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Jazz And Music Diplomacy In The Cold War, Mitch Rogers

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In the Soviet Union in the 1950s, everyone jammed. While High Soviet officials worked their hardest to jam the incoming Voice of America and Music U.S.A. radio broadcasts, Soviet musicians and youth jammed underground to the hot swing .and blue harmonies of American jazz. Jazz, with its rebellious syncopations, rogue tunings, and egalitarian arrangements, connected with the Soviet people. Amicable cultural exchange between the two superpowers began only in 1958, and even then it only took place in small, mitigated steps. Knowing the Soviet proclivity for American music, American statesmen saw the opportunity to replace the stodgy, pedantic propaganda …

Foreword, Tyler Balli

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The world we live in is far from perfect. Prejudice, misunderstanding, and fear of the "other"-whoever that other might be-still abound. Perhaps some of these characteristics are simply human and will never be eradicated entirely. But I truly believe that one remedy for these feelings is the study of history. After all, history takes us to times and places completely foreign to us. It requires us to cry to understand people's thoughts, fears, motivations, and reasoning even though they are completely different from our own. Well-researched and well-written history helps us remove labels and discard oversimplifications and generalizations, helping us …

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Determining The Role Of Noncoding Insertion And Deletion Mutations In Lung Cancer, Zachary Everton, Matthew H. Bailey

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Background

● Cancer is a disease in which cells grow and divide at an uncontrolled rate and cause damage to surrounding tissue and is caused by mutations in the cells’ DNA.

● Though some cancer-causing mutations are inherited from parents, most cancer-causing mutations emerge over the course of a person’s life and are localized to the tumor. These localized mutations are also known as somatic mutations.

● The human genome is over 6.27 billion base pairs long and cannot be read from end to end; instead it is read in small pieces that are aligned to best-matching sequences in the …

Cell Death, Inflammation, And Extracellular Vpr In The R77q Mutation Of Vpr In Hiv-1, Amanda Carlson, Brad K. Berges, J. Brandon Lopez

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

One potential target for therapeutic treatment of HIV-1 is Viral Protein R (Vpr), an accessory protein encoded by the HIV-1 genome. Vpr plays an important role in pathogenesis and replication for HIV and is involved in transcription, the pre-integration complex, cell cycle arrest, and cell death via apoptosis. Mutations in this protein dramatically impact the rate of AIDS progression compared to the wild type (WT) version of Vpr. The Vpr polymorphism R77Q is associated with the Long Term Non Progressor (LTNP) phenotype. Regular AIDS onset is 5-7 years for WT virus and 10 or more years for R77Q. These differences …

The Effect Of Epicatechin And Its Microbial Metabolites On Differing Pathways Of Beta-Cell Death In Type I And Type Ii Diabetes, Aubree Bench, Jeffery S. Tessem

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

The pathogenesis of type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with progressive beta-cell death and loss of insulin secretion, making functional betacell mass preservation a priority in the treatment of diabetes. T1D beta-cell death is primarily mediated by autoimmune exposure of beta-cells to proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1b, TNFa, and IFNg (1, 2). Beta-cell loss in T2D, however, is characterized by damage caused by a destructive metabolic state of persistent hyperglycemia and elevated free fatty acid (FFA) levels (2, 3). Our lab has shown that the monomeric flavonoid epicatechin and its metabolites hippuric acid, homovanillic acid, and …

Understanding The Impact Of Post-Translational Modifications On Nucleosome Positioning, Bronwyn Kennington-Nitz, Steven Johnson, Sophie Lo, Michael Mann, David Bates

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

The placement of histones along DNA is known to be a significant factor in determining gene expression in eukaryotic cells, with post-translational modifications (or PTMs) helping modulate gene expression by acting as an intermediate to other factors. Using the Lys>Gln and Acetyl-Lys mutations of H3, our working hypothesis is that acetylation will decrease the overall strength of positioning, and that mutations will have an identical or nearly identical effect on nucleosome positioning.

Understanding Refractory Status Epilepticus With Novel Hd-Mea Technology, Isaac Stubbs, Ryley Parrish, Melissa Blotter, Max Holmes, Skyler Russell

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

3rd Place Oral Presentation

Status Epilepticus (SE) is a severe medical condition marked by continuous seizures lasting over 5 minutes. When SE becomes resistant to anticonvulsant drugs, the condition is known as Refractory Status Epilepticus (RSE), which lacks effective treatments and has a mortality rate of 38%. RSE lacks effective treatments partially due to our limited understanding of the mechanisms that lead to patient antiepileptic drug resistance.

Solving The Hiv Enigma: Investigating Mutant Long-Term Non-Progressor Vpr Strands, Megan Knight, Bradford Berges

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Different variants of HIV:

➢ Rapid Progressor: aggressive symptoms, quick progression into AIDs

➢ Wild-Type: regular symptoms, regular progression into AIDs

➢ Long-Term Non-Progressor: little-

Jaspine B And The Sea Sponge That Fights Cancer, Jack Davis, Jared Barrott, Adriene Pavek, Farjana Afrin, Sameena Mateen, Brendon Meldrum, Rocio Rojas, Pamela Diaz, Megan Condie, Ali Aghazadeh-Habashi, Srinath Pashikanti

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Jaspine B is a natural marine product, derived from the sea sponge, Jaspis, found in some tropical climates. Jaspine B has been shown to be an effective treatment in some cancers with an upregulation of sphingomyelin synthase. This research aimed to understand the effects of Jaspine B on synovial sarcoma, and investigate its potential to be used as targeted treatment in other cancers that have an upregulation of sphingomyelin synthase

Ivermectin Activates Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons To Enhance Dopamine Release, Tyler Love, Jordan Yorgason, Hillary Wadsworth, Alicia Warnecke, Joshua Barlow, Emma Steimle, Joakim Ronström, Pacen Williams, Christopher Galbraith, Jared Baldridge, Michael Jakowec, Daryl Davies

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• The substantia nigra compacta releases dopamine into the dorsal striatum, a brain region associated with movement and motivation

• Cholinergic interneurons in the dorsal striatum can directly cause dopamine release

• IVM is a known positive allosteric modulator of P2X4 receptors as well as nicotinic

• acetylcholine receptors

• Ivermectin is known to affect many dopamine linked behaviors, but no studies have been conducted to determine if Ivermectin is able to modulate dopamine release

Is Edna Concentration In Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Affected By Nanotube Coating?, Brooklyn Z. Jones, Bradford K. Berges, Lucy C. Bowden

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

1st Place Oral Presentation

• ~30% of artificial joint failure is caused by infection1

• 80-100% of patients who receive external fixator pins will experience an infection2

• Most of these infections are caused by Staphylococcus aureus

• S. aureus forms biofilms (surface-associated collections of bacteria) that are extremely difficult to treat

• eDNA provides structure and protection to the biofilm

In Search Of Super-Scents For Carnivore Attraction, Megan Doxey

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Find chemical scents that are more effective at alluring North American predators than what is commercially available, then isolate the scent’s chemical structure to create better trapping lures.

Fish Tattoos: The Evolutionary Cost Of Black Spot Disease, Eric J. Morris, Jerry B. Johnson

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

QUESTION

Does Black Spot Disease increase the fitness of male fishes?

HYPOTHESIS

We hypothesize that Black Spot Disease will increase the fitness of male fishes. We predict that female fishes will exhibit an association preference for infected males over healthy males when given the choice between the two. This observed preference would suggest that BSD is advantageous for male fishes

Myofiber Necrosis To Electrical Stimulation-Induced Damage: Influence Of Menstrual Cycle Phase, Collin Deshler, Brandon Pfeifer, Mohadeseh Ahmadi, Werner N. Hunter, Madeline N. Nielsen, Krista S. Shimizu, Robert D. Hyldahl

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• Estrogen plays important roles in women's overall health, including cardiovascular health, metabolism, bone, connective tissue, and skeletal muscle.
• Existing evidence, mostly based on studies with ovariectomized rodents or post-menopausal women suggests that estrogen is essential for normal muscle recovery, growth, and function.
• Evidence indicates that estrogen plays a role in facilitating skeletal muscle regeneration by activating satellite cells.
• There is a lack of research on the impact of estrogen levels on skeletal muscle damage and recovery in premenopausal populations who have fluctuating levels of estrogen throughout their menstrual cycle.
• The purpose of this study was to determine how menstrual cycle …

Cold And Traffic Tolerance Of Hybrid Bermudagrass And Kentucky Bluegrass In A Cool Season, Arid Climate, Caden J. Seely, H. Burgin, N. Hansen, G. Wear, Bryan G. Hopkins

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• Due to climate change, warm-season Hybrid Bermudagrass (HBG) is beginning to be grown in northern climates.
• This is potentially desirable because it may use less water than traditional species.
• However, there is concern regarding winter kill and excessively long dormant periods.
• There is particular interest in HBG with regards to sports turf, but there is concern with its ability to withstand heavy traffic damage when grown in a cool-season climate.

Objective: Assess the cold and traffic tolerance of common Bermudagrass [CBG; Cynodon dactylon (L) Pers.] and seven triploid interspecific hybrids (HBG; Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis Burtt Davy) in …

Using Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi To Help Establish And Increase Vigor Of Plants In Mineland Soils, Melissa Burrell, Brad Geary, Shannon Nelson, Josh Moroni De Santiago Lazalde, Scott Kent, Matthew Madsen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• Vegetation establishment in areas impacted by mining can be difficult due to a lack of beneficial soil microbes.
• The introduction of soil mutualists, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), may improve mineland revegetation efforts. AMF forms a mutually beneficial relationship with plants to aid in nutrient absorption and improve water uptake.
• Practitioners commonly need to decide where to source their AMF. Locally collected AMF requires effort to collect and process, but this source should be adapted to the restoration site. Commercial products are easy to obtain, but their strains may not be suitable for the environment they are being placed …

Understanding The Molecular Phenotype Of Obesity-Associated Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma In The Context Of The Obesity Paradox, Elisa Mcrae, Joseph Wride, Carter Norton, Matthew Tufts, Connor Peterson, Badí Quinteros, Olivia Rodriguez, Alejandro Sanchez

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most prevalent histologic subtype of renal cell carcinoma in the US, constituting 85% of cases, with an estimated 69,000 new cases in 2023.
• Obese patients have an elevated risk of developing ccRCC.
• Despite the increased risk, obese patients with ccRCC paradoxically exhibit better outcomes compared to normal-weight patients, known as the “obesity paradox.”
• Understanding the molecular phenotype of obesity-associated ccRCC is the focus of this study.

The Cold Hard Truth: Cryopreserved Tissue Is Superior To Ffpe Tissue In Molecular Analysis, Delaney Anderson, Jeffrey Okojie, Mackenzie Burr, Peyton Worley, Isaac Parker, Jack Davis, Bridger Kearns, Jared Barrott

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Personalized cancer care requires molecular characterization of neoplasms. While the research community accepts frozen tissues as the gold standard analyte for molecular assays, the source of tissue for all testing of tumor tissue in clinical cancer care comes almost universally from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPE). Specific to genomics assays, numerous studies have shown significant discordance in genetic information obtained from FFPE samples and cryopreserved or flash frozen samples. To explain the discordance between FFPE samples and cryopreserved samples, a head-to-head comparison between FFPE and cryopreserved tissues was performed to analyze the DNA yield, DNA purity and DNA quality in terms …

Valproic Acid Alters Larval Behavior And Neuronal Composition Within The Optic Tectum Of Zebrafish, Bailey J. Calder, Jacquelyne C. Howell, Michael J. Zeyer, Annalie Martin, Sierra C. Dixon, Shane M. Lilya, Jason M. Hansen, Arminda Suli

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

The mammalian superior colliculus (SC) and its non-mammalian homolog–the optic tectum (OT)–are midbrain structures that integrate multimodal sensory inputs and guide involuntary movements in response to relevant environmental cues. Recent work has drawn strong connections between the functions of the SC/OT and behavioral deficits observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), thus implicating this structure as a possible site affected in ASD. Since fetal exposure to valproic acid (VPA) has been associated with increased prevalence of ASD in humans, and ASD-like phenotypes in animal models, we exposed embryonic zebrafish to VPA to investigate the connection between ASD and OT development. In …

The Biomechanics Of Ursine Predation: Investigating The Force Generation And Mechanical Properties Of Bear Claws And Teeth In Predatory Behavior, Katie Dooley, Megan Doxey, Josh Jewell, Tom Smith

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• Studied over 2,200 human-bear conflicts in North America and witnessed the shear force that bears can exert to access food and eliminate any threats.
• Polar bears at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City punctured and bent high density polyurethane (HDPE) objects when playing with them.
• This prompted research into the force it takes bears to puncture objects with their canines and claws.

The Changing Tumor Microenvironment Of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Mackenzie Hansen, Kim O'Neill, Qin Zhou, Yoko Derose, Magdalena Kovacsovics, Benjamin Brintz, Benjamin L. Witt, Siwen Hu-Lieskovan

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death in the United States, and non-small cell (NSCLC) is the most common type. An increasingly prevalent treatment in the last few years for NSCLC has been immunotherapy. However, for immunotherapy to be the most effective, we need to have a better understanding of how the immune system interacts with cancer in all stages. Specifically, we need to know where the immune cells reside, how they interact with each other, and how these populations change as the disease progresses. To define the tumor microenvironment, we stained 27 whole tumor slides with …

The Effect Of Percussive Massage On Collagen Gene Expression In Skeletal Muscle, James Bartling, Robert D. Hyldahl, Emma Schaugaard, Mohadeseh Ahmadi

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

INTRODUCTION

• Exercise is a critical aspect of healthy living due in part to its effects of muscle adaptation, which are largely regulated by alterations in gene expression

• Sedentary behavior can be required by diverse life circumstances, suggesting a need to reproduce the beneficial effects of exercise by an alternative means

• Like exercise, percussive massage introduces a mechanical strain on the muscle, which could potentially replicate a similar remodeling response of the extracellular matrix (ECM). However, this has not yet been studied

• Collagen 1,3,&4 are major components of the ECM that adapt in response to exercise, and …

Mmappr2: An Improved Bioinformatics Approach To Find Novel Genes, Aiden Cardall, Jonathon T. Hill, Kyle Johnsen, Connor Ward, Maliha Tasnim, Jared Taylor

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Introduction

• New genes are commonly found by randomly inducing mutations in model organisms.

• Mapping the mutations to the genome to find novel genes is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.

• We created a bioinformatics program, MMAPPR, to automate this process.

• Here, we introduce a new algorithm, MMAPPR2, which requires little to no bioinformatics knowledge to use.

• MMAPPR2 makes several improvements that allow it to identify genes more rapidly and precisely.

• MMAPPR2 will aid the rapid identification of genes in a wide range of species and developmental systems.

Leucine Lock: A Diagnostic Tool To Revolutionize Rapid Antigen Testing, Kaitlyn Robinson, Jonathon Hill, Benjamin Johnson, Matt Goff

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• The current field of rapid testing uses antigen tests that are ELISA-based.

• ELISA tests are expensive and can only provide results for high-antigen loads. (asymptomatic patients and/or low-antigen samples generate inaccurate results).1

• We aim to provide a cheaper rapid test that produces both quantitative and qualitative results.

Changes In Environmental Conditions Affect The Two Isoforms Of Snap-25 Differently, Joseph Jackson, Dixon J. Woodbury, Tanner M. Blocker, Samuel W. Shumway, Jarom S. Sumsion, Thomas Weed, Jason Carlson, Nathan Mumford, Ryan Poland

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

In the brain, neurons communicate via releasing and detecting neurotransmitters. Release occurs through exocytosis, following fusion of synaptic vesicles to neuronal cell membranes. This process is driven by formation of a dynamic quaternary protein structure known as the SNARE complex. SNAP-25 contributes two alpha helical domains to this complex. Neurons express SNAP-25 in two distinct isoforms, SNAP-25A (25A) and SNAP-25B (25B). These two isoforms vary by only 9 amino acids and are expressed differently depending on brain region and the developmental stage of the neuron [1]. The primary structures of 25A and 25B and their effect on SNARE complex formation …

Cattle Resource Selection On Late Fall Sagebrush Steppe Habitat In Idaho, United States, Larry Cole Kempton, April Hulet, Jim Sprinkle, Randy Larsen, Jameson Brennan, Dan Lauritzen, Sawyer Fonnesbeck, Justin Hatch

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Introduction Targeted cattle grazing is increasingly recognized as an effective method for controlling invasive grasses like cheatgrass in sagebrush-steppe ecosystems1. However, there's a lack of understanding about cattle distribution and their preference for invasives during the dormant season. One statistical model that provides insights into cattle distribution and the selection of resources (e.g., vegetation) is the Resource Selection Function (RSF) model2. Our research objective is to utilize a resource selection function to predict the probability of cattle selecting a particular location, in our case areas with higher cheatgrass abundance, based on environmental variables. The development of a resource selection function …

Carbon-Infiltrated Carbon Nanotube Surfaces Affect Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilm Development, Jenny Finlinson, Lucy C. Bowden, Bradford K. Berges

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• ~30% of surgical implant failure is caused by infection1

• 10-23% of all implant-associated bone and joint infections are caused by gram-negative bacteria2

• Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a gram-negative bacterium, forms biofilms (bacterial communities encased in a matrix) that are extremely difficult to treat

Effects Of Grass Species And Soil Types On Early Successional Forb Species, Raechel Hunsaker, April Hulet, Matthew Madsen, Mallory Hinton, Derek Tilley

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Many early successional plant species have been considered weeds because of their lack of forage value for livestock (Whitson and Burrill, 2009). However, these early successional plant species have the potential to aid rangeland restoration in a variety of ways including:

• Food source for pollinators (Dumroese et al., 2016).

• Soil partitioning for climax communities of native perennials (Tilley et al., 2022).

• Competition against invasive annual species (Leger et al., 2014). To determine which early colonizing (or pioneer) species have the greatest restoration potential, interspecific competitive interactions should be evaluated.

Role Models V. Knowledge: Should We Use Different Evolution Teaching Strategies For Students With Varying Levels Of Scientific Reasoning Skills?, Kenny Harrington, Jamie Jensen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

What We KNOW:

Learning the mechanisms of evolution (sometimes), i.e., Knowledge…

and having a Role Model present both serve to increase evolution acceptance.

Some have suggested that scientific reasoning ability predicts evolution acceptance, while others refute this.

We HYPOTHESIZE that students’ scientific reasoning ability moderates the effect of Knowledge on evolution acceptance. We PREDICT that those with higher reasoning skills will find Knowledge more compelling than Role Models.