jury. Chronic electrode arrays are implanted over motor symptoms) than immigrant Asian Americans (Takeuchi, areas of the brain to record forelimb related activity. Sta- Zane, Hong, Chae, Gong, Gee, Walton, Sue, & Alegia, ble neuron action potentials have been recorded from the 2007). Experiences of emotions may be important to ex- brain for more than two months, with some neural mod- amine in relation to these health differences. Experienc- ulation evident during forelimb movement. Spinal mi- ing negative emotions and stress have been found to be crowires are then chronically implanted in the cervical positively correlated (Folkman, 2008) whereas positive spinal cord and stimulated to evoke forelimb movements emotions have also been found to buffer against neg- such as flexion and extension of the wrist and elbow. ative emotional reactivity and depression within North Low threshold currents were sufficient to evoke move- American contexts (Wichers, Myin-Germeys, Jacobs, ments which were stable for up to 72 days. Subsequently, Peeters, Kenis, Derom, Vlietinck, Delespaul, & Os, a recurrent Brain Computer Interface (BCI) will be used 2006). Bridging this literature with cross-cultural mod- to establish artificial connections between cortical and spinal sites. Neurons in the motor cortex will be used to els of emotion, in this study, we examined if positive emotions mediate the relationship between depression trigger synchronous stimulation of the spinal cord. We and perceived stress among White American, U.S.-born anticipate that this pairing will increase the recovery of Asian American and foreign-born Asian American col- corticospinal interactions and produce an increase in the lege students. We hypothesized that negative emotions rate and extent of forelimb motor recovery in rats with would partially mediate the relationship between per- SCI. These experiments will determine the extent of neu- ceived stress and depression for all three groups, but ral plasticity possible after SCI and the potential use of positive emotions be a protective buffer in the associ- electrical stimulation to strengthen and reorganize con- ation between stress and depression for White Ameri- nections in corticospinal pathways. Ultimately, a simi- cans but not U.S.-born or foreign-born Asian Americans. lar approach could be implemented in human patients to Asian American (N = 168 foreign-born, 190 U.S.-born) promote motor recovery after SCI. and White American (N = 444) students from psychol- Relationship between Glutamate Concentration, the ogy courses in the University of Washington were re- Anterior Cingulate Gyrus, and Fibromyalgia cruited for a survey study. Using regression and me- Patients diational analyses, the results matched both of our hy- Shinn-Yi Chou, Senior, Applied Music (Orchestral potheses. Our results suggest that for all three groups, Instruments), Biology (Physiology), Neurobiology negative emotions partially mediated the relationship be- Mentor: Jaime Diaz, Psychology tween perceived stress and depression, whereas positive Mentor: Jon Howe, Psychology, Behavioral emotions only partially mediated this relationship among Neuroscience White Americans. The findings suggest that positive emotions may be culturally specific and may be asso- This preliminary project observes possible differences in ciated with differences in mental disparities. Glutamate (Glu) concentrations between a fibromyalgia (FM) patient and a healthy subject. FM is a debilitat- Intraspinal Stimulation to Promote Motor Recovery ing chronic disorder characterized by widespread mus- Following Spinal Cord Injury culoskeletal pain and hypersensitivity to noxious stim- Kendra Cherry, Senior, Biology (Physiology) uli. Like other neuropathic pain syndromes, much ef- Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant fort is required to solidify our knowledge in its underly- Scholar ing etiology. Recent research suggested Glu imbalance Mentor: Steve Perlmutter, Physiology Biophysics within the central nervous system (CNS) as a possible Mentor: Chet Moritz, Physiology Biophysics pathology of FM. Studies using Proton Magnetic Reso- nance Spectroscopy (H-MRS) have shown that painful Spinal cord injury (SCI) frequently results in debilitat- stimuli can possibly increase Glu concentrations in the ing loss of motor capabilities or paralysis. Recent stud- anterior cingulate gyrus (ACg). Since ACg is implicated ies show that electrical stimulation of the nervous sys- in the attentional, emotional, and expectational elements tem may have the capacity to improve motor function of pain, this suggests that elevated Glu in the ACg con- by promoting the plasticity of neural circuitry. Pairing tributes to pain hypersensitivity. However, Glu have only activity at one site in the nervous system with stimula- been implicated in partnership with glutamine (Gln), an tion at an adjacent site strengthens synaptic connections amino acid found in the Glu metabolic pathway. These between the two sites. The objective of this project is two metabolites have similar molecular structures and to determine whether brain activity used to drive syn-

122 can only be distinguished with high resolution H-MRS The Role of Genetic Interaction in the and spectral editing techniques. Thus, it remains un- Differentiation of Leaf Stem Cells in Arabidopsis clear whether Glu concentration increases specifically or thaliana whether it is a combination of the two molecules. Our Marie Clifford, Senior, Biology (General) primary goal will be to resolve and measure concentra- Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant tions of Glu in the ACg specifically using a 3 tessla mag- Scholar net. Secondly, we will compare baseline ACg Glu levels Mentor: Keiko Torii, Biology between a healthy and a FM subject. Based on previous Stomata are the leaf pores that manage the flow of air and studies, we predict that baseline ACg Glu level will be water into and out of the plant. These pores were one of higher with FM. Finally, we will compare baseline ACg the key evolutionary adaptations that allowed plants to Glu concentrations of subjects to that in the primary vi- colonize land 400 million years ago, and play a large sual cortex (V1), since we predict that Glu level will be role in how many land plants, including many of our higher specifically in the ACg, and not pain-unrelated crops, deal with heat stress and the logistics of photo- domains such as V1. If we successfully resolve Glu synthesis. Using the dominant scream-D mutant of Ara- specifically and examine baseline Glu concentrations in bidopsis thaliana, a model organism for plant genetics, FM and healthy subjects, it could provide future research our study attempts to explore the novel genes that con- directions in understanding the neurological mechanisms trol the process of stomatal differentiation. The scream- of FM. D mutant is characterized by a leaf epidermis composed Standard Care for Babies with Disabilities: A exclusively of stomata, which facilitates the detection of Reality Check repressor activity. In a process known as “activation tag- Rebekah Clemen, Senior, Speech Hearing Sciences ging,” mutant plants are exposed to a culture of agrobac- Aaron Carasco, Senior, Early Childhood Family Studies teria containing a plasmid modified to include strong tan- Mentor: Lesley Olswang, Speech Hearing Sciences dem enhancer elements derived from a plant virus. The Mentor: Patricia Dowden, Speech Hearing Sciences agrobacteria act as vectors to insert the T-DNA region, which contains the enhancer elements and herbicide re- This research will examine the legal policies and the sistance, randomly into the genome of the plant. Fol- conceptual framework versus actual practice for services lowing transformation, genes in proximity to the inserted provided to children birth-to-three with disabilities. A plasmid will be upregulated. If the plasmid is inserted review of current literature will provide an overview of near a gene that codes for a repressor of the SCREAM-D the legal policies and the conceptual framework based protein, then the repressor could be expressed at a high on published research for standard care of children from enough level to counteract the overactive SCREAM-D birth to three years of age who are in need of special- in our mutant plants. This could manifest in a stom- ized treatment. Participants will be children between the atal phenotype closer to that of a normal plant. After ages of 10 and 24 months with moderate to severe mo- one generation, the plants are screened for this pheno- tor impairments who are receiving treatment at one of type. Candidate suppressor mutations are characterized the following community Birth-to-Three Centers: South as recessive or dominant, and the genes are sequenced King Intervention Program (SKIP), Kindering Center, to determine if the mutation is known. Identification of and the Little Red School House. Data regarding treat- a novel mutation may enhance understanding of genetic ment will be collected for each participant using the control of plant stem cell fate, with potential implications centers’ Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and for understanding the ways in which plants will change daily clinical notes. Data reduction will be accomplished to cope with global warming. by distilling the collected data into forms that capture the planned standard care (IFSP data) and implemented ser- Long-Range Cascading Interactions in Aqueous vices (daily notes data). The reduced data will be an- Colloidal Suspensions alyzed using qualitative methodology to reveal themes Jason Coult, Senior, Bioengineering and patterns that describe actual service delivery for each Mary Gates Scholar participant at each of the Birth-to-Three Centers. These Mentor: Gerald H Pollack, Bioengineering data will be compared to the legal policies and the con- ceptual framework as presented in the review of the liter- Electrostatic interactions between charged particles have ature. This comparison will elucidate any discrepencies attracted sustained cross-disciplinary interest because of that exist between the scholarship of legal and concep- their fundamental role in governing the properties of tual guidelines and its use in practice. many systems, including soft matter, colloidal suspen- sions, polyelectrolyte solutions, and various biological systems. In solution, such interactions are usually lim- ited in strength by screening, as charged surfaces will attract a thin atmosphere of oppositely charged coun-

123 terions, resulting in a sandwich often called an electric the correlation between neural correlates of face pro- double layer. Based mainly upon this double layer, the cessing and habituation times to faces, in groups of tod- DLVO theory was introduced to describe colloidal parti- dlers with and without ASD. Participants were 20 chil- cle behavior in water, and dictates that electrostatic inter- dren with ASD, and 20 children with typical develop- actions in solution be considered short-ranged, typically ment (comparison group) tested at 18- to 30-months of inconsequential at separations larger than 100 nanome- age. In the habituation experiment we tested how long ters. However, many observations of colloidal systems it took the toddler to habituate to photographs of female cannot be explained quantitatively or qualitatively by faces versus control stimuli (photographs of houses). In the standard DLVO theory, especially in low electrolyte the EEG portion of the experiment, we recorded elec- concentration. In this research project, long-range at- trical brain activity in response to repeated 500 ms still tractions in aqueous suspensions were observed between photographs of the child’s mother’s face and a stranger’s polymeric microspheres and between microspheres and face. For the ASD group, we predict that longer ha- a gel bead. Cascaded attractive displacements were con- bituation times to faces will correlate with smaller and sistently seen even between like-charged entities, and slower neural responses to faces, indicating shared atyp- they were observed over spans as large as 2 mm. Such icality. For the comparison group, we predict that longer long-range attractions are unexpected and seem to vio- habituation times to faces will correlate with larger neu- late the DLVO theory, which limits interactions in elec- ral responses to faces because habituation causes neural trolyte solutions to the nanometer range. However, responses to decrease over time. these interactions may reside in Richard Feynman’s long known but not widely appreciated mechanism, coined The Effect of Exposure to Air on an Intertidal “like-likes-like through an intermediate of unlikes.” This Marine Snail controversial theory suggests that the attractive force Amira Davis, Sophomore, Pre-Major, UW Bothell among like-charged colloidal particles is fundamentally Larisa Curta, Sophomore, Pre-Major, UW Bothell electrostatic in nature, arising from the arrangement of Michael Podeszwik, Sophomore, Pre-Major, UW Bothell counterions between particles. The underlying mecha- Mentor: Rebecca Price, Interdisciplinary Arts nisms for the unexpected colloidal behavior observed in Sciences, UW Bothell this research project are investigated through quantitative Previous work suggests that the growth rate of marine analysis of the microsphere-bead interactions. Possible snails is influenced by many environmental factors, in- explanations for both the long-range cascading behavior cluding temperature, diet, wave action and exposure to and attractive displacements between like-charged parti- air. Can one of these factors alone significantly retard the cles are explored, including Feynman’s “like-likes-like” growth rate? In this study we measured the effect of air hypothesis. exposure on the shell and tissue growth of the intertidal marine snail Nucella lamellosa. We focused on the effect Facial Processing and Habituation in Toddlers with of exposure to air because, as with many marine inver- Autism Spectrum Disorder Ashley Danies, Senior, Art (Photography), Psychology tebrates, the intertidal populations of Nucella lamellosa Mentor: Sara Jane Webb, Psychiatry Behavioral are much smaller than subtidal populations of the same Sciences species. Our specimens were collected from sites on San Mentor: Kaitlin Venema, Psychiatry Behavioral Juan Island, Washington, and then maintained in sea wa- Sciences, CHDD Autism Center ter tables at the Friday Harbor Laboratories. Each snail was housed in its own container with continuous flow Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) of seawater, and barnacles were constantly available for have symptoms that fall into three key domains: social food. We had three treatments. One group of snails was behavior, communication, and restricted or repetitive be- exposed to air for two hours, another group was exposed haviors. Since interpreting information from the face to air for five hours, and snails in the control group re- contributes to social and communicative understanding, mained constantly submerged. At the beginning of the it has been hypothesized that impairments in face pro- experiment and after 24 days, we measured the tissue cessing may be observed in the early development of mass, shell mass, and degrees of shell growth in each children with ASD. Studies have shown that these im- specimen. The two hour treatment grew significantly less pairments in face processing in toddlers with ASD can than the control (P << 0.001 for all three measures of indeed be seen both behaviorally (measured with a habit- growth; ANOVA) and the 5 hour treatment grew signifi- uation paradigm) and neurally (measured with electroen- cantly less than the 2 hr treatment (again, P << 0.001). cephalography, or EEG). However, it is unclear whether Our data support the proposed hypothesis that exposure these findings indicate a general face processing deficit, to air slows the growth of the intertidal snails. This result or whether they are each driven by different underlying suggests that exposure to air suppresses growth rates in pathologies. To investigate this question, we examined intertidal invertebrates, potentially explaining why indi-

124 viduals in subtidal populations of the same species have second law of thermodynamics, every closed system, a such larger body sizes. system with self-contained energy, will eventually turn entirely from matter to heat. For my project, I created The Use of Biophysical Characterizations to Predict a piece that, without being solemn, would break the cir- Protein Crystal Growth for Drug Design cle of life by putting forward the notion of heat death. Jaclyn Delarosa, Senior, Biochemistry, Chemistry, I chose to have light being shown through a stencil of Neurobiology myself hanging above a heated table. The light shines Mentor: Wim Hol, Biochemistry and Biological through the stencil, creating a hazy image of a body that Structure can be touched, and when touched, feels warm. Hope- Protein crystallization plays a major role in structural fully, by giving the opportunity to sensorially experience biology and drug design. A crystallized protein is the what our bodies will become, I am replacing anxiety in basis for x-ray crystallography, wherein the passage of regards to death with solace. an x-ray beam through a crystal produces a diffraction Transport of a Hepatic Drug, Fialuridine, by pattern from which the arrangement of atoms within Nucleoside Transporters the crystal can be deduced. The Medical Structure Ge- Hau Do, Senior, Biochemistry nomics of Pathogenic Protozoa (MSGPP) project intends Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar to use protein x-ray crystallography to solve the three- Mentor: Jashvant Unadkat, Pharmaceutics dimensional crystal structures of proteins crucial to the functioning of the following pathogenic protozoa: Plas- Hepatitis B is one of the most prevalent diseases in the modium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Trypanosoma world. Many drugs have been developed to treat Hepati- brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, Leishmania major, Leish- tis B. These drugs are first transported into the cytosol, mania infantum, Toxoplasma gondii, Entamoeba his- where they are phosphorylated to produce their therapeu- tolytica, Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum. tic effect. Unfortunately, some of these same phosphory- These ten selected pathogenic protozoa cause a global lated forms of the drug can cause mitochondrial toxicity. disease burden to hundreds of millions of people. An un- In the case of fialuridine (FIAU), this mitochondrial tox- derstanding of the molecular structure of critical proteins icity resulted in hepatic failure and death in patients with allows the identification of key functional sites that can hepatitis B. FIAU is hydrophilic and cannot penetrate be used for potential anti-protozoan drug developments. through the cell membrane in any appreciable quantity. The current extensive knowledge about protein crystal- We hypothesize that FIAU is transported into the cell via lization is insufficient to predict conditions for protein either the human Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 1 crystallization. It is hypothesized that biophysical char- (hENT1) or the human Concentrative Nucleoside Trans- acterizations can be utilized to predict the capability of porter 1 (hCNT1). My project is to characterize, in vitro, proteins to crystallize. The following biophysical exper- FIAU transport by hENT1 or hCNT1 by determining the iments were performed and applied to 82 proteins from Michealis-Menten kinetic constants (vmax and Km) of MSGPP: reducing and non-reducing SDS Page, native this transport. We developed two cell lines, one over- gel electrophoresis, size exclusion chromatography, dy- expressing hENT1, and the other overexpressing hCNT1 namic light scattering, limited proteolysis, and thermal on the cell membranes. These cells were subsequently melt analysis. These characterizations were used to as- used in the nucleoside drug transport assay, which pro- sess the power of biophysical methods for predicting pro- vided the necessary data to determine the kinetic con- tein crystallization. The conclusion is that biophysical stants of FIAU transport. These kinetic values reflect the experiments greatly enhance the predictability of crystal rate at which FIAU is transported into the cells. Studying growth much greater than DNA sequence-based analysis these values is crucial for a better understanding of how methods alone. the drug is transported into the cells. Moreover, these kinetic values might elucidate the transporter that is re- A Warm Embrace of Maximum Entropy Brittany Dennison, Senior, Philosophy sponsible for the movement of FIAU into the cell and Mentor: Phillip Thurtle, Comparative History of Ideas then into the mitochondria to cause mitochondrial toxi- city. These results may allow us to design future drugs For my research in thermodynamics, installation art, and that have antiviral activities, while minimizing their tox- sensorial perceptions, I focused on the notion of the “cir- icity. cle of life,” the constant recycling of dead matter into new living entities. In this cycle of matter, our human Tissue Engineered Hypospadias Repair Rocky Eastman, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular bodies deteriorate and we are “reborn” as a new being; Developmental), Philosophy thus we, our bodies, are immortal in the sense that our Mary Gates Scholar bodies never exit existence. Yet, the circle of life is Mentor: James Bassuk, Urology, Seattle Children’s within a closed system (the universe); according to the Research Institute

125 in these mice. In this experiment, 5-month-old knock- Hypospadias is a birth defect affecting 0.7% of male out mice and control mice are placed in an enriched en- newborns in which the opening of the male urethra is in vironment for eight weeks, and afterwards their motor the anatomically incorrect position. Current reconstruc- performance (rotarod preformance) and spine density are tive techniques result in worldwide complication rates compared to animals that have been housed individually reported to be as high as 50%. Problems with the im- in normal cages. If the mutant mice show increased ro- planted tissue used to reconstruct the opening have been tarod performance or increased dendritic spine density attributed to these complications, and urologists agree compared to individually housed mutants, then we will that there is much room for improvement when it comes conclude that EE can counteract the deficits that develop to hypospadias repair. We hypothesized that properly without the NMDA receptor in D1R-expressing neurons. differentiated epithelial tissue can be reconstituted onto If there is no increase in spine density or rodarod perfor- collagen-coated tubular scaffolds by the in vitro propa- mance in the enriched knockout mice, then we know that gation of human epithelial cells derived from the biopsy NMDA receptor signaling is a crucial biological mecha- of a male hypospadias patient. This autologous tissue nism though which environmental enrichment increases would lower the rejection risk associated with the inser- motor coordination and synapse number. tion of foreign tissue to the urethra and offer a greater Diversity and Distribution of Diatom Species along chance that the implanted tissue integrates with the unaf- the Northeast Coast of North America fected urethra. Rabbit urethras, which were identified as Claire Ellis, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences anatomically similar to human urethras, were chosen as Mentor: Virginia Armbrust, Oceanography models. A biodegradable poly-L-lactide (PLLA) copoly- Mentor: Kate Hubbard, Oceanography mer fabricated into a tubular scaffold proved mechani- cally suitable for urethral reconstruction. We determined Recent evidence suggests that the intensity, frequency, ideal conditions for lyophilizing, cross-linking, and ster- and geographic distribution of harmful algal blooms ilizing the collagen coating the scaffold, and designed a (HABs) are increasing around the world. The diatom novel bioreactor to facilitate seeding urethral epithelial genus Pseudo-nitzschia contains several HAB species cells onto the coated scaffold. Toxicity testing of sili- that are capable of producing the neurotoxin domoic cone glue used to build the bioreactor demonstrated that acid, which can lead to illness and death in marine mam- the glue would not kill urethral epithelial cells. At this mals and humans. Previous studies have confirmed the time, we are conducting proof-of-principle experiments production of domoic acid by Pseudo-nitzschia species to determine the efficacy of our hypothesis. We have along the eastern coast of the United States and Canada. shown that epithelial cells adhere to the luminal side of The objective of the current study was to identify spa- our collagen-coated scaffolds, and we are currently iden- tial and/or temporal patterns of Pseudo-nitzschia species tifying conditions that encourage optimal tissue growth. distributions in samples from Georges Bank, the Gulf of Maine, and the Bay of Fundy. Identifying Pseudo- Does Environmental Enrichment Protect Mice From nitzschia species using microscopy is not always possi- Neurodegeneration and Loss of Motor Performance? ble, because differences between some species are not Kiara Eldred, Sophomore, Biochemistry readily distinguishable. Hence, our study determined the Mentor: Richard Palmiter, Biochemistry presence of Pseudo-nitzschia species using a DNA fin- Mentor: Lisa Beutler, Genome Sciences gerprinting approach, Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Environmental enrichment (EE) in mice has been shown Spacer Analysis (ARISA), combined with environmen- to increase motor coordination, memory, and learning. tal sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 1 rDNA It has also been shown that EE increases the num- region. Samples for DNA analysis were collected on ber of dendritic spines, which are the site of excitatory four weeklong cruises, occurring during May, June, July, synapses throughout the brain. The biological mecha- and August of 2008. Preliminary results from ARISA nisms through which this is accomplished have not been analysis showed that at least eleven putative species of resolved. N-Methyl-D -Aspartate (NMDA) receptors are Pseudo-nitzschia were detected in samples, and that one a kind of glutamate receptor that are located in the spines species, P. delicatissima, was present in all samples, re- and important for learning and memory. In our lab, we gardless of cruise month or sample origin. Statistical have mice that lack NMDA receptors in neurons that ex- analysis will be used to further determine patterns in press dopamine D1 receptors. These mice have compara- Pseudo-nitzschia distributions over time and across dif- ble spine densities to normal mice when they are young, ferent hydrographic regimes. A better understanding but over nine months dendritic spine density decreases of how Pseudo-nitzschia communities are structured in and associates with the development of motor deficits. these waters can provide insight on the occurrence and We set out to explore the possibility that EE would pre- distribution of domoic acid production. vent the loss of dendritic spines and the motor deficits

126 Infants’ Ability to Segregate Simultaneous Speech directly lead to the formation of 10Be from 9Be. To in- Sounds vestigate the viability of this explanation, we are analyz- Patricia Erickson, Senior, Speech Hearing Sciences ing samples representing different regions and mineral (Communication Disorders) assemblages within the Spor Mountain beryllium de- Mentor: Lynne Werner, Speech Hearing Sciences posits to determine their 10Be/9Be ratios, as well as their Research shows that infants are unable to segregate beryllium, uranium, and thorium contents. The beryl- lium is extracted from the samples via fusion with KHF2 sounds at the same signal-to-noise ratios as adults, due 10 9 to their immature auditory systems. Most studies have and subsequent precipitation as Be(OH)2. The Be/ Be examined infants’ thresholds using octave-band noise ratios are then determined by separation in an accelerator centered on different frequencies. However, little has mass spectrometer. The uranium and thorium contents been explored in regards to detecting a speech stim- are determined by analysis in a multi-collector ICP mass ulus on a speech background. Using Observer-based spectrometer. Results of the analysis will be presented. Psychoacoustic Procedure, 7-month old infants are pre- The Establishment of Rpl22L1 Gene Conditional sented with one of two speech conditions, one with an Knock-Out Mice adult-directed (AD) speech sample or one with an infant- Qing Feng, Junior, Exchange - Arts Sciences directed (ID) speech sample. Adult-directed speech is Mentor: David Morris, Biochemistry normal speech between two adults, while infant-direct Mentor: David Brackett, Biochemistry speech is the distinct, fluctuating “baby talk” we recog- nize when adults address infants. The infant is then con- To solve the problem of analyzing the transcriptomes of ditioned to respond to an intermittent /a/ vowel, which is individual cell types as they exist in a complex tissue, presented simultaneously with one of the speech back- a mouse (RiboTag), has recently been engineered in Dr. grounds. It is known that the prosodic modifications David Morris’s Lab that allows one to label specific cell and exaggeration of speech distinctions in ID speech is types. In the application of this technology, an essen- salient and captivating to infants. It is our hypothesis tial component of ribosome’s 60S subunit, Rpl22 (ribo- that infants will be less able to segregate the vowel from somal protein L22) can be labeled with an epitope tag the ID speech background and perform better in the AD (HA) by crossing the Ribo Tag mouse with a mouse ex- speech background, which carries less auditory impor- pressing cell specific Cre recombinase. By immunopre- tance for the infant. Testing takes place in a sound proof cipation of this epitope tag, which is expressed only in booth with the infant seated on the parent’s lap, while specific cells, we can successfully isolate the ribosome- sounds are played through a foam ear-tip. The infant is associate transcriptomes of these cells types from whole- trained to respond to the vowel on at least 80% of the tissue homogenates. However, this model still needs to trials when the vowel is very audible. Trials with no be tested fully. One complicating factor in mammals vowel presented are also included, and the infant must is that there is similar protein named Rpl22L1 (riboso- respond on no more than 20% of these trials during train- mal protein L22 like 1), whose primary structure is ˜69% ing. Correct responses to the vowel are reinforced with similar to Rpl22, and may act as a functional “backup” to the activation of a mechanical toy. During the test phase, Rpl22. Our primary Q-PCR results show that Rpl22L1 the signal-to-noise ratio of the vowel to the speech back- is expressed within a 2-fold range of Rpl22 in a number ground is set at a level where the infant is expected to of tissues, and that Rpl22L1 is associated with translat- detect the vowel 70% of the time in the AD speech con- ing polyribsomes similarly to Rpl22, suggesting it is ex- dition. We expect that infants will perform more poorly pressed in a similar fashion to Rpl22. To immelierate the in detecting the vowel in the ID speech condition than in function of this competitor protein I have begun making the AD speech condition. a knock-out of Rpl22L1 gene in the ”RiboTag” back- ground. This will eliminate the endogenous Rpl22L1 Beryllium Isotope Ratios and Uranium and Thorium and prevent it from functioning as a backup to Rpl22. Content of the Spor Mountain Tuff The conditional knock out strategy is based on “Cre- Ryan Erickson, Senior, Earth Space Sciences (Biology) LoxP recombination system” which involves three steps: Mentor: John Stone, Earth Space Sciences the subcloning and characterization of the Rpl22L1 locus Much of the industrial beryllium (Be) produced in the into a mammalian targeting vector; homologous recom- United States has an anomalously high 10Be/9Be isotope bination in Embryonic Stem (ES) Cells; blastocyst injec- ratio. This anomaly may be due to the geologic envi- tion and chimera generation and the following crossing ronment of the primary source for beryllium in the U.S., breeding. the beryllium-bearing tuffs at Spor Mountain, Utah. Ore- grade regions of this tuff also contain unusually high lev- els of uranium and thorium. The α-radiation produced by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium can in-

127 Building Resistance: Architecture & Anarchism / A national student body. Using Dr. Parker’s framework (Sub)Cultural Landscape as a base, I created descriptions of the schools’ curricu- Jessica Fikes, Senior, Comparative History of Ideas lum and their reasons for needing international education Mary Gates Scholar, McNair Scholar within the Asia Society’s International Studies School Mentor: John Toews, History Network and then analyzed them based on Dr. Parker’s Mentor: Kathryn Merlino, Architecture structure. I created and organized profiles about each My research around the connection between political school in the network and looked at the language used theory and constructed material form begins with the as- to describe each school’s focus and mission/goals in or- sertion that small groups of people, linked by a com- der to describe the schools. I then began to analyze the mon guide such as a belief system, have a significant schools and see how they fit into Dr. Parker’s research impact on the shape of vernacular architecture and cul- and in particular his framework. This way I could cate- tural landscapes in the United States. My intent is to gorize them and show the reasons each school believes raise questions about praxis within the ongoing anarchist in international education in relation to the findings Dr. movement and to better understand how the shape of Parker found. Information was gathered from the Asia the built environment around it is important for its suc- Society website, each school’s individual website, and cess. The organizational structure of the Rhizome Col- media coverage from newspapers of the schools was re- lective located in Austin, Texas self-identifies with basic viewed. tenets that I have found in historic as well as contem- Amplified Present: The Delayed Beauty of a Bizarre porary kinds of anarchist theory, and by conducting a Locale case study/ post-occupancy evaluation of the landscape Claire Fox, Junior, Comparative Literature, itself I have constructed an interpretation of the relation- Comparative History of Ideas ship it has with the ideas that went into its design and Mary Gates Scholar fabrication. My analysis is based upon my experiences Mentor: Jentery Sayers, English with participation in and observation of programming Mentor: Phillip Thurtle, Comparative History of Ideas and practice on-site, as well as architectural drawings produced and photographic data collected at The Rhi- “They sat down to their unexpected festive midnight tea.” zome Collective. As a researcher, I provide analyses On my first read of Vladimir Nabokov’s short story, from both architectural and (sub)cultural perspectives to “Signs and Symbols,” this sentence was unremarkable. support my feeling that this specific, anarchic model for On ensuing reads, however, the image of the ‘unexpected life in the city can contribute in a unique and perhaps in- festive midnight tea’ became a familiar space where two valuable way to the larger cultural landscapes and archi- characters create a bizarre locale in the weary familiar. tectural discourse around sustainable types of residen- The sentence wasn’t beautiful, and then it was. I aim to tial and mixed-use form. With this project I link three construct and decode my own fictional locale by sculpt- components: mixed-use vernacular architecture, Anar- ing a narrative with moments in video, taking advan- chist theory, and discourse on Cultural Landscapes, with tage of the medium’s constant movement and character- respect to their being facets of the complex politics em- istic instability to unearth an image-based, psychological bedded in the making of the built environment, a process space inspired by gestures from Nabokov’s linear narra- that can aid people in building their own resistance to the tive. Those moments find their first iteration, however, world as is, and help them to realize the one they envi- as static illustrations: some as sketches and watercolors sion. passing through memory as I recreate them on a page, others as photographs captured by impulse. As I throw The International Education Movement within the distance between literary moments and video interpre- U.S. and the Asia Society tation, I develop a more nuanced appreciation for each Katherine Fischer, Senior, History gesture, whether that gesture is human or inhuman. The Zesbaugh Scholar resulting video works to create an environment rooted Mentor: Walter Parker, Education in the present, making use of blank space and musically Professor Walter Parker has been looking at the recent inclined editing to engage the viewer while confronting ‘international education’ movement within public and him or her with the value of a single moment. It won’t private K-12 schools in the U.S. Dr. Parker asks what be beautiful, and then it will. does this new movement means. In his article, “‘Interna- Measuring Neutrino Oscillations with T2K tional Education’ – What’s In a Name?” published in Phi Frank Garcia, Senior, Astronomy, Physics Delta Kappan November 2008, he lists five justifications NASA Space Grant Scholar for needing ‘international education’ in public schools. Mentor: R. J. Wilkes, Physics These include economic competitiveness, military readi- ness, global perspective, cosmopolitanism, and an inter- Neutrinos are very light particles that interact only via

128 the weak nuclear force and gravity. They have been Analysis of Antimicrobial Compounds from shown to come in three different varieties, called “fla- Bacterial Symbionts of the Common Composting vors,” and it is believed that they oscillate between these Earthworm Eisenia foetida “flavors” in a manner described by the neutrino mix- Ruth Go, Senior, Microbiology ing matrix. While two out of three of the elements that Mentor: Seana Davidson, Civil Environmental make up this matrix are fairly well understood, attempts Engineering to measure the third value, theta-1-3, have resulted only Eisenia foetida, a common composting earthworm, har- in an upper limit being placed on its value. In order to bors bacterial symbionts (Verminephrobacter sp, Acti- measure theta-1-3, a particle accelerator at the Japan Pro- nobacteria sp and Flexibacter sp.) which are horizon- ton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) will aim a tally transferred via deposition into their egg capsules. beam of neutrinos towards the Super-Kamiokande detec- These bacterial symbionts colonize the earthworm gut tor. By comparing the ratio of electron to muon neutrinos and nephridia, a kidney-like excretory organ. Bacterial at J-PARC and at Super-Kamiokande, we should be able symbionts in their gut, which originate from the soil, to determine the value of theta-1-3. act to break down organic molecules and modify the Female Participation and Firm Productivity: The soil nutrient content and availability. Symbionts in the Case of Transition Economies nephridia are believed to aid in amino acid conserva- Kristine Garcia, Senior, Political Science, Economics tion and ammonia detoxification. E. foetida embryos de- Mentor: Judith Thornton, Economics velop in egg capsules containing nutrient rich albumin and >106 bacterial cells/ml. These egg capsules are a Examination of the transition economies of the post- good source of nutrition for predatory organisms in the Soviet Union can offer insights into understanding gen- soil, especially fungi. I hypothesize that the bacterial der issues. One can see the pre-transition period as a time symbionts provide chemical protection for the embryos without any market forces where central planners and bu- while they mature in the capsule. My early observations reaucrats controlled most economic aspects of a country. in the lab indicate that bacterial isolates from capsules At this time, firms were operating inefficiently due to a produce compounds to defend the embryos against fungi lack of cost-minimizing constraints. The transition to a isolated from the soil. The initial goal of the study is market economy brought about many changes that af- to show antifungal activity from isolated bacterial sym- fected firms, through a change in labor force participa- bionts and determine if there is a protective role for the tion of both men and women. Although there is quite bacteria in the egg capsule. I intend to cure the egg a bit of literature that examines the effects of transition- capsules of the symbionts utilizing antibiotics and test ing on the post-soviet economies, most of them focus on the hatchlings for the removal of the symbionts. Once the macroeconomic aspects of transition such as trade, cured of the symbionts, egg capsules will be challenged exchange rates, foreign direct investments, etc. Within with fungi and monitored for survival. I will then use the literature that discuss gender issues, only some touch bacterial genetics to determine the genes and gene prod- upon the idea of using firm data to determine whether ucts that confer this protective function in the egg cap- female participation had any effect on firm productiv- sule. There has been an increasing frequency of fungal ity. Most of the data used in these previous studies were infections as the cause of mortality in organisms. New household surveys that do not fully capture firm charac- infective fungi are arising which have antibiotic resis- teristics, such as whether the firm is part of a competitive tance to drugs that are typically used in treatment. The market industry. Using a firm level data set, the Enter- study of anti-fungal properties of the bacterial earthworm prise Survey from the World Bank, this study examines symbionts may contribute to discovery of new antifungal whether a percent change in the share of female workers compounds that can fight these emerging diseases. has a significant effect on a firm’s productivity. Sim- ilarly, whether this change varies between private and A Multidrug Combinatorial Microfluidic Device to state-owned enterprises. The proportion of female work- Study Antibiotic Resistance. ers is important for firms because if a high number of Miliyard Gualu, Senior, Bioengineering women relative to men result in higher firm productivity, Mentor: Benjamin Kerr, Biology then firms would hire more women than men to maxi- mize their profits. At this point, the results of the study It was not long ago when scientists were able to com- are still inconclusive. This research is conducted as part bat most death causing diseases with antibiotics. One of an honors thesis for the University of Washington De- hundred years ago, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and gas- partment of Economics. trointestinal infections were among the main causes of death. The development of antibiotics minimized these infections caused by different pathogens. However, cur- rently the development of antibiotic resistant pathogens is a cause of great concern. These studies mainly fo-

129 cus on the development of multidrug therapy to minimize Immunologic Tolerance to Myelin Basic Protein and drug resistant pathogens. This proposal presents a design the Post-Ischemic Cellular Immune Response in of a microfluidic device to analyze a specific response in Brain bacteria. The response is categorized as death or survival Jessica Hadwin, Senior, English of bacteria in response to chemicals present in their en- Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates vironment. The death or survival response refers to the Scholar application of antibiotics to bacterial cells in a special Mentor: Kyra Becker, Neurology microfluidic device. This device will be used to analyze responses of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aerug- Animals subjected to an inflammatory insult during mid- inosa to applied antibiotics. When combining specific dle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) tend to develop concentrations of drugs, we would like to arrive to the an inflammatory autoimmune response (TH1 response) specific combinations where bacterial growth cease. For to the brain antigen myelin basic protein (MBP). This future work, the usage of a multidrug combinatorial mi- immune response is associated with worse neurologi- crofluidic device could be upgraded to study the interac- cal outcome. The induction of a TH3 or T regulatory tion between viruses (such as HIV), host cells and mul- (TREG) response to MBP prior to MCAO via mucosal tiple drugs. treatment is linked to improved outcome. Our study aimed to elucidate the immunologic outcomes associ- Stability, Dynamics, and the Onset of Multi-Pulsing ated with mucosal tolerance and stroke. Prior to MCAO, in a Mode-Locked Laser Cavity using male Lewis rats were tolerized to either MBP or ovalbu- Phase-Sensitive Amplification min (OVA) by intranasal administration of the antigen. Simon Hachey, Senior, Computer Science, Mathematics During reperfusion the animals received lipopolysaccha- Mary Gates Scholar ride (LPS; 1 mg/kg intraperitoneal) to simulate infec- Mentor: J. Nathan Kutz, Applied Mathematics tion. One month after occlusion, splenocytes of the MBP tolerized animals generally exhibited a TH3/TREG re- Using techniques of applied mathematics, we perform sponse to MBP and were less likely to show an inflam- numerical simulations to investigate the feasibility of matory autoimmune response to MBP than those that a hypothetical mode-locked laser. Mode-locked lasers were tolerized to OVA. At both 1 month and 3 months have a number of real world applications, including pre- after MCAO, animals exhibiting a TREG response to cision micro-machining, ocular surgery, and nonlinear- MBP were noted to have better neurological outcome. optical imaging. In our work, we are investigating the These data imply that deleterious autoimmune responses possibility of a hypothetical mode-locked laser which to brain antigens can be improved by inducing a TREG uses phase-sensitive amplifiers (PSAs) to amplify the response to those antigens prior to stroke and that the pulses it generates. PSAs are an experimentally vi- TREG response improves outcome. To understand how able technology that generate and stabilize the mode- the TREG response affects the cellular inflammatory re- locked pulse by sifting out any out-of-phase components sponse in brain following stroke, quantitative immuno- through intensity discrimination. They are commonly histochemistry is being performed on a subset of brains used in stabilizing pulses sent out over long distances in from the study. Using the appropriate antibodies, the fiber-optic communication lines, as well in optical stor- number of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells and B cells in age. We derive a nonlinear fourth-order cubic quintic both the ischemic and non-ischemic hemispheres will be averaged differential equation which represents the evo- determined. Additionally, the expression of fractalkine, a lution of the laser pulse over many round trips of the cav- chemokine with potent chemoattractant properties for T ity. In a typical PSA system, the amount of gain added to cells, and FoxP3, a gene product associated with TREG the system at each PSA stays constant, but we introduce cells, will be assessed. Comparisons will be made be- a novel variable-gain model, based on using a erbium tween animals with and without a TREG response to doped fiber in addition to the PSA, that varies the gain MBP and over time (1 month versus 3 months). depending on the total energy in the cavity. Such a model is the first of its kind to be considered theoretically in the Anthropogenic CO2 Accumulation Rate in the North context of the Swift-Hohenberg equation, and leads to a Pacific Ocean Estimated from Changes in 13C/12C of number of very interesting and useful stability properties CO2 in Seawater of the system. Laura Hanson, Senior, Oceanography, Environmental Studies Mentor: Paul Quay, Oceanography Mentor: Johnny Stutsman, Oceanography

Oceans play a key role in determining the build-up rate of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere. About one-third

130 of the CO2 generated by the burning of fossil fuels is ad- so this method can give a more accurate species identifi- sorbed by the world oceans, establishing the ocean as a cation. This method will clarify which species are high dominant sink for anthropogenic CO2. Several different DA producers and along with phytoplankton community techniques and tracers have been used to estimate anthro- structure data, can help us understand more about this pogenic CO2 uptake rates resulting in a range of mag- potentially dangerous phytoplankton. nitudes that are not in agreement. In the North Pacific Merging Galaxies and Black Holes Ocean, published anthropogenic CO2 uptake rates range 2 1 Marrissa Harrison, Freshman, Earth Space Sciences from 0.33 0.05 to 1.3 0.5 mol C m− yr− . Due to ± ± differences in magnitude and substantial uncertainties in Danielle Green, Junior, Astronomy, Physics these estimates, a convergence of rates by multiple ap- Mentor: Jillian Bellovary, Astronomy proaches would improve our confidence in the rate es- Mentor: Thomas Quinn, Astronomy 13 12 timate. By use of a carbon isotope tracer, the C/ C Most, if not all galaxies in the universe contain a su- of CO2, measured in seawater samples collected in the per massive black hole at their centers. As galaxies Northeastern Pacific Ocean during a research cruise in travel through space, they occasionally collide, resulting September 2008, an anthropogenic CO2 uptake rate of 2 1 in the merging of these black holes. Through simula- 0.53 0.17 mol C m− yr− was estimated for the re- ± tions of these galaxy mergers (one simulation containing gion. The North Pacific region is a strong sink for an- a black hole, and one without), we were able to identify thropogenic CO2 however, continued measurements us- and measure differences in the resulting galaxy remnant. ing anthropogenic tracers are necessary to provide suf- Through measurements of the radiation emitted in differ- ficient data to determine whether the North Pacific will ent wavelengths and at different radii from the center of become a stronger or weaker sink in response to climate the galaxy, we were able to discover that the galaxy con- change. taining the black hole is less luminous throughout and Pseudo-nitzschia and Domoic Acid in the Benguela emits less radiation in the ultraviolet wavelengths at its Current center. This is because as the black hole accretes gas, Diana Haring, Senior, Oceanography energy is transferred to the surrounding gas, which is Mentor: Gabrielle Rocap, Oceanography then heated, a process known as feedback. Thus, there Mentor: Michele Wrabel, Oceanography is an absence of cold, dense gas near the black hole that would have allowed for the formation of new large, lu- Pseudo-nitzschia is a genus of phytoplankton that pro- minous blue stars. The absence of these new stars, as duces a toxin called domoic acid (DA). This toxin can indicated by the lack of ultraviolet intensity, shows that cause Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning which can result in there is a black hole present affecting the central galactic seizures, short-term memory loss, and even death. These environment. symptoms have been reported in birds, sea lions, and Temperature of Magmas during “Supervolcanic” humans as a result of eating contaminated shellfish or Eruptions small fish like anchovies. It is important to study Pseudo- Zurriya Hasnan, Junior, Earth Space Sciences nitzschia because not all of the species produce DA and Mentor: Olivier Bachmann, Earth Space Sciences those that do are not always consistent in their produc- tion rates. I have been looking at the phytoplankton The temperature and oxygen fugacity of magmas can be community structure in samples from the Benguela Cur- estimated with the composition of Fe-Ti oxides, miner- rent which runs along the southwestern coast of Africa. als that are commonly found in volcanic rocks. The ob- I measured each Pseudo-nitzschia cell for identification jective of this project is to determine and compare the through the use of microscopy, defined each cell as one temperature of oxide-bearing rocks from Colorado (the of three morphological groups, and classified the other >500 km3, 28.6 Ma Masonic Park Tuff) using a vari- organisms present to the genus level. Pseudo-nitzschia ety of temperature calibrations for the Fe-Ti oxide sys- were seen at five different stations, and all three mor- tem; Anderson & Lindsley (1985), Andersen (1991) and phological groups were present at each station. There Ghiorso & Evans (2008). We performed over 80 electron were different levels of DA at each station that could cor- microprobe analyses on different samples, and used the respond with the dominant species of Pseudo-nitzschia best data points to calculate magma temperatures. Re- present. To identify Pseudo-nitzschia to the species sults show that the temperature range at which the crys- level a genetic fingerprinting technique will be done tals formed varies for the different calibrations; average called Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analy- values are 745 C for Anderson & Lindsley (1985), 680 sis (ARISA). This technique involves doing a PCR with C for Andersen (1991) and 650 C for Ghiorso & Evans specific primers for Pseudo-nitzschia species which will (2008). Knowing that magmas will solidify at ˜670- amplify the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1). 680 C for the estimated conditions of the Masonic Park Species of Pseudo-nitzschia have different ITS1 lengths magma chamber, the temperature of the latest calibration

131 (Ghiorso & Evans, 2008) appears too low. These anoma- Termites live in colonies in which individuals are spe- lously low temperatures suggest that (1) this calibration cialized to perform different tasks that allow the colony underestimates magmatic temperatures or (2) the Fe-Ti to survive. These groups of specialized individuals are oxides have partially re-equilibrated with cold, surface called castes; examples of castes include soldiers, work- temperatures during deposition. Comparison with tem- ers, and those with the ability to reproduce. Termites are perature results given by other mineral thermometers (Ti- unique compared to most other eusocial insects because in-hornblende, hornblende-plagioclase, two-feldspars), colonies contain both male and female workers. Little is which yield high temperature (>700C) suggests that Fe- currently known about termite neurology and how brain Ti oxides record non-magmatic temperatures. structure relates to caste and sex. This study explored the brain structure of the termite Zootermopsis angusticollis. Identifying RR Lyrae Stars for use in Galactic The volumes of several regions of the brains of Z. angus- Mapping ticollis individuals were quantified, including the optic Michael Hayden, Senior, Astronomy, Physics lobes, antennal lobes, and mushroom bodies. Previous Joel Leigh, Senior, Physics, Astronomy studies have shown that in other eusocial organisms with Mentor: Chris Laws, Astronomy both male and female workers, such as naked mole rats, Until recently the halo of our galaxy was thought to be brain structure and volume is not related to sex. Studies made up of a uniform distribution of stars and dust gov- on neurology of other eusocial insects have shown that erned by a power law drop at increasing distance from brain structure often varies between castes and relates galactic center. New deep sky surveys like the Sloan to the specific tasks performed by the individuals within Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) have allowed a more thor- those groups. I will explore the relationships between ough examination of the galactic halo, revealing over the sex, caste, and the volumes of these brain regions in densities within it. These rivers of stars represent the the termites. Based on previous work I expect to see no remnants of previous galactic mergers which have con- differences between the male and female termites within tributed to the current structure of the Milky Way. In the same caste. I also expect to find that the volumes order to map these over densities special variable stars of different regions will vary based on caste, especially known as RR Lyrae must be located and their distance within the optic lobes. calculated. The goal of our research is to study potential An Inducible Exopolyphosphatase Assay for RR Lyrae candidates and classify their specific RR Lyrae Studying the Function of Polyphosphate in type so that they can later be distanced and added to the Eukaryotes evolving three dimensional map of the halo of the galaxy. Karen Hendricksen, Senior, Biochemistry, Biology To do this, observations were taken over the course of the (Molecular, Cellular Developmental) summer at Manastash Ridge Observatory, maintained in Mary Gates Scholar the Cascade Mountains by the University of Washington. Mentor: Wenqing Xu, Biological Structure The stars were identified as potential candidates based on their colors observed in SDSS. Several observations Inorganic polyphosphate, or Poly P, consists of tens to were taken of each candidate star and changes in bright- hundreds of orthophosphate monomers. In Escherichia ness relative to the average brightness of nearby com- coli and other prokaryotes, the enzyme polyphosphate parison stars was measured. This initial step checks that kinase, or PPK, catalyzes the synthesis of Poly P from the target star is indeed variable and corrects for variabil- the terminal phosphate groups of ATP molecules. While ity caused by changing atmospheric conditions. Fourier this reaction is reversible and also performed by PPK, analysis was performed on the observed light curves to an irreversible reaction also occurs in the presence of the determine relative frequency strengths and potential pe- enzyme exopolyphosphatase, or PPX. This enzyme hy- riods of variability. This analysis was used to fit the can- drolyzes terminal residues of Poly P into its orthophos- didates variability to templates of archetypal RR Lyrae. phate monomers. While PPK and PPX activity are The quality of fit is then analyzed to determine if the can- known in many bacterial species and yeast, few analo- didate is actually an RR Lyrae or possibly another class gous enzymes are known in high eukaryotes. This con- of variable star. Final results are contingent on further tributes to the difficulty of studying the function of Poly observations which will be taken over the coming sum- P in such organisms despite the fact that Poly P is abun- mer. dant in all forms of life. While it has been shown that Poly P plays a critical role in bacterial survival, the ex- How Caste and Sex Determine Brain Structure in act function of Poly P in eukaryotes has yet to be de- Dampwood Termites, Zootermopsis angusticollis termined. An enzyme with inducible PPX activity has Kayla Helem, Senior, Biology (General) the potential to be a very powerful tool as an assay for Mary Gates Scholar studying the role of polyphosphate in eukaryotic organ- Mentor: Sean O’Donnell, Psychology isms. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, PPX consists of two

132 highly conserved domains, between which lies the ac- represented by the larger amount of interlaminar failure. tive site. Each domain, nonfunctional without the other, As tooled polyester surfaces made the weakest bond and may be synthesized as a separate construct in vitro. The failed in adhesion. The different failure modes can be N-terminal domain consists of amino acid residues 1- used to evaluate bond strength for determining the proper 256, while the C-terminal domain consists of residues surface preparation for bonding in aviation. 257-397. The N-terminal domain and C-terminal do- main may be synthesized separately, each attached to SNO Data Analysis Research a monomer of the the dimerization motif FKBP. These Chantelle Jacques, Junior, Pre-Engineering domains may then be fused together via the FKBP- Elizabeth Waldren, Sophomore, Electrical Engineering dimerizer FK1012A to restore exopolyphosphatase ac- Mentor: Nikolai Tolich, Physics tivity. This assay may provide a useful tool in further Our research focuses on solar neutrinos, which are cre- studies of polyphosphate function in eukaryotes. ated in radioactive decay reactions that take place in the Characterization of a New AGATE (Advanced sun. We are looking at data collected with the Sudbury General Aviation Transport Experiments) Neutrino Observatory (SNO). SNO was designed to de- Composite with Respect to Surface Preparation and tect solar neutrinos using a large tank of heavy water, or Bond Quality D2O. Surrounding the water tank is a spherical config- Curtis Hickmott, Senior, Materials Science Engineering uration of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), which detect Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant very low intensity light. When neutrinos interact with Scholar D2O, light can be created in two ways: through charged Mentor: Brian Flinn, Materials Science Engineering, current (CC) interactions and neutral current (NC) inter- UW SAMPE actions. Both of these reactions produce electrons that emit a Chernekov cone of light. This cone of light is The effect of surface preparation procedure on bond captured by the PMTs, and appears as a ring-like pattern quality of a new group of AGATE (Advanced General of PMT hits. The NC reaction can produce multiple elec- Aviation Transport Experiments) fiber reinforced poly- trons, which results in multiple rings. CC reactions pro- mer matrix composites was studied. The surfaces of duces only one electron resulting in a single ring. In the composite laminates manufactured from various fiber past, attempts to analyze these patterns have been made forms (unidirectional carbon fiber tape, carbon fiber fab- in order to better distinguish CC and NC reactions us- ric, and fiberglass fabric) pre-impregnated with Toray ing the separability derived from the analysis of specified 2510 resin AGATE were examined both sanded and data characteristics. Our goal is to create a data analysis as-tooled. The as-tooled surfaces were prepared with program to further enhance this distinction. Some pos- polyester and nylon peel plies. Contact angle mea- sible avenues we are exploring include image detection surements were performed on as-tooled and sanded sur- and noise suppression algorithms developed for machine faces to determine the surface energy using six flu- vision. ids; deionized water, tetrabromoethane, formamide, di- iodomethane, ethylene glycol and dimethylsulfoxide. Bayesian Estimation of the Probability of Detection The Rapid Adhesion Test (RAT) was performed to evalu- for Target Tracking ate bond quality on samples bonded using film adhesive Kevin Jamieson, Senior, Electrical Engineering EA 9696. Stereomicroscope and scanning electron mi- Mary Gates Scholar croscope images were taken of the as-tooled and sanded Mentor: Maya Gupta, Electrical Engineering material surfaces and fracture surfaces of the RAT sam- Mentor: David Krout, Applied Physics Laboratory ples for evaluation. The results showed that as-tooled ny- We propose a Bayesian estimation method to sequen- lon peel ply and sanded surfaces produced strong bonds, tially update the probability of detection for tracking. while the as-tooled polyester peel ply surface did not. The probability of detection is the probability that the Bond strength is discussed with respect to surface prepa- amplitude of the return from the target exceeds a set ration procedure, surface morphology and surface en- threshold. A beta distribution is used for the prior, which ergy. The surface energy found from contact angle mea- can be centered on the best a priori guess for the proba- surements was compared to the fracture mode for qual- bility of detection. The tracker’s belief about whether it ity assessment. The surface energies of the sanded sur- detected the target at the last scan is used to update the faces were all very similar in their polar and dispersive posterior estimate of the probability of detection. The components showing the same trend, indicating the re- method can be applied to any tracking algorithm that re- moval of the affect of the peel ply. The bonded sam- quires an estimate of the probability of detection. Ex- ples exhibited different modes of failure including inter- periments with the probabilistic data association (PDA) laminar, cohesive and adhesion failure. The sanded sur- tracker show that the proposed estimation method can faces showed a higher quality of bond to the adhesive increase the amount of time a target is tracked and de-

133 crease the localization error when compared to using a Progress Toward the Synthesis of Chiral Quinones fixed value. Experiments also show that for some values Attached to Porphyrins of the probability of detection, using an inflated value of John Tomlin, Recent Graduate, Chemistry, The the probability of detection in PDA can actually lead to Evergreen State College better performance. Russell Kaehler, Junior, Mathematics, The Evergreen State College Bioengineered Peptides for Medical Applications Mentor: Peter Pessiki, Chemistry, The Evergreen State Carol Jia, Junior, Pre-Major College Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Mehmet Sarikaya, Materials Science We have set out to synthesize and resolve a series of Engineering optically active protected hydroquinones that could be Mentor: Marketa Hnilova, Materials Science covalently link to porphyrins. Our initial target, 2,5- Engineering dimethoxy-α-phenylethylamine, was synthesized from 2,5-dimethoxyacetophenone utilizing the Leuckart reac- The immobilization of proteins and other biomolecules tion as described in the classic undergraduate laboratory onto inorganic solid surfaces using self-assembly pro- text “Introduction to Organic Laboratory Techniques 1st cesses with high affinity and specificity is the main goal Edition” by Pavia, Lampman, and Kriz. Attempts to of our project. Current methods of binding and assem- isolate the (-) enantiomer by crystallization as the chi- bling biomolecules onto solid surfaces involve utiliz- ral tartarate salt from a 25:75 mixture of isopropyl alco- ing covalently bound chemical linkers (e.g. thiols and hol and methyl alcohol were only marginally successful; silanes). However, they have the disadvantages of lim- other solvent systems were less successful. We extended ited control over molecular orientation and organization our synthesis to other derivatives with the hope of find- on the substrates along with little specificity in bind- ing an analog better suited for resolution. In addition, ing to various solid surfaces. A more versatile alterna- the amides of 2,5-dimethoxy-α-phenylethylamine and tive may be through the use of combinatorially selected 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxy-α-phenylethylamine were pre- GEPIs (Genetically Engineered Proteins for Inorganics). pared by reaction with p-toluoly chloride in prepara- With high specificity and affinity to different inorganic tion for substitution onto an acid chloride porphyrin. substrates, GEPI’s can be patterned onto substrates to Progress on linking both optically active and racemic bind with a specific biomolecular orientation, and be tai- mixtures of α-phenylethylamine and its derivatives will lored for a variety of functions, including binding, link- be discussed. ing, and producing bi-functional units. We have pre- viously demonstrated the utility of quartz-binding and Dynamical Behavior of Izhikevich Neural Models Travis Johnson, Senior, Applied Computational gold-binding GEPI’s (QBP’s and AuBP’s) as highly spe- Mathematical Sciences (Discrete Mathematics cific biomolecular linkers, along with the efficacy of im- Algorithms) mobilizing a maltose-binding protein (MBP) genetically Mentor: Eric Shea-Brown, Applied Mathematics fused with a GEPI linker onto a solid substrate. Here we will experiment with bi-functional peptides containing A neural ’integrate-and-fire’ model investigated by Shea- both gold- and quartz-binding sequence (AuBP-QBP), Brown and colleagues showed that in a simple network using soft lithography techniques. These bi-functional of two neurons with a proportion of shared input, the cor- peptides are used to facilitate the self-assembly of gold relation between these two neurons increased with the nano-particles onto a quartz substrate in the microfab- firing rate of the shared input. This has important im- rication of patterned surfaces. The MBP fused with plications in large-scale brain activity. However, there AuBP’s and QBP’s are then introduced onto the pat- are some indications that this correlation might break terned substrate to demonstrate the specificity of their down on more complicated models, like the more phys- binding. As evidenced by a variety of experimental tech- ically realistic but still computationally tractabile model niques, e.g. fluorescent microscopy (FM) and dark field proposed by Izhikevich. The question, then, is whether microscopy (DF), we successfully immobilized various these previous findings can be extended to more realistic nanostructures and recombinant MBP onto solid surfaces models of neural firing. A dynamical systems-style bi- via these peptide linkers. furcation analysis of the Izhikevich model provides the parameters we wish to examine via large-scale computa- tional simulation. From time series data of neuron spik- ing, the spike train are generated for each of the two neu- rons, then the spike train correlation coefficient will be computed. The Izhikevich model is proving more com- plicated to analyze analytically than the previously con- sidered models, but still possible.

134 Recurrent Hypoglycemia and the Neuroendocrine scribed as “sleep spindles”, “K-Complexes”, “Vertex” Counterregulatory Response and other slow-wave (delta) activity. The anatomical Julia Kabacka, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular micro-architecture of sleep, however, is only partially Developmental) understood. There is even less known about the sleep Mentor: Dianne Figlewicz Lattemann, Psychiatry architecture of individuals suffering from certain neuro- Mentor: Salwa Al-Noori, Psychiatry Behavioral logical disorders, including epilepsy. For example, while Sciences it is known that certain seizure types or seizure-related Diabetes mellitus, a disease associated with defects in discharges occur in sleep, it is unclear how these patterns insulin secretion or insulin action, is a chronic disease interact with normal sleep architecture. We hypothesize without a cure affecting millions of people worldwide. that there are abnormalities present in the sleep archi- It results in hyperglycemia, abnormally high blood glu- tecture of these patients. Preliminary analysis of EEG cose levels. Effective treatments for diabetes involve recordings from one epileptic patient indicates that ab- the use of either insulin administration or oral medica- normal electrical activity is present and occurs preferen- tions, which act by restoring normal blood glucose lev- tially in association with sleep architecture. These ab- els. However, a complication secondary to these treat- normalities, which are localized to the side of the brain ments is an abnormally low blood glucose level, or hypo- where this patient’s seizures originate, may help reveal glycemia, the symptoms of which might include sweat- how the anatomic architecture of sleep is affected by the ing, seizures, and even coma. In order to correct iatro- presence of focal abnormalities. Quantitative analysis of genic hypoglycemia by restoring the normal glucose lev- this patient’s EEG recordings is being performed in an els, the body induces the neuroendocrine counterregula- effort to develop a methodology that can be applied to tory response (CRR) via the hormonal release. The CRR other patients diagnosed with epilepsy. These include becomes impaired with recurrent hypoglycemia (RH). spectral, time-frequency, and phase related measures of The goal of the study is to better understand the mecha- background EEG. The hope is to not only learn about nisms involved in the impaired CRR. Experiments were sleep architecture, but how it can be disturbed and how performed on rats to induce single and recurrent hypo- it is affected in epilepsy. Further, these analyses may be glycemic episodes. During the surgery, chronic venous used to develop tools for identifying locations of abnor- catheters were implanted to allow subsequent insulin ad- mal brain function from sleep architecture of individuals ministration and blood collection during the experimen- suspected of having neurological disorders. tal procedure. Day one of the experiment involved two Identity Formation and Social Roles and infusions of insulin, or saline for the control animals, Relationships in Female Escorts and the third infusion of insulin was administered on day Kelsey Rote, Senior, Psychology, Sociology, Seattle two. Subsequent blood samples were collected during Pacific University hypoglycemic bouts for hormone analysis. My current Mentor: David Diekema, Sociology, Seattle Pacific work involves processing the blood samples for analysis University and performing glucose measurements as well as cryo- Mentor: Karen Snedker, Sociology, Seattle Pacific stat sectioning of the harvested brains and performing University immunohistochemistry assays for quantitating the ex- pression of a transcription factor FosB. FosB is a marker The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of for the changes in the CNS associated with recurrent hy- working as an escort on identity formation and social re- poglycemia. Increased activation of FosB in the medial lationships. Research has studied street and brothel pros- hypothalamus in response to RH marks it as an essen- titutes, but little research has been conducted on escorts. tial region of the brain involved in CRR. Identifying the While not technically prostitution, law enforcement es- types of neurons involved in CRR and associated mecha- timates that 90-95% of escorts are involved in the sale nisms can lead to the advancement in diabetes treatment. of sexual activity. Understanding the lives of escorts is becoming increasingly important as the sex industry be- Investigating Abnormalities in the Sleep comes more dependent on the internet for its practices. Architecture of Individuals Suffering from Epilepsy Tyler Kapp, Senior, Electrical Engineering Research on street and brothel prostitutes has discussed Mentor: Shahin Hakimian, Neurology, UW/Regional compartmentalizing one’s identity, so that each has a Epilepsy Center at Harborview ‘work self’ and a ‘real self.’ Research in deviance shows the taking on of a negative self-image due to the shame The sleep architecture of healthy adults, as revealed by of prostitution and the breaking of societal norms; oth- scalp electrical activity of the brain on electroencephalo- ers argue that sex work can help one gain power, control, gram (EEG), is the subject of much interest and active understanding, and a sense of belonging. Involvement in research. Depending upon the stage of sleep, a healthy sex work seems to affect family and friend relationships, individual’s sleep architecture typically has features de- as well as social roles such as daughter, mother, and cit-

135 izen. Romantic relationships are especially challenging However, mET-1-driven IL-10 expression in BAoEC was and appear to be complicated both when the partner does only 10% of levels obtained with the CMV promoter. know and when they do not. Approximately ten female Using plasmid transfection, addition of endothelium- escorts will be recruited through agencies and personal specific enhancers to the mET-1 promoter increased IL- websites in and around the Pacific Northwest. Through 10 expression in BAoEC up to 8-fold, to a level simi- in-depth, semi-structured interviews with female escorts, lar to a CMV-containing cassette. We conclude that in- I will examine how their job and the stigma attached to corporation of endothelium-specific transcriptional reg- it affect them. The positive and negative consequences ulatory elements in HD-Ad is a promising approach for will be viewed in light of personal identity – how does achieving tissue-specific high-level expression of thera- the stigma and working in the profession cause them to peutic genes in vivo. view themselves. The effects of sex work on social roles and relationships will also be examined. I will explore Identification of Neuroprotective Agents in Coffee how escorts manage mixing their work life with their per- and Tobacco against Parkinsons Disease sonal life, especially with family, friends, and romantic Derek Khorsand, Senior, Biochemistry partners. Interviews will be recorded, transcribed, and Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant analyzed for similarities and differences. Scholar Mentor: Leo Pallanck, Genome Sciences Development of Expression Cassettes for Increased, Neurodegenerative disorders affect over 50 million Endothelium-Specific Expression Using Americans every year. Although their prevalence might Helper-Dependent Adenovirus Jordan Kho, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular suggest otherwise, most of the nearly 600 cataloged Developmental), Microbiology neurodegenerative disorders are poorly understood. Of Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar these, Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the second most com- Mentor: David Dichek, Medicine mon and one of the most expensive in terms of total-care Mentor: Nagadhara Dronadula, Cardiology costs. Recent literature suggests that coffee consumption and tobacco use reduce the incidence of PD as well as the Gene therapy, delivered to vascular endothelium, is a po- exhibition of its pathology: the death of dopaminurgic tential strategy for prevention and cure of atherosclero- neurons in the substantia nigra of the midbrain as well sis. Helper-dependent adenoviral vectors (HD-Ad) are as the accumulation of proteinacious inclusions known good candidates for vascular gene delivery because they as lewy bodies. Another indication of PD is the pres- achieve efficient gene transfer to endothelium, promote ence of 4-hydroxy nonenal (HNE) within the nervous prolonged transgene expression, and are less inflamma- system. HNE is known to react with the protein prod- tory than first generation Ad. However, for effective gene uct of α-synuclein, a gene implicated in the development therapy, high-level transgene expression is also required. and onset of PD, to create substances toxic to particular The CMV promoter is widely used for transgene expres- neurons. This project aims to identify the specific com- sion due to its capability to drive high-level expression. ponents of coffee and tobacco responsible for its neuro- CMV promoter-driven expression, however, depends on protective effects. Treatments consist of drosophila food inflammation and is not endothelium-specific. Here, containing the separate fractions of coffee and tobacco we aimed to develop expression cassettes that are less extracts. Flies are administered this food then analyzed dependent on inflammation, more endothelium-specific, at end of life for PD pathology. This may implicate yet also highly active. We also tested whether transgene a specific component in coffee and tobacco resopnsible expression could be increased by using a genomic rather for their possible neuroprotective nature. The successful than a cDNA clone. Using rabbit interleukin 10 (IL- identification of such a compound may allow the devel- 10) as a non-immunogenic reporter gene, we constructed opment of pharmaceuticals capable of treating PD pa- HD-Ad that expressed the IL-10 cDNA (cIL-10) or gene tients. (gIL-10) from the CMV promoter, a minimal mouse Biometic Deposition of Hydroxyapatite Coating on endothelin-1 (mET-1) promoter, or the minimal mET- Porous Titanium 1 promoter with added endothelium-specific enhancer Peter Khuu, Senior, Materials Science Engineering elements. Gene expression was analyzed by quantita- Mentor: Nik Hrabe, Materials Science Engineering tive RT-PCR of RNA from cultured, transduced bovine Mentor: Raj Bordia, Materials Science Engineering aortic endothelial or smooth muscle cells (BAoEC or BAoSMC). Our results revealed that expression of IL- Solid titanium is commonly used in load bearing im- 10 was higher in cells transduced with the cIL-10 vectors plants like artificial knee, hip joints, screws and plates. than the gIL-10 vectors. IL-10 expression from the mET- However, it is dense and its adherence to and inte- 1 promoter was also higher in BAoEC than BAoSMC, in- gration with the bone is poor. This leads to a range dicating the cell-type specificity of the mET-1 promoter. of problems leading to discomfort for the patient and

136 in many cases, a second surgery. Well-designed and ultimately benefits society by getting a female perspec- engineered porous titanium implants are possible re- tive in computer science as well as opening new doors placements due to their lower density and larger sur- for female career prospectives in the future. face area for integration of the bone with the implants. Hydroxyapetite coating on the surface of the implant Novel Iridium Catalysts for Alkane Activation is desired to promote bone growth and integration. Elizabeth Korsmo, Senior, Chemistry NASA Space Grant Scholar Hydroxyapetite(Ca5(PO4)3(OH) is an inorganic mineral that makes up 70 percent of the human bone. In my re- Mentor: Karen Goldberg, Chemistry search, we are using a previously developed method to Mentor: Sara Buzak, Chemistry biometrically grow hydroxyapetite coatings on the sur- Alkanes are very stable and unreactive organic com- face of solid titanium. Our focus is to investigate the pounds. This makes it difficult to directly use alka- feasibility of using this approach to grow conformal hy- nes for chemical synthesis. The Center for Enabling droxyapetite coatings on porous titanium samples. A va- New Technologies through Catalysis (CENTC) coordi- riety of techniques will be used to investigate the chemi- nates collaborative research to develop efficient and en- cal and physical nature of the coatings. These include X- vironmentally friendly methods of converting alkanes ray diffraction (XRD) to determine the crystal structure, to higher value organics such as alcohols or alkenes. scanning electron microscopy to investigate the coat- One promising route towards this involves catalysis by ing morphology and electron dispersive spectroscopy for ligand-stabilized metals such as iridium and rhodium. chemical analysis. Chelating ligands including PCP, POCOP, PNP and Stereotypes of Computer Science and Its Effect on PONOP have been studied in iridium complexes for Women’s Career Pathways such reactions. My work has focused on discerning the Saenam Kim, Senior, Psychology properties of (PONOP)Ir complexes, as they are new Anisha Garg, Senior, Psychology compounds which have not been extensively studied. Mentor: Sapna Cheryan, Psychology PONOP (2,6-(OPtBu2)2C5H3N) is a novel tridentate ligand which binds to a metal center through its nitro- The number of women in computer science has been de- gen and two phosphorus atoms (the moniker PONOP creasing as the years progress, in comparison to other derives from the non-carbon atoms along its back- fields like biology and mathematics, where the percent- bone). My projects have included growing crystals of age of female students has been increasing (National Sci- [(PONOP)Ir(cyclooctene)]PF6 and (PONOP)Ir(phenyl), ence Foundation 2008). Specific stereotypes about the which may then be analyzed by X-ray (to determine computer science field (i.e. “geeky” or “nerdy”) may be the crystal structure) or by elemental analysis (to con- deterring women from computer science. The present firm the composition of the substances). As these com- study examines whether cues found in computer sci- plexes are highly reactive in the presence of oxygen, all ence classrooms can be seen as inviting or unwelcom- processes—ranging from synthesis of the complexes to ing to women. We hypothesized that if an environment preparation of samples for NMR—were carried out un- is more stereotypical of a computer science classroom, der vacuum or an inert atmosphere (such as nitrogen then women would be less interested in that class. Us- gas). Both 1H and 31P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ing computer software Second LifeTM, we created two imaging were used to monitor reaction progress and as- virtual classrooms, one portraying a stereotypical com- sess the purity of products. puter science classroom and the other depicting a non- stereotypical classroom. Sixty-four students at the Uni- Signaling Network Deregulation and Liver Cancer versity of Washington, Seattle participated in this study Amanda Koszarek, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular (28 males, 36 females). Each participant then “walked Developmental) through” two “Introduction to Computer Science” class- Mentor: William Grady, Medicine rooms and was asked to indicate which class they would Phosphatase-and-tensin homologue (PTEN) is a tumor prefer to take. Their choice in classroom was then ana- suppressor gene that is commonly mutated in many types lyzed along with their gender. Results revealed female of cancers, including liver cancer. Its mutation leads participants preferred the non-stereotypical room over to increased activity of the PI3K/AKT signaling path- the stereotypical room, whereas there was no statistically way. The inactivation of PTEN ultimately leads to resis- significant difference in preference among male partici- tance to apoptosis, increased proliferation, and other tu- pants. Our hypothesis was supported, confirming that mor promoting effects. Another signaling pathway com- environmental cues can cause and perpetuate underrepre- monly deregulated in liver cancer is the transforming sentation. This study suggests that altering environmen- growth factor-ß(TGF-ß) pathway, which paradoxically tal settings of computer science classrooms would help is both a tumor suppressor and activator. Deregulation computer science programs recruit more females. This of the TGF-ßpathway results in increased cell prolifera-

137 tion, decreased cell differentiation, decreased apoptosis, the articles.Then the particpants were asked to rate their increased angiogenesis, and extracellular matrix remod- emtional response to each article using two basic numer- eling. Since both the PI3K pathway and TGF-ßpathway ical scales per article. These scales were numbered 1- are commonly deregulated in liver cancer, we assessed 5; 1 representing a neutral emotional response and 5 re- if the two pathways cooperated to cause the formation spresenting a very strong emotional response. The first of liver cancer in a mouse model that lacks PTEN and scale was for a positive emotion such as happiness and the TGF-ßreceptor TGFBR2. Together with Patty Tro- the second scale was ment to rate a negative emotion bridge, Ji-Yeon Baek, and William M. Grady, I mated such as saddness. It was believed that the articles con- Alb-Cre mice with Pten(flx/flx) mice and Tgfbr2(flx/flx) taining visual images would result in stronger emotional mice to obtain mice that lack PTEN and TGFBR2 in responses. the liver. We are comparing these mice to mice that only lack PTEN or TGFBR2 in the liver. After obtain- Trypanosoma Brucei Methionyl-tRNA Synthetase ing the appropriate genotypes, the mice have been fol- and Histidyl-tRNA Synthetase Gene Products are lowed to approximately one year of age and then sacri- Essential for Viability In Vitro ficed with assessment of the liver at that time. We have Jocelyn Lam, Senior, Microbiology found that the Alb-Cre;Pten(flx/flx); Tgfbr2(flx/flx) mice, Mary Gates Scholar which lack PTEN and TGFBR2, develop hepatic carci- Mentor: Frederick Buckner, Medicine nomas at approximately 1 year of age. Approximately Tropical parasitic pathogens such as Trypanosoma bru- 80% of these mice (N=7/9) had hepatocellular carcino- cei, the causative agent of African sleeping sickness, mas and they had 9 tumors/liver on average. Moreover, afflict millions and produce high mortality rates in en- these mice also commonly have a condition called Non- demic areas. Current treatments available are toxic and Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) which may have influ- therefore the discovery of more effective drugs is of enced the formation of the tumors. Our results suggest great interest. We are doing research to identify criti- that PTEN inactivation and TGFBR2 loss can in fact co- cal biochemical pathways that may serve as new drug operate to induce liver cancer formation. targets in Trypanosoma brucei. My work involves two genes that encode tRNA synthetases, enzymes that cat- Images are More Emotional than Words Lainey Rokkan, Sophomore, Psychology, North Seattle alyze the linkage of amino acids to transfer RNAs and Community College are critical for protein production. The objective of my Sarah Cornell, Junior, Psychology, Women’s Studies, RNA interference (RNAi) assay was to determine if the North Seattle Community College methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MetRS) and histidyl-tRNA Elena Barker, Sophomore, Psychology, North Seattle synthetase (HisRS) are required for T. brucei prolifer- Community College ation in vitro. To study its growth, I constructed two Mentor: Melissa Grinley, Psychology, North Seattle tetracycline-inducible plasmids containing the genes and Community College transformed separate cultures of T. brucei. On day 4 of the study, the MetRS cultures that contained tetracy- Research has shown that when confronted with intense cline demonstrated a 100-fold inhibition in growth and visual messages the human brain will shift active pro- the HisRS cultures with tetracycline showed 1,000-fold cesses from the language-based, logical left side to the inhibition. The RNAi experiment suggests that these emotionally interactive right side. The limbic system synthetases are essential proteins in T. brucei. Future is the part of the brain responsible for both the experi- studies will analyze levels of mRNA in cultures to con- ence and the expression of emotion. It has been shown firm knockdown as well as enzyme activity and drug as- that the frontal limbic system responds the same when says. This work brings us closer to finding more effective confronted with real life situations as it does when con- drugs to combat trypanosoma infections. fronted with vivid imagery, (Restak, 2003). The exper- iment of Holmes, Mathews, Mackintosh and Dalgleish Synthesis of Structurally Related N4S Novel Ligand (2008) found that when combining an image presented Systems: Spectroscopy and Reactivity of a New to participants with a personal mental image the emo- Pyridine Based Thiolate–Ligated, Non-Heme Iron tional response was much stronger than when combin- Superoxide Reductase (SOR) Model Complex ing the image with a verbal sentence. In order to show Leah Landsem, Junior, Biochemistry that news articles containing images along with the text Mary Gates Scholar would induce stronger emotional responses participants Mentor: Julia Kovacs, Chemistry were randomly assigned into two groups. Both groups Mentor: Santiago Toledo, Chemistry were asked to read four articles, two of which contained Superoxide reducatse (SOR) is a non-heme iron enzyme the articles original image and two that contained only found in anaerobic organisms that catalyzes a selective text. In this way, each group acted as a control for two of one electron reduction of superoxide to hydrogen perox-

138 ide. Superoxide is a toxic oxygen derived radical that specific kinase in the presence of LTG will suggest that results from the adventitious one electron reduction of it plays a role in LTG’s mechanism. By elucidating the dioxygen and it has been implicated in diseases such as mechanism of LTG, we hope to contribute to the devel- cancer and Parkinson’s . One way to study metalloen- opment of more versatile and effective AEDs. zymes is through biomimetic modeling of the protein’s active site. Synthetic small molecule analogues of SOR A Computational Approach for Selecting Protein help to elucidate the structural, spectroscopic and reac- Targets in Plasmodium falciparum to Pursue in tivity properties of the enzyme and provide crucial in- Antimalarial Drug Development formation on transient intermediates in the catalytic cy- Adrian Laurenzi, Sophomore, Biochemistry cle of superoxide detoxification in nature. Herein we Mentor: Ram Samudrala, Microbiology present the synthesis of two novel pyridine based lig- This study makes use of a variety of computational tech- ands as precursors to the synthesis of new thiolate con- niques in order to assist in identifying protein targets to taining pyridine-based non-heme iron metal complexes pursue in the development of antimalarial drugs. The as models for the active site of SOR. The chemistry and goal is to select a protein target from Plasmodium falci- structure of these ligands and complexes was analyzed parum, the parasite that causes malaria, for which an in- through nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectroscopy, hibitor would be least likely to produce side effects in hu- UV-Vis and X-ray crystallography methods. Preliminary mans. This will be achieved by comparing a set of 14 tar- results towards superoxide reduction and dioxygen acti- get proteins, with experimentally determined structures vation are also presented. This study aims at understand- that are available from the Protein Data Bank (PDB), ing how small structural changes in the metal’s coordina- to the proteins in the PDB from humans and other or- tion environment affect the model’s chemistry and will ganisms commonly used in drug development. For each lead to a greater understanding of superoxide reductase protein global and local comparisons will be performed. reaction mechanism. So far global comparisons have been performed using Investigating the Molecular Mechanism of TM-align and Dali which look for similarities in the full Lamotrigine 3D (tertiary) structure of the proteins. The local compar- Ignatius Lau, Senior, Neurobiology isons will assess the homology among functional sites, Mary Gates Scholar which are short amino acid sequences involved in bind- Mentor: Nicholas Poolos, Neurology ing and catalysis. No algorithm exists that is capable of performing local comparisons on this scale, but this can Almost three million Americans currently have been di- be achieved by combining a meta-functional site predic- agnosed with epilepsy, making it one of the most preva- tion algorithm with BLAST at the amino acid level. An lent neurological conditions in the United States to- inhibitor that targets the protein in P. falciparum found day. Despite recent advances in pharmacological and to be most dissimilar to those in humans should be least nonpharmacological treatment, 25-30% of patients diag- likely to cause side effects. The results of this study nosed with epilepsy do not achieve satisfactory control could help to narrow down lead inhibitors to pursue in of their seizures with antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. antimalarial drug drug development. Techniques sim- Most AEDs currently being prescribed act directly on ion ilar to those described above will also be used to re- channels. Our current research focuses on an AED called late drug-protein interaction to protein structure. This Lamotrigine (LTG) and its effect on hyperpolarization- will be achieved by investigating similarities among hu- activated cyclic nucleotide gated ion channels (HCN man brain receptors and plant proteins that biosynthesize channels). Multiple studies have shown that HCN chan- compounds that are active on those receptors. nels decrease neuronal excitability when upregulated. However, LTG does not act directly on HCN channels. Life Span Extension from Osmotic Stress in Recent research suggests that LTG activates p-38 Mito- Caenorahbditis Elegans gen Activated Protein Kinase (p-38 MAPK), a special Anna Le, Senior, Individualized Studies, Biochemistry protein that can phosphorylate its substrate and modify Mary Gates Scholar its biophysical properties. P-38 MAPK then initiates a Mentor: Matt Kaeberlein, Pathology phosphorylation cascade that upregulates HCN channels. Aging can be defined as a progressive decline in the abil- We would like to know where LTG acts in the phospho- ity of an organism to maintain homeostasis. Studies from rylation cascade. We hypothesize that LTG upregulates many different laboratories have shown that aging can p-38 MAPK by acting directly on p-38 MAPK or on an be modulated by both genetic and environmental factors. upstream kinase of p-38 MAPK. I will use western blots One environmental factor that has been found to increase to determine if LTG increases the relative concentrations life span in a variety of organisms, including mammals, of p-38 MAPK and its upstream kinases in rodent hip- is dietary restriction (DR). DR is defined as a reduction in pocampal neurons. Relatively higher concentrations of a nutrient availability without malnutrition. We are study-

139 ing the interaction between diet, environment, and aging sites from one location, and create and save playlists in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a multicellular with videos from any current video searching site avail- eukaryotic invertebrate model organism. C. elegans are able. To design and implement VidRack, we followed a maintained in the laboratory on a bacterial diet consist- user-centered design process, consisting of these steps: ing of E. coli bacteria on a nutrient agar surface, referred First, we developed and administered a survey in paper to as Nematode Growth Medium. We have observed that and electronic form to determine the importance of fea- increasing the osmolarity of the growth medium, by ad- tures found on video searching sites. Next, we created dition of excess salts, peptone, or carbohydrates, is suf- multiple iterations of paper prototypes and conducted in- ficient to increase life span in C. elegans by up to 50%. terviews to evaluate the overall design and clarify our A mutation resulting in resistance to osmotic stress, osr- survey results. Finally, we developed a fully functioning 1(RB1032) also increases life span, suggesting that ge- web-based application. The data obtained from our sur- netic or environmental induction of the osmotic response vey and interviews have shaped the features and overall promotes longevity in C. elegans. Epistasis experiments design that is shown in our final site, and addresses all support a model that osmotic stress promotes longevity of the difficulties mentioned above that users face when in a pathway parallel to insulin/IGF-1-like signaling by using video searching sites. Looking ahead to the future, reducing food intake. Thus, we propose that osmotic there is great potential to expand the VidRack project to a stress acts as a dietary restriction mimetic to slow aging larger audience. Based on time constraints, we have been in C. elegans. unable to incorporate support for multiple languages, and adding this feature will allow a greater number of users Fourier Transform Infrared Measurement of to experience the benefits VidRack has to offer. Acetonitrile Using Different Solvents Hyung-Sup Lee, Senior, Biochemistry, Chemistry (ACS Individual Differences in ITD and ILD Sensitivity Certified) Ann Lin, Recent Graduate, Speech Hearing Sciences Mentor: Munira Khalil, Chemistry Mentor: G. Christopher Stecker, Speech Hearing Sciences The goal of my project is to understand solvation dynam- ics of acetonitrile dissolved in various hydrogen-bonding The purpose of this study was to develop a test battery solvents using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spec- for studying individual differences between ITD and ILD troscopy. The study focuses on understanding how the sensitivity. Interaural time difference (ITD) uses the dif- position, amplitude and line shape of the cyanide stretch- ference between the onset time of a sound that reaches ing vibration varies with increasing concentration of ace- each ear. Interaural level difference (ILD) uses the differ- tonitrile in water, methanol and ethanol. We will show ence in sound level for each ear. Research has shown that how the change in concentration, and solvent affects the typically listeners vary in sensitivity to the cues. At this cyanide frequency. Using this information, we will get to point, it is unknown as to which reasons are responsible closer to understanding how particular solvent molecules for this preference and also unclear as to which cue the interact with acetonitrile in solution. majority of individuals prefer. This study used cognitive, such as working memory tasks, and perceptual tests, in- VidRack: Video Search and Reference Site cluding 4 ITD and ILD discrimination tasks, 2 click train Wendy Lee, Senior, Informatics rate discrimination tasks, and 2 gap detection tasks. The Algernon Carpena, Senior, Informatics perceptual tasks involved listening to three intervals of Heather Lahde, Recent Graduate, Informatics sound. The first interval was the reference or the “norm.” Mentor: David Hendry, Information School The listeners were asked to choose between the second Mentor: Batya Friedman, Information School and third interval as to which was perceived to be differ- When searching for videos on the internet, users are of- ent. Differences were presented in a variety of ways such ten faced with challenges that make locating or play- as location and pitch. Preliminary data collected from 15 ing their desired video difficult. Traditionally, individ- university student subjects will be compared across tasks ual video searching sites implement proprietary methods and contribute to a more comprehensive population study for saving videos, making it impossible to save different on individual differences between ITD and ILD sensitiv- videos from multiple sites in one location. As a result, ity. the process can be very frustrating and time consum- The “Sea Tramp”: An Inductively Recharging ing for users, leaving them to select from the following Mooring Profiler options: (1) create an account on each individual video Sean Livingston, Sophomore, Pre-Engineering sharing site, (2) bookmark the video URL, or (3) memo- NASA Space Grant Scholar rize the keywords and the searching site associated with Mentor: Matthew Alford, Oceanography, APL/UW the given video. The VidRack project aims to streamline Mentor: Tim McGinnis, Ocean Engineerding, Applied this process by allowing users to search multiple video Physics Lab

140 longed deficiencies in cerebral blood flow. A possi- Although scientists know a great deal about what inhab- ble means for improving blood circulation during block- its the ocean, there are many unknowns about how the age involves the collateral circulation, where neighbor- ocean works. The current method of taking ocean mea- ing blood vessels respond by vasodilatation and diver- surements over a prolonged period of time is through the sion of blood to occluded regions. To potentially en- use of a moored profiler that carries several sensors and hance collateral blood flow, a rat model is used to eval- moves vertically from the sea surface to the sea floor and uate the effect of a vasodilator when applied to the back along a mooring cable. The endurance of modern ischemic area. Adenosine is a known neuroprotec- profilers is limited to about 6 weeks by the capacity of tant and vasodilator, and may be able to increase va- their battery power supply, which is the problem that the sodilatation above natural capacities. To investigate Applied Physics Lab’s project addresses. We hypothe- these effects, the cranial window methodology, laser- size that an inductively recharging battery system will Doppler perfusion measurement, laser speckle contrast allow a profiler to operate for a 12-month period of time. imaging, and remote filament MCAO technique are The only effective method of gathering data with enough simultaneously utilized. The adenosine A2A recep- resolution to be able to detect tidal currents and enough tor agonist, 2-p-(2-carboxyethyl)-phenethylamino-5’-N- duration to detect seasonal changes is to conduct a ver- ethylcarboxy-amidoadenosine (CGS 21680), is applied through the cranial window; vasodilatation of blood ves- tical profile several times a day throughout the course of a year. In order to take measurements over a full year, sels as well as increased residual blood flow to the oc- existing profilers can only take one profile per day which cluded site is monitored. Twenty-four hours after reper- under-samples most of the important parameters. The fusion, neurological deficit and ischemic damage is as- HOT mooring profiler that is being developed utilizes sessed. The goal for this project is to determine if phar- the new inductively recharging battery system which will macological agents such as adenosine can extend the allow near continuous (96% duty cycle) profiling for 1 treatment window for rTPA or other stroke therapies, ul- year. The ALOHA mooring has been successfully pro- timately to improve patient outcome. filing and recharging during a two-month trial period in Boeing Industrial Engineering Research Puget Sound, where it is taking measurements of con- Shan Lu, Senior, Art (Painting and Drawing), Industrial ductivity, temperature, and depth. The system is shown Engineering to work, which implies that an inductively recharging Edwin Heymann, Senior, Industrial Engineering battery system will power a profiler mooring for a full Belinda Leung-Tiberio, Fifth Year, Computing Software year. This improved operational lifespan will allow sci- Systems, UW Bothell entists to gain a much more complete picture of the pro- Mentor: Richard Storch, Industrial Engineering cesses that occur in the ocean and will provide insights into important issues such as global climate shift. University of Washington’s Industrial and Systems En- gineering Research group was presented with the unique Collateral Vasodilatation towards Improved Clinical challenge of proposing a facility design to move parts of Outcomes for Ischemic Stroke a ball-valve assembly line from Boeing Renton to Boe- Paul Lu, Senior, Neurobiology ing Auburn. A smoother work flow was the driving force EIP/Presidential Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar for the change. The research group reduced the project Samuel Kim, Sophomore, Pre-Sciences into two main areas: workbench design and layout de- Mentor: Al Ngai, Neurological Surgery sign. To begin, the group chose four Industrial Engineer- Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United ing methodologies to focus on: 5S, Lean, ergonomics States, only behind heart disease and cancer. Ischemic and quality assurance. The team gathered time study stroke, which accounts for approximately 80% of all data, part and inventory storage dimensions, and floor known and recorded strokes, occurs when cerebral ar- layout plans for the Auburn plant. Afterward, they an- teries or arterioles are occluded. Currently, recombi- alyzed the data and developed multiple options for the nant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) is the only ef- workbench and layout. Each workbench option earned fective and FDA approved therapy for ischemic stroke. points on the criteria of functionality, size, and cost. The Although this therapeutic method is highly effective, an team decided on proposing a J-shaped bench that had an extremely limited number of patients receive this treat- estimated payback of $10,671.21 per year. The layout ment (˜5%) due to the recommended 3-hour treatment options were judged on, ease of implementation, acces- window. The increasing risk of hemorrhage over time sibility and workflow. The final layout choice was to makes rTPA dangerous if used after three hours post- replace a table currently at Boeing Auburn, with a sin- stroke onset. Therefore, improved clinical treatments gle J-shaped workbench. Most importantly, the proposal for patients must be discovered to curtail the neuro- for the new workbench and layout comprised of sev- logical and morphological defects associated with pro- eral small changes packaged together. This way, Boeing

141 could at least implement some of the suggestions without is a protein initially isolated from bovine retinal ribbon committing to an all-or-nothing approach. synapses. Two Ribeye homologues have been found in zebrafish, namely RibeyeA and RibeyeB. We found that Simulating Dwarf Galaxy Halo Collisions only RibeyeB is expressed in the zebrafish lateral line. Ryan Maas, Senior, Physics, Astronomy We are currently performing in situ hybridization to as- Mary Gates Scholar, Washington Research sess the expression of Ribeye mRNA in the regenerating Foundation Fellow hair cells following their death by ototoxic drugs. Fur- Mentor: Julianne Dalcanton, Astronomy thermore, we are engineering constructs that will allow Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are much smaller than the us to follow in vivo the dynamics RibeyeB expression Milky Way and have surface brightness profiles that fall and localization in the lateral line hair cells during re- off exponentially rather than the power law dependence generation. of disk galaxies. It is not well known how these galax- Pachelbel vs. Mona ies can be heated as much as they are without having Jennifer Mao, Senior, Art (Photography), Psychology collided into a larger galaxy. One possibility may be re- Mary Gates Scholar lated to another cosmological theory known as hierar- Mentor: Jentery Sayers, English chal merging. From simulations it is believed that the Mentor: Phillip Thurtle, Comparative History of Ideas largest galaxies in the universe were formed by the col- lision of much smaller clumps of matter, and that the I am interested in the phenomenon of synesthesia, when mass distribution of objects in the universe tends heav- an experience within one sensory modality elicits a con- ily to these halos that are less massive than the dwarf current experience within a separate, unrelated modal- spheroidals themselves. While we do not see the num- ity. My research focused on investigating this biopsy- ber of dwarf galaxies predicted by hierarchal merging, chological phenomenon through the lens of artistic prac- an abundant presence of smaller dark matter halos may tice. The notion of synesthesia was intriguing because have a gravitational impact on the morphology of objects it seemed to embody the complications and limitations like dwarf spheroidals. We test this hypothesis by sim- that arise from our existence as organisms capable of ex- ulating a dwarf galaxy colliding with surrounding dark periencing a spectrum of sensory interpretations. One matter and comparing the results with observed data on manifestation of synesthesia is through the sound/color dwarf galaxies to determine an upper limit on the heating pathway, when visuals correspond to characteristics of produced. To approximate the maximum displacement experienced sounds such as pitch and timbre. Drawing of star particles in the dwarf galaxy, simulations are run inspiration from this, I composed a visual representation in which a concentrated dark matter halo from the sur- of Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major by assigning video clips rounding substructure collides perpendicular to the disk to pitches and arranging their presentation to mimic the of the galaxy. Preliminary results show that while star original piece. The second component of the installation particles disperse slightly over time, the largest plausible imagined the undocumented relationship between tactile collision from a single dark matter halo does not signif- and visual senses through the topographical representa- icantly affect the shape of the galaxy. The simulation tion of the Mona Lisa. This piece was meant to act as parameters are varied further to test different halo orien- an interactive canvas for the time-based video to be pro- tations and distributions of multiple halos. jected upon, and is also designed to be touched by view- ers. By projecting the visual manifestation of sound upon RibeyeB, a Ribbon Synapse Protein, is Expressed in a visual piece that has been translated into a primarily the Lateral Line Hair Cells touchable work, an immersive sensory experience was Frederica Mackert, Senior, Biology (General) created that confuses the traditionally automatic accep- Mentor: Arminda Suli, Biological Structure tance of our perceptual processes. Mentor: David Raible, Biological Structure The Civil War and American Values: The Changing The lateral line is a sensory system found in fishes and Moral and Religious Perspectives of the Home Front, amphibians that helps in prey detection, predator avoid- 1861-1865 ance and schooling behavior. These behaviors are medi- William Mari, Senior, History, Communication ated through the mechanosensory hair cells of the lateral (Journalism) line, which reside on the surface of the animal and are Mary Gates Scholar stimulated by water motion. The lateral line hair cells Mentor: Robert McKenzie, History convert the mechanical signals from the water displace- ment into electrical signals for the nervous system. Rib- The goal of my research project with Prof. Tracy bon synapses are critical structures of the hair cells that McKenzie has been to explore the shifting attitudes of are found at the interface of the hair cells with the fibers the Civil War’s home front, highlighting the debate over of the afferent neurons to which they signal. Ribeye a number of critical moral questions, including the role

142 of patriotism, racial and gender equality, civil liberties, single short application of iFU - SSAP. Our results are the idea of “just war” and faith. To do so, I have read consistent with the hypothesis. Therefore, iFU may gen- contemporary sources, including family papers, eyewit- erate a wind-up mediated sensation in damaged tissue. ness accounts, letters and newspaper reports, assisting Interestingly, we found that a single, long application of Prof. McKenzie by finding illuminating anecdotes for iFU (SLAP) with the same net on time as the WAP pro- his book project that illustrate the worldviews of the par- tocol required less acoustic energy than the WAP proto- ticipants in their own words, and how they changed these col. Calculations suggest that the difference in dose can views in response to several key events, including the ac- be explained by their different ability to generate heat – tual outbreak of the conflict, the Emancipation Procla- where perfusion – a heat-reduction mechanism plays a mation, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Sherman’s “march to role in a WAP but not a SLAP. Therefore, while WAP the sea,” Lincoln’s assassination, Lee’s surrender and the may induce wind-up based sensations, its sensation in- war’s aftermath. I have sought to answer questions that duction may also, or instead, arise due to its ability to deal with the moral and religious ambiguity civilian par- generate significant net temperature increases in tissue. ticipants faced, exploring their written thoughts, and en- compassing such dilemmas as, “How did religious peo- Principal Component Analysis of SDSS Stellar ple come to terms with these events, especially when it Spectra seemed as if God was not on their side? How did Chris- Rosalie McGurk, Senior, Astronomy, Physics tians in the South reconcile their beliefs with the institu- Undergraduate Research Conference Travel tion of slavery and its subsequent collapse?” The goal in Awardee answering these and other questions has been to get as Mentor: Zeljko Ivezic, Astronomy close as possible to the “ordinary” American of the pe- Stars emit light over a broad range of wavelengths. Using riod, in order to gauge his or her thoughts on how their a spectrograph, a device similar to a prism, astronomers views of faith and morality were affected by the war, measure the amount of light received per wavelength. and how these views changed over time. The insights The plot of the intensity of light received over a range of provided have revealed the emotionally complex and nu- wavelengths is called the spectrum of the star. The spec- anced feelings that Americans of faith expressed during tra of stars provide information about their temperatures, a turbulent time in our nation’s history. pressures, colors, masses, and metallicities (the ratio of WAPing and SLAPing for Pain: A Study into the amounts of metals to the amounts of hydrogen and Acoustic Temporal Summation helium in stars). We are analyzing hundreds of thou- Abigail McClintic, Junior, Pre-Major sands of spectra of hydrogen-burning main-sequence NASA Space Grant Scholar stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) us- Trevor Dickey, Senior, Biochemistry ing a technique called Principal Component Analysis Mentor: Pierre Mourad, Neurological Surgery (PCA). The PCA program mathematically analyzes each spectrum, compares it to a set of characteristic spectral In order to diagnose and treat painful sensations, we must shapes, and breaks the spectrum up into coefficients rep- know the location of the sensitive tissue. Current tech- resenting how well each shape describes or fits the spec- niques, however, lack sufficient anatomical specificity, or trum. Using the characteristic spectral shapes and the co- test only a subset of the candidate pain generators. Our efficients, we can describe most spectra in our data set. research focuses on the use of intense focused ultrasound We make publicly available the resulting high signal-to- (iFU) to localize pain. iFU can cause sensation in super- noise spectral shapes. These data can be used to gen- ficial and deep structures within the body. Moreover, iFU erate high quality spectra for an arbitrary combination causes differential sensations in normal versus damaged of temperature, metallicity, and gravity. The SDSS stel- tissue, whether that damage is inflammatory or neuro- lar spectroscopic database and the PCA results presented pathic. Specifically, when we applied iFU to normal and here offer a convenient method to classify new spectra, to damaged rat paws, rats exhibited a withdrawal response search for unusual spectra, and to train various spectral to a given dose on their damaged side but showed no re- classification methods. sponse to that same dose applied to their contralateral Search for Planetary Nebuale in the Galactic Halo paw. Wind-up is a type of sensation amplification based Jean McKeever, Senior, Astronomy, Physics in the central nervous system in which a stimulus ap- Mentor: Bruce Balick, Astronomy plied repeatedly (1 – 20 times per second) causes more Mentor: Julie Lutz, Astronomy sensation than a single application of that same stimu- lus. We hypothesized that iFU protocols incorporating Planetary nebulae are stars that have ceased nuclear reac- repeated short applications of iFU (‘wind-up acoustic tions in their cores and are shedding off their outer layers protocol’ – WAP) would create a sensation in damaged of material. Only about twelve of the thousands of plan- tissue at a lower net acoustic dose and intensity than a etary nebulae (PN) cataloged in the Milky Way Galaxy

143 (MWG) are believed to be associated with the halo, the Astronomical Data Processing area surrounding the disk of the galaxy. The goal of our Devon McMinn, Junior, Mathematics study is to discover additional MWG halo PN. We are Andrew Barr, Junior, Astronomy using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data, which Mentor: Jacob Vanderplas, Astronomy has five different color filters, to select candidate halo PN Mentor: Sarah Loebman, Astronomy based upon various scenarios, including the colors of six Mentor: Andrew Connolly, Astronomy MWG halo PN that are in the SDSS database. We then A problem common to anyone working with large follow up on candidates by doing colored filter photom- amounts of data is manipulating it to make it useful etry with g and [O III] filters on the 0.5-m telescope at and usable. Our research concerns the classification of Apache Point Observatory. The g filter is a basic color galaxies—a subjective process that often requires human of SDSS and PN are very bright in [O III] compared to judgment—and aims to automate this process as much normal stars. A “g-[O III]” index is formed, so that ob- as possible. We are doing this by using simulated galax- jects with strong [O III] emission can be picked out. Fu- ies, which can give us ideas of the relationships of the ture steps involve further observations and getting spec- different variables that determine what a galaxy looks tra, the distribution of light over the continuum, for the like. In order to isolate these relationships, we used the candidates. previously developed Locally Linear Embedding (LLE) Temperature Effects on the Life History of Daphnia algorithm. This works by reducing dimensionality in Magna data while preserving the relationships between the data Anna McLaskey, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences points. In this case, dimensionality refers to distinct mea- Mentor: Frieda B. Taub, Aquatic Fishery Science surements of each data point. The reduction is accom- plished by treating these dimensions of data as spatial Zooplankton play an important role in aquatic ecosys- dimensions and calculating geometric distances between tems as a link between primary producers and larger points. When the distances between a data point and its organisms. Daphnia are a widespread and abundant K neighbors, where K is the number of objects closest zooplankton and influence many systems because they to it, are calculated, it is possible to quantify the geo- are efficient grazers and are important in nutrient cy- metric relationships of the variables. These geometric cling. Their life history patterns cause effects throughout relationships make it much easier to detect correlations ecosystems by affecting trophic levels above and below that may go unnoticed in higher dimensional data. This them by determining both grazing pressure on algae and algorithm has also been applied successfully to image the food resources of planktivorous organisms and fish. processing. We make use of the LLE algorithm to create As climate change begins affecting ecosystems around plots of our simulated galaxies to spot variable correla- the world it will often be cascading effects such as these tion. From these plots, we are trying to systematically that affect the system as a whole. Closed ecological sys- categorize galaxies based on pictures obtained from the tems can be useful in studying these effects because they Sloan Digital Sky Survey. depend on the interactions of producers and consumers through the nutrient recycling which is the basis of all Analysis of Volatile Oils Isolated from Mentha ecosystems. To test the effects of temperature on the sur- spicata and Mentha suaveolens using Headspace Gas vival and life history traits of Daphnia magna and mixed Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry algae, twelve identical closed ecological systems were Micaela Marquez, Senior, Chemistry, The Evergreen created in glass bottles, each with 250 mL of chemically State College defined and complete medium, including 10% mixed al- Kate Reimer, Junior, Chemistry, The Evergreen State gae in a chemically defined solution and six D. magna College individuals, two that were large and carrying eggs, two Mentor: Peter Pessiki, Chemistry, The Evergreen State medium, and two small juveniles. Six of these sealed College systems were then incubated at a constant 20C and six at a constant 25C, all with twelve hours of light. Pre- We have been successful in our goal of establishing a gar- liminary results indicate that at the higher temperature, den that supplies research and teaching labs with a sus- reproduction occurred sooner, but the population quickly tainable source of plant materials suited for laboratory started to decline. These effects compare with prior stud- science and chemical analysis. The garden is located on ies that indicated that increased temperatures decreases a patch of land called the Organic Farm, which is part the age at sexual maturity but also decreases life span. of The Evergreen State College campus. Our focus has Understanding how temperature changes may affect zoo- been growing plants that produce volatile oils that can plankton communities will be vital to predicting how cli- be readily isolated by steam distillation or ethereal sol- mate change will affect aquatic ecosystems. vent extraction. These isolated constituents are suitable for analysis by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), our primary analytical tool. A recent addition

144 to our instrument, a Headspace Analyzer, has allowed Factors Influencing Nonword Repetition us to expand our initial studies by eliminating the ex- Performance in Adults with Specific Language traction part of the process, which has introduced some Impairment new challenges in data interpretation. This poster re- Kelsey Milne, Senior, Speech Hearing Sciences ports and compares our results using this newly obtained (Communication Disorders) Headspace-Gas Chromatography technology (HS-GC) Mary Gates Scholar with data obtained from the traditional method of dis- Mentor: Stacy Betz, Speech Hearing Sciences tilling the plant material followed by direct injection into Specific language impairment (SLI) disrupts language the GC-MS as neat samples. in the absence of hearing loss, low nonverbal intelli- Measurement of MRI Imaging Modalities for gence, or obvious neurological deficits. Adults with Modeling Glioma Growth SLI perform poorly on nonword repetition tasks that re- Larissa Miller, Junior, Materials Science Engineering quire them to listen to and repeat nonsense words; how- Amanda Ly, Junior, Pre-Health Sciences ever, the factors underlying this poor performance are Mentor: Kristin Swanson, Pathology unknown. This study investigated factors that may influ- ence nonword repetition, to determine how these tasks Gliomas are highly aggressive brain tumors with origins might be used to diagnose adults with SLI. Verbal mem- in the brain’s glial cells. Glioma growth is described in ory may contribute to the ability to store and recall non- terms of net rates of migration (D) and proliferation (ρ). words. Lexical ability, or knowledge of the words in These parameters differ for each patient but can be de- one’s language, is another potential factor; individuals termined by using pre-treatment serial imaging. Only a may use similar words in their own languages to “recon- portion of the actual tumor can be seen by any imag- struct” the memory of a nonword. In addition to these ing of the brain, therefore this patient-specific model in- cognitive-linguistic factors, properties of the nonwords creases our ability to effectively treat the tumor and pre- may affect performance. These factors include length, dict the life expectancy of patients by detecting tumor phonotactic probability (a measure of the frequency with invasion below the imaging threshold. Measuring cancer which sound sequences within a word are likely to oc- growth for use in the model utilizes MRI scans of dif- cur) and wordlikeness (similarity to the actual words of ferent modalities and a MATLAB-based program. The a language). In this study, adults with SLI completed abnormality depicted depends on the appearance of hy- three nonword repetition tasks. The nonwords differed in perintense regions in different modalities of the scan and length, phonotactic probability, and wordlikeness. Sub- the therapy the patient has undergone such as radiation jects also completed tasks that measure verbal short-term and chemotherapy. Two observations are made for each and working memory, lexical knowledge, and visuospa- imaging set in order to gain an accurate tumor volume tial short-term and working memory. Preliminary results measurement. Our lab routinely uses four primary imag- indicate that adults with SLI score lower than typical ing modalities to describe tumor dynamics. Because of adults on both cognitive-linguistic and nonword repeti- the diffuse invasion of the glioma cells, the edge of hy- tion tasks. Ultimately, statistical regression models will perintense regions is not always clearly defined. Com- be used to compare the nonword characteristics, as well parison of a T1 modality, which depicts excess blood, as scores from the cognitive-linguistic tests, to accuracy and a T1Gd modality, which depicts bulk tumor mass, measures of nonword repetition performance, in order to necrosis, and excess blood, prevents blood from affect- discover which factors significantly predict nonword rep- ing the volume calculation. T2 and FLAIR modalities etition scores. These results will help determine whether depict surrounding edema as well as bulk tumor mass. a particular nonword repetition task best differentiates Treatment information is necessary for understanding adults with SLI from typical adults. Then, our knowl- cancer progression over time and what each scan actu- edge of factors that influence performance could be used ally depicts. Treatments may change what appears on to fine-tune the task so that it more accurately identifies the actual image, and we can distinguish these changes those with the disorder. by comparing images pre and post change. An increased understanding of tumor invasion as it is represented on Imitation and Face Processing in Patients with these various imaging modalities is essential to develop- Autism Spectrum Disorder Amy Moretti, Senior, Psychology ing more accurate models and a better understanding of Mary Gates Scholar glioma growth. Mentor: Raphael Bernier, Psychiatry Behavioral Sciences Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by social impairments, deficits in social communication, and re- stricted or repetitive interests and behaviors. It is well

145 documented that people with autism have a variety of Then, cytotoxicity of ICG-loaded micelles will be as- deficits in social cognition, such as difficulties in the- sessed in HeLa cell cultures. In a separate time-course ory of mind, empathy, imitation, face processing, and study, HeLa cells will be treated with both ICG and joint attention. While many of the relationships between micelle-encapsulated ICG to assess whether improved these impairments have been examined, no published dye stability is observed under in-vitro conditions, and studies to date have explored the relationship between if cellular uptake of the dye is enhanced by micellar en- imitation and face processing impairments observed in capsulation. Preliminary data with similar copolymers autism. The primary aims of the present study are to suggest ICG stability is improved by micelle encapsula- explore the relationship between these two areas of so- tion, and we plan to ascertain whether similar stabiliza- cial cognition, examine their impact on autism severity, tion occurs in these new micelles. and to explore the possible relationship with a neurolog- Effects of Historical Biosolids Application on ical mechanism, the mirror neuron system. To achieve Mycorrhizal Communities of Managed Douglas-Fir these aims we propose to examine behaviorally assessed Forests at Pack Forest, Washington face processing and imitation abilities, autism severity, Jill Mountford, Senior, Environmental Science, UW and mirror neuron activation in a sample of adults with Tacoma autism. Correlational analyses of this previously col- Mentor: Erica Cline, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, lected data will be conducted to examine the relationship UW Tacoma between both aspects of social cognition. Further sec- ondary analyses will assess their relationship to the mir- Biosolids, one byproduct of wastewater treatment, are ror neuron system, and additionally, the effect of these commonly applied as a fertilizer to agricultural or for- social abilities on symptom severity. We hypothesize est soils and early experimental applications sometimes that facial imitation ability and face processing ability contained toxic heavy metals which can persist in the soil will correlate across all individuals, and that imitation for decades. Mycorrhizal fungi symbiotically associated impairments and deficits in face processing will signifi- with tree roots can protect from heavy metal toxicity, cantly impact symptom severity. but it is not clear whether some species may be more effective than others. We measured soil characteristics Triblock Copolymer Micelles for Encapsulation of and identified mycorrhizal fungi on Douglas-fir roots in Indocyanine Green to Promote Dye Stability and summer 2008 at the UW Pack Experimental Forest from Targeting Specificity eight fixed plots within each of three treatments: an un- Christopher Mount, Senior, Bioengineering treated control, a stand with moderate biosolids applica- Mary Gates Scholar tion in 1982, and a stand with heavy biosolids application Mentor: Tae Hee Kim, Bioengineering in 1978. The biosolids-treated stands had a higher mois- Mentor: Suzie Pun, Bioengineering ture content and lower pH than the control stand. While Near-infrared (NIR) imaging has several significant ad- the number of distinct morphotypes were similar among vantages over other types of tissue imaging. Light at the three treatments, Cenococcum and Rhizopogon, the these wavelengths (700-900nm) experiences less absorp- two most abundant taxa, were more abundant in the con- tion and optical scattering than visible or infrared light trol than in either of the treated stands. Further iden- in the body, and the background autofluorescence levels tification using DNA sequencing is on-going to further in this range from tissues is minimal. Combined with explore potential patterns in mycorrhizal species among the use of a contrast agent, this allows greater imaging the different treatments. depth and sensitivity. Indocyanine Green (ICG) is cur- Simulation of a Geo-Neutrino Detector rently the only FDA-approved NIR dye for routine clin- John Mower, Junior, Electrical Engineering ical use to assess liver and heart functions. However, its Mentor: Nikolai Tolich, Physics use is limited by several properties, including rapid aque- ous, photo, and thermal instability, nonspecific binding Geo-neutrinos are produced by the naturally occurring to blood proteins, and rapid clearance from the body. decay of terrestrial thorium and uranium. We would like Recent research has shown that encapsulation of ICG to understand to what extent the estimated 44Terawatt in polymeric micelles is a promising approach for over- of heat produced by the earth is attributed to the decay coming these qualities. My research is directed towards of these particular elements. Current estimates of the characterization of micelles composed of a PEO-PHB- Earth’s content of these radioactive elements are derived PEO triblock copolymer. Following synthesis of the tri- from meteorites; it is believed that the Earth is comprised block copolymer, characterization will begin with quan- of similar materials. The estimated quantity of these el- titative determinations of the critical micelle concentra- ements and their rate of decay does not account for the tion, micelle size distribution and stability, stability of measured amount of heat produced on this planet. A re- micelle-encapsulated ICG, and ICG loading efficiency. liable measurement of geo-neutrinos could help us to un-

146 derstand this difference. One past experiment has mea- mass and discharge up along the simulated coast. sured geo-neutrinos but with a large background of neu- trinos originating from relatively nearby nuclear reactors The Engedi System adding a large error to the measurements. A new de- Nathaniel Dupuis, Senior, Electrical Engineering, tector, located in the Homestake mine in South Dakota, Seattle Pacific University would not suffer from this large background flux of neu- Jon Battershell, Senior, Electrical Engineering, Seattle trinos. In order to minimize costs, we are considering Pacific University new designs such as an array of long rectangular detec- Austin Clark, Senior, Electrical Engineering, Seattle tors that would also allow for easier placement into the Pacific University ideal mine location. To evaluate the design we will con- Bradley Rogers, Senior, Electrical Engineering, Seattle struct a simulation of these detectors. The simulation Pacific University should allow for us to discover whether we can distin- Jordan Wirth guish geo-neutrino interactions from ones caused by ra- Mentor: Don Peter, Electrical Engineering, Seattle dioactive decays originating in the materials of the de- Pacific University tector. The Engedi System is a sleeping and waking system de- Pilot Experiment to Generate Age Fields for Coastal signed to maximize comfort and flexibility. It does this River Plumes via an extensive suite of features, each customizable for Melyssa Nagamine, Junior, Civil Engineering, the user’s sleeping preferences and schedule. Most alarm Biochemistry clocks have limited methods of waking people up. The Mary Gates Scholar typical alarm uses an obnoxiously loud beeping noise Shaun Bevan, Senior, Civil Engineering that immediately disturbs the peaceful state of the user. Mentor: Alex Horner-Devine, Civil Environmental Abrupt, startling alarms do not allow for the body to Engineering awake naturally. The Engedi System provides a healthy, customizable alternative. The entire system is conve- In environmental engineering, it is essential to under- niently controlled via a single alarm clock. There are stand the manner in which water transports nutrients, four main components in the system: a heating/cooling contaminants, and other particles that affect the health mattress pad, a wireless light dimmer, a wireless elec- of aquatic systems. The chemical and biological pro- trical receptacle, and the alarm clock itself. The heat- cesses related to these substances are dependent on the ing and cooling mattress pad is the largest piece of the residence time of the particular constituent and often pro- system. In addition to controlling temperature through a ceed exponentially, making them sensitive to small vari- thermoelectric circulating water system, the mattress is ations in the age of a fluid parcel in the system. In prac- fitted with vibrators which can function as an alarm by tice, residence time is difficult to measure and is often gently shaking the user awake. A wireless light dimmer estimated by a quantity known as hydraulic residence simulates a rising sun or provides lower intensity light time, which represents a case of ideal behavior. How- for other activities. A wireless electrical outlet allows ever, in environmental flows, vortices and other singu- for innumerable possible gadgets to be activated on cue larities often cause large deviations from the ideal case, such as a crock pot, record player, or coffee maker. If the causing this to be an inaccurate representation of actual previous subtle features fail to wake the person up, then residence time. In the present experiment we study how an audible alarm can be set. This will use an mp3 player the spatial distribution of age changes with time in the as the source of music. All these features are fully con- specific case of a coastal river plume. In order to mea- trolled via a user interface based on an attractive graphi- sure two-dimensional fields of age we are developing a cal color touch screen integrated into the alarm clock. new technique that uses linear mixing of two different color dyes to create a timescale, which is applied to im- Wnt/ β-catenin Signaling Occurs in Cortical NG2+ ages of the flow to map age. The validation of the new Progenitors and is Increased in the Glial Response to image-based age technique will facilitate its use in more Traumatic Brain Injury comprehensive experiments involving other environmen- Ryan Nathe, Senior, Neurobiology tal flows. This experiment will also provide data about Mary Gates Scholar the age fields in coastal river plumes, which is relevant in Mentor: Philip Horner, Neurological Surgery the consideration of sediment loading into the oceans. It Mentor: Bryan White, Pharmacology, Program in will also provide a basis for understanding how coherent Neurobiology and Behavior structures in the flow are affecting the age distributions. Wnt/β-catenin is a cell signaling process involved in Our preliminary results suggest that the first fluid to en- embryogenesis, cancer, cell differentiation and regener- ter the flow is trapped in the center of the plume. The ation. Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the brain can influ- younger fluid then appears to circle around the central ence the proliferation and differentiation of progenitor

147 populations in the hippocampus and subventricular zone, humans, and thus should yield more robust radiocarbon known germinal centers in the adult mouse brain and ages, which will better constrain the ages of the refer- is therefore involved in neurogenesis and gliogenesis. ence tephra layers. Having correlated tephra layers from Manipulation of this pathway is a possible clinical ther- the reference sites to the archeological sites, we can then apy for traumatic brain injury. Using a Wnt/β-catenin more firmly date the archeological strata. In turn we will reporter mouse (BATGAL mouse) and immunofluores- gain a better knowledge of how and when indigenous cence we show that Wnt/β-catenin signaling occurs in peoples lived and migrated among the Kuril Islands. NG2+ progenitors in the cortex and in subcallosal zone progenitors. Cells with Wnt/β-catenin signaling increase Expression of a Rapidly Evolving Seminal Fluid in the cortex and subcallosal zone following traumatic Protein brain injury. Initially after traumatic brain injury, Wnt/β- Eric Nguyen, Senior, Computer Science, Biology catenin signaling is predominantly increased in a subset (Molecular, Cellular Developmental), Philosophy of NG2+ progenitors in the cortex and one week later the Amgen Scholar majority of Wnt/β-catenin signaling has shifted to oc- Mentor: Willie Swanson, Genome Sciences curring in reactive astrocytes. Over a period of 28 days Mentor: Joe Gasper, Genome Sciences the distribution of BrdU+ β-catenin expressing cells in Lectins are a class of sugar-binding proteins often in- the cortex shifts from deeper tissues of the cortex to- volved in interactions between cells. Some lectins are ward the parenchyma. Through studies injecting animals found in seminal fluid, including three in Drosophila. with BrdU or infusing animals with AraC, we show that When expression of these three lectins is inhibited, male the increase in Wnt/β-catenin signaling occurs in newly sperm is less effectively stored by their female mates. A born cells and is dependent on cell division. These data recently-discovered seminal fluid protein in Drosophila, argue for manipulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway after Sfp24F, has been shown to be rapidly evolving, and has traumatic brain injury as a way to modify posttraumatic sequence and structure similar to those of lectins. Given gliogenesis (scar formation). that Sfp24F is similar to lectins in many respects, it is Radiocarbon Correlation of Archeological Strata in possible that this rapid evolution is happening because the Kuril Islands of selective pressure to improve the efficiency of male Stephen Newman, Recent Graduate, Earth Space sperm storage in female mates. The object of this project Sciences is to create purified Sfp24F protein for use in further ex- Mentor: Jody Bourgeois, Earth Space Sciences perimentation. This process involves a number of steps, beginning with using PCR to isolate the Sfp24F gene se- Deciphering the archeological history of indigenous peo- quence. We then cloned that sequence into a plasmid ples, who within the last few thousand years populated vector, and transformed that vector into E. coli cells. the Kuril Islands, hinges upon careful excavation, arti- Restriction digest and gel extraction of the desired se- fact typology, and reliable dating methods. Though ra- quence fragment resulted purified DNA, which was lig- diocarbon (14C) dating is a reliable tool for determining ated into an expression vector. The expression vector the ages of recent geologic deposits, using this technique will be transfected into Drosophila S2 cells, which, once when dating archeological deposits is more difficult. Ra- grown, will be selected for cells containing the Sfp24F diocarbon dates in these cases are commonly derived protein. Once this is complete, the protein will be puri- from organic artifacts (often charcoal or plant matter) fied using a western blot and affinity column. Expression which humans often move or rearrange in an archeolog- of the Sfp24F protein will enable experimentation on its ical setting. Moreover, artifacts such as structural wood, protein-protein interactions, shedding light on its possi- utensils and charcoal may stem from old wood. Thus ble roles in sperm storage. radiocarbon dating of these artifacts is not always reli- able. This appears to be the case in archeological pits on Regional Variation of IGF-1 and Microglial Cell Simushir, an active volcanic island in the central Kurils. Expression throughout the Brain of R/6 Mice: An To confirm or constrain the ages of these archeological Animal Model of Huntington’s Disease strata, we will correlate layers of volcanic ash and cin- Vidang Nguyen, Senior, Biochemistry, Danish, ders (tephra) from said archeological excavations with Neurobiology reference tephra deposits from nearby, non-archeological Mary Gates Scholar pits. To correlate these layers, we are analyzing char- Mentor: Thomas Moeller, Neurology acteristics including color, thickness, mineralogy, glass Mentor: Elsa Raibon, Neurology content and chemistry, size-distribution, relative strati- Microglia, the resident immune cells of the central ner- graphic position, and grain density and angularity. Sam- vous system, are involved in the pathophysiology of ples of organic material such as peat taken from these many diseases, including Huntington’s Disease (HD), reference pits are not likely to have been influenced by a devastating neurodegenerative condition characterized

148 by progressive motor and cognitive impairments. Insulin secondary structure interactions near the beginning of the Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), which is fundamental to neu- protein-coding sequence. In an effort to reduce transla- ronal development and is mainly produced by glial cells tional dependence on the protein-coding sequence, a pos- in the brain, can slow disease progression in ALS. More- sible method of standardizing translation is investigated. over, our laboratory found reduced IGF-1 expression lev- Specifically, insertion of a standardized nucleotide se- els in HD and R6/2 mice brains, with a lower basal ex- quence at the beginning of the protein-coding sequence pression in microglial cells. The R6/2 mouse is an an- has the potential to homogenize the mRNA secondary imal model for HD. This strain is trangenic for the 5’ structure across different RBS-protein combinations, re- end of the human HD gene carrying the mutant exon 1 sulting in complete dependence of translation rate on the along with polyglutamic expansions. My project aims to RBS sequence. This standardized nucleotide sequence study microglial cell activation and IGF-1 pattern of ex- would be translated along with the regular protein cod- pression within the brain of transgenic R6/2 mice as the ing sequence to create a protein with an amino acid ‘tag’. disease develops. Microglial cells and IGF-1 were visu- N-terminus tags have been utilized as degradation mark- alized with immunohistochemistry on collected sections ers, fusion protein linkages, and for affinity purification of multiple brains embedded in a single block. Studying purposes. This research proposes extending the utility of samples from multiple timepoints, the development of N-terminal tags into the domain of translational regula- the immune response can be followed and characterized. tion. Fluorescence measurements are presented for dif- We found a clear pattern of activated microglia within ferent reporter genes translated downstream from identi- the striatum of R6/2 mice. Interestingly, microglia-like- cal RBSs. These measurements are supplemented with morphology-IGF-1 positive cells were mainly found in computer simulation predictions for mRNA secondary other brain areas. Additional studies are required in or- structure stability. der to elucidate the role of IGF-1 in HD and to ascertain whether microglia are involved in the IGF-1 response. Longitudinal Effects of Maternal Depression and When HD develops, the regional neuronal cell death is Paternal Antisocial Personality Disorder on concomitant to microglial activation in the striatum of Children’s Psychopathology HD patients. However, it still remains to be figured out Megan O’Brien, Senior, Psychology if the increased activity of microglia is a cause or con- Mentor: Ted Beauchaine, Psychology sequence of HD. The results of my project are important Considerable research indicates that most psychiatric to understanding the effects of HD on the striatum and disorders, including mood disorders, tend to run in fam- the consequences of the immune response at disease on- ilies. We propose to examine the effects of maternal set. The knowledge gained from studying this animal depression and paternal antisocial personality disorder model could provide big step towards finding a way to (ASPD) on the expression of psychopathology among slow down the motor and cognitive impairment of the children. Participants include 212 families with a child disease and alleviate pain for HD patients. diagnosed with depression, conduct problems, both con- Ribosomal Binding Site Measurements and ditions, or neither condition. Families participated over Translation Rate Standardization the course of three years and children ranged in age from Alec Nielsen, Senior, Bioengineering, Electrical 8-12 at the start of the study. We hypothesize that chil- Engineering dren of parents with high levels of maternal depression Mary Gates Scholar, Undergraduate Research and paternal ASPD will exhibit escalating psychologi- Conference Travel Awardee cal impairment over the three years, over-and-above their Mentor: Sean Sleight, Bioengineering baseline levels of psychopathology. Changes in mater- nal depression across three years—including the more The ability to easily and reliably engineer biology is severe melancholic subtype—will also be examined. an exciting prospect that could benefit fields such as medicine, energy production, information processing, Thomson Scattering as a Diagnostic Tool for the ZaP and bioremediation. Design and implementation of func- Flow Z-pinch Experiment tionally dependable systems would be augmented by the Rachel Oberto, Senior, Aeronautics Astronautics, standardization of fundamental components in synthetic Physics biology; this would reduce variability and help elimi- Mary Gates Scholar nate unexpected behavior in engineered systems. Specif- Mentor: Uri Shumlak, Aeronautics Astronautics ically, the translation rate of a protein, a vital parameter Mentor: Raymond Golingo, Aeronautics Astronautics in biological systems, is regulated by the sequence of The ZaP Flow Z-pinch Experiment is a study of the ef- an associated ribosomal binding site (RBS). While this fects of sheared flow on a magnetically confined col- makes the RBS a useful means of control in biological umn of plasma and has applications to fusion energy and systems, translation rate can also be affected by mRNA rocket propulsion. Two of the defining characteristics of

149 a plasma are its temperature and density. One of the few Quantifying the Benefits of Infant Directed Speech diagnostics capable of measuring these properties locally Marina Oganyan, Senior, Biology (Physiology), is Thomson scattering. Thomson scattering measures the Linguistics temperature and density of the electrons in a plasma by Mentor: Richard Wright, Linguistics firing a laser through it and analyzing the scattered light. Mentor: Nairan Ramirez-Esparza, Institute for On the ZaP experiment, a ruby laser is used to irradiate Learning Brain Sciences the plasma. The scattered light is then collected, resolved Previous studies indicate that infant directed speech with a spectrometer, and measured by an array of photo- (IDS), especially its prosody, is important to child lan- multiplier tubes. Preliminary data has been collected and guage acquisition. However, no studies yet have quanti- analyzed. The preliminary electron temperatures are cal- fied the relationship between phonological development culated to be in the range of 50 – 100 eV, which is con- and amounts of IDS exposure. I hypothesize that the sistent with previous estimates from spectroscopy mea- amount of exposure to and the degree of exaggeration surements of ion temperature and radial force balance. of IDS will positively correlate with progression through Further calibration is needed to improve the reliability of the stages of phonological development. Similarly, I hy- these results and to calculate the electron density. pothesize that the exposure amount and degree of exag- Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flow geration will interact such that exaggeration has a mul- Through a Water Tunnel tiplier effect on the benefit of exposure length. In this Kyle Odland, Senior, Aeronautics Astronautics study, infants aged 14 months wore recorders for 8 hours Mary Gates Scholar a day for four consecutive days. A speech detection algo- Mentor: Dana Dabiri, Aeronautics Astronautics rithm randomly sampled 30 second segments from each day. For each segment I participated in the orthographic The small water tunnel in the University of Washington transcription of parental utterances. I used the IPA to Aeronautics & Astronautics Fluid Mechanics Lab has transcribe the infant utterances following internationally two main sections. In the contraction section, the fluid accepted protocols. Based on the transcriptions, child ut- flow is contracted both horizontally and vertically, from terances will be categorized into CV, (C)VCV or (C)VC its initial area at the inlet to a smaller cross-section at the or (C)VV, stress-feet and phonological words (Demuth, exit. The flow exits the contraction section into the test 1996). Babbling will also be categorized as variegated section, where experiments can be performed to study versus non-variegated and by frequency of intervocalic turbulent flow. In order for the experiments to produce consonants. I will perform an acoustic analysis of the viable results, the flow entering the test section must be parental signals to determine the frequency, duration, free of turbulence or any secondary flow. With the cur- and degree of exaggeration in IDS. The acoustic indica- rent geometry of the tunnel however, secondary flow has tors of exaggeration in parental IDS are syllable duration, been observed in the corners of the contraction section pitch range, pause frequency, and pause duration. A sta- of the tunnel. In order to minimize or eliminate the un- tistical analysis will be used to determine the correlations wanted vortices from the contraction section, the geome- between IDS (exposure, exaggeration) and the advance- try of the water tunnel must be redesigned. In order to do ment through the stages in phonological development. I this, I am using the computational fluid dynamics pack- predict that the results will show a positive correlation age FLUENT to model the geometry of the tunnel and between frequency of exposure to parental IDS, particu- simulate the behavior of the flow. In order to ensure that larly exaggerated IDS, and the relative frequency of ad- the simulation will work, I first created a model of the ex- vanced infant productions. isting tunnel. I ran the simulation of flow with a variety of flow parameters, and was able to reproduce the turbu- Chemical Vapor Deposition of Cadmium Telluride lence that was observed experimentally. I have begun to Dayne Olmstead, Senior, Materials Science change the shape of the contraction section, in order to Engineering find a geometry that will minimize the turbulence that is Mentor: Y. K. Rao, Materials Science Engineering generated, or remove the vortices all together. So far, I Solar power is the most widely available alternative en- have been successful in reducing the size of the vortices, ergy source worldwide. To date, the most commonly by moving the inflection point in the curve of the tunnel available means of capturing solar energy is through farther back in the contraction section and by eliminat- photovoltaic panels, which convert incoming photons ing the vertical element of contraction. At present, our to electrical energy. Photovoltaic panels are dependent studies are still continuing. More variations of the con- upon the operation of a semiconductor media that func- traction curve need to be tested, and promising results tions as a photodiode, generating a continuous stream of will be verified by further testing. energized electrons as the substrate is bombarded with high energy photons. The most common semiconduc- tor material used today is crystalline silicon, which is

150 costly both to refine and manufacture panels from. It Toxicity of Mixtures of Carbaryl and Imidacloprid is predicted that an adequate supply of affordable crys- in Juvenile Rainbow Trout: Implications for the talline silicon will not exist to meet future growth in de- Control of Burrowing Shrimp in Willapa Bay, mand for Photovoltaic applications. Cadmium Telluride Washington is an alternative material to crystalline silicon for PV Kristen Omori, Senior, Environmental Science panels, and affords a similar level of electronic perfor- Resource Management, Aquatic Fishery Sciences mance at a fraction of the manufacturing cost. Since it Andrea Blin, Sophomore, Environmental Studies is not widely used, the processing technique for generat- Michael Elam, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences ing thin films of cadmium telluride has not been widely Donna Krell, Senior, Landscape Architecture researched. Recent attempts to grow CdTe from alkyl Cassandra Manibusan, Junior, Biology (General) precursors have resulted in reports of defects originating Zachary Radmer, Senior, Environmental Studies from the deposition of carbon during the growth reaction. (Ecology Conservation), Biology (Ecology Evolution) This study investigates the deposition of CdTe from a Kimberly Roper, Junior, Environmental Science stream of gases in a controlled environment. These gases Resource Management may include halides of cadmium and tellurium, as well Marissa Smith, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences as hydrogen. The thermodynamic properties involved Kevin Swager, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences include gas pressures and temperatures, as well as the Johnny Thepvongsa, Senior, Environmental Science volumetric feed rate for each gas. Determining an ideal Resource Management case for the deposition of CdTe crystals is the first step Kyle Van De Graaf, Senior, Biology (Ecology, Evolution in the development of a processing technique that can Conservation) ultimately help lower the cost and increase the availabil- Nathaniel Olsen, Junior, Environmental Science ity of defect-free CdTe as a semiconductor material. This Resource Management will help to ensure the long term viability of photovoltaic Mentor: Christian Grue, Aquatic Fishery Science devices as a solution to our global energy dependence. Carbaryl has been used to control burrowing shrimp The Use of Barcoding on Separation of Multiplexed within oyster beds in Willapa Bay and Gray’s Harbor, DNA Samples in One Sequencing Run Washington for 6 decades. These shrimp destabilize sed- Amy Olson, Senior, Biology (Physiology) iments onto which young Pacific oysters are seeded. Im- Mentor: Jay Shendure, Genome Sciences idacloprid is currently being tested as an alternative to Mentor: Emily Turner, Genome Sciences carbaryl and its toxicity to non-target fishes appears to be less than that of carbaryl. However, efficacy trials Conducting research on diseases and phenotypes, as well suggest imidacloprid may not be effective in control- as diagnosing them, involves sequencing the DNA of ling shrimp in all situations, and that a combination of many patients. Lowering the cost of sequencing would the two pesticides may be necessary. Data on the tox- therefore be a huge benefit in medical and research ap- icity of mixtures of the two insecticides to non-target plications. Currently, the cost to sequence a patient’s fishes, particularly salmonids are lacking. In an initial DNA is approximately 10,000 dollars, the price of a cus- effort to determine the toxicity of mixtures of the two tomized array chip. Barcoding is a procedure that would insecticides, we exposed juvenile trout (ca. 10 g) to allow more than one person’s DNA to be hybridized to 0, 0.1, 1.0, 10, 100, and 1,000 ppb carbaryl alone and the same array, thus greatly reducing the cost per person with 5.6 ppm imidacloprid for 96 h and quantified be- for resequencing. The basic idea behind this technique havior and mortality. The imidacloprid concentration is that “tagging” each person’s DNA allows it to be rec- represented the maximum predicted above treated oys- ognized after being mixed on an array with the DNA of ter beds in 10 mm of water. In a second test, we ex- other patients. During shotgun library manufacture, a posed trout to 0, 66, 78, 92, 108, and 128 ppm imi- small sequence of base pairs, or “barcode,” is added to dacloprid alone and with 39.1 ppb carbaryl for 96 h. each segment of genetic material, with a different bar- Imidacloprid concentrations were selected based on ear- code used for each set of DNA. We explored a novel lier tests that indicated overt effects would occur at con- technique of barcoding that allows these sets of DNA centrations above 66 ppm; the concentration of carbaryl to be separated from each other using PCR primers that was the maximum reported in waters above or adjacent are complementary to only one barcode. This resulted to treated beds. All fish survived the carbaryl and car- in the successful amplification of each library separately, baryl plus imidacloprid exposures and brain AChE inhi- which we were then able to sequence. Thus far, we have bition was not altered by the presence of imidacloprid successfully multiplexed eight samples. (5.6 ppm). Overt effects (lethargy, erratic swimmimg, and on-bottom gilling) increased with imidacloprid con- centrations and brain AChE inhibition was 30-50% of that expected suggesting imidacloprid at the concentra-

151 tions tested reduced the uptake of carbaryl. Results sug- flow direction. Through detailed analyses of the Whid- gest that mixtures of the two insecticides at concentra- bey Island deposits and sedimentary structures, it may tions expected in Willapa Bay will not potentiate toxicity be possible to infer the paleoslope and tidal influence in non-target fishes. on stream flow and compare them to present day con- ditions in the Snohomish delta. Beach cliffs along Dou- In Situ Biomineralization Using Bifunctional GEPI: ble Bluff Beach provide excellent vertical exposures for Kinetics of Hydroxyapatite Formation via Surface measuring and sampling deposits of interest. Sediment Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy samples were collected from these sites for analysis with Jun Park, Junior, Bioengineering a Camsizer to determine the distribution of grain size Mary Gates Scholar and shape. Expected settling and stream-flow velocities Mentor: Mehmet Sarikaya, Materials Science can be calculated from grain sizes, using basic sediment- Engineering transport and channel-hydraulics concepts. Comparing Mentor: Brandon Wilson, Materials Science the sediment analyses with observations of sedimentary Engineering structures in the field should help to test the accuracy of In recent years, there has been an increase in interest results. Analyzing samples from the modern Snohomish in the understanding of mechanism of hydroxyapatite delta, with a known channel slope, flow velocity, and (Hap) deposition in both biological and synthetic envi- tidal range, will act as a crosscheck of methods and re- ronments due, in particular, to the potential application veal any similarities between the modern and paleo flow in orthopedic implants and regeneration of hard dental environments. and bone tissues. Researchers have sought methods for Analyzing Antibodies to GAD65, IA2, and Insulin in synthesizing Hap with controlled structures using a va- Diabetes Patients riety of synthetic and biologically inspired approaches. Thanh-Hien Phan, Sophomore, Chemistry Based on previous research in the use of genetically en- Mentor: Christiane Hampe, Medicine gineered peptides in Hap formation, here we use bifunc- tional peptide to mineralize a Hap film on a gold sub- In 2007-2008, the University of Washington collected strate. The experiments were carried by combining a 120 blood samples from diabetic patients in the Seattle gold-binding peptide (AuBP) and Hap-binding peptide area. The purpose was to see if different forms of dia- (HaBP) sequences into a single construct. The biomin- betes could be distinguished. Correctly identifying and eralization process was monitored by surface plasmon classifying the different forms of diabetes is important resonance (SPR) spectroscopy which detects the change to assure optimal patient care and counseling. Accurate in refractive index due to Hap formation on the sur- diagnosis may help doctors find a link in past family dis- face. Biomineralization was controlled, in the presence eases and provide better care for the patients. This in- of catalyzing HaBP in various concentrations and solu- vestigation focuses on the different reactivity levels for tion conditions. Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM) type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) pa- and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques were tients to three commonly produced antigens in the body: used to examine the film morphology and to determine GAD65, IA2, and insulin. The autoantibodies to these the film adhesion to the gold surface. antigens were detected using a method called the Radi- oligand Binding Assay (RBA). By using the RBA, we Are Inferred Flow Characteristics of the Whidbey were able to distinguish between T1D and T2D based Formation Analogous to those of the Modern Day on their overall reactivity levels to the two autoantigens. Snohomish Delta? T1D patients also show a higher reactivity to exogenous Nathan Peters, Senior, Earth Space Sciences insulin, possibly caused by their underlying autoimmune Mentor: Katharine Huntington, Earth Space Sciences response. Moreover, we identified two patients, who ap- Mentor: Jody Bourgeois, Earth Space Sciences pear to have been misdiagnosed with T2D as they present autoantibodies to GAD65. We concluded that autoanti- The Whidbey Formation on Whidbey Island, WA, com- body testing is a powerful method to aid in the correct di- prises unlithified sediments including channel facies of agnosis of diabetes and recommend standard testing for silt, sand, and gravel, which suggest fluvial deposition in autoantibodies in all diabetes patients. a tidally influenced deltaic environment. Although the age of the Whidbey Formation has been fairly well con- Acculturation and the Educational Aspirations of strained to an interglacial period between 100,000 and the Children of Immigrants 120,000 years ago, less work has been done to deter- Anthony Poon, Recent Graduate, Computer mine the flow characteristics affecting its deposition. It Engineering, Sociology is easy to imagine that the Whidbey Formation deposits Mary Gates Scholar are analogous to the Snohomish delta, as both are inter- Mentor: Charles Hirschman, Sociology glacial, in close proximity, and have the same general

152 America has often been referred to as a melting pot, a na- netotail to potentially mitigate or enhance the effects tion comprised of people from diverse ethnic and cultural of solar storms and the ability of solar energetic par- backgrounds whose differences are reduced over time, ticles (SEP’s) to approach the lunar surface during the particularly across generations. Although the melting pot Moon’s travel through the tail. Our model employs three- image has only modest empirical support, there was re- dimensional, high-resolution, multi-fluid computer mod- markable assimilation of the children and grandchildren els to dynamically simulate the magnetospheric condi- of disadvantaged European immigrants who came to the tions in the Earth-Moon system during a given time pe- United States in the early 20th Century. The descendants riod and its conditions. The resulting models are then of these immigrants have adopted – and also changed compared to satellite data taken during recent periods – American culture as they gradually obtained economic of interest, such as storm conditions. Accurate, high- success and become part of the mainstream middle-class. resolution models of the Earth-Moon system offer the In recent decades, new sociological theories have risen potential to enhance scientific understanding of stages of to try to explain the much slower process of assimilation lunar exposure to SEP’s and magnetic activity, and to experienced by recent immigrants. A key issue is the generate understanding of the deflection provided to par- relationship between cultural and socioeconomic assim- ticles near the Moon by the terrestrial magnetosphere. ilation. Classical Assimilation Theory argues that cul- These models offer relevance to any future missions to tural assimilation, or acculturation, is generally a prereq- the Moon, as well as satellites deployed to orbit the uisite for positive economic assimilation. The Immigrant Earth, as they help predict radiation exposure to an object Optimism Hypothesis suggests that immigrants usually near Earth. have a stronger will to succeed than natives and that this Estradiol Regulation of Caspase Activity during advantage can be lost with too much cultural assimila- Ischemic Stroke tion. Segmented Assimilation theorists take this argu- Preethi Raghu, Senior, Neurobiology ment further and argue that in the spatially-segregated Mary Gates Scholar nature of the American class structure, most immigrants Mentor: Phyllis Wise, Physiology Biophysics have more contact with underclass than middle-class cul- Mentor: Candice Brown, Physiology Biophysics ture. Thus, acculturation can have a negative impact on socioeconomic assimilation, perhaps leading to joining Ischemic stroke results from deprivation of blood flow the underclass. In my research, I draw upon these theo- to the brain, creating a cerebral infarct consisting of ries to examine the effects of acculturation on the higher a core area devoid of any live tissue and an ischemic educational aspirations and attainment of the children of penumbra that is less damaged. During ischemic in- immigrants relative to comparable youth of native born jury 17β–estradiol (E2) decreases apoptotic cell death parents. Using data from the Beyond High School study, in the penumbra by suppressing the expression of conducted by the University of Washington, Department pro-apoptotic genes in caspase-dependent and caspase- of Sociology, I also examine the effects of peer and par- independent cell death pathways. Caspases 3, 8, and 9 ent expectations on the development of college aspira- are key enzymes that induce caspase-dependent apop- tions. The goal of this research is to gain is a clearer tosis after ischemic injury. Caspases 8 and 9 partici- understanding of the role of community factors on im- pate in two separate pathways that are located upstream migrant assimilation. of caspase 3 and therefore serve as initiator caspases that regulate activity of caspase 3. While it is known Lunar Environment within the Terrestrial that E2 regulates caspase 3 activity, whether and how Magnetotail E2 regulates caspases 8 and 9 is unclear. I hypothesize Jennifer Porter, Senior, Physics, Mathematics that E2 regulates this mechanism by downregulating ei- NASA Space Grant Scholar, Undergraduate ther caspase 8 or 9 at transcriptional, translational, or Research Conference Travel Awardee post-translational levels. Middle cerebral artery occlu- Mentor: Erika Harnett, Earth Space Sciences sion was used as a model of stroke injury in wildtype Mentor: Robert Winglee, Earth Space Sciences mice that were ovariectomized and treated with an oil The Moon’s interactions with the terrestrial magnetotail vehicle (OVX+Oil) or ovariectomized and E2-replaced are not negligible due to the fluctuations in the terres- (OVX+E2). Total RNA and protein were isolated from trial magnetic field and plasma ion exposure. During its mouse brains collected 24 hours after ischemic injury. orbit, the Moon spends seven days in the Earth’s mag- To determine whether E2 regulates caspase activity at netotail, where it interacts with the terrestrial magnetic the transcriptional level, differences in caspase gene ex- field and the plasma structures within the tail. We seek pression between OVX+Oil and OVX+E2 treated mice to study the effects of the magnetotail on the Moon. will be quantified using quantitative reverse transcriptase Additionally, we are investigating the effects of solar PCR (qRT-PCR). In addition, we will assess whether E2 storms on the Moon, including the ability of the mag- regulates caspase activity at the translational level using

153 Western blot analysis. Finally, to determine whether E2 we are not able to determine what fraction of the ob- regulates caspase activity at the post-translational level, served geoneutrinos come from the crust verses the man- we will conduct caspase activity assays. Taken together, tle. However, by measuring the geoneutrino flux at mul- these studies will deepen our understanding of the neu- tiple locations, we may be able to determine the distri- roprotective mechanisms employed by E2 during stroke bution of U and Th content in the Earth’s crust and man- injury and will help to elucidate potential therapeutic tar- tle. We currently have a measurement from one detector, gets for women who experience ischemic stroke. and by comparing it to the predicted values from various other detectors, we will be able to predict the best sites An Inventory of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi in the Elwha to locate future geoneutrino detectors and determine the River Valley optimal number of detectors to build. Katri Rahkonen, Senior, Environmental Science, UW Tacoma Foraminiferal Biofacies Map: A Tool for Monitoring Mentor: Erica Cline, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, the Health of the Puget Sound UW Tacoma Paul Richardson, Senior, Earth Space Sciences (Biology) Construction of the Elwha Dam in 1913 and the Glines Mary Gates Scholar Canyon Dam in 1927 cut off over 70 miles of salmon Mentor: Elizabeth Nesbitt, Earth Space Sciences spawning habitat on the Elwha River in northwestern Washington State. The two dams are currently sched- Species and numerical density and diversity of uled for demolition in 2012, which represents a large and foraminifera from Puget Sound are being analyzed unique ecological experiment on the effect of dam re- to determine their utility as biological markers for moval on the diverse array of organisms currently present assessing the Sound’s ecological health. A critical in the Elwha valley. The objective of this study was to step in determining the usefulness of foraminifera as survey and inventory ectomycorrhizal fungi within the biomarkers is creating a biofacies map of dominant Elwha River Valley prior to dam removal, as part of a foraminiferal species. Sediment samples have been larger study of biodiversity within the valley. Sampling collected over the length of the Sound for the last 10 was conducted in the spring of 2008 at three locations; years by the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program at each location nine soil cores were collected from four from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Our species of conifer adjacent to the Elwha River. These initial results indicate a considerable flux in species samples yielded a total of 900 root tips which were sorted abundance and diversity between different sites in the by morphotype and location. Genomic DNA was ex- Sound on both a temporal and geographical basis. Low tracted from a subsample of 101 root tips for DNA se- species abundance and diversity is common in the quence analysis. From this we are preparing a prelim- South Puget Sound while high abundance is common inary ectomycorrhizal fungal species list of the Elwha at sites in Bellingham Bay in the North Puget Sound. River Valley. Further and more extensive survey and in- Statistical analysis of chemical data from the Puget ventory is strongly needed prior to the removal of the Sound exhibits a correlation between pollutants and Elwha Hydroelectric Dam and the Glines Canyon Hy- the presence of certain foraminiferal species, but no droelectric Dam in 2012 to take advantage of this mo- method has currently been employed to quantify the mentous opportunity which exists to evaluate the envi- differences in foraminiferal species abundance and ronmental effects of a unique ecological experiment. diversity between different spatial regions of the Puget Sound. By utilizing ArcGIS software (by ESRI), it is Predicting the Best Sites for Future Geoneutrino possible to create extensive maps of the Puget Sound Detectors that monitor variations in species data over time and Natalie Ramien, Senior, Astronomy, Physics highlight the most abundant species at each station site. Mentor: Nikolai Tolich, Physics A biofacies map of the entire Puget Sound is a critical The radioactive decay of uranium (U) and thorium (Th) step in quantifying the relationship between known inside the Earth is believed to be the main source of en- foraminifera, chemical, and geological data, which will ergy for mantle convection, which causes earthquakes help characterize the regional ecological health. and volcanoes, among other things. As well as heat, the Changes in Arctic Sea Ice and the Impacts on the decay of U and Th produces geoneutrinos, which can be Marine Planktonic Ecosystem- Modeling of Past, used to measure the U and Th throughout the Earth in Present and Future Conditions an effort to check the accuracy of models of the Earth’s Kira Rombeau, Senior, Oceanography composition. Because the crust is not uniform in size, Mentor: Jinlun Zhang, Applied Physics Laboratory the contribution to the geoneutrino flux from U and Th in the mantle and the crust depends on detector loca- Arctic climate and the condition of Arctic sea ice have tion. Therefore, if only a single measurement is made, undergone significant changes in recent decades. An in-

154 crease in surface atmospheric temperatures parallels a re- amygdala, and hippocampus, we are defining the time duction in sea ice area and thickness, leading to an over- courses, localization and intensity of KOR and P38 acti- all decline of sea ice. A diminishing sea ice cover leads vation. This data allows us to identify the regions of the to an increase in sea surface area exposed to solar radia- brain involved in this stress-response. Currently, we are tion, increasing habitable conditions that promote phyto- comparing the molecular effects of four behavioral as- plankton growth. This trend is likely to have a significant says all shown to induce relapse into drug abuse: 1) so- impact on the marine planktonic ecosystem. Past obser- cial defeat stress, 2) swim stress, 3) U50,488 (a synthetic vations and future projections aim to interpret the large- agonist of KOR) injection, and 4) cocaine injection. We scale interactions between arctic sea ice, upper ocean, expect to find a specific brain region that is commonly and marine planktonic ecosystems. Phytoplankton pri- activated in these assays. These results will guide future mary productivity is measured using chlorophyll a con- studies necessary to design a molecular therapeutic that centration data obtained by SeaWiFS, a satellite program can block relapse in drug-addicted mice. operated by NASA. This data is synthesized and inter- preted using a program called Interactive Data Language Vowel Quality Assimilation in Russian-English (IDL) to recognize large-scale changes in primary pro- Bilinguals: Using Acoustic Analysis to Quantify ductivity. Preliminary model observations show an an- Language Interaction nual overall increase in productivity in concurrence with Cameron Rule, Senior, Russian Language, Literature, decreasing sea ice area from 1998 - 2007, with the great- Culture est primary production concentrated along the continen- Undergraduate Research Conference Travel tal shelf. In order to examine future impacts of a retreat- Awardee ing ice cover on the structure and productivity of the ma- Mentor: Richard Wright, Linguistics rine ecosystem, a coupled pan-arctic Biology/Ice/Ocean Much of our current knowledge about language’s struc- Modeling and Assimilation System (BIOMAS) was con- ture and evolution has developed from research inves- structed. BIOMAS synthesizes physical and biological tigating the phenomenon of bilingualism. Within the observations through calibration with IDL models and field of acoustic phonetics, the examination of bilin- data simulation. The use of IDL and BIOMAS are key gual speech has only recently become prominent as a vi- to understanding the critical decline of Arctic sea ice able and productive research topic. Recent studies have and the future impacts on the productivity of the marine shown that bilingual speakers’ inherent knowledge of planktonic community. their native language (L1) influences the pronunciation Identifying Sites of Convergence of Stress and Drug of sounds of their second language (L2), resulting in L2 Abuse in the Dynorphin Kappa Opioid System sounds pronounced with an L1 accent. Further research Clarisse Roth, Senior, Neurobiology has revealed that a bidirectional relationship more ac- Mary Gates Scholar curately represents language interaction. My study ex- Mentor: Charles Chavkin, Pharmacology plores the bidirectional nature of bilingual language in- Mentor: Julia Lemos, Neurobiology Behavior teraction by analyzing the acoustic structure of Russian- English bilingual speech. I predict that bilingual speak- Drug addiction is a chronic disease that affects millions ers’ pronunciation will exhibit subtle yet reliable conver- of people worldwide, and effective treatments are still gence of their two languages and that the direction of lacking. A principal problem is that currently available the encroachment will be modulated by external factors, treatments for drug addiction are not able to prevent re- such as the frequency of L2 use and age of L2 acquisi- lapse. We know that the main cause of relapse is stress. tion. The core of my study focuses on quantifying the The Chavkin lab focuses on identifying the neurologi- interface between languages by comparing the acoustic cal pathways and molecular mechanisms responsible for features of bilinguals’ pronunciation with that of mono- stress-induced relapse in order to develop new therapies. lingual speakers. LPC spectral analysis is used to de- Both stress and drug use have been shown to activate termine the frequencies of the first (F1) and second (F2) the kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) through its endogenous vocal tract resonances. These frequencies, known as for- neuropeptide, dynorphin. Using mice as a model organ- mants, provide useful information for determining vowel ism our lab is identifying the molecular changes in the quality which is used for cross-speaker comparisons in brain caused by stress and drug exposure. In previous order to establish overall vowel similarity. The results of experiments we have shown that an important molecular this comparison are statistically compared with sociolin- intermediate involved is KOR and its downstream sig- guistic data provided by participants in order to deter- naling effector P38 MAP kinase (P38). Using immuno- mine what external social and linguistic factors influence histochemistry and confocal microscopy to measure P38 the degree and direction of acoustic convergence among activation in brain regions involved in stress and drug Russian-English bilinguals. Initial results of my research abuse: the dorsal raphe, nucleus accumbens, basolateral suggest that increased L2 use may cause acoustic con-

155 vergence of bilingual speakers’ L1 toward their L2. To people under social pressure respond differently than if date, very little comparable research has been conducted anonymous (Lautenschlager, Flaherty, 1990). Using a testing this hypothesis and a strong empirical data set is survey, the participants were randomly assigned into two conspicuously absent. separate conditions. In the first condition, the partici- pants received the survey, put their name on it, were Dietary Food Cues That Influence Aging In watched completing it, and then handed it back to the Caenorhabditis elegans researchers. In the second condition, participants read Jennifer Sager, Senior, Microbiology, Biochemistry instructions in an empty room, anonymously took the Mentor: Matt Kaeberlein, Pathology survey, and turned it into a box. The study is expected Dietary restriction (DR), also referred to as food restric- to show that participants place more blame on the home- tion or caloric restriction, has been found to increase life less person (internal attribution) rather than on their cir- span in a variety of organisms, including yeast, worms, cumstances (external attribution) when anonymous. The flies and mice. DR has also been found to increase stress findings will give a more complete understanding of the resistance, which has been correlated with longevity. In nature of social desirability’s impact on participant’s re- our studies we are using the nematode Caenorhabditis sponses. elegans, and important model organism for studying the Measuring Patient-Centered Communication Skills biology of aging. In the laboratory, C.elegans are fed among Pediatric Residents a diet consisting of E.coli bacteria grown on a nutrient Stephen Sanoja, Senior, Psychology, Biology agar medium. DR can be accomplished by removing (Physiology) the bacterial food source early in adulthood, a process Mentor: Elizabeth McCauley, Psychiatry Behavioral referred to as bacterial deprivation (BD). In prior stud- Sciences ies conducted in our lab, it has been found that BD in- Mentor: Paula Lozano, Pediatrics creases both survival and stress resistance by a mecha- Mentor: Bryan Hartzler, Alcohol Drug Abuse Institute nism that is partially independent of food consumption. These studies also demonstrated the existence of solu- Behavior change counseling is an important part of pe- ble components of the bacterial diet that are sensed by diatric practice. Adaptations of Motivational Interview- the nematodes and which limit longevity. Recent exper- ing (MI) have been used to help promote health behavior iments conducted in our lab have focused on character- change in medical settings. There is a growing under- izing these soluble bacterial component and the mecha- standing of the need to assess provider skill. Although nisms by which worms sense them. We have hypothe- researchers are able to measure MI skill in the context of sized that bacterial autoinducers, chemicals produced by research studies, there is a need for practical and accu- bacterial cells to communicate with other bacterial cells, rate tools for assessing provider MI skill in clinical set- may be one such soluble dietary component. Preliminary tings. The current study is an evaluation of a proposed data suggest that autoinducers may partially suppress the paper-and-pencil instrument in comparison to the more life span extension by bacterial deprivation and experi- resource-intensive Motivational Interviewing Treatment ments are in progress to confirm this observation. We Integrity (MITI; Moyers et. al., 2004) scale. The new are also investigating the role of AWA and AWC neu- HRQ-for Pediatrics (HRQ-P) is an adaptation of Helpful rons in the sensing of life-limiting bacterial cues. Here Responses Questionnaire (HRQ; Miller, 1991). In the we report that volatile odorants sensed by these neurons proposed study, the HRQ-P was piloted as means of eval- can influence life span. uating changes in the MI skills of pediatric residents over time. The study also employed the previously validated Homeless in Seattle MITI applied to Objective Standardized Clinical Evalua- Sandra Scanlan, Sophomore, Psychology, North Seattle tions (OSCEs) in which standardized patients (SPs) por- Community College tray parents of children with asthma in three clinical sce- Angela Rickerson, Sophomore, Psychology, North narios with Pediatric Residents. This pilot evaluation of Seattle Community College the HRQ-P includes determining its scoring reliability, Sir William Cunningham III, Sophomore, Psychology, evaluating its internal consistency, examining its concur- Sociology, North Seattle Community College rent validity with conceptually similar MITI constructs Mentor: Melissa Grinley, Psychology, North Seattle and specifying its responsivity to the effects of a brief Community College resident training program. Its relative utility and cost ef- Homelessness is often caused by circumstances beyond fectiveness was also explored. If shown to be sufficiently people’s control such as addiction, mental disorders, or correlated with the MITI, the HRQ-P may be useful for lack of resources (Gore, 1990). This study explores how assessing MI skill in pediatric settings. participants make attributions about the cause of home- lessness when anonymous. Previous research shows that

156 Brain Physics: Power Laws in Brain Waves as efficiency and applications for future opportunities in en- Insight to Brain Function ergy and environmental technologies. The group uses a Conor Sayres, Senior, Physics, Astronomy novel microcalorimeter to measure the heats of adsorp- Mary Gates Scholar tion of a variety of well-defined species on solid sur- Mentor: Larry Sorensen, Physics faces whose adsorption energies cannot be measured us- My research is an investigation of possible power law ing other techniques. We have the only apparatus in the scaling within electrocorticography (ECoG) signals from world that can be used to study these heats for reactions the brain, and more specifically how this power law may that are known to occur only at low temperatures, or be- scale with cortical surface area. So what does this mean? tween metals and solids. Our current project is aimed at ECoG signals are achieved through an invasive proce- determining the heat of formation of adsorbed hydroxyl dure in which an array of electrodes is placed directly species (OH), which is considered an essential reaction on the surface of the brain, and they detect electric po- intermediate in many important catalytic reactions. tentials induced by firing neurons. The data we ana- Spinal Cord Injury and Remyelination with lyze comes from consenting subjects who have under- Neuregulin gone the procedure for epilepsy treatment. The low fre- Phillip Setran, Senior, Neurobiology quency bands (1Hz–70Hz) of brain signals have been Mary Gates Scholar extensively studied in the past due to the dramatic and Mentor: Philip Horner, Neurological Surgery variable peaks in the region and ease of resolving lower Mentor: Jurate Lasiene, Psychology frequency information. Previously the high frequency Mentor: Berit Jacobson, Neurological Surgery bands (70Hz-200Hz) seemed less exciting: no major peaks, relatively low intensity, and hard to measure. Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) has devastating ef- Now, however, research within our group and through- fects on an individual’s motor and sensory function. One out the field is discovering that the high frequency bands main consequence of SCI is axonal loss. Axons are the adhere to a broadband power law, and that these previ- information pathways of the nervous system; many ax- ously known low frequency peaks may be masking the ons together constitute a nerve, so loss of axons equates answer to how the brain truly works. Many physical sys- to loss of motor or sensory function. Currently, there is tems exhibit power law behavior, and this research hopes no known way to restore dead or severely damaged ax- to make steps towards understanding brain function. Re- ons. However, axons that survive SCI often lose part of cent literature exhibits dissenting measurements on the their protective, conductive, and nutritional coat called exponent of this power law between different electrode myelin, interrupting conduction and leading to axonal sizes used. Since different sized electrodes sample dif- degeneration. Natural processes can help restore some ferent amounts of neurons, it would be interesting to in- of the lost myelin, but new myelin is not normal and vestigate how the power law scales with neuron sample is slow to appear. Enhancing the speed and quality size. The answer could provide insight to how local neu- of remyelination after injury could help prevent loss of ron activity translates into global brain computation. function in SCI. Thus, we have elected to investigate which substances might promote proper remyelination. Calorimetric Measurements of Adsorption Energies A likely participant in remyelination is the Neuregulin-1 of Well-Defined Species on Single Crystal Surfaces (NRG1) family of compounds, which are growth factors Carolyn Schoenbaum, Senior, Chemistry, Physics found throughout the central nervous system (CNS). In Mary Gates Scholar this study, we examined the effects of treating animals Mentor: Charles Campbell, Chemistry with two compounds of the NRG1 family, NRG1 Type Mentor: Matthew Crowe, Chemistry I and Type III, after SCI. We did not observe any sig- The production of most industrially important fuels and nificant locomotor changes among treatment groups and chemicals involves solid catalysts. Catalytic convert- untreated controls, but did observe several differences in ers are used in cars to reduce the toxicity of emissions cellular dynamics among groups. Using immunohisto- from engines, and some of the most promising technolo- chemical staining, we counted the number of proliferat- gies for alternative energy production involve catalysts. ing cells and found a significant increase after treatment These materials work by providing an alternative mecha- with NRG1 Type III compared to controls. Next, we phe- nism that lowers the activation energy that must be over- notyped these dividing cells and found an increase in the come in order for a reaction to occur. The Campbell total number of new myelinating cells with Type III treat- Group pursues experimental research regarding the sur- ment. Finally, using electron microscopy, we found that face reactions that happen on catalysts, and the metal- myelin thickness was significantly increased compared oxide interfaces which are common in industrial catalytic to controls after treatment with NRG1 Type III. This materials. By better understanding the mechanisms tak- study is the first to demonstrate modulation of myelin ing place at these surfaces, we can help improve their dynamics by NRG1 following injury in the adult central

157 nervous system. provides audiologists and researchers with a tool to see the effects of different hearing aid parameters on audi- Attention and Emotional Responses to Social and bility. In the clinic, shaped broadband noise rather than Non-Social Stimuli in Infants at High Risk for speech is often used to calculate the AAI. However, it Autistic Spectrum Disorders. is not clear how well the AAI based on broadband noise Jacob Shapley, Senior, Psychology predicts actual performance. This study compared AAIs Mentor: Michael Murias, Psychiatry generated from broadband noise and consonant-vowel Abnormal patterns of attention, difficulty regulating syllables. Thirteen subjects with mild-to-moderate sen- emotions, and difficulty with social interaction are sorineural hearing loss were tested. Eight consonant- hallmark characteristics of autism-spectrum disorders vowel syllables were presented at 50, 60 and 71 dB (ASD) in young children. Several accounts predict that sound pressure level, representing soft, normal and loud the roots of these difficulties begin in infancy, with de- speech volumes. Sound pressure level (SPL) is a loga- creased interest in the social environment (e.g. Daw- rithmic measure of sound pressure relative to a reference son, 2008). One way to evaluate this hypothesis is with value and is commonly stated simply as dB. Probe-tube prospective studies of infants with siblings with ASD, measurements at the tympanic membrane were taken for who are at increased risk of developing ASD themselves both broadband noise and the consonant-vowel sylla- (‘at-risk infants’). This study examines attention and bles and used to calculate the AAI. Preliminary results emotion regulation in at-risk infants, and a comparison suggest little statistical difference in the predictive abili- group of infants without familial ASD risk, during a vi- ties of AAI generated from broadband speech noise and sual attention task with social and non-social stimuli. We consonant-vowel syllables. Small differences in the AAI hypothesized that the at-risk group will pay less atten- between the two sources were discovered and the signif- tion and show less positive emotional responses to the icance of these differences will be discussed. social stimuli. We also predicted that attention and emo- Prey Species Selectivity of Wolves (Canis lupus) in tional responses to the non-social stimuli will be similar Northern Alberta in the at-risk and control groups. Participants were 28 Carolyn Shores, Senior, Biology (Environmental infants tested at 6-months of age, 16 in the at-risk group Conservation) and 12 in the comparison group. All infants viewed two Mentor: Samuel Wasser, Biology 1 minute videos, one social (women speaking nursery Mentor: Andreas Chavez, Biology rhymes) and the other non-social (toys moving). Emo- tional affect was coded offline using a Likert scale of The Tar Sands of Northeastern Alberta are the site of rich emotions for each 33ms frame of the videorecording. At- oil reserves and make Canada the single largest supplier tention in response to social and non-social stimuli was of foreign oil to the United States. However, the oil is coded offline for each frame as focused attention (look- very difficult and costly to extract, and may have a neg- ing at stimuli with movement suppression), casual atten- ative impact on resident wildlife. A species of special tion (looking at stimuli without movement suppression), concern in the Tar Sands region is the Woodland Cari- or no attention (not looking at the stimuli). Data analysis bou (Rangifer tarandus), which is listed as a threatened for this project is currently ongoing. We will analyze af- species in Canada, and whose numbers have been de- fect (rating of positivity) and attention (seconds spent in creasing in the last century. The recent concern over the focused or casual attention) in a two group (at-risk versus status of Woodland Caribou has caused speculation that comparison) by two condition (social versus non-social) wolf (Canis lupus) predation may be contributing to their design. decline. Caribou populations may also be threatened by other factors, such as oil extraction, mining, forestry and Comparison of Generic and Standard Aided agricultural expansion. To assess the importance of cari- Audibility Index on Consonant Recognition bou in the wolves’ diet, I will be performing a food habit Sarah Shepherd, Senior, Speech Hearing Sciences analysis from wolf scat. Scat is currently being collected (Communication Disorders) during this winter season of 2008-2009. I will identify Mentor: Pamela Souza, Speech Hearing Sciences the various prey present in the scat by examining the Mentor: Marc Brennan, Speech Hearing Sciences cuticular scale patterns of hair collected from the feces. Other prey species which are potentially important in the Hearing loss affects approximately 37 million individ- wolves’ diet are moose (Alces alces), white-tailed deer uals in the United States, for which hearing aids are a (Odocoileus virginianus) and beaver (Castor canaden- common remedy. The primary purpose of hearing aids is sis). The findings of this study will be useful for the to ease communication by making speech audible to the management of wolves in Alberta, as well as in other ar- listener. The Aided Audibility Index (AAI) is a measure eas of North America where wolf and caribou coexist. that determines the amount of auditory stimuli audible to an individual listening with hearing aids. The measure

158 The Effects of Shade Tree Eensity on Stomata Ottoman Text Archive Project: Svoboda Diary Densities of Coffea arabica var. catuai Coffee Plants Cameron Sparr, Junior, Near Eastern Studies in Tarrazu, Costa Rica (Languages Civilization) Rebecca Singer, Senior, Environmental Science, UW Rukia Fahim, Senior, Near Eastern Studies (Languages Tacoma Civilization) Mentor: Erica Cline, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences, Emily Cimber, Senior, Near Eastern Studies (Languages UW Tacoma Civilization), Comparative Religion Mentor: Walter Andrews, Near Eastern Languages Global coffee sales exceed $60 billion per year, provid- Civilization ing an important cash crop for many tropical countries. Mentor: Stacy Waters, Near Eastern Languages Coffee grows best in partial sunlight under shade trees Civilization that help to protect from excess sun. As part of a larger study of sustainable coffee production, we sampled ten The Ottoman Text Archive Project aims to make texts coffee farms representing a range of shade tree densities from the Ottoman Empire more readily available to within the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica in January 2009, scholars, decision-makers, and the general public. The measuring soil moisture content, root biomass, and stom- Ottoman Empire was one of the last great empires of ata densities. Shade tree density is weakly positively cor- modern times and its influence is still present in the related with soil moisture content and weakly negatively Balkans, Central Asia, the Near East, and North Africa. correlated with root biomass. Analysis of stomata den- Unlike the texts of the other familiar powers of early sities is in progress. We anticipate that the coffee plants modern times—the Spanish empire, the British, the in farms with lower shade tree densities will have lower Hapsburgs, the French—many of the most significant Ot- stomata densities as a response to moisture stress. toman texts exist only in manuscript or in rare and de- fective editions. Imagine thinking that you would like Modeling Directional Tuning in the Neurons of to read one of Shakespeare’s plays or Don Quixote and Macaque Monkeys being told that you would need to travel to London or Cosmo Smith, Senior, Physics, Computer Science, Madrid; then, after waiting 6 months for permission to English (Creative Writing) use the library, you would find that you could only look NASA Space Grant Scholar at a handwritten version of the text for a limited time in Mentor: Steve Perlmutter, Physiology Biophysics a special reading room under the watchful eye of a li- Neurons are the basic components of the nervous system, brarian. This is the situation with many Ottoman texts. which are responsible for translating our brain signals It is easy to imagine the obstacles this presents to those into physical movements. In the primate lab, we study wishing to make these texts available to scholars and the relationship between the activity of neurons and arm to a general public through translations or information movement in macaque monkeys. Each neuron receives about their contents and contexts. Our project is sup- multiple inputs, both inhibitory and excitatory, through porting Nowf Allawi, an Iraqi researcher living in Bagh- molecular diffusion of neurotransmitters from adjacent dad, in her creation of an annotated text and translation neurons across synapses (gaps between neurons). These of a late nineteenth century travel diary written in Ara- signals generate action potentials, all-or-none changes in bic by a native English speaker living in Baghdad. Be- the neuron’s membrane potential, which are propagated cause the present conditions in Iraq make it impossible down the neuron’s axon and allow it to pass the signal for Ms. Allawi to do research, our team is using digi- on to other neurons. By testing the firing rate of action tal technologies to help her with the creation of a tagged potentials in a neuron as a monkey moves its arm in dif- digital Arabic script transcription of the diary, a transla- ferent directions, we can determine whether a specific tion edited and formatted for web and print publication, neuron prefers, or is directionally tuned, towards a par- and research on the the notes and glossary. ticular type of movement. I will be using MATLAB to Does Knowledge of Medical Diagnosis Affect mathematically model the directional tuning of a neuron Judgments of Voice Quality? before and after blocking the input of the inhibitory neu- Alicia Sroka, Senior, Speech Hearing Sciences rotransmitters, GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid) and (Communication Disorders) glycine, by using the receptor antagonists bicuculline Mary Gates Scholar and strychnine. In this way, I can determine how inhi- Mentor: Tanya Eadie, Speech Hearing Sciences bition affects directional tuning in the neuron and form both a more accurate model of the neuron and a better Speech-language pathologists (S-LPs) frequently eval- understanding of what produces directional tuning. By uate patients with voice disorders using auditory- understanding the nervous system, we may eventually perceptual judgments. These evaluations often are create technology to help paraplegics or others who have performed after they have received medical diagnoses lost control of limb movement. from referring physicians. Medical diagnoses associ-

159 ated with disordered voice qualities include functional that it have an bore diameter of 155 mm, a muzzle ve- (i.e., healthy larynx), organic (e.g., polyps), or neuro- locity of 2.5 km/s, and that it be capable of firing several genic (e.g., vocal fold paralysis) causes. Although there times a day at variable inclinations. Further, the system is no direct relationship between pathology and voice must be readily transportable and must be practical to quality, it is unknown whether receiving the medical di- set up within 24 hours of arrival at a testing location. agnoses before performing auditory-perceptual evalua- The most important technical challenges associated with tions biases S-LPs who make judgments of voice sever- scaling such as the acceleration losses expected in the ity. Further, it is unknown whether such information dif- new system and structural concerns are being addressed. ferentially affects clinicians with varied experience lev- els. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine Feeding Preferences of Strongylocentrotus whether knowledge of medical diagnosis and listener ex- Franciscanus on Three Species of Fresh versus Aged perience affect auditory-perceptual judgments of voice Kelps quality. To complete this study, twenty-six speakers with Tiffany Stephens, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences varying types of voice disorders and 4 normal controls Mary Gates Scholar, Undergraduate Research provided speech recordings. Twenty novice and 10 ex- Conference Travel Awardee perienced clinician-listeners are currently participating Mentor: Megan Dethier, Biology in evaluating speech samples for roughness and breath- As generalist herbivores, urchins inhabit locations with iness using visual analog scales. In one condition, the both fresh and detrital kelp. Previous studies have fo- samples are presented without diagnostic information; in cused on the advantages amongst varying fresh algal tis- the second condition, the voice samples are presented in sues or the benefits of consuming detrital algae, but none conjunction with the medical diagnosis. Group means have addressed preferences of fresh versus aged (detrital) of roughness and breathiness judgments made by novice kelp or how different aging treatments affect an urchin’s and experienced listeners will be calculated across condi- choice. Detrital kelp tends to have lower phenolic con- tions. It is hypothesized that there will be an interaction centrations and higher nitrogen levels due to microbial between experience level and knowledge of diagnostic colonization, and therefore may be a better food choice information. Specifically, it is expected that knowledge than fresh. This study aims to answer if urchins, specif- of diagnosis will increase the severity of novice clini- ically Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, prefer aged to cians’ judgments (i.e., an “expectancy” effect), but not fresh kelp; and if so, if preference for aged kelp increases experienced clinicians’ judgments, of voice quality. Post with increasing detrital age. I conducted feeding trials in hoc analyses will determine whether results relate to spe- which S. franciscanus was offered both fresh and aged cific diagnoses or severities. The results of this study will kelp from a single species and their choice was recorded. reveal whether diagnostic information may be a source of Detrital kelp was simulated with two aging treatments bias that needs consideration before S-LPs with different and administered in six feeding trials (three trials per experience levels evaluate voice disorders. treatment). I found that in kelp with no or little polyphe- Scaling of the Ram Accelerator to 155-mm Bore nolic content (i.e. Nereocystis luetkeana and Saccha- Isaac Statnekov, Senior, Aeronautics Astronautics rina subsimplex), urchins prefer aged samples; whereas, Mary Gates Scholar in kelp with higher concentrations of polyphenols (i.e. Mentor: Carl Knowlen, Aeronautics Astronautics Agarum fimbriatum), fresh is preferred to aged samples. In addition, results with N. luetkeana and S. subsimplex The ram accelerator is a chemical based launching demonstrate that preference for aged kelp increases with system which draws from the technology of a ram- increasing age of kelp. jet/scramjet engine to accelerate a projectile to hyper- velocities. The applications of the ram accelerator are Harnessing the Regeneration Potential of the diverse ranging from military to commercial but one of Mammalian Retina the most lucrative applications would be to replace the Samuel Sudar, Senior, English, Neurobiology, first several stages of a launch vehicle that would send Philosophy non-human payload, such as satellites, into orbit. Part of Mary Gates Scholar the research I have participated in up to date has focused Mentor: Thomas Reh, Biological Structure on the scaling up of the University of Washington 38- Mentor: Mike Karl, Biological Structure mm-bore ram accelerator to meet the aero-ballistic re- Regeneration of the mouse retina to restore functionality quirements of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) for after damage does not occur naturally. However, our lab the purpose of sounding rocket application. Currently has shown in vivo that regeneration can occur after dam- there are a number of ram accelerator facilities around age if the retina is exposed to certain growth factors. A the world with bore diameters ranging from 20 to 120- supporting cell type called Muller¨ glia reenters the cell mm. The specifications of the new system would require cycle and is responsible for the regeneration. We hy-

160 pothesize that this Muller¨ glia proliferation will be more caused by an extraterrestrial impact would predict very substantial if performed in vitro, and we are working little faunal change leading up to the boundary. The al- to optimize the parameters of in vitro culture to maxi- ternative hypothesis that the K-T mass extinction was mize Muller¨ glia proliferation. This entails damaging the more gradual and caused by cumulative effects of cli- retina in different ways, including with neurotoxins and mate change, volcanism, and an extraterrestrial impact bright light, and subsequently applying different growth operating over longer time scales would predict marked factors to try and induce regeneration. We then use im- faunal changes leading up to the K-T boundary. Our munohistochemistry to assess to what extent the proto- preliminary results show changes leading up to the K- col was effective. Development of a successful paradigm T boundary but none that are considered dramatic. Thus, would provide a high throughput screen for assessing the our analysis supports a more sudden rather than gradual potential of additional factors to cause more robust re- extinction at the K-T boundary. generation. Ultimately this research could have implica- tions in restoring vision and could lead to a method of Photoconvertible Proteins as Tools for Examining treating several diseases that cause blindness, including Neurogenesis in Danio Rerio Dorsal Root Ganglia glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness in humans. Tanya Swarts, Senior, Biology (General) Howard Hughes Scholar Using Microvertebrates to Evaluate Faunal Diversity Mentor: David Raible, Biological Structure Leading Up to the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Mentor: Andrew Prendergast, Neurobiology and Scott Swan, Sophomore, Pre-Health Sciences, Behavior Chemistry The neural crest is a multipotent cell population which Howard Hughes Scholar gives rise to multiple tissues, including the sensory neu- Katherine Wayland, Junior, Earth Space Sciences rons and glia in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). DRG are (Biology) situated in a spatially reiterated fashion and transmit the Mary Tang, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular sensations of touch, temperature, pain and movement. Developmental) Danio rerio is an ideal model organism to study neuro- Evan Yount, Junior, Microbiology genesis in the DRG because of their transparent embryos Jane Kirkland, Senior, Biology (Ecology Evolution) and the wide array of available genetic tools for study. James Maveety, Senior, Biology (General) One recently available tool for genetically-encoded lin- Cameron Pinkham, Senior, Psychology, Physics, Earth eage labeling is the photoactivatable fluorescent protein Space Sciences (Physics) (PAFP). PAFPs are fluorescent proteins able to be con- Jessica Warner, Senior, Biology (General) verted to a different color of fluorescence comparable Michele Wilson, Senior, Biology (Environmental in intensity to the original fluorescence upon excitation Conservation) with a specific wavelength of light. By photobleaching a Mentor: Gregory Wilson, Biology specific cell, we are able to observe the diffusion of the Mentor: Jeremy Riedel, Biology photoconverted cell and track its movement. To better The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction that occurred examine cell proliferation and fate decisions in DRG we 65 million years ago eliminated up to 70% of life on this are using the upstream regulatory elements from three planet, including the dinosaurs, the most dominant ter- genes in PAFP reporter constructs: the early neural crest restrial vertebrates. By analyzing past extinctions, we gene Sox10, the proneural gene Neurogenin1, and the can better understand the mass extinction currently un- late neural marker NeuroD. We are using these con- derway. Fossil localities from the uppermost Cretaceous structs to create stable transgenic fish lines. These lines time period near the extinction boundary were examined. allow us to label cells expressing these genes and observe These localities are non-marine deposits from northeast- how they proliferate and differentiate. ern Montana and sample vertebrate faunas over the two Analyzing the Robustness of Fractional million years leading up to the K-T boundary. The sam- Differentiator Model of Neuronal Adaptation ples are part of the Hell Creek Formation, which is a 100- Faezeh Talebiliasi, Senior, Neurobiology, Physics meter thick interval of sediments representing the two Mary Gates Scholar million years. The localities examined were, from oldest Mentor: Michael Famulare, Physics to youngest: “Tuma” (UWBM loc. C 1103), “Hartless” Mentor: Adrienne Fairhall, Physiology Biophysics (UWBM loc. C 1153), and “From Mars” (UWBM loc. C 1151). We used these vertebrate faunas to document tem- In many neurons, in response to sudden changes of a poral changes in taxonomic composition, species rich- stimulus, the firing rate undergoes a rapid change which ness, and relative abundances during this temporal in- is then followed by a slow return to a steady firing rate. terval and test hypotheses for the K-T extinction. The This is called rate adaptation. The state of adaptation of hypothesis that the K-T mass extinction was sudden and the neuronal firing rate is hypothesized to convey infor-

161 mation about the changes in the stimulus statistics. It improve energy efficiency for manufacturers. The US has been unclear how the temporal pattern of adaptation Department of Energy (DOE) sponsors the UW IAC to is correlated with the changes in the stimulus parame- visit industrial facilities, to observe any inefficient sys- ters. Recently, Lundstrom et al proposed that the neu- tem that operates, and to conduct research to optimize ron’s firing rate can be modeled as a fractional derivative the use of energy inefficient systems with the more ef- of the slowly varying stimulus parameters. This model ficient ones. The industrial facilities that implemented predicts that in response to a time-varying stimulus, a our recommendation have saved millions of dollars in neuron’s firing rate will have a frequency-independent utility cost, received significant amount of rebate from phase lead that is proportional to the order of differenti- the utility company, and reduced emission level in their ation. Fractional differentiation, unlike integer differen- area. One of the most frequently used systems in an tiation, is a non-local operation and therefore predicts a industrial facility is motor. When a motor brakes, the dependence of firing rate on the history of stimulus over typical action that most facilities take is to rewind the long timescales. Lundstrom et al also demonstrate that motor or replace it with an identical one. Rewinding a it is possible to build a spiking model to implement frac- motor can cost up to 80 percent of a new motor cost, tional differentiation by including properly-tuned slow which means that replacement is a wiser choice. Most currents. Through computer modeling in MATLAB, we industrial facilities use standard-efficiency motors with test the robustness of this fractional differentiator model efficiency rates of around 80 percent. Many of them are with respect to changes in timescales and maximal con- unaware of the existence of NEMA (National Electrical ductances of the slow currents. Manufacturer Association) premium-efficiency motors, which efficiency rates range from 90 to 97 percent. Over Neural Regeneration and Dependency on Cell a ten-year life of a NEMA motor, the energy savings Specific Damage in the Mouse Retina are enough to purchase three replacements NEMA mo- Kristine Tan, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular tors. Most utility companies provide rebates to facilities Developmental) that replace their standard-efficiency motors with NEMA Howard Hughes Scholar motors. For every standard-efficiency motor, there is an Mentor: Thomas Reh, Biological Structure equivalent NEMA version to replace it. Our motor man- Mentor: Mike Karl, Biological Structure agement plan provides detailed information about the The retina is the innermost layer of the eye and consists existing standard-efficiency motors that a facility pos- of multiple neuronal layers that interact in a pathway sesses and their identical NEMA replacements. Our mo- to produce an image-forming signal that is then trans- tor management plan is beneficial for helping facilities to ported to the brain, via the optic nerve. When the path- keep track of their motor inventory as well as introducing way is disrupted, (i.e. a specific cell in the pathway is them to NEMA motors. Thus, motor management plan is destroyed) the ability to see becomes disrupted as well. beneficial for improving the energy efficiency and gener- Glaucoma is caused by the loss of ganglion cells in the ating operational savings from less power consumption. ganglion cell layer. Photoreceptor cell loss is the leading Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus in Calculating cause of blindness in the adult human. In this study, we Prediction Error of Reward investigate neural regeneration in the mice retina by us- Cortney Taylor, Senior, Neurobiology, Psychology ing neurotoxicity to destroy amacrine and ganglion cells, Mary Gates Scholar and injecting a combination of growth factors into the Mentor: Sheri Mizumori, Psychology eye to stimulate regeneration of damaged cells. We in- vestigate the dependency of regeneration on cell specific Midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons in the Ventral damage, meaning that the destruction of a specific cell Tegmental Area (VTA) and the Substantia Nigra Pars encourages regeneration of the same cell upon injection Compacta (SNc) have been studied extensively as they with growth factors. Results of this study could poten- pertain to learning. Specifically, they are hypothesized to tially serve as a viable treatment to restore vision in those play a role in computing reward prediction error signals. who have lost it, due to a variety of causes. The DA system is studied so thoroughly because of its important general function and its major applications to- The Industrial Assessment Center Motor wards multiple human disorders, including Parkinson’s Management Plan disease, Schizophrenia, and drug addiction. Although Alfonsus Tanoto, Senior, Electrical Engineering much is known about the properties and functions of Anthony Simon, Senior, Electrical Engineering the midbrain dopamine neurons, the areas of the brain Mentor: Alexander Mamishev, Electrical Engineering that supply this system the necessary information to per- The University of Washington Industrial Assessment form the reward prediction error computation are much Center (UW IAC) consists of undergraduate students less understood. One such area that is beginning to from various engineering disciplines whose goal is to be explored is the Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus

162 (PPTg). This area, which is a small structure in the meso- could promote dialogue. Ultimately, the local media in pontine tegmentum, is known to be a major source of Israel and Palestine can aid a resolution of the conflict glutamatergic and cholinergic inputs to DA neurons in by helping Israelis and Palestinians overcome their own both the VTA and SNc. Although the exact role of the bias and understand each others’ suffering. PPTg is not yet clear, it is an area known to have impor- tant clinical applications. For example, electrical stimu- Maintaining and Expanding WALTA Data Upload lation of the PPTg improves gait and posture in Parkin- Software son’s patients and that the rewarding effects of nicotine Robert Thompson, Senior, Physics, Computer Science are transmitted through the PPTg. In this experiment Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant data were collected from six rats that were trained to run Scholar an eight-arm radial maze where each arm was baited with Mentor: R. J. Wilkes, Physics a reward and salient visual cues were present. Electrodes Mentor: Hans-Gerd Berns, Physics were implanted into the PPTg area of the rat brains and Washington Large Area Time Coincidence Array extracellular recordings were made during the comple- (WALTA) is an attempt to involve local high school tion of this spatial memory task. Our general hypothesis physics classes in cutting-edge physics research. Each is that the PPTg has a fundamental role in computing re- class sets up cosmic ray air shower detectors with mate- ward prediction error signals. Specifically we expect to rials provided by UW and submits the data for review at a find that PPTg neurons code information about the actual later time. The goal is to recreate a large-scale air shower reward received, as well as expectations about future re- detector with the large area the schools are spaced in. wards. The shower data is uploaded to a server at UW and an- Use of Local Media in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict alyzed to ensure the data is valid. The submitters are Talya Ten Brink, Sophomore, Pre-Major (Arts Sciences) given back a rough analysis including a direction of ori- Mentor: Stephen Sulzbacher, Psychiatry gin of the air showers. This project’s goal is to streamline the data uploading software and includes: eliminating News media greatly affects a society’s perception of any bugs in the existing software, documenting the soft- identities. In a conflict setting, media can either facili- ware for both users and future developers, and returning tate or hinder reconciliation between conflicting groups. a more detailed report after data is uploaded. It is hoped Media is a major factor that affects the perception of the that these changes will encourage teachers to use the sys- opposing group and also defines the role and responsibil- tem in classrooms and thus better prepare future physics ities of each group. With two other students, I explored students while providing the WALTA project with valu- the effects of local news media in Israel and Palestine able data. on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We focused on how the mainstream Israeli and Palestinian online news media Role of High Frequency EEG Oscillations in helped or hindered resolution of the conflict. We inves- Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder tigated the uses and limitations of media in conflict res- Jasleen Tiwana, Senior, Neurobiology olution and analyzed the online versions of the two most Mentor: Michael Murias, Psychiatry popular Hebrew Israeli and Arabic Palestinian newspa- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by im- pers, Yedioth Ahronoth and Ma’an News Agency, as pairments in communication skills, social interaction, well as some other news sources. We analyzed the con- and presence of stereotyped repetitive behaviors. An in- tent of articles, comparing descriptive terminology use fluential theory regarding the mechanism of ASD hy- to describe the same “objective” events or facts. We de- pothesizes that symptoms of autism arise from an in- termined how each source portrayed the Palestinian and crease in excitation (or alternatively a decrease in inhibi- Israeli roles in the conflict and compared the portrayal tion) in cortical and subcortical neural systems (Ruben- of three solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the stein and Merzenich, 2003). This is consistent with high two news sources. Our preliminary work suggests that rates of seizure activity found in individuals with autism. Israeli media reinforced stereotypes about Arabs, pro- To investigate this hypothesis, we examined spontaneous moted paranoia, supported settlers despite their illegal gamma range (30-80Hz) electroencephalographic (EEG) activities and focused on the victimization of the Israelis. oscillations in 6 and 7 year olds. Previous work in Media in Palestine did not provide context for Israeli our lab found increased resting state beta amplitude in military actions and focused on the victimization of the adults, and increased gamma amplitude has been shown Palestinians. Based on our research, we recommend that in children with autism during a state of visual atten- the local media in Israel and Palestine exert more effort tion (Orekhova et al., 2007). We tested high functioning than they currently exert to promote dialogue between Is- children with autism using dense array EEG, which pro- raelis and Palestinians, perhaps through a feature series vides superior spatial resolution than previous research. about the experiences of both Israelis and Palestinians While spontaneous gamma EEG activity has not been

163 extensively examined in humans, evoked and induced we can expect to have several hundred hours of moni- gamma activity is thought to represent the synchroniza- toring. The telescopes are: the 30 inch student run tele- tion of neural networks during sensory, motor, and higher scope at Manastash Ridge (MRO), the New Mexico State level cognitive tasks. Increased spontaneous gamma ac- (NMSU 1m) 1.0 m robotic telescope, the Apache Point tivity could alter evoked or induced gamma activity dur- Observatory (APO) ARC 3.5 meter telescope, and the ing cognitive tasks, contributing to cognitive deficits ob- ARC Small Aperture Telescope (ARCSAT) remote 0.5 served in autism. meter telescope.

Probing Diastereoselectivity of Cyclizations of Chiral An Investigation of the Effects of Behavior Problems Amino Alkenes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder on Katarina Tu, Senior, Biochemistry, Chemistry Mothers’ vs. Fathers’ Stress Levels Mentor: Forrest Michael, Chemistry Danielle Ung, Senior, Psychology Mentor: Carolyn Rosewall, Chemistry Mentor: Annette Estes, Psychiatry Behavioral Sciences

Controlling diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity of Studies have found behavior problems in children with chemical transformations are important in organic syn- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to be associated with thesis because stereochemistry can determine the bio- increased stress in mothers. However, only a few studies logical activity of a compound. In our study we used have investigated the impact of behavior problems on fa- palladium catalysts with or without an oxidant to cyclize thers’ stress levels. Therefore, this study aims to investi- chiral amino alkenes and investigated the diastereoselec- gate the association between the severity of externalizing tivity of the reaction. These reactions include hydroam- behavior problems in 6-year-old children with ASD and ination, which is the addition of hydrogen and nitrogen stress levels in their mothers and fathers. Participants in- across the alkene, or oxidative additions such as diami- clude mothers and fathers of 6-year-olds with ASD from nation which functionalize both carbons of the alkene. a larger longitudinal study called the Early Development To synthesize the chiral amino alkene substrates we used Study (EDS). This study investigated the developmen- (R)-(+)-2-methyl-2-propanesulfinamide as a chiral aux- tal course of children with ASD at ages 3, 6, and 9 years. illary which directs attack of nucleophiles to favor for- The sample included seventy-five children with ASD and mation of the R stereocenter. We replaced the sulfinyl their parents. Participants were recruited through lo- group with a carbamate protecting group and then sub- cal parent advocacy groups, community agencies, clin- jected these to cyclization reactions that result in the for- ics, hospitals and public schools (Estes, 2008). Moth- mation of two stereocenters on the heterocycle, one of ers and fathers completed questionnaires that measured which is directed by the other we set in the synthesis of parental stress level and child behavior problems. The the substrate. We determined the diastereoselectivity via questionnaires that will be examined are (1) the Ques- spectroscopic methods such as proton nuclear magnetic tionnaire on Resources and Stress, which measures stress 1 resonance spectroscopy ( H NMR) and chiral high per- associated with parenting in mothers and fathers, (2) the formance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results of Child Behavior Checklist, which is used to assess behav- these experiments will potentially lead us to useful or- ioral problems in children, and (3) the Aberrant Behavior ganic synthesis preparations of molecules with multiple Checklist, which is used to assess behavioral problems stereocenters in high enantiomeric excess. in children with developmental disabilities. Based upon previous research, this study hypothesizes that 1) moth- Flare Rates on Dwarfs: Observing Program ers will experience higher overall stress levels compared Nicholas Ule, Recent Graduate, Physics, Astronomy with fathers and 2) as the severity of behavior problems Undergraduate Research Conference Travel increases, mothers’ stress levels will also increase, more Awardee so than fathers. If it is found that mothers’ stress levels Mentor: Suzanne Hawley, Astronomy are higher than fathers’ stress levels, future studies will Mentor: Eric Hilton, Astronomy be needed to specify why this is the case. Perhaps moth- M dwarfs are stars with masses much less than our Sun ers may be taking on more child caretaking responsibili- and are the most numerous stars in the universe. De- ties or they identify more with their children, or they may spite their great numbers there is still much to learn about simply report higher stress levels even if the caretaking them, particularly their activity rates. We present the ob- responsibilities are equal between the mothers and fa- serving program of a multi-year observing campaign to thers. statistically determine M dwarf flare rates and energies Intermittent Fluorescence Emissions of Individual as a function of spectral type and activity level. Our ob- Molecules servations consist of over 100 hours of monitoring M Maria Vanushkina, Senior, Chemistry, Biochemistry dwarfs on four telescopes. We will continue our cam- Mentor: Bart Kahr, Chemistry paign for approximately 18 more months, at which time

164 Single molecule (SM) spectroscopy is one of the truly ple, non-invasive method of monitoring ICP using vi- transformative themes in 21st century chemistry. The broacoustography, which would allow for faster, easier, ability to study phenomena on a SM level allows scien- and safer measurement of this critical parameter. Prior tists to obtain information that otherwise would disap- work suggests a positive correlation between tissue stiff- pear in the ensemble average. Recent studies of absorp- ness and ambient pressure in an enclosed chamber. We tion and emission of individual luminophores (LPs) have intend to exploit this variable tissue elasticity by observa- uncovered a curious phenomenon - “blinking”. Blink- tion of brain tissue’s acoustic response to low frequency ing is the intermittent fluorescence emission visualized vibration. Two beams of confocal high intensity ultra- as periodic alternation between bright “on” states and sound are used to remotely and non-invasively palpate dark “off” states. Currently, we do not have a clear and vibrate tissue while its acoustic response is analyzed understanding of why individual molecules turn “off”. to determine frequency content. A test system has been Using confocal microscopy, the labs of Bart Kahr and constructed and preliminary studies show promise. Cur- Phil Reid have begun to study fluorescence emission pat- rent experiments focus on calibration and refinement of terns of individual LPs confined in a crystal lattice (CL). the system to reduce noise and tissue phantom and ex Compared to disorganized media, the restrictive environ- vivo tests. ments provided by CLs prolong the fluorescence life- The Effect of Concentrated Air Particulates (CAPs) times of individual molecules. Our initial work focused in Exacerbating Cardiovascular Disease in on organic SM LPs. Nano-sized semiconducting crystals Transgenic Mice termed quantum dots (QDs) exhibit patterns of emissive Alyssa Vivas, Junior, Environmental Health and dark periods very similar to SM LPs. Studies have Mentor: Dan Luchtel, Environmental Occupational shown that both QDs and SMs are very sensitive to inter- Health Sciences actions with their nano-environments, and it may be that Mentor: Karen Jansen, Environmental Occupational these interactions are the key to understanding blinking. Health Sciences To start, we needed to gather QD data to compare to the data we have on SMs in potassium acid phthalate (KAP). Exposure to particulate matter (PM) in ambient air has We made solutions of QDs in 15 salts in an attempt to been associated with adverse cardiovascular health ef- incorporate them in a CL. All the salt solutions made at fects, such as heart failure, angina pectoris, cardiac ar- 25C formed aggregates. At 5C, QDs made stable col- rhythmias, and myocardial infarction. The lungs are the loidal suspensions in KAP, urea, and glycine. The result- entryway for PM into the body and once in the lungs, ing KAP crystals have been examined spectroscopically. are thought to have several mechanisms of toxicity. Due The presence of blinking indicates that we have success- to their extremely small size, ultrafine PM can enter the fully incorporated QDs into the KAP CL. Our next step circulatory system and be transported to the heart and is to make crystals with varying concentrations of QDs other organs. Another hypothesis is that when PM de- and examine their photophysical behavior under varying posits in the lungs, inflammation occurs and inflamma- conditions. tory cell mediators become blood borne and target the cardiovascular system. The current project utilizes apo- Non-Invasive Determination of Intracranial Pressure lipoprotein E-null (apoE-/-) mice to evaluate the cardio- by Means of Vibroacoustography vascular effects of exposure to concentrated air particu- Pavan Vaswani, Senior, Neurobiology, Biochemistry, lates (CAPS). It is a part of a five-city study on the ef- Computer Science fects of ambient air PM on acute and chronic mortality Goldwater Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar, and morbidity in animals and humans. Mouse inhala- NASA Space Grant Scholar, Washington Research tion studies will be done in: New York, NY, Riverside, Foundation Fellow CA, East Lansing, MI, Research Triangle Park, NC, and Mentor: Pierre Mourad, Neurological Surgery Seattle, WA. In each location, transgenic mice will be Intracranial pressure (ICP) is a critical parameter of exposed to either clean filtered air or CAPS for 6 months brain function and, when elevated, is associated with (5 days/week, 6 hours/day) via inhalation. An air parti- a number of serious neurological conditions, including cle concentrator is used to concentrate the particle num- intracranial masses such as tumors and bleeds, hydro- ber about ten times over the ambient concentration. The cephalus, stroke, infections, high altitude sickness, and apoE-/- mice are a transgenic model for early onset of brain edema from traumatic head injury. Monitoring atherosclerosis. Transmitters are implanted in the mice ICP in these traumatic situations has been shown to im- and computerized telemetry is used to collect Electro- prove clinical outcome. Currently, ICP is measured in- cardiography (ECG) and heart rate variability data. Af- vasively by drilling a hole through the skull to place a ter the Seattle exposures are completed, mice will be transducer near the brain, a procedure requiring surgery shipped back to New York University for ultrasound and the skills of a neurosurgeon. We propose a sim- measurements and histopathology. As of February 2009,

165 data collection is in its second month and results are only crust. We analyze Pb isotopic ratios in Pb-bearing miner- beginning to be analyzed. The data that will be collected als and glasses in-situ by using laser ablation techniques will include heart rate variability, ECG abnormalities, (providing the Pb isotope composition of a ˜50-100 mi- and progression of atherosclerosis. crons spots). This data should lead to a refined view on how such large and explosive magma bodies form. You Be Fine: A Secondary Analysis of Asian Americans and Access to Mental Health Hyper-Attentive Learning in Alternative Settings Jonathan Wagner, Senior, Sociology Sarah Wang, Senior, Informatics McNair Scholar Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: David Takeuchi, Sociology Mentor: Jentery Sayers, English Mentor: Mike Eisenberg, Information School Historically Asians and Asian Americans have been wel- comed to the United States with disdain and seen as per- Recognizing that hyper-attention, or the ability to mul- petual foreigners. In 1882, the Chinese were excluded titask between different sources of information, is be- from even coming or staying in the United States, and coming increasingly prominent in many aspects of mod- then by 1924 new immigration reform was created to ban ern life, I am exploring how it can be utilized, instead all Asians from immigrating to the United States for em- of discouraged, in a variety of learning environments. ployment. However since the Immigration and Nation- Ultimately, I aim to develop a model for collaborative ality Act of 1965, Asian and Asian Americans account learning that facilitates interactions and the exchange of for the second largest growing population in the United information between instructors and learners. By treat- States. Despite growing exponentially, there has been ing the gallery space at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery at very little scholarship regarding Asian Americans and the University of Washington (UW) as an environment access to mental health. More specifically this is true for alternative learning, I experimented with these ideas. for Americans of Southeast Asian descent. By incorpo- Through my experimental installation, visitors were able rating a theoretical framework that involves racial iden- to use mobile technologies, such as mobile phones, to tity theory and theories of assimilation into my research, leave their comments in a real-time, virtual guestbook, I will attempt to find any correlation between assimila- which was projected on a gallery wall. In the upcoming tion, discrimination and its affect on ethnic identity. In year, I plan on incorporating results from this study into order to accomplish this I have conducted a secondary my senior capstone project, where I further investigate analysis of the 2006 National Latino and Asian Ameri- the interactions between hyper-attention and alternative can Survey. Preliminary work suggests that stronger ties learning spaces located physically and virtually around to ethnic identity will decrease receptiveness to mental the UW campus. health care to due to cultural beliefs and shame. HCN Channel Expression in Epileptogenesis and the In-Situ Pb Isotopic Ratios in Minerals and Glasses of p38 MAPK-Mediated Modulation of HCN Channels Large Explosive Volcanic Eruptions: A Probe for by Anti-Epileptic Drugs Magma-Crust Interactions Lindsay Warner, Senior, Neurobiology Lucy Walsh, Senior, Earth Space Sciences Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Olivier Bachmann, Earth Space Sciences Mentor: Nicholas Poolos, Neurology Mentor: Janina Klaus, Earth Space Sciences Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological con- Pb isotope ratios are one of the most sensitive measures ditions: in the United States alone, three million peo- of the interaction between magmas and their surround- ple have been diagnosed with epilepsy. Though some 2 207 208 ing wall rocks. Enrichments in 06Pb, Pb and Pb types of epilepsy are hereditary, many epilepsies are 204 with respect to Pb indicate that the parent magma, acquired after neuronal injury, and cannot be effec- commonly derived mostly from the mantle (which has tively treated with existing anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). 206 207 208 204 low Pb, Pb and Pb over Pb), has undergone We are investigating how hyperpolarization-activated crustal assimilation (incorporation of solids and fluids cyclic nucleotide gated ion channel (HCN channel) ex- 206 207 present in the Earth’s crust with high Pb, Pb and pression contributes to epileptogenesis, and the mech- 208 204 Pb over Pb). This project aims to quanitfy the anism through which Lamotrigine, a particularly effec- amount of crustal assimilation that occurred in some of tive AED, modulates HCN channel activity. My current the largest and most explosive silicic volcanic deposits work seeks to quantify the timescale of HCN channel of the active Aegean Arc (Greece). In contrast to com- loss during epileptogenesis, and will indicate whether mon petrogenetic interpretations, preliminary data using post-translational mechanisms of HCN channel regula- other isotopic systems (Sr and Nd isotopic ratios) sug- tion contribute to the development of the epileptic state. gest the magma that erupted to form these extensive vol- Our preliminary findings suggest that HCN channel ex- canic deposits has interacted very little with surrounding pression is significantly downregulated during epilep-

166 togenesis. Additionally, I have found that the in vivo Excellence for All?: Politics and Practice of the modulation of a HCN channel-targeting kinase known Southeast Education Initiative at Rainier Beach as p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) High School can impact the seizure frequency of epileptic animals. Maia Williams, Senior, Comparative History of Ideas This work will eventually allow me to determine whether Mentor: Meredith Honig, Educational Leadership the antiepileptic action of Lamotrigine depends on p38 Policy Studies MAPK activity. Completing these projects will further Mentor: Claire Fraczek, Education elucidate the contribution that HCN channels make to the To explore the question of how to best implement edu- acquisition and maintenance of the epileptic phenotype, cational initiatives, my research analyzes the implemen- and may guide the development of more effective AEDs. tation of the Seattle School District’s Southeast Educa- Using Genetic Methods to Increase Hydrogen tion Initiative (SEI) at Rainier Beach High School as a Production in Rhodopseudomonas palustris case study. The case study was designed using class- Palmer Weaver, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular room observations, teacher interviews, and district and Developmental) media publications related to Rainier Beach and the SEI, Howard Hughes Scholar as well as historical district and media documents con- Mentor: James ’Jake’ McKinlay, Microbiology cerning previous district policies affecting Rainier Beach Mentor: Caroline Harwood, Microbiology and educational equity. The results suggest that the suc- cess of the SEI has been hampered by political factors Addressing the global demands on diminishing carbon- such as sudden personnel changes and budgeting, lead- based fuels and the welfare of the environment calls for ing to inconsistencies in policy over time and a lack of new forms of energy that are both renewable and ecolog- needed resources to fulfill the objectives of the initiative. ically friendly. A promising solution to the fuel crisis is Teachers involved in initiative implementation were also the utilization of hydrogen gas (H2). H2 can be obtained excluded from the decision-making process in several in- from numerous renewable resources, and upon combus- stances. Future school reform initiatives should contain tion it forms water instead of carbon dioxide. The photo- stronger provisions to lock in budgets and personnel, and synthetic nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas should include those involved with implementation in the palustris, produces H2 as an obligatory product of its ni- decision-making process. trogenase reaction. Thus, in the process of fixing nitro- gen gas to ammonia, R. palustris harnesses light energy Changes in Infected Immune Cells During Tuberculosis Pathogenesis and Granuloma to convert organic waste into H2 and materials for cell growth. We are studying R. palustris metabolism behind Formation Kathryn Winglee, Senior, Computer Science, H2 production to see if the H2 yield can be increased. Previous metabolic flux analysis performed in the lab Microbiology Levinson Emerging Scholar, Mary Gates revealed two metabolic pathways involved in CO2 fix- Scholar, NASA Space Grant Scholar ation that compete for electrons with the H2-producing nitrogenase. We are testing aspects of our model by ge- Mentor: Lalita Ramakrishnan, Microbiology netically eliminating enzymes thought to be involved in Mentor: Muse Davis, Immunology Molecular Pathogenesis, Emory University these CO2 fixation processes. Mutants are created us- ing standard molecular biology approaches, including Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease that infects and the techniques of Polymerase Chain Reaction, plasmid kills millions of people each year. One important char- purification, restriction enzyme digestion, and ligations. acteristic of this disease is the formation of granulomas, The effect of these mutations on H2 yield (product made aggregations of infected macrophages and other immune versus substrate consumed) will be assessed, employing system cells, in the infected host. The TB granuloma methods of Gas Chromatography to measure H2 accu- has been considered a key host protective structure but mulation and High Performance Liquid Chromatography recent data from our laboratory suggest that it is actu- to measure substrate consumption. By curtailing flux ally a structure built and co-opted by the infecting bac- through the CO2-fixing pathways, we hope to reroute teria to expand infection. This surprising discovery was more electrons into nitrogenase activity and observe in- made possible by the study of zebrafish embryos infected creased hydrogen yields. with Mycobacterium marinum. Mycobacterium mar- inum is a close relative of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of human TB. Zebrafish embryos are transparent, allowing real-time observation of the course of infection. To further exploit this model, I have devel- oped a program that is capable of tracking fluorescent M. marinum and host immune cells. We find that in addition

167 to macrophages, host neutrophils also enter granulomas, ity and often failure. In order to tailor this response to- move around rapidly and phagocytose dead infected cells ward healing rather than scar tissue formation, a number to become infected themselves. My program has been of bioactive surface coatings have been developed. The used to analyze changes in morphology and motility of chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of developing neutrophils in granulomas as a result of mycobacterial chicken embryos was utilized to evaluate encapsulation infection, showing that infected neutrophils are larger and the healing response of our surface coatings. Our and rounder than uninfected neutrophils, but speed re- research utilized a collagen affinity coating to present mains unchanged. In contrast, macrophages have been fibronectin, heparin, biglycan, decorin, and osteopontin found to slow down upon infection. The distinct be- on model surfaces. Samples for implantation were pre- havior of these two cell types participating in infection pared by dipcoating 3 mm long 4-0 silk sutures in poly- within the TB granuloma is likely to have functional con- 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA), covalently im- sequences and we are exploring this area. mobilizing type 1 collagen via 1,1’ carbonyl diimidazole surface chemistry, and immersing in solutions contain- Improving Tracking Methods and Group Unity ing potential healing molecules. One implant from each Through Phase-Coupled Oscillator Models treatment was evaluated using electron spectroscopy for James Wong, Junior, Bioengineering chemical analysis (ESCA) to ensure successful coating NASA Space Grant Scholar of surfaces. Fertilized chicken eggs were incubated at 37 Mentor: Kristi Morgansen, Aeronautics Astronautics C and 60% humidity in a Hovabator. At day 4 of gesta- 2 Phase-coupled oscillator models, types of algorithms tion, a 1.5 cm window was cut into the top surface of that can be used to control robot movement, have been the shell. At day 7 of gestation the implants were placed used to help robots like the RHex move around with syn- on the CAM and allowed to incorporate into the mem- chronized legs. Lately, these models have been used to brane until explantation on day 14. The suture and sur- synchronize groups of robots. In our experiment, we are rounding tissue were fixed in 10% formalin, embedded in attempting to provide a more efficient way for robots to paraffin, and sectioned. Sections were stained with Mas- move in unison while using less communication. This son’s trichrome and the extent of collagen deposition at will be helpful underwater, where water disturbances the implant sight was evaluated. Due to processing and make it difficult for robots to communicate. For our ex- sectioning challenges with the thin CAM membrane, the periment, we are using C++ to implement an alteration of capsule thicknesses were qualitatively evaluated rather a phase-coupled oscillator model into three robotic fish. than directly measured. Qualitative observations pro- Each fish has two pectoral fins for depth maneuverability vided very similar healing responses between the differ- and a tail for translational movement. We aim to program ent coated surfaces. Continued analysis is required to a phase-coupled oscillator model into our robotic fish to determine if this method has the sensitivity required to have them track a robot shark as a group without stray- detect differences in encapsulation of implants. ing from one another. To test the algorithm, the fish are Investigating the Effects of Mitochondrial Dynamics placed into an 8 foot by 20 foot by 8 foot pool with a in Neuronal Apoptosis single robotic shark that can be manipulated by a human Cody Wyles, Senior, Neurobiology controller. The three fish are then tasked with tracking Mary Gates Scholar the shark as a group. If our algorithm works, the three Mentor: Richard Morrison, Neurological Surgery fish will be able to form an organized cluster and remain as an organized cluster as they track the shark. This has Mitochondria perform a variety of critical cellular func- potential to be helpful in environments where robots can tions, most notably serving as the primary energy- not receive signals from other robots. Ultimately, this generating system within the cell. Mitochondrial dy- algorithm will allow for robots to efficiently complete a namics, or the ability of mitochondria to regulate their collaborative task without controller input. morphology by fusion and fission, is a vital process by which mitochondria can communicate with each other The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane as an In Vivo and meet differential energy requirements throughout the Model for Measuring Inflammatory Response to cell. This is especially significant in neurons where re- Protein Coated Implants gions of high ATP-requirement, such as synapses, can Jennifer Wu, Junior, Biology (Physiology), Biochemistry be located up to one meter away from the cell body. Mentor: Marisa Sylvester, Bioengineering In healthy neurons, mitochondria exhibit a characteristi- Mentor: Buddy Ratner, Bioengineering cally short, tubular morphology, facilitating their trans- Upon implantation, medical devices are subject to rapid port throughout the cell. Imbalance between the pro- protein adsorption, infiltration of inflammatory cells and cesses of fusion and fission can lead to cell death and finally fibrous encapsulation. In the case of implantable neurodegenerative disease. We have investigated the sensors, this encapsulation leads to reduction of sensitiv- relationship between mitochondrial dynamics and cell

168 death in neurons using primary mouse postnatal corti- aid the development of family-based intervention. It is cal neurons in conjunction with immunohistochemistry hoped that future family-based intervention will focus on and western blotting techniques. Previous work in non- helping parent with children with difficult temperaments neuronal cells has demonstrated excessive mitochondrial and identifying ways to help alleviate parents’ stress. fission preceding cell dysfunction and death. However, we have shown mitochondrial fusion is an early response Developing an Objective Healthcare Assessment for to genotoxic stress that induces p-53-mediated apop- Children in Community Based Rehabilitation in totic cell death. Further, preventing mitochondrial fu- Developing Countries sion or enhancing mitochondrial fission reduces apopto- Zachary Ward, Senior, Global Health Management, sis in these neurons. DNA damage-induced mitochon- Seattle Pacific University drial fusion occurs in association with a p53-mediated Mentor: Kevin Neuhouser, Sociology, Seattle Pacific decrease in cellular levels of Dynamin-Related Protein University 1 (Drp1), an enzyme responsible for mitochondrial fis- Meaningful healthcare assessments that are easily ad- sion. Drp1 is being shown to have complex interactions ministered and culturally appropriate are needed for use with two major antagonistic proteins, pro-apoptotic BAX with children with disabilities in Community Based Re- and anti-apoptotic Bcl-xl, in the determination of mito- habilitation (CBR) in developing countries. In response chondrial integrity and consequently, cell viability. To- to this need the Standard Capability Assessment (SCA) gether, this suggests that beyond its function as a fission was developed as a proxy health-related quality of life protein, Drp1 may play a critical role in p53-dependent assessment. The objectives of this work are to exam- apoptotic pathways by directly interacting with apoptotic ine the performance of the SCA as a CBR-appropriate machinery. More complete exploration of these possibil- instrument, and to test its main psychometric proper- ities may render Drp1 a viable therapeutic target for the ties. The SCA is a 26-item, objective, clinician-based as- prevention of neuronal death associated with neurode- sessment comprised of three domains: physical, mental, generative disease. and social. Its psychometric properties were analyzed The Relationship Quality Between Parents and their using data obtained from a population of children with Children with Autism disabilities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (n = 54). Data Kai Yam, Senior, Psychology was collected during the course of the regular home vis- Mentor: Annette Estes, Psychiatry Behavioral Sciences its of Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation for Tanzania (CCBRT). The SCA was tested for crite- Studies have shown that child temperament is largely rion validity with the WHO-QOL BREF, a quality of life neurologically based and heredity has a great influence instrument developed by the World Health Organization. on temperament (Buss & Plomin, 1984; Loehlin, Willer- The SCA was highly correlated with WHO-QOL BREF man, & Horn, 1985). Children with an autism spectrum scores (r = 0.751, p = 0.000, n = 29). The convergent va- disorder (ASD) may display difficult temperament that lidity of SCA with clinical measures was also very high may affect parents’ stress level as well as marital satis- (r = 0.950, p = 0.000). The SCA showed excellent re- faction (Kasari & Sigman, 1997). The purpose of this liability, with inter-observer and internal consistency re- study will be to investigate how having a child with ASD liability having a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.996 and 0.946, affects both parents. In particular, this study will exam- respectively. There were no significant differences be- ine the following factors: parents’ level of stress, mari- tween the scores by gender (p = 0.363) or by district loca- tal satisfaction, and children’s temperament. Participants tion (p = 0.700). These results indicate that the SCA has will be 29 parents and their 6-month-old children (n=16 excellent psychometric properties of reliability and per- ASD; n=13 control). Each parent will be instructed to fill forms very well in preliminary tests of validity. Overall, out 1) the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress to as- the objectivity, simplicity, and brevity of the SCA make it sess coping and adaptational responses to his/her child, an appropriate instrument for CBR environments. More 2) the Dyadic Adjustment Scale to assess marital satis- widespread adoption and further testing could establish it faction, and 3) the Infant Behavioral Questionnaire – Re- as an important assessment for children with disabilities vised (IBQ-R) to assess the child’s temperamental char- in developing countries. acteristics. It will be hypothesized that parents of chil- dren with ASD will experience a higher level of stress Gold Coated Multi-modal Fluorescent Imaging and lower marital satisfaction. It will also be expected Probe for Cancer Biomarker Detection that higher level of stress and lower marital satisfaction Xiaohai Zhang, Senior, Bioengineering will be associated with difficult temperamental charac- Mentor: Xiaohu Gao, Bioengineering teristics. If infant temperament is related to increased Quantum dots (QDs) are inorganic fluorescent nanocrys- parent stress and decreased marital satisfaction, this will tals that have novel optical properties such as size- replicate previous studies. The result of this study may tunable emission and simultaneous excitation. These

169 properties render QDs excellent fluorophores for of mutant PKCγ in cell apoptosis is evaluated by adding wavelength-and-intensity multiplexing. In recent years, the oxidase H2O2 to induce cellular stress and apoptosis studies have shown that QDs with different intensity in transfected cells. Cells are stained with an apoptosis levels and colors can be encoded into mesoporous mi- marker and subjected to flow cytometry. Our preliminary crobeads at precisely controlled ratios to code up to one data reveal cells with mutant PKCγ have higher apop- million nucleic acid or protein sequences. This spectral tosis, indicating its reduced protection against cellular coding is opening new opportunities in gene expression stress. These preliminary data are encouraging and may studies, high-throughput screening, and medical diag- result in a better understanding of mutant PKCγ effects nostics such as cancer biomarker detection. Due to the on cell function. We are currently studying additional heterogeneity nature of cancer, the ability to detect mul- mutations and will investigate subcellular changes, in- tiple biomarkers is critical in order to obtain an accurate cluding the co-localization of aggregates and organelles diagnosis. However, current detection techniques such in accordance to each mutation. as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Brackish Water Pretreatment for Electrodialysis protein microarrays lack the ability to detect biomarkers Reversal (EDR) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) with both multiplicity and high sensitivity. In this study, Peiran Zhou, Junior, Exchange - Arts Sciences we synthesized a novel multi-modal fluorescent imag- Mentor: Mark Benjamin, Civil Environmental ing probe by depositing colloidal gold to form a shell Engineering around mesoporous silica beads doped with QDs. The Mentor: Zhenxiao Cai, Civil Environmental outer layer of gold serves to provide an easily function- Engineering alized platform for bio-conjugation as well as increases bead stability in solution. This type of beads is expected As greater demands are placed on our limited supply to significantly increase detection sensitivity and stabil- of clean fresh water, society is forced to look to lower- ity of currently existing imaging probes. quality sources for drinking water, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. One such source is brackish water, from Effects of Mutant PKCγ on Protein Aggregation, which salt must be removed to make the water drink- Protein Insolubility and Cell Death able. Currently available processes for doing this include Yunlin Zheng, Senior, Biology (General) membrane-based systems, such as electrodialysis rever- Mentor: Dong-Hui Chen, Neurology sal (EDR) and reverse osmosis (RO). However, for these Spinocerebellar Ataxia 14 (SCA14) is a neurodegenera- processes to work reliably and economically, contami- tive disease, characterized by a progressive loss of motor nants other than salts (e.g., particles and dissolved met- coordination and by Purkinje cell death in the cerebel- als, such as iron, manganese, and aluminum) must be re- lum. The PRKCG gene encodes PKCγ, a protein ki- moved in so-called ‘pre-treatment’ steps. My project fo- nase expressed primarily in the neurons. The role of cuses on developing a low-cost, energy efficient, simple PKCγ in cell function includes cell signaling, prolifer- and reliable pre-treatment system to remove these con- ation and differentiation. Mutations in PRKCG have taminants from brackish water. In the system, the feed been identified in SCA14 patients, with most mutations is aerated and then dosed with chlorine and manganese clustered in the protein’s binding domain. The patho- dioxide (MnO2) particles. The MnO2 particles collect genesis of mutant PKCγ in Purkinje cell degeneration (adsorb) Mn2+, Fe2+ and Al3+ ions on their surface, and is not known. However, other neurodegenerative dis- the chlorine oxidizes the Mn2+ and Fe2+ to Mn4+ and eases like Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s have reported Fe3+, respectively. These oxidation reactions form more protein aggregation, increased protein insolubility and solids (Fe(OH)3 and MnO2), which facilitate further re- cell apoptosis. The project I am involved in evaluates action with the contaminants in the feed. A membrane the effect of PKCγ mutations on cell function and toxi- is then used to separate the pre-treated water from the city by in vitro studies. Cells are transfected with GFP- particles, before it is sent to the EDR or RO unit. When tagged PKCγ constructs containing the disease-causing the particle concentration in the reaction vessel becomes mutations. PKCγ-GFP proteins are expressed 24-hours excessive, a fraction of the accumulated particles are dis- post transfection, and cells are analyzed for protein ag- charged, and the whole process is repeated. Currently, I gregation, protein insolubility and apoptosis rate. Our am working to optimize the reagent doses and aeration preliminary data show mutant PKCγ form intracellular time to achieve optimal removal of all the ions in this aggregates in transfected cells when viewed under fluo- novel pre-treatment process. rescence microscopy. Protein insolubility levels of mu- Characterizing Immune Cell Migratory Aspects of tant PKCγ are analyzed by Western Blots. Our prelim- Multiple Sclerosis Pathology inary data show that compared with wild type, insolu- Eric Zimmerman, Senior, Neurobiology bility is increased in some mutations, and the increase Mentor: Nephi Stella, Pharmacology is correlated with aggregation rates. The protective role Mentor: Michelle Sexton, Pharmacology

170 Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating autoimmune disease of the central nervous system characterized by neurodegeneration. Specific neuro-protective treatments for MS have not yet been identified. The endogenous cannabinoid signaling pathway has been implicated as a mediator of many MS disease processes. Specifically, the migration of macrophages to the brain during MS is thought to be partially mediated by the Cannabinoid CB2 receptor. Our group seeks to characterize the role of the CB2 receptor in the cell-migratory aspects of MS pathology using human cells in a cell migration assay engineered specifically to mimic the human blood-brain barrier. The first step in this analysis is to optimize the parameters of the cell migration assay for use with hu- man cells, specifically the HL60 myeloid cell line. In the cell migration assay, cells are induced to migrate across a physical barrier, which separates the cells from a chemoattractant, simulating disease. The present work will optimize the design of this barrier, using human en- dothelial cells and human astrocytes as integral parts of its design. Using human cells for this specific type of assay will provide an accurate model of in-vivo human physiology that is meant to simulate the blood-brain bar- rier, which macrophages migrating to the brain must nav- igate before exerting their effects. In the central ner- vous system, optimization of this cell migration assay will provide a valuable tool for further analyses of migra- tional properties of a number of different human immune cell types and for possible clinical studies. A wide vari- ety of neurodegenerative diseases exhibit an autoimmune cell-migratory response and the development of this mi- gration protocol will provide a powerful tool for future investigations of these diseases.

171 Unique Opportunities: Students Talk About Research

What did research allow you to do that you wouldn’t have done otherwise?

Be a scientist! Classes can only teach you so much, and it’s not until you actually start living out the scientific method day by day that you begin to understand what science is all about.

I traveled to Germany and interviewed key government officials and leaders within the Muslim immigrant community and had the chance to discuss a currently very debated topic with those who are decision makers regarding its role in German society today.

I was able to spend time in the Harris Hydraulics Laboratory, which is a very historic and interesting place!

I was able to meet professors that I never would have had the courage to learn from.

I was chosen to be part of a select research team that flew out to an isolated research station in a tiny bush plane. I learned so much and had an incredible amount of fun in a very short period of time.

I was able to craft my learning: pick the topic and how to approach it without the convenience of a programmed curriculum. It was very gratifying!

Conducting the research has opened up many doors which I felt were closed to me before. ORAL PRESENTATION SESSION 2 3:30 - 5PM

PLEASE NOTE: Abstracts are listed alphabetically by the presenter’s last name, unless otherwise noted. Improving the Scalability of Synonym Resolution in the TextRunner’s Search Engine SESSION 2A Bo Qin, Graduate, Computer Science Engineering (BS/MS Program) Mentor: Oren Etzioni, Computer Science Engineering ADVENTURESIN COMPUTER TextRunner is a web information extraction system that extracts facts from the web and allows users to search SCIENCE for specific facts. Synonym Resolution (SR) refers to Session Moderator: Steven Seitz, Computer Science the problem of merging synonymous words. Resolver is Engineering the current SR system for TextRunner that merges syn- Mary Gates Hall Room 074 onymous words extracted by TextRunner, so TextRun- ner’s search engine can return related results when the * Note: Titles in order of presentation. user searches for certain facts. For instance, if the user Utilization of Illusory Perceptions for Cybernetic searches for “who killed JFK”, he may also be interested Calibration and Rehabilitation Systems in results returned by the query “who murdered JFK” Johnathan Lyon, Fifth Year, Computer Science since “killed” and “murdered” are synonyms. Increas- Mentor: Yoky Matsuoka, Computer Science ing the amount of information processed in SR is a way Engineering to improve the accuracy of merging synonyms, but the quantity of data that can be processed by Resolver is Through distortion of human sensory perceptions, inter- limited by the memory of a single machine. This pa- action systems may be developed that respond to human per presents P-Resolver, a parallelized version of Re- adaptation in meaningful ways. Manipulation of simul- solver’s algorithm that runs on a cluster of computers us- taneously active human senses has been shown to be very ing Hadoop’s distributed computing framework, allow- effective in rehabilitation settings. The coupling and de- ing it to process more data. As a result, it makes SR coupling of actual and perceived constraints in a recov- more accurate. ery exercise can be used to encourage the human user to Virtual Zoom: Augmented Reality on a Mobile adapt to changes more rapidly, thus improving rehabili- Device tation performance. By placing persons in an immersive Sergey Karayev, Senior, Psychology, Computer Science virtual environment with haptic interaction, we can uti- Mary Gates Scholar lize varying techniques of feedback distortion and sen- Mentor: Steven Seitz, Computer Science Engineering sory de-coherence in order to gain insight into the fu- sion of the senses and their relative multi-modal biases. The world around us is photographed millions of times a We can also use such techniques to assess the effective- day, and a lot of images find their way online. Among ness of automated sensory adaptation as well as various these, tourist landmarks are particularly well repre- levels of immersion and augmented reality in cybernetic sented. We present a way to augment reality through and rehabilitative systems. Currently, we are assessing a mobile phone using this data: with our application, previous experimental models in order to develop a stan- the user can take a low-resolution picture of a distant dardized software framework, drawing on the paradigm landmark and then virtually zoom in on it using other of 3D game development, in order to provide a simpli- people’s photographs, returned from an online server. fied development pipeline and standard toolset suitable Our system relies on a 3D scene modeling back-end that for a variety of plug and play peripherals and laboratory computes the viewpoints of photographs in a large, un- settings. The initial task is to provide a basic core exper- ordered photo collection. We present and discuss our imental system for real-time manipulation and tracking implementation of the client application on the iPhone of haptic controls based on aural, visual and haptic tac- platform, our approach to picking the best views to offer tile distortions while remaining open for future modular a zoom path, and the complexities and limitations asso- enhancements. Such a system would allow for rapid-fire ciated with mobile platforms. iteration of interaction experiments and allow for read- ily shareable and repeatable experiments across research The Limits of Adiabatic Quantum Computation units for collaborative enhancements. Although the cur- Alper Sarikaya, Senior, Computer Science, Chemistry rent research is driven by the need for adaptive thera- (ACS Certified) peutic systems, the software is intended to be broadly Mentor: Dave Bacon, Computer Science Engineering applicable and can be extended to variety of related re- Quantum computation has long been known to offer an search domains including cybernetics, telepresence, seri- exponential speed-up over classical computational algo- ous gaming, experimental philosophy and bio-enhanced rithms for some algorithmic problems. Quantum algo- interface design.

174 rithms evolve by repeatedly applying an infinitesimal op- the kind of information structure that users would expect erator, the Hamiltonian, to the initial state and end in a from the help system. During the third activity, Scenar- final quantum state. Adiabatic quantum computation is ios, individual participants were prompted to accomplish one of many quantum methods that utilize the proper- specific objectives using the online help system. Their ties of quantum mechanics in order to arrive at a final interactions with the system were observed in order to solution (or more correctly, state). The qualifier adia- understand where difficulties occurred. We used the re- batic is needed to show that this class of algorithms is sults from these activities to compose recommendations perpetuated by a simple Hamiltonian that never gets ex- for Microsoft, recommendations that focused on improv- cited past the ground state. In this project, I am investi- ing the effectiveness of the help system by revising its gating a large class of adiabatic algorithms to elucidate information architecture, revising its interactive design, the magnitude of the speed-up between them and classi- and establishing consistency across various help media. cal algorithms, demonstrating that this class of adiabatic With our recommendations, Microsoft will be able to re- quantum algorithms do not offer an exponential increase vise the existing help system to better meet user expec- in efficiency. Based on previous observations, I postu- tations and needs. late that efficiency increase of adiabatic quantum algo- rithms over classical ones are limited to just a polyno- mial speed-up for a specific set of adiabatic algorithms. I have attempted to prove this prediction by simulating SESSION 2B a adiabatic algorithm classically, and compare the real- time efficiency of it to the theoretical runtime of the adi- abatic quantum computation. I have shown this to be true for a simple case and am currently working on demon- ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, strating the polynomial effect for a Markovian operator (utilizing two time-dependent Hamiltonians). In doing RELIGION, AND EDUCATION so, the goal is two-fold: (1) I hope to disprove the evi- Session Moderator: Amos Nascimento, dence that some adiabatic quantum algorithms offer a ex- Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences ponential speed-up over their classical counterparts and Mary Gates Hall Room 082A (2) present quantum computation in a manner that is sim- ple and straightforward manner for the general university * Note: Titles in order of presentation. community. Innate Knowledge and Environmental Windows Mobile 6.1 Help System User Research Consciousness Project Ashley Cameron, Senior, Interdisciplinary Arts Jacob Warren, Senior, Technical Communication Sciences (Self Society), UW Tacoma Mentor: Karen Kasonic, Human Centered Design Mentor: Amos Nascimento, Interdisciplinary Arts Engineering Sciences, UW Tacoma

At the request of Microsoft, our team of student re- In this paper, I review various philosophical views re- searchers from the department of Human Centered De- garding environmental consciousness and innate knowl- sign and Engineering conducted user research activities edge. Following the ancient philosophies of Socrates and to measure the effectiveness of the online help documen- Plato, I explore the idea that humans have an innate un- tation for Windows Mobile 6.1, an operating system for derstanding of our place in nature. Regarding some of mobile devices. Our goal was to understand how easily the fundamental theories in the history of philosophical users of the help system could access desired informa- thought, I seek to understand their insight on the Theory tion. To do so, we evaluated user expectations and ob- of Forms, Theory of Knowledge, and Mind-Body Dual- served how successfully users completed specific tasks. ism. In contrast with the historical perspectives of these Our studies took place within the University of Wash- ideas, I consider both Empiricist and Rationalist theories ington’s Laboratory for Usability Testing and Evalua- of knowledge and the insights of contemporary environ- tion (LUTE). We performed three activities. The first, a mental philosophers such as Attfield, Frede and Frode- Wants and Needs Analysis, required a group of approxi- man. Finally, I discuss virtue and ethics in an attempt to mately five participants to brainstorm the qualities of an connect this discussion with the topic of environmental ideal online help system and then to rank their ideas. For consciousness and find a holistic approach that recog- the second activity, Card Sorting, the help system’s top- nizes our responsibility as members of the environment. ical headings were individually printed on index cards. I find that many humans have learned to assign value to Approximately five participants were asked to arrange their species alone, and conclude that we must recognize the cards into a hierarchy. Their final result represented our moral obligation to preserve the environment and re-

175 establish our relationship with nature for the future of all these religious beliefs and environmental attitudes. species on earth. While this connection has been shown in several studies, no research has attempted to pinpoint the particular Descartes’ Dysfunctional Mechanics and the Rise of facets of these beliefs that contribute to those attitudes. Systemic Thinking My research seeks to bridge that causal gap, thereby Jiwon Lee, Sophomore, Pre-Major, UW Tacoma contributing to the growing literature on the content of Mentor: Amos Nascimento, Interdisciplinary Arts religious belief as motivating individuals. I hypothesize Sciences, UW Tacoma that the key variable in these beliefs involves the relative This research paper attempts to provide a deeper un- imminence of the eschatological events; a more immi- derstanding and awareness of the modern mechanistic nent eschatological timeline makes it more likely that mind-set. The first section of the paper will discuss the the individual holding these beliefs will have negative or emergence of the mechanical perspective by exploring apathetic attitudes toward environmental issues. I look the Scientific Revolution, more specifically focusing on to support this hypothesis through the statistical analysis Descartes’ analytical method. Then, it will move on of the 2006 Religion and Public Life Survey, first by to critique and present the consequences of the modern confirming the effect of dispensational eschatology mechanistic and technological perspective, which has on environmental attitudes, and secondly by isolating leaked into all aspects of modern society. It will refer to the imminence variable as the relevant aspect of these selected intellectuals for support such as Martin Heideg- religious beliefs. I also discuss a theoretical framework ger, who forewarns us of the dangers of the technological for describing how this imminence variable causally mind and Jacques Ellul, who critiques modern technol- affects environmental attitudes, suggesting that the ogy as a system of autonomy that is not only impervi- shortened time horizon of dispensational eschatology ous to outside forces but has further promoted the domi- combined with a high social discount rate provide the neering mechanistic mindset. Lastly, the paper will pro- link between religious and environmental beliefs. vide a proposal on how to address the overreliance on the Environmental Education, Ontology, and mechanistic perspective through systems science, which Sustainable Living Habits provides a holistic approach to understanding the world. Tamara Nichols, Senior, Interdisciplinary Arts Sciences The problem of the mechanistic perspective is that it is (General Studies), UW Tacoma limited by methodological and analytical thought that Mentor: Amos Nascimento, Interdisciplinary Arts leads to the current state defined by Daniel Dennett as Sciences, UW Tacoma “greedy reductionism”: the idea that every explanation can be reduced down to the linear relationship of parts. There is a difference between scientifically understand- This ultimately ignores the undivided uniformity and in- ing environmental problems and acting in an environ- terconnectedness of the world, which is recognized in mentally friendly way. One can learn about the different the systems theory, an interdisciplinary study of the na- environmental problems and issues we are facing today ture of complex adaptive systems in nature, science, and and yet do nothing to help find the solutions. For ex- society. ample, many have heard and/or studied global warming and its effects, yet some ignore the issue and continue to Dispensational Eschatology and the Environment do things that are causing environmental problems. This Joshua Tom, Senior, Philosophy, Sociology paper argues that it is our duty, as humans living on this Mentor: Steven Pfaff, Sociology earth, to take better care of the environment and help it Historically, religious beliefs have been largely become more sustainable. Moreover, the paper adopts marginalized in favor of demographic explanations for an ontological perspective and suggests that the best ap- the environmental attitudes of individuals. However, proach to motivate environmental actions would be ed- research in the mid-1990’s showed that eschatology, ucating people and creating a more sustainable environ- religious beliefs concerning the end of the world, was ment. The paper presents several examples of concrete a significant predictor of environmental attitudes; this initiatives and environmental actions in the Puget Sound ignited renewed interest in the study of religious beliefs area, concluding that environmental education based on as having explanatory power in regards to environmental an ontological paradigm is an important tool that can im- perspectives. Previous research has solidly established pact and motivate many people. Environmental educa- the role of eschatology in the shaping of environmental tion has, therefore, an important role in helping people attitudes, specifically the Christian eschatology of become sustainable and develop more sustainable living dispensationalism. Aspects of this eschatology, such habits. as the belief in the rapture of believers and the decay of the world before its eventual end, motivated the original research establishing the connection between

176 Time Travel and Climate Change: A Learning Unit Determining the Stability Spectra of Stationary for High School Students Solutions of Integrable Equations Ronald Carnell, Senior, Interdisciplinary Studies Nathaniel Bottman, Senior, Russian Language, (Science, Technology, and the Environment), UW Literature, Culture, Mathematics (Comprehensive) Bothell Goldwater Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar, Mentor: Rebecca Price, Interdisciplinary Arts Washington Research Foundation Fellow Sciences, UW Bothell Mentor: Bernard Deconinck, Applied Mathematics

I present a case study that combines a science fiction Recent years have seen a lot of activity around the sta- story with real scientific data. The story, called “Channel bility analysis of stationary solutions of integrable equa- Six,” is a short time travel narrative that compares cur- tions. Some of this work has been analytical, some rent and distant future climate conditions of the Pacific numerical, but all approaches would benefit from a Northwest region of the United States. Local weather method for analytically determining the stability spec- reporter, Sara Fahrenheit is lost in a flood during an El tra of periodic stationary solutions of integrable equa- Nino˜ year and is “unearthed” by a young archeologist tions. Bernard Deconinck and I have proposed a method who lives far into the region’s tropical future. The story to completely determine these stability spectra. This assumes that the anthropogenic release of greenhouse method relies on the squared-eigenfunction connection gases has at least partially caused the transformation of between the stability spectrum and the Lax pair spec- Chinook Valley to a tropical climate similar to what dom- trum, so often used in the soliton case. I will give an inated the area during the Eocene epoch 60 million years overview of the results produced by this method so far. ago. Interspersed throughout the story are five boxes Specifically, I will present explicit determinations of the that present scientific claims related to global warming stability spectra of all stationary solutions of the defocus- and global climate change, learning objectives and stu- ing nonlinear Schrodinger¨ equation and of the Korteweg- dent activities. The claims are researched from a vari- de Vries equation, and partial results towards analyti- ety of online and print scientific sources, and the learn- cally determining the stability spectra of stationary so- ing objectives target different levels of Bloom’s Taxon- lutions of the focusing nonlinear Schrodinger¨ equation. omy. The activities guide students to become familiar with basic paleoclimatological modeling, distinguish be- The 150-year Journey of the Four Color Theorem tween weather and climate, connect their lives to specific Ruth Davidson, Senior, Mathematics (Comprehensive) changes predicted by global climate change, such as new Mentor: Sara Billey, Mathematics medical and agricultural challenges, and to estimate their The Four Color Theorem (4CT), first formulated as a own carbon footprints. This case study makes scientific conjecture in 1852 by Francis Guthrie, states that every research less of a challenge for advanced high school and planar graph can be colored using at most four colors. early college students who might resist science curricu- One familiar representation of a planar graph is a map lum and more fun for those with higher levels of interest of the United States. Attempts at proving this conjecture and achievement. motivated many important developments in graph theory and influenced other fields of combinatorial mathemat- ics. The first proof of the 4CT was published in 1977 by Appel and Haken. Another proof of the 4CT, published SESSION 2C in 1997 by Robertson, Sanders, Seymour, and Thomas refined the techniques of the 1977 proof. In both in- stances computer assistance was used to verify that cer- tain claims crucial to the structure of the proof held for MATHEMATICS IN THE APPLIED hundreds of cases. The 1977 proof was controversial be- AND COMPUTATIONAL WORLD cause it could not be completely verified by hand. In Session Moderator: J. Nathan Kutz, Applied contrast, the 1997 proof provides a more transparent log- Mathematics ical correspondence between the implementation of nec- essary algorithms and a potential hand-check of all cases Mary Gates Hall Room 085 by a human being. These two proofs employed meth- * Note: Titles in order of presentation. ods developed over the course of more than a century by many mathematicians including Kempe, Heawood, Birkhoff, and Heesch. We explore the historical connec- tions between research relevant to the eventual proof of the 4CT as well as the motives for certain definitions and procedures used in the 1977 and 1997 proofs. We will re- implement the algorithms used in the 1997 proof using

177 SAGE, an open-source mathematics software system. mented by using the Sieve of Eratosthenes. Following Riemann’s Hypothesis – around 1860 – there was a great Nonunique Solutions to the Discrete Inverse Problem surge in the interest of computing larger values, and as for Electrical Networks such, new methods developed. Specifically the mathe- Chad Klumb, Senior, Mathematics (Comprehensive) matician Legrendre made the simple realization that the Mary Gates Scholar number of primes less than a given integer is simply the Mentor: James Morrow, Mathematics number minus the number of composites and the num- Consider an electrical network, that is, a collection of ber of units. Using that fact and some clever observa- conductors which are connected to each other in some tions about counting composites, his method was used way. Suppose that we have access to only a few of these and extended to become faster than any other method conductors; perhaps the network is very complicated, for the next 100 years. During the 1980s and ’90s, a and we cannot physically reach other conductors, or per- number of mathematicians – Lagarias, Miller, Odlyzko, haps much of the network is contained in some larger Deleglise,´ and Rivat – have developed two new methods structure which we cannot (or do not wish to) breach. for the evaluation of π(x). The first is a heavily modified We may impose voltages on the conductors which we version of Legrendre’s method, and the second is a com- have access to, and we may measure the induced cur- pletely new approach using Riemann’s Hypothesis. The rents through these conductors (let us call these boundary first of the two methods has been used in almost exclusiv- measurements). A question arises: from these boundary ity in the computation of π(x) recently, even though the measurements, can we determine the conductivity of ev- second is far more efficient theoretically. We will look ery conductor in the network? In general, the answer is at a few of these methods and their implementations in no. One simple example of this phenomenon is a net- depth. work consisting of two conductors connected in series. Assuming we have access to the end of each conduc- tor which is not connected to the other conductor, from the boundary measurements all we can determine is the SESSION 2D equivalent conductivity of the series connection; we can- not determine the conductivity of each conductor sepa- rately. In this case, there are infinitely many possible conductivities which will give the same boundary mea- BACKTOTHE FUTURE:WHAT surements. The case in which there are only finitely ESTERDAY AN ELL S BOUT many conductivities giving rise to the same boundary Y C T U A measurements, but nonetheless we cannot determine the TOMORROW conductivity of each conductor uniquely, is of some in- Session Moderator: Jennifer Nemhauser, Biology terest. The existence of networks with precisely two con- Mary Gates Hall Room 206 ductivies giving the same boundary measurements has been known for several years, and more recently strong * Note: Titles in order of presentation. evidence of a network with precisely three conductivities giving the same boundary measurements was discovered. Development, Regeneration and Evolution of By considering an electrical network associated to (but Ptychoderid Hemichordates in general, not equivalent to) a given network, one can Barbara Bengtsson, Senior, Biology (Molecular, show that for every positive integer n, there exists a net- Cellular Developmental) work with precisely n conductivities giving rise to the Mentor: Billie Swalla, Biology same boundary measurements. Hemichordates are bottom-dwelling marine worms that Methods of Computing the Prime Counting Function have become increasingly important for research into our Robert Ohana, Junior, Mathematics (Comprehensive) ancestry, the origin of vertebrates. Hemichordates share Mentor: William Stein, Mathematics several characteristics with chordates, a Hox-specified anterior-posterior axis, pharyngeal gill slits, a dorsal cen- In the study of prime numbers, we are frequently inter- tral nervous system (CNS) and a postanal tail in some ested in the prime counting function – usually denoted species. Ptychoderids are the more complex of the motile π(x) – which is defined as the number of primes less than hemichordates and their planctonic larvae share many a given value. There have been three principle methods similarities with echinoderm larvae. We describe here of counting prime numbers. Classically, we found all the developmental, morphological and molecular character- primes less than a given value of x and simply counted istics that distinguish ptychoderid hemichordates from how many there were. It was quickly found that the most direct developing harrimanid hemichordates, such as efficient classical method of counting primes was imple- Saccoglossus kowalevskii. We show dramatic morpho-

178 logical differences as well as differences in the devel- Climate Analysis of the Thomas Ranch Leaf Fossil opment of the larvae. External characteristics were ex- Assemblage amined in live animals that were relaxed with magne- Sheridan Mack, Senior, Environmental Science, UW sium chloride, and photographed with a Leitz micro- Tacoma scope. Internal morphology was elucidated after fixed Mentor: Sian Davies-Vollum, Interdisciplinary Arts larvae and adult worms were embedded in polyester wax Sciences, UW Tacoma and sectioned before being treated with antibodies for Mentor: Caroline Stromberg, Biology immunofluorescence, followed by Milligan’s trichrome Studies of fossil vegetation allow us to infer ancient cli- stain to see tissue organization. An additional interesting mates and environments. The Pacific Northwest, dur- property of the ptychoderid hemichordates is their amaz- ing the late Early to early Middle Eocene, had a much ing capacity to regenerate. We have been comparing the warmer climate than the present day, and also the coast- development of the CNS in ptychoderid hemichordates lines were located farther east. This study focuses on during metamorphosis and regeneration. Surprisingly, a fossil leaf assemblage from Thomas Ranch, located development of the central nervous system appears to in the Okanogan Highlands in lower British Columbia. be similar and is dependent on the dorsal vessel, sug- These fossils were preserved in a lake bed that had been gesting that there may be some signaling property in the covered in volcanic ash. The fine grain size of the ash has dorsal vessel. We suggest that ptychoderid hemichordate allowed for the preservation of great detail in the leaf fos- worms are more likely to represent the hemichordate an- sils. The purpose of this study was to perform a climate cestor, and therefore the deuterostome ancestor, than sac- analysis using a variety of published techniques includ- coglossid worms. ing Leaf Margin Analysis, as well as Climate Leaf As- Using Distance Sampling to Estimate Population semblage Multivariate Program (CLAMP) that use the Size of Black-Tailed Deer on Blakely Island, WA relationship between fossil leaf morphology and the cli- Luke Davies, Senior, Biology, Seattle Pacific University mate in which the leaves grew. These analyses require Mentor: Eric Long, Biology, Seattle Pacific University the leaf fossils to be separated into morphotypes and each morphotype analyzed in terms of its specific morpholog- Columbia black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus ical characters. The Leaf Margin Analysis uses the leaf columbianus) are a subspecies of mule deer primarily margin as a guide to determine the climate. Each dif- located in low-land coastal regions east of the Cascade ferent morphotype is classified as having smooth edges Mountain range in Oregon, Washington, and British or teeth and the percentage of smooth-edged leaves is Columbia. There have been very limited studies of used to infer climate. The CLAMP analysis is done by small island populations of these deer. Blakely Island scoring morphotypes based on aspects such as venation, (17.8 km2) is a privately owned island in the San Juan size, and margin type and applying a multi-variate analy- archipelago of Washington State. The only predation of sis to this. Based on supporting research the Eocene was deer on Blakely is limited hunting by humans. During the warmest period in the Cenozoic. It is expected the June-September of 2007, and again in summer 2008, I Thomas Ranch assemblage should coincide. The data used distance sampling to estimate population density should indicate that the climate was warmer than present of black-tailed deer on Blakely Island. Distance sam- day and equable, meaning low seasonal variation in tem- pling is a well established method that is used to estimate perature and little frost, but potentially varying rainfall. population density. In line transect distance sampling an observer traveling along a straight line survey path The Role of Insects in Nutrient Cycling in Spirit records distances from the transect line to subject, here Lake, Washington black-tailed deer. From the distribution of these observed Cameron Marshall, Senior, Environmental Science, UW distances, a population density of the research subjects Tacoma can be generated. Data from both years were compiled Mentor: Jim Gawel, Environmental Science, UW and, using DISTANCE 5.0, I estimated a population den- Tacoma sity of approximately 44.9 (95% CI: 36.8-54.8) deer per Spirit Lake, a high alpine lake at the base of Mount km2. Compared to mainland studies (7 deer per km2) St. Helens in Washington State, was changed dramat- and other island studies (28.5 deer per km2), this popu- ically after the large volcanic eruption in May 1980. lation density is very high. It is important to study this Pre-eruption, Spirit Lake was a deep, oligotrophic lake. isolated island population to get a better understanding Post-eruption, the lake was raised by roughly 60m and of what the population capacity of the island is, and fu- the blast created a shallower basin with a larger surface ture studies will also investigate the impact of such high area, which has allowed for higher productivity in the density deer populations on the island’s ecosystem. nearshore area, while deeper portions of Spirit Lake re- main oligotrophic. In order to better understand nutrient cycling at Spirit Lake, all aspects of the lake’s nearshore

179 nutrient budget must be quantified. This research fo- cology of these taxa. The quality and appropriateness cuses on the role of insect emergence in the nutrient cy- of the data and methods used to develop these taxon- cle as part of a larger nutrient model for Spirit Lake. specific regression formulae vary greatly across studies. In particular, the flux of nutrients due to insect emer- In this study, we measured length, width, and occlusal gence in correlation to lake depth and timing of emer- area of over 450 didelphimorph and dasyuromorph spec- gence is being measured. Insects collected via emer- imens with tag mass data. This database represents an gence traps are being taxonomically identified, counted, improvement over previous studies that use mean body analyzed for nutrient amounts, and extrapolated across masses from the literature and lack adequate specimen the study area based on observed depth distributions. It sample sizes and taxonomic breadth. Applying least- is anticipated that insect emergence will present a sig- squares regression analysis to our data, we developed a nificant flux of nutrients in the nearshore environment of formula to estimate body mass in dentally conservative Spirit Lake. The design and deployment protocol for the fossil metatherians from the Cretaceous and Paleocene of floating emergence traps used during this study are also North America. Preliminary results document an expan- being examined. An estimate of nutrient loss via insect sion of metatherian body size ranges that is truncated by emergence and future trap design considerations will be the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction event and sub- presented. sequent expansion of eutherian body size ranges.

A Survey of the Arthropod Communities In Tank Bromeliads in the Andean Cloud Forest Daniel Parker, Senior, Anthropology Mentor: John Edwards, Biology SESSION 2E

Some epiphytic plants hold pools of water, called phy- totemata, within which small ecosystems develop, com- prising micro-organisms, and animals, both vertebrate BIOENGINEERING CHALLENGES and invertebrate. Tank bromeliads, an epiphytic plant ca- AND SOLUTIONS pable of holding water, are common in the Andean Cloud Forest; therefore they offer repeatable, discrete ecologi- Session Moderator: Shahram Vaezy, Bioengineering cal units for observational studies. In this project, the Mary Gates Hall Room 228 fauna of tank bromeliads was sampled by removing the * Note: Titles in order of presentation. plant and its contents and noting the aquatic and semi- aquatic occupants. One species of frog (Hyla antoniio- Effective Cancer Treatment Comparison: choai) and 25 species of arthropods were found in five Calibration Phantom Analysis Project samples. Order Diptera dominated the surveyed popula- Yogesh Saletore, Senior, Computer Science, tions however Culicidae were the only family present in Bioengineering all samples. Significant differences in faunal composi- Mary Gates Scholar tion were found, suggesting that colonization is stochas- Mentor: Paul Kinahan, Radiology tic and that pioneer species influence community compo- sition. The findings of this project may aid in explaining We are continuing research to implement a display and the influence of pioneer species on the composition of analysis tool to be used with a calibration phantom for communities in larger geographic units. medical imaging scanners. An effective method of di- agnosing caner is to use dual-mode positron emission Ancient Marsupials: Size Estimates Based on Tooth tomography and x-ray computed tomography (PET/CT) to Mass Ratio in Dentally Conservative Marsupials scans. Inherent variations between scans can lead to data Peter Smits, Senior, Biology (Ecology Evolution) that does not always indicate whether the cancer ther- Mentor: Gregory Wilson, Biology apy is having the desired effect. We propose to use a calibration phantom, a solid plastic/epoxy container with Body size is an important variable among mammals that spheres of radioactive germanium, as a reference control is strongly correlated to a wide range of ecological and in cross-calibrating different scanners. Our hypothesis natural history traits, including metabolic rate, reproduc- is we can utilize the contrast of CT images to determine tive rate, and home range size. Recognition that body consistent and accurate estimation of key parameters in size is also strongly correlated to tooth size has led pa- PET images. First, a parser was created to read in the leontologists to develop taxon-specific regression for- DICOM files used for medical image data transfer. The mulae based on extant mammals. These formulae are second phase is to find the regions of interest (ROIs) en- then used with fossil tooth size to estimate body mass compassing the spheres within each 3-dimensional im- in fossil “insectivorans,” primates, marsupials and other age. Our hypothesis is to use the Otsu threshold to take taxa to better understand body size evolution and paleoe-

180 advantage of the high contrast in the PET image to local- sponding CT images, were given to dentists for enamel ize each sphere. These are then used to find more precise thickness measurement. The results were analyzed to de- ROIs in the CT image, which shows better anatomical termine the effectiveness of the algorithm. structure. The average and maximum radioactivity levels of each sphere can be found within each ROI on the PET Immuno-Laser Capture Microdissection: Designing image, which will be the data that will serve as the ba- a Process for RNA Extraction from a Homogenous sis for the cross-calibration. Manual analyses conducted Cell Population by our lab indicate that the variability is indirectly pro- Ngoc Nguyen, Senior, Bioengineering portional to the size of the phantom’s spheres, and we Mentor: Yanfeng (Mei) Speer, Bioengineering expect our automated analysis tool to corroborate these In recent years, there has been a growing need for under- results. We believe the automated analysis will be robust standing cardiovascular calcification (CVC), a process in and efficient, enabling analysis of large data sets while which blood vessels lose their compliance due to calcium removing any manual error in the analysis. Our results phosphate deposition. Natural aging processes and tissue can be used to allow for a more reliable comparison of damage have been believed to be factors contributing to PET/CT images, and a more accurate diagnosis of cancer CVC. Recent research has indicated that CVC is a cell- treatment effectiveness. mediated, well-regulated process where vascular smooth Design of an Image Processing Algorithm for the muscle cells (SMCs) undergo a specialized phenotypic Measurement of Enamel Thickness Using change (or lineage reprogramming) in response to envi- Ultrasound ronmental changes, such as locally increased phosphate Jeremy Hua, Senior, Bioengineering levels. The objective of this project is to design a quick, Mary Gates Scholar low temperature immunohistochemical (IHC) staining Mentor: Yongmin Kim, Bioengineering that maintains cellular RNA integrity and identifies os- Mentor: Curtis SK Chen, Oral Medicine teochondrogenic precursor-like cells in calcified blood vessels. Selectively obtaining cells at a given differentia- Dental erosion is growing increasingly prevalent in to- tion stage allows for more accurate differential gene ex- day’s society with the rise in consumption of heavy pression studies, which may help determine a molecular starches, sugars, coffee, and acidic beverages. In addi- trigger or mechanism of CVC. The antibodies used will tion, various disorders, such as Gastroenterological Re- recognize Runx2/Cbfa1, which have been found to be in- flux Disease (GERD), have symptoms of rapid rates of volved in embryonic bone development and remodeling. tooth erosion. There has also been scientific research Laser microdissection will then be utilized to selectively to link teeth bleaching to loss of erosion and reduction capture the stained cells. Finally, a microscale RNA ex- in tooth density. The measurement of enamel thick- traction and amplification of the captured cells will be ness is important for dentists to diagnose the progres- employed, and RNA quality will be analyzed. Normally, sion of enamel loss from all forms of erosion, attrition, IHC staining protocols take between 3-4 hours or may and abrasion. The most popular current technique to involve overnight incubation - processes that would de- measure enamel loss is with various subjective indexes grade RNA. A 30-minute staining at 4C was developed to that can be interpreted in different ways by different minimize exposure time of tissue sections in aqueous so- dentists. The introduction of an objective method to lutions as well as slow down enzymatic reactions, specif- measure enamel thickness quantitatively and accurately ically RNase activity. By applying this methodology to would greatly advance the study of such a widespread target Runx2/Cbfa1 and alpha-actin, a protein found on disorder. The gold standard for dental imaging of inter- SMCs, differential gene expression analysis of CVC is nal tooth structure is Computed Tomography (CT), how- promising. The effectiveness of the developed protocol ever, CT imaging is highly ionizing and costly to operate. will be based on specificity of the staining, staining in- B-mode ultrasound is inexpensive and produces no mea- tensity, and the quality and quantity of RNA. surable ionizing effects on humans, so it was determined to be the most clinically feasible instrument for measur- Characterizing Msx1-Positive Cells for Finger ing enamel thickness. This project involves constructing Regeneration a container to reproducibly hold extracted human teeth Andrew Zhou, Senior, Bioengineering in a gelatinous medium, and obtaining longitudinal im- Mary Gates Scholar ages at 1mm-spaced intervals with a diagnostic B-mode Mentor: Christopher Allan, Orthopaedics Sports ultrasound machine. An image processing algorithm was Medicine designed using MATLAB to further refine both the outer Digit amputation is very common and even the smallest tooth boundary as well as the dentin-enamel junction of these injuries can be significantly problematic for the (DEJ) in the images by utilizing their grayscale pixel val- patient. Current treatment options for patients, such as ues. The processed ultrasound images, along with corre- prosthesis fitting and reattachment, are very limited since

181 none of these methods can restore full sensory and motor ing in cell alignment. The construct is then tested for function and all have potentially severe side effects. In cell survival, proliferation, differentiation and mechani- the future, regenerative medicine provides great hope in cal function, at several time points. Histological analysis helping these patients. Since current knowledge on digit of the constructs shows the ability of MDSC’s to pro- regeneration is limited, this project will study cells in- liferate and differentiate into parallel aligned myotubes, volved in digit regeneration with an end focus on tissue while inside the collagen gel scaffold. Nevertheless, my- engineering as a solution for digit loss. A recent study otube density is too low to produce force and contraction; on human digit repair showed that Msx1 (muscle seg- therefore present efforts are focused on achieving higher ment homeobox 1) is expressed in the developing and myotube density to allow mechanical analysis. healing human fetal digit. Msx1 expression in cells is thought to keep cells in an undifferentiated state. There- HIFU Dosimetry for Optimal Lesion Formation and fore, these cells are hypothesized to be similar to stem Ultrasound Visualization cells in that they can become multiple cell types. In or- Ria Sutedja, Senior, Bioengineering der to characterize these cells, we will attempt to drive Mentor: Shahram Vaezy, Bioengineering them down a chondrogenic (cartilage-forming) or os- With the increasing number of tumor-diagnosed patients, teogenic (bone-forming) pathway. We have just recently a safe and effective tumor treatment is crucially needed. been able to successfully isolate a primary cell culture Based on previous and current studies, ultrasound- from the fetal digit tip. Reverse transcriptase PCR was guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) treat- used to show that the Msx1 gene is indeed active in these ment has been proved to be a potential procedure to ab- cells. These cells are currently sitting in differentiation late the tumor. HIFU is a noninvasive medical procedure media and will be imaged in the near future. Mean- that uses high-intensity acoustic waves to heat and de- while, we tested our differentiation protocols on a human stroy tissues rapidly. Meanwhile, large tumor size has bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell line. Results from been a challenging problem for the HIFU therapy be- chemical stains were inconclusive and antibody staining cause multiple sonications (HIFU applications) need to for collagen type II was negative. This study is still in be applied to cover the volume, and thus inducing pre- progress, but if our results show successful differentia- focal damages to the treated tissue. Therefore, to prevent tion, we will have further evidence to support the hypoth- the damages due to excessive heat exposure, a solution of esis that these Msx1-positive cells are indeed similar to using low intensity acoustic waves is proposed. The low stem cells and that Msx1-positive cells may be used as average output intensity can be composed of high peak the competent cells required for digit tissue engineering. intensity with a very short duty ratio. In this way, it is Towards Skeletal Muscle Tissue Engineering using hypothesized that the ablated region (lesion size) will be Muscle Derived Stem Cells: Optimization of In Vitro enlarged without inducing pre-focal damages. The hy- Method pothesis is proven by some preliminary results that show Daria Amiad Pavlov, Senior, Bioengineering increasing lesion volumes as the intensity is decreased Mary Gates Scholar and duty ratio is decreased. Ranging between 1 - 300 Mentor: Michael Regnier, Bioengineering mm3, the lesion volumes in general display a linear be- havior. In real applications, these investigations may be The recent conflict in Iraq and the global war on ter- useful to serve as parameter standards in future studies rorism have increased the occurrence of explosives re- in US-guided HIFU tumor abalation therapy. lated large scale wounds that result, among others, in large scale muscle tissue loss and consequent function Three-Dimensional Temperature Mapping for a loss. Current repair surgeries for such wounds focus on Physical Therapy Device: Application to Cancer stabilization of the bone and coverage with skin grafts. Treatment Using Hyperthermia However no treatment is currently available for repair Kevin Chang, Senior, Bioengineering of the lost muscle or its reconstruction. The discov- Mentor: Shahram Vaezy, Bioengineering ery and isolation of myogenic cells from skeletal mus- Ultrasound Hyperthermia, used as a combination ther- cle tissue, and more recently muscle derived stem cells apy with radiation therapy or chemotherapy, can increase (MDSC’s), holds a great promise for the field of skeletal tumor regression significantly. The primary advantage muscle tissue engineering, that aims to generate func- of using this treatment as a cancer treatment is its abil- tional muscle tissue constructs using muscle stem cells ity to delivery thermal energy to the body without re- derived directly from the patient. In order to optimize quiring any incisions. The mechanism of hyperthermia a method for in vitro muscle engineering, MDSC’s in is to expose the target tissue to about 42 C and main- different densities are combined with collagen gel scaf- tain that temperature for a proper duration of usually fold and seeded on specially designed frame. The result- 30 minutes per session. Maintaining the desired tem- ing construct is allowed to grow while the frame assist- perature remains challenging because of the blood flow

182 in human body; however, the degree of the success- cells, the mouse cassettes drive significantly higher lev- fulness of the treatment depends on the given thermal els of reporter gene transcriptional activity than do their dose and the temperature distribution around the target. human homologs. The enhancer region of the gene con- Currently, there is no method to visualize the 3D tem- tains a number of transcription factor binding sites that perature distribution of the acoustic field. My project have been shown to be critical for high-level muscle- aims to investigate the temperature behaviors on chicken specific transcriptional activity in regulatory cassettes, breast tissues and provide a visualizion of the tempera- including a MEF-2 site, two active E-boxes, Six4, and ture distribution under an ultrasound transducer. An ex- a CArG site; however, careful examination of mouse and periment protocol and an experimental device for hous- human enhancer sequence shows notable divergence in ing the chicken breast tissues are designed to obtain the some of these transcription factor binding sequences. We temperature measurements. The setup includes the ultra- hypothesize that these differences account for the lower sound device, thermocouples with a Labview algorithm, activity observed with human MCK constructs in rodent and a designed chamber. At this moment in time, the cells. We assume that, due to evolutionary forces, hu- temperature measurements are obtained and a MATLAB man gene promoters are optimized to function in the hu- algorithm is implemented to construct the temperature man body and so regulatory cassettes derived from hu- data into a 3D temperature mapping to obtain a visual- man DNA sequence will be more transcriptionally ac- ization of the temperature distribution at a particular time tive in humans than will be analogous cassettes made point of treatment. In addition, 3D or 4D movies will be from mouse DNA. To test this hypothesis, I have cre- assembled for a better visualization for how the temper- ated chimaeric constructs of mouse MCK promoter with ature distributes and varies with time. The relationship the human enhancer, and vice-versa, driving a quanti- between the temperature distribution and the acoustic in- tatable Luciferase reporter gene. I am also generating tensity emanating from the ultrasound transducer will be site-directed changes in the human MCK enhancer to investigated. In conclusion, these results will help to un- “murinize” the MEF-2 site and E-boxes. I will compare derstand the temperature behavior and distribution on the the activity of the constructs in cell culture using mouse tissues. These results may be valuable for building the and human embryonic skeletal myoblasts and rat neona- hyperthermia machine. tal and human ES-derived cardiomyocytes. A species- dependent transcriptional enhancement would suggest that the human versions of these cassettes would be bet- ter suited for gene therapy in humans than mouse analo- SESSION 2F gous cassettes. Gene Therapy and the Adrenergic Response: L48Q cTnC Virally Transduced Adult Cardiomyocytes Kate Buckley, Senior, Bioengineering GENEAND DRUG DELIVERY Levinson Emerging Scholar, Mary Gates Session Moderator: Suzie Pun, Bioengineering Scholar, NASA Space Grant Scholar Mary Gates Hall Room 231 Mentor: Michael Regnier, Bioengineering Mentor: Steven Korte, Bioengineering * Note: Titles in order of presentation. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United Design and Optimization of Mouse and Human States. After a heart attack (one of the most common Chimaeric Regulatory Gene Cassettes for Human causes of heart disease), the heart undergoes an exten- Muscular Dystrophy Gene Therapies sive remodeling process that leads to depressed myocar- Melvin Donaldson, Senior, Biochemistry dial function. At the University of Washington exciting Amgen Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar, NASA new therapeutic strategies are being developed to im- Space Grant Scholar prove and repair heart function. Gene based therapies Mentor: Steve Hauschka, Biochemistry that target cardiac myofilaments offer a way to halt or Mentor: Robert Welikson, Biochemistry even reverse cardiac dysfunction by enhancing contrac- Previous studies in our lab have identified the transcrip- tility of the heart. Genetic overexpression of a mutant of tional regulatory regions of the Muscle Creatine Kinase the myofilament regulatory protein troponin C (L48Q) (MCK) gene as potentially useful for controlling thera- offers potential as a therapeutic tool to improve function of surviving myocardium by enhancing myofilament re- peutic gene expression in the treatment of muscle dis- 2+ ease. In this study, we have created regulatory cas- sponse to Ca activation. Recent results in our lab indi- settes using human genetic sequence that are analogous cate that overexpression of L48Q cTnC in rat cardiomy- to previously developed cassettes made from mouse. In ocytes results in a greater extent and rate of cell short- rat neonatal cardiomyocytes and mouse skeletal muscle ening. However, if this therapy is to be useful in vivo,

183 normal myocardial adrenergic responsiveness must be Gene knockdown by the therapeutic is evaluated by ex- maintained. This project will investigate the adrenergic amining RNA expression through real time reverse tran- response of L48Q cTnC transduced adult rat cardiomy- scription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and pro- ocytes from infarcted and non-infarcted hearts. Adren- tein expression through Western Blot. Lactate dehydro- ergic responsiveness will be assessed using contraction genase (LDH) cytotoxicity assay is used to determine the and relaxation parameters following application of the optimal concentrations for in vitro delivery. beta-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproteronol in a dose- dependent manner. Measurements will be made on in- Targeted siRNA Delivery to Liver Cancer Cells using dividual cardiomyocytes using video microscopy cou- pH-Responsive Polymers pled to computer software that measures cell and sar- Andrew Shubin, Senior, Bioengineering comere length changes. After completing studies in cul- Mary Gates Scholar tured cardiomyocytes, studies will be extended to an ani- Mentor: Patrick Stayton, Bioengineering mal model of gene transfection to determine the effect of Small interfering RNA (siRNA) have shown great po- L48Q cTnC in vivo and at the whole organ level in nor- tential in treating various forms of cancers by knocking mal and infarcted animals. These studies are essential to down the expression of over-expressed genes resulting determine if this gene therapy is potentially clinically rel- in the restoration of the normal cell cycle and cell death. evant by reducing or reversing changes leading to heart However, an effective targeting and delivery mechanism failure. If so, L48Q cTnC has great therapeutic potential needs to be developed for any potential siRNA therapeu- for several forms of cardiac disease. tic to be effective. This project aims to develop an effec- Targeting HER2-Positive Breast Cancer with tive targeted siRNA delivery system that will be designed Antibody-Polymer Mediated Delivery of siRNA using the latest pH sensitive polymers to target liver can- Fan Lee, Senior, Bioengineering cer cells. In this project, variants of pH-responsive poly- Washington Research Foundation Fellow mers with potential targeting moiety sites have been cre- Mentor: Patrick Stayton, Bioengineering ated using reversible addition-fragmentation chain trans- Mentor: Maria Corinna Palanca-Wessels, Hematology fer (RAFT) polymerization. The presence of a signifi- cant amount of sites availible for targeting moieties on The discovery of RNA interference has lead to a promis- the polymer has been verified by 1H-NMR analysis. ing tool in cancer treatment that utilizes siRNA to silence These polymers have shown the ability to be hemolytic genes contributing to tumor development. However, the and could potentially deliver siRNA. siRNA will be co- application of siRNA therapeutics has been limited by valently conjugated to this polymer and its efficacy will cellular pathways that prevent cell penetration and cause be tested on a liver cancer cell line (HEPG2). The siRNA enzymatic degradation of biomolecules. This project being delivered is designed to knockdown the expression aims to design and synthesize a pH-responsive polymer of the Cyclin E1 gene which is over-expressed in liver carrier for siRNA therapeutics that exploits the cellular cancer. Research into the effects of knockdown Cyclin endosomal pathway, allowing the polymer-siRNA com- E1 expression by Li Et. al has shown that knockdown plex to stably cross the membrane. The polymer con- in expression of this gene results in cancer cell apoptosis sists of two components, a cationic block to condense and reduction in tumor growth. This project plans to test the negatively charged siRNA and a pH-responsive block the ability of this polymer carrier in causing cell apop- that mediates endosomal release after being endocytosed tosis via siRNA-induced knockdown of Cyclin E1 ex- into the cell. Upon experiencing the lower cellular pH, pression. In addition, the polymer will be engineered to the hydrophilic polymer becomes protonated and experi- promote siRNA stability in serum, and to decrease non- ences a conformational change that mediates membrane therapeutic induced cytotoxicity. disruption and allows for the release of siRNA thera- peutic into the cytoplasm of the cell. Additionally, the Fabrication of a Biodegradable Multidrug Delivery polymer carrier system consists of an antibody moiety System Using Layer-By-Layer Deposition to Prevent that targets human epidermal receptor (HER2), overex- Bacterial Infection pressed in 20% of breast cancers. The polymer is syn- Ji Park, Senior, Bioengineering thesized using RAFT polymerization and conjugated to Mary Gates Scholar antibody through stretavidin-biotin technology. The effi- Mentor: Buddy Ratner, Bioengineering cacy and specificity of the antibody-polymer mediated Hospital-acquired or nosocomial infections are the siRNA delivery is evaluated in vitro on breast cancer fourth leading cause of death in the United States with cell lines ZR75-1 and SKRB3. Flow cytometry is used 5 billion dollars in costs to treat them annually. Approx- to quantify the uptake of the antibody-polymer-siRNA imately, 65 % of these nosocomial infections are caused conjugates and fluorescent microscopy is used to visual- by bacteria adherent to the surface of biomedical devices ize the intracellular trafficking of the delivery complex. or implants. As bacteria aggregate and secrete extracel-

184 lular polysaccharides, biofilms are formed. Biofilms pro- delivery vehicles. tect the encased bacteria from host defense mechanisms as well as from toxins and antibiotics. Therefore, con- Anti–Cancer Nanopods: Rational Design of a ventional antibiotics work poorly against chronic bacte- Peptide-Based Gene Delivery Vehicle Targeted to rial infections as the number of drug-resistant bacteria Hepatocarcinoma has increased due to the overuse of antibiotics. Further- Kathy Wei, Senior, Bioengineering, Computer Science more, an alternate solution using a silver nitrate coat- Amgen Scholar, Goldwater Scholar, Mary ing has a short half-life and is impractical for dispos- Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant Scholar able devices. In order to overcome these shortcom- Mentor: Suzie Pun, Bioengineering ings, the project aims to examine the feasibility of con- Mentor: Rob Burke, Bioengineering structing biodegradable polyelectrolyte multilayer films Each year, liver cancer is diagnosed in 20,000 new pa- for coating biomedical devices. Each film will sequen- tients in the United States and causes 662,000 deaths tially release charged antibacterial agents (Gallium ni- worldwide, making it one of the three deadliest cancers trate and salicylic acid) as it is degraded by the bacte- in the world. Current treatments, such as surgery, radia- rial enzymes. The multilayer films will be fabricated tion, and chemotherapy, often involve significant damage by the alternate adsorption of oppositely charged poly- to healthy tissue and can typically only extend the life mers (chitosan and carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt) of patients for about a year after diagnosis. Gene ther- using Layer-by-Layer (LbL) deposition, with the layers apy, which aims to replace defective genes inside cells stabilizing one another by electrostatic interactions. We in order to treat diseases, holds promise for treating liver have constructed and investigated the multilayer films cancer because of the various pathways it can exploit. using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time- For instance, one could alter a patient’s immune system of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). to recognize cancerous cells, replace the malfunction- This prolonged multidrug delivery films will contribute ing genes needed for proper cell regulation and function, to the further development of a low-cost, multidrug re- or enhance the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemother- leasing coating method to reduce biofilm-related medical apy. Modified viruses have been used for gene therapy, device failures. but their use is limited by safety concerns and large- Optimization of an HIV gp41-Derived Peptide scale production difficulties. Nonviral materials have the Sequence for Endosomal Escape of Non-viral Gene potential to overcome these concerns, but they are cur- Delivery Vehicles rently limited by inefficient delivery and nonspecific tar- Sylvie Liong, Senior, Bioengineering geting. The goal of this project is to design, construct, Mary Gates Scholar and test novel peptide-based materials specifically tar- Mentor: Suzie Pun, Bioengineering geted to hepatocarcinoma, which is the most common Mentor: Ester Kwon, Bioengineering form of primary liver cancer, for use as systemically administered gene therapy vectors. The peptide mate- The purpose of gene therapy is to deliver nucleic acids rial consists of a nonaarginine DNA condensing compo- that modulate gene expression for the treatment of dis- nent linked to a hepatocarcinoma-specific binding pep- ease. The efficiency of gene delivery by synthetic carri- tide (sequence: FQHPSFI). This material will form an ers has been limited by poor escape of delivery vehicles anti-cancer “nanopod” that both protects the DNA ther- from endosomes. In order to overcome this major barrier, apeutic from degradation and acts as a guidance system a 24-amino acid long membrane-active peptide (HGP) to deliver the genes preferentially to the target. Success- derived from the endodomain of HIV gp41 was found to ful completion of this project will result in an efficient, improve endosomal escape when covalently attached to specific gene therapy delivery vehicle that can be further cationic polymer delivery vehicles. Incorporating short developed into an effective treatment for liver cancer. peptides is desirable to minimize disruption during ve- hicle formation and because their manufacture is more cost-efficient and less labor-intensive. The purpose of this project is to investigate whether shorter peptide se- quences based on HGP can maintain activity compara- ble to the full length 24-amino acid peptide. In addition, a shorter peptide sequence was engineered for potential enhancement in membrane-lytic activity. These peptides were then tested for their ability to transfer a reporter gene in vitro in several cell lines. By addressing endoso- mal escape through lytic peptides, this work contributes towards the development of more efficient non-viral gene

185 When Being too Asian is Bad: White Americans React Negatively to Strongly Identified Asian SESSION 2G Americans in Situations of Finite Resources Jessica Kang, Senior, Psychology, English Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Cheryl Kaiser, Psychology RACE,ETHNICITY, AND IDENTITY: Asian Americans are often associated with positive COMMUNITY IMPLICATIONS stereotypes such as industriousness, self-discipline, and Session Moderator: Bradley Portin, Educational intelligence (Ho & Jackson, 2001). Due to these pos- Leadership Policy Studies itive attributes, Asian Americans have been labeled the Mary Gates Hall Room 234 model minority in the United States (Petersen, 1966). As these stereotypes convey competence, they may result in * Note: Titles in order of presentation. Asian Americans becoming the target of prejudice in sit- Kibre ab Sidet (Honor in Exile) Following Eritrean uations in which there is competition with White Amer- Youth in the U.S. Diaspora: Acculturation, Identity icans for scarce resources (Maddux, Galinsky, Cuddy & and Adaptation Polifroni, 2008). The current research seeks to under- Yordanos Fesehaye, Senior, Anthropology, Comparative stand how Asian Americans’ group identification level History of Ideas, Individualized Studies affects application of these stereotypes and how limited EIP/Presidential Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar, resources might cause such objectively positive stereo- McNair Scholar types to threaten Whites. In study 1, 33 White American Mentor: Rachel Chapman, Anthropology undergraduates were asked to consider the typical char- acteristics of either a strongly or weakly group-identified Eritrea has a history of conflict, poverty and changes Asian American man. Participants then rated the tar- of government. The 30-year struggle for independence get on a series of model minority-relevant stereotypes. from Ethiopia led to the displacement of thousands of Participants rated the strongly identified Asian Ameri- Eriteans and contributed to a large Diaspora in the United can target as more industrious, self-disciplined, and in- States. Widening generation gaps between different gen- telligent than the weakly identified Asian American tar- erations of Eritreans living in the Diaspora have led to get. The second study investigated the effect of realistic increased tension within the household and growing vis- threat situations and level of identification of the Asian ibility of youth involved in conflict in the public space. American target on White American attitudes, emotions Youth brought up in these two vastly different cultures and behavioral tendencies towards the Asian American are pulled away from some of the values, roles and as- target. White American participants were assigned to pirations of their older family members. While there is experience realistic threat through imagining a compet- significant literature on acculturation patterns of differ- itive classroom scenario or no realistic threat. After- ent generations, few have looked at how Eritrean iden- wards, participants rated a fellow Asian American class- tity formation diverges as the population moved from mate who is either strongly or weakly identified with homeland to the Diaspora. Examining notions of honor, his racial group. In the realistic threat condition, we gender, history, healing and aspirations, my research fo- hypothesized that strongly identified Asian Americans cuses on the values across generations and on where the- should be evaluated more negatively than weakly iden- ses values overlap and diverge. In order to achieve this tified Asian Americans. In the non-threatening condi- goal, I will conduct participant-observation and formal tion, this effect should not occur. These initial findings and informal interviews with Eritreans living in Seat- suggest that strongly identified Asian Americans may tle, Washington. Broadly stated, my research questions be viewed more negatively than weakly identified Asian are as follows: to what extent do acculturation patterns Americans if the former are seen as possessing positive vary across generations? What are the social practices attributes that threaten White Americans. Eritrean youth feel pressure to adapt to? Where do Reducing Racial Prejudice these practices and values diverge from their parent’s ex- Joshua Newson, Senior, Psychology, Neurobiology pectations? What are the consequences of generational Mary Gates Scholar non-understanding? This research will serve as a cross- Mentor: Sapna Cheryan, Psychology generational bridge between Eritreans in the Diaspora. It will also contribute to theories of identity divergence The goal of this research is to gain a better understanding among the children of refugees and immigrants. of a form of racial prejudice exhibited by the vast major- ity of White Americans: implicit prejudice (Dasgupta & Greenwald, 2001). Implicit prejudice is defined as auto- matic biases against a group. Previous research demon-

186 strates that an individual’s automatic bias against Blacks Mixed Identities and Racialized Bodies, in collaboration can lessen after seeing both Blacks and negative Whites with the Women Studies department at the University of (in the same session). Further research has shown that Washington. the reduction in implicit prejudice is not seen when pre- sented only with the positive out-group members (Joy- Institutionalizing Anti-Racism in the INTER Gaba & Nosek, under review). Therefore, we take the Program next step and compare the effects of presentation of a) Farah Nousheen, Senior, Comparative History of Ideas positive Blacks and negative Whites with b) the presen- Mary Gates Scholar tation of negative Whites alone and c) a flower and insect Mentor: John Toews, History control condition. We predict that the above two presen- Mentor: Jessica Salvador, Educational Leadership tations will have the same effect: reducing implicit prej- Policy Studies udice. Further, we hypothesize that the magnitude of this Through a Critical Race Theory (CRT) lens, this pa- effect will be equal. This study will enable researchers to per examines the racialization process of an undergrad- learn more about how to diminish implicit biases against uate program that was sparked by a yearlong student- Blacks. initiated qualitative research study and activist project to Centering Mixed Identities and Racialized Bodies: implement antiracism in the program. Formed in late Creating a Curriculum 1970s, the interdisciplinary undergraduate program IN- Jessica Norberg, Senior, Comparative History of Ideas, TER (alias used) aims to foster an intellectual and social Women Studies learning community emphasizing international study, Samantha Gonzalez, Senior, English pedagogical innovation, experiential learning, critical Joseph Thompson, Senior, Comparative History of thinking, and conflict resolution through dialogue. His- Ideas, Music torically the program has had a predominantly white ad- April Nishimura, Senior, International Studies ministration, instructor base, and student body, although Christopher Paredes, Senior, English, American Ethnic diversity efforts have been in place in the past five years Studies to change the demographics of the program as well as the Sarah Stork, Senior, Individualized Studies, courses offered. Using Participatory Action Research, Comparative History of Ideas, Anthropology this research project was conducted to talk about race Landon Tan, Sophomore, Pre-Social Sciences in the program, learn about experiences of students of Mentor: Steve Woodard, Office of Minority Affairs color, and investigate the opportunities and obstacles of Diversity implementing an anti-racist framework in the program. The data for this project comes from structured and un- In the last hundred years, academia has drastically structured dialogue, focus groups, meeting minutes, list- changed in progressive ways. The 1960’s Civil Rights serv emails, and online discussion posts. I also exam- Movement brought recognition to a variety of social in- ine documents written and disseminated by students that equalities, and the subsequent changes in laws and poli- challenge the curriculum, content, and pedagogy of two cies came to be reflected not only in the general public INTER courses on their racial literacy. The final analy- relations, but also in the subject offerings made available sis report employs tenets of CRT and identifies the spe- at the university level. Academic fields that opened up cific ways that white liberal racism and colorblindness conversations about different racial and ethnic position- manifested in INTER, the policy changes implemented alities, such as American Ethnic Studies departments, as a result of the research project, and the continuation blossomed all over American campuses. As our pop- of work necessary for the program to strive towards an ulation demographic continues to change, and as iden- anti-racist learning community. tity groups continue to work for recognition, we are met with another opportunity for the academic com- Proyecto Acceso: Understanding the Opportunities munity to expand its discourse. By acknowledging the to Learn for Latino Students in Washington lack of multi-racial/multi-ethnic perspectives within aca- Luis Ortega Sanchez, Junior, Pre-Major (Arts Sciences) demic classes and texts, we aim to locate such texts and Zesbaugh Scholar bring them to the forefront, while creating a ten week Arthur Sepulveda, Junior, History curriculum centering on these perspectives. To expand Mentor: Frances Contreras, Education upon–and potentially move away from–current mono- In 2008, the Washington State Legislature and Gover- racial discourses, we are engaging in weekly discussions nor Gregoire approved ESHB-2687, a bill that calls for and research concerning many issues from pedagogical a study on the academic achievement gap for minority applications and methods, to racial formation theory and students. The Commission on Hispanic Affairs commis- mixed raced/ethnic identity narratives. We will be teach- sioned researchers from the University of Washington’s ing our compiled research as a class titled WOMEN 290: College of Education to conduct this study as it pertains

187 to Latino students. The central questions of this research logical and ecological system. Dissolved oxygen (DO) include: 1) Do Latino students possess the same oppor- is not only affected by many physical and biological pro- tunities to learn as their peers in urban, suburban, and cesses, but it also affects the biological systems in the rural contexts? 2) What are the perceptions of parents region. This study focused on the factors affecting the and students with respect to their experience in school DO in the San Juan Channel during the fall 2008 sea- and with school staff? 3) What are viable policy recom- son. DO, fluorescence, temperature, and salinity were mendations for raising Latino academic achievement in sampled using CTD sensors with calibrations at two sta- the state of Washington? Proyecto Acceso, (Contreras, tions to asses the spatial and temporal variations. Evi- et. al., 2008) uses a multifaceted approach to data analy- dence revealed that physical factors were the main driver sis, and a mix-method study (interviews, surveys, focus of variance between the stations, and throughout the sea- groups) to capture the perceptions and characteristics of son; however, biological processes did have an impact on Latino students, parents, and teachers within rural, sub- the DO concentrations. More specifically, winds, down- urban, and urban contexts in Washington. The research welling indices, and tides were the main drivers. Higher team visited 14 schools in 8 school districts and 18 com- DO was observed when upwelling occurred, and after the munity events all across the state over a period of seven fall transition on Oct.27 there was a shift to downwelling weeks. The final product of our work is a policy report and lower DO prevailed due to higher oceanic influences. – Understanding the Opportunities to Learn for Latino Students in Washington – which was submitted to the Marine Bacterial Community Diversity in a Hypoxic Commission on Hispanic Affairs and presented at hear- Fjord ings for the House Education Committee and the Sen- Andrea Kunkle, Senior, Biology (Physiology) ate Early Education and K-12 Committee. Our presenta- Mary Gates Scholar tion will focus on a background and context overview of Mentor: Gabrielle Rocap, Oceanography Latinos in Washington, key findings from our research, Hood Canal has been in a continual state of hypoxia, or and our policy recommendations. Latinos are the fastest near hypoxia for several years, and there is much scien- growing minority in the state and U.S.; understanding the tific and academic interest as to the causes, effects, and needs and opportunities for Latino students in the educa- possible remedies. Since Hood Canal is poorly flushed, tion system is integral to the economic and social struc- the same water remains in place for several months and ture of our society, our research is the first step to under- oxygen is used up. The hypoxic state is worst at the standing the opportunities to learn for Latino students in southern end, leading to fish kills in 2002, 2003, 2004, Washington. and 2006, but the extent and severity varies by time of year, geographic location, and depth. I am interested in the effects of hypoxia on bacterial communities living throughout Hood Canal. To examine how these com- SESSION 2H munities change with time, geography, and depth, I am using a set of samples collected roughly bimonthly from June 2006 to June 2007 from five stations and at multiple depths at each station. My involvement began with the PHYSICALAND CHEMICAL collection of the whole water samples which I filtered, INFLUENCES ON MARINE preserved and froze. To analyze community composition I employed a technique called Automatic rRNA Inter- MICROBES genic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) which relies on variabil- Session Moderator: Virginia Armbrust, Oceanography ity of the Internally Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region, a Mary Gates Hall Room 238 section of DNA situated between genes that code the 16S and 23S ribosomal RNAs. The length and sequence of * Note: Titles in order of presentation. this segment generally varies from species to species. I extracted DNA from each whole community sample and Physical and Biological Factors Affecting Dissolved amplified the ITS regions using PCR to generate prod- Oxygen Concentrations in the San Juan Channel, ucts of varying length, representing different species in WA on a Spatial and Temporal Scale during Fall the community. Preliminary ARISA analysis indicates 2008 that the largest influencing factor on diversity and abun- Kelsey Powers, Senior, Biochemistry, Chemistry (ACS dance of marine bacterial communities is time of year. In Certified) contrast, depth and geography appear to have little to no Mary Gates Scholar effect on community composition. I am currently pro- Mentor: Jan Newton, Oceanography cessing and analyzing the remainder of my samples, and The San Juan Archipelago is part of a complex hydro- am developing a more complete, statistically significant

188 picture of the influences of marine bacterial community Prochlorococcus is the smallest known oxygen evolv- structure. ing autotroph, ranging from 0.4-0.8 micrometers in size. This marine cyanobacteria is highly abundant in the sub- Nitrogen Limitation and its Effects on Growth Rate tropical and tropical oligotrophic oceans particularly be- and Gene Expression of the Diatoms Fragilariopsis tween 40and 40. The genus Prochlorococcus can be bro- Cylindrus and Pseudo-Nitzschia Multiseries ken down into two distinct light physiologies, high and Franziska Lutz, Senior, Oceanography low light adapted. From these physiologies, Prochloro- Mentor: Sara Bender, Oceanography coccus can further be subdivided into six ecotypes based Mentor: Virginia Armbrust, Oceanography on their genetic differences. In the open ocean, nutri- Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that live in the ents, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, can limit the world’s oceans, wherever there is sufficient sunlight and growth of Prochlorococcus. However, it is not known nutrients for photosynthesis. Nitrogen (N) is an exam- which forms of these nutrients are preferred by each eco- ple of a required nutrient. When available N is limited, type. In November of 2007, a cruise in the South At- phytoplankton cells become stressed. This changes their lantic took surface samples on a W-E transect. Quanti- growth rate as well as their gene expression. Under this tative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR), which allows condition, genes can either be up- or down-regulated, to for the quantification of these ecotypes by using the in- better adapt to the new environment. Tiling arrays, a ternal transcribed spacer (ITS) of rDNA, was performed type of microarray using short fragments as probes to on these samples. Preliminary data shows that the eco- cover an entire genome, were used to test which genes types eMIT9312, eMED4 and eNATL2A were present in up- or down-regulated in limited and nutrient-replete cul- all of the surface samples while eMIT9313 was not. In- tures of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, also the cubation experiments were also performed on the cruise first diatom to have its genome sequenced. Following from surface samples. These samples, besides the con- these experiments on T. pseudonana, we chose two di- trol, were spiked with one of three nutrients: PO4, ATP, atoms, a subset of phytoplankton, Fragilariopsis cylin- and NH4. The incubations were then filtered after 24, 48, drus and Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries to understand the and 72 hours. QPCR experiments will be run on the fil- effects of N-starvation on these cells. In silico analysis tered incubations to determine the effects of the nutrients conducted on F. cylindrus, P. multiseries and T. pseudo- on each ecotype. Preliminary measurements of chloro- nana identified numerous conserved genes. Based on phyll indicate a large increase due to the ATP addition, these results, we chose several genes of interest for fur- but chlorophyll could be any photosynthetic organism. ther analysis. Significantly up-regulated genes included QPCR will allow for the quantification of changes in eco- those encoding Mitochondrial import translocase subunit type populations due to nutrient additions and compari- (TIM16), Acetyl-CoA synthetases (ACS), and Phospho- son to the control incubation. glycerate mutase (PGM). Those genes that were signifi- The Annotation of Chloroplast Genomes: cantly down-regulated under N-starvation included those Discovering the Evolutionary History of Algal encoding a harvesting protein, Cytochrome c peroxidase Stramenopiles (CCP) and a RuBisCo-Expression Protein (cbbX). These Kyle Frischkorn, Junior, Biochemistry, Microbiology genes will be analyzed with Quantitative PCR (qPCR), Mentor: Gabrielle Rocap, Oceanography and primers specifically designed to target and amplify the genes in question in both the F. cylindrus and P. mul- 300 million years ago the stramenopile branch of the tree tiseries genome under limiting and control conditions. A of life was created when a eukaryotic cell engulfed an- 10-AU Flourometer will be used to monitor the changes other photosynthetic cell. This occurrence is known as in the Relative Fluorescence Units (RFUs) to calculate secondary endosymbiosis because the stramenopile in- growth rates. N-starvation is expected to stress the di- gested a red alga cell that had undergone primary en- atoms, causing them to decrease their growth rate and dosymbiosis by ingesting and retaining a photosynthetic limit the number of genes responsible for N-metabolism cyanobacterium. The engulfed cells remained undi- (down-regulation), in order to effectively photosynthe- gested and became the cellular organelles referred to as size (up-regulation of photosynthetic genes). chloroplasts. This single event spawned a diverse lin- eage as some stramenopiles lost photosynthetic ability or Response of Prochlorococcus Ecotypes to Phosphate, integrated chloroplast genes into their nuclear genomes. ATP and Ammonium Additions Although there are fourteen known classes of photosyn- Zachary Thomson, Senior, Oceanography thetic stramenopiles, their evolutionary history remains Mary Gates Scholar a mystery. By analyzing chloroplast genomes and in- Mentor: Gabrielle Rocap, Oceanography ferring phylogenetic relationships based on genetic sim- Mentor: Emily Nahas, Biological Oceanography, ilarities, we are able to parse out the evolutionary events Center for Environmental Genomics that led up to today’s photosynthetic marine organisms.

189 The process starts with assembling a complete chloro- processes in diverse field populations of diatoms in order plast genome for each species. All cellular DNA is frag- to better understand the role of diatoms in global carbon mented and portions of each fragment are compared to and silica cycles. a database of known sequences. Identified chloroplast fragments are sequenced entirely and pieced together into the complete chloroplast genome. My responsibili- ties include running the assembled chloroplast genomes SESSION 2I through a program that translates DNA to amino acids, amino acids to proteins, and proteins to their function in the cell. Because these annotations are computationally assigned, it is necessary to make sure the results make THE DIGITAL HUMANITIESAND biological sense. The predicted regions of translation on the genome must be scrutinized and protein names TECHNOLOGY-FOCUSED and functions must be checked for consistency across CULTURAL RESEARCH species. Ultimately, analyzing the data uncovers the rela- Session Moderator: Jentery Sayers, English tionships of stramenopiles to one another. Additionally, Mary Gates Hall Room 242 noting similarities to other photosynthetic taxa supports and clarifies the endosymbiosis theory and gives clues * Note: Titles in order of presentation. as to when these evolutionary changes took place. Fi- nally, the project offers insight into the biology of marine Diagraming Research at the University of autotrophs—organisms with immeasurable environmen- Washington tal and commercial importance. William Damon, Senior, Law, Societies, Justice, English Mary Gates Scholar Discovering Common Cell Wall Genes in Marine Mentor: Axel Roesler, Art Diatoms using Genome Comparison and qPCR Mentor: Jentery Sayers, English Tiffany Truong, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular Developmental) In the modern academic landscape a curious mind has to Mentor: Virginia Armbrust, Oceanography sort through a huge number of different departments, lab- Mentor: Colleen Durkin, Oceanography oratories, and lines of inquiry to find a subject of interest to study. Given recent trends towards increased under- Diatoms are unicellular eukaryotic algae that thrive in graduate, non-expert, and outsider participation in colle- both marine and freshwater habitats. Their unique heavy giate research, as well as increased specialization and the silica cell walls aid in the transport of fixed carbon from ’de-centering’ of important research areas, the need for the surface to the deep ocean. Thus, diatoms are ma- practical tools to aid in networking and targeting special jor components of carbon and silica cycles. Out of more interests seems immediate. While some students may than 10,000 species of diatoms, four species have had have some idea of what they want to study, for the rest their entire genomes sequenced; Thalassiosira pseudo- selecting a research area is a difficult endeavor with se- nana, Fragilariopsis cylindrus, Pseudo-nitzschia multi- rious consequences. My research maps the connections series, and Phaeodactylum tricornutum. The genes re- and relationships which make up the University of Wash- sponsible for cell wall processes in T. pseudonana have ington’s research environment. As it currently exists my been previously identified using tiling array experiments. research consists of a wire-frame or mock up of what a This study identifies the genes shared between the four functioning digital map would look like. The basic unit diatoms and investigates whether they have a common of my map is the individual researcher. Data for the map function in controlling cell wall formation. We hypoth- would be supplied voluntarily, by researchers interested esize that if the four diatom species are grown under the in having more of a public presence. Interconnections same silicate and nitrate limitation, then the shared and would be made by users, with the final aim of having the conserved genes will be expressed similarly, providing map actually create new connections, rather than merely support for common functions in cell wall processes. Ac- describing existing ones. Digital mapping techniques are climated cultures of F. cylindrus and P. multiseries were an exciting new frontier, capable of stimulating knowl- grown under silicate and nitrate-deplete media and col- edge of work being done on campus. lected at the onset of stationary growth. The gene expres- sion of targeted genes was analyzed using quantitative New Directions for the Non-Directive: Integrating polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). This analysis will re- Technology into Writing Centers veal whether the patterns found in T. pseudonana are ap- Nichole Poinski, Senior, Comparative Literature plicable to understanding cell wall processes in other di- Mary Gates Scholar atoms. These genes can then be used to analyze cell wall Mentor: Kimberlee Gillis-Bridges, English

190 The integration of technology is a growing trend in uni- thetic and design properties that make such a remediation versity and college Writing Centers across the nation. By entertaining and engaging. Flash media is simple to au- “technology”, I am referring to everything from the use thor and can quickly distribute and display a text while of the Internet to inform tutoring practices to the actual easily accommodating the movement, colors, and design presence of computers in the Writing Center. Each insti- of a remediated text, including using The USA Trilogy. tution employs variable methods of integrating technol- A single Flash file can store text and textual presentation, ogy into their space of what has historically been consid- embed links, play animation, and appear on nearly every ered personal, collaborative, and conversation-centered. computing platform for anyone with access to a personal My research investigates the implications of technology computer and the Internet, which is what makes this type on tutoring methods, and asks the questions: If the Writ- of remediation so powerful and exciting. ing Center priviledges face-to-face, non-directive tutor- ing methods, how can the Writing Center keep these val- Modeling Birth ued, associative practices while incorporating technol- Gretchen Cook, Senior, Women Studies, Art (Design ogy? Is there a way to achieve scholar Stephen North’s Studies) goal of ’making better writers’ without reducing Writing Mary Gates Scholar Center theory to series of practices that are easily trans- Mentor: Dominic Muren, Design latable to an online, computer-mediated environment? Mentor: Jentery Sayers, English An extensive literature review has historicized my re- This project grew out of research done during the 2008 search, revealing several patterns across institutions and Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities, “Media years. Dialogues with Writing Center professionals have and the Senses.” There, I compiled birth scenes present contextualized my questions stemming from the litera- in popular media to emphasize the dramatization, and ture review. However, the crux of my research is the cre- how it could be used to influence the viewer about the ation of a platform from which to further explore the im- birth process. The popularized image of birth is the only plications of technology in Writing Center. My platform interaction many people have with the birth process; thus focuses on learning opportunities to be had by Writing the viewer accepts that the image is a true depiction, and Center administrators, tutors, and student writers. not entertainment. However, popular media is only one Textual Remediation of Literature form of birth education. The maternity care system in the Andrew Battenburg, Junior, Pre-Sciences US is a complex web of information. One must be well Mentor: Jentery Sayers, English informed to expect a safe outcome. Neonatal Mortality Rates published in 2000 show that the US ranks 42nd in Traditional forms of media are in a transformative period the world. In 2005, the Maternal Mortality Rates data of digitization, and some forms, such as newsprint, suffer ranks the US last among industrialized nations. How- from diminished circulation while electronic media (in- ever, the US out spends other industrialized nations on cluding the PDF and Adobe Flash) faces increased expo- maternal/infant healthcare. How does one tackle a com- sure and acceptance. By remediating books into digital plex problem to find where change can make an impact? copies, I can archive and distribute texts, provide acces- How can those changes be assessed? Applying my visual sibility features, reduce material costs, and possibly en- design education to the critical analysis skills learned gage in alternative learning and reading styles. This dra- in Women Studies and Design Studies, I am utilizing a matically changes who has access to literature and gives comparative method to create a collection of diagrams a broader audience a new set of expectations and chal- and models to visually depict the connections between lenges: do I analyze this new medium as a film, a book, stakeholders and results. These models are non-linear or as something completely new? What does it mean tools, meant to enhance the understanding of written and for literature to be remediated into an interactive medium statistical information. They are not indented to simplify and not a Hollywood blockbuster? When form, design, a complex problem. Instead, my aim is to make the com- movement, typography, and sound all come together in- plexity of maternity care and birth education in the US teractively to highlight the text in its new digital space, less of a barrier for everyone involved, creating a com- new critical practices begin to emerge such as empha- mon point of origin to make change possible. sizing important passages, swapping typed notes with peers, and building connections between literature and Googling Race and Gender: Decoding the other media. The USA Trilogy by Dos Passos, a work Digitization of Asian Women that drew heavily from the media of the early 20th cen- Seungwha Lee, Senior, Communication tury to present its own remediation, poses an opportunity Mary Gates Scholar to isolate animation practices and translate and expand Mentor: LeiLani Nishime, Communication the text. When separating content from presentation, I Mentor: Jentery Sayers, English keep the original text intact while playing with the aes- My research examines the experience of Googling race

191 and gender online in order to identify the “natural” as- research study, where I plan to make field observations sumptions about Asian women and articulates how they of workers using specific kinds of tools and objects in are visually represented, particularly in the shift from three types of work environments and understand what print to digital culture. The Internet is another institution senses and affordances such interactions might provide. that effectively and implicitly reinforces the existing ide- I hope to use my research to inform the design of tech- ologies in society, affirming stereotypes of race and gen- nologies and objects that will not only act as extensions der of print culture. Accordingly, my research demon- of the body, as Gibson states, but surround, permeate and strates the notion that there is a correlation between the utilize the enactive potentiality of the body. commodification of the images of Asian women on- line and Asian women offline. This presentation dis- Poetic Crossroads: Roman Elegy (re)Constructing a cusses how Asian women have been visually constructed Poetics of Choice and sexualized online, and explores the ramifications of Nicholas Rupert, Senior, English, Classics, Philosophy these sexualized representations by pressuring of Asian Mary Gates Scholar women as “Lotus Blossoms” or “Dragon Ladies”. These Mentor: Stephen Hinds, Classics iconic images represents both passive and aggressive ex- Mentor: Catherine Connors, Classics otic sexuality of Asian women visually on both print The image of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex at the crossroads, and digital media. Whereas there is a clear distinction killing his father and determining his fate, looms large in between producer and consumer of these images in the modern culture. Less known is the once popular mor- print culture, the producers and the consumer of the In- alizing fable of Hercules at the Crossroads, in which ternet content becomes indistinctive online. I suggest Hercules makes a decision between personified Virtue a reformulation of the printed mass media, producer- and Vice. The choice of Paris, a choice between Venus consumer model to a more tailored adaptation model for and Juno, causes the Trojan war. By the time of Sex- Internet studies, where the producers and consumers be- tus Propertius and Roman elegy in the first century B.C., come integrated through interactivity. all of these myths were contributing to the literary en- vironment in which the Latin love elegists wrote. Prop- Into the Eyes: Proprioception and Body Space in ertius lives in an age when political, social, and literary Interacting with Environments Tharinduni Nanayakkara, Senior, Comparative History magnates choose paths that decide the fate of their soci- of Ideas eties and the Western civilization to come: Cicero, Cae- Mary Gates Scholar sar, Augustus, and Livy each halts at a proverbial cross- Mentor: Axel Roesler, Art roads, looks around, and points down paths that Petrarch, Napoleon, Mussolini, and Machiavelli follow millennia “Into the Eyes” explores the roles embodied vision and later. Propertius centers poem 4.7—his most discussed proprioception play in creating ecologies, or sets of re- elegy from his most complex book—around the image lationships among observers, objects, and environments. of crossroads, and this image in turn mirrors the themes First, I examined the perceptual conditioning implicit in of polarization and choice that pervade his fourth book. visual media interfaces such as screens. During sum- Other elegists, particularly Ovid in his Amores, also uti- mer 2008, I collaborated with Kendal Lund and William lize the image of the crossroads to emphasize the choices Damon to create “Quantum Learning,” a three-channel and questions latent in their poetry. Thus, poetic cross- video installation, to illustrate how the body actively ori- roads become an image through which Roman elegists ents itself and how media enter proprioceptive space. emphasize and assert the diverse power of their poetry, To explore human-object interaction further, I created its power to express contradictions, to function as both LAMP, an observational video account of how location political satire and love poetry, and ultimately its power and motion in reference to an object might affect the way to mean different things to different readers. an observer relates to it. Vision is not only localized in the eyes but infused in proprioception, which allows ob- servers to sense their own body in space. Using these projects as a starting point, I mobilize James J. Gibson’s model of active visual perception as the product of an observer directing views while moving through an envi- ronment to focus not only on vision, but on the superim- positions of tactility and movement involved in vision. Specifically, I ask how observers might use their bodies as a scale and how interacting with objects can change observers’ perceived body scale and body boundaries. To approach my questions, I am designing a qualitative

192 Blame has now been directed toward the influx of specu- lators into the futures commodities markets as the major SESSION 2J contributors to the steep upward trend (Masters 2008). Because actual physical commodity prices are bench- marked to the price levels of commodities futures, crude ORLD INANCIAL RISIS N spot price dislocations from traditional economic supply W F C :A and demand influences will have real and material im- EXPLORATION OF COMPONENTS pacts on the economy. Empirical studies to date have OFTHE RISIS not yet determined the extent to which crude speculators C affect futures markets, and if indeed this factor is the pri- Session Moderator: Michael Verchot, Business and mary driving force behind crude trends. To address this Economic Development Center material omission in the literature, I plan to econometri- Mary Gates Hall Room 248 cally test the significance of crude oil speculators via a standard Arbitrage Pricing Theory model. I will regress * Note: Titles in order of presentation. crude oil futures contract prices on fundamental eco- The Quantity Theory of Money and its Effects on nomic indicators (a la Elton, Gruber, and Mei 1994): LI- Inflation BOR swap spreads, interest rates, exchange rates, GNP, Britteny Caldwell, Senior, Business Administration and inflation; and variables to proxy for crude specula- (Finance), UW Tacoma tion that differentiate between index and non-index spec- Mentor: Douglas Wills, Business, UW Tacoma ulators, market momentum based on the S&P 500 Index, and factors of crude oil supply and demand. My empir- There exist many theories in regards to what causes infla- ical work hopes to provide insight into factors driving tion. One theory that has not received much attention is current crude trends, as well as focusing in particular on the “Quantity Theory of Money” (QTM). Its origins can the true level of influence that speculators have in these be traced to the 1700’s, and has had an impact on mone- markets. tary policy since currency existed. The theory states that as the quantity of public money increase, inflation in- Investigating Management’s Choices to Revise its creases. Economists studying QTM developed this equa- Earnings Forecasts Robert Stoumbos, Senior, Accounting tion, known as the Fisher Equation (after Economist Irv- Mentor: Lloyd Tanlu, Accounting ing Fisher): MV=PT, where M is public money supply, V is velocity of circulation, P is average price levels, and Earnings forecasts are voluntary disclosures used by T is the volume of transactions. Therefore, Money x Ve- managers to provide more information about expected locity = Total Spending. There is evidence to support firm performance. One aspect of earnings guidance that this theory, but inflation is a complicated idea, and many has received little attention in the accounting literature argue against it. Although there is ample research and is the revision of management forecasts. I study fore- studies to support QTM, many economists, such as the cast revisions for several reasons. First, the quantity and famed J.M. Keynes, have argued it is not correct. In my direction of forecast revisions can signify the economic research, I explain the origins of QTM and what it is. environment surrounding the firm making the forecast. I will also compare the arguments for and against the Second, forecast revisions are signals of the quality of validity of QTM. Finally, I will look at possible impli- the managers making the forecast, as well as indications cations the QTM has on today’s economy and inflation. of how credible the forecasting process is within a firm. Ultimately, through research and observation I believe Third, forecast revisions can either strengthen or under- that QTM as well as other factors, such as the Federal mine the credibility and informativeness of a firm’s vol- Reserve Interest Rate, has effects on inflation. untary disclosures. My preliminary findings indicate that revisions are: (a) positively associated with uncertainty; Crude Commodity Futures: A Speculators Game? Rachel Waszkewitz, Senior, Economics (b) positively associated with analyst following; and (c) Mentor: Larina Davis, Economics more often revise downward. Furthermore, I expect that the magnitude of negative short-run stock returns follow- In the five years prior to the end of 2008, aggregate ing downward revisions will be on average greater than crude commodity prices increased more than at any other the magnitude of positive short-run returns from beating time in United States history (Veneroso 2007). It was a forecast. Since many managers follow this pattern in widely believed that this trend could be explained by their revisions, this finding suggests that they are not be- rapid growth in the world economy until the summer having in the best interests of the firm. Finally, I also of 2007 when the economy began to show signs of a expect to find that firms that revise their forecasts more recession and yet commodity prices continued to soar. frequently are less likely to manipulate their actual earn-

193 ings. cooperation). In a well-mixed environment, viability of CoSMO depends on supply and consumption properties Going Public through the Back Door: A of the two cooperating partners, and on initial conditions Comparative Analysis of SPACs and IPOs such as total population density and partner ratio. In a Daniel Chang, Senior, Business Administration, UW spatially structured environment, such as on an agar pad, Bothell there is a time delay in nutrient availability caused by Mentor: Ufuk Ince, Business Administration, UW the diffusion of nutrients. Thus, the problem of coopera- Bothell tion in a spatially structured environment can be broken We examine the operating and financial performance down into three parts: (1) release of nutrients; (2) diffu- of 84 special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) sion of nutrients; and (3) consumption of nutrients cou- before and after consummating a merger with a pri- pled with cell growth. I have successfully established a vate company. Using a proprietary database for the pe- protocol for measuring the coefficient of diffusion of ink riod 2003 to 2008, we analyze the effects of industry, on agar by measuring the change in ink concentration firm, and deal characteristics on the performance of the versus time and distance in a spectrophotometer. Cur- merged entity. In addition, we compare the character- rently I am developing a protocol to measure the concen- istics of the firms that choose the SPAC format to be- tration gradient of metabolites along an agar pad from come a public company with those that choose the tradi- a point source. I plan to measure the combined effects tional IPO format. The statistical analysis is conducted of nutrient release and diffusion by growing cooperators using linear as well as logistic regression methodologies. on an agar pad and measuring nutrient distribution as a We find that the prestige of the underwriting investment function of time. Nutrient availability will be linked to bank, the sector and country focus, and the quality of growth by microscopically observing cell growth on agar management affect the success of a SPAC transaction pads supplemented with various concentrations of nutri- positively. Further, SPAC targets carry more debt, are ents. Integrating the nutrient supply and consumption smaller, and have less growth potential than the firms that properties of the two partners and the diffusion behav- conduct a traditional IPO. ior of the nutrients will help us understand how spatially structured environments affect cooperation.

Conservation of Function of GCN4 Orthologue ATF-5 SESSION 2K Alexander Huh, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular Developmental) Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant Scholar NUTRIENTS,LONGEVITY,TISSUE Mentor: Matt Kaeberlein, Pathology MAINTENANCE, AND RENEWAL Humans have always made an effort increase their Session Moderator: Weiqing Li, Biological Structure longevity and improve health during old age. At the ge- Mary Gates Hall Room 251 netic level, research is done to determine which genes are responsible for increasing the lifespan of an organ- * Note: Titles in order of presentation. ism. Because of the complexities and intricacies with Cellular Cooperation in Spatially Structured the human model, it is believed that studies in model or- Environments ganisms that possess genetic similarities can shed some Zackary Scholl, Senior, Physics, Applied Computational light on the pathways that may be essential for increas- Mathematical Sciences (Engineering Physical) ing lifespan in more complex organisms. Two commonly Mentor: Wenying Shou, Basic Sciences, Fred used model organisms in aging research are the bud- Hutchinson Cancer Research Center ding yeast Sacchromyces cerevisiae and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Our group has recently shown Cooperation promotes the evolution of complexity. Mul- that the stress responsive transcription factor Gcn4 is an ticellular organisms have evolved from their unicellu- important downstream mediator of life span extension lar ancestors, like the lichen forming from the symbio- in response to dietary restriction and reduced signaling sis between green algae and fungi. To model the evo- through the target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase (Steffen et lution of cooperation we created a system of Coopera- al., Cell 133:292, 2008). In response to DR, TOR activity tion that is Synthetic and Mutually Obligatory (CoSMO). is reduced, globale mRNA translation is impaired, and CoSMO consists of a pair of genetically modified yeast Gcn4 is up-regulated by differential translation of GCN4 strains that are non-mating (and hence acting like two mRNA. This up-regulation of Gcn4 is required for life species) and that exchange essential nutrients (obligatory span extension in yeast. The goal of this project is char-

194 acterize the function of the C. elegans Gcn4 homolog Determining the Role of Runx2/Cbfa1 in Vascular ATF-5 and determine whether ATF-5 plays a similar Calcification through Runx2/Cbfa1 Knockdown and longevity-promoting role. We will determine whether Inorganic Phosphate Induction in In Vitro Mouse ATF-5 is translationally regulated in a manner similar to Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells Gcn4 by monitoring protein expression in response to Pranoti Hiremath, Senior, Bioengineering different physiological stresses, such as starvation, reac- Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant tive oxidative species, and proteotoxicity. We have also Scholar observed that mutation of ATF-5 leads to reproductive Mentor: Yanfeng (Mei) Speer, Bioengineering and longevity phenotypes and we will examine whether Mentor: Cecilia Giachelli, Bioengineering loss of ATF-5 modulates life span extension by DR in Vascular calcification, the deposition of calcium phos- worms. These studies will help determine whether Gcn4 phate in the cardiovascular system, has been linked to homologs are conserved longevity factors and may pro- high cardiovascular death in patients with chronic kid- vide insight into the potential for targeting this family of ney disease and type II diabetes. At the cellular level, proteins to treat age-associated diseases in people. induction with inorganic phosphate induces calcification Molecular Identification of a New Activator of of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and phenotypic change Insulin Signaling in the Nematode C. elegans of the vascular cells to an osteogenic state. Studies have Shyam Bhansali, Senior, Biology (General) shown that Runx2/Cbfa1 is an osteogenic transcription Mentor: Weiqing Li, Biological Structure factor that is a necessity for bone formation and an early indicator of SMC transdifferentiation. We studied the Insulin signaling has been shown to be a major regula- effect of blocking Runx2 expression in in vitro mouse tor of longevity in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. aortic SMCs. Expression of Runx2/Cbfa1 was recapit- Down-regulation of insulin signaling in adults leads to a ulated when vascular SMCs were cultured in medium doubling of lifespan compared to wildtype animals. This containing high phosphate. Knockdown of Runx2/Cbfa1 extension is dependent on the activity of DAF-16, an or- in SMCs via RNA interference led to a near complete tholog of the mammalian FOXO transcription factor. We block of phosphate-induced matrix calcification. These have isolated qb10, a new mutant allele that increases results are the first to identify a role of Runx2/Cbfa1 in longevity in C. elegans. My preliminary data shows that phosphate-induced SMC calcification. the lifespan extension of qb10 mutants is dependent on DAF-16, as knockdown of daf-16 mRNA levels through Cloning of the Fluorescence Indicator Protein for RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) suppresses the long- Inorganic Phosphate (FLIPPi) Construct for Use In lifespan of qb10 animals. This suggests that qb10 is a Mammalian Cells mutation in a gene whose wildtype function is to acti- Stephanie Huynh, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular vate insulin signaling in C. elegans. We have tentatively Developmental) named this gene ais-1 (activator of insulin signaling-1). Amgen Scholar My current goal is to identify the molecular nature of Mentor: Cecilia Giachelli, Bioengineering the ais-1 gene. To do this I am employing a single nu- Mentor: Maria Festing, Bioengineering cleotide polymorphisms mapping strategy to locate the In healthy individuals, an appropriate balance between qb10 C. el- position of the allele in the fully sequenced specific factors that inhibit calcification and growth fac- egans qb10 genome. I have already found that is linked tors that promote bone formation is present. In pa- to a region that does not contain any of the other genes tients affected by vascular calcification (VC), inhibitors known to extend lifespan in the worm. This suggests that of bone formation in vessel walls are lost or reduced and ais-1 represents a new component of insulin signaling promoters of bone formation are stimulated, resulting in C. elegans. and longevity in I hope that with some finer improper ectopic deposition of hydroxyapatite within the scale mapping I can establish a smaller sized interval that vasculature. Previous studies have indicated that high in- can be screened for candidate genes. To do this I will fluxes of inorganic phosphate (Pi) via Pit-1 (SLC20A1), use RNAi to knock down the activity of genes that are a Type III sodium-dependent phosphate co-transporter, known to map to this interval in wildtype worms. Any play a significant role in phosphate-induced calcification gene whose knock down by RNAi results in an increased of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and differenti- longevity phenotype will be considered a candidate gene ation of VSMCs into osteoblast-like cells in vitro. Since ais-1 qb10 for and will be sequenced in the background Pi is an essential molecule in all cells with unique sub- in order to find the mutation. cellular localizations and plays a critical role in VC, it is necessary to monitor Pi concentrations in living VSMCs. This will be accomplished via the pairing of fluores- cence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based technol- ogy with the fluorescence indicator protein for inorganic

195 phosphate (FLIPPi-30m). This chimeric protein is an in- nance Energy Transfer (FRET) microscopy and flow cy- frame fusion of cyan fluorescent protein, the truncated tometry assays, respectively. Thus far we have prepared Pi-specific binding protein PiBP, and yellow fluorescent the BCRP and BCRP mutants for FRET microscopy by protein. The pRSET vector containing the protein was fusing the BCRP/BCRP-mutant DNA with donor and ac- obtained, but needed to be cloned into a plasmid that can ceptor fluorescence proteins. Interactions between donor be expressed in mammalian cells. This new construct and acceptor fluorescence proteins will provide the dis- was engineered by means of enzyme digestion and liga- tance between our BCRP/BCRP-mutant proteins and in- tion of FLIPPi-30m from the pRSET-FLIPPi-30m plas- dicate homodimerization. We hope the findings of our mid into the mammalian vector pcDNA3.1(+). The con- research will clarify the molecular mechanism of BCRP, struct will consequently be transformed into chemically- aiding further pharmacological development of BCRP competent E. coli cells, from which more plasmid will modulators and better cancer treatments. be harvested. Enzyme digestions and gel electrophore- Generation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem ses were used to confirm correct engineering through Cells Using Foamy Virus Vectors evaluation of DNA fragment sizes. The pcDNA3.1(+)- Jordan Kho, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular FLIPPi-30m construct will be used in future studies as Developmental), Microbiology a Pi-sensitive sensor in aortic smooth muscle cells that Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar are wildtype and Pit-1 null. Studying the mechanisms of Mentor: David Russell, Medicine Pi regulation will enable the elucidation of new potential Mentor: Iram Khan, Medicine therapeutic targets in the attempt to regulate VC. In 2007, a major breakthrough was reported whereby Modeling BCRP (Breast Cancer Resistance Protein) pluripotent stem cells could be generated from human Structure and Function using FRET (Fluorescence fibroblasts by virus-mediated transduction of four tran- Resonance Energy Transfer) Microscopy scription factors. These so-called induced pluripotent Michelle Mark, Sophomore, Pre-Major stem (iPS) cells appear to resemble embryonic stem (ES) Mary Gates Scholar cells and have brought an unprecedented promise of po- Mentor: Qingcheng Mao, Pharmaceutics tential patient-specific cell therapy. This technology, Mentor: Zhanglin Ni, Pharmaceutics however, still has some limitations, a major one being the The Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP) is a mem- use of either gamma-retroviral or lentiviral vectors. Both ber of the ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) superfamily of viruses have strong preferences for integration within drug transporters that transport a variety of substrates genes or near transcription start sites and can thus possi- across cell membranes using ATP-hydrolysis. Substrate bly lead to tumor formation by insertional mutagenesis. efflux plays an important role in protecting tissues of the My research aims to test whether induction of pluripo- blood brain barrier, liver, ducts and lobules of the breast, tency can also be achieved using foamy virus (FV) vec- and placenta from toxins. However, it has been ob- tors. We anticipate that FV vectors can be a safer alterna- served that BCRP confers multi-drug resistance to can- tive system because they have a much lower preference cerous tissues overexpressing the gene because BCRP for integration within genes and near transcription start prevents the accumulation of chemotherapeutic drugs in sites. Thus, we constructed FV vectors that contain dif- cells. Thus, it is essential to develop better BCRP modu- ferent transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, Lin 28, lators, which requires further knowledge about the struc- Klf4, and c-Myc) and double selection markers (HyTk ture and function of the protein. Past literature sug- and Tkneo) to enable both positive and negative selec- gests that BCRP functions as a homodimer bonded by tion. We also aim to reduce the number of viral integra- disulfide bonds (bonds between two Cysteines); how- tions per cell by incorporating multiple transcription fac- ever, it is still unclear which regions of BCRP are crit- tors on a single viral vector and loxP sites inserted into ical for homodimerization and function. Our project the 3’LTR so that the whole vector provirus can be ex- aims to elucidate the roles of two regions in previous cised out of the genome once the cells turned pluripotent. literature: the Cys603 and the extracellular loop span- The ongoing project is to generate iPS cells from human ning amino acids 590-622. We used PCR mutagenesis fibroblasts through transduction with different combina- to remove the extracellular loop of interest and mutate tions of the constructed FV vectors. Once generated, we the Cys603 to Alanine, thereby eliminating any exist- plan to characterize the pluripotent status of the repro- ing disulfide bonds. We expect to observe drastically re- grammed cells by checking the ES cell-specific gene ex- duced homodimerization and function only for the dele- pression, telomerase activity, epigenetic status, and the tion mutant because we believe Cys603 is not essen- capacity to differentiate into advanced derivatives of the tial for function and homodimerization. We will mea- three germ layers in vitro and in teratomas. sure and compare homodimerization and function of the BCRP and the BCRP mutants using Fluorescence Reso-

196 formances (financial, environmental, and social).

SESSION 2L Analysis of Water Projects in Yangjuan and Pianshui, The Search for Development in Rural China Geoffrey Morgan, Senior, International Studies, Civil ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURES Engineering Session Moderator: Stevan Harrell, Anthropology Mary Gates Scholar Mary Gates Hall Room 254 Mentor: Stevan Harrell, Anthropology

* Note: Titles in order of presentation. Over the last decade there has been a push from NGOs to reach a larger number of people and to reach them Collapsing Financial Systems, Climate in more isolated and impoverished regions. However, Deterioration, and Widening Social Inequalities: An the success rates of these projects, particularly drinking- Empirical Exploration of Cause/Effect, Coincidence, water projects, is quite low and in some cases can and Hope leave the people they were designed to help in worse Nathan Angle, Senior, Individualized Studies off conditions than before the addition of the project. Juliane Popelka, Senior, Economics In the 2007-2008 academic year I conducted an inde- Whitney Stovall, Junior, Environmental Studies pendent research project in the mountains of southwest Gonzalo Thienel Carrasco, Graduate, Forest Resources, China to gain insight into why these success rates are Global Trade, Transportation Logistics so low. My research was located in two Nuosu villages Mentor: Dorothy Paun, Forest Resources called Yangjuan and Pianshui which had received 4 water projects from various NGO groups. I was able to analyze Is today’s concurrent collapse of global financial sys- these projects to see how they affected the villagers and tems, climate deterioration, and widening social in- whether or not they still were functioning to their origi- equities merely coincidence or cause and effect related? nal design intentions and if not, why. As a culmination to Our research goal is to explore these issues within an my work I was able to make marked improvements to a empirical framework. Companies with shares trading water project and come up with several factors as to why on stock exchanges are required by law to issue finan- NGO water projects can fail. The primary reason that the cial statements so that owners, lenders, suppliers, and water projects have such a low rate of success is due to managers can assess financial health and performance. the fact that NGOs tend not to pay close enough atten- A widening group of stakeholders (i.e., any person or tion to the environment in which they are building their group that can affect, or be affected by, a company’s project. This includes factors such as placing enough actions) continue to advocate for more transparent envi- attention on the importance of localized information, an- ronmental and social responsibility performance report- alyzing the ability for local infrastructure to sustain the ing, and, while currently voluntary, an increasing num- introduction of an imported technology, the local socio- ber of firms are issuing sustainability / environmental / cultural and political issues with the area and how it may corporate social responsibility reports (hereafter called alter with the addition of a project, making sure the ben- sustainability reports). Such reports provide information efits of the project are known before hand or are taught in and data that can be extracted for investigating poten- conjunction with the addition of the project, and by uti- tial positive and negative relationships among environ- lizing women’s roles in the oversight and management mental, social, and financial performance. Using 2007 of the project. annual financial and sustainability reports from compa- nies in the United States and Canada, we collected and Architectural Implications of the Biophilia compared data for a sample of firms from the energy, Hypothesis food and beverage, forest products, electronics, banking, Vanessa Nevers, Senior, Architectural Studies and entertainment industries. In total, we studied 106 Mentor: Louisa Iarocci, Architecture variables: 41 environmental (e.g., climate change initia- tives, recycling practices, green purchasing preferences In 1984, evolutionary biologist Edward O. Wilson pub- for eco-friendly or reduced life cycle environmental im- lished the book, Biophilia in which he proposes that pacts materials and products); 57 social (e.g., human biophilia is the innate human affinity for nature and an rights, social responsibility management systems for so- essential aspect of human development. The question cial, health, and safety, community volunteerism); and posed here is whether biophilia can be translated into eight financial (e.g., net income, revenues, owners’ eq- a set of architectural design principles that lead to im- uity, long term debt). Study findings offer insights on provements in human health and well being, and an in- similarities and differences among triple bottom line per- creased sense of responsibility for the environment. Ex- amination of the biophilia hypothesis indicates that it is

197 a valid basis for rethinking how our built environments compare current risk-management strategies applied on are designed. An increasing number of people are living non-Arctic routes with measures needed to ship through in urban settings and are spending the majority of their the Arctic. time indoors. Architecture that does not respond to bio- A Comparison of Environmental Stewardship and philic design principles can further isolate its inhabitants Social Responsibility in Europe and North America from nature. Analysis of past and current research on Elizabeth Tran, Senior, Environmental Science biophilia as well as publications on biophilic design the- Resource Management ory indicate that a lack of ecology of place can lead to Mentor: Dorothy Paun, Forest Resources a sense of disconnection and weaken individual attitudes towards ecological responsibility. This investigation will The World Commission on Economic Development de- attempt to reveal the powerful potential of architectural fines sustainability as meeting the needs of the present design to affect the quality of human life and its relation- without compromising the ability of future generations ship to the environment. to meet their own needs. Around the world companies are issuing sustainability reports to communicate with The Viability of Shipping Through the Arctic: An various stakeholders. Sustainability reporting (i.e., en- Analysis of Risks and Risk Management for vironmental reports, corporate social responsibility re- Shipping Lines ports) refers to disclosing social responsibility and envi- Naama Sheffer, Senior, International Studies ronmental activities and performance. These annual re- Mary Gates Scholar ports are useful for transparency as well as comparing Mentor: Anne Goodchild, Civil Environmental sustainable practices among different firms over time. Engineering This study compared the environmental and social re- Recent receding levels of the Arctic ice pack are bring- sponsibility practices of European and North Ameri- ing the use of the northern passages closer to signifi- can businesses by analyzing data contained in corpo- cant implementation, connecting the north Atlantic with rate sustainability reports. The sample of 68 publically the north Pacific, and changing international trade pat- traded firms was chosen from the Pacific Sustainabil- terns in a notable way. These Arctic routes could sig- ity Index database. Sixty-eight firms (54%) were from nificantly shorten the traveling distance for certain cur- Europe and 31 (46%) from North America, with cor- rent routes and imply faster delivery of goods at lower porate headquarters in 13 countries (Belgium, Canada, shipping costs due to lower fuel usage, lower labor costs England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, per journey due to fewer man-hours, and lesser passage Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United fees. However, as a business, shipping lines have as an States). The sample represents 12 industries (banking objective the on-time delivery of their full cargo to the and insurance, chemicals, computing and office equip- port of destination, with a healthy crew on board and ment, electronics, energy, food and beverages, forest minimal damage to the ship. The harsh environment, products, metals and mining, pharmaceuticals, telecom- minimal infrastructure and many unknowns in the pro- munications, transportation, and utilities). The follow- gression of change in the Arctic present uncertainties as ing variables were investigated: 1) climate change initia- to the cost effectiveness of these routes (for example, tives; 2) green purchasing preferences for eco-friendly through higher insurance rates). While states and inter- or reduced life cycle environmental impacts materials national organizations are already creating policy recom- and products; 3) social responsibility management sys- mendations for dealing with the management of shipping tems for social, health, and safety; and 4) screening pro- through the Arctic, the shipping industry is still skepti- cedures to evaluate suppliers that help fulfill the firm’s cal about the feasibility of using the northern passages sustainability policies and principles. Study findings in- in the coming years. Planning for responsible use and dicate that North American firms lag European counter- the predictability of future Arctic shipping depend on parts in all of the variables. good risk assessment and risk-management recommen- dations. This research intends to address these issues and is two-staged: the first stage will identify the cur- rent origin-destination routes for which Arctic passage would provide benefit, and understand potential demand on these routes. This stage will also define the risks of shipping through the Arctic based on readings and expert interviews, and include initial options and recommenda- tions for dealing with these risks. The findings of this stage will be presented at the symposium. The second stage will interview representatives of shipping lines, and

198 Stabilizing the APOBEC3H Protein to Recover Antiviral Activity Against HIV SESSION 2M Bora Chang, Senior, Biochemistry Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Michael Emerman, Human Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/UW COMBATING HIV Mentor: Nisha Duggal, Biology Session Moderator: Zihuan Yang, Laboratory Medicine Mary Gates Hall Room 271 APOBEC3H, or apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic-polypeptide-3H, is one of seven * Note: Titles in order of presentation. APOBEC3 genes found in primates. The APOBEC3 genes encode for antiviral proteins that function as Development of a High Throughput Method for cytidine deaminases which cause hypermutation during Screening Merck Ad5 Vaccine Vector and HIV-1 viral reverse transcription, thereby rendering the viral Insert Genes in Vaccinated Individuals genome defective. In the human population, there are Luis Acevedo, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular four haplotypes of APOBEC3H in varying proportions Developmental) amongst global ethnic groups. Three of these haplotypes EIP/Presidential Scholar translate proteins with a very short half-life (about Mentor: Tuofu Zhu, Laboratory Medicine 30 minutes) and only one translates a stable protein (half-life over 6 hours). It is not known at this time The recent failure of the Merck Ad5 HIV-1 vaccine in if the stability/instability of the different APOBEC3H the STEP phase II clinical trial has prompted many ques- haplotypes is due to selection, or due to genetic drift tions regarding the use and biological function of aden- in the absence of selection. However, the instability ovirus vectors. Understanding how adenovirus serotype of some haplotypes likely reflects a loss of function 5 (Ad5) vectors interact with the host’s immune system of the APOBEC3H protein. We wish to address the is essential since Ad5 is commonly used for gene ther- mechanisms that govern APOBEC3H proteins stability apy and vaccination. Currently it is unknown whether since we know that the stable (but not unstable) proteins the Merck Ad5 vaccine vector persists in humans post retain their function as antiviral proteins against viruses vaccination. We believe this is primarily due to the lack in general, and in particular, HIV. Our strategy is to of methodologies with the sensitivity to detect a sin- use inhibitors of the two major degradative pathways in gle nucleic acid. Here we have developed a new ultra- mammalian cells to inhibit the proteolytic pathway or sensitive multiplex PCR assay to determine the persis- the lysosomal pathway, or both, to see the effects on the tence of the Merck Ad5 vaccine in PBMC of humans level of protein in the cells. Preliminary data suggests post-vaccination. We designed primers and fluorogenic that the four haplotypes of APOBEC3H are degraded in probes specific for detection of the Merck vaccine vector different pathways. Currently, I am conducting antiviral and HIV-1 transgenes. MRKAd5 gag, pol and nef plas- activity assays to determine whether transiently stabi- mid DNA were serially diluted and spiked with donor lized APOBEC3H proteins have retained any cytidine PBMC to simulate patient sample conditions. The effec- deaminase activity, and are able to counteract viruses. tiveness of the primer/probe designs utilized in this novel The APOBEC3H/HIV interaction is a promising host PCR system was examined by a first round limiting dilu- cell factor and viral interaction that may be important in tion multiplex PCR and second round Nested Real-Time elucidating how the previous genetic history of humans PCR. This assay is able to conclusively differentiate and has rendered them more susceptible to HIV and may quantify the Merck vaccine Ad5 vector and HIV-1 trans- offer insights into ways to counter HIV in the future. genes gag, pol and nef. We found this assay is sensitive to detect 1 DNA copy for all target genes in the presence Isolation and Characterization of Monocyte-derived of a large cellular DNA background. Our newly devel- HIV-1 from Discontinued Anti-retroviral Therapy oped method provides an ideal combination of sensitiv- Patients ity and reliability for testing samples on a large-scale and Gregory Dann, Senior, Biochemistry can be utilized to test whether the Merck vaccine persists Mary Gates Scholar in study subjects post-vaccination. This study may di- Mentor: Tuofu Zhu, Laboratory Medicine rectly influence the engineering of next-generation HIV- Mentor: Tong Wang, Laboratory Medicine 1 vaccine candidates, by helping to determine the utility of using similar vectors as an effective strategy for future Monocytes harboring HIV-1 are the primary source HIV-1 prevention or viral load control efforts. of virus in tissue macrophages throughout the course of infection. Current anti-retroviral therapy (ART) targets cells undergoing active viral production and is thus able to effectively suppress HIV-1 in CD4+

199 T cells. However, due to distinct differences in who went on to become superinfected. Currently, we viral replication and transmission, HIV-1 in mono- are using similar methodology in order to identify and cytes/macrophages plays an integral role in the perse- characterize potential superinfection cases in Washing- verance and reestablishment of virus in the host during ton State. We are amplifying and sequencing two regions and after discontinuing ART. Studies have shown that of the HIV-1 genome by reverse transcription-PCR from HIV-1 in monocytes/macrophages evolve independently the plasma of local HIV-1 cases who have > 1 year of from that in CD4+ T cells. It is our hypothesis that follow-up. By comparing the sequences from early and monocyte/macrophage-derived and CD4+ T cell-derived late viruses, we will be able to identify additional cases HIV-1 isolates from the same patient are genetically and of superinfection by the appearance of a phylogenetically phenotypically distinct. Peripheral blood mononuclear distinct virus population at the later time point. If any cell (PBMC) samples were obtained from HIV positive cases are identified, we can then go back to intervening patients 1690, 1696, and 1175 of the Seattle Primary In- samples in order to pinpoint the timing of the superin- fection Cohort at time points 2 days before therapy as fection. This research will help us to further characterize well as 6.7 and 0.4 years after their stopping ART, re- immune responses during superinfection. spectively. Highly purified patient monocytes and CD4+ T cells (>99% purity for both) were then co-cultured Viral Evolution in an HIV-1 Breakthrough Vaccine separately with PHA-stimulated, CD8+ T cell-depleted, With Sustained and Undetectable Viral Load healthy donor PBMC. HIV-1 p24 concentrations in the Sergei Ivanov, Senior, Microbiology co-cultures were monitored by ELISA assays to detect Mary Gates Scholar, Washington Research viral replication. Each isolate was evaluated through se- Foundation Fellow quence analysis, determination of co-receptor usage, and Mentor: Tuofu Zhu, Laboratory Medicine viral fitness in monocyte-derived macrophage co-culture. Current vaccine efforts are largely driven towards a Co-cultures of monocyte-derived HIV-1 from patients goal that has proven achievable in SIV-monkey models; 1690, 1696, and 1175 (1690M, 1696M, and 1175M) namely, any vaccine that fails to prevent infection should first demonstrated p24 positives on Day13, Day19, and inhibit the virus to such low levels that the likelihood of Day18, respectively. Co-cultures of HIV-1 from CD4+ transmission and disease progression would be signifi- T cells (1690T, 1696T, and 1175T) were first positive on cantly reduced. However, fundamental differences be- Day12, Day13, and Day0. Viral stocks were harvested tween SIV and HIV-1 preclude direct extrapolation of during the exponential stages of each expansion, and vaccine correlates from monkey models to human infec- their final p24 concentrations all exceeded 100ng/mL. tion. The need for pioneering new approaches to AIDS For the first time, infectious CCR5-tropic HIV-1 were vaccine design became even more apparent after Merck’s successfully isolated from highly purified infected pa- leading candidate, MRKAd5, which showed promising tient monocytes. These isolates are genetically and/or control of virus levels post-infection in monkeys, failed phenotypically distinct from CD4+ T cell derived HIV- to provide any degree of protection against or control of 1. HIV-1 infection in humans. Thus, understanding how to Characterizing HIV-1 Superinfection Cases protect against HIV ultimately requires evaluation of its Ozge Dogan, Senior, Microbiology natural host - humans. Bearing this in mind, we present Mary Gates Scholar a case study examining an HIV vaccine trial participant Mentor: Catherine Blish, Medicine who became infected in spite of receiving a series of vac- Mentor: Julie Overbaugh, Human Biology cinations, but has naturally controlled HIV-1 levels and maintained healthy CD4+ T cell counts throughout nine Superinfection with HIV-1 occurs when an individual al- years of follow-up. Specifically, we longitudinally char- ready infected with one strain of HIV-1 becomes infected acterized the earliest CTL epitopes (4) identified before with a second strain. To characterize the conditions un- or near seroconversion. Over the first three years of in- der which superinfection occurs, we evaluated super- fection, three of the early-identified epitopes, which in- infection cases caused by heterosexual transmission of volved largely conserved amino acid sites, were replaced the virus among female sex workers in Kenya. In or- with escape mutations while the fourth epitope remained der to determine whether deficits in the neutralizing anti- unchanged. In addition, one of the escape mutations later body responses to HIV-1 contributed to superinfection in reverted back to its original, highly conserved, amino these women, we cloned and characterized the envelope acid sequence and was associated with a mutation in genes of both the initial and superinfecting HIV-1 vari- its flanking region. Interestingly, a sporadic rise in vi- ants. We found that most of these women became super- ral load followed this reversion. This study of multiple infected despite pre-existing antibodies capable of neu- CTL responses demonstrates a possible correlation be- tralizing their superinfecting strain. Overall, we found no tween the occurrence of ultra-early escape mutations and deficits in the neutralizing antibody responses of women preservation of undetectable plasma viral load. Further-

200 more, mutations at epitope flanking regions may afford epitope escape through other mechanisms, allowing re- version of lower fitness escape mutations and potentially SESSION 2N leading to increased viral loads.

Genetic Analysis of Drug-Resistant HIV-2 Isolates from Senegal, West Africa IMMUNE RESPONSEAND Moon Kim, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular PATHOGEN DETECTIONIN Developmental) Paul Lu, Senior, Neurobiology AQUATIC ORGANISMS Mentor: Geoffrey Gottlieb, Allergy Infectious Diseases Session Moderator: Steven Roberts, Aquatic Fishery Mentor: Robert Smith, Pathology Science Mary Gates Hall Room 284 Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infects 1-2 million people worldwide and is endemic in West * Note: Titles in order of presentation. Africa. Reports suggest that HIV-2 may be partially re- sistant to some protease inhibitors (PI) and have a low Development of Non-Invasive Biomarkers for Stress genetic barrier to nucleoside reverse transcriptase in- in Octopus hibitors (NRTI) resistance. However, the genetic path- Rachel Thompson, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences ways of NRTI and PI drug resistance are not well un- Mentor: Steven Roberts, Aquatic Fishery Science derstood in HIV-2. In order to assess the emergence of reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease (PR) drug resis- Octopuses are an important part of our marine ecosys- tance mutations, we sequenced HIV-2 pol genes from tem and provide excellent scientific models to examine drug treated HIV-2 subjects from Senegal. Highly re- behavior and cellular processes. In addition, octopus are current amino acid substitutions acquired under drug se- major attractions to aquariums and are a preferred food lective pressure were considered as likely candidates for product in some regions. In the Pacific northwest wild drug resistance. Select mutations were then chosen for populations have experienced declines. These declines site-directed mutagenesis to quantitatively assess NRTI have been attributed to several stressors including the de- and PI resistance. Initial results indicated seven poten- terioration of habitat caused by pollution and large scale tial positions within PR that are involved in protease climate processes. In order to develop techniques to bet- inhibitor resistance: V20I, I54M, V62A, I82F, L90M, ter evaluate the physiological condition of octopus, non A92S/T, and L99F. Many of these changes occurred in invasive sampling methods were examined to determine combination, such as the I54M substitution present with potential effectiveness. The specific research objectives I82F (100%). For RT, three amino acid substitutions of this project were to 1) identify biomarkers of stress were considered: K65R, Q151M, and 184V/I. Cell cul- and 2) validate effectiveness of biomarkers. The non- ture assays showed that as few as two amino acid substi- invasive sampling techniques used are reliant on protein tutions produced high-level resistance to AZT and 3TC, analysis of epidermal mucus. Heat shock protein 70 was and that three amino acid changes produced class-wide detected in a senescent female octopus using western NRTI resistance (Smith et. al., J. Infect. Dis., in press). blot analysis in relation to varying environmental con- Thus, the NRTIs typically used in West Africa to treat ditions. This technique for assessing octopus wellfare HIV-2 infection are sub-optimal. We hypothesize that provides a valuable tool to better assess octopus physio- the observed amino acid substitutions for PR listed above logical status in the wild and in captivity. will produce cumulative resistance. However, the role A Molecular-Based Approach for Identifying the of natural polymorphisms in PR remains unclear. Ad- Etiological Agent of Viral Erythrocytic Necrosis in ditional virologic and clinical studies are necessary to Pacific Herring determine the most advantageous drug combinations for Jolene Vanderpol, Senior, Microbiology treating HIV-2 infection. Mentor: Evi Emmenegger, Biology, DOI/USGS/Western Fisheries Research Center Mentor: Gael Kurath, Aquatic Fishery Science, USGS

Transmission electron micrographs of erythrocytes from Pacific herring Clupea pallasii infected with erythrocytic necrosis virus (ENV) demonstrate the presence of cy- toplasmic inclusions containing icosahedral-shaped viri- ons with electron dense cores typical of iridoviruses. The disease, known as viral erythrocytic necrosis (VEN), is

201 characterized by the presence of inclusion bodies, visi- and a growing body of research indicates that the innate ble by light microscopy, within the cytoplasm of infected immune response is critical for limiting and controlling erythrocytes. Clinical signs of VEN include lethargic infection. Type I interferons (IFN) elicit potent antivi- swimming, pale gills due to anemia and severe blood ral activity during infection upon secretion from infected dyscrasias. VEN is suspected of causing mass mortal- cells and as such, represent a major component of the in- ities among different populations of herring that com- nate immune system in all vertebrates. In rainbow trout prise the major food source for Pacific salmon. Thus it (Oncorhynchus mykiss), 2 distinct transcripts (termed is important to learn more about the cause of this dis- IFN1s and IFN1L) are produced from the IFN1 gene ease and devise a way to detect it quickly. The goal by alternative splicing and both transcripts are induced of this study is to develop a rapid diagnostic assay for during viral infection. Interestingly, the IFN1s cDNA ENV based on polymerase chain assay (PCR) methodol- encodes a 22 amino acid, consensus signal peptide and ogy. To obtain candidate sequences of the virus we are a short 5’ unstranslated region (5’ UTR), whereas the using a technique known as suppressive subtraction hy- IFN1L transcript possesses a truncated signal peptide (6 bridization (SSH), which compares two populations of amino acids) and has a much longer 5’UTR. As signal RNA and generates clones that are expressed in one pop- peptides guide proteins to their final destinations, we hy- ulation but not in the other. Currently we are comparing pothesize that trout IFN1L will not be secreted from cells RNA populations from erythrocytes of na¨ıve and ENV since it does not possess a true, full-length signal peptide. infected herring. Differentially expressed genes will be To test our hypothesis, we have cloned the open reading analyzed and compared against public viral databases to frames for the IFN1s and IFN1L transcripts into epitope determine if the virus is in fact an iridovirus and to de- tagged expression vectors (pcDNA3.1-Myc/His) to de- velop primers for a diagnostic assay. termine if tagged proteins are secreted from transfected cells by biochemical analysis. The overall goal of this Assessing Withering Syndrome Resistance in project is to learn more about the basic mechanisms of California Abalones (Haliotis spp.): Pink (H. innate immunity in fish and to provide insight on how corrugata), Red (H. rufescens), and Pinto Abalone specific vaccines can protect fish. (H. kamtschatkana) Yeu-Ru Chou, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences, Chemistry Mentor: Carolyn Friedman, Aquatic Fishery Science Mentor: Nate Wight, Aquatic Fishery Science, School SESSION 2O of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences Mentor: Lisa Crosson, Aquatic Fishery Science Withering syndrome (WS), a catastrophic bacterial dis- FROM BALSAMROOTTO ease of abalone, is one of the main factors responsible DUNGENESS CRAB:STUDIESOF for enormous losses of some West Coast abalone species. Many populations of black abalone suffered more than HUMAN IMPACTS ON OUR 98 percent mortality within a few months or year of ex- ENVIRONMENT posure to WS. Studies found that a Rickettsiales-like or- ganism (RLO) is the etiological agent of WS; the RLO Session Moderator: Andrea Ogston, Oceanography infects gastrointestinal epithelia. The common symptom Mary Gates Hall Room 287 observed in infected abalone weakness and an inability * Note: Titles in order of presentation. to adhere to the substratum, due to atrophy (withering) of the foot. Yet, the potential of some abalone species Complex Effects of an Invader on the Reproduction to develop resistance to WS is still unclear. This re- of a Native: Direct Inhibition but Indirect search is examining the vulnerability of three California Facilitation species (Haliotis spp.) to WS, including H. corrugata, Carolyn Bauer, Senior, Biology (Ecology Evolution) H. rufescens, and H. kamtschatkana. Furthermore, inter- Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar specific differences in the host response to infection will Mentor: Joshua Tewksbury, Biology be characterized among these three Haliotis spp. While invasive plants are well known for their direct neg- Secretion of Rainbow Trout Interferons ative effects on native plants, invasive plants may also Melissa Sugiura, Senior, Biology (General) have some indirect, beneficial effects on native plants. Mentor: John Hansen, Pathobiology, Western Fisheries The purpose of the study was to examine whether the un- Research Center palatable, invasive plant Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge) Salmonids are plagued by a variety of viral pathogens protected the native plant Balsamorhiza sagittata (ar-

202 rowleaf balsamroot) against certain types of herbivory. Spices and Citizen Science: An Active Connection to We examined Balsamorhiza herbivory damage inside Our Local Aquatic Environment and outside of Euphorbia-invaded areas and found that Allison Myers-Pigg, Sophomore, Oceanography, while association with Euphorbia had an overall nega- Environmental Studies tive effect on Balsamorhiza, there were lower rates of Britta Voss, Senior, Oceanography leaf herbivory on Balsamorhiza growing within Euphor- Mentor: Rick Keil, Oceanography bia stands. Spices are organic chemicals produced by plants and Identification of Microbial Isolates Capable of synthesized on massive scales by humans for use as fla- Degrading Trace-Level Wastewater Contaminants voring agents in multiple products. However, a signifi- Sarah Koser, Senior, Chemical Engineering cant portion of these compounds pass unaltered through Mentor: John Ferguson, Civil Environmental the body and sewage treatment processes. Dr. Richard Engineering Keil’s lab group at the University Of Washington De- Mentor: Heidi Gough, Civil Environmental partment Of Oceanography measures these compounds Engineering to demonstrate a direct connection between everyday human activities and their impact on the aquatic envi- Trace-level contaminants migrate through wastewater to ronment from a light-hearted perspective. The water receiving waters of municipal wastewater treatment fa- sample analysis involves a solid phase extraction onto cilities. While wastewater treatment removes large pro- hydrophobic-lipophobic balance cartridges, elution of portions of these trace contaminants, removal levels are the compounds of interest in ethyl acetate, and analy- often insufficient. For example, documented environ- sis with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Our lab mental impacts of triclosan at low concentrations in- has sampled various sites in Puget Sound and treated ef- clude disruption of algal communities and survival of fluent samples from the West Point Wastewater Treat- bullfrogs. Last year I established a robust triclosan- ment Plant in Seattle for over two years. We have ob- degrading mixed culture. After developing a method for served interesting seasonal trends (such as a spike in making defined media agar plates with low levels of tri- cinnamic acid immediately following Thanksgiving) and closan, I obtained an isolate by picking single colonies regional differences (such as the absence of synthetic from the solid media. The isolate (designated SK-1) was spices in pristine water samples). Recently, this project identified as a Ralstonia relative. Early indications sug- has expanded water collection efforts by involving a gested SK-1 was capable of degrading triclosan. How- volunteer network of citizens in collecting samples all ever, later transfers lost this ability though SK-1 still around Puget Sound. Volunteers collect water samples, grew in the fully defined minimal media, where the only perform simple pH tests, and then mail the sample to our carbon and energy sources were triclosan and vitamins lab for analysis. Through this direct involvement, citi- (added as growth nutrients), suggesting that SK-1 was zens are vested in the research and its implications to the growing using extremely low vitamin as substrate. Re- health of Puget Sound. As the Sound Citizen Program isolation from preserved enrichment stocks resulted in a becomes fully operational, volunteers will be able to new isolate (designated MC-1) related to Sphingomonas track their sample’s progress during analysis and down- that continues to actively degrade triclosan. BIOLOG load any processed sample’s data. By creating aware- plate analysis suggests that both MC-1 and SK-1 are ca- ness and generating interest in environmental spices, we pable of respiring many different carbon sources. Cur- are developing a base of citizens actively engaged in the rently, I am performing experiments to determine if MC- health of their local aquatic environment. 1 degrades triclosan in the presence of multiple carbon sources. Once confirmed, MC-1 will be transferred back Sediment Transport in the Marine Environment: into triclosan media to ensure the culture has not lost its The Study of Sediment Resuspension and Transport ability to degrade triclosan. Additionally, my colleagues on the Elwha Delta and I inoculated samples from West Point treatment plant Margot Mansfield, Senior, Earth Space Sciences into media containing ibuprofen, naproxen, triclosan, tri- Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant clocarban, and gemfibrozil (a control). Degradation of Scholar ibuprofen, naproxen, and triclosan has been confirmed, Mentor: Andrea Ogston, Oceanography and I am now working towards obtaining a ibuprofen- degrading isolate. This will be done by repeatedly trans- The Elwha River watershed restoration project is sched- ferring single colonies from microbial enrichments on uled to remove two dams on the lower reach of the river solid media to liquid media. The isolate will be iden- by 2012, releasing almost a century’s worth of sedi- tified by sequence analysis and further characterized by ment stored in the reservoirs. A 4-mo study of sedi- its substrate range. ment resuspension and transport in ˜20-m water depth explored relationships between sediment delivery by the Elwha River and oceanic processes (including winds,

203 waves, tides, and currents) operating in the Strait of designed to amplify a 174 base pair (bp) long section of Juan de Fuca during low-flow river conditions. Data the Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, which was were collected via in situ bottom boundary layer in- sequenced and compared with sequences downloaded strumentation (tripod) and merged with river discharge from the GenBank database. Typically, much longer sec- and wave buoy data. Nine storm events associated tions of DNA are used for species identification (˜700 with suspended-sediment resuspension were character- bp), but due to the state of digestion of our samples, long ized based on buoy, river, and tripod data; the largest sequences of DNA were no longer present. The specific storm occurred in February 2008 with peak suspended- design of our primers, however, allowed us to make pos- sediment concentration of 9 mg/L. Suspended-sediment itive identification and differentiation of walleye pollock concentrations did not appear to vary in response to and Pacific cod. Of the 15 offal samples, 9 yielded us- river discharge, but rather, with storm intensity in the able sequences, all of which were positively identified Strait. The net movement of water (based on currents) as walleye pollock. Our results clearly demonstrate the and suspended-sediment was in the northeast direction. utility of a short COI sequence for species identification Seasonal variation in resuspension and transport events of Chinook salmon stomach contents that might other- was difficult to determine due to the short duration of the wise be unidentifiable due to the state of digestion, or study, highlighting the need for extended studies. because the salmon consumed isolated body parts (of- fal) rather than the whole fish. These results suggest that walleye pollock offal supplements the diet of Chinook salmon during winter.

SESSION 2P Ecosystem Snapshot Based on Dogfish Data from Over a Half Century Ago Meegan Corcoran, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences Mary Gates Scholar FISH BIOLOGYAND CHANGING Mentor: Vincent Gallucci, Aquatic Fishery Science ENVIRONMENTS Mentor: Ian Taylor, Aquatic Fishery Science Session Moderator: Vincent Gallucci, Aquatic Fishery The health of Puget Sound is in peril. Estimating the Science extent of ecosystem changes is a challenge due to of Mary Gates Hall Room 288 the lack of ecosystem historical data. The stomach contents of opportunistic feeders, such as spiny dogfish * Note: Titles in order of presentation. (Squalus acanthias), can be used to determine changes Genetic Techniques Provide Evidence of Chinook within an ecosystem over time. Using data collected in Salmon Feeding on Walleye Pollock Offal the 1940’s determinations were made as to prey species Thaddaeus Buser, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences abundance and presence. The results thus far are (1) sig- Mentor: Lorenz Hauser, Aquatic Fishery Science nificant variation of prey between seasons, (2) the great- Mentor: Nancy Davis, Aquatic Fishery Science est prey diversity and abundance were during the sum- Mentor: Isadora Jimenez, Aquatic Fishery Science mer months, and (3) large spiny dogfish (> 800mm) primarily preyed upon benthic organisms. Ecological Declining runs of Chinook salmon in western Alaska changes can be identified by using spiny dogfish diets as have focused interest on the ocean condition and food indicators. Comparing data from over a half century ago habits of Chinook salmon in the Bering Sea. Observer to today allows us to observe changes within the Puget sampling by the U.S. North Pacific Groundfish Observer Sound ecosystem. Program (NOAA Fisheries) provided stomach samples of Chinook salmon caught during winter. Examina- What Human Mediated Fire Regimes Mean for tion of the stomach contents revealed isolated pieces of Aquatic Macro-Invertebrate Assemblages and skin, bones, and fins belonging to large bodied fish, sug- Salmon Diets in Central Idaho gesting that Chinook salmon were feeding on fish of- Zachary Radmer, Senior, Environmental Studies fal. These pieces were determined to be either Pacific (Ecology Conservation), Biology (Ecology Evolution) cod (Gadus macrocephalus) or walleye pollock (Thera- Mary Gates Scholar gra chalcogramma), but differentiation between the two Mentor: Peter Kiffney, Forest Resources, Northwest species was impossible by physical means alone. To con- Fisheries Science Center firm the species identification of the fish parts, we used Mentor: Beth Sanderson, Northwest Fisheries Science genetic techniques to match DNA sequences of the sam- Center, NOAA Fisheries ples to known sequences of walleye pollock and Pacific Fire suppression and forestry practices in the Pacific cod. Novel mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) primers were Northwest over the last two centuries have applied a fire

204 regime that is unlike what was previously experienced ically, will populations persist or go extinct? If they by wildlife. Yet we know very little about how fires af- persist, how will they adapt? Our real-time evolution fect the premier Northwest icon and threatened species: project tests if the same selective pressure, applied at dif- the Pacific Salmon. I am measuring how fires in stream ferent rates, favors different mutations. Over the course catchment areas affect aquatic macro-invertebrate avail- of 160 generations, we exposed Escherichia coli popu- ability and what salmonids are eating. The study system lations to escalating antibiotic concentrations, until they is a series of mountain tributaries to the Salmon River in all reached a specified concentration. Some treatments central Idaho (Boise National Forest) where large fires in experienced a rapid increase while others experienced 2007 burned up to 90% of the catchment basin of several a gradual increase. Since the impact of a mutation de- steams that we were already researching. Other stud- pends on the organism’s environment we predicted that ies using reference streams have found a variety of re- the way the environment changed may have affected sults that depend on chemical and physical river traits, which mutational paths each population could access. but this is the first study to compare stream and diet These different paths would cause the rate of extinc- data collected before and after the wildfire event. Pa- tion and the fitness of the surviving populations (as mea- cific Salmon populations are rare and sensitive this far sured by growth rate) to differ depending on treatment. inland, yet little is known about the effects of wildfire The preliminary data analysis shows that compared to except that aquatic systems can take decades to recover. the rapidly increased treatment the gradually increased I am looking for quantitative and qualitative changes in treatment had fewer extinctions and a lower mean fit- salmon food supply that are associated with increased ness but it also had more variability and included the runoff, canopy loss, ash deposition, and a switch from fastest growing individual populations. For each pop- allochthony to autochthony. Any diet changes I establish ulation we sequenced a region for mutations engender- may be used in the future to improve growth models and ing antibiotic resistance. We found that populations in assist land managers in restoration efforts and fire man- the gradual treatment tended to have high variability and agement decisions. multiple mutations, while populations in the rapid treat- ment tended to have one of only a few mutations. To Decreases in Stream Velocity due to an Increase in understand these evolutionary differences we are now Streambed Roughness Caused by Sockeye Salmon deconstructing their genetic changes, mutation by muta- Redd Formation in Four Southwest Alaskan Streams tion. First, we are using genetic engineering to construct Marissa Smith, Senior, Aquatic Fishery Sciences all possible orderings of the observed mutations. Second, Mentor: Daniel Schindler, Aquatic Fishery Science we are sequencing strains frozen at various points during Salmon provide a myriad of benefits to freshwater the experiment to determine the historical order of muta- ecosystems. One benefit that is currently under- tions. Since the changing environment may have affected researched is the reduction in stream velocity caused by which genetic paths were accessible to each treatment we salmon redds. Using salt (NaCl) as a molecular marker, can compare the possible paths with the ones actually the decrease in water velocity caused by an increase in followed to start to understand how changing environ- the roughness of streambed topography due to sockeye ments influence adaptive evolution. salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) redd digging was docu- mented. Four streams in Southwest Alaska were exam- ined for streambed morphology and flow velocity prior to salmon arrival and again after salmon were spawning SESSION 2Q at peak density. Isolating the salmon effect on stream velocity from the effect of the decrease in stream dis- charge, a clear decrease in stream velocity caused by salmon redd digging is evident. By slowing stream ve- BETTER LIVINGTHROUGH LIGHT locity, salmon increase the availability of nutrients they AND CHEMISTRY bring to freshwater ecosystems as well as the benthic in- vertebrates they dislodge from the sediment and suspend. Session Moderator: Pierre Mourad, Neurological Surgery Adaptation and Extinction in Changing Mary Gates Hall Room 295 Environments Susan Taylor, Senior, Pre-Major * Note: Titles in order of presentation. Howard Hughes Scholar, Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Benjamin Kerr, Biology

In the face of global climate change, it’s crucial we un- derstand evolution in changing environments. Specif-

205 Lead Selenide Quantum Dots in Organic Polymer vasive OCT imaging within the body. In addition, OCT Blends for Use in Photovoltaic Devices imaging can be performed in real time (up to hundreds of Nicholas Anderson, Senior, Chemistry (ACS Certified) frames per second). Considering these abilities, OCT is Mary Gates Scholar, Washington Research well positioned to function as a tool for minimally in- Foundation Fellow vasive detection of microstructural changes associated Mentor: David Ginger, Chemistry with various diseases. However, inherent tissue con- Mentor: Kevin Noone, Chemistry trast among healthy and diseased tissue can be limited Inexpensive, solution processed organic solar cells offer for effective diagnosis, in particular at early stages of an inexpensive alternative to current crystalline silicon diseases; therefore there is critical need for OCT con- technologies. Colloidal semiconductor quantum dots trast agents. Gold nanocages, which are biocompatible (QDs) also offer the promise of inexpensive solution and can be easily modified with gold-thiol bioconjuga- processing, and provide potential advantages over tion for molecular targeting, are one viable option for organics in that they exhibit broad absorption spectra an OCT contrast agent. Gold nanocages have previously and that their energy levels are size-tunable. The near- been used to convert near infrared light into heat (pho- infrared bandgaps of lead selenide (PbSe) QDs could tothermal heating) to destroy cancer cells in vitro. In be utilized for the fabrication of photodiodes sensitive this study targeted photothermal heating was used to in- to a range of wavelengths not currently accessible to duce local changes in refractive index. Refractive index devices made from purely organic materials. However, changes were detected using a 1300 nm common path devices incorporating PbSe QDs have yet to achieve swept source OCT system and analyzing the phase of the encouraging efficiencies. In this work, we synthesized returning OCT signal during photothermal heating. This PbSe and cadmium selenide (CdSe) QDs using the hot method of contrast enhancement takes advantage of the injection method and characterized them using absorp- excellent phase stability seen in common path OCT con- tion spectroscopy. We carried out device studies on the figurations as well as the unique absorptive properties of bulk heterojunction blends of poly-3-hexylthiophene gold nanocages. Our results indicate that phase change (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl is unique to areas of tissue phantom doped with gold ester (PCBM) and then compared to blends of P3HT nanocages. We have also used the common path OCT with PbSe QDs. The PbSe devices show significantly system and phase analysis without gold nanocages to lower efficiencies than the devices containing PCBM differentiate between motile and fixed tumor spheroids. or CdSe QDs as the electron acceptor. A possible These preliminary results are the first step towards the explanation for these lower efficiencies is non ideal development of phase sensitive contrast mechanisms in alignment of the energy levels between the P3HT and OCT. PbSe. With this in mind, we have begun to explore Sub-Diffraction Optical Imaging by polymers with varying ionization potentials and electron High-Spatial-Resolution Photodetectors and Fourier affinities for use in bulk heterojunction blend devices Signal Processing with PbSe quantum dots. One such polymer, poly(5,7- Milad Hashemi-Olia, Senior, Electrical Engineering bis(3-dodecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine-alt- Mary Gates Scholar 1,4-bis(decyloxy)phenylene) (BTTP-P), has exhibited Mentor: Lih Lin, Electrical Engineering charge transfer in blends with PbSe quantum dots, as shown in photoinduced absorption experiments. With the advance of nano-lithography and nano- We present device studies with PbSe/BTTP-P blends fabrication, individual sizes of electronic, photonic, and to further explore the viability of these materials in mechanical components, as well as their integration den- solution processed solar cells. sities, have progressed steadily towards the sub-100 nm regime. Therefore, being able to image such feature sizes Gold Nanocages for Contrast Enhancement in becomes imperative. Many conventional high-resolution Optical Coherence Tomography imaging tools either require operation under high vac- Phillip Guan, Senior, Bioengineering uum or slow scanning across the sample. A far-field op- Mary Gates Scholar, NASA Space Grant tical imaging instrument would thus be highly desirable. Scholar Optical imaging, however, is subject to the diffraction Mentor: Xingde Li, Bioengineering limit, which limits the size of the smallest resolvable fea- ture to be ˜λ/2, where λ is the wavelength of the imag- Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging ing light. Recently, negative-index materials and super imaging modality capable of producing high axial res- lenses have been proposed to overcome this limit and olution (1-10um), in vivo cross-sectional images up a achieve high-resolution optical imaging. We propose a depth of three millimeters in highly scattering biologi- different approach to achieve sub-diffraction limit opti- cal tissues. An OCT imaging system is generally im- cal imaging with far-field microscopy. The technology plemented with fiber optics, thus allowing minimally in-

206 builds on a high-spatial resolution quantum-dot (QD) have different effects, in ibuprofen one isomer has de- photodetector with high sensitivity that we have demon- sired anti-inflammatory properties, and the other is inac- strated. The photodetector consists of several nanocrys- tive. In thalidomide one isomer has therapeutic proper- tal QDs between a pair of electrodes with 50-nm width ties and the other is a potent mutagen. As alkenes are a spaced ˜25 nm apart. The proposed sub-diffraction limit pervasive functional group in organic chemistry, we seek optical imaging system consists of an array of such pho- to develop a method of additions to terminal alkenes that todetectors. We performed theoretical simulations as- would add both an organic fragment, and a heteroatom in suming a two-slit source and then pixilated the far-field one step in a stereospecific manner. To affect enantios- diffraction pattern to simulate the photodetector array. electivity, such a reaction would need to rely upon chi- A Fourier transform of the detector signal is then per- ral ligands around a metal center, most likely palladium. formed to determine how much of the original aperture The Wacker process is an industrially important oxida- information remains. Using a wavelength of 500 nm and tion of alkenes to aldehydes and ketones. It is well stud- a screen distance of 10 cm, we found that, as expected, ied and proceeds by alkene complexation to the metal. the quality of the resultant image generally degraded This activates the alkene to nucleophillic attack by wa- with larger pixilation size. With 50-nm one-dimensional ter producing an alkyl-palladium species. This complex spatial resolution at the detection plane, it appears that usually undergoes beta-hydride elimination; recent stud- the original slit image with 100-nm width and 300-nm ies show that aryl iodonium salts can oxidize the palla- spacing can still be restored. dium complex and circumvent this pathway, adding an organic fragment. To achieve this transformation, our Built-in Field Measurements of Polymer laboratory has synthesized a series of tridentate ligands Photovoltaic Devices in order to stabilize and isolate the alkyl-palladium com- Noah Horwitz, Junior, Chemistry (ACS Certified) plexes. This way we can study each step of our multi- Mary Gates Scholar step reaction in isolation before recombining them into Mentor: David Ginger, Chemistry a full catalytic cycle. We expect addition of water to the Mentor: Bradley MacLeod, Chemistry catalyst-activated alkene to proceed smoothly in polar or- Generating electricity from sunlight would be an attrac- ganic solvents. Finding appropriate conditions for the tive solution to our current energy problems. However, oxidation by iodonium will present a greater difficulty. the high cost of processing the materials for silicon pho- Continuing research will include screening to determine tovoltaics has limited the widespread use of this technol- precise reaction conditions, and attaching chiral ligands ogy. Solution processable organic semiconductors could to the metal center in order to make the reaction enan- offer an inexpensive route to utilizing this clean and tioselective. abundant energy source, but devices made from these Trapping of Listeria Cells, and Formation of a Grid materials are currently too inefficient to be economically Using an Optical Tweezer viable. Photovoltaic devices utilize energy from an ab- Timothy Mentele, Senior, Bioengineering sorbed photon to generate free charge carriers, produc- Amgen Scholar ing an electric current. Some losses in efficiency may Mentor: Lih Lin, Electrical Engineering occur during the separation of charge carriers, which is Mentor: Benjamin Wilson, Electrical Engineering, driven by the built-in electric field of the device. We have Photonics Lab measured this field directly using electroabsorption spec- Mentor: Suzie Pun, Bioengineering troscopy. Initial measurements on sequentially deposited indium tin oxide (ITO)/polymer/metal structures have in- In the study of cells it often becomes necessary to ma- dicated that the built-in field follows the difference in nipulate cells in a controlled environment. In many electrode work functions, for contacts with work func- instances optical traps or optical tweezers are used to tions within the polymer energy gap. Future work will do this. In optical tweezers light from a focused laser focus on correlating built-in field measurements of more beam is refracted though a cell. The resulting change complex device structures with electrode work function in momentum of the incident photons leads to a net and device efficiency. force which pulls the cell into the center of the beam. Conventional optical tweezers often require high opti- Palladium Catalyzed Carbohydroxylation of Alkenes cal intensity to achieve sufficient forces. The tweez- Tyler Mann, Senior, Biochemistry, Chemistry (ACS ers used for this experiment use a random array of gold Certified), Mathematics nano-particles (AuNP) to reduce the required intensity Mentor: Gojko Lalic, Chemistry of the laser beam. Excessive optical exposure can dam- age cells. Therefore reducing the intensity required for Drug design and natural products chemistry rely on the trapping leads to less cell damage and longer possible availability of enantioselective transformations. Sepa- exposure times. To observe the trapping of the Listeria rate stereoisomers of a biologically active molecule can

207 cells an optical microscope with a 100x objective was used. So far theoretical modeling and basic visualization have been performed. According to previous results the SESSION 2R trapping force of our plasmonic tweezer is anticipated to be approximately one pico-Newton according to cal- culations based on previous results with other particles. NTRACELLULAR ECHANISMS Cells have been visualized against the AuNP array and I M have been shown to survive exposure to the laser beam. MEDIATING DISEASE However, trapping force has yet to be evaluated. This Session Moderator: Ian Sweet, Medicine step will be performed using a gradually increasing flow Mary Gates Hall Room 389 over the cells and calculating the drag-force from the ve- locity of flow that dislodges the cell from the trap. Also * Note: Titles in order of presentation. in future experiments we hope to observe controlled lis- teria rotation by varying polarization of the laser beam. Interaction of β-carbolines related to Parkinson’s Disease with Plasma Membrane Monoamine Production and Spectroscopic Characterization of Transporter Photoactive Yellow Protein Zhiyi Cui, Freshman, Exchange - Arts Sciences Lara Schrier, Senior, Biochemistry Mentor: Joanne Wang, Pharmaceutics Mentor: Munira Khalil, Chemistry β-carbolines (BCs) are heterocyclic molecules derived Photoactive yellow protein (PYP) and its associated pho- from tryptophan, tryptamine, and serotonin. BCs can ton absorbing p-coumaryl chromophore is found in the be formed endogenously or enter the body from exter- bacteria Ectothiorhodospira halophila and provides a nal sources such as fried meat and fish. BCs are struc- novel system for the study of signal transduction in bi- turally similar to the dopaminergic neurotoxin 1-methyl- ologic molecules. When the chromophore absorbs a 4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and its ac- photon of light it experiences a trans to cis conversion tive metabolite 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+). and becomes protonated. This change in the orienta- In vivo and animal experiments have suggested that BCs tion of the chromophore within the protein induces a are toxic to dopaminergic neurons and central nervous conformational change in the protein that ultimately al- system (CNS) exposure to BCs may be an environmen- lows the bacteria to move away from potentially harm- tal factor for idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease (PD). While ful UV radiation. Current research tells us detailed in- the neurotoxic properties of BCs have been well doc- formation about the structure of PYP and the conforma- umented, the mechanisms governing brain disposition tional changes in the protein upon irradiation of the chro- of BCs are still unknown. We recently identified and mophore using conventional spectroscopic methods. The cloned a novel human plasma membrane monoamine Khalil group is interested in looking at the transduction transporter (PMAT) which efficiently transports MPP+. of the signal from the chromophore through the protein PMAT is abundantly expressed in the human brain and on a femtosecond time scale using multidimensional in- is highly enriched at the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) frared spectroscopy. This technique will likely add sig- barrier. Here we hypothesize that PMAT transports nificant molecular detail to our understanding of the pro- BCs and plays an important role in brain exposure to cess. The role of my project in the aforementioned re- BCs. In this study, we will investigate this hypothesis search is to optimize the production and purification pro- by first testing whether BCs interact with PMAT. We cess of photoactive yellow protein and its chromophore will determine the inhibition constant (Ki) of BCs to- which together constitute what is called the holoprotein. wards PMAT using human embryonic kidney HEK-293 Two methods are being utilized. The first involves the cells ectopically expressing the PMAT gene. We will use of a two plasmid system. One plasmid codes for en- then test if over-expression of PMAT enhances cellular zymes that facilitate production of the chromophore and sensitivity to BCs toxicity using [4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2- the other codes for the protein which together produce yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. This the holoprotein within E. coli. In the second method, one study will provide novel information regarding the role plasmid is used that codes for PYP and the holoprotein of PMAT in brain exposure to environmental PD toxins. is formed in vitro through the addition of p-coumaric an- hydride to the purified apoprotein. I will describe both of Understanding Obesity and Metabolic Disease: The these methods in detail along with spectroscopic charac- Role of Adipose Inflammation terization of the purified protein. Harpreet Dhaliwal, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular Developmental) Mentor: Mario Kratz, Epidemiology Mentor: Brian Van Yserloo, Medicine

208 With increasingly sedentary lifestyles and poor diets, offer enough precision to accurately resolve both the fre- obesity has become a prevalent epidemic in the United quency and the magnitude of the metabolic oscillations. States. In obesity, adipose tissue grows from an increase We are currently developing a new method which uti- in the number of mature adipocytes. Adipocytes not lizes a lipophilic oxygen-sensitive fluorescent dye that only store large amounts of fat, but also secrete a num- distributes into the plasma membrane of the islet and ber of hormones that are critical in maintaining glucose changes in intensity in response to oxygen level. Since homeostasis and satiety. When fat mass increases, an the signal strength is linked to the amount of oxygen sur- inflammatory response is triggered. The consequent re- rounding the cell, measuring single islet OCR is done lease of inflammatory proteins interferes with the func- by placing the dyed islet in a chamber over the objective tions of hormones secreted from adipocytes, leading to of an inverted fluorescent microscope attached to a digi- metabolic diseases, such as type II diabetes. A key fo- tal camera. Preliminary experiments have shown that the cus of our research is to determine the cellular mecha- dye maintains its sensitivity to oxygen when bound to the nism that causes this inflammatory response. We believe plasma membrane, that the dye will remain in the mem- adipose inflammation comes from macrophages some- brane for an adequate amount of time to do a standard how infiltrating adipose tissue and becoming activated. experiment, and that islet viability is preserved when If this is true, then we may be able to develop inter- dyed islets are incubated overnight. To establish the op- ventions to curb the inflammatory response and improve timal dye concentration we will measure insulin secre- metabolic disease symptoms. Currently, we are perform- tions from dyed islets to determine the conditions that ing a study to specifically test the hypothesis that a diet yield the most reliable signal while still preserving op- rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) can timal islet viability. Proof of metabolic oscillations will reduce adipose inflammation. As part of the study, mod- provide an important clue in the unraveling of the mech- erately overweight to obese men and women were re- anism behind insulin secretion oscillations, and steps in cruited and asked to eat a diet rich in n-3 PUFA, or this mechanism could be potential targets for treatment a control diet of similar caloric value. To determine of type 2 diabetes. the effects of the diet, baseline and post-diet biopsies of abdominal subcutaneous fat were taken from the pa- Validating Malaria Antigens as Vaccine Candidates tients. These adipose tissues are being assayed for ex- in a Mouse Model pression of pro-inflammatory genes and for macrophage Andrew Ishizuka, Senior, Biochemistry marker genes, which indicate the inflammatory activa- Mary Gates Scholar tion of macrophages. We expect the expression of pro- Mentor: Patrick Duffy, Global Health inflammatory and macrophage marker genes will be re- Mentor: Cate Speake, Pathobiology duced after consumption of the n-3 PUFA rich diet. With Malaria has a major global impact, causing approxi- a growing understanding of the factors affecting obesity, mately 400 million cases and 1 million deaths annually. it may be possible to develop effective treatment thera- Timely delivery of an effective and safe vaccine is imper- pies for obesity and related metabolic diseases. ative. We are using the new technology of DNA vaccina- Method Development for the Measurement of tion to screen a large number of candidate genes for pro- Oxygen Consumption to Resolve Metabolic tection against malaria in a mouse model. Thirty genes Oscillations in Pancreatic Islets were selected from a microarray/qPCR study for being Kelli Geiger, Senior, Spanish up-regulated in the liver stage of malaria infection. These Mary Gates Scholar genes are being cloned into a plasmid-based DNA vac- Mentor: Ian Sweet, Medicine, Diabetes Endocrinology cine. Translation of each gene is validated in vitro us- Research Center Islet Core ing polyclonal antisera and Western blots. Vaccine con- structs that are translation-competent in mammalian cells In a normally functioning pancreas, the beta cells in the are then used to immunize mice in vivo by intramuscular islets of Langherhans secrete insulin in an oscillatory injection and by gene gun routes. Mice are subsequently manner. Loss of these oscillations is a characteristic of challenged with infectious rodent malaria parasites six Type 2 diabetes. To develop treatments for the disease, weeks after initial immunization. If the vaccine fails to we must discover the mechanism driving the oscillatory activate the immune system effectively, malaria infection behavior. Since other cell types exhibit metabolic oscil- proceeds unchecked. Remaining parasite levels are as- lations, we hypothesize that beta cells also metabolize in sessed two days after challenge by measuring parasite ri- an oscillatory manner, and that these metabolic oscilla- bosomal RNA in the mouse livers using qPCR, giving us tions could be the driving force behind oscillatory insulin a metric for how effective each gene is at providing pro- secretions. To test this hypothesis, we will quantify islet tection. By classifying these genes as being protective metabolic activity by measuring the oxygen consump- or non-protective in a mouse model, research can move tion rate (OCR) of a single islet. The OCR data must forward to optimize delivery of the antigens for use in

209 future human trials. high fat diet for 12 weeks, monitoring food intake and body weights over this period. The mutants maintained Polymorphism of Pseudouridine Synthase 1 Reveals a lower average body weight than the WT in accordance Function in Toxoplasma Gondii Differentiation with their obesity-resistant phenotype. After 12 weeks, Michelle Kriner, Senior, Biochemistry we switched the mice back to a regular diet. Over the Amgen Scholar, NASA Space Grant Scholar course of 6 days, we administered either leptin or PBS Mentor: John Boothroyd, Microbiology Immunology, (control) injections twice daily, and monitored their food Stanford School of Medicine intake and weight loss. The results show that leptin sup- Mentor: Matthew Anderson, Genetics, Stanford presses appetite for both genotypes, with appetite sup- University pression slightly greater in the mutants. However, leptin Differentiation between two asexually-reproducing had no effect on weight loss of WT mice, while causing forms, called tachyzoites and bradyzoites, is essential to a dramatic increase in weight loss in the mutants. We can the persistence and propagation of Toxoplasma gondii conclude that leptin does have a greater effect on the mu- parasites. Insertional mutagenesis of a gene encoding tants than on the WT, and that the Cβ null mice are less a putative pseudouridine synthase, PUS1, disrupts the leptin resistant than WT. In future research, we will be ability of Toxoplasma to differentiate, suggesting that measuring metabolic rate on these mice and looking at PUS1 plays an essential role in the differentiation elements of the melanocortinin pathway. We will inves- process. Furthermore, previous results show that poly- tigate whether metabolic rate in leptin-treated WT mice morphisms of PUS1 influence differentiation because slows to compensate for the reduction in food intake and introduction of PUS1 from a T. gondii strain that look to see if this does not occur in PKA Cβ null mice. differentiates in vitro (Type II) into a strain that does not Flow Cytometry as a Novel Method to Isolate differentiate efficiently in vitro (Type I) results in a fully Helicobacter pylori Cell Shape Mutants differentiating Type I(Type II PUS1) strain. In order Chelsea Stern, Senior, Neurobiology, Microbiology to examine rates of polymorphism at the nucleotide Mary Gates Scholar and amino acid level, the genomic locus of PUS1 was Mentor: Nina Salama, Human Biology, Fred sequenced in exotic strains of Toxoplasma. The results Hutchinson Cancer Research Center revealed tight nucleotide conservation of pus1, with little Mentor: Laura Sycuro, Human Biology, Fred variation observed in the PUS domain itself. In contrast, Hutchinson Cancer Research Center amino acid substitutions occur at a much higher rate in PUS1 with most of these substitutions in the N-terminal Helicobacter pylori is a spiral-shaped bacterium that region of the protein, which has unknown function. populates the human stomach and causes adverse out- Examination of conserved motifs in the unknown region comes such as gastric ulcers or cancer in 15-20% of those provides no further insight. The extensive variation of colonized. It is thought that the spiral shape of H. py- the region of PUS1 with no known homology coupled lori may contribute to its pathogenicity. Previously, our with a lack of polymorphism of the pseudouridine lab discovered four loci involved in H. pylori’s shape de- synthase domain suggests that the unknown region termination by individual inspection of 2,000 transposon plays a role in differentiation, either by specifying RNA library clones using light microscopy. We defined three targets for pseudouridylation or through novel activity classes of cell shape mutants: straight rods, curved rods, independent of the PUS domain. and irregular doughnut-shaped cells. We aim to develop more high thru-put methods of identifying rare cell shape Leptin Sensitivity in PKA Cβ Null Mice mutants in a complex population. Using a highly sensi- Hannah Richards, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular tive flow cytometer, we defined spectra for our known Developmental) mutant morphologies and showed that these cells dif- Mentor: Warren Ladiges, Comparative Medicine fer from spiral wild type cells in their forward scatter, Mentor: Linda Enns, Comparative Medicine an indicator of cell width. We also empirically demon- Mice of the BL6/C57 strain lacking the Cβ catalytic sub- strated the ability of our flow cytometer to sort each class unit of Protein Kinase A exhibit resistance to obesity. of shape mutant from 1:1 and 1000:1 mixtures of wild Leptin regulates body weight by suppressing appetite type:mutant. Using a gate to include only cells with low and increasing metabolic rate through the melanocor- forward scatter (cells with narrow width, e.g. straight tinin pathway. We found that Cβ null mice have sim- and curved rods), we sorted 600 clones from a popula- ilar food intake and an increased metabolic rate com- tion of 200,000 cells from our 10,000 clone transposon pared to wild type (WT), with lower serum leptin lev- library. Upon visual inspection of 70 clones from this els. We thus hypothesized that the Cβ null mice are less sorted population, 50% appeared to have shape abnor- leptin resistant than WT. To test our hypothesis, we fed malities. Using PCR with transposon and locus-specific 6 PKA Cβ null females and five WT littermates on a primers, we confirmed that our 600-member pool con-

210 tains shape mutants with insertions in all of our pre- viously discovered shape loci. We are currently map- ping the transposon insertions in our sorted population SESSION 2S to identify new shape loci, which will be confirmed by targeted deletion and complementation. Having demon- strated that flow cytometry can be used for rapid, high ESEARCHING throughput sorting of bacterial cells according to mor- R phology, we plan to use this technology to saturate our PERFORMANCE/PERFORMING transposon library screen for shape-determining genes in ESEARCHIN ANCE USIC H. pylori. R D ,M , AND THEATRE Evolution of Competitive Interactions among Session Moderator: Juliet McMains, Dance Bacteria from the Cystic Fibrosis Lung Brandon Wu, Senior, Individualized Studies Meany Hall Studio 267/266 Mary Gates Scholar * Note: Titles in order of presentation. Mentor: Matthew Parsek, Microbiology Mentor: Snow Peterson, Microbiology Training the Dancer as Well as the Dance Charles Hodges, Senior, Dance In many cystic fibrosis patients (CF), Pseudomonas Mentor: Jennifer Salk, Dance aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus colonize the lung and potentially interact. For many of those infected with My research investigates the mental and/or analytical both P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, colonization of the contributions necessary for a dancer to become a more lung can persist for many years as a chronic infection. active participant in the classroom, in rehearsal, and on A study that characterized some of the genetic changes stage. Dancers are living instruments. As such, train- in P. aeruginosa which accumulated over the course of ing for any dancer should be two-fold: to learn what the infection found that some genetic changes or mutations dance is, and to learn who the dancer is. Because re- were observed in isolates from many different patients, hearsal and technique class investigate the dance, I have suggesting these changes represent favored adaptations. focused my research on the latter portion of this dual- We hypothesize that S. aureus acts as a selective pressure ity. Ultimately, my research will produce an educational leading to the accumulation of mutations as a result of booklet with a companion DVD intended for distribu- competition with P. aeruginosa. I have shown in work to tion to University dance departments and companies na- date that P. aeruginosa clinical isolates, collected period- tionwide. The program will walk a user through a series ically during long term infections from the same patient, of definitions, applications, and exercises. The goal is vary in their ability to kill S. aureus. Ongoing and future that the dancer will finish the program with a greater un- research will identify the mutations in P. aeruginosa that derstanding of his/her potential, an ability to self-teach, affect the ability to kill S. aureus. Overall, this research and a new sense of personal responsibility within the will attempt to address the role of S. aureus on the adap- world of dance. Furthermore, the program will be paral- tation of P. aeruginosa during chronic CF lung infection. leled with exerpts from the prolific works of a legendary This is an important area to study in helping map the American choreographer, Twyla Tharp. Thus, while a course of CF infection by possibly predicting the effects dancer discovers a new approach to active participation, of S. aureus on P. aeruginosa over time. he/she also learns about 20th/21st century late dance his- tory.

An Aerial Soundscape: Improvisational, Collaborative Exploration of Aerial Rope to Beatbox Brynn Lydum, Senior, Neurobiology Mary Gates Scholar Mentor: Louis Gervais, Dance Aerial performance as a movement-based art goes hand- in-hand with musical accompaniment, yet there are sev- eral challenges to utilizing music effectively. Perfor- mance on rope, a vertical aerial apparatus, is innately bound to drastic changes in tempo as the performer as- cends the rope using strength to counteract gravity, then descends in submission to its force. Beyond differ- ing paces of movement, there are varying intensities of

211 movements that may require emphatic, energetic music The Grind Show: An Internationally Bound or subtle, sedate music in close proximity. As such, Collaboration from the Perspective of American working with recorded music in a constant meter can Youth limit the artistry of an aerial performance. In this collab- Laurie Roberts, Senior, Drama oration to explore live beatbox with aerial rope, we will Mary Gates Scholar utilize the freedom of a solo musician and a solo aerial- Mentor: Andrew Tsao, Drama ist to take advantage of constant variability and the pos- The economy is in tatters and the job market is slim. We sibility of improvisation; aerialist responding auditorily have been in school for as long as we can remember, and and beatboxer reacting to visual cues. We will create our now it is time to decide: What comes next? Many of piece as leaders, but also follow the work and each other us have been following the “educational conveyer belt” as we proceed through it. We will explore unusual time system since birth, and now the idea of making a choice signatures, contrasting beat changes and vocal sound ef- to leave is daunting. The voice of the American youth, fects to enhance the visual and emotional experience of though growing in strength, is wrought with underlying an aerial act with auditory correlates. The result of our fear. Fear of the unknown, of what’s to come, of change. exploration in the studio will be a performance piece that In response to these fears that so often stymie our ability is part pre-planned and part novel improvisation. to live well, the School of Drama’s TBA Collaborative Bachata: A Dominican Dance Style Influenced by a created The Grind Show. This piece explores the jour- Growing Telecommunications Industry ney of an unborn child refusing to enter life. He is in- Brittney Patterson, Junior, Economics stead sent to a circus where he meets some unusual acts: Mentor: Juliet McMains, Dance A set of conjoined twins who sometimes stay conjoined, a trick knife thrower who throws knives at herself, and a Bachata is a dance and music style that developed in the calculating ringmaster who refuses to lose control. This rural hills of the Dominican Republic. It developed as ringmaster tries desperately to fit this unusual child into a more popular style of dance in the urban cities. Since an act, but in the end the child must make a decision that the beginning of its popularity, it could never compete could leave the circus broken. Having already mounted a with Merengue, the national music and symbol of Do- successful production of The Grind Show, the TBA Col- minican identity. This is partly due to its low socio- laborative is working to bring this piece to the 2009 Ed- economic status and association with blackness which inburgh International Fringe Festival, the largest theater was looked down upon by the white elite. But start- festival in the world. The festival is a unique community ing the early 1990’s there have been many artists who of international creative artists. It is an annual meeting have made a name for Bachata outside of the Domini- place of ideas, aesthetics and innovative theater praxis. can Republic, consequently making it more socially ac- With our play revolving around a dismal and stagnant cepted in its home country. However, two distinct styles turn of the century American circus, which is intended of Bachata have developed: the more traditional Do- to parallel aspects of the world we live in today, we send minican style and the more modern international style. a message as the youth of America. We are greatly bur- I believe that technological developments and migration dened by fear, yet we are self aware, thoughtful, and ca- have played a hand in the development of Bachata. Do- pable of change. minican migration to New York has helped to account for its popularity and acceptance. Youtube, myspace, and other telecommunities have made it easier for peo- ple to share their culture with one another. My research explores how modern technology has brought these two styles of Bachata into dialogue. Through field research, interviews, and extensive research on youtube and mys- pace, I was able to answer some of the questions that I initially developed. But I also realized that my research was limited due to my geographic location despite being able to communicate in ways that were not available to researchers before me. I realized that my research was still one sided and that without being able to immerse myself in both communities—traditional and modern—I could not answer all of the questions brought up by my initial research.

212 Index

Abadi, Hossein (Arad), 113 Bale, Jacob, 76, 114 Abelev, Julia, 106 Balick, Bruce, 143 Acevedo, Luis, 199 Bandfield, Joshua, 100, 117 Agol, Eric, 36, 100 Barahimi, Mitra, 119 Ahlquist, John, 68 Barker, Elena, 138 Ahluwalia, Raman, 34 Barker, Holly, 81 Ahn, Dong-Jin, 14 Barnard, Angela, 115 Ahyong, Vida, 113 Barr, Andrew (Andy), 144 Akiyama, Lisa, 14 Bartell, Aspasia, 115 Al-Noori, Salwa, 135 Bassuk, James, 86, 87, 125 Alaimo, Peter, 113 Battenburg, Andrew, 191 Albert, Kyle, 113 Battershell, Jon, 147 Aldworth, Zane, 97 Bauer, Carolyn, 202 Alexander Suess, Becky, 14 Bautista, Janet, 115 Alford, Matthew, 140 Beauchaine, Ted, 149 Allan, Christopher, 181 Becker, Andrew, 57 Allen, Jacquelyn (Jackie), 30 Becker, Kyra, 130 Altemeier, Bill, 98 Beeman-Varela, Charysa, 15 America, Anibel, 114 Bekris, Helen, 116 Amiad Pavlov, Daria, 182 Bell, Austin, 116 Amos, Helen, 14 Bellovary, Jillian, 131 Anderson, Matthew, 210 Bender, Sara, 189 Anderson, Nicholas (Nick), 206 Benedict, Devon, 116 Anderson, Peter, 18 Bengtsson, Barbara, 178 Anderson, Ruth, 54 Benjamin, Mark, 170 Anderson, Scott, 101 Benson, Jessica, 83 Anderson, Theodore, 65 Benthuysen, Jacqueline, 16 Andreasen, Gustaf, 89 Berg, Celeste, 86, 87 Andrews, Walter, 159 Berger, Paul, 109 Angle, Nathan, 197 Berman, Jeffrey, 119 Angus, Hester, 59 Bernier, Raphael, 145 Anover-Sombke, Stephanie, 30 Berns, Hans-Gerd, 163 Aranas, Kevin, 15 Berres, Alexander (Alex), 16 Armbrust, Virginia, 126, 188–190 Berweger, Samuel, 39 Arms, Luther, 49 Beschastnikh, Ivan, 40 Arraki, Kenza, 101 Betz, Stacy, 105, 145 Atlas, Les, 60 Beutler, Lisa, 126 Atwell-Scrivner, JoAnn, 16 Bevan, Shaun, 147 Atwood, Emily, 82 Bhansali, Shyam, 195 Avril, Aaron, 78 Bhattarai, Narayan, 58 Billey, Sara, 177 Babchanik, Alexander (Alex), 15 Blin, Andrea, 151 Bachmann, Olivier, 131, 166 Blinov, Boris, 78 Bacon, Dave, 174 Blish, Catherine, 200 Baker, Ashley, 92 Bliven, Spencer, 116 Baker, David, 99, 116 Boer, Eli, 83 Baker, Joel, 23

213 Bohringer, Karl F, 26 Carasco, Aaron, 123 Boiko, Bob, 117 Carlson, Anne, 85 Bolton, Susan, 77 Carnell, Ronald (Ron), 177 Bomsztyk, Karol, 95 Carpena, Algernon, 140 Bonus, Rick, 40 Carr, Catherine , 44, 62 Booth, Colin, 117 Carroll, Haley, 32 Boothroyd, John, 210 Carter, Tyler, 19 Bordia, Raj, 25, 70, 120, 136 Castner, David, 95 Borriello, Gaetano, 54 Ceccarelli, Leah, 104 Bosma, Martha, 83, 84 Cedarbaum, Emily, 119 Bossi, Anne, 114 Celeste, Manoucheka, 27 Bottman, Nathaniel (Nate), 177 Cermak, Nathan (Nate), 98 Bourgeois, Jody (Joanne), 115, 148, 152 Cernak, Emily, 93 Brackett, David, 55, 127 Chahim, Dean, 119 Bramer, Kelsey, 15 Chai, Binghua, 121 Bratt, Alexander (Alex), 93 Chan, Hok, 120 Braun, Jennifer, 117 Chance, Phillip, 35 Brennan, Marc, 158 Chandler-Brown, Devon, 120 Briggs, Timothy, 49 Chandras, Jessica, 19 Brix, Kristiana, 117 Chang, Bora, 199 Brixey, Shawn, 109, 110 Chang, Christopher (Chris), 120 Brkanac, Zoran, 97 Chang, Daniel (Dan), 194 Broomfield, Thomas, 118 Chang, Kevin, 182 Brossard, Elliott, 17 Chang, Rebecca, 20 Brown, Candice, 153 Chang, Sophia, 121 Brown, Liana, 17 Chapman, Rachel, 186 Brownlee, Don, 57 Charlson, Robert, 65 Bryant, Beth, 38 Chase, Laroy (LaRoy), 20 Brzovic, Peter, 99 Chavez, Andreas, 158 Buck, Steven, 81 Chavkin, Charles, 155 Buckley, Kate, 183 Chen, Alvin, 107 Buckner, Frederick, 138 Chen, Curtis SK, 181 Bura, Renata, 102 Chen, Dong-Hui , 170 Burk-Rafel, Jesse, 18 Chen, Ruying, 121 Burke, Rob, 185 Chen, Tony, 20 Burris, Lauren, 81 Cheng, Hsiang (Debby), 121 Burstein, Roy, 93 Cherry, Kendra, 122 Burton, Justin, 94 Cheryan, Sapna, 43, 66, 137, 186 Buser, Thaddaeus, 204 Chieng, Gin, 20 Bushong, James, 100 Chilenski, Mark, 75 Buzak, Sara, 137 Chiu, Cynthia, 21 Chiu, Daniel, 34 Cabrera, Cherie, 18 Choi, Moon Yeong, 106 Cady, Elizabeth (Liz), 106 Chou, Shinn-Yi (Cindy), 122 Cai, Zhenxiao, 170 Chou, Yeu-Ru (Stephanie), 202 Caldwell, Britteny, 193 Christensen, Charlotte, 101 Calhoun, Sara, 18 Cimber, Emily (Emiy), 159 Calian, Nicole, 19 Claassen, Scott, 79 Cameron, Ashley (Ali), 175 Clark, Austin, 147 Campbell, Charles, 157 Clemen, Rebekah, 123 Campbell, Christopher, 50 Clifford, Marie, 123 Campbell, Gavin, 106 Clinard, Chris, 119 Candido, Angeline, 91 Cline, Erica, 24, 49, 146, 154, 159 Canfield, Michael, 118 Collie, Angela, 35 Cannon, Jordan, 119 Connolly, Andrew, 144 Cao, Chuan, 19

214 Connors, Catherine, 192 Dhaliwal, Harpreet, 208 Conrad, Kira, 21 Di Stilio, Veronica, 103 Contreras, Frances, 187 Diaz, Jaime, 122 Cook, Gretchen, 191 Dichek, David, 136 Corcoran, Meegan, 204 Dickey, Trevor, 143 Corl, Dawn, 53 Dickson, Dustin, 118 Corn, Jacob, 116 Diekema, David, 135 Cornell, Sarah, 138 Diko, Xheni, 107 Costa, Megan, 21 Dinglasan-Panlilio, Joyce, 54 Coult, Jason, 123 Do, Hau, 125 Cowan, Nick, 100 Dogan, Ozge, 200 Craft, Baine, 32 Donaldson, Melvin, 183 Crosson, Lisa, 202 Donnet, Verne, 94 Crowe, Matthew, 157 Donovan, Jenette , 32 Crowther, Gregory, 39 Dooley, Frederick (Ricky), 76 Cui, Zhiyi, 208 Doty, Sharon, 32, 46, 76 Cunningham III, Sir William, 156 Douglas, Joseph (Joe), 25 Cunningham, Christopher, 22 Dove, Katja, 25 Curta, Larisa, 124 Dowden, Patricia, 123 Curtsinger, Owen, 22 Doyle, Kenneth (Ken), 25 Czoski, Anna, 109 Draper, Zachary (Zack), 26 Dronadula, Nagadhara, 136 Dabiri, Dana, 59, 150 Drum, Benjamin (Ben), 85 Daggett, Valerie, 18, 83 Du, Yang (Angela), 25 Dalcanton, Julianne, 20, 142 Dudley, Aimee, 113 Damodarasamy, Mamatha, 120 Duerkop, Breck, 42 Damon, William (Will), 190 Duffy, Patrick, 209 Dang, Kattie, 22 Duggal, Nisha, 199 Daniel, Tom, 67, 97 Duncombe, Todd, 26 Danies, Ashley, 124 Dungan Lemko, Heather, 48 Dann, Gregory (Greg), 199 Dunphy, Logan (Schuyler), 26 Dao, Hoang, 23 Dupuis, Nathaniel, 147 Darby, Geoffrey (Chris), 23 Durkin, Colleen, 190 Dave, Shivang, 18 Dziwirek, Kat, 104 Davidson, Ruth, 177 Davidson, Seana, 129 Eadie, Tanya, 159 Davies, Luke, 179 Eakin, Catherine, 25 Davies-Vollum, Sian, 179 Eastman, Alison, 98 Davis, Amira, 124 Eastman, Rocky, 125 Davis, Kelly, 51 Ebrey, Patricia, 108 Davis, Larina, 193 Edwards, John, 180 Davis, Muse, 167 Eisenberg, Mike, 166 Davis, Nancy, 204 Elam, Michael, 151 Davis, Trisha, 49 Eldred, Kiara, 126 de la Iglesia, Horacio, 96, 97 Ellis, Claire, 126 De Leon, Jason, 19, 32 Elmore, Camille, 27 Deconinck, Bernard, 177 Emerman, Michael, 199 Delarosa, Jaclyn, 125 Emmenegger, Evi, 201 Delossantos, Allyne, 23 Eneyew, Eshetu, 27 Demeritt, Hannah, 96 Enns, Linda, 210 Deng, Yingxin, 24 Ensign, Josephine, 67 Dennett, Kimberly (Kim), 24 Erickson, Patricia, 127 Denney, Rachel, 102 Erickson, Ryan, 127 Dennison, Brittany, 125 Escoto, Christina, 53 Deschamps, Jonathan, 24 Estes, Annette, 164, 169 Dethier, Megan, 160 Estrada, Julian, 27

215 Ettl, Gregory, 24 Giovas, Christina, 44 Etzioni, Oren, 174 Girton, James, 72 Glenney, Carrie, 30 Fabbi, Nadine C, 89 Glosser, Asaph, 22 Fahim, Rukia, 159 Go, Ruth, 129 Fairhall, Adrienne, 161 Gogarten, Stephanie, 20 Famulare, Michael, 161 Goh, Phaik (Janice), 88 Faust, Douglas, 78 Goldberg, Alyssa, 30 Feng, Qing, 127 Goldberg, Karen, 58, 137 Feraboli, Paolo, 75 Golingo, Raymond, 149 Ferguson, John, 203 Golob, Karin, 30 Ferguson, Susan, 96 Gonzales, Roberto G, 27, 79 Fesehaye, Yordanos, 186 Gonzalez, Samantha, 187 Festing, Maria, 195 Goodchild, Anne, 198 Fields, Benjamin (Ben), 14 Goodreau, Steven, 21 Fikes, Jessica (Edith), 128 Goodwine, Brent, 25 Firth, Perry, 27 Gosti, Alice, 56 Fischer, Katherine (Katie), 128 Gottlieb, Geoffrey, 201 Fitz, Brian, 19 Gottschling, Daniel, 113 Flinn, Brian, 133 Gough, Heidi, 203 Ford, Sam, 20 Governato, Fabio, 101 Fox III, David , 99 Grady, Kaitlyn, 31 Fox, Claire, 128 Grady, William, 137 Frable, Benjamin (Ben), 28 Grande, Wendy, 15 Fraczek, Claire, 167 Gray, Audra, 27 Fraga, Luis, 88 Grayson, Donald, 44, 69 Fray, Elliott, 28 Green, Danielle, 131 Freed, Nissa, 28 Green, Jerica, 31 Friedman, Batya, 14, 31, 61, 118, 140 Greenberg, E Peter, 42 Friedman, Carolyn, 202 Greengrove, Cheryl , 48, 60, 62 Friedman, Kathie, 91 Gregoire, Ashley, 114 Frischkorn, Kyle, 189 Grice, Kyle, 58 Frock, Richard, 87 Grinley, Melissa, 19, 82, 83, 138, 156 Froyland, Hugo, 29 Groom, Martha, 63 Frye, Aaron (AJ), 29 Grue, Christian, 151 Fusco, Lisa, 22 Gu, Stanley, 31 Gualu, Miliyard, 129 Gallucci, Vincent, 89, 204 Guan, Phillip, 206 Gamboa, Erasmo, 15 Guillen, Maria, 32 Gao, Xiaohu, 31, 95, 169 Guncay, Gabriela (Gabbie), 32 Garcia, Alejandro , 79 Gupta, Maya, 133 Garcia, Frank, 128 Garcia, Kristine, 129 Hachey, Simon, 130 Garg, Anisha, 137 Hadwin, Jessica (Jessi), 130 Garrison, Melissa, 29 Haggard, Daryl, 101 Gasper, Joe, 148 Hakimian, Shahin, 135 Gawel, Jim, 49, 179 Halabisky, Meghan, 77 Geiger, Kelli, 209 Hall, Benjamin, 19, 102, 103 Gelb, Michael, 98 Halsell, David, 109, 110 George, William, 22, 81 Hamilton, Julia, 84 Gerard, Wayne, 94 Hampe, Christiane, 152 Gervais, Louis, 211 Hanley, Tasha, 33 Giachelli, Cecilia, 195 Hannibal, Mark, 35 Giffen, Dana, 77 Hansen, John , 202 Gillis-Bridges, Kimberlee, 190 Hanson, Laura (Lori), 130 Ginger, David, 206, 207 Hanson, Lauren, 33

216 Harbaugh, Allen, 52 Hsu, Cynthia, 86 Hardwick, Scott, 63 Hsu, Jessica, 113 Haring, Diana, 131 Hua, Jeremy, 181 Harnett, Erika, 72, 153 Hubanks, Joshua (Josh), 104 Harrell, Stevan, 81, 196, 197 Hubbard, Kate, 126 Harrison, Marrissa, 131 Hug, Rachel, 108 Hartzler, Bryan, 156 Hughes Clark, Joanne, 114 Harwood, Caroline, 167 Huh, Alexander, 194 Hashemi, Sohroosh, 109 Hung, Jane, 33 Hashemi, Sol, 109 Huntington, Katharine, 45, 152 Hashemi-Olia, Milad, 206 Huynh, Leticia, 34 Hasnan, Zurriya, 131 Huynh, Stephanie, 195 Hauck, Scott, 34 Hwang, Evan, 34 Hauschka, Steve, 87, 183 Hwang, Jung, 59 Hauser, Lorenz, 204 Hyun, Jeongwon, 108 Hautala, Susan, 37 Hawley, Suzanne, 164 Iarocci, Louisa, 197 Hayden, Michael, 132 Ince, Ufuk, 194 Hayenga, Johanna, 25 Ingebritsen, Christine, 117 Hearten-Johnson, Melody, 88 Iritani, Brian, 47 Helem, Kayla, 63, 132 Ishizuka, Andrew, 209 Hemmons, Daniel, 63 Ivanov, Sergei, 200 Hendershot, Christian, 22 Ivezic, Zeljko, 143 Hendricksen, Karen, 132 Hendry, David , 14, 34, 61, 117, 118, 140 Jacobs-Lorena, Vanessa, 42 Hevner, Robert, 85 Jacobson, Berit, 157 Heymann, Edwin (Eddie), 141 Jacques, Chantelle, 133 Hickmott, Curtis, 133 Jaffee, Martin, 80 Hicks, Bryson, 86 Jamieson, Kevin, 133 Hille Ris Lambers, Janneke, 24 Jansen, Karen, 165 Hille, Merrill, 86 Jarboe, Thomas, 75 Hilton, Eric, 164 Javate, Mark, 34 Himes, Carlton, 75 Jerde, Chad, 34 Hinds, Stephen, 192 Jia, Carol, 134 Hirata, Jason, 109 Jimenez, Isadora, 204 Hiremath, Pranoti (Prano), 195 Johnsey, Philip, 35 Hirschman, Charles, 152 Johnson, Gail, 21 Hnilova, Marketa, 134 Johnson, Jennifer, 35 Hocking, Anne, 116 Johnson, Travis, 134 Hodge, Rebecca, 85 Jonas, Raymond, 106 Hodges, Charles (Charlie), 211 Jones, Andrew, 36 Hogue, Kristen (Kristy), 79 Jones, Emily, 28, 71 Hol, Wim, 125 Jones, Graham, 35 Holman, Darryl, 51 Jones, Lynne, 70 Holzworth, Robert, 45 Jonsson, Amanda, 83 Hong, Sung Woo, 48 Josberger, Erik, 36 Honig, Meredith, 167 Joseph, Ralina, 27 Horner, Philip, 147, 157 Joslyn, Susan, 20 Horner-Devine, Alex, 147 Joughin, Ian, 55 Horner-Devine, Claire, 116 Julich, Laura, 25 Horwitz, Noah, 207 Juul, Sandra, 68 Houx, Pauline, 52 Kabacka, Julia, 135 Howard, Judith A, 92 Kacar, Turgay, 58 Howe, Jon, 122 Kaeberlein, Matt, 120, 139, 156, 194 Hrabe, Nik, 136 Kaehler, Russell, 134

217 Kahr, Bart, 164 Kovzun, Kuzma, 39 Kaiser, Cheryl , 186 Kratz, Mario, 208 Kaisse, Ellen, 103, 105 Krell, Donna, 151 Kalmbach, John (Bryce), 36 Kriner, Michelle, 210 Kang, Jessica, 186 Kropat, Whitney, 101 Kapp, Tyler, 135 Krout, David, 133 Kappe, Stefan, 42 Krumm, Tony, 66 Karayev, Sergey, 174 Kucher, Michael, 76 Karl, Mike, 160, 162 Kunkle, Andrea, 188 Kashima, Daniel, 36, 80 Kurath, Gael, 201 Kasonic, Karen, 175 Kutz, J. Nathan, 130, 177 Kaysen, Debra, 27 Kvistad, Lynna, 39 Keil, Rick, 203 Kwon, Ester, 185 Kelly, Celia, 37 Kenaley, Christopher, 28 Ladiges, Warren , 210 Kennedy, Brian, 102 Lahde, Heather, 140 Kerr, Benjamin, 30, 43, 129, 205 Lai, Min-Tih (Ted), 39 Khalil, Munira, 140, 208 Laidre, Kristin, 118 Khan, Iram, 196 Lal, Jimmy, 40 Khan, Zareen, 46, 76 Lalic, Gojko, 207 Kho, Jordan, 136, 196 Lam, Jocelyn, 138 Khorsand, Derek, 136 Lam, Kevin, 43 Khuu, Peter, 136 Landis, Eric, 47 Kiehl, David, 37 Landsem, Leah, 138 Kier, Elizabeth, 106 Lane, Troy, 77 Kiffney, Peter , 204 Lang, Sabine, 92 Kim, Diane, 37, 83 Larimer, Mary, 82 Kim, Eric, 38 Lasiene, Jurate, 157 Kim, Gene , 40 Lattemann, Dianne Figlewicz, 135 Kim, Jae (Hugo), 96 Lau, Ignatius (Iggy), 139 Kim, Min Jung, 50 Laurenzi, Adrian, 139 Kim, Moon, 201 Laws, Chris, 132 Kim, Saenam (Shannon), 137 Le, Anna, 139 Kim, Samuel, 141 Le, Linda, 40 Kim, Tae Hee, 146 Ledesma, Briana, 40 Kim, Yongmin, 181 Lee, Cameron, 15 Kimelman, David, 52 Lee, Fan, 184 Kinahan, Paul, 180 Lee, Hyunae (Hannah), 40 Kirkland, Jane, 161 Lee, Hyung-Sup (Andrew), 140 Klaus, Janina, 166 Lee, Jiwon (Sarah), 176 Klavins, Eric, 94 Lee, Seungwha, 191 Klevit, Rachel, 25, 99 Lee, Sherry, 41 Klumb, Chad, 178 Lee, So (So Jin), 41 Klute, Glenn, 63 Lee, Vivian, 41 Knight, Paul, 32 Lee, Wendy, 140 Knowlen, Carl, 160 Leigh, Joel, 101, 132 Kochis, Bruce, 88, 89 Lemos, Julia, 155 Kohlmeier, F (F Kevin), 102 Lengua, Liliana, 37 Kondo, Hoshihito (Hoshi), 38 Leone, Alexander (Alex), 94 Koniges, Ursula, 38 Leu, Janxin, 56 Korsmo, Elizabeth, 137 Leung-Tiberio, Belinda, 141 Korte, Steven, 183 Levi, Margaret, 59, 68 Koser, Sarah, 203 Lewis, Evan, 50 Koszarek, Amanda, 137 Li, Jiangyu, 27 Kovacs, Julia, 138 Li, Weiqing, 194, 195 Li, Xiaosong, 33

218 Li, Xingde, 206 Mari, William (Will), 142 Lim, Tiffany, 42 Mark, Michelle, 196 Lin, Alex, 42 Marquez, Micaela (Mica), 144 Lin, Ann, 140 Marsh, Jaimee, 45 Lin, Lih, 206, 207 Marshall, Amanda Lynn, 113 Lin, Ralph, 114 Marshall, Cameron, 179 Linders, David, 95 Martig, Adria, 35, 64 Lindsay, Alexander (Alex), 43 Martin, Benjamin, 52 Lindsey, Haley, 43 Martin, Tiffany, 30 Linehan, Marsha, 83 Masura, Julie, 60 Liong, Sylvie, 185 Matsuoka, Yoky, 114, 174 Littman, Alyson, 65 Matsushita, Mark, 97 Liu, Wen, 43, 121 Maveety, James, 161 Liu, Zi-Jun (Zee) , 53 Mayberry, Cory, 51 Livingston, Sean, 140 Mayer, George, 28 Loebman, Sarah, 144 Mayer, Jim, 43 Logsdon, Miles, 118 Mayorga, Laura, 100 Long, Eric, 179 McAuliffe, Michael, 105 Loudon, Susan, 97 McCarthy, Michael, 52 Louie, Philip, 87 McCauley, Elizabeth , 156 Louw, Catherine, 99 McClintic, Abigail (Abbi), 143 Lovelace, Benjamin (Ben), 16 McDermott, Devin, 56 Lowy, Rachel, 44 McDonald, David, 40 Lozano, Hazel, 44 McDonell, Michael, 15 Lozano, Paula, 156 McGinnis, Tim, 140 Lu, Paul, 141, 201 McGivern, Liam, 89 Lu, Shan (Susie), 141 McGurk, Rosalie, 143 Luchino, Shari, 44 McKay, Alison, 89 Luchtel, Dan, 165 McKay, Susan, 82 Lueck, Austin, 45 McKeever, Jean (Jeanne), 143 Lukehart, Sheila, 38 McKenzie, Brittney, 63 Lutz, Franziska, 189 McKenzie, Robert , 142 Lutz, Julie, 143 McKinlay, James ’Jake’, 167 Ly, Amanda (Mandy), 145 McLaren, Brian, 79 Lydum, Brynn, 211 McLaskey, Anna, 144 Lym, Zach (Zac), 83 McMains, Juliet, 211, 212 Lyon, Johnathan, 174 McMinn, Devon, 144 Lyons, Elizabeth, 92 Meek, Ryan, 46 Mentele, Timothy (Tim), 207 Maas, Ryan, 142 Merlino, Kathryn, 128 MacInnes, Breanyn, 115 Merritt, Kevin, 14 Mack, Sheridan, 179 Michael, Forrest, 164 Mackert, Frederica (Rica), 142 Migdal, Joel, 106 MacLeod, Bradley, 207 Miller, Don, 33 Maffucci, Christopher, 45 Miller, Larissa, 145 Mamishev, Alexander, 16, 63, 162 Miller, Rachel, 46 Mamman, Sara, 87 Milne, Kelsey, 145 Manibusan, Cassandra, 151 Min, Li, 82 Mann, Tyler, 207 Mina, Adam, 87 Manner, Virginia, 43 Mizumori, Sheri, 14, 35, 50, 64, 162 Mansfield, Margot, 203 Moeller, Thomas, 148 Mao, Jennifer, 142 Molini, Barbara, 38 Mao, Qingcheng, 196 Montoya, Vanessa, 105 Mar, Daniel, 95 Moody, William, 33, 119 Marcinek, David, 41 Moore, Julia, 47 Mares, Teresa, 91

219 Moretti, Amy, 145 Nishimura, April, 89, 187 Morgan, Geoffrey (Geoff), 197 Noone, Kevin, 206 Morgansen, Kristi, 168 Norberg, Jessica, 187 Moritz, Chet, 122 Noren, Dawn, 53 Morley, Sarah, 26 Norton, Alix, 50 Morris, David, 55, 127 Notkin, David, 61 Morrison, Richard, 168 Nousheen, Farah, 187 Morrow, James, 178 Mortales, Christie-Lynn (Christie), 47 O’Brien, Megan, 149 Moskal, L. Monika, 29, 35, 77 O’Donnell, Sean, 132 Moss, Christopher, 33 O’Mara, Margaret, 93 Mount, Christopher (Chris), 146 Oberto, Rachel, 149 Mountford, Jill, 146 Odland, Kyle, 150 Mourad, Pierre, 143, 165, 205 Oeler, Raffaela, 50 Mower, John, 146 Oganyan, Marina, 150 Moxon, Soona, 82 Ogihara, Toshiyuki, 105 Muramatsu, Matthew (Matt), 47 Ogston, Andrea, 202, 203 Muren, Dominic, 191 Ohana, Robert (Andrew), 178 Murias, Michael, 158, 163 Olmstead, Dayne, 150 Murry, Charles, 65 Olsen, Nathaniel, 151 Myers-Pigg, Allison, 203 Olson, Amy, 151 Olson, Kristen, 89 Naderi, Roxana, 48 Olswang, Lesley, 123 Nagamine, Melyssa, 147 Omori, Kristen, 151 Nagda, Ratnesh, 45 Onstad, Gretchen, 46, 67 Nahas, Emily, 189 Ortega Sanchez, Luis, 187 Nanayakkara, Tharinduni (Nishali), 192 Ortiz, Allan, 51 Nance, Shelly, 56 Osanloo, Arzoo, 21, 88, 92 Nascimento, Amos, 108, 175, 176 Oslund, Rob, 98 Nathe, Ryan, 147 Otto, Jacqueline, 51 Neil, Patty, 82 Overbaugh, Julie, 200 Nemhauser, Jennifer, 102, 178 Nepela, Ashley (Ashley Nepela), 48 Pabon, Lil, 65 Nesbitt, Elizabeth, 39, 154 Palanca-Wessels, Maria Corinna, 184 Neuhouser, Kevin, 169 Pallanck, Leo, 136 Neumaier, John, 96 Palmer, Andrew (Andy), 79 Nevers, Vanessa, 197 Palmiter, Richard, 126 Newman, Stephen, 148 Panke, Aileen, 67 Newson, Joshua, 186 Paredes, Christopher (Chris), 187 Newton, Jan, 188 Park, Christy, 21 Ng, Ronald, 48 Park, Heeyoung (Christine), 22 Ngai, Al, 141 Park, Ji (Ji Sun), 184 Nghiem, Paul, 41 Park, Jun (James Park), 152 Nguyen, Anh, 56 Parker, Daniel, 51, 180 Nguyen, Daniel, 34 Parker, Walter, 128 Nguyen, Eric, 148 Parkhill, Michele, 81 Nguyen, Huong, 68 Parrish, Julia, 77 Nguyen, Mylinh (My-Linh), 49 Parsek, Matthew , 211 Nguyen, Ngoc, 181 Parviz, Babak, 75 Nguyen, Quyen, 49 Patterson, Brittney, 212 Nguyen, Vidang, 148 Paul, Laura, 109 Ni, Zhanglin, 196 Paulson, Kelly, 41 Nichols, Tamara, 176 Paun, Dorothy, 197, 198 Nicklos, Margie, 19 Pena, Devon, 91 Nielsen, Alec, 149 Perlmutter, Steve, 122, 159 Nishime, LeiLani, 191 Perrin, Margo, 23

220 Pessiki, Peter, 134, 144 Ramirez-Esparza, Nairan, 150 Peter, Don, 147 Ramulu, Mamidala, 49 Peters, Nathan, 152 Rao, Y. K., 150 Peterson, Snow, 211 Raschke, Markus, 36, 39 Peyroux, Juliette, 52 Raskind, Wendy, 97 Pfaff, Steven, 115, 176 Ratner, Buddy, 71, 116, 168, 184 Pham, Dai (Patrick), 52 Ratner, Daniel, 18 Pham, Nancy, 52 Ratzlaff-Minkler, Leslie, 42 Phan, Thanh-Hien (Hien), 152 Ravits, John, 96 Philipsen, Gerry, 18, 91 Reed, May, 120 Pierini, Christopher (Chris), 99 Reese, Michael, 38, 77 Pierszalowski, Sophie, 53 Regnier, Michael, 182, 183 Pietsch, Ted, 28 Reh, Thomas, 160, 162 Pinkham, Cameron, 161 Reid, Rika, 56 Piol, Anadel, 53 Reimer, Kate, 144 Piskorska, Inna, 53 Reinhardt, William, 78 Pitchford, Susan, 121 Reinsma, Luke, 107 Ploeger, Kennet (Ken), 83 Renteria, Norma, 82 Ploskey, Zachary (Zach), 54 Reyes, Charlene, 25 Podeszwik, Michael, 124 Rhodes, Linda, 56 Poinski, Nichole, 190 Richards, Hannah, 210 Pollack, Gerald H, 121, 123 Richardson, Paul, 154 Poolos, Nicholas, 139, 166 Rickerson, Angela, 156 Poon, Alex, 34 Ridgway, Matthew, 24 Poon, Anthony, 54, 152 Riedel, Jeremy, 161 Pope, Lauren, 100 Riederer, Michael, 56 Popelka, Juliane, 197 Riggs, Katherine (Katie), 56 Porter, Deborah, 81, 117 Rivenburgh, Nancy, 30, 52 Porter, Jennifer, 153 Roberts, Laurie, 212 Portin, Bradley, 185 Roberts, Steven, 201 Powers, Kelsey, 188 Robison, Brett, 102 Poznanski, Kazimierz, 107 Rocap, Gabrielle, 131, 188, 189 Prakash, Shristi, 54 Rockne, Russell, 47 Prendergast, Andrew, 161 Rodruck, Michael, 57 Price, Rebecca, 124, 177 Roesler, Axel, 109, 190, 192 Printz, Stephen, 89 Rogers, Bradley, 147 Proffitt, Christi, 82 Rokkan, Lainey, 138 Pun, Suzie, 146, 183, 185, 207 Rolandi, Marco, 24, 70 Pyatok, Michael, 66 Rombeau, Kira, 154 Rompogren, Joscelyn, 83 Qi, Junlin, 99 Rood, Mary, 57 Qin, Bo, 174 Roper, Kimberly, 151 Quay, Paul, 130 Rose, Amy, 57 Queitsch, Christine, 114 Rosenfeld, Jake, 113 Quinn, Thomas, 100, 101, 131 Rosewall, Carolyn, 164 Rossol, Michael, 58 Raastad, Christopher (Chris), 55 Rote, Kelsey, 135 Rabinovitch, Peter, 20 Roth, Clarisse (Lisa), 155 Radmer, Zachary (Zach), 151, 204 Rowe, Gabe, 63 Raghu, Preethi, 153 Rubel, Edwin, 36 Rahardjo, Ayu, 55 Rule, Cameron, 104, 155 Rahkonen, Katri, 154 Ruohola-Baker, Hannele, 16, 23, 41, 98, 99 Raible, David, 142, 161 Rupert, Nicholas, 192 Raibon, Elsa, 148 Ruppel, Matthew (Matt), 58 Ramakrishnan, Lalita, 167 Russell, David, 196 Ramien, Natalie (Natalia), 154

221 Rutherford, Matthew (Matt), 58 Shepherd, Sarah, 158 Ryan, Dennis, 50, 90 Shepodd, Gillian, 90 Ryken, Scott, 59 Shetterly, Benjamin (Ben), 62 Shi, Mark, 84 Sachse, Carrie, 59 Shimonov, Ruben, 80 Sager, Jennifer (Jenny), 156 Shomali, Nasim, 62 Saito, Namiko, 59 Shores, Carolyn, 158 Sakaeda, Naoko, 60 Shou, Wenying, 94, 194 Salama, Nina, 210 Shubin, Andrew, 184 Saletore, Yogesh, 180 Shumlak, Uri, 75, 149 Salk, Jennifer, 56, 211 Sidor, Christian, 63 Salo, Jessica, 93 Siegel, Justin, 99 Salvador, Jessica, 187 Silver, Jane, 62 Samudrala, Ram, 139 Simon, Anthony (Tony), 63, 162 Sanderson, Beth, 204 Simon, Rachel, 63 Sandhu, Paramjit, 60 Simpson, Christopher, 46, 67 Sanoja, Stephen, 156 Singer, Rebecca, 159 Sarikaya, Alper, 174 Sleight, Sean, 149 Sarikaya, Mehmet, 57, 58, 134, 152 Smith, Benjamin, 55 Sauro, Herbert, 93 Smith, Cosmo, 159 Sayers, Jentery, 109, 128, 142, 166, 190, 191 Smith, Elizabeth, 63 Sayres, Conor, 157 Smith, Kelsey, 64 Scanlan, Sandra (Sande), 156 Smith, Marissa, 151, 205 Schaefer, Amy, 42 Smith, Mckinley (McKinley), 81 Schatz, Mitchell, 60 Smith, Robert, 201 Schillaci, Cory, 78 Smith, Trisha, 117 Schindler, Daniel, 26, 205 Smits, Peter, 180 Schlamminger, Stephan, 78 Snedker, Karen , 135 Schlimmer, Carin, 78 Snyder, Nathan, 89 Schoenbaum, Carolyn, 157 Sodt, Rita, 64 Scholl, Zackary (Zack), 194 Somers, Casey, 64 Schrier, Lara, 208 Sorensen, Larry, 157 Schulfer, Anjelique (Anjel), 103 Souza, Pamela, 158 Schwartz, Andrew, 89 Sparke, Matthew, 93 Schwendeman, Marta, 89 Sparr, Cameron, 159 Scott, Jared, 61 Speake, Cate, 209 Seever, Lari, 77 Speed, Clarke, 29 Seibel, Eric, 15 Speer, Yanfeng (Mei), 181, 195 Seidl, Armin, 36 Squizzero, Robert (Rob), 104 Seidler, Gerald, 78 Sroka, Alicia, 159 Seitz, Steven, 174 St Clair, Elizabeth, 22 Sena, Mark, 95 Stadler, Bradford, 23 Sepulveda, Arthur, 187 Statnekov, Isaac, 160 Setran, Phillip, 157 Stayton, Patrick, 184 Severt, Laurel, 30 Stecker, G. Christopher, 140 Sexton, Michelle, 170 Steffen, Kristan, 102 Shamieh, Lara , 120 Stein, William, 17, 178 Shapley, Jacob (Jake), 158 Steiner, Robert, 48 Shawcroft, Scott, 61 Stella, Nephi, 170 Shayne, Julie, 88, 107 Stelzenmuller, Nickolas (Nick), 49 Shea-Brown, Eric, 85, 134 Stemmler, Jayson, 65 Sheffer, Naama, 89, 198 Stephens, Tiffany, 160 Sheih, Alyssa, 61 Stern, Chelsea, 210 Shen, Amy, 62 Stewart, Nicole, 37 Shen, Hong, 61 Stiber, Michael, 51 Shendure, Jay, 151

222 Stitzer, Michelle, 103 Thomas, Karen, 17 Stone, John, 54, 127 Thomas, Timothy (Tim), 90 Storch, Richard, 141 Thomas, Wendy, 94 Stork, Sarah (Jasmine), 187 Thompson, Joseph (Joe), 187 Stoumbos, Robert (Bobby), 193 Thompson, Rachel, 201 Stovall, Rachael, 65 Thompson, Robert (Rob), 163 Stovall, Whitney, 197 Thomson, Zachary (Zach), 189 Strain, Garrett, 92 Thornton, Judith, 129 Strom, Mark, 47 Thurlow, Crispin, 79, 90 Stromberg, Caroline, 179 Thurtle, Phillip, 108, 109, 125, 128, 142 Stutsman, Johnny, 130 Tiwana, Jasleen, 163 Sudar, Samuel (Sam), 160 Toews, John, 128, 187 Sugiura, Melissa (Hoshi), 202 Toledo, Santiago, 138 Suli, Arminda, 142 Tolich, Nikolai, 133, 146, 154 Sulzbacher, Stephen , 106, 163 Tolnay, Stewart, 90 Sunardi, Christina, 80 Tom, Joshua, 176 Sundara-Rajan, Kishore, 63 Tomlin, John, 134 Sutedja, Ria, 182 Torgerson, Troy, 30 Swager, Kevin, 151 Torii, Keiko, 42, 123 Swalla, Billie, 178 Torrey, Jessica, 24, 70 Swan, Scott, 161 Tose, Amanda, 66 Swanson, Kristin, 47, 64, 84, 145 Town, Michael, 29 Swanson, Terry, 37, 54 Tran, Elizabeth (Liz), 198 Swanson, Willie, 148 Tremblay, Kelly , 119 Swarts, Tanya, 161 Trimble, Thomas (T.J.), 105 Swedberg, Dale, 69 Troutt, Julia, 89 Sweet, Ian, 208, 209 Truong, Tiffany, 190 Sycuro, Laura, 210 Tsao, Andrew, 212 Sylvester, Marisa, 168 Tse, James, 67 Synovec, Robert, 19 Tu, Katarina, 164 Szeto, Mindy, 84 Tucker, David, 67 Sztajno, Evi, 107 Turner, Emily, 151

Ta, Huy, 25 Ule, Nicholas (Nick), 164 Takeuchi, David, 166 Unadkat, Jashvant, 125 Talebiliasi, Faezeh, 161 Undurraga, Soledad, 114 Tamerler, Candan, 57 Ung, Danielle, 164 Tan, Kristine, 162 Urban, Allison (Alli), 110 Tan, Landon, 187 Uy, Stephen, 91 Tan, Nina, 65 Tang, Mary, 161 Vaezy, Shahram, 180, 182 Tanlu, Lloyd, 193 Valdez, Ursula, 63 Tanoto, Alfonsus, 162 Valdivia, Yecelica, 91 Tartaglione, Erica, 97 Van De Graaf, Kyle, 151 Tatman-Burruss, Sylvia, 66 Van Volkenburgh, Elizabeth, 76 Taub, Frieda B., 144 Van Voorhis, Wes, 39 Taylor, Cortney, 162 Van Yserloo, Brian, 208 Taylor, Ian, 204 Vanderplas, Jacob, 144 Taylor, Susan, 205 Vanderpol, Jolene, 201 Ten Brink, Talya, 163 Vanushkina, Maria, 164 Tewksbury, Joshua, 202 Vasko, Stephanie, 24 Thepvongsa, Johnny, 151 Vaswani, Pavan, 165 Thienel Carrasco, Gonzalo, 197 Vellek, Benjamin (Ben), 67 Thilo, Evan, 85 Venema, Kaitlin, 71, 124 Thomas, Brandon, 66 Verchot, Michael, 192 Thomas, Carol, 115 Viola, Katherine (Katie), 15

223 Vivas, Alyssa, 165 Williams, Maia, 167 Vogman, Genia, 75 Wills, Douglas, 193 Vogt,Vivas, Daniel, Alyssa, 77 165 Wilson,Williams, Benjamin, Maia, 167 207 Vogt,Vogman, Kristiina, Genia, 77 75 Wilson,Wills, Douglas, Brandon, 193 152 Voie,Vogt, Rikki,Daniel, 68 77 Wilson, Gregory,Benjamin, 161, 207 180 Voloshin,Vogt, Kristiina, Igor, 68 77 Wilson, Michele,Brandon, 161 152 Vondrasek,Voie, Rikki, Christopher 68 (Chris), 77 Winglee,Wilson, Gregory, Kathryn, 161, 167 180 Voss,Voloshin, Britta, Igor, 203 68 Winglee,Wilson, Michele, Robert, 153161 Vu,Vondrasek, Tiffany, Christopher 97 (Chris), 77 Wirsing,Winglee, Aaron, Kathryn, 69 167 Voss, Britta, 203 Wirth,Winglee, Jordan, Robert, 147 153 Waade,Vu, Tiffany, Andrea, 97 81 Wise,Wirsing, Phyllis, Aaron, 153 69 Wade, Bonnie, 75 Wiseman,Wirth, Jordan, Marc, 147 30 Waade, Andrea, 81 Wagner, Jonathan, 166 Wisniewski,Wise, Phyllis, John, 153 26 Wade, Bonnie, 75 Wakimoto, Barbara, 71 Wituchowski,Wiseman, Marc, Chris, 30 70 Wagner, Jonathan, 166 Walcher, Cristina, 102 Wold,Wisniewski, Brian, John, 70 26 Wakimoto, Barbara, 71 Waldren, Elizabeth, 133 Wong,Wituchowski, James, Chris,168 70 Walcher, Cristina, 102 Wallace, Gerard, 68 Wood,Wold, Brian, Derek, 70 114 Waldren, Elizabeth, 133 Walsh, Lucy, 166 Wood,Wong, Robert,James, 168 60 Wallace, Gerard, 68 Wanagat, Jonathan, 20 Woodard,Wood, Derek, Steve, 114 187 Walsh, Lucy, 166 Wang, Jennifer, 43, 121 Wrabel,Wood, Robert, Michele, 60 131 Wanagat, Jonathan, 20 Wang, Jia (Amy), 99 Wright,Woodard, Richard, Steve, 187 150, 155 Wang, Jennifer, 43, 121 Wang, Joanne, 208 Wu,Wrabel, Brandon, Michele, 211 131 Wang, Jia (Amy), 99 Wang, Kaishi, 70 Wu,Wright, Jennifer, Richard, 168 150, 155 Wang, Joanne, 208 Wang, Sarah, 166 Wyles,Wu, Brandon, Cody, 168 211 Wang, Kaishi, 70 Wang, Tong, 199 Wyllie-Echeverria,Wu, Jennifer, 168 Sandy, 76 Wang, Wei-Chih,Sarah, 166 93, 95 Wyles, Cody, 168 Ward,Wang, Ellen, Tong, 16,199 41 Xiao,Wyllie-Echeverria, Yun (Jo), 71 Sandy, 76 Ward,Wang, Zachary Wei-Chih, (Zach), 93, 95 169 Xu, Wenqing, 132 Warner,Ward, Ellen, Jessica, 16, 16141 Xuereb,Xiao, Yun Linnea, (Jo), 71 71 Warner,Ward, Zachary Lindsay, (Zach), 166 169 Xu, Wenqing, 132 Warren,Warner, Jessica,Jacob, 175 161 Yager,Xuereb, Paul, Linnea, 95 71 Warren,Warner, Lindsay,Matthew, 166 69 Yam, Kai (Samuel), 169 Yager, Paul, 95 Warren, Stephen,Jacob, 175 29 Yang, Roderick, 85 Yam, Kai (Samuel), 169 Wasser,Warren, Samuel,Matthew, 158 69 Yang, Zihuan, 198 Yang, Roderick, 85 Wassink,Warren, Stephen, Alicia, 104 29 Yano, Yuri, 56 Yang, Zihuan, 198 Waszkewitz,Wasser, Samuel, Rachel, 158 193 Yasuhara, Ken, 25 Yano, Yuri, 56 Waters,Wassink, Stacy, Alicia, 159 104 Yazici, Hilal, 57 Yasuhara, Ken, 25 Wayland,Waszkewitz, Katherine Rachel, (Kat), 193 161 Yip, John, 108 Yazici, Hilal, 57 Weaver,Waters, Stacy, Palmer, 159 167 Yoko, Teiona (Tei), 71 Yip, John, 108 Webb,Wayland, Sara Katherine Jane, 28, (Kat), 44, 71, 161 124 Young, Stephen, 93 Yoko, Teiona (Tei), 71 Wei,Weaver, Kathy, Palmer, 185 167 Yount, Evan, 161 Young, Stephen, 93 Weinstein,Webb, Sara Nathan Jane, 28, (Nate), 44, 71, 82 124 Yousoufian, Krysta, 72 Yount, Evan, 161 Weintraub,Wei, Kathy, Matthew, 185 69 Yu, Gengzhi, 62 Yousoufian, Krysta, 72 Welikson,Weinstein, Robert, Nathan 183 (Nate), 82 Yu, Gengzhi, 62 Wells,Weintraub, Deva, Matthew, 84 69 Zagotta, William N., 85 Werner,Welikson, Lynne, Robert, 127 183 Zang, Dongsheng, 89 Wells, Deva, 84 Zeng,Zagotta, Hongbo, William 38 N., 85 Wetzlar, Kyle, 70 Zang, Dongsheng, 89 White,Werner, Bryan, Lynne, 147 127 Zhang, Bo, 40 Wetzlar, Kyle, 70 Zhang,Zeng, Hongbo, Jinlun, 154 38 Whiteside, Ursula, 82 Zhang, Bo, 40 Whitney,White, Bryan, JoAnne, 147 23, 53 Zhang, Miqin , 58 Whiteside, Ursula, 82 Zhang, XiaohaiJinlun, 154 (David), 169 Wight, Nate, 202 Zhang, Miqin , 58 Wilbur,Whitney, D. JoAnne, Scott, 59, 23, 64 53 Zheng, Guang, 35 Wight, Nate, 202 Zheng,Zhang, YunlinXiaohai (Ling (David), Ling), 169 170 Wiley, Hannah, 56 Zheng, Guang, 35 Wilkerson,Wilbur, D. Scott, John, 2259, 64 Zhou, Andrew (Andy), 181 Wiley, Hannah, 56 Zhou,Zheng, Peiran, Yunlin 170 (Ling Ling), 170 Wilkes, R. J., 128, 163 Zhou, Andrew (Andy), 181 Williams,Wilkerson, Benjamin, John, 22 31 Zhu, Tuofu, 199, 200 Wilkes, R. J., 128, 163 Zhou,Zimmerman, Peiran, Eric, 170 170 Williams, Benjamin, 31 Zhu,Zorn, Tuofu, Gilad, 199, 95 200 224

224

225 When I applied to the Undergraduate Research Symposium, I was nearing the end of a research project, and coming to a close on my research. However, the symposium gave me incentive to continue my research beyond the project, and I made breakthroughs that I When I applied to the Undergraduate Research Symposium, I was nearing the Through had not even considered before. Without the Undergraduate Research Symposium, my research, I was able to travel and work with children. I loved going to a new place and I wouldn’t have been able to complete my research, and now I have had that opportunity learning so much valuable information from the people I worked with. I am also proud that I I am very grateful. can give something back to that community. Without my project, I would not have been able to accomplish so much. -Thomas (T.J.) Trimble, Senior, Linguistics -Jessica Chandras, Senior, Anthropology

The most rewarding part of my research experience has been to be able to apply text-book concepts in genetics and molecular biology that I would have I feel extremely privileged to have been able to carry out 2/3 of my project in the only had the chance to read about in classrooms. Today I’m actually performing these international setting. It was an amazing opportunity to combine my work experience assays myself! abroad with the research I started at home. I hope to find more international research opportunities in my future career. -Harpreet Dhaliwal, Senior, Biology (Molecular, Cellular & Developmental) -Jane Silver, Senior, Nursing and Women Studies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Undergraduate Research Program wishes to recognize all of the faculty members, postdoctoral associates, staff, and graduate students who have provided guidance and mentoring to the undergraduate researchers featured in this symposium.

None of this would have been possible without you. A special note of thanks to the faculty who released their classrooms in Mary Gates Hall for this event. ! We wish to thank all of the volunteers who helped to organize and run this event: Session Moderators: Ginger Armbrust, Celeste Berg, Martha Bosma, Steven Buck, Nick Cowan, Luis Fraga, Vincent Gallucci, Roberto Gonzales, Paolo Feraboli, Benjamin Hall, Stevan Harrell, Judith Howard, Horacio de la Iglesia, Ellen Kaisse, Michael Kucher, J. Nathan Kutz, Weiqing Li, Juliet McMains, Joel Migdal, Pierre Mourad, Amos Nascimento, Jennifer Nemhauser, Andrea Ogston, Bradley Portin, Suzie Pun, Steven Roberts, Hannele Ruohola-Baker, Dennis Ryan, Jentery Sayers, Gerald Seidler, Steven Seitz, Ian Sweet, Phillip Thurtle, Shahram Vaezy, Michael Verchot, Wei-Chih Wang, and Zihuan Yang Planning Assistance: Nicholas Anderson, Emily Cernak, Claire Fox, Sergei Ivanov, Fan Lee, Jentery Sayers, Mindy Szeto, Pavan Vaswani Event Preparation and Support Staff: Kirsten Atik, Addie Estelle Boone, Heather Brown, Victoria Burke, John Calavitta, Center for Experiential Learning Staff, Adrian Michael Arce Cepeda, Robin Chang, Juan Carlos Chavez, Crystal D. Chiechi, James Chiang, Yong Chan Cho, My Christensen, Allison Coffin, Tyler Cooper, Robert Corbett, The Community of Mary Gates Scholars, David James Cronkite, Megan Dahl, Jodene Davis, Elizabeth Grace Deleeuw, Beth Ann Dingman, Tanya Rio Dodgen, Cristina Lin En, Eric Anthony Evangelista, Rachel Marie Faber, Ke Fan, Amanda Louise Menos Flores, Kellie Stacy Fontes, Alevtina Gall, Sarah Garner, Lorelai Germain, Kathleen Gygi, John Benjamin Grigg, Matt Harris, Somalis Heng, Roberta Hopkins, Steven Allen Humphrey, Ryan Hursh, Joseph Graham Jardine, Monika Jelic, Josephine Aivi Kawi, Joan Kelday, Elizabeth Joy Korsmo, Somer Kreisman, Anna Kulishova, Ming Yui Lau, Trung Tuan Le, Maporn Lertsuridej, Shixu Li, Jianli Lin, Jon Linse, Virginia Lupori, Sydney Ruth Martin, Julia Matusevych, Megan McConnell, Jill McKinstry, Mckenna Amelia Menees, Suzanne Mercier, Michael Milligan, Daniel Hiroshi Miyamoto, Torrey Morgan, Kristin Okinaka, Jee Eun Park, Jason Patterson, Chansothea Phok, Mona Pitre-Collins, Eric Poon, Alice Wenjun Qiu, Douglas John Querl, Aida Mari Quintanilla, John Sahr, Ashley Midori Sakai, Beth Marie Scholler, Brenda Jean Smith-Gomez, Kathryn Schrenk, Jo-Ann Sire, Irene Svete, Kitirat Srichai, Mark Stein, Eamaan Tabatabai, Stephanie Daryl Tang, Tracy Maschman Morrissey, Anh Hong Tran, Gar Shun Tsun, Vivian Tung, UW Postdoctoral Association, UW Chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Latinos and Native Americans in Science, Esmeralda Valenzuela, Sharon Walker, Matt Winslow, Sau Shun (Alicia) Wong, Pat Wrobel,Yali Xu, Betty Sihui Yan, Kenneth Lani Hoy Sau Yuen, Angie Zhu

Special Thanks to: President and CEO of the Washington Research Foundation Ron Howell, Vice Provost Mary Lidstrom, Dean Ana Mari Cauce, and Dean and Vice Provost Ed Taylor ! We express appreciation for sponsorship of this event to the Office of Research, the Mary Gates Endowment for Students, Undergraduate Academic Affairs, and the UW Alumni Association. !