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Perpetua UAH Journal of Undergraduate Research Volume 1, Issue 1 EDITORIAL STAFF Editor-in-Chief Lauren Fisher Assistant Editor-in-Chief Kelsey McKee Managing Editor Production Editor Production Editor Business Editor Robert McDonald Jake Nelson James Shelton Kristina Faw Staff Editors Stephen Morgan Rebecca Stillwell Jacob Wintzell Faculty Advisors David Cook Dr. Harry Delugach Dr. Yu Lei Dr. Joy Robinson Student Research Programs & Computer Science Chemical Engineering English Honors Program ii LETTER FROM THE PROVOST A Letter from the Provost of the University of Alabama in Huntsville One of the greatest opportunities The University of Alabama in Huntsville offers is the chance for students from any major to participate in collaborative research and creative projects with faculty and research staff during their undergraduate academic careers. In 2015, undergraduate students and supporting faculty and staff established Perpetua, a student-run journal focused on undergraduate research. The purpose of Perpetua is to provide a peer-reviewed forum for UAH undergraduate students to publish their research findings. Perpetua, which is published online, gives our undergraduate research exposure to a wide audience and rec- ognizes the scholarly and creative contributions of our students. Perpetua has the potential to become the standard bearer of undergraduate research at UAH. Undergraduate research and creative activities provide students and their faculty mentors with mutually beneficial opportunities. Students learn how to engage in the discovery process by performing research and/or developing a creative project. Students learn how to ask the right questions, collect and interpret data, develop creative ideas, discover novel solutions, experiment with different art forms, use the language appropriate to their future professions, report findings, and produce creative works while faculty and re- search scientists mentor the students through the process. Through Perpetua, students learn how to dissemi- nate the knowledge gained through the discovery and creative process and learn the rigors of the peer- review process that pushes the research and creative work to excellence. Perpetua connects the entire university through undergraduate research, showing the breadth, depth and diversity of research and creative projects in which our undergraduate students, faculty and research staff are engaged. UAH is widely recognized as a major research university attended by some of the best and brightest students in our nation. This inaugural issue of Perpetua presents articles written by these under- graduates who are passionate about research and creative achievement in their respective fields. Dr. Christine Curtis Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Professor, Chemical and Material Engineering University of Alabama in Huntsville iii SPECIAL THANKS Special Thanks This journal would not have been published without the involvement of the University of Alabama in Huntsville and several advocates and benefactors. Their contributions supported the journals founding, along with the production and publication processes. Perpetua would like to thank our university’s provost, Dr. Christine Curtis, for providing the journal with a foundation to be published upon. We would also like to thank UAH Student Government Association for their gracious letter, and recognition of our journal. We certainly thank our reviewers, both peer and facul- ty, for their hard work of ensuring that our manuscripts are built of quality research. We thank our faculty advisors for their careful instruction on the building of an academic journal. A special thanks to Michael Mercier for photographing our staff. We are grateful for the involvement of the Department of Chemical and Material Engineering, especially for providing our faculty and staff with a conference room. And lastly, we thank the university’s undergraduate research department for their sponsoring of our journal. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents Title Author Department Page Abnormal social behavior in mice Marissa E. Moore Department of Biological Sciences 1 with tyrosinemia type I is associated with hypermyelination of the cerebral cortex Spencer Bowen, Web-Based Existential Graph Editor Matthew Daigle, Irene Department of Computer Science 8 Tool Kasian, Telly Polychroniades, and Jason Thomas Antonio’s Lament: “Mightily Abused” Quintin Walton Department of Women’s and 17 in Twelfth Night Gender Studies Reading Historical Emily Pate Department of Art, Art 29 Photographs History, and Design Inflationary Gravitational Waves and B-Mode Kiley Todd Heflin Department of Physics 34 Polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background Taking Alabama: Andrew Jackson, Hayden Herfurth Department of History 45 National Security, and Alabama, 1812-1836 On the cover Photograph by Michael Mercier v Perpetua Volume 1, Issue 1 Abnormal social behavior in mice with tyrosinemia type I is associated with hypermyelination of the cerebral cortex Marissa E. Moore Department of Biological Sciences Abstract - Tyrosinemia type I (TT1) is a rare meta- hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD, EC bolic disorder that results in mutations of the enzyme 1.13.11.27) upstream in the tyrosine degradation FAH, which is responsible for tyrosine breakdown. pathway, which prevents the buildup of harmful me- Without the current treatment of 2-(2-nitro-4- tabolites such as malylacetoacetate and fumary- trifluoromethylbenzoyl) cyclohexane-1-3-dione lacetoacetate. These metabolites can accrue to be (NTBC), toxic metabolites build up causing severe converted to succinlyacetone, which is a diagnostic kidney and liver dysfunction that can lead to mortali- marker for tyrosinemia type I due to its production ty. Cognitive and social defects have recently been exclusively in the absence of FAH (De Jesus et. al observed in affected individuals on NTBC, and to 2014). This metabolite is identified in newborns by investigate these effects mice with tyrosinemia type I using tandem mass spectrometry and has detrimental were tested utilizing the Crawley three-chambered effects on heme synthesis as well as neurological sociability test. Social behavior is analyzed in the function. The high mortality rates in children with three chambered apparatus by observing mice inter- tyrosinemia type I before the introduction of NTBC action with either a real or dummy mouse, or be- can be attributed to these metabolites causing hepato- tween a familiar or novel mouse. The results show cellular carcinoma and liver damage. The treatment that mice with tyrosinemia type I spend twice as with NTBC results in an alteration of the enzymatic much time investigating a dummy mouse compared mutation, leading to increased tyrosine concentra- to a real mouse, indicating sociability deficits. Due to tions and hypertyrosinemia (Bendadi et. al 2014). the importance of olfaction in mouse behavior, the Although this treatment has drastically increased the olfactory abilities of the mice were also analyzed by survival rate in affected individuals, the exact role means of the buried food test. In order to assess a NTBC plays in cognitive function has yet to be eluci- biological basis for these social and cognitive im- dated. pairments, mice brains were stained using Luxol fast blue to visualize myelin in the cerebral cortex. Mi- There have been recent reports of social be- croscopic analysis of the stained cerebral cortex havior and cognitive issues in individuals with tyro- showed hypermyelination in mice with tyrosinemia sinemia type I on long-term NTBC treatment. Low- type I in comparison to controls. The cognitive and ered IQ as well as social cognition and working sociability issues observed in tyrosinemia type I mice memory deficits have been observed in patients with could be attributed to malformed neuronal pathways TT1 compared to healthy controls (van Ginkel et. al and synapses caused by hypermyelination of the cer- 2016). The high mortality rate in children with tyro- ebral cortex. sinemia type I before introduction of the drug NTBC explains why any long-term cognitive effects from the disorder were not able to be examined. The I. Introduction treatment options for children with the disorder be- fore NTBC included liver transplant and dietary mod- The autosomal recessive disorder tyro- ification of tyrosine and phenylalanine. Whether the sinemia type I results in a deficiency of cause of these neurological and social issues in pa- fumarlyacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH, EC 3.7.1.2), tients with tyrosinemia type I is due to the treatment the last enzyme in the pathway of tyrosine metabo- or is an effect of the disease remained undetermined. lism (Fig. 1). This lack of functional FAH leads to Sociability and cognition of tyrosinemia type I accumulation of deleterious metabolites that can (FAHmut) mice was investigated and compared to cause liver failure and fatality. Treatment with NTBC wildtype mice treated with NTBC (WT-NTBC) and (Nitisinone) blocks the enzyme 4- wildtype mice drinking water (WT-water) in order to 1 Perpetua Volume 1, Issue 1 discern the cause of these issues. It has been shown of fumarylacetoacetate into fumarate and acetoace- that mice with tyrosinemia type I are unable to re- tate, and is catalyzed by fumarylacetoacetate (FAH). spond effectively to change, take longer to learn and This is the enzyme mutated in tyrosinemia type I. In make more errors compared to WT-NTBC and WT- the case of tyrosinemia type I (TTI) where the en- water mice in the