West Lafayette, Indiana THEMATIC CATEGORIES’ TOP ABSTRACTS Life Sciences “I was working out daily prior to COVID”: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Physical Health of Purdue Graduate Students by Lauren Heniff (Talk #52) Social Sciences/Humanities/Education Abandoned Sentinels: An Analysis of the Past, Present, and Future of Former Armed Forces Institutions by Jacob Slater (Poster #272) Physical Sciences Examining the Geologic History of Mercury’s Caloris Basin using Mapped Faulting Patterns within Superposed Volcanic Flows by Evan King and Aubrey Bennett (Talk #89) Mathematics/Computational Sciences Food Classification by Robert Sego, Cole Stecyk, Aryan Tyagi, Prekshaa Veeraragavan, Alexander Vives, Tiffany Yu, and Alex Dufour (Poster #96) Innovative Technology/Entrepreneurship/Design Development and Optimization of a Thermal Transfer System for Simulating Lunar Temperatures and Possible Scenarios by Nathan Stonitsch (Talk #39) PanCan Diagnosed (a miRNA Approach): Using Feature Selection, Ensemble Algo- rithms, and Interpretability for the Early Diagnosis and Personalized Treatment of Pan- creatic Cancer by Siya Goel (Poster #216) Thematic awards are chosen and presented by the Purdue University Libraries & School of Information Studies THANK YOU TO THE CONFERENCE SPONSORS College of Agriculture College of Liberal Arts Purdue Archives & College of Education College of Pharmacy Special Collections College of Engineering College of Science Purdue Polytechnic Institute College of Health & Honors College Purdue University Libraries Human Sciences & School of Information Krannert School of Studies Management SPECIAL APPRECIATION TO THE CONFERENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE’S UNIT DELEGATES FOR ORGANIZING THIS EVENT THEMATIC CATEGORIES’ TOP ABSTRACTS Life Sciences “I was working out daily prior to COVID”: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Physical Health of Purdue Graduate Students by Lauren Heniff (Talk #52) Social Sciences/Humanities/Education Abandoned Sentinels: An Analysis of the Past, Present, and Future of Former Armed Forces Institutions by Jacob Slater (Poster #272) Physical Sciences Examining the Geologic History of Mercury’s Caloris Basin using Mapped Faulting Patterns within Superposed Volcanic Flows by Evan King and Aubrey Bennett (Talk #89) Mathematics/Computational Sciences Food Classification by Robert Sego, Cole Stecyk, Aryan Tyagi, Prekshaa Veeraragavan, Alexander Vives, Tiffany Yu, and Alex Dufour (Poster #96) Innovative Technology/Entrepreneurship/Design Development and Optimization of a Thermal Transfer System for Simulating Lunar Temperatures and Possible Scenarios by Nathan Stonitsch (Talk #39) Thematic awards are chosen and presented by the Purdue University Libraries & School of Information Studies THANK YOU TO THE CONFERENCE SPONSORS College of Agriculture College of Liberal Arts Purdue Archives & College of Education College of Pharmacy Special Collections College of Engineering College of Science Purdue Polytechnic Institute College of Health & Honors College Purdue University Libraries Human Sciences & School of Information Krannert School of Studies Management SPECIAL APPRECIATION TO THE CONFERENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE’S UNIT DELEGATES FOR ORGANIZING THIS EVENT Oral Presentation Abstract Number: 1 :: Life Sciences College of Agriculture Epigenetic Factors Involved in Photoreceptor Survival Author(s): Kimaya Bakhle, College of Agriculture Abstract: By studying how factors involved in gene expression regulate neuron survival, we can better understand the underlying causes of neurodegenerative diseases, such as age-related eye diseases. In the Weake lab, we are interested in understanding how gene expression regulates survival during aging in photoreceptor neurons. Drosophila melanogaster shares about 60% of their genetic material with humans, making it an ideal model for studying the epigenetic mechanisms of these diseases. In this project, the crosstalk between chromatin and transcription changes during aging, as well as their role in photoreceptor survival is investigated. A preliminary RNA interference (RNAi) screen was carried out to identify regulators of histone methylation necessary for photoreceptor survival throughout aging. Optic neutralization was used to visually assess retinal degeneration in flies aged D10 to D40. From the results, it will be determined whether loss of these genes cause retinal degeneration. To account for phenotypes that could arise from expression of the RNAi machinery necessary for tissue-specific expression of the transgenes Dcr-2 and Gal4, an RNAi line was used that targets the mCherry, a gene not present in the fly genome. A fly line overexpressing LacZ will serve as a negative control for fly lines overexpressing a mutant form of the transcription factor Clock. Mentor(s): Vikki Weake, College of Agriculture, Biochemistry Juan Jauregui, Purdue University Oral Presentation Abstract Number: 2 :: Life Sciences College of Agriculture Behavioral traits associated with thermoregulatory responses and reproductive success in maternal- line gilts Author(s): Kristen Cleaver, College of Agriculture Abstract: Heat stress (HS) negatively impacts reproductive efficiency in pigs and identifying traits that predict HS sensitivity and future reproductive success under HS conditions may improve productivity. This study evaluated whether behavior and thermoregulatory responses to HS could identify pigs that would have reduced reproductive success under HS conditions. Ninety-six replacement gilts (108.8± 10.4 kg BW; 8 repetitions; 9d/repetition) were tested. Pigs were housed (2/pen) in thermoneutral (TN; 22.6± 1.6⁰C) conditions and behavior was recorded for 5 d. On d 6, gilts were subjected to open field and novel object tests as indicators of coping style. After behavior testing, all gilts were weighed, vaginally implanted with monitors to measure body temperature (TB), and individually housed in an environmental room. From d 7 to 9, all gilts were exposed to cyclic HS (28.2 ± 0.97°C nighttime to 36.9 ± 1.9°C daytime; 46 ± 15.4% relative humidity). Ad libitum feed intake was recorded daily. During the HS challenge, respiration rate (RR) was recorded every 2 h from 0800 to 2000 h. Gilts were then transported to the Purdue University swine farm and bred under summer HS conditions (253±29 d of age) to evaluate litter characteristics. A linear increase in RR (P<0.05; R=0.20) and hours to max TB (P=0.02; R=0.25) versus time to approach the novel object was observed. Piglets weaned decreased quadratically (P<0.01; R=0.45) as vocalizations during the open field test increased. In conclusion, pigs that responded better to HS took longer to contact a novel object and displayed more desirable litter characteristics. Mentor(s): Jay Johnson, College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences Luiz Brito, Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University Brooklyn Bitting, Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University Jeremy Marchant-Forde, USDA-ARS Livestock Behavior Research Unit Oral Presentation Abstract Number: 3 Withdrawn. Oral Presentation Abstract Number: 4 :: Life Sciences College of Agriculture R-loops and DNA damage in Aging Photoreceptor Neurons Author(s): Alyssa Easton, College of Engineering, Honors College Abstract: Abstract redacted. Mentor(s): Hana Hall, College of Agriculture, Biochemistry Oral Presentation Abstract Number: 5 :: Life Sciences College of Agriculture Effect of Rising CO2 Emissions on Tomato Immunity Relationship with Endophyte Presentation can be found under Poster Abstract # 277. Oral Presentation Abstract Number: 6 :: Life Sciences College of Agriculture Investigation into The Structural and Functional Effects on Phage Proteins based on Cross-Genome Differences/Mutations Author(s): William Hadjis, College of Agriculture Autumn Denny, College of Engineering Julia Mollenhauer, College of Engineering Abstract: Phages, viruses that infect bacteria, act as naturally occurring models in genomics and protein studies due to their small genomes and overall simplicity. Understanding phage genetics is a promising pursuit that opens new opportunities and applications in medicine, food processes, and agriculture. Phages have genomes that are dense in encoding genes, so they provide ample data for studying the relationship between genetic material and protein synthesis. The association between the structures and functions of proteins is observed across all living things; even small changes to a can significantly alter the shape of the encoded protein. Our investigation aimed to examine the relationship between genetic mutations and their resulting polypeptides in phages. To do this, we implemented computational methods to locate cross-genome differences in comparison to a phage, Giraffe, before modeling and compared their respective amino acid outputs using the PyMol molecular modelling program. The amino acids that result from any mutations are compared to determine changes in polarity; polarity of the different amino acids have notable effect on the folding of a protein. We predicted that mutations affecting the first two base pairs in a codon will more often result in nonsynonymous amino acid substitutions and significantly impact the structure of a protein. Mentor(s): Lauren Novak, College of Agriculture, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Kari Clase, College of Agriculture, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Oral Presentation Abstract Number: 7 :: Social Sciences/Humanities/Education College of Agriculture Connecting Communities with the Shoreline Author(s): Megan