 Abstracts 
Individual Projects 
combines Probabilistic Analysis of microfluidic system
models with Bayesian Network decision-making methods.
Together, the two analysis techniques were used in solving
for the desired parameters based on a known set of constraints. Given a target range of output values, such as hydrostatic pressure, velocity, and shear stress, the input
variables, including geometry of the channel (height, width,
and length) and flow rate were predicted with the lowest
probability of failure. Once the system was designed, the
results were validated through a Finite Element Simulation.
The resulting environment can be further enhanced by the
addition of experimental data that can help determine
other design criteria for improved 3D tissue growth.
Effect of Bacteria on the Domoic Acid Production of
Pseudo-nitzschia
Carl Abinader
Mentors: Sunny Jiang, Janet Rowe
Toxic blooms of the diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia have
been increasing in intensity and toxicity worldwide, and
this pattern is expected to increase even more in the future.
Pseudo-nitzschia produces domoic acid (DA), an agent that
can cause amnesia, neurological disorders, and even death
if taken in low concentrations. Mammals such as sea lions
and humans compared to other animals are sensitive to
DA that bio-accumulates in aquatic animals, causing yearly
millions of dollars in losses for sea-food sellers. The production of DA is related to, first, the diatom species that
produces it and, second, to a network of interactions between the diatoms, the bacteria associated with them, viruses, and other algae. Hence some Pseudo-nitzschia spp. are
toxic in certain environments and in others they are not.
We hypothesize that bacteria can influence these diatoms
through signaling molecules (autoinducers) causing them
to produce excess DA. To evaluate the effect of bacteria
and autoinducers on the production of DA, we selected
two species of Pseudo-nitzschia, P.fraudulenta, which produces
low concentrations of DA when compared to the other
species, P. australis (a high DA producer). Axenic (without
bacteria) cultures were generated through the use of antibiotics and confirmed through microscopy and negative
growth in bacteria growth media. Growth curve comparisons demonstrate that Pseudo-nitzschia grows faster when in
the presence of native bacteria, which is in agreement with
other research studies. Results of experiments examining
the direct effect of two autoinducers on DA production in
these same cultures will be presented.
Bioethanol Production from Xylose Using Genetically
Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Andres Aguirre
Mentor: Nancy Da Silva
Bioethanol production from complex biomass is highly
desired for it has the capability to use agricultural waste,
which is abundant. Complex biomass is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Xylose is the major pentose sugar in hemicellulose, making it an attractive raw
material for the production of ethanol. Our research focuses on engineering the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for
xylose uptake and metabolism, via the pentose phosphate
pathway (PPP). In this study, we introduced three genes
coding for the enzymes xylose reductase (XR), xylose dehydrogenase (XDH) and xylulokinase (XK) from Pichia
Stipitis into a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with an alcohol
dehdrogenase gene deletion . In addition, we constructed a
variant of the XR with a published mutation (R276H) to
study the effects of mutation on the cofactor balance
within the strain and thereby, on xylose metabolism. Finally, we compared the two S. cerevisiae strains carrying XR
(either wild-type or mutant), XDH and XK, for the growth
rate on media with varying xylose concentrations, and
ethanol productivity under aerobic, micro-aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The behavior of these strains can be
used for comparison with other S. cerevisiae strains expressing promising XR mutants. The results of this work will be
applicable to combined-bioprocessing of hemicellulose
using the engineered yeast strains.
Enhanced Design of a Microfluidic Platform Using
Probabilistic Bayesian Decision Making
Parinaz Abiri
Mentor: Abraham Lee
In vitro growth and development of 3D microtissue requires the establishment of a suitable environment capable
of inducing vascularization of the tissue for nutrient delivery. Various biological and physical parameters must be
considered in building this system. The focus of this project has been on the design of a microfluidic platform; this
includes the geometric design of the platform microchannels and the flow parameters that stimulate the directed
motion of cells through a tissue chamber. These parameters were computed using a novel integrative process that
Effect of Black Raspbery Extracts and Components
on Differentiation in HL60 Cell Line
Brian Agustin
Mentor: John Fruehauf
We tested the hypothesis that black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) extracts and components can induce HL60 leukemia cells to undergo differentiation. Black raspberries have
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shown anticancer activity in esophageal and colorectal cancers, so our intent was to determine if those effects were
applicable to a leukemic cell line. We compared the effects
of various black raspberry extracts and components on
HL60 differentiation using the nitro blue tetrazolium
(NBT) reduction assay. Cells were also treated with retinoic acid as a positive control and in combination with
black raspberry compounds and retinoic acid to determine
if a synergistic relationship was present. Most compounds
showed differentiation activity and kuromanin chloride
showed increased effectiveness when used with retinoic
acid. Black raspberry extracts and components are viable
anticancer agents and the synergistic relationship is promising towards increasing efficiency of current cancer treatments.
The Effects of Access and Quality in Medical Related
Services on the Academic Achievement of Urban
Youth: The Perceptions of Adolescents
Mary Ahmadyar
Mentors: Mary Cashen, Elizabeth van Es
This study analyzes secondary students’ perceptions on the
quality and availability of health care and medical services
and how health care influences their academic success.
Prior research shows that insurance disparities, as well as
reduced access and use of health care contribute to negative health factors. In adolescents, negative health factors
are seen to have detrimental effects on academic performance and academic success. This research suggests that
adolescents in economically disadvantaged settings experience a wide range of factors hindering their access to
health related services. This study sought to understand the
challenges and barriers that keep adolescents from accessing health related services and the effect this has on their
academic performance and academic success. Personal
interviews were conducted, where students described their
own experiences seeking health related services in their
communities. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for
common themes. The following major themes were found
in the study: financial challenges limited the accessibility of
healthcare and medical services, a pervasive lack of quality
and resources offered in local neighborhoods, refusal to
use medical resources when given the opportunity, and the
use of alternative options for health related practices and
treatments. This study hopes to provide possible implications toward enhancing the educational success of urban
youth, and empowering health care professionals to improve health care accessibility for students in high needs
communities.
Microfinance: A Solution to Poverty?
Danya Akbar
Mentor: Victoria Beard
Many international development agencies and actors view
microfinance as a “magical bullet” capable of alleviating
poverty. Because of its simple lending model and ease of
implementation, it has become a widespread tool in efforts
to alleviate poverty globally. There is little doubt that such
efforts provide the poor with much needed financial services that help them engage in modernizing economic systems; however, the potential of microfinance to reduce
poverty effectively in the long term is far from substantiated. A critical examination of Tameer Microfinance Bank
in Pakistan shows that while this program does provide
financial services to those previously denied access, the
image of microfinance as a solution to poverty in the
global south is problematic. Specifically, the study demonstrates the limitations of microfinance as a result of its inability to ensure economic growth, the absence of a system
to ensure the proper use of loans, and the inability of
mechanisms to address the structural causes that create
and perpetuate poverty in Pakistan.
Subcellular Localization and Patterns of a SARSCoronavirus Nonstructural Protein
Marzieh Akhlaghpour
Mentor: Michael Buchmeier
The non-structural proteins, or nsps, are important parts
of the Coronavirus replicase which is needed for viral genome replication and transcription. For my project, I
wanted to understand the localization pattern of a single of
the severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, or
SARS, non-structural protein. This protein will be used in
future experiments. We performed transfections of a plasmid coding for the SARS-Coronavirus nonstructural protein
3 in HEK293T cells--a mammalian cell line. We performed
Western blots using an antibody against the nsp3 to show
that the protein was being expressed following transfection. We imaged the localization pattern of the transfected
protein using confocal microscopy. We saw that, when
transfected, the SARS-Coronavirus. Nonstructural protein 3
appears to localize in vesicles throughout the cytoplasm of
the cells. This agrees with what has been seen by other
groups in cells that have been infected by the SARSCoronavirus. This work will be used by the Buchmeier lab in
future experiments to see how the protein is affected by
other viral proteins.
Power Through Participation: Impacts of Youth
Involvement in Invisible Children
Aiesha Al-Inizi
Mentor: Richard Matthew
Although films have been engaging and inspiring audiences
throughout their history, new information and communi-
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cation technologies have opened up a whole new set of
opportunities for film to serve as an agent for social
change. One organization that has recently garnered attention for using film as tool for social change is Invisible
Children (IC). Founded in 2005, IC is both a media-based
organization and an economic development NGO with the
goal of raising awareness and meeting the needs of youth
affected by the ongoing war in central Africa. Although
IC’s development projects in Africa have been well documented, much less is known about the organization’s impact on the people who participate in their events,
campaigns, and programs. How does Invisible Children
develop soft power through its media and mobilization
efforts? And what are the impacts of participation on people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behavior? This paper presents preliminary findings from a study of Invisible
Children as an agent of soft power, with a focus on the
development of social capital and civic capacity in its supporters. Using survey data collected from 2,173 Invisible
Children supporters, analyses reveal patterns of exposure
and involvement in the organization as well as outcomes
related to intrapersonal, interpersonal, and civic/political
knowledge, attitudes, and actions. Results have implications, not only for other film campaigns, but for any organization trying to leverage media for social change.
increase physician confidence and accuracy in order to ensure patient safety. The hypothesis was that a formal training program that incorporated e-learning and bedside
training would lead to greater confidence, knowledge,
skills, and competence in bedside ultrasound compared to
apprentice based learning and similar to other formal training pathways. “Simulation Based Learners” (SBL), physicians with no formal training in bedside ultrasound,
completed the training and a survey of attitudes and confidence both before and after training. The “Expert” (EX)
group, formally trained physicians, and the “Traditional
Learners” (TL), physicians previously trained in an apprentice model, both took the e-learning knowledge test as well
as the survey before and after taking the tests. The study
showed that there was a significant difference in the self
reported level of prior training between the three groups:
SBL 2.8, TL 3.7, EX 4.1 on a scale of 1-5 (p=0.02*) but
that there was no difference in their interest level or perceived importance of bedside ultrasound. The curriculum
succeeded in training physicians as demonstrated by scores
on knowledge tests that significantly exceeded the comparison groups in cardiac and pulmonary subject matter
(cardiac score SBL, 79% , TL 73%, and EX 62%(
p=0.001*),: pulmonary scores 84%, 75%, and 72% respectively(p=0.02*), vascular scores 80%, 72%, 72% p=NS).
The SBL group gained confidence in overall skills while
both comparison groups lost confidence after taking the
test (p<0.00005).
From Affect to Action: The Use of Framing in
Documentary Films
Jazmine Alameddine
Mentor: Richard Matthew
Film is noted for its ability to emotionally engage viewers
about social and environmental issues more than other
mediums (e.g. billboards, brochures), yet moving viewers
from affect (e.g. feeling something) to action (e.g. doing
something) has proven more difficult. Millions of dollars
are spent each year on documentary films and associated
campaigns aimed at engaging viewers, yet little psychological work has been conducted in this area. This poster presents an initial framework drawn from psychological
theory for how film can maximize participation through
narrative, framing, and editing strategies. Through a content analysis of four documentary and two narrative issuebased films, the research team has created a set of strategies that can be used by filmmakers to design and edit their
films more efficiently to leverage their calls for social
change. Examples of these strategies from the analyzed
films will also be presented.
Children’s Relationship with Money
Jaime Allen
Mentor: Keith Murphy
Monetary exchanges have social implications that extend
past simply earning, spending and saving. The way in
which people handle money follows a set of implicit rules
that create a hierarchical relationship of power between
trading partners and dictate how trade takes place. Children have to learn about the social norms surrounding
money management and how to be smart consumers.
There is very little literature on how this socialization process actually takes place. This project is an attempt to fill in
this gap. An ethnographic study was carried out to learn
more about the relationship children have with money and
their development as conscious members of consumer
society. Five middle school students and their legal guardians were interviewed individually. To gain a better understanding of how children actually spend their money, they
were giving twenty dollars and were observed spending it.
When the project first began, it was believed the relationship children have with money is very limited and controlled. However, over the course of the study I found that
students in their pre-teen years are granted the freedom
learn how to wisely manage money. This socialization
Implementation and Assessment of a Formal
Curriculum for Bedside Ultrasound Training
Angela Allen
Mentor: Elizabeth Turner
The purpose of this study was to validate a standard educational curriculum for the teaching of bedside ultrasound to
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process is heavily influenced by parents’ teachings and
trends that are popular among their friends.
Radiation-Based
Water
Recycling
System
Configuration for a Crewed Exploration
Adan Amarillas
Mentor: Benjamin Villac
Current water filtration systems that support human presence in space, such as the ones in the International Space
Station, are expensive and difficult to implement in smaller
spacecraft. A water purification process using solar radiation has been proposed as an alternative that can reduce
this cost. This research explores the design of a system for
water filtration for the service module of a crewed exploration vehicle (CEV) that uses a radiation-based recycling
water treatment. In this concept, waste water is exposed to
solar radiation to sterilize and break down harmful chemicals to simplify the post-processing of the water for reuse.
The project explores various configurations of the water
exposure system as it would be integrated in the CEV. The
analysis was based on the MMOD (Micro-Meteorites and
Orbital Debris) and simplified radiation space environments only. A proposed system was designed and modeled
using CAD. The successful design of this system could
further enable crewed missions beyond Low Earth Orbits.
A Novel Coating for NiTi Alloy: PDMS with ZnO
Particles
Christina Amato
Mentor: Jim Earthman
Nitinol (NiTi) is a very biocompatible material used for
implants, although this material can cause allergies when
implanted as a result of the slow release of nickel ions into
the body. In order to prevent nickel ion release, NiTi is
often coated before being implanted. The coating must be
biocompatible and should enhance the properties of NiTi.
The goal of this work was to investigate the possibility of
coating NiTi samples with PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane)
and ZnO nanoparticles (nps). These materials were chosen
because of PDMS’s biocompatibility, flexibility, reduction
of cell adhesion, and reduction of thrombogenicity along
with ZnO’s ability to assist in wound healing. This coating
was applied using a two-part PDMS mix with the ZnO
particles mixed in and cured for one week and contain
about 15% by weight ZnO. Immersion testing was conducted for a period of five days in a physiological solution
at 37 °C in order to assess how well the coating prevents
Ni ions from reaching the surface. Results from these preliminary experiments will be discussed.
The Effects of Precipitation and Plant Source Population on Arthropod Communities Found on Artemesia
californica
Heros Amerkhanian
Mentor: Kailen Mooney
Many species are typically distributed over large geographical ranges, which present the local populations with unique
challenges that can require special adaptations. Since different populations of an individual species are likely
adapted to slightly different environmental conditions
across their range, their unique traits can be measured and
compared. In this study, we measured how different precipitation levels affected different source populations of
the shrub Artemesia californica and, in turn, impacted the
arthropod communities that inhabited these plants. A. californica plants collected from five populations across the
species range were grown at Newport Bay, with half of the
subjects receiving added water to simulate high precipitation and the other half receiving ambient rainfall (dry conditions). In May 2010 and 2011, all of the arthropods from
these plants were collected and identified. Over two years,
we identified over 36,000 individuals belonging to 237
morpospecies and representing 15 different orders. We
found that arthropod abundance was higher for the plants
receiving added water and varied on plants from the five
populations. Also, the arthropod density increased clinally
on plants from southern latitudes to northern latitudes and
was higher for plants receiving more water. Finally, the
total number of arthropod species did not vary between
the five populations, but was greater for the plants receiving more water. These results suggest that differences between the five source populations and their response to
changes in precipitation do have important impacts on
their associated arthropod communities.
Sub-Grid-Scale Treatment of Coarse Meshes for
Urban Flood Inundation Modeling
Adnan Anabtawi
Mentor: Brett Sanders
Urban flooding is an increasingly important research area
as the frequency and cost of urban flooding has amplified
due to factors such as population growth, climate change,
sea level rise, and decaying infrastructure. Modeling of urban flooding remains particularly difficult, however, because of the rise of preferential flow paths generated due
to the specifics of urban topography. Researchers have
historically used very fine meshes of the modeling domain
and large Manning n values to account for building effects.
Although these methods can produce results with good
accuracy, the computational efficiency of the model can be
compromised. In this proposal, a research plan for a
method of sub-grid treatment to solve the full shallowwater equations will be presented. I will develop a method
for the use of sub-grid elevation and roughness data for a
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coarse, computationally efficient mesh in three phases: (1)
the development of a mathematical model for Cartesian
meshes, (2) treatment for triangular structured/unstructured meshes, and (3) a case study of urban
flood inundation to assess model performance. To be successful, the results should demonstrate a high level of accuracy in predicting flood progression while permitting a
relatively coarse mesh to be used. By using the high spatial
data available from LiDAR, or other sources of bed elevation data, without having to restructure or fine-tune the
gridded domain, the method will provide modelers with
the ability to produce more accurate simulations at a substantially lower time and computational cost.
sometimes becomes a necessity for Muslim students at
universities. Using a naturalistic field approach, I observed
Muslim students praying on the UC Irvine campus. I also
conducted semi-structured interviews to gather information from students passing by the praying Muslims on their
opinions of and attitudes towards Muslims and praying in
the public university’s park. The participants, or the
passersby, were mostly Asians and Caucasians in their early
twenties. I found that most of the participants felt that
Muslims should be allowed to pray in the park. Also, participants expressed curiosity towards Islamic prayer, as
many of them were not familiar with it. This study demonstrates that despite widespread discrimination and hate
directed towards Islam and Muslims in the U.S., many
people at the public university are accepting of Muslims
performing their obligatory prayers in public.
Constraints on λCDM and Decaying Dark Matter
Cosmologies
Bryan Arant
Mentor: James Bullock
Predictions about the mass content of galaxies, as well as
the formation of galaxies, differs significantly from what is
physically observed owing to what seems to be an excess
of matter. Physicists have dubbed the excess matter “dark
matter,” owing to its elusive nature (it does not interact
with light). Simulations are run of the formation and evolution-of-structure in the universe in order to identify the
unknown features that dark matter possesses. Physicists
then compare these predictions to observations of galaxies.
In this study we test the stability of dark matter. We ran
cosmological simulations of structure with different types
of stable and unstable dark matter. We modified a galactic
simulation code, GADGET-2, to allow for an unstable
(that is, a decaying) dark matter model. By varying two
parameters: the kick velocity, vk, and the stable lifetime of
the dark matter, τ, we are able to identify changes in the
halo mass function, and the concentration that may be
useful to future physicists in observing dark matter. Further, we find that decaying dark matter does not have a
significant effect on the shape of the dark matter halos.
Reasoning Styles in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Imer Arnautovic
Mentor: Peter Ditto
The divide between Israelis and Palestinians often seems
intractable, and debate between these groups is often futile.
Supporters of both sides often accuse the other side of
being illogical; however, research has not investigated the
logical reasoning styles of these groups. Past research has
found cultural differences in the reliance on formal (vs.
intuitive) reasoning styles. For example, East Asians were
more susceptible to belief bias—or the tendency to judge
an argument’s validity based on its conclusion’s believability—than European Americans. However, differences in
reasoning styles have not been studied in the context of
the Middle East conflict. Accordingly, I drew a sample of
students from three different student organizations at UCI.
Each student filled out a survey containing 16 logical arguments. Half of the arguments contained conclusions that
Palestinian supporters found believable, and half contained
conclusions that Israeli supporters found believable. Participants also indicated their confidence in their judgments
and rated Israelis and Palestinians across several traits. The
results showed that both sides of the conflict showed a
belief bias effect. Namely, both groups made more errors
when the subjective believability of conclusions was pitted
against the validity of the arguments. In other words, it was
not the case that one group always outperformed the other
in logical reasoning; instead, it was the content of the logical arguments that determined which group was more susceptible to bias.
An Examination of Public Opinion of Islamic Prayer
in Aldrich Park
Mehwish Arif
Mentor: Salvatore Maddi
Approximately 7 million Muslims live in the U.S. Although
research on the effects of 9/11 on the Muslim population
is limited, studies have shown that American Muslims face
negative consequences in the form of discrimination from
fellow citizens due to the events of 9/11. Already the target of discrimination and racial profiling in public settings
such as universities and the job market, post-9/11, Muslims were increasingly portrayed negatively in the media.
The goal of this study was to investigate public opinion of
Muslims praying on a California public university campus.
Because prayers are obligatory in Islam, praying on campus
Development of Zwitterionic Polymer Nanoparticles
for Charge-Tunable “Plastic Antibodies”
Thomas Assali
Mentors: Kenneth Shea, Yusuke Yonamine
Synthetic polymer nanoparticles (NPs) that show high affinity and selectivity to target proteins are of great interest
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as “plastic antibodies.” However, proteins have complex
surfaces with unique positive and negative charge distributions. To develop high affinity plastic antibodies, it is essential to develop a complementary charged surface to the
protein. Our group has tried to prepare NPs with combinations of positively and negatively charged monomers,
but the method was not successful because of NP instability. Preliminary data revealed that NP stability is improved
with the introduction of a zwitterionic monomer. In this
study, I prepared a series of zwitterionic functionalized
NPs by changing the ratios of positively and negatively
charged monomers. Based on dynamic light scattering
(DLS) analysis, the NPs were found to be stable under a
variety of extreme solution conditions of pH, buffer, and
salt concentration. The NPs were evaluated for their affinities to various biomacromolecules. The affinity of the NPs
to a toxic bee venom peptide could be manipulated by
changing the ratio of positively and negatively charged
monomers. This strategy was used to produce high affinity
NPs that were screened for affinity to target proteins. In
conclusion, zwitterionic NPs can be used to produce a
series of stable charged synthetic polymer NPs. The charge
balance can be tuned to match the surface charge distribution of target biomolecules, resulting in NPs with a high
affinity for specific biomolecules.
Exploring Infectivity Patterns of Cyanophage on Diverse Synechococcus Strains
Nada Awad
Mentor: Jennifer Martiny
Cyanophage, viruses that infect cyanobacteria, play an important role in marine ecosystems, as they appear to be
responsible for a large fraction of the mortality of cyanobacteria. The cyanobacterium Synechococcus is a photosynthetic picoplankton, known to be an important contributor
to primary production and nitrogen fixation. Most cyanophage have been isolated on a limited number of Synechococcus strains, potentially biasing our view of their diversity.
For this project, I isolated a variety of viruses on a diverse
range of Synechococcus strains, using a most probable number (MPN) technique. I first asked whether viruses isolated
from one strain were also able to infect other closely related Synechococcus strains. Conversely, I examined whether
the suite of viruses that infect a particular strain of Synechococcus is infected by closely related viruses. To determine
the genetic similarity of the viruses, I conducted PCR reactions targeting the gene g43. To determine the susceptibility of each host strain, I inoculated a culture of the strain
with the virus and new media. No evidence for the first
hypothesis was found, as it was observed that viruses infected host strains in a random manner, regardless of how
genetically similar the strains were to the strain on which
the virus was isolated. The second hypothesis could not be
tested, as I could not amplify the g43 gene in many of the
virus isolates. This suggests that isolation on such a diverse
set of host strains, results in a very high diversity of viruses. Full genome sequencing of these isolates is likely to
reveal unknown cyanophage diversity as well as new targets for primers that would capture a broader diversity of
marine cyanophage.
Characterization of HIV Protease from Rare Viremic
Non-Progressors
Cameron Bader
Mentor: David Camerini
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection leads to
the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is
a severe immunodeficiency, which allows opportunistic
infections to proliferate and leads to death in the absence
of treatment in over 95% of infected individuals. Some
rare individuals, however, have low viral load and do not
progress to AIDS for 10 years or more due to infection
with defective virus or effective adaptive immune responses or both. Even more rare patients do not progress
to AIDS despite relatively high viral load, termed viral
non-progressors (VNPs). In the former, HIV-infected individuals present with forms of HIV protease, which allows normal replication, but with less pronounced
cytopathic effects. HIV-1 protease has been shown to
cleave several host proteins, one of which is procaspase 8,
resulting in the accumulation of a novel peptide called
Casp8p41, which induces apoptosis of the host cell. Previous studies have shown that certain protease mutations,
I54V and V82A, are linked to an increase in HIV-1 viral
load coincident with an increase in CD4+ T cell number in
patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy. To test for the
presence of these protease mutations, DNA from cells
infected with patient derived HIV-1 clones was extracted
and HIV-1 protease sequences were isolated by PCR. Sequenced HIV-1 DNA from one patient was analyzed and
was found to not contain I54V or V82A. Results from ten
more HIV-1 VNPs are pending and will help us determine
whether mutations within the protease gene are responsible for this rare, favorable response to HIV-1 infection.
Mathematical and Computational Analysis of Chomp
Salvador Badillo-Rios
Mentor: Sarah Eichhorn
The combinatorial game of Chomp will be analyzed, which
has both a geometric and arithmetic form. Geometrically,
2-dimensional Chomp is a two-player game where players
take turns in choosing a square box from an m x n board.
That box and those to its right and below it disappear. The
player who chooses the topmost-leftmost box loses.
Frederik Schuh expressed this game numerically by having
each player choose a proper divisor of a given natural
number N, except 1, and a multiple of a previously chosen
divisor. The number of prime factors the natural number
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contains determines the dimensions of Chomp (i.e., 2-D or
3-D), and the exponents of the primes in its prime factorization determine the dimensions of the board. It is well
known that the strategy stealing argument proves that the
first player has the winning strategy; however, the winning
strategy is still yet to be determined. The goal of this project is to deduce the first player’s winning strategy by creating an adapting learning program as a tool and then
recording the moves made when two computers play each
other. After playing thousands of games for a set of fixed
boards, the opening moves made by the first computer at
every game will be observed and the winning strategy for a
particular board will hopefully be deduced. These findings
will allow predictions to be made about potential opening
moves for the 3-dimensional version of Chomp.
Internalizing Symptoms and Sleep Quality in
Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Timothy Banh
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) present with more pervasive sleep disturbances compared to
neurotypically (NT) developing adolescents. Internalizing
symptoms are inwardly focused mood disturbances that
are characterized by anxious or depressive features. Adolescents with ASDs present with more internalizing symptoms compared to NT adolescents. In NT adolescents,
prior research has demonstrated significant associations
between poor sleep quality and internalizing symptoms.
Few studies have examined this link among adolescents
with ASDs despite the high preponderance of both sleep
and internalizing problems among these individuals. This
study hypothesized that: (1) adolescents with ASDs present
with higher degrees of both internalizing and sleep problems compared to the NT adolescents, (2) a positive correlation exists between poor sleep quality and internalizing
symptoms in both groups, and (3) the magnitude of these
associations is greater among adolescents with ASDs than
the NT adolescents. Preliminary analyses from parent- and
adolescent-completed questionnaires indicated that the
ASD group had poorer sleep quality and more anxiety
symptoms compared to the NT group. Sleep problems and
depressive symptoms showed modest positive correlations
in both groups. Sleep problems and anxious symptoms
showed no significant association in the NT group, but
had an inverse association in the ASD group. Examining
the relationship between poor sleep quality and internalizing symptoms can provide insight into the complexities of
comorbid symptomatology and may be of clinical utility
for health providers and parents who provide care for adolescents with ASDs suffering from these problems.
Reperfusion and Stimulation Both Play a Role in
Increasing Cortical Damage Three Hours PostOcclusion in a Rodent Stroke Model
Rahaf Baker
Mentor: Ron Frostig
Previous research in a rat model of ischemic stroke in
middle cerebral artery, MCA, has shown that whisker
stimulation delivered within two hours of ischemic insult
protected can protect from stroke damage in a rodent
model. Delivery of the same stimulation at three hours
post-insult (+3h animals) resulted in a larger infarct than
that sustained by un-stimulated animals. Current unpublished studies from our lab have also shown that increased
damage occurs after three hours of stroke induction regardless of whether or not blood flow returns to the region. The purpose of this pilot study is to understand
whether increased damage is simply a result of the duration
of ischemia by comparing animals that receive stimulation
followed by reperfusion three hours post-ischemia to animals that received stimulation only three hours following
ischemia. We created a situation where we could observe
the effect of blood flow return independent of stimulation
by performing a temporary MCA occlusion using an artery
clamp for three hours. Blood flow was then allowed to
return by removing the clamp, but no stimulation was delivered. In the second group, whisker stimulation was administered three hours following the permanent occlusion.
Laser speckle imaging was used to determine whether
blood flow return in both groups were comparable. Total
infarct volume after occlusion was assessed using histology. We found that, after three hours of MCA occlusion,
blood flow return without stimulation (reperfusion) resulted in larger infarct volume and greater damage. However, both reperfusion and stimulation without reperfusion
led to stroke damage.
Generating Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells and
Determining their Dielectric Properties
Chesca Barrios
Mentor: Lisa Flanagan
Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a novel and label-free way of
sorting and characterizing neural stem cells and their progeny. Our group has found that a stem cell’s dielectric
properties reflect fate bias and can be used to identify specific progeny populations. Although DEP has been applied
to neuron and astrocyte progenitor cells, it has yet been
used for oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). The
purpose of this project is twofold—to generate OPCs and
confirm their presence through immunostaining and cell
migration assays, and to determine their dielectric properties using DEP. This characterization is increasingly significant because of the field’s recent success in treating
neurological diseases and injuries with transplanted OPCs.
Migratory behavior and expression of platelet-derived
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growth factor receptor-α marker (PDGFR-α) confirmed
the OPC phenotype while O4 expression confirmed differentiation of OPCs into oligodendrocytes. Moreover, the
DEP trapping curve of OPCs is significantly different
from that of heterogeneous neural stem progenitor cells
(NSPCs) derived from the same starting cells. This OPC
dielectric signature is closer to that of neuron progenitor
cells (NPCs), which could provide an insight to the development of the OPC lineage.
Understanding the “Less is More” Effect in
Language Development: A Look at Word
Segmentation
Galia Barsever
Mentor: Lisa Pearl
One hypothesis for why children succeed better at language acquisition than adults, who have more cognitive
resources, is called the “less is more” hypothesis: Children
succeed precisely because they have cognitive limitations.
We look at the task of word segmentation as a case study
within language acquisition. One learning strategy which
has shown a “less is more” effect is Bayesian inference.
Here we examine another learning strategy to see if the
“less is more effect” previously found is due to the particular assumptions within the Bayesian learning strategy, or if
instead this effect is due to using any learning strategy that
involves cognitive limitations. We find that it appears to be
particular to the Bayesian strategy. We also investigate how
robustly this effect occurs cross-linguistically.
Chocolate: The Making of a Desire
Markie Bear
Mentor: Michael Montoya
The objective of this study was to look at ancient cultural
uses of cacao, also recognized as cocoa, to determine how
it made its transition into society, and how it may be culturally used in the present day. Another aim was to find
out if it is still used for ritualistic purposes today, or if it is
mainly just enjoyed as culinary creations. Finally, the cultures that are still using cacao ritualistically today were examined in the study to determine how it is currently used
and why. The methods used in this study involved interviews and questionnaires, which were conducted in person
or via email to those who reside in the Orange County
area. The results of this study revealed that cacao is, in fact,
currently used for ritualistic purposes. These rituals are
typically those throughout Latin America or Hispanic cultures, or those who practice the religion of Wicca. The
principle conclusion was that cacao is something currently
used to honor ancient gods, typically replacing the sometimes-dangerous ancient practices of blood rituals. To
these cultures, blood is as sacred to the Gods and Goddesses as life is. It was also discovered that chocolate is still
being used in medicinal ways, which include curing headaches, or performing natural abortions.
Intergenerational Relationships in Families of
Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Ana Becerra
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Relationships between parents of children with autism
spectrum disorders (ASDs) and their own parents may be
distinguished from families with typically developing children because of the stressors associated with ASDs. The
purpose of this study was to compare the quality of familial relationships in adolescents with and without ASDs
across three generations—grandparents, parents, and adolescents—based on completed self-report questionnaires.
In addition, qualitative data was collected exploring the
grandparental experience of having a grandchild with an
ASD by examining grandparental involvement, challenges,
and affect in the context of the grandparent-grandchild
relationship. I hypothesized that: (1) parent-grandparent
relationships and adolescent-grandparent relationships
would be more conflicted in families of adolescents with
an ASD compared to families of neurotypical (NT) adolescents, and (2) lower adolescent-grandparent relationship
quality would be associated with lower parent-grandparent
relationship quality in both groups. Preliminary findings
showed no significant differences in intergenerational relationship quality in families of adolescents with and without
ASDs. In addition, themes that arose from the qualitative
study suggest that grandparent relationships with grandchildren with ASDs were characterized by high involvement, challenges in understanding them due to
communicative impairments, and love. Because grandparents are sources of support for parents and grandchildren,
the results from this study indicate the importance of intergenerational relationships to familial well-being. The
findings also have the potential to inform clinicians and
educators to include the grandparent generation when implementing interventions for families.
Reducing Mercury Contamination in the California
Bay-Delta: Trends and Policy Implications
Samantha Beier
Mentor: David Feldman
Scientific evidence points to direct contact with contaminated environmental media or ingestion of mercurycontaminated water and food as a primary health and ecological concern in the San Francisco Bay and SacramentoSan Joaquin Delta ecosystem. As a result, there is a need
for greater understanding of programs and policies currently in place to mitigate mercury contamination in this
region affecting plants, animals, and humans. According to
the California Office of Environmental Hazard Assessment, researchers have determined that the primary target
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of methylmercury toxicity is on the central nervous system,
which is most harmful for the development of infants and
young children. In 2004, the San Francisco Chronicle reported
one official who stated: “Even if we stopped all new increases, which obviously isn’t possible, it would still take
three or four decades for the bay to recover.” The focus of
this project is to identify and evaluate the methods various
governmental and non-governmental organizations employ
to address mercury contamination within their respective
sphere of influence. Data was collected from a summary of
current literature focusing on human health impacts of
mercury contamination including government reports,
academic studies and privately sponsored research studies
in order to evaluate current ecological data compared to
established threshold values. In addition, this information
will be compared to governing policies and established
practices for decreasing the prevalence of mercury from
known sources and pathways. Based upon my findings, I
will present a range of plausible policy remedies which may
reduce mercury contamination in the California Bay-Delta
in order to gain a greater understanding of the future of
the Bay-Delta region in addition to any implications for
future research.
Collaborative (CYWC), a program under the National
Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) in
partnership with the UC Irvine Health Education Center.
In the survey the API community was separated out into
its individual ethnicities to allow for analysis of their differences. Our factsheet focuses on how nativity, the country
of birth, and the people with whom respondents currently
live affect their chances of having initiated sexual intercourse. We found that being born in the U.S. increases
chances of female sexual debut while living with family
decreases their chances. Additionally, Chinese women are
1.5 times likelier than South Asian women to have engaged
in sexual intercourse. This highlights the distinctions seen
between ethnicities in the API umbrella and how they need
to be researched and handled as separate populations.
An Analysis and Comparison of Unemployment
Duration during the Great Depression
Kyle Bishop
Mentor: Gary Richardson
One of the phenomena that make the Great Depression
unique among economic events is the presence of what
might be called the chronically unemployed. In fact, when
comparisons are made between the Great Depression and
the fallout of the 2007 Financial Crisis, it is often the employment situation that provides the most meaningful
comparisons. Using data recently digitized from the 1937
Census of Partial Employment, Unemployment, and Occupations, this study examines the factors that contributed
to the presence of the chronically unemployed in November of 1937. By using additional sources from data gathered throughout the 1930s, a new picture is able to be
presented of long-duration unemployment during this
unique historical period. Finally, using this information on
long-duration unemployment, some comparisons are made
between the Great Depression and other post-war recessions, in particular the current fallout of the 2007 Financial
Crisis.
Hippocampal Contributions to Sequence Memory
Karthik Bharadwaj
Mentors: Timothy Allen, Norbert Fortin
In an ongoing series of projects, we investigate the computational contributions of the hippocampus to sequence
memory. In this experiment, we examine the effects of
hippocampal inactivation on performance in a specifically
designed sequence-odor task. A rat well-trained to a sequence of odors was required to correctly remember the
sequence during the task. Supporting the previous findings
of Fortin et al., we discovered that the rat showed no behavioral differences between three infusion groups: no
infusion, saline infusion, and fluorescently conjugated
muscimol infusion. These data suggest that the hippocampus is likely not involved in the recall of a well-trained sequence.
Relationship Between Lower Body Muscular Power
and Severity of Injury in Dancers
Allyson Blackstone
Mentor: Jeffrey Russell
Previous research suggests that dancers with low muscular
power in the lower extremities, determined by vertical
jump height, may sustain more injuries and increased injury
severity. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to assess the relationship between muscular power and injury
severity in dancers and to determine a vertical jump height
standard that can predict a lower risk of injury. Sixty-one
injury-free university dancers completed a questionnaire
regarding their dance-related injuries in the preceding 12
months. Three jump trials were completed, starting in ballet first position with arms at the sides. The equation of the
Influences of Nativity and Housing on Initiation of
Sexual Activity
Neha Bhargava
Mentor: Sang Trieu
Disaggregated data on Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) is
not commonly found. Aggregation of API data prevents
the visibility of individual differences in the unique ethnicities and allows perpetuation of the Model Minority Myth,
which views all API ethnicities as successful and healthy
populations. To help assuage this lack, an online survey of
a random population of undergraduate female students
ages 18 to 25 was conducted in Fall Quarter 2011. This
survey was conducted by the California Young Women’s
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line of best fit, with maximum jump height (JHmax) as the x
variable and days out due to injury (DO) as the y variable,
was used to develop predictive jump height models by setting DO=0 and calculating an optimum JHmax to minimize
injury risk. Mean JHmax was 37.2±6.9 cm, mean DO was
7.91±12.5 days. Mean vertical jump expressed as percentage of body height was 0.22±0.04 (22±4%). DO and JHmax
exhibited a negative relationship, though correlation coefficients were relatively weak (r=−.27 to −.66) even when
significant at p<.05. Results from both genders show that
dancers should be able to jump from ballet first position at
least 30% of their body height to reduce their risk of timeloss injury. Based on our mean JHmax data, both female and
male university dancers fall substantially short of this standard, thus suggesting the need for lower extremity muscular training in this population.
Parent-Adolescent Relationships: Associations with
Social Support, Coping, and Affect among Parents of
Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Grace Blankenship
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Raising an adolescent with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD) presents unique challenges to the quality of parentadolescent relationships. Parental social support, coping,
and affect may have a moderating effect on difficulties associated with parenting children with ASD. The aim of this
study was to compare associations between parentadolescent relationship quality and parental social support,
coping, and affect in families of adolescents with ASD and
families of neurotypical (NT) adolescents. There were
three hypotheses: (1) parents of adolescents with ASD
show lower levels of social support, adaptive coping, and
positive affect compared to parents of NT adolescents, (2)
greater social support, adaptive coping, and positive affect
are linked to greater closeness and less discord in parentadolescent relationships, and (3) greater parental negative
affect is linked to less closeness and greater discord in parent-adolescent relationships. Data were collected using
self-report questionnaires by parents. Preliminary findings
supported the predicted hypothesis that differences would
be observed in social support between ASD and NT
groups; however, no differences were observed in coping
and affect. As predicted, higher parent-adolescent relationship quality was associated with greater social support,
adaptive coping, and positive affect among parents of NT
adolescents. Similarly, greater negative affect was associated with diminished parent-adolescent relationship quality
among parents of NT adolescents. These associations were
not observed among parents of adolescents with ASD.
Further investigation of these factors is needed as they may
have implications for interventions that aim to alleviate the
stress associated with parenting an adolescent with ASD.
Positive Affect and Self-Reported Health in
Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Patients
Kelly Block
Mentor: Roxane Cohen Silver
Rewarding experiences with one’s environment are often
associated with positive affect, which may be related to
other positive psychosocial outcomes as well. Among cancer patients, positive affect has been linked to a myriad of
benefits, including decreased pain, improved health-related
quality of life, and increased survival. The goal of this study
was to examine the relationship between positive affect
and self-reported health among adolescent and young adult
(AYA) cancer patients during active treatment. Ninety-two
patients diagnosed within the past five years were recruited
from an outpatient cancer clinic. Participants (age
range=12-24; 52% male; 41% Leukemia, 13% Lymphoma,
13% Gonadal, 32% Other) completed a survey assessing
their positive affect and general self- reported health,
among other variables. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that a patient’s positive affect predicted overall health (β= -.529, p< .001), controlling for gender, age,
and ethnicity. That is, AYA patients with higher positive
affect reported better overall health than those who reported lower positive affect. Moreover, a large degree of
the variance in self-reported health (27.9%) was explained
by positive affect. These findings suggest the need for further investigation into the type of environmental contexts
that may increase or decrease positive affect in AYA cancer patients. Clinical care and interventions may benefit
from targeting positive affect in order to improve the
health and well-being of AYA cancer patients during
treatment.
Taking a Left at the Chicano Movement
Eddie Bonilla
Mentor: Rodolfo Torres
The vast amount of literature regarding the Chicano
Movement acknowledges the popular notion of nationalism. It fails, however, to expand on what Marxist organizations did in regards to the Chicano community during the
1960s and 1970s. This study looked at how and why Marxism was never able to be the ideology to overtake nationalism as the popular choice for organizing a revolution
within America for the Chicano people. Documents such
as: essays, newspaper articles, organization minutes, and
photographs from two Marxist organizations known as
Centro De Accion Social Autonoma (CASA), and the August 29th Movement (ATM), were analyzed in order to get
a better understanding how Marxism functioned within the
mainstream Chicano Movement. Various factors such as
the rhetoric used by Marxist organizations, FBI infiltration,
the Chicano communities distrust of leftist politics, and the
competition by many organizations for the attention of the
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community can be see as reasons why Marxism was never
fully adopted.
groups. In addition, parental responses that promote pain
coping were negatively associated with parental perception
of child’s health-related quality of life. The threat to life
that cancer poses to children may provoke their parents to
respond in all kinds of ways. Thus, the relationship between parental response and child functioning in an oncology population may be more complex than those of
chronic pain populations. Further research on parental
responses in cancer populations is needed to develop interventions to improve parental distress and enhance quality of life.
Loan Modification Process and Homeowners’
Psychological Well-Being
Rao Borden
Mentor: JoAnn Prause
During this recession, the Federal Government has tried to
help financially distressed homeowners with a number of
programs, including Home Affordable Modification
Programs (HAMP). But it appears that HAMP played
a contradictory, emotional role in American financial and
social life. This qualitative study examines the self-reported
SAFE First: Measuring Mortgage Broker
Occupational Licensing Laws and their Relationship
with Mortgage Broker Employment Outcomes
Myles Brady
Mentor: Jiawei Chen
The mortgage brokerage industry became especially significant in the decade leading up to the “subprime crisis”
of 2007–2008. During this period, state legislators imposed
occupational licensure laws in order to regulate brokers
and restrict entry of under-qualified and unethical professionals. In 2008, the Secure and Fair Enforcement for
Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE) inaugurated the first federal occupational licensing policy for the industry. However, the effect of mortgage broker licensing on industry
outcomes is understudied and theoretically ambiguous. I
measure mortgage broker licensing requirements by classifying twenty-five provisions across fifty state statutes and
assigning intensity values for each state for each. I compose a linear summary index to capture the intensity of
these specific variables in aggregate. This updates Cynthia
Pahl’s 1996–2006 compilation of mortgage broker licensure requirements using a consistent annual measurement
into the period 2007–2010. I empirically test the relationship between mortgage broker licensure regulations and
mortgage broker employment per capita using panel regression analysis with state fixed effects, time fixed effects,
and market control variables. Results suggest that mortgage broker employment is negatively associated with same
period increases in licensure requirements and positively
related with previous period increases in licensure restrictiveness. A correlational but not causal interpretation of
the phenomenon is asserted and conclusions specify how
future policy and analysis may be improved.
psychological well-being of the homeowners who
have undergone mortgage loan modification between
January 2007 and December 2010 in the U.S. Using data
obtained from a contextual analysis of Internet blogs, government documents, published books, and news stories, I
trace the transformation of homeowners’ psychological
stages through their mortgage loan modification process
and various banks’ 18 to 24 months loan modification
practices of HAMP. I conclude by discussing the cur-
rent financial and psychological states of the homeowners, and how it appears that loan modification, in
the form of delaying instead of preventing foreclosures in
this recession, may be one aspect in the broad spectrum of
economic distress that is associated with homeowners’
emotional distress and relationship disruption.
Differences in Parental Response to Pain Between
Hispanic and White Parents of Pediatric Oncology
Patients
Giovanni Botten
Mentor: Michelle Fortier
Parental response to children’s pain has emerged as a
prominent factor associated with certain pain outcomes,
including the duration of children’s functional disability.
Studies have shown that solicitous, or protective, parental
responses are strongly linked to increases in children’s depression, functional disability, and school absences. No
study to date has focused on ethnic differences in parental
response, especially in a pediatric oncology setting. In this
study, parental responses were compared between Englishspeaking non-Hispanic White, English-speaking Hispanic,
and Spanish-speaking Hispanic parents of children with
cancer. Two hundred seventy-five families of children with
cancer participated in the study. Parents provided data regarding the frequency and manner in which they respond
to their child’s pain. They also responded to questions regarding their perception of their child’s health-related quality of life. The results showed no significant difference in
solicitous responses across the three groups. However,
Spanish-speaking Hispanics reported engaging their child
in activities (i.e. school, family, etc.) the least of all the
NADPH Oxidase 4 Contributes to Mitochondrial
Oxidative Stress in Brain Endothelial Cells
Shane Breazeale
Mentor: Diana Krause
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are key contributors to cardiovascular pathophysiology. The primary generators of
cell ROS are mitochondria and NADPH oxidases (NOX);
however, possible interactions between these two sources
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remain unclear. We have shown in mouse brain endothelial
cells (cultured b.End3 cells) that mitochondrial superoxide
increases with ischemic insults that cause cell death. We
hypothesized that angiotensin II (ANGII), another promoter of vascular dysfunction, would increase mitochondrial ROS and do so via its known ability to activate NOX
enzymes. We found 24 or 48 h ANGII (10 uM) treatment
of endothelial cells increased mitochondrial superoxide
generation 3-fold (using Mitosox dye). These effects were
suppressed by the NOX inhibitor VAS2879. Furthermore,
silencing the gene for NOX4, but not NOX1 nor NOX2,
suppressed the ability of AngII to increase mitochondrial
superoxide. ANGII increased protein levels of NOX4, but
not NOX1/NOX2. We found NOX4 localized to the mitochondria; NOX4 protein levels measured in isolated mitochondria were increased 1.5-fold following ANGII
treatment. Together, our data suggest a novel action of
ANGII to increase mitochondrial superoxide in endothelial cells through increased expression and mitochondrial
localization of NOX4, a constitutively active ROS generator. Chronically, this effect would lead to mitochondrial
damage and endothelial dysfunction.
Truncation of the E2 Scaffold for Controlled SelfAssembly
Anna Bui
Mentor: Szu-Wen Wang
Different types of protein scaffolds are being investigated
for bionanotechnology applications, including targeted
drug delivery. For example, viral protein capsules have
been used as vehicles to house guest drug molecules. In
the Wang Lab, protein nanocapsules of pyruvate dehydrogenase (E2) have also been engineered to have specific
chemical properties that allow internal binding of antitumor drugs. These drugs are released when the nanocapsules encounter acidic pH environments. Previous studies
have shown that truncation of the first 50 amino acids of
E2 led to irreversible dissociation at pH 5. In this research
project, I aimed to create E2 protein mutants that dissociate at pH 5 but reassemble into intact capsules at pH 7.4
(physiological pH). I created nine mutants by polymerase
chain reaction (PCR). The mutated sequences are subcloned into plasmid vectors and expressed in E. coli. I also
developed an in vitro pH drop dialysis assay for crude cell
lysate. I used this assay to screen for pH dependent behaviors of the mutated E2 proteins.
American Identity
Mindy Bui
Mentor: Shawn Rosenberg
Previous studies have shown Asian, African, and White
ethnic groups in America to associate American culture as
White culture. This means that most citizens agree that all
ethnic groups deserve equal treatment. However, a “true
American” tends to share the most characteristics with the
average white person.This study investigated the attitudes
of American citizens towards American identity in relation
to their logic methodology. The ambiguity of American
culture has created great diversity in social and political
attitudes amongst different populations. This study examined the interrelationship between quality selfcategorization, affective identification and content of identification. Using Jean Piaget’s chemical mixing task to
measure logical thinking, I discovered that linear thinkers
generally associate strongly with quality self-categorization,
while a systematic thinker generally associates strongly with
content of identification.
PainBuddy: A Mobile Patient Diary for Pediatric
Chemotherapy Patients
Sean Burke
Mentor: Mark Bachman
Approximately 12,000 children are diagnosed with cancer
in the U.S. each year and the majority experience significant pain throughout their illness. After a patient is treated,
it is important for doctors to manage a patient’s pain with
prescribed anesthesia. With new advancements in healthcare systems, many patients are spending more time at
home and less time hospitalized. This recent change has
introduced a new problem where doctors have difficulty
monitoring a patient’s pain, and instead have to pass this
responsibility to the parents of the patient. Currently, there
are several methods of treating cancer patients at home,
including doctor visits, self-evaluation surveys, and palm
pilot surveys, but each has its limitations. Doctors also
have difficulty diagnosing treatments for children due to
the child’s lack of vocabulary and the child’s lack of motivation to complete the required pain assessment surveys.
Our research aims to create an improved interactive pain
management interface that motivates children to complete
necessary surveys through a rewards program, and to allow
doctors to monitor and access their patient’s pain assessment profiles from the internet. We have achieved this by
developing a mobile tablet application that patients can
take with them, and that allows doctors to access the application data. The results expect to show a large decrease in
patient anxiety, an increase in patient participation with the
improved virtual reward system, and an improvement in
doctors’ prescriptions when managing a patient’s pain.
The Aged Cortex is Capable of Sensory-Induced
Recovery from Ischemic Stroke
Nina Butingan
Mentors: Ron Frostig, Christopher Lay
Our lab has previously demonstrated that single-whisker
stimulation is completely protective of the young adult
rodent cortex when administered within 0 to 2 hours following a permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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consecutive days with and without WAY-100,635
(100µg/kg i.v.). Fluoxetine pretreatment age-specifically
enhanced quinpirole-induced locomotion, and the enhancement is blocked by WAY-100,635. These results
show that fluoxetine induces alterations in the developing
dopamine system and provide further evidence for 5-HT1A
receptor regulation of DA signaling in the adolescent
brain.
(pMCAO). The results from this study, however, have yet
to be tested in the more clinically-relevant, aged (21–24
months of age, equivalent to humans ~65 years of age)
group of animals. Research has suggested that the aged
cortex is more vulnerable to stroke and less resilient in recovering from a vascular accident. In this study, singlewhisker stimulation treatment was assessed in the aged
rodent cortex following stroke onset. Aged rats were subject to a behavioral assessment a week prior to pMCAO
and then divided into a “treated” experimental group and
an “untreated” control group. A week following pMCAO,
animals were again assessed behaviorally. Animals that received the treatment were equivalent to healthy control
animals according to behavioral and histological analysis.
Unlike the treated animals, untreated controls showed impaired sensorimotor behavior following pMCAO and sustained cortical infarct. These findings suggest that mild
sensory stimulation, in the form of a single-whisker treatment, is neuroprotective in the aged rodent model of
stroke. Moreover, this suggests that translation of noninvasive treatments, such as sensory-induced cortical activation that redirects blood flow to the appropriate brain
areas, into the appropriate age-equivalent human population may indeed be possible.
Evaluating the Effects of Rosa damascena on the Sirtuin Pathway and Aging in Drosophila melanogaster
Vincent Douglas Cagonot
Mentor: Mahtab Jafari
Rosa damascena is a hybrid rose species that has been shown
to have antioxidant and positive cardiovascular effects in
humans. Our previous data has shown that R. damascena
extends lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster; however, the underlying mechanism of action is unknown. There are several pathways associated with aging, including the silent
information regulator 2 (Sir2) proteins. These proteins are
NAD+-dependent protein deacetylases that regulate gene
expression and protein activity in response to nutritional
intake and cellular energy levels. The Sir2 proteins are a
highly conserved group present in all eukaryotes examined,
including man, and elevation of their activity has been
shown to extend lifespan in yeast, flies, worms, and fish.
Activating this protein in vivo promotes histone deacetylation and repression of gene expression—glycolysis in particular—that can affect proteins involved in modulating
cellular activities and lifespan. Here, it was hypothesized
that R. damascena extends lifespan in D. melanogaster through
a Sir2-dependent mechanism. The study found that Rosa
damascena feeding extended lifespan in the absence of the
principal SIR2 protein, down-regulated the expression of
dSir2, and did not down-regulate the expression levels of
glycolytic enzymes. It was also found that R. damascena increased the NAD+ levels in male flies only. These findings
suggest that R. damascena does not act through a sirtuindependent mechanism.
The Effect of Serotonin (5-HT1a) Receptor Activation
on the Developing Dopamine System During
Adolescence
Andrew Cabrera
Mentor: Frances Leslie
Adolescence is a critical period of development when the
initiation of smoking and the onset of psychiatric disorders
typically occur. During adolescence, nicotine exposure may
cause long-term alterations in neuronal signaling and brain
development, increasing the likelihood for substance
abuse, high-risk sexual behaviors, and neuropsychiatric
disorders such as depression, anxiety, and ADHD. Previous studies in the lab have shown that WAY-100,635, a
selective serotonin 5-HT1A receptor antagonist, agespecifically blocks nicotine-induced enhancement of cocaine self-administration, suggesting 5-HT1A mediates nicotinic alterations of dopamine (DA) signaling during
adolescence. Furthermore, 5-HT1A receptor activation may
also mediate nicotine enhancement of quinpirole(D2-like
agonist)-induced locomotion in adolescents, an effect that
is blocked by WAY-100,635 and mimicked by 8-OHDPAT, a selective 5-HT1A agonist. The purpose of this
study is to determine whether activation of 5-HT1A receptors with fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and commonly used antidepressant for
teenagers, alters D2 receptor signaling in an age-specific
manner. In both adolescent and adult male SpragueDawley rats, fluoxetine (200µg/kg, 1mg/kg, and 5mg/kg)
pretreatment was administered intravenously (i.v.) for four
Interfacing of a Brain Computer System with a
Motorized Wheelchair
Everardo Camacho
Mentors: An Do, Zoran Nenadic
A brain computer interface (BCI) is a system that allows an
individual to control an external device or computer application through the use of software that interprets electrical
activity occurring in the user’s brain in real-time. BCI systems have the potential to restore function or assist in the
rehabilitation of people suffering from neurological injuries
such as spinal cord injury or stroke. Motivated by the
above, the long-term goal of my project is to integrate a
BCI system with a power wheelchair. If successful, this
system will enable individuals with severe forms of motor
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paralysis to control wheelchairs by modulating their brain
waves. The short-term goal of my project was to interface
with a computer, so as to allow emulation of the joystick
function through software. In the initial step, a pre-existing
misalignment in our wheelchair motors was corrected. This
was accomplished by characterizing the voltage-angular
velocity response of individual motors to identify the
source followed by repair of the responsible faulty motor
component. Subsequently, I successfully implemented an
interface between a PC computer and the wheelchair’s onboard hardware systems (via a microcontroller), which enabled the computer to send steering commands to the
wheelchair. Finally, I designed a graphical user interface
that facilitates intuitive operation of the wheelchair by keyboard commands. My future work will focus on closing
the loop by interfacing the brain with the computer (an
ongoing project in our laboratory) and implementing a
safety system for collision prevention.
The Test within the Journey: The Formation of Identity in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sebastien Cervantes
Mentor: Rebecca Davis
The concept of identity is prominent in the 13th-century
poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Identity in the poem
is determined by the characteristics of exteriority, namely
one’s quality of speech and action. Ostensibly, Sir Gawain
is a model of knighthood, whose virtues and responsibilities he embodies as surely as he does the symbol of the
pentangle, or five-pointed star. The pentangle, however,
represents both the courtly and spiritual burdens of perfection that must be able to resist the temptation to deviate
from expected behavior. This essay examines the pressure
that Sir Gawain must face as he strives to maintain a coherent sense of identity and fidelity to the pentangle, yet
ultimately fails to do so. His failure shares the dual penalty
of being a failure of courtly manners and a mortal sin. Absolution for that failure cannot be self-given and for this
Gawain enters into a crisis of identity that shatters his preconceived notions of who he was. Forgiveness comes
when Gawain admits his sin to his fellow knights, who
forgive and embrace him as an admirable peer, showing in
a didactic manner how identity is as much shaped by one’s
beliefs as it is through one’s interactions with the external
world. It is through the mercy and acceptance of his peers
that Sir Gawain’s reputation and identity are renewed.
Negative Social Environment Moderates Genetic
Association with Posttraumatic Stress and
Cardiovascular Disease
Michelle Chan
Mentor: E. Alison Holman
Individuals who develop posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) are at greater risk for developing cardiovascular
disease (CVD). Understanding why these disorders cooccur could help us identify pathways for interventions to
minimize the associated morbidity. Neuroendocrine stress
reactivity is associated with vasoconstriction, increased
cardiac stroke volume, and an increased heart rate, all of
which can contribute to the development of cardiovascular
disease. The social environment can also powerfully affect
neuroendocrine responses potentially buffering or exacerbating the physiologic impact of stress. Cardiovascular disease and PTSD have both been associated with genetic
polymorphisms; however, the social experiences that contribute to this genetic susceptibility have received little attention. This study examines whether the quality of social
relationships affects genetic susceptibility to posttraumatic
stress symptoms (PTS) and CVD following stress. We focus on four polymorphisms from the Serotonin (5HTTLPR), Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE), and
Oxytocin (OXTR) genes. Negative social environments
increase vulnerability to PTS in individuals with the ACE
D/D and the OXTR G/G genotypes. When exposed to
negative social environments, respondents with the ACE
rs4291 T/T genotype reported more MD-diagnosed cardiac and endocrine ailments and individuals with the 5HTTLPR La/La genotype reported more MD-diagnosed
cardiac ailments. Social relationships may enhance our genetic susceptibility to mental and physical health problems
following exposure to stress.
Urban Forest Characteristics in Neighborhoods of
Varying Income and Age in the Los Angeles
Metropolitan Area
Richard Chan
Mentors: Heather McCarthy, Diane Pataki
Biodiversity in urban forests can influence the quality of
life in cities. Increased tree cover, tree growth, and species
richness has been shown to provide environmental benefits to cities such as shading, aesthetics, and pollution removal. However, the environmental amenities provided by
trees may not be equitably distributed within cities. Previous studies have shown that low-income neighborhood
tend to be associated with lower biodiversity and less tree
cover than higher-income neighborhoods. However, these
patterns have not been well studied in the Los Angeles
Metropolitan area. In this study we surveyed randomly
selected plots in Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange
County for the number of trees, tree diameter, species, and
other aspects of urban forest structure. We found that species richness increased with neighborhood income and age
across all three counties. Tree density also increased with
neighborhood income, but was generally higher in Riverside County than in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Plot basal area, or the total cross-sectional area of tree
stems, increased with neighborhood age, as would be expected if older trees are more common in older neighbor-
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hoods. Understanding the patterns of urban forest structure can improve estimates of the costs and benefits of
urban forests to improve local quality of life and assist in
urban planning.
efficient and effective. As a result, the timeliness of consultations for nine major consulting services was analyzed to
determine if these services met UCI Medical Center
(UCIMC) standards. Of the 253 consults recorded, 55.7%
arrived to the ED within UCIMC policy time limit and
55.3% adhered to UCIMC policy when giving verbal recommendations to the ED physician. Only 29.3% of consults met UCIMC guidelines when submitting a written
recommendation to the patient’s chart. Based on the data
collected, intervention is needed to increase consultation
response times, but this likely means an increase in physician resources. This could be hard to implement in the
medical center, since more funds and faculty may be required.
Methionine Stress in MDAMB468 Breast Cancer Cells
Induces Intrinsic Apoptosis
Jane Chang
Mentor: Peter Kaiser
Cancer cells possess the ability to evade programmed cell
death, or apoptosis, an acquired capability that is a hallmark of transformation and a major factor promoting
therapeutic resistance and tumor progression. In growth
conditions where the essential amino acid methionine is
replaced with its immediate metabolic precursor, homocysteine (Met-Hcy+) cancer cells face a metabolic stress that
triggers cell cycle arrest followed by apoptosis, while leaving untransformed cells unharmed. By distinguishing untransformed cells from cancer cells, methionine stress
represents an ideal avenue for novel therapeutic development, yet the exact mechanism and nature of the methionine stress induced cell death remains unknown. In order to
gain insight into the molecular mechanisms triggering cell
death during methionine stress in cancer we incubated
MDAMB468 breast cancer cells in Met-Hcy+ media and
analyzed the response of known mediators of intrinsic
apoptosis. We show by quantitative PCR that methionine
stress induces expression of the pro-apoptotic genes B cell
lymphoma 2 (BCL2), NOXA1, and PUMA. In addition,
immunoblot analyses demonstrated downstream activation
of the initiator caspases 8 and 9, and activation of the executioner caspase 3, which lead to cleavage of the PARP
protein in a manner characteristic of apoptosis. Flow cytometric quantification of apoptotic cells demonstrated
that overexpression of the anti-apoptotic gene BCL-XL
rescued MDAMB468 cells from apoptotic cell death during methionine stress, thus demonstrating that methionine
stress induced cell death operates through intrinsic apoptotic pathways. Our studies suggest that methionine stress
can be used as a model to develop potential new cancer
therapies.
Optimization of Microfabricated in vitro Culture Environment for Explanted Colon Crypts
Philip Chao
Mentors: Robert Edwards, Elliot Hui
Advances in intestinal epithelial cell biology have been
stalled by a lack of physiologically accurate culture systems.
Recent advances in biological microfabrication techniques
and knowledge of intestinal stem cell culture have lead to
potential developments in intestinal cell culture systems.
Our goal is to design a three dimensional, long term colon
crypt culture environment by manipulating culture media
to be similar to native in vivo tissue environments. Ultimately, we want to design an environment that is both
morphologically and chemically similar to in vivo conditions. Currently, from the techniques of computer aided
design (CAD), photolithography, and the molding of hydrogels we have successfully created collagen based closedbottom culture environments. The environments do show
ideal features; however, crypt loading and long term culture was performed with no ultimate success. Attempts at
creating open-bottom well culture environments based on
previously published findings with different media was
unsuccessful due to difficulty in environment molding.
Optimization of hydrogels was performed by varying concentrations of extracellular matrix components in an attempt to formulate a hydrogel that maintains rigidity for
molding while also promoting crypt growth. Mixtures of
collagen, matrigel, and porcine ECM were varied in order
to find an optimal mixture. Further investigation of the
best media mixture still needs to be carried out. Upon
identification, patterned gels will be created in order to
further test the possibility of long term crypt culture in
patterned gels. The demand for a successful culture environment for colon crypts is still very urgent. Successful
study of colon crypts can promote a further understanding
in stem cell biology, carcinogenesis, and drug discovery.
Timeliness of Consultation at the University of
California Irvine Medical Center Emergency
Department
Vincent Chang
Mentors: Mark Langdorf, Shahram Lotfipour, Patrick
Popa
Consultations are common in the Emergency Department
(ED). The ED relies on the expertise of consulting services to supplement the care of emergency physicians.
Naturally, the timeliness of consultants becomes an important factor in patient care. Consultants are expected to arrive as quickly as possible to ensure that patient care is
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Comparing Ethnic Church and Integrated Church
Effects on Second Generation Chinese American
Protestants
Francesca Cheng
Mentor: Stanley Bailey
Despite a rich body of literature, studies of ethnic religion
and its role on second generations have been less extensive. The literature instead predominately focuses on explaining ethnic church effects on immigrant groups.
Typically, the ethnic church first deals with the conservative role of religion in maintaining ethnic customs, language and group solidarity then commit to a progressive
assimilation of generations rather than ethnic maintenance.
Drawing on an ethnographic study (interviews and participant observation) of Chinese American Christians in Los
Angeles, this study seeks to examine the role of not only
the ethnic church but also the integrated church effects for
the second generation. The focus is on the role played by
both the ethnic church and integrated church in the construction and maintenance of ethnic identity and acculturation. From an institutional level, the ethnic church and
integrated church are not major sources of agency of acculturation and ethnic identity preservation. Most of the individuals from the ethnic church and integrated church argue
that they hold an American identity over their Chinese
identity. They argue that they are Americanized based on
their way of thinking and self-perception. Furthermore,
most of them argue that their Christian beliefs take precedence over the other categories such as race and gender.
Nonetheless, the church provides a latent function and
serves mostly the second generation’s emotional needs by
providing close friendships and potential religious endogamy. The church plays a more active role in the first generation’s lives, while the second generations’ instrumental
and expressive needs are mostly provided by their parents/family.
Use of Hydrogen Bonds to Prepare Dynamic
Nanocomposites
Kevin Cheng
Mentor: Zhibin Guan
Controlled chemical synthesis of polymeric materials has
led to the advent of smart materials—materials that have
the ability to respond to external stimuli. Properties like
reversible self-assembly and self-healing can be obtained
through incorporating hydrogen-bonding units into a
nanocomposite to obtain dynamic effects mirroring nature’s use of hydrogen bonds. Nanomaterials can be prepared with polymer chains across the surface to adopt
polymer-like qualities. The hydrogen bonding units, called
4-uerido-2-pyrimidone (UPy), are capped onto each polymer chain end on a silica nanoparticle surface for assembly
properties. The addition of an entire hydrogen-bonding
unit to the end of the polymer chain occurs by replacing
the chain end of the polymer with azide functionality. The
azide cap allows for use of click chemistry to add on the
UPy group. The incorporation of the reversible hydrogen
bonding units onto a nanocomposite could lead to a new
class of dynamic materials, capable of self-healing and selforganizing in response to external factors. These effects
can be observed by various fine tests. Furthermore, the
control of varying polymer chain lengths allows for finetuning and changing the properties of the material for desired effects.
A Look into the Factors that Determine Commercial
Bank Lending during Periods of Great Financial
Stress
Silviu Cherloaba
Mentor: Gary Richardson
When looking at what factors determine when an economy
begins to recover from periods of great financial stress
(such as the Great Depression or, more recently, the Great
Recession), the supply and demand of commercial bank
loans is important to look at since the activity of commercial bank loans is correlated with the output of an economy. The factors which effect the supply and demand of
commercial bank loans are of much debate, and this project aims to identify some variables that impact the supply
and demand of commercial bank loans. In “Consequences
of Bank Distress during the Great Depression,” Calmorisis
and Mason look at a coin termed by Ben Bernanke, “cost
of credit intermediation,” which states that a weak demand
of loans results from “combined weakening of borrowers’
balance sheets and the contraction in bank credit supply.”
There is, however, an empirical argument against this stating “that aggregate decline in bank credit, like that which
occurred during the Depression, does not necessarily imply
a decline in bank credit supply due to weak bank balance
sheets. Instead, it may simply indicate a lack of viable projects for firms to purse in a depressed economy. A decline
in bank lending may reflect a contraction in loan demand
in anticipation of, or simultaneous with, contraction in
output.” This research project looks into these elements of
loan supply and demand and answers the question: “during
the Great Depression, what depressed lending by commercial banks in the state of New York and what factors facilitated lending by these commercial banks?” The data is still
being analyzed.
Experience in the Honors Program
Edgar Cheung
Mentor: John Crawford
The Campuswide Honors Program (CHP) provides UCI
students with the personal attention of a selective liberal
arts college and the opportunities of a dynamic research
university that help prepare them to be the leaders, researchers, and educators of tomorrow. Not much research
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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exists on how this program shapes its undergraduates. To
answer that question, I have conducted video interviews
that examine the different individual experiences within the
CHP. The video medium is easily accessible for college
students and allows for quick dissemination of the research
findings. CHP members were given a series of questions
regarding how the program affected them and then given a
second set of questions about the negative aspects of the
program. One of the major results culled from interviewing past and present members of the CHP is that the level
of involvement with the program is positively correlated
with student opportunities and accomplishments. These
results show the value of effort in a successful undergraduate development.
likely to use social support during stressful times. There is
reason to believe that undergraduate Latinas may be more
vulnerable to stress than their European and Asian American counterparts due to the interactive effects of ethnic
minority status, underrepresentation in higher education,
and lower socioeconomic status. Drawing from this research, we predicted that Latinas would be higher in perceived social support than the European and Asian
American women. In turn, this higher social support was
expected to be associated with faster psychological and
physiological recovery from a social evaluative stressor and
higher GPA. Participants of European, Asian and Latino
cultural heritage background took part in a study that consisted of two time points: the first was a laboratory session
and the second was an online survey sent 9–14 months
after the first session. Participants completed measures of
stress and social support during the first session and GPA
in the online survey. Analyses showed that all ethnic
groups reported high perceived social support, with European women reporting the highest social support of the
three groups. Feeling socially supported, however, was not
associated with faster recovery from the social evaluative
task. The similarities and differences in social support,
stress and academic achievement among Latina, Asian and
European American women are discussed.
Pregnancy Intention and Experience in U.S.-Born
and Foreign-Born Latina Samples
Heyzel Chevez
Mentor: Belinda Campos
Unplanned or unwanted pregnancy is associated with difficult postpartum adjustment for new mothers, but social
support and partner support during pregnancy may help
women adjust successfully to an unplanned pregnancy.
Cultural ideals about family, motherhood and pregnancy
may influence how women experience social support and
adjust to their new pregnancy experience. We hypothesized
that women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy would
report less social support and more anxiety and psychological distress, but this would be less true for foreign-born
Latinas, whose cultural ideals are more supportive of
motherhood, than for U.S.-born Latinas. As part of a larger study on health and well-being in pregnancy, 50 pregnant Latinas (U.S.- and Foreign-born) completed family
background, perceived social support and pregnancy intention questionnaires. Pregnancy intention was measured by
self-report during women’s fourteenth week of pregnancy.
Pregnancy experience was assessed via perceived social
support, partner closeness, and conflict tactics scale between 14 and 16 weeks of pregnancy. Results supported
predictions. Overall, unplanned pregnancy was associated
with less social support from both family and partner.
However, as predicted, foreign-born Latinas experiencing
an unplanned pregnancy reported higher levels of social
support than U.S.-born Latinas experiencing an unplanned
pregnancy. The implications of cultural scripts that value
motherhood for unplanned pregnancy are discussed.
Presence of Marine Fungi in Aquatic Environments
Brittany Chew
Mentor: Adam Martiny
The role of terrestrial fungi in the ecosystem as decomposers, among other functions, is vital and undeniable. However, the abundance of marine fungi and its role in the
marine environments is a lesser-studied facet of marine
biodiversity. This study aimed to investigate whether or
not marine fungi were common in the marine environment
off the Newport Pier and, if so, if there was seasonal reoccurrence of particular clades indicating adaptations to specific environmental factors. Through the use of various
techniques, including filtration of seawater samples, DNA
extraction, PCR, and finally 454 sequencing, results demonstrated that only 0.0219% of the total sequences returned were fungal sequences. Thus, although an
additional 19 samples were being prepared to be sent out
for sequencing, it was determined that there was not a
strong enough presence of fungi in the Newport samples
to continue the project. It was concluded that there is either a lack of presence of fungi in the ocean water off the
Newport Pier, or methods used in seawater sampling or
amplification of DNA need to be modified in order to extract more fungal DNA.
Culture, Stress and Social Support: Can Culture Buffer
the Effects of Stress on Health and Academic
Outcomes?
Linett Chevez
Mentor: Belinda Campos
Research suggests that social support can protect against
the negative effects of stress and that women are more
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The Broader Autism Phenotype in College Students:
Associations with Individual Well-Being
Kent Chiu
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
There is evidence of a Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP),
meaning that subclinical levels of social impairments exhibited by individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) exist on a continuum in the general
population. College students with more BAP characteristics experience friendships of lower quality and loneliness.
Further study into the mechanism that explains the associations between more BAP characteristics and poorer
well-being can lend insight into consequences of subclinical autistic traits in the general population. This study hypothesized: (1) higher BAP is associated with poorer
psychological well-being and (2) the associations between
BAP and well-being are mediated by nonverbal social cues
knowledge (NSCK). A total of 228 UCI college students
completed online surveys through Experimetrix. Using
structural equation modeling, higher BAP scores were significantly related to greater loneliness (λ=.345, p<.001) and
more depressive symptoms (λ=.155, p<.001), which confirmed prior research and the first hypothesis. Additionally,
there were significant paths from BAP to NSCK (λ=-.090,
p=.004) and from NSCK to depressive symptoms (λ=.130, p=.047), indicating a mediated relationship. Having
greater BAP characteristics is related to less social cue
knowledge and in turn, associated with more depressive
symptoms. NSCK did not mediate the relationship between BAP and loneliness (λ=-.001, p=.987). These findings suggest that there may be multiple mechanisms
through which BAP is associated with poorer individual
and social well-being. More research examining social
communication and other mediators may inform deeper
understanding of BAP and potential psychological consequences of mild expressions of autistic symptoms.
The Smolensk Conspiracy in Post-Soviet Transparent
Poland
Nicole Chmielewski
Mentor: Marek Kaminski
On the foggy morning of April 10, 2010, an unforeseen
national tragedy occurred when the Polish Air Force flight
Tu-154 crashed down near the city of Smolensk, Russia.
There were no survivors; President Lech Kaczynski, 80
members of Polish political elite, and all other passengers
on board were soon pronounced dead. As a tone of
mourning spread across the international community, networks of conspiracy began to thrive among media and
Internet outlets. Motives and possible Russian intent where
brought into question. Was this a revival of Soviet oppression? Although Polish and Russian official investigations
have come to an end, blaming the majority of the fault on
the Polish pilots, the social and political ramifications of
this conspiracy has marked a change in defining Polish
nationhood. In this case study I inquire how Jaroslaw Kaczynski and the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party
used conspiracy to elicit nationalism and short-lived political success. I draw from a brief history of Polish-Russian
relations and depict current Poland as a reinvented, postSoviet state. I argue that the Westernization of Poland
through the influence of the European Union has provided
a perception of political transparency discrediting the value
of conspiracy. In the end I question if true political transparency exists in post-Soviet Poland. In my conclusion I
reattribute value to conspiracy and contest negative political discourse about paranoia, arguing that conspiracy theories provide rich and inquisitive groundwork for the
formation of comprehensive knowledge that cannot be
limited to government transparency.
Regulation of Kinesin Light Chain by JIP
Joseph Choe
Mentor: Steven Gross
Neurological function depends on long-distance axonal
transport partially dependent on kinesin. Kinesin motors
transport cargos; examples include vesicles with neuronal
proteins, mitochondria, and mRNP particles. Dysfunction
in kinesin-mediated transport can lead to neurological diseases such as Huntington’s disease or even death. Neuronal kinesin, Kinesin I, consists of two heavy chains and
two light chains. The light chains function to attach the
kinesin motor to the cargo. JIP1 is a light-chain binding
protein that acts as a scaffold between the light chain and
the cargos. One role of JIP is to help regulate kinesin by
pulling the tail out of the head, activating kinesin, allowing
it to bind to microtubules. Measuring the activity of kinesin
by doing microtubule pull downs of a tail-less kinesin
(K560) with or without JIP, and full-length kinesin will
indicate if JIP has other regulatory roles. In order to execute a microtubule pull down, I cloned JIP, purified microtubules, and purified full-length kinesin. When I bacterially
express JIP through protein expressing bacteria, I will be
able to do a microtubule pull down which will help elucidate JIP’s regulatory role of kinesin.
The Role of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone in
Regulation of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
Ellen Choi
Mentor: Olivier Civelli
Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a neuropeptide
involved in the regulation of energy homeostatis, reproduction, sleep/wake cycle and reward. In the brain, MCH
is only expressed in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and
zona incerta (ZI). MCH-expressing neurons, on the other
hand, send projections throughout the brain from the olfactory bulb to the spinal cord. Previous experiments show
that MCH infusions into the brain suppress thyroid-
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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Epitope Mapping a Monoclonal Antibody to LCMV
Nucleoprotein
Anna Chow
Mentor: Michael Buchmeier
Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus, LCMV, is an
arenavirus normally infecting the common house mouse,
Mus musculis, but humans can be incidental hosts. Human
infections can range in severity from asymptomatic to
aseptic meningitis, and infection of a pregnant woman may
result in miscarriage or severe teratogenic defects. The genome of this enveloped, bisegmented RNA virus consists
of a large (L) RNA strand that encodes the viral polymerase and the matrix protein, and a small (S) RNA segment that encodes a glycoprotein and a nucleoprotein
protein (NP). The nucleoprotein encapsidates the viral
genome, shielding it from RNA nucleases and has also
been shown to assist infection by interfering with IFN-β
production, compromising host innate immunity. Monoclonal antibody (mAb) 1-1.3 strongly binds the nucleoprotein, but the exact epitope where binding occurs has not
been determined. In this study we sought to identify this
epitope by expressing consecutive and overlapping fragments of NP in a bacterial system. Nine NP fragments of
approximately 120 amino acids were expressed as fusion
proteins with GST using the pGEX-6P-1 expression vector. Lysates from BL21 cells expressing these constructs
where analyzed by western blot. Our results demonstrate
the epitope resides within amino acids 337 and 448 of this
558 residue protein. Pinpointing the exact residues comprising this epitope will allow further elucidation of the
role of LCMV NP in the viral life cycle. In addition, 1-1.3’s
strong affinity for this epitope may allow the use of this
epitope as a tag.
stimulating hormone (TSH) release in vivo. We therefore
hypothesize that MCH is involved in the regulation of
TSH. In order to investigate this hypothesis, we first established a transgenic line of mice in which all MCH neurons
would express zsgreen, a robust green fluorescent protein.
To establish this line of transgenic mice we bred
pMCHCre mice, which express Cre recombinase in all
MCH expressing neurons, to a zsgreen reporter line, in
which the transcription of zsgreen protein is dependent on
the presence of Cre recombinase. As a result these transgenic animals have MCH neurons which express zsgreen.
We plan to use these transgenic animals to investigate the
peripheral targets for the MCH system, such as TSH. To
date, experiments have focused on characterizing this
transgenic line through immunocytochemistry. Here we
show that zsgreen is completely colocalized in MCH neurons in both the LH and ZI.
Generating a Herpes Simplex Virus LAT sRNA-1
Deletion Mutant
Tania Choudhary
Mentor: Steven Wechsler
Herpes Simplex Virus is a known member of the family of
DNA viruses. Ocular HSV-1 recurrences (due to reactivation of HSV-1 from latency), in conjunction with immune
interactions, are a major cause of corneal blindness. During
latency, abundant viral transcription is consistently detected only in the region of the latency associated transcript (LAT) gene (8.3 kb). It had been determined that the
LAT sequence of interest is contained in the first 1.5kb of
the genome. First 1.5 Kb LAT has an apoptosis function
and it is sufficient for a wild-type reactivation phenotype.
Recently, two small RNAs encoded within the first 1.5 Kb
LAT were identified: RNA-1 and RNA-2. Small RNA-1
also seems to have an anti-apoptosis activity. Since LAT’s
anti-apoptosis activity is its most important latency related
function and since the RNA-1 appears to have antiapoptosis activity and is encoded by the functional 1st 1.5
Kb of LAT, we hypothesized that a non-coding small
RNA-1 is possibly responsible for LAT functionality during latency. The objective of this study was to determine
how sRNA-1 contributes to LAT’s ability to enhance the
reactivation phenotype. I generated the targeting construct,
deleting the sRNA-1 from the LAT, introduced Hind III;
cotransfected the targeting construct with HSV-1 genomic
DNA and screened for the mutant. We detected the deletion of sRNA-1 in the mutant virus and infected mice with
this mutant virus. The effect of this mutant virus on mice
is yet to be determined. In future, we plan to rescue the
mutant virus and look at the phenotype.
Applications of Flow Cytometry for Real-Time Virus
Monitoring in Wastewater Treatment Processes
Kenneth Chow
Mentor: Sunny Jiang
Sustainable water management is becoming an increasing
topic of debate in today’s society. As the world looks for
ways to accommodate growing water demand, reclaimed
water has emerged as a proven and effective source of
supplementing water supply. However, public health concerns over the safety of reclaimed water continue to persist. Development of methods that allow real-time
detection of pathogenic organisms in wastewater treatment
processes may improve public perception of reclaimed
water. Flow cytometry (FCM) is a microbiological method
of detecting and enumerating microbial organisms. While
FCM has seen application in aquatic and other environmental settings, its use in wastewater remains relatively
unexplored. In this study, cultured viruses and wastewater
effluent were used to test the flow cytometer’s sensitivity,
specificity, and speed in identifying and quantifying the
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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presence of microbial organisms in water for reclamation.
Samples were stained with SYBR Green I, a fluorescent
dye, to amplify detection efficiency. It has been found that
while FCM is capable of detecting virus-like particles in
wastewater, significant background noise in the samples
(e.g. from organic debris, machine interference) has inhibited the efficiency of these readings. Optimizing the flow
cytometer settings, improved staining of the samples, and
concentration of the target particles will improve the ability
for virus detection in wastewater.
The Relationship Between Blood Pressure J-Shaped
Curves And Incident Cardiovascular Disease Event in
the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS)
Vincent Chow
Mentor: Nathan Wong
Studies have shown the J-curve phenomenon, a nonlinear
relationship of blood pressure with risk of cardiovascular
disease (CVD), where risk rises below a certain level due to
various reasons like arterial stiffness, cardiac dysfunction
or myocardial damage occurring in persons older than 50.
However, there has not been a study specifically examining
this issue in a population-based cohort aged 65 years and
older. In this study, we studied 3,075 individuals who have
baseline blood pressure measurements and have not had
any CVD event or were previously on hypertensive medication. We determined the proportion of subjects who
experienced subsequent CVD events and studied their
blood pressure distribution in predicting an event. Cox
proportional hazards regression examined the hazard of a
CVD event across levels of systolic and diastolic blood
pressure as well as pulse pressure, adjusting for the effects
of other risk factors including age, sex, ethnicity, smoking
history, diabetes (DM), metabolic syndrome (MetS), cholesterol, body mass index, and family history of CVD. The
highest risk occurs when a person has a systolic blood
pressure (SBP) ≥160 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure
(DBP) ≥90 mmHg (HR: 2.5 [1.6-3.7] p<0.01). In addition,
a pulse pressure (PP) between 90 and 99 mmHg has a 70%
increase in risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) ([1.32.1] p<0.01), 60% increase in risk of Congestive Heart
Failure (CHF) ([1.3-2.1] p<0.01), and 60% increase in risk
of Stroke ([1.3-2.0] p<0.01). Different components of BP
have no significance in predicting overall CVD, but there is
significance in predicting the individual subtypes of CVD.
In this elderly population, there is an increase in SBP and
decrease in DBP which results in an increase in PP, presenting the phenomenon of a DBP J-curve.
North Korea: Regime Survival Through the Faces of
Propaganda
Jane Chung
Mentor: Cecelia Lynch
The totalitarian regime in North Korea emerged during the
20th century and continues to exist today. While there are
several explanations for regime survival, this project aims
to demonstrate that this regime survival phenomenon can
be explained by the noteworthy preservation of the regime’s ideology Juche, through the strategic use of propaganda that specifically portrays the images of the North
Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. The research
will comprise contextual, iconographic, and functional
analyses of specific propaganda images, as well as other
mediums of propaganda that portray the portraitures of
the leaders. In order to emphasize North Korea’s propaganda as a means of regime survival, the paper also includes a comparative analysis with illustrations of the
leader of Nazi Germany, Hitler. The projected findings will
demonstrate that the preservation of an ideology that functions as a state religion through the consecration of the
leaders in propaganda art provides a unique explanation
for the phenomenon of regime survival; and possible contentions for the future existence of North Korea under the
third generation leader: Kim Jong Un.
“Mother’s” Museum: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller’s
Emancipation Through Modern Art Matronage and
Museum Building
Jennifer Condas
Mentors: Alice Fahs, Jon Wiener
New York City has long been heralded as the forerunner
of the American modern art scene, and my research considers the far-reaching impact Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
had on modern art in the 1920s and 1930s. Without her
involvement, New York’s premier museum for modern
and contemporary art, the Museum of Modern Art
(MoMA), would not have been founded or, for that matter, succeeded. Her efforts were hampered by a hostile
environment in her own home due to her husband, John
D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s, outright rejection of modern art, her
inability to make large contributions of either art or money
to MoMA, and the constraints on women in an era in
which cultural, societal, economic, and political pursuits
were still dominated by men. Nevertheless, Abby continued to promote modern art in New York as a legitimate art
form, despite the notion of radicalism associated with it.
Abby’s support of modern artists, their work, and her museum building efforts contributed to her emancipation
from her husband, as well as from traditional mores of the
era. Her legacy was ensured by two of her sons, David and
Nelson Rockefeller, because of her determination to cultivate in them from an early age a passionate interest in the
visual arts. Previously published literature has not suffi-
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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ciently addressed Abby’s successful inculcation of both
sons into the modern art landscape, and because their interest eventually rivaled, if not surpassed, her own, New
York consequently became the epicenter for modernism
and the avant-garde in the visual arts.
it constitutively active in B cells even when TORC inhibitors are present; thus making it resistant to Kinase inhibition. Upon FACS analysis we observed that when treated
with this variant B cells exhibited a decrease in CSR, germinal center B cells and high affinity antibody secreting
plasma cells; these results support our states hypothesis.
The next step will be to look at the effect that a dominant
negative FOXO mutant has on B cell CSR. This can have
important implications in the advancement of gene therapy
treatment for lymphoma type cancers and even other cancers.
From Local to Global: Spatial Scales and HIV/AIDS
in South Africa
Alexandra Coombs
Mentor: Tom Boellstorff
The HIV/AIDS pandemic affects people at all levels of
society. In our increasingly globalized world, organizations
that have mobilized against HIV/AIDS are fighting a
tough battle, and must often engage across all of these spatial scales in order to function effectively. The Treatment
Action Campaign (TAC) in South Africa is a prime example of an organization that has capitalized on its connections to local, national, and international communities to
push for government provision of antiretroviral treatment
for HIV-positive persons. What is not clear, however, is
how this multiplicity of localities affected the ability of
TAC to implement programs and promote its cause. The
goal of this study was to investigate when an organization’s
position across multiple localities or spatial scales might be
an asset to its work in fighting HIV/AIDS, and when it
might be a detriment, as indicated by a review of the relevant literature. This study concluded that TAC successfully
engaged with the international idea of “health as a human
right” as well as South Africa’s Constitutional guarantee of
access to healthcare in order to secure a national treatment
program for HIV/AIDS. In this way, TAC acts as a lens to
observe how HIV/AIDS non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) can take full advantage of their connection to
multiple spatial scales. In doing so, this study articulates
methods that other HIV/AIDS NGOs can use to effectively promote treatment and prevention for their own
population of affected and infected citizens.
Induction of Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Using Cytokine Treatment
Ali Crampton
Mentor: Steven George
Cell behavior is highly influenced by the surrounding conditions, and changes in the extracellular environment often
elicit cellular responses. In tumors, increases in the production of certain soluble factors is thought to be associated
with the transition from an endothelial to a mesenchymal
phenotype (EMT), meaning the cells are more mobile, and
thus more likely to metastasize. Although there are many
factors involved in EMT, TGF-beta and TNF-alpha appear to play a prominent role. On its own, TGF-beta is
able to significantly affect the phenotype of exposed cells,
altering rates of proliferation and migration, as well as expression of surface proteins and cell shape; however, when
exposed to TGF-beta and TNF-alpha simultaneously,
some of these changes may be enhanced. This study examined cellular responses to these cytokines using endothelial-derived colon cancer cells in a two-dimensional model.
Changes in cell proliferation were observed using cell
counting for consecutive days for various concentrations
of cytokines. Additionally, immunofluorescent staining was
used to visualize the expression of E-cadherin (a surface
protein). From our experiments, we are able to conclude
that the endothelial-derived colon cancer cells used in the
study showed an increased rate of proliferation when exposed to TGF-beta, indicating that the mesenchymal phenotype is induced by this cytokine treatment.
Effects of mTOR Inhibitors on B cell Differentiation
Juana Corado
Mentor: David Fruman
We hypothesize that mTOR Kinase inhibitors enhance
class switching recombination (CSR) by reducing TORC2
dependent AKT activity or increasing FOXO transcriptional activity. Retroviral production will be used to produce viruses that are capable of altering AKT/FOXO
signaling through Retroviral Gene Transduction. Active B
cells will be infected with the virus, and Class switching
recombination (CSR) as well as antibody secreting cells
(ASC) will be measured by Fluorescence-Activated Cell
Sorting (FACS); ELISA will be used to measure the production of different immunoglobulin isotypes. B cells were
transfected with the Akt virus variant Akt S473D and an
empty vector as a control. The serine in this variant makes
Comparative Analysis of Induced Pluripotent Stem
Cell-Derived and Human Embryonic Stem CellDerived
Oligodendrocyte
Progenitor
Cells
Transplantation in the Spinal Cord Injury Rat Model
Carissa Nicole Cruz
Mentor: Hans Keirstead
After a spinal cord injury (SCI), the adult central nervous
system of mammals has a limited ability to remyelinate and
regenerate axons during spontaneous recovery, which is
also often accompanied with neuropathic pain. Previous
work in the Keirstead Laboratory exemplifies the potential
of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) therapy to decrease
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degeneration and increase regeneration post-SCI. In this
study, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC) derived
from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells were
compared to hESC-derived OPCs as a potential cell therapy for SCI to devoid the ethical issues of using hESCs.
The OPCs generated from hES and hiPS lines adopted an
oligodendroglial fate after transplant into a rat model of
spinal cord injury with no tumor formation. Also, the locomotor recovery curves for hES-OPC and hiPS-OPC
transplanted SCI rats are statistically indistinguishable. Although they displayed similar phenotypes, there was a
trend towards increased cumulative pain responses hiPSOPC transplanted animals when compared to hES-OPC
transplanted animals. This study shows iPS cells are capable of generating high purity populations of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells using clinically compliant protocols
developed for hESCs. Such efficacy may allow iPS lines to
be generated by safer, non-integrating factor delivery
methods to meet the standards applied to hES lines for
translation into the clinic.
An Intensive Study of the Voice and the Vocal
Production, Interpretation, and Presentation of the
Art Song
Kateland Cunningham
Mentors: Robin Buck, Frances Young
Accompanied singing is one of the earliest cultural pastimes for most civilizations around the world. My purpose
was to discover the modern standard practices of performance, and interpretation for new and old Euro/American
art song. Through attending a master class series covering
French Melodié, German Lied, Spanish Canciones, and British
and American art song in conjunction with private lessons
and meetings with contemporary composers and performers, I discovered art song, unlike opera, is an intimate form
of music. It is intended to be performed in smaller personal settings such as the salon, which allows for the audience to experience the poetry intimately. Piano is the
preferred accompanying instrument because, like the voice,
it has the ability to convey the subtleties of emotion in poetry—which massive orchestras may have difficulties
achieving—while encompassing the colorful emotional
range of a large orchestra. As musicians, the pianist and the
singer must also be interpreters of the composer’s score,
striving to tell the story encrypted within the poetry. In
working with composers I have observed the development
of art song from its roots to its current realization of an art
form. For successful art song performance, the singer must
master the foundations of healthy vocal production in conjunction with poetic sensitivity, knowledge of historical
events, and cultural insights. Through the performance of
two contemporary works in contrast with an older musical
selection, I will demonstrate the standard practices of performance.
Breeding System Evolution via Allele Exchange
Through a Hybrid Zone
Rachel Danielson
Mentors: Ann Sakai, Stephen Weller
Naturally occurring hybrid zones may be important conduits for the transfer of alleles influencing the evolution of
a species’ breeding system. To determine whether an allele
for male sterility found in gynodioecious S. salicaria is also
found in a hybrid zone between S. salicaria and a closely
related hermaphroditic species, S. menziesii, crosses were
performed between S. salicaria and plants from the hybrid
zone. The appearance of females in addition to hermaphrodites in the progeny of some crosses indicated that the
hybrid and parental species share an allele for male sterility
at the same locus. Rare male sterility alleles in S. menziesii
are identical to those found in S. salicaria and the hybrid
zone, suggesting that the hybrid zone is a conduit for the
transfer of alleles affecting the evolution of reproductive
systems. Lack of adaptation to wind pollination has most
likely prevented the establishment of females in populations of S. menziesii. Male function in progeny of a presumably inbred hybrid hermaphrodite, measured as
filament length and pollen production, was investigated.
Filaments of progeny of the presumably inbred hermaphrodite were significantly shorter than filaments of hermaphrodites derived from hermaphroditic parents with
normal male function, and progeny derived from the atypical, presumably inbred hermaphrodite produced significantly less pollen than hermaphroditic progeny of
hermaphrodites with normal male function, showing that
progeny of an inbred hermaphroditic parent experience
reduced male function.
Seed Size in the Endemic Hawaiian Genus Schiedea
(Caryophyllaceae)
Stephanie Danielson
Mentors: Ann Sakai, Stephen Weller
Selective forces on seed size and seed number may differ
with the environment. Plants in wet habitats may have
fewer larger seeds because of selection for seedling establishment and selection for seedlings that can compete and
survive in shaded habitats. Plants in dry habitats may have
many smaller seeds because of selection for wind dispersal
into better environments. The endemic Hawaiian genus
Schiedea has 34 species that have radiated into a wide range
of habits and habitats. Using data from the literature and
our own measurements, we tested whether seed size (seed
length, seed mass) and seed number are associated with
habitat, comparing species in dry, mesic, and wet habitats.
We predicted that species in dry habitats would produce
small seeds and that species in wet habitats would produce
large seeds. We also tested the hypothesis that Schiedea species would show a tradeoff between seed size (mass) and
number, reflecting different allocation patterns to seeds. In
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Schiedea, seed size was significantly associated with habitat:
species in dry habitats produced smaller seeds relative to
species in mesic and wet habitats, which were not different
from each other. Seed size and the number of seeds per
capsule did not show the expected tradeoffs in allocation
of resources to seeds. Further studies controlling for the
evolutionary history of the species may help in understanding the relationship of seed size and number within this
genus.
very same phantom was imaged using a frequency-domain
DOT system. The a priori information obtained from the
US images was then used for more accurate DOT image
reconstruction. These results have shown that using US a
priori information improves the DOT reconstruction and
quantification accuracy. Currently, we are expanding the
prototype system to be able to acquire both US and DOT
images in the same setting.
Growth Comparison of Yeast Strains Producing
Recombinant Collagen
Anthony DeNicola
Mentor: Nancy Da Silva
Collagen is a diverse family of proteins that makes up
much of the flesh and connective tissue of humans and
plays a vital role in physiological processes such as the development of new organs. Therefore, our lab (in collaboration with the Wang lab) has constructed various strains of
the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce custom tailored
recombinant human collagen for tissue engineering and
other applications. However there is little data on the
growth of these strains and on the yields and characterization of the collagen produced. For this study, two modified
yeast strains were grown alongside the original strain and
the growth rates calculated. The collagen was then freed
from the cells and purified from the debris with a salt precipitation. An SDS-PAGE gel, Circular Dichroism spectroscopy, and AAA analysis confirmed that the collagen
was present in sufficient amount and correctly formed.
With this new growth data, the process of producing useful collagen from these strains can be made more efficient.
TNF-alpha Secretion of RAW 264.7 Macrophages in
Response to Polymer Coatings
Chase Davis
Mentor: Wendy Liu
When implanted into the body materials react with many
of the systems in the body. While much progress has been
made in finding and perfecting biocompatible materials
such as titanium alloys or certain ceramics, these materials
can be read by the body as foreign. This produces the foreign body response, or FBR. The FBR contains the foreign
body in a fibrous capsule by first attacking the body with
macrophages and then when the macrophages are chronically activated giant cells form and the fibrous capsule
takes shape. New ideas about limiting the FBR include the
use of polymers with different functional groups to both
limit protein absorption to the material and decrease
macrophage activation. In my experiment the immune response of mouse macrophage cells was quantified by
measuring TNF-alpha, a pro inflammatory cytokine. My
data showed that polymers with 1,3 dioxolane exposed on
the surface caused the macrophages to become highly activated. A polymer with methyl end groups showed the least
release of TNF-alpha. This could be due to the 1, 3 dioxolane causing non-specific binding of proteins and the
methyl groups limiting the adsorption.
Thanatopic Spectacles Yet (Un)Seen: Human
Desires, the Slave Imaginary, and the (im)Possibility
of a Black Futurity
Jerome Dent
Mentor: Tiffany Willoughby-Herard
This paper approaches the problematic presented by AfroFuturism in two ways. The first is that it depends upon the
Black imagination to gain coherence and momentum. Yet,
as put forth by the work of Fanon and Marriott, “[the]
transference of white fantasy to black experience…continues to haunt the black imaginary” and “…‘if
the imagination, the imaginary, are only possible to the
extent that the real belongs to us’, what happens when the
real becomes inseparable from an image of black cultural
dereliction.” It follows then that work that is issued forth
from the imagination would work to reproduce these images of Black abjection. Second is the issue of Black temporality which defies the assumptive logic of history put
forth by the idea of a futurism. The chronotopes of historical-, biographical-, and adventure-time as defined by
Bhaktin, dis-coheres around the Black who has been rendered an object, a being for the captor. That is, the Black,
A Hands-Free Combined Ultrasound Guided Diffuse
Optical Tomography System
Zixin Deng
Mentor: Gultekin Gulsen
Near-infrared (NIR) diffuse optical tomography (DOT)
can provide spatially resolved physiological information
about tissue. However, high scattering of NIR light in tissue results in low resolution and quantitative accuracy. A
priori information from another modality can be used to
guide DOT reconstruction and improve quantification
accuracy. The goal of this study is to develop an entirely
hands-free combined ultrasound (US) guided DOT system
for quantitative whole breast imaging. For this purpose, a
6.5 cm diameter circular phantom with a 1.4 cm diameter
circular inclusion was used for this experiment. This multimodality phantom was rotated 360° using a computer controlled rotation stage. 360 US images were collected in 1°
increments covering the entire phantom volume. Later, the
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the slave, exists always outside of time, or rather in a paradigmatic time, which forecloses upon this idea of a historicity as such. These are the obstacles of Afro-futurism
and those through which I will work in my querying of the
field. The crux of this paper is an unflinching paradigmatic
analysis that is couched in a juxtaposition of human desire,
the black psyche, and the possibility of a black futurity.
Board Size and its Effect on Bank Performance
Aylin Dermenci
Mentor: Gary Richardson
The main role of an organization’s board of directors is to
hire, monitor, and fire top management. They also help in
the process of decision making and strategy setting for the
company. Much literature in this area is on how various
characteristics of these boards, such as size, allows them to
perform their role effectively. This effectiveness is measured by firm performance. I examined the board’s characteristic of board size and its effect on firm performance.
Using data on commercial banks in New York City for the
years 1912–1938, I ran a fixed effects model with lags of
my independent variables to take into account the endogeneity issue that is prevalent in corporate governance literature. My findings are an inverted U-shaped relation
between board size and bank performance.
Phase Locked Loop
Ahmed Dessouki
Mentor: Michael Green
One of the most crucial circuit blocks used in communication and computer devices is a “Phase Locked Loop
(PLL).” A PLL is a control system constructed by cascading several electronic blocks in a feedback configuration.
There are many applications for a PLL: clock multiplication, clock recovery, clock generation, clock distribution,
jitter and noise reduction, deskewing, and frequency synthesis. In my research, I have used the PLL as a clock multiplier unit (CMU). A CMU is used in microprocessors to
“allow internal processor elements to run faster than external connections, while maintaining precise timing relationships.” The PLL was used to create an output signal
with a frequency of 10 GHz whose phase is synchronized
to the phase of a reference signal with a frequency of 5
GHz. Cadence, an electronic design automation (EDA)
software, was used to perform this project. Several PLL
architectures achieve an exact synchronization. My research begins by using a type I PLL implementing a simple
XNOR as a phase detector (PD), and ends by using a type
II PLL with phase-frequency detector (PFD) and charge
pump. The lock acquisition and exact synchronization
were not easy to achieve due to the complexity of the circuit involving many components and variables. However, I
have learned the essence of a PLL, how it functions, and
why it is a vital element in electronic circuits. In simple
terms, it keeps all electronic components within a circuit
working in harmony.
A Practical Approach to Reverse Engineering of
Embedded Systems
Lucia Diaz
Mentor: Ian Harris
Embedded systems are computers designed to perform
specific tasks within larger electronic bodies, such as
household appliances and medical instruments. These devices frequently lack exhaustive security mechanisms as the
addition of such features might increase costs or compromise performance. However, lacking appropriate security
mechanisms could jeopardize the integrity of systems such
as implantable cardiac defibrillators. An embedded system
is normally composed of at least one microcontroller
(processor, memory, and input/output devices) interacting
with other components within a larger system. These
components communicate through serial interfaces using
electrical signals which comply with standard communication protocols, such as I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit). Reverse engineering can be applied to embedded systems to
generate an understanding of their functionality by abstracting binary sequences for analysis. This study uses reverse engineering to determine internal communication
within an embedded system by obtaining, parsing, and analyzing binary signals. Internal wires are tapped to measure
voltage signals and recorded as sequences of binary values.
The resulting binary waveforms are decoded using a Python script in order to determine what transactions and
data have been transmitted. Inspection of this information
provides insight into the functionality of the system. If
unexpected behavior is found, future debugging will be
used to trace the problem and identify faulty components
or vulnerabilities.
The Nitrogen Content and Isotopic Composition of
Trees in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Michael Dilts
Mentor: Diane Pataki
Trees provide many benefits for society, especially in urban
areas. However, interactions between the environment and
the physiology of urban trees are poorly understood. We
wished to understand the effects of environmental and
socioeconomic factors on the nitrogen relations of urban
trees. We sampled leaves in urban forest plots throughout
Los Angeles and Orange Counties and analyzed leaf samples for nitrogen isotope ratio ( 15N) and nitrogen content
(N%). We then determined local climatic, spatial, and socioeconomic variables to evaluate the drivers of variability
in leaf 15N and %N. We hypothesized that 15N and N%
would be correlated with both environmental factors, particularly distance to the coast and air temperature, and also
with sociodemographic variables such as neighborhood
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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income. We found significant correlations between 15N
and N%, 15N and neighborhood income, 15N and tree
distance to coast, income and distance from coast, and
temperature and distance from coast. Our results suggest
that, in the Los Angeles basin, topography and particularly
distance from the coast is a strong driver of forest nitrogen
parameters, as it influences both temperature and
neighborhood income. Temperature affects many forest N
cycling processes that lead to isotope fractionation; in addition, income has been shown to be related to urban landscape management, especially fertilizer application, and to
the spatial distribution of nitrogen pollutants. This is the
first study to show a relationship between sociodemographic variables and urban leaf N content and isotopes,
suggesting that these parameters may be useful in future
studies of urban forest ecosystem services.
one approach to calculate the non-interacting KE, which is
an asymptotic expansion that approximates the KE by taking gradients of the density. The performance of the GE is
compared with the exact non-interacting KE to investigate
convergent and divergent properties. The Kronig-Penney
(KP) model is a periodic system that contains a repeating
step-wise potential, which approximates the behavior of
solids. One can obtain the densities from the KP potential
by solving the Schrodinger equation satisfying periodic
boundary conditions and applying Bloch’s theorem. The
non-interacting KE from the GE is compared to the exact
non-interacting KE for various heights of the KP potential. The goal is to explore the behavior of the GE at different orders compared to the exact KE, which shall be
crucial to learn more about the properties of the GE for
periodic systems.
Collaborative Memory in a Serial Combination
Procedure
Annie Ditta
Mentor: Mark Steyvers
This talk describes a new approach for studying collaborative memory that examines the editing process for naturally
occurring memory errors. In this approach, memories of
individuals are combined via a non-social method referred
to as “chaining,” in which each participant indirectly receives information from the previous participant. Participants were asked to study word lists individually and recall
as many words as possible in an online setting. Once one
participant completed the recall task, his/her answers were
provided for the next participant as suggested answers for
their own recall, but that participant was allowed to add or
subtract words from the list of suggested answers. The
final answer of the group is based on the answer given by
the last participant in the chain. In the experiment, eight
participants were “chained” in this manner to produce an
aggregate list of recalled words. Results showed that participants displayed a very high accuracy of recall, though
they were not able to eliminate all errors by the end of the
chain. Chaining has the advantage that it allows one to examine the types of errors made when individuals communicate information in a group setting independent from
any social factors that arise in group memory settings.
Absentee/Early Voting and its Effect on Political
Consulting
Kelsey Downey
Mentor: Mark Petracca
Early absentee voting has become increasingly prominent
in U.S. elections and consultants must now change the
timing of their techniques and implement different strategies in order to reach both absentee voters and Election
Day voters. The percentage of absentee voters in California increased from 30% in 2005 to 60% in 2010, with
many absentee voters voting early as well. There are now
two campaigns that are run during Gubernatorial and
Presidential elections—one aimed earlier at absentee voters
and one aimed at those who vote on Election Day. In order to reach absentee voters, mail is sent earlier than before the rise in absentee voting and radio and television ads
are aired sooner as well. These ads are also negative, so
that absentee voters can have any scandal affect them before they vote. In addition, partisan voters are more likely
to vote absentee and, thus more likely to vote earlier. Due
to this, consultants must appeal to the partisan absentee
voters near the beginning of the campaign while focusing
on the more centrist voters later on. They do this by portraying their candidate as the epitome of one certain Party
at the beginning of the race, while making him/her appear
more moderate when Election Day gets nearer. Moreover,
since consultants must appeal to partisan voters looking
for a candidate to embody a particular Party, consultants
are stressing image at the beginning of the campaign, while
focusing on the importance of the issues towards the end
of the campaign, when moderate voters are making their
decisions. This absentee voting phenomenon is also difficult on consultants because it has escalated campaign
costs, since there are essentially two campaigns run rather
than one. Consultants claim that it has increased campaign
costs by 25%.
Testing the Gradient Expansion of the Kinetic Energy
in Periodic Systems
Joseph Dizon
Mentor: Kieron Burke
Density-functional theory (DFT) has become a phenomenal tool for dealing with electronic structure properties.
Orbital-free DFT promises to be even more efficient than
standard DFT, but accurate approximations to the noninteracting kinetic energy (KE) as a function of the electronic density are missing. The gradient expansion (GE) is
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Can NATO Learn from the Taliban? A Study of Drug
Interdiction in Afghanistan
Kelsey Duckstad
Mentor: Anthony McGann
According to data collected by the United Nations, the
2001 ban on opium production in Afghanistan was extremely effective in reducing crops in the country. However, the street price of opium and heroin in Europe
remained fairly stable, despite the fact that over seventyfive percent of the world’s opium supply came out of Afghanistan at the time of the ban. This odd trend in data
gives rise to several questions, the first of which being: did
a significant reduction in opium production occur at all? If
so, was the ban effective or ineffective in significantly reducing the supply in the global opium market? In this paper, I assert that the opium ban was indeed effective in
reducing production of opium in Afghanistan, but that
trafficking was able to continue due to the existence of
stockpiles and the ability to change the purity of the product as a method of supply control.
3D Transmitral Vortex Characterization
Brandon Dueitt
Mentor: Arash Kheradvar
The flow inside the left and right ventricles is an important
index into the functioning of the heart. The performance
of the heart is mainly interlinked to how efficient the flow
enters the left ventricle (LV) as it affects the flow patterns
during LV diastole. The transmitral vortex is one of the
formed features and consequences of the incoming LV
flow. Recently, it is hypothesized that the asymmetry of the
transmitral vortex can be considered as an index into the
heart’s performance. This would be similar to existing non
invasive quantitative LV performance probes that have
been developed in the past decade. However, the origin
and the cause of this asymmetry are not yet known. In this
study, we have examined the effect of the geometry of the
mitral valve and its formed vortex. We have investigated
specifically the anterior and posterior leaflets contribution
to the generated transmitral vortex and its asymmetry. The
effect of ventricular inlet geometry on the flow pattern was
emulated using a vortex generator system carefully calibrated to physiological conditions. The end of the generator’s piston leading into the vortex chamber was fit with a
custom designed mitral geometry replicating nozzle. The
resulting flow pattern was then captured and reconstructed
in 3D using the Digital Defocused Particle Image Velocimetry algorithm. The asymmetry was observed in an exhaustive set of physiologic flow parameters using the VFT
index, vortex formation time, this is the L/D ratio. The
aim of this study is to characterize the mitral leaflets and
annulus geometries effect on the asymmetry of the generated left ventricular vortex pattern.
Changes in Risk Judgment across Developmental
Periods
Natasha Duell
Mentor: Elizabeth Cauffman
Adolescence is known to be a time of increased risk-taking,
yet the causes remain unclear. Elkind’s 1967 theory of adolescent egocentrism states that adolescents view themselves
as invulnerable to risk; however, studies find that adolescents perceive greater risk to themselves (compared to
adults) for a range of potential undesirable outcomes. Longitudinal research on risk perception is needed to provide
more conclusive data on developmental change. This study
examines adolescents’ and young adults’ risk judgments
over a period of two years. Participants reported their perceived chances of experiencing a negative outcome if they
engaged in risky behaviors (e.g., binge drinking, unprotected sex). We tested the degree to which perceived risk
declines over two years at different stages of development
and examined the role of experience with risky behavior.
Participants included adolescents (125 fifth graders, 148
seventh graders, 160 ninth graders) and young adults
(n=144; ages 20–30). Across all age groups, perceived risk
declined over time. Furthermore, for binge drinking, decline in perceived risk appears to be steepest in late adolescence and early adulthood, but is less dramatic for those
with greater experience. Findings also indicate that, for
perceived risk of getting an STD after having unprotected
sex, younger adolescents evinced the steepest decline in
perceived risk. Our findings contradict the view that adolescent risk-taking can be explained by deficits in risk perception. More research is needed to understand the causes
of declining risk perception with age and why adolescents
are most prone to risk-taking.
Dark Astronomy: The Search for Neutrino Point
Sources
Thorin Duffin
Mentor: Steven Barwick
For the past 400 years, light astronomy—astronomy using
various forms of light—has been the only way for mankind to explore the cosmos. In the last few decades, light
astronomy has run into a number of difficulties while trying to probe into some of the deepest and most distant
reaches of the universe. Light being absorbed and scattered
by enormous clouds of dust, huge extragalactic gravitational fields bending the path of light and astrophysical
conditions left over from the Big Bang have all served to
obscure and obstruct extragalactic exploration using light.
In order to explore further, the search has turned to neutrinos. Neutrinos are tiny weakly interacting particles that
fly through the universe, for all intents and purposes, unscathed. However, neutrino producers remain a mystery in
modern astro-particle physics. New data collected at the
IceCube Neutrino Observatory—a recently completed
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neutrino telescope at the South Pole—enables an upper
energy limit to be calculated for neutrino fluxes emitting
from sources, such that the emission flux energy of the
source cannot exceed the calculated upper limit. Recreating
extragalactic events by computer simulations that are based
on various luminosity distributions and possible neutrino
source distributions can be used to calculate this upper
limit on neutrino flux from a point source that will be the
most stringent calculated to date.
drugs (e.g. aspirin, clopidogrel, warfarin) may worsen CM,
and there is no specific CM treatment currently available.
Our objective was to develop a rodent model to study
cerebral microscopic hemorrhage. We used two intraperitoneal injections of lipopolysaccharide at 0 and 24 hours to
induce blood-brain barrier alteration in 2–4-month-old
mice. Mice were sacrificed, and brains were collected after
48 hours. We found that LPS significantly increased bloodbrain barrier permeability, as measured by NaF. Small
brain hemorrhages were visible in LPS treated animals. We
performed staining with hematoxylin & eosin and Prussian
blue for microscopic analysis of hemorrhages. We counted
the number of microscopic hemorrhages and used a scoring system to describe the size of the lesions. In conclusion, we developed a rodent model for cerebral
microscopic hemorrhage with the potential to study intervention strategies.
Solving the Keller-Segel Partial Differential Equations
on Complex Domains and Surfaces: The SpatioTemporal Development of Population Patterns
Arthur Dunn
Mentor: John Lowengrub
The movement of cells or organisms in a given environment depends on certain chemical stimuli in a process
called chemotaxis. Studying the movement of organisms in
a population is important because there are many applications to cell biology. A canonical example is the movement
of bacteria towards a source of food such as glucose, but
chemotaxis also plays a role in understanding E. coli, Salmonella, and even tumor growth. One of the most popular
mathematical models to study chemotaxis is the coupled
system of partial differential equations developed by Keller
and Segel. These equations are typically solved in idealized
domains, such as squares and circles, but in the real world,
populations live in more complicated regions where the
borders are not easy to work with. The technique used to
solve these equations involves a diffuse domain interface
method where a layer of thickness around the boundary is
introduced along with a transition function to smooth out
the irregularities of the border in order to make the problem into a more manageable one. Once the stability analysis justifies this smoothing, standard numerical methods
can be applied to solving the system. The numerical
scheme used is an adaptive nonlinear multigrid method
that involves discretizing the region into mesh of points so
a finite difference method, such as the Crank-Nicolson
method, can be applied. Producing numerically stable solutions to the Keller-Segel equations provides great insight to
how cells behave in reaction to certain chemicals.
Characterization of the Radial Excision Repair
Model: An in-vivo Assay for Dedifferentiation in the
Axolotl
Michael Duran
Mentor: David Gardiner
The Urodele amphibians are the only adult vertebrates able
to fully regenerate lost limbs. This impressive regenerative
response begins with the formation of a mass of multipotent cells, called a blastema, after injury, which then directs
the development of a new fully functional limb. The
mechanisms through which the blastema achieves regeneration are not fully understood; however, if we are able to
fully characterize the events that take place, then we can
use that knowledge to enhance human regenerative ability.
One of the ways in which this can be accomplished is by
manipulating non-blastema cells in an effort to make them
“blastema like”; however, this requires an assay to determine whether or not the cells in question are actually regenerative competent. To this end our lab recently
developed a model for determining regenerative competency termed the radial excision repair model. This model
is based on the observation that, despite their tremendous
limb regenerating abilities, the axolotl cannot regenerate a
2mm surgically created bone defect in the radius of the
forelimb; it instead forms a callus, similar to a mammalian
response. We discovered that regeneration could be induced by grafting cells from a blastema into the defect
area. This gives us an effective assay with a well defined
readout (regenerative response), with which we can assay
how closely experimentally manipulated cells can match a
blastema regeneration response. To enhance the viability
of the assay, I have begun to characterize the levels of cell
proliferation and apoptosis which occur as a result of a
blastema graft at 2, 10, and 20 days. With these characterizations, we will be able to make full use of the radial excision repair model by allowing researchers to compare
Development of a Rodent Model of Cerebral
Microbleeds
Que-Huong Duong
Mentor: Mark Fisher
Cerebral microscopic hemorrhage is ubiquitous in postmortem brain specimens of individuals over the age of 70
years. Cerebral microbleeds (CM), demonstrable by brain
magnetic resonance imaging, are associated with cognitive
decline and are a major public health issue in the aging
population. The relationship between cerebral microscopic
hemorrhage and CM is uncertain. Some stroke prevention
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experimental cells to blastema cells using a variety of parameters.
Congo Red: In vivo Analysis of Amyloid Plaque Prevention in Drosophila melanogaster
Kyle East
Mentor: Athan Shaka
The aging of cells in all living organisms is a complex
process that ultimately leads to the death of the organism.
As the cell ages, the basic mechanisms of cellular repair
become less effective, resulting in increased concentrations
of damaged biomolecules, including DNA, proteins, and
lipids. Over time, the conglomeration of these damaged
molecules, especially proteins, can lead to cell death and
debilitation and death of the organism. Maladies of this
type are frequently diagnosed in the older portion of the
human population. However, the removal of these damaged proteins can improve health of the organism leading
to a longer, healthier lifespan. This project attempts to establish a link between protein soluble compounds and the
prevention of protein aggregates within living organisms
by extending the lifespan of the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). It was found that Congo Red is able to
slightly extend the lifespan of the flies as compared to
curcumin and thioflavin T.
Gender Equality as a Stimulant for Women’s
Involvement in White-Collar Crime
Samantha Elliott
Mentor: Donna Schuele
The exact definition of white-collar crime has been largely
debated, but what is consistent across the field of academia
is that it is a crime of the employed. Throughout history
labor force has been male dominated, so it is assumed that
white-collar crime was largely a man’s crime. Yet, in the
past decade, women have made an entrance into the labor
force with numbers not far below men. With this sudden
increase women have acquired the potential to commit a
new kind of crime that was previously unattainable because
they were not a part of the labor force: white-collar crime.
This study is a quantitative analysis that looks to see if
white-collar crime is gender neutral. Comparing the percentage of men versus women arrested for forgery/counterfeiting, fraud and embezzlement using UCR
data will do this. While it was this study’s hypothesis that
women will surpass men in their white-collar crime statistics, the analysis has showed that the genders commit
white-collar crime at a similar rate. Men are arrested for
forgery/counterfeiting at a higher rate, and women are
arrested for embezzlement at a higher rate, but when the
data of the three crimes is combined, neither gender is arrested significantly more than the other. This suggests that
white-collar crime is a gender-neutral crime.
Racecar Engineering
Alex Ellis
Mentor: J. Michael McCarthy
The Racecar Engineering project at UCI simulates a real
working engineering firm. Members are divided into teams
that focus on specific subsystems of each car: drivetrain,
chassis, suspension, and human interface. Team leads
communicate with each other to integrate systems and report to the project lead. Each lead is responsible for assigning action items and deadlines, and guiding and
motivating team members. This year’s focus has been beginning the design of the new FSAE car, Zeta, for the
2013 FSAE competition, and the rebuilding of the 2010
FSAE car, Delta, to compete in the 2011 UCI Energy Invitational. Many parts from Delta were used to build the
2011 FSAE car, Epsilon, due to budget constraints. New
suspension and drivetrain for Delta needed to be designed
and manufactured, and the opportunity was taken to redesign the suspension to new parameters to correct handling,
manufacturing, and packaging issues, and upgrade the
drivetrain from a single wheel drive to a two wheel drive.
Students applied mechanical design principles such as linkage analysis, 3D modeling, Finite Element Analysis, and
structural analysis in addition to material science and
manufacturing technology in the remanufacturing of Delta.
Racecar Engineering is one of the few hands-on projects
that fully prepare students to enter into a job in industry.
Students learn what it takes to see a design move from
concept to a driving car, and how to work as to team to
achieve that goal.
Spatio-Temporal Correlation Spectroscopy Analysis of
High Speed Confocal Images
Horcaio Estabridis
Mentor: Elliot Botvinick
Confocal microscopy has long been used to generate high
resolution images of cells in vitro. However, traditional confocal microscopy is slow and requires florescent dyes. One
of the goals of this project is to improve upon current confocal technology by implementing a confocal microscope
with the ability to generate high quality confocal images
rapidly without the use of dyes. The data generated by this
new microscope will be analyzed by a mathematical
method known as spatio-temporal image correlation spectroscopy (STICS). STICS is a process that is used to derive
the mechanical characteristics of the imaged substance,
properties like degree of shear stress and strain exerted
throughout the substance by analysis of pixel migration as
a velocity vector. This process can be used to derive the
stiffness of extra-cellular fiber matrices, such as collagen,
fibrin and Matrigel. The field of biophysics has long been
finding ways to address the problem of analyzing the mechanical nature of biological substances. This system, once
completed, should give a great deal of insight into the me-
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chanical aspects of various biological functions and will
contribute greatly to the fields of biophysics and biomechanics. The first project which this system shall be used
for will be to analyze the mechanical aspects of cancer metastasis to shed new light on the nature of cancers invasion
of the body.
find ways to navigate these various tasks and relationships.
Through a constant process of posing questions, finding
ways to research those questions with both our spoken
voice and movement, and always being ourselves, the purpose is to see how dance can not only reflect our lives, but
be interwoven into our very beings. When shared, the
hope is that enough room is left for the viewers to bring
their own experiences, question their own lives, and relate
to the performers on a human level.
Photolysis of Environmental Organics Investigated
Using Quartz Crystal Microbalance
Chad Eyerly
Mentor: Sergey Nizkorodov
Environmental organics, such as compounds found in
soils, particulate matter, and water can change significantly
as a result of photolysis by solar radiation. Depending on
the type of organics, photolytic processes may lead to degradation, and volatilization, resulting in a loss of mass or,
conversely, a gain of mass resulting from atmospheric oxidation. For this reason, the Quartz Crystal Microbalance
(QCM) method, which can weigh materials with nanogram
precision, is a powerful tool in observing and quantifying
these photolysis reactions. QCM measures the frequency at
which a gold plated quartz crystal resonates depending on
the mass of compound that is present. The goals of this
project are to: (1) optimize the QCM method for the
photolysis of organics; and (2) investigate photodegradation of organic particulate matter. Benzoyl peroxide was
the test system for the optimization step. The weak oxygen-oxygen peroxidic bond allows for the molecule to degrade into volatile components upon exposure to
ultraviolet light. This reaction was monitored and quantified using the QCM, resulting in the expected mass loss
upon photolysis. In control experiments, compounds that
were not expected to photolyze (oleic and pinonic acid)
resulted with no mass change after UV radiation. To make
the measurement more quantitative, the radiation flux was
calibrated using standard actinometry techniques. The infrared band-strength of an actinometer called nitrosobenzaldehyde (NB) was measured in the process. With the
technique validated and flux measured, the next step will
be to deposit actual environmental films on the QCM and
investigate their photodegradation.
Effect OF 5-HT1A Antagonism on Behavioral Alterations Elicited by Nicotine on the Developing Dopamine System in Adolescence
Christine Feng
Mentor: Frances Leslie
Initiation of smoking and onset of neuropsychiatric diseases often begin during adolescence. During this unique
developmental period, early adolescent exposure to nicotine may produce long-term neurochemical alterations in
brain development and signaling, predisposing adolescents
to other illicit drug use and high-risk sexual behavior.
Growing evidence suggests that 5-HT1A receptors play an
important role in nicotinic alterations of dopamine (DA)
signaling. Previous studies from our lab have shown that
pretreatment with WAY-100,635, an antagonist of 5-HT1A
receptors, blocks nicotine enhancement of D2-stimulated
locomotion and the increased acquisition of cocaine selfadministration in adolescent rats. This study was designed
to determine whether antagonism 5-HT1A receptors with
WAY-100,635 after nicotine treatment can attenuate
changes in the functional sensitivity of D2 receptors. Adolescent and adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with nicotine (60µg/kg, i.v.) for four consecutive
days, and behavior was tested on the following day. On the
day of testing, rats were injected with WAY-100,635
(100µg/kg, i.v.) immediately before administration of
quinpirole, D2-like agonist, and locomotion and erectile
response were examined. WAY-100,635 blocked the agespecific enhancement by nicotine pretreatment of quinpirole-induced locomotion but not erectile response in adolescents. These findings indicate that lasting 5-HT1A
activation mediates some of the nicotinic effects on the
developing dopamine system during adolescence.
The Future Arrived Yesterday…Hug Your People
Kathryn Felsinger
Mentor: Loretta Livingston
This is a dance work created with a cast of twelve undergraduate dancers as a study of collaboration in the choreographic process, and the presented product is simply a slice
of the process. Through a patchwork of spoken text,
movement, and music the performers go through a journey, not so different from the journey of life that we are all
on. The emphasis is on the transitions, the passing
through, and the human connections along the way—
creating real situations on stage in which the performers
Heparan Sulfates Mediate Positional Information by
Binding FGF in Ambystoma mexicanum Limb Regeneration
Craig Flath
Mentor: David Gardiner
The purpose of this study is to determine the necessity of
heparan sulfate and the effect of fibroblast growth factor
(FGF) addition in axolotl (salamander) limb regeneration.
Previous studies have shown that three components are
necessary for limb regeneration in salamanders: a wound
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site, a deviated nerve, and opposing positional information.
The extracellular matrix, which includes heparan sulfate, is
an important component of positional information. It is
hypothesized that positional information is mediated
through heparan sulfate binding of FGFs, and the accuracy
of this mechanism is tested in this study. Surgical procedures were conducted based on a method involving the
formation of ectopic blastemas. Both anterior and posterior ECM grafts were inserted into nerve deviated wound
sites to test for ectopic limb formation. Grafts were treated
with heparinase III (hepIII) to remove the binding ability
of heparan sulfate. Additional grafts were treated with
FGF2 and FGF8 to determine the effect of additional factors on ectopic blastema formation. The results of the
study showed that hepIII treatment altered patterning response, while FGF addition altered frequency of blastema
and regenerate formation. These experimental findings
showed that heparan sulfates are necessary for providing
positional information in both anterior and posterior ECM
samples. FGF2 seems to promote both blastema formation and additional patterning of the regenerate. FGF8
seems to promote initial blastema formation, but is not
related to patterning of the regenerate. Future experiments
can focus on the necessity of heparan sulfate binding of
FGFs in regenerative responses.
Caught in Transition: The Effects of China’s Rise on
Japan-ROK Security Cooperation
Matthew Foerster
Mentor: Patrick Morgan
Security cooperation between democracies is a familiar
pattern in world affairs, and a fundamental component of
U.S. foreign policy. Common goals, similar systems of
commerce and shared democratic values work to bring
together democracies on an array of issues, including security. This is often reflected in the structure of regional security arrangements, such as NATO. In the case of the
U.S.-Japan-ROK security triangle, however, one observes
that the Japan-ROK leg is particularly weak. This proves
puzzling, since both are democratic nations with strong
ties to the U.S., as well as shared regional concerns, such as
North Korea’s nuclear program. By all objective calculations, these two nations seem primed for enhanced security cooperation, yet current cooperation proves lackluster.
The traditional reason cited for this is Japan’s previous
colonial rule of the Korean peninsula and the lingering
resentments of the South Korean public. Recently, alternative arguments have arisen, focusing on how the presence
of U.S. forces dilutes what would otherwise be strong
pressures for security cooperation. This thesis examines
these arguments, but then goes on to examine how the
future, and not simply the past, is acting as a hurdle towards cooperation. By examining South Korean foreign
policy regarding China, Japan and the U.S., we are able to
better understand South Korea’s unique strategic situation.
South Korea is increasingly finding itself caught between a
rapidly growing China and the U.S. China’s rise, potential
U.S.-China competition for regional hegemony, and the
looming possibility of unification, demonstrate South Korea’s peculiar strategic dilemma, and point to serious hurdles regarding Japan-ROK security cooperation.
The Pollination Effectiveness of Bees versus Flies on
Polemonium foliosissimum
Stephanie Fong
Mentor: Diane Campbell
Flowers have many traits, such as color and shape, which
experience natural selection by pollinators. Although Polemonium foliosissimum, a wildflower found in Colorado, is
thought to be primarily pollinated by bumblebees, it is also
visited by solitary bees and flies that may also be pollinators and therefore influence the association between flower
traits and fitness. To determine if these other insects are
also pollinators, measurements of their effectiveness at
transferring pollen are needed. After flowers were emasculated and bagged, they were observed for a single pollinator visit. I used a compound microscope to compare the
amount of pollen deposited by bees and flies deposit on
the stigma of P. foloissisimum. The amount of pollen deposited by flies and bees was used to determine the visitor
effectiveness in delivering pollen to P. foloissisimum. Bumblebees deposited the most conspecific pollen, followed by
solitary bees, then flies. Flies deposited 45% as much pollen as bumblebees per visit, and they visited 93% as often
as bumblebees. Subsequently, the total contribution to pollen receipt was 42% as much as bumblebees. Using the
same methods, solitary bees contributed 28% as much as
bumblebees to pollen receipt. Thus, although bumblebees
are the most effective, these other insects make substantial
contributions to pollination, making it is important to consider how all of these insects respond to combinations of
flower color and shape.
Properties of a Genome-Wide Association Study when
Variation is Due to Recurrent Deleterious Mutations
in a Gene
Andrew Foran
Mentor: Kevin Thornton
Despite current Genome-Wide Association Studies
(GWAS) having high power to detect a variant with an
allele frequency of greater than ~5% making a modest
contribution to the relative risk of developing a complex
disease, they are underpowered to detect Rare Alleles of
Large Effect (RALE). The best replicated results of GWAS
is that significantly associated markers typically explain
<10% of total heritable variation in complex traits, leading
to speculation that the bulk of variation for most complex
diseases is due to RALE. There has been considerable re-
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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bolster modern conceptions of identity hidden by traditional historiography.
cent debate over the role of RALE in contributing to variation in complex diseases phenotypes, including but not
limited to the idea that several neutrally evolving RALE
may be explained b;y many of the current GWAS signals
via synthetic associations. We carried out forward simulation of a 100kb gene region at which mutations are unconditionally deleterious, continuously arising, have partially
recessive and non-complementing effects on phenotype,
and are interspersed with neutral markers that can be genotyped via gene-chips or resequencing. Under this genebased heterogeneity model, a gene can harbor dozens of
rare causative mutations and such a gene can be routinely
identified via the resequencing of large scale case/control
panels. A gene evolving under our model shows characteristic genetic signatures distinguishing cases from controls,
suggesting that statistical test integrating over rare markers
will be much more powerful at identifying regions contributing to disease than current single-marker tests.
Shrink-Induced Superhydrophobic and Antibacterial
Surfaces in Consumer Plastics
Lauren Freschauf
Mentor: Michelle Khine
Structurally modified superhydrophobic surfaces have become particularly desirable as stable antibacterial surfaces.
Because it is their self-cleaning and water resistant properties which prohibit bacteria growth, bacterial resistance
common with chemical agents is obviated, and therefore a
robust and stable means to prevent bacteria growth is possible. In this study, we present a rapid cast and mold
method for creating such superhydrophobic surfaces in
consumer hard plastic materials with resulting antibacterial
effects. Because the initial mold is made with commodity
shrink-wrap film, this low-cost process is compatible with
large plastic roll-to-roll manufacturing and scale-up techniques. This method involves a purely structural modification free of chemical additives leading to its inherent
consistency over time and successive recasting from the
same molds. Finally, antibacterial properties are demonstrated in polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), and polyethylene (PE) by demonstrating the prevention of gramnegative Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria growth on our
structured plastic surfaces.
Placeholders: The Native in the Philippine
Nationalist Imaginary
Earl Foust
Mentor: Adriana Johnson
The Native is an integral figure in the pantheon of Philippine nationalism. Several characteristics embody this figure: epic hero, naturalist, and folkteller. As a transhistorical
placeholder, the native provides legitimacy to the nationbuilding efforts by heralding an underlying essentialism to
the nationalist project. This requires a very specific and
particular temporality. The anthologization of the archipelago's folklore under the rubric “Philippine” encases these
oral stories within the shell of modernity while simultaneously positioning them as a conduit linking the pre-colonial
inhabitants to the modern nation-state. The anonymity of
the Native figure, as opposed to other temporally shifted
nationalist heroes like 19th-century novelist Jose Rizal and
16th-century Datu Lapu-Lapu, is complemented by its inaudibility. The definitive collection of folklore from the
archipelago is an eight-volume anthology published by
University of the Philippines and edited by Damiana
Eugenio. Despite its exhaustive archival quality, there is a
missing component from them: the voice of the folktellers
themselves. However, these folklores are not voiceless.
Embedded within the processes of transcription, translation and anthologization several voices appear: colonial
documenter, translator, and editor. The folkloric figure is
thus obscured, distorted by the cacophonous structure of
the folkloric text. Can anything be said about what happens “beneath” the texts? While the voice of the folkteller
is inaccessible, a close reading of Philippine folklore, augmented by methodologies and frameworks explored by
postcolonial scholars such as Ranajit Guha and Prathama
Banerjee exposes the cultural flows and processes which
Dynamical Structure Factor of Quasi-2D
Antiferromagnet in High Fields
Wesley Fuhrman
Mentor: Alexander Chernyshev
We study high-field magnon dynamics and examine the
dynamical structure factor in the quasi-2D tetragonal
Heisenberg antiferromagnet with interlayer coupling corresponding to realistic materials. Within spin-wave theory,
we show that a non-zero interlayer coupling mitigates singular corrections to the excitation spectrum occurring in
the high-field regime that would otherwise require a selfconsistent approach beyond the 1/S approximation. For
the fields between the threshold for decays and saturation
field we observe widening of the two-magnon sidebands
with significant shifting of the spectral weight away from
the quasiparticle peak. We find spectrum broadening
throughout large regions of the Brillouin zone, dramatic
redistributions of spectral weight to the two-magnon continuum, two-peak structures and other features clearly
unlike conventional single-particle peaks.
Strategies in Quantum Game Theory
Wesley Fuhrman
Mentor: Sarah Eichhorn
Game theory examines the decision making process for
competitive interactions. Quantum game theory extends
the language of classical game theory by allowing the use
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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of quantum phenomena as strategies. Quantum strategies
differ from classical strategies primarily by allowing the use
of superposition and entanglement. Since these methods
include classical strategies, they always perform at least as
well as their classical counterparts. In this work, a novel
optimal strategy is shown for the two-player coordination
game “hawks vs. doves,” and the use of the Grover’s
search algorithm is shown to improve the outcome of random strategies for a wide class of games.
gold(I) chloride. This pathway has been found to be
stereoselective resulting in the formation of E-vinylgold(I)
compounds. The functional group tolerance for organogold(I) formation towards commercially available alkyl
and aryl substrates makes this process an attractive base
for potentially synthesizing a wide variety of compounds.
Thorough analysis concerning the reactivity of organogold(I) intermediates can potentially aid in future catalytic reaction designs.
Age Differences in Locomotor Activity Induced by
Co-Administration of Alcohol and Nicotine
Christina Gadalla
Mentor: Frances Leslie
Alcohol and tobacco are the most concurrently drugs used.
Age of onset for both of these drugs is initiated during
adolescence. Our laboratory has sought to compare the
reinforcing properties of the combination of alcohol and
nicotine (the main psychoactive component in tobacco)
with that of either drug alone. Data suggest adolescent, but
not adult, rats find the combination of alcohol and nicotine
reinforcing. The hypothesis for this experiment is to test if
acute administration of alcohol and nicotine in combination (Combo) increases locomotor behavior in adolescent
rats, while producing anxiety-like behavior in adult rats. To
test if acute administration of Combo induces activity in
the adolescent rat, we administered alcohol, nicotine, or
both in combination to adolescent and adult rats;
thereafter, behavior in open field chambers was monitored.
Open field chambers enabled us to quantify locomotion by
way of ambulatory counts, exploratory behavior by way of
vertical counts, and anxiety-like behavior by time spent in
the center zone of the box (center-time). Locomotor activity and center time was analyzed in five-minute bins and
compared using a two-way ANOVA for Drug x Time at
each age period, with Time as a repeated measures factor.
Our data suggest that concurrent administration of alcohol
and nicotine is anxyolitic in the adolescent, but not adult,
rat. This may attribute to the high levels of co-occurrence
seen with these drugs in teenagers.
Further Characterization of a Toxin-Immunity
Protein Complex from Bacterial Contact Dependent
Growth Inhibition
Elias Gerrick
Mentor: Celia Goulding
A novel pathway of inter-species bacterial communication,
contact dependent growth inhibition (CDI), was recently
discovered in gram-negative bacteria. Informed from the
previously solved structure of the toxin-immunity protein
complex from Escherichia coli strain EC869, further characterization of the toxin protein was performed. The key
structural element within the toxin required for tight binding of the toxin to the immunity protein was determined
and the mutated toxin was found to be inactive. Furthermore, we have produced crystals of the N-terminal domain
of the toxin alone, which was previously found to be unstructured in the model of the complex and is thought to
be involved in translocation of the toxin from the cell surface to the cytoplasm. This new information sheds further
light on the CDI complex from E. coli EC869 from the
novel bacterial pathway.
Development of a Gold(I) Transmetallation Reaction
with Hydrozirconated Complexes
Shaun Galvan
Mentor: Suzanne Blum
Gold(I) catalysis has been a useful tool in the realm of synthetic chemistry. In order to better understand the unique
reactivity and selectivity gold(I) exhibits during catalysis, it
is necessary to find methods to study organogold(I) intermediates. However, methods to synthesize organogold(I)
compounds are limited. To address this, a “one-pot”
method has been attempted for the synthesis and isolation
of various vinylgold(I) compounds through hydrozirconation of terminal alkynes followed by transmetallation with
American Conservatives and Gay Rights:
Contradiction or Congruity?
Amanda Ghattas
Mentor: Kristin Monroe
The conflictual relationship between LGBTQ rights and
conservative ideology has become increasingly evident during today’s Republican presidential debates, begging the
question, why are right-wing conservatives so opposed to
same sex marriage and LGBTQ rights despite championing private rights? Conservatism is a broad political ideology that has been defined by thinkers such as John Locke,
Edmund Burke, and William Buckley as an ideology that
has long prized small government and private freedoms.
Despite this, in practice, conservative groups have not always stood for limited governmental control. Working to
legally ban same-sex marriage constitutes a far reach into
the private lives of Americans. Through qualitative analysis
of today’s candidates’ interviews and debates, we find that
conservatives act on a sense of social responsibility rather
than placing importance on private freedoms. In this thesis, I argue that, at least in the realm of LGBTQ rights,
social responsibility trumps individual rights. The modern
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conservative identity may be undergoing a transformation.
Conservatives appear now to value the country’s family
dynamics, or social wellbeing in general, at a greater level
than small government. Are social values and responsibility
more critical than individual freedom? This is a major
question to be considered here.
as sialic acid. Therefore, the development and study of
xeno-free transition of these lines are important for clinical
applications. We have successfully transitioned and established the neuralization and maintenance of hESC. We
hypothesized that xeno-free transition would not affect
hESC derived neural stem cell fate and response to the
inflammatory microenvironment of spinal cord injury.
Xeno-free transitioned Shef4-derived NSC show minimal
differences in cell fate and response to the inflammatory
microenvironment compared to Shef4-derived NSC cultured under non-xeno free conditions. Neural stem cell
fate was analyzed via immunocytochemistry for markers btubulin and GFAP; this is confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR data. In summary, results show that the Shef-4
cell line was able to transition and be maintained on xenofree substrate and media, differentiate to various stages of
neuralization, and respond to the inflammatory cues of the
microenvironment. This study suggests that xeno-free
conditions do not affect the cell fate and response to the
inflammatory microenvironment.
Radiocarbon in Palau Coral Reveals Early Bomb
Fallout to the Western Pacific during the Early 1950s
Danielle Glynn
Mentor: Ellen Druffel
Radiocarbon is a rare isotope of carbon that is produced
naturally in the stratosphere and by thermonuclear bombs
in the 1950s and early 1960s. Three main processes control
radiocarbon levels (∆14C) in the surface ocean: air-sea CO2
exchange, vertical mixing of subsurface waters, and lateral
advection by ocean currents. In order to evaluate the variability in surface water masses of the tropical Pacific near
Indonesia, we made high-precision radiocarbon measurements of annual and seasonal bands from Porites lutea corals
collected from the Palau Islands (7 17.153”N,
134 15.016”E). The ∆14C values trace the bomb radiocarbon signal originating from the Marshall Islands nuclear
testing of 1954. This research examined the close-in fallout
of bomb 14C that was observed by Fallon and Guilderson
(2008) in an Indonesian coral. Palau is located approximately 3,425 km west of Bikini Atoll and 3,080 km west of
the Enewetak Atoll where the large bombs were detonated.
The Palau site had the unique opportunity to record a concentrated signal of these bomb products. Results from radiocarbon analyses show a ∆14C pre-bomb average
between 1945 and 1954 of -54.5‰. Beginning early in
1954 there is a rapid increase to a high of -23‰. The large
rise in ∆14C cannot be fully accounted for by the relatively
slow air-sea CO2 exchange that has a turnover rate of ~10
years. We therefore suggest that the primary cause of this
increase is due to water containing nuclear fallout being
transported by lateral advection via the North Equatorial
Current to our site.
Exploring the Gender Differences in Mathematical
Confidence and Skills across Countries
Amy Goldman
Mentor: Andrew Penner
To address the issue of the lack of women in engineering,
this study looks at mathematics confidence, achievement,
and the desire to enter a mathematical career among eighth
graders in 47 countries. Using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study this study
shows that confidence in mathematics is more closely related to the desire to enter a career using mathematics than
aptitude. Further, while gender differences in mathematical
confidence are smaller in more egalitarian countries, both
women and men are less confident and less interested in
mathematical careers in these countries. These findings
reveal a paradox in that policies aimed at boosting the
number of people in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) fields often highlight the need to
close the gender gap, countries with smaller gender gaps
have fewer men and women engaged in STEM. I conclude
by highlighting the importance of disentangling instrumental and expressive aspects of gender inequality in STEM
fields.
Xeno-Free Transition of Neural Stem Cells Derived
from Human Embryonic Stem Cells does not Affect
Cell Fate and Response in an Inflammatory Microenvironment in vitro
Priya Gohil
Mentor: Aileen Anderson
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can differentiate
into many cell types and are an important resource for regenerative medicine. However, more work is needed to
fully differentiate hESCs into specific cell types and to realize their therapeutic potential under conditions that are
free from animal products. Maintaining hESC and their
derivatives with animal components may pose risks to infections and immune rejection to non-human antigen such
Simulated Environment of Blood Capillaries—
Constriction and Relaxation of Circular PDMS
Microchannels Using Magnetic Actuation
Joseph Chris Gomez
Mentor: William Tang
Our goal for this research study was to construct a microchannel with circular cross-section in polydimethylsiloxane
(PDMS) that would both constrict and relax to certain extents under a controllable magnetic field. The purpose of
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this project was to create an artificial capillary system device that would simulate the autoregulatory constriction
mechanism of blood vessels as well as other blood flow
conditions and that would therefore offer the potential for
further blood flow dynamics research. After months of
research and experimental study, the issue of differentiating capillary constriction from microscopy focus rendered
this project with inconclusive results. Future projects may
be made to overcome this issue. Other approaches may be
made in order to achieve uniform capillary constriction.
This study suggests an alternate hydraulic approach, in
which external pressures will exert a homogeneous force
around the capillary, causing it to constrict in diameter.
Approaching autoregulatory constriction and its effect on
blood dynamics at the capillary level may serve as a milestone in understanding its effect on a macrocirculatory
level. This will in turn develop new insight for researchers
when approaching various microcirculatory medical applications, such as heat retention and release from the skin,
wound healing, and even the study of drug transport
through the circulatory system.
Disintegration of Stomach Epithelial Tight Junctions
in Uremia
Nisa Goshtasbi
Mentor: Nosratola Vaziri
Inflammation is a constant feature and a major mediator of
progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its numerous complications. There is increasing evidence pointing to the impairment of intestinal barrier function and its
contribution to the prevailing inflammation in advanced
CKD and we predict that other parts of the intestinal tract
such as stomach may also be affected. Under normal conditions, the intestinal epithelium and its apical tight junction prevent entry of the luminal microorganisms, harmful
microbial by-products and other noxious contents in the
host's internal milieu. This study was designed to test the
hypothesis that impaired intestinal barrier function in uremia must be due to disruption of the intestinal tight junction complex. To this end stomach and colon from rats
with and without renal failure were used to measure expression of the tight junction proteins by Western blot.
The study revealed marked depletion of the transmembrane (claudin-1 and Occludin-1) and intra-cellular
(ZO1) protein constituents of tight junction in the stomach, and colon of rats with renal failure. This study reveals
how multiple parts of the intestinal tract tight junctions are
impaired due to uremia.
A Comparative Study of Water Relations, Root Morphology, and Percent Colonization by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Between Container and NaturalGrown Artemisia californica and Eriogonum fasciculatum
Christopher Gunawan
Mentor: Peter Bowler
This study compares the success of containerized and
natural-grown Artemisia californica and Eriogonum fasciculatum
as part of a restoration project designed to augment an
existing, natural coastal sage scrub stand. If prolonged root
development in container pots affects root system morphology, it is hypothesized that containerized Artemisia and
Eriogonum shrubs with delayed transplantation will have a
significantly different root width-depth ratio and maximum
rooting depth than natural-grown and containerized Artemisia and Eriogonum shrubs with immediate transplantation. If root deformations negatively influence shrub
success, it is hypothesized that containerized Artemisia and
Eriogonum with delayed transplantation will have higher
root-shoot ratios, lower top-biomass, and higher
evapotranspirative stress than natural-grown recruitment
and containerized Artemisia and Eriogonum with immediate
transplantation. Even a year after transplantation, Artemisia
and Eriogonum with delayed transplantation still exhibited
differences in root morphology from wild stand and rapid
transplant individuals. The results supported the hypothesis that containerized Artemisia and Eriogonum with delayed
transplantation had significantly different root morphology
and success. Containerized Artemisia and Eriogonum with
immediate transplantation had no significantly different
top-biomass, root-shoot ratio, and root morphology from
natural-grown Artemisia and Eriogonum. This is desirable
since the goal of ecological restoration is to mimic adjacent, undisturbed, natural site characteristics. The findings
of this study suggest that it is best to transplant developing
shrubs immediately and limit the time these shrubs are
held in a container, since root development in a container
may increase the probability of container-shaped root deformation.
Characterization of Shrink Induced Metal Biosensors
Avina Gupta
Mentor: Michelle Khine
An ongoing challenge is to improve the fluorescence sensitivity limit to detect and quantify low concentrations of
target molecules by significantly amplifying the fluorescence signal relative to the background noise. In this study,
gold (Au) nanostructures are tunably self-assembled in robust and low cost plastic substrates by leveraging the heatinduced shrinkage of pre-stressed shape memory polymers
for increasing fluorescence. When the plastic retracts and
the deposited thin Au film cannot, the Au film buckles into
nanostructures and creates high density nanogaps between
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the nanostructures. Relative to a planar surface, these Au
structures have an increased surface area to volume ratio
which can result in increased proteins binding to the surface. As a proof of concept, an antibody conjugated to a
fluorophore is adsorbed on the Au structures to determine
the fluorescent enhancement relative to a planar surface.
These enhancements can be described via surface plasmon
resonance, a phenomenon that occurs due to the interaction of light with nanoscale noble metal structures. The
optical properties of the Au structures were characterized
by a UV-vis spectrophotometer and spectrofluorometer.
Preliminary results indicate that these Au nanostructures
can enhance the fluorescent signal by more than 30 fold,
relative to the signal observed on a planar surface. The Au
structures serve as a general platform for future utilization
as a chemical or biological sensor.
The Influence of College Student Sexual, Racial
Ethnic, and Leadership Development on Continued
Advocacy of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgendered Student Leaders for LGBT Student
Organizations
Leana Gutierrez
Mentors: Jeanett Castellanos, Ana Rosas
While there has been a significant growth in the abundance
of empirical evidence available in the telling of experiences
of LGBT students on university campuses, there is little to
none that focus on the leaders of LGBT identity based
student organizations. Other studies on identity based organizations have shown a positive relationship in the ongoing exploration of identity constructs and involvement in
the activities related to such organizations on campus.
While research notes that LGBT leadership experience
contributes to the development of sexual orientation identity among college students, the findings are limited in examining the relationship between the development of
multiple identities (i.e. sexual, leadership, and ethnic), and
the role of these formed identities in empowering students
to advocate for their groups. The purpose of this study is
to investigate LGBT students’ various levels of identity
development and their student leaders experience and how
the two experiences influence one another. A qualitative
design, the research will interview numerous racial ethnic
LGBT students, campus leaders working with this student
subgroup as informants, and experts in the area. Informant
interviews’ preliminary findings support-suggest the development in all three identities; (i.e. ethnic, leadership, and
sexual), is important, although not a requirement, for students to advocate for their group. Lack of participation
reveals no interest/discussion in the topic of sexual, ethnic,
or leadership identity for the student population in question. Those that did participate show common patterns in
their identity development for leadership and ethnic but
none in regards to sexual.
Studying Factors that Contribute to the Differing
Food-Consumption Habits of First and Second
Generation Mexican-Americans
Angela Gutierrez
Mentor: Kristin Turney
Research has shown that low socioeconomic status is correlated with poorer health. However, a trend has been
found within the Latino community, where first-generation
Latinos have lower all-cause mortality rates, infant mortality, and cardiovascular disease than do their non-Hispanic
Anglo counterparts. The trend is referred to as the “epidemiological paradox” and refers to Latinos’ better-thanexpected health. The epidemiological paradox does not
continue on with the second-generation Latinos, who fit
the expected trend of poor health. Existing hypotheses to
explain the health paradox include acculturation. This project aims to break down the all-encompassing “acculturation” explanation by focusing on food habits as one
specified health determinant that may lead to the different
health outcomes between first and second-generation
Mexican-Americans. The study was executed by conducting twenty ethnographic interviews, ten of which looked at
first generation Mexican-American women’s foodconsumption habits, and the subsequent ten of which
looked at second-generation Mexican-American women’s
food-consumption habits. It was found that social influences are one of the stronger predictors of an individual’s
food habits, where specific types of social influences are
correlated with specific food-consumption habits. Such
results may indicate that Public Health interventions focusing on Mexican-American dietary habits should tailor their
project by taking into consideration the social context to
which specific individuals are exposed.
Enantioselective Synthesis of Trichostatin A
Danny Hadaya
Mentor: Chris Vanderwal
Recently, Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have
become a subject of interest because of their potent anticancer activity. Trichostatin A has been identified as one of
the most potent HDAC inhibitors. Previous attempts at
synthesis have been inefficient, unreliable, and incapable of
producing enantiopure product. This project intends to
design a short, stereoselective synthesis that would be ideal
for biological studies. The synthesis will highlight the use
of Zincke aldehydes in, showing how inexpensive, easy
accessible starting materials can be functionalized to generate complex molecules. Currently, the two major starting
materials, a silyl enol ether, which contains the core of the
molecule, and a Zincke aldehyde derivative have been syn-
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thesized. The two are to be coupled via an enantioselective
Mukaiyama aldol. Next, deprotection of an acetate group,
followed by loss of a secondary alcohol generate the
α,β,γ,δ-unsaturated aldehyde. Finally, an oxidation and hydroxamate formation lead to the final structure of
Trichostatin A.
Focus in the Modern Eastern Armenian Sentence
Vartan Haghverdi
Mentor: Teresa Griffith
This study investigates the morpho-syntactic realization of
focus structures in Modern Eastern Armenian (MEA). Focus structures are essential to resolving how conversation
functions in languages, particularly how new information is
introduced throughout the discourse. Although I follow
Lambrecht in introducing the discourse concepts of topic
and focus, my study focuses on focus at the sentence level.
The data for this study come from a reference grammar
and native speakers. The study examines multiple constructions, such as (in)transitive verbs, questions, negation,
adjuncts, and compound verbs. It also analyzes the difference between indefinite and definite objects and how indefinite object constructions have no recourse but to focus
the object. I illustrate that focused elements in MEA always raise to the preverbal position. To account for left
peripheral movement, I use Rizzi’s Split CP hypothesis
which provides motivation for movement as well as the
necessary leftward projections that focused elements need
to enter. By studying focus in MEA, we learn of the extensive role played by marked word order, potentially opening
the door to a cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., Basque focuses
elements in the same preverbal fashion). This study is a
first step in the direction of explaining focus in MEA at
the sentence level. As such it delves only into various constructions in the indicative mood, leaving irrealis tenses
and moods for future research.
Democratic Leverage, Military Corporate Interests
and the Ruler’s Survival: Explaining the Fall of the
Suharto Regime in Indonesia and the Mubarak
Regime in Egypt
Lucas Hahn
Mentor: Bojan Petrovic
Support of the military is crucial to the survival of authoritarian regimes, as dictatorships depend on coercion for
their survival. Withdrawal of military support can lead to
the overthrow of a dictatorship, while maintenance of that
support often means regime survival. Therefore, the military’s support is one of the most important variables for
predicting whether a transition from authoritarianism can
even begin. Egypt under the Mubarak regime resembled
the Suharto regime in Indonesia, and offered points for
comparison. Both dictators were former military men who
relied on the support of the military and sustained their
regimes through similar methods of political control and
networks of corruption. Both faced political crises with
similar causes that led to their resignations, as the military
withdrew its support. The interests of the militaries in both
regimes became intertwined with their relationships with
democratic countries, which had leverage over these interests. The Indonesian and Egyptian militaries both purchased many of their weapons from democratic countries
such as the United States. Additionally, both militaries
were dependent on foreign aid: the Egyptian military received direct military aid from the United States, while the
Indonesian military relied on IMF emergency funds to
prevent the nation’s economic collapse. As this democratic
leverage made repression of protests unfeasible, the military withdrew its support for the dictator and he was
forced to resign.
Gamma Irradiation: A New Treatment for Longer
Life?
Stephanie Hammel
Mentor: Athan Shaka
Naturally occurring hybrid zones may be important conduits for the transfer of alleles influencing the evolution of
a species’ breeding system. To determine whether an allele
for male sterility found in gynodioecious S. salicaria is also
found in a hybrid zone between S. salicaria and a closely
related hermaphroditic species, S. menziesii, crosses were
performed between S. salicaria and plants from the hybrid
zone. The appearance of females in addition to hermaphrodites in the progeny of some crosses indicated that the
hybrid and parental species share an allele for male sterility
at the same locus. Rare male sterility alleles in S. menziesii
are identical to those found in S. salicaria and the hybrid
zone, suggesting that the hybrid zone is a conduit for the
transfer of alleles affecting the evolution of reproductive
systems. Lack of adaptation to wind pollination has most
likely prevented the establishment of females in populations of S. menziesii. Male function in progeny of a presumably inbred hybrid hermaphrodite, measured as
filament length and pollen production, was investigated.
Filaments of progeny of the presumably inbred hermaphrodite were significantly shorter than filaments of hermaphrodites derived from hermaphroditic parents with
normal male function, and progeny derived from the atypical, presumably inbred hermaphrodite produced significantly less pollen than hermaphroditic progeny of
hermaphrodites with normal male function, showing that
progeny of an inbred hermaphroditic parent experience
reduced male function.
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Predictors of Institutional Offending among
Adolescent and Young Adult Females
Shannon Handa
Mentor: Elizabeth Cauffman
Research shows that females are likely to engage in higher
levels of antisocial behavior when they are exposed to antisocial peers, antisocial romantic partners, and/or antisocial
parents. However, it is unclear whether the salience of
these sources of influence varies across the transition to
adulthood. Given that social relationships are particularly
important for adolescent females, the aim of this study is
to identify whether relationships with antisocial influences
(peers, romantic partners, parents) are significantly more
predictive of antisocial behavior for adolescent females
than young adult females. To examine how antisocial behavior and antisocial influence of peers, romantic partners,
and parents are correlated with females’ level of institutional offending interviews with 94 incarcerated females
were conducted. Participants were 15–24 years of age (M =
18.72, SD = 1.93) and were split into two groups: adolescents (ages: 15–18; N=51) and young adults (ages: 19–24;
N=43). Results indicated that none of the peer, romantic
partner, or parent—antisocial behavior or influence—
variables were related to institutional behavior for adult
females. In contrast, adolescent females who had peers or
parents who engaged in high levels of antisocial behavior
were more likely to engage in higher levels of institutional
behavior (r=.301, p=.040; r=.327, p=.026, respectively). In
summary, these data reinforce the salience of social relationships in early-to-mid adolescence.
services that the private military industry offers to states.
This indicates that effective regulatory approaches must
independently influence the market that drives the growth
of the private military industry. Specifically, I call for an
examination of the potential deployment of normative enforcement measures such as accreditation systems and
blacklists in conjunction with a comprehensive list of legislative recommendations. Not only are these approaches
flexible, but also can integrate the energies of a wide range
of international actors to overcome the intransigence of
previous regulatory efforts.
The Effects of Subjects’ Expectations of Competing
Stimuli on Selective Attention
John Harduvel
Mentor: Ramesh Srinivasan
Selective spatial attention results in the enhancement of
neural responses to an attended visual stimulus compared
to an unattended stimulus. Electroencephalography (EEG)
studies in human subjects have shown that attending to
one location increases the amplitude of the visually evoked
potential induced by a visual stimulus presented at that
location. However, it is unknown what effect the subject’s
expectation of the salience of the stimulus at the unattended location will have on the response to the stimulus
at the attended location. To investigate this, subjects were
cued to direct attention to one of two flickering visual
stimuli in opposing hemifields while maintaining center
fixation. They were told before each trial how salient they
could expect the unattended stimulus to be (or told that it
would randomly vary throughout the trial). We found that
our manipulation of the salience of the unattended stimulus had an effect both on the subjects’ ability to detect targets at the attended location and on the amplitude of the
brains’ response to the attended stimulus. Additional research will be needed to uncover the direction of this effect, but these findings may be relevant to the treatment of
neurological disorders involving a deficiency in the deployment of top-down voluntary attention, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and
Alzheimer’s disease.
Lessons from Small Arms Regulation: Potential
Implications for the Regulation of Private Military
Corporations
Ryan Hang
Mentor: Deborah Avant
After initially ignoring the private military industry, the
international community has finally come to terms with the
dangers that the growing collection of private armies pose
towards international stability. Given the lack of success
the international community has experienced in regards to
regulating the private military industry, I turn to the international community’s recent failures in the regulation of
the small arms trade to gain insight into how current regulatory approaches targeting the private military industry can
be improved. Focusing on common trends and factors, I
have used a comparative review of small arms regulatory
literature as a lens to view prospective approaches to regulating the private military industry. I have concluded that
the failures which have plagued traditional legal and diplomatic approaches to small arms regulation will inevitably
recur if similarly applied to the private military industry.
The lack of cooperation that sabotaged small arms regulation will inevitably persist due to the importance of the
Mitochondrial Movement in Cultured Drosophila
Neurons
Neema Hariri
Mentors: Steven Gross, Diane O’Dowd
The cell is the basic functional unit of life, and its power
source is an organelle called the mitochondrion. There is a
vast amount of evidence that indicates mitochondrial
movement is not only significant for cells to function, but
also for cells to survive. In this project, cultured Drosophila neurons with fluorescently tagged mitochondria have
been examined with a laser confocal microscope in order
to image mitochondrial movement both towards (retro-
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grade) and away (anterograde) from the cell body. Images
are taken every fifth of a second and compiled into videos
to be examined. It has been proposed that mitochondria
can exchange components when they contact other mitochondria. This predicts that a mitochondrion will pause
when encountering another mitochondrion. I evaluated the
pause time and pause frequency of moving mitochondria
when they were adjacent versus not adjacent to other mitochondria. Preliminary data indicate that large mitochondria move more slowly than small mitochondria, however,
mitochondria pause when moving in both the anterograde
and retrograde direction and there is no difference in the
pause duration when they are adjacent to another mitochondrion versus a region without mitochondria. Additional assessment will be important in determining if there
is any difference in pause frequency. These data do not
provide any support for the hypothesis that mitochondria
in these cells are exchanging material when the encounter
each other. However, exchange may not require an alteration in movement dynamics and our future studies will use
photo-activated fluorescent markers for mitochondrial
components that will allow us to monitor potential exchange of material in real time.
Panhandling: Socio-economics, Norms, and
Governing
Lori Harris
Mentor: Donna Schuele
While studies and reports have featured the life of individual panhandlers, very little is known about panhandlers
working as a collective community. Seen as freeloaders and
scam artists, the positive element created from the presence of panhandlers in a community is overlooked. This
one sided outlook spurs policies and laws that have led to
negative impacts socially, fiscally, and constitutionally. The
purpose of the research was to learn more about the subculture/community of panhandlers and the ways in which
they self-govern. Using an ethnographic style of data collection, I recruited respondents by approaching panhandlers while doing business and asked for an interview. In
addition, an informant introduced me to his fellow panhandlers and their community. Over several months, unobtrusive observations were made while panhandlers were
doing business, off-site, and at their residence. Participating, I panhandled with community members at various
locations. Qualitative analysis of field notes and interview
transcripts revealed that a community of panhandlers does
exist, complete with social norms, rules, enforcement, and
collective efforts of support. Within this community, they
call themselves “Flyers” and work together to ensure that
lucrative corners continue to produce profits. For example,
when fellow flyers break the rules they call the police, use
black-balling methods, and even physical violence. Although some have minimum wage jobs, the income is not
enough to sustain living in south Orange County. Flying
helps close the economic gap, motivate individuals to
shower up, humble themselves, and thank community
members face-to-face for help and generosity. These results infer that instead of more laws, more understanding
and community connection can provide efficient means in
addressing a panhandling problem. The implications of
this study support impacting the community awareness
and spurring organizations to reach out to panhandlers in
providing ways to make them a permanent and contributing asset to the community.
Networking and Opportunities in the Arts
Phillip Harris
Mentor: Darryl Taylor
The National Association of Negro Musicians—an organization founded in 1919—is the country’s oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement and
advocacy of all genres of the music of African Americans.
As an African-American student interested in pursuing a
career in the classical music world, I thought it would be
best to seek out the National Association of Negro Musicians Conference this summer, not just for the cultural
experience of being around professionals and students
who excelled in the field at a very high level, but to get a
glimpse into the professional world as it relates to graduate
school options and career choices. I got exposure to performances, people and a network of professionals that I
would not ordinarily have access to in the typical university
setting. In addition to NANM I was able to participate in
the African-American Art Song Alliance conference earlier
this year which was founded by my faculty mentor, Darryl
Taylor. I was able to reconnect with people I had met from
the previous summer as well as reach out to other professionals to establish a broader network while performing to
help give myself exposure.
Curious Creations
Vahan Hartooni
Mentors: Garnet Hertz, Bryan Jackson
A university-funded research project can garner a web
presence that can achieve the maximum number of online
viewers, press mentioning, and audience participation, if it
produces a series of online videos that are clear, concise,
and captivating. The ability to easily transfer this skill set
for producing these online videos to researchers will require a production workflow that is simple and requires
little effort. To explore what form this workflow will look
like I developed, from concept to production, an online
video series on do-it-yourself gadget projects called Curious Creations. The content of Curious Creations required
me to explain electrical engineering concepts to an audience of people who are not familiar with the concept or
understand the interest surrounding it. This is analogous to
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researchers who try to communicate their work to a wider
audience, outside of academia. Certain key aspects of the
production workflow helped push the Curious Creation
webisodes toward completion and improve the quality of
the final video: developing the concept of the webisode
through pitching; preproduction work such as a script or
storyboard; a group review of an in-progress work that is
moderated by an experienced online video producer. These
methodologies can be used by academics to help produce
their own online videos of their research.
that iPS cells derived from FSHD myoblasts and fibroblasts express the DUX4 mRNA. In contrast, control iPS
cells, as well as human embryonic stem cells, generally do
not express the DUX4 mRNA. DNA sequencing, SNP
and haplotype analyses revealed that DUX4-positive iPS
cells possess at least one copy of a permissive allele,
4qA161, which is known to contain the polyadenylation
signal responsible for stabilizing the DUX4 mRNA in
FSHD cells. Collectively, these findings support the model
of FSHD in which pathogenesis results from the expression of stabilized transcripts of DUX4.
Differentiation of iPS Cells into Insulin Producing
Cells for Alginate Sheet Encapsulation
Branden Hawara
Mentor: Jonathan Lakey
Stem cells may offer an unlimited source for beta cell
and/or islet transplantation needed for the growing demand of patient’s suffering with Type-1 diabetes. The focus of this project is on the use of alginate encapsulation to
remove the need for immunosuppressive medications during transplant. The use of a novel alginate sheet will allow
retrievability after implantation and can be placed subcutaneously, thus minimizing the surgical impact on the patient. The aim of this project is to differentiate induced
pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into insulin producing cells and
then encapsulate these cells within a novel alginate sheet,
while not impeding on viability or function. Differentiated
pancreatic endoderm or beta cells are sorted using FACS
(BD FACS Aria) to create pure populations and encapsulated in alginate sheets. Cells within alginate sheet are, then,
analyzed for viability (FDA/PI & Trypan Blue) and function (Static glucose stimulated insulin release test).
Localization of Integrins at Excitatory Synapses
Through Maturation
Elika Hefazi
Mentor: Christine Gall
Integrins are ß heterodimer receptors for the extracellular
matrix. Previous studies have shown that integrins are important for the consolidation of long term potentiation
(LTP), which raises the question of what are the possible
roles of integrin class cell adhesion receptors and their
contributions to the developmental changes seen in LTP
stability. The goal of this study was to test if there are
changes in the localization of ß1 integrin at excitatory synapses across postnatal development. Studies used dual immunofluorescent labeling of the ß1 integrin and the
excitatory synapse marker PSD95 to quantify, for hippocampal field CA1, numbers of synapses that also contain
ß1 immunoreactivity. The results shown that ß1 integrin is
co-localized with PSD95 at all ages examined; the incidence of double labeled synapses increased across postnatal ages to peak at postnatal day 21 and then declined
significantly in the adult. These results show that there are
changes in the incidence of ß1 integrin localization at excitatory synapses across the first three weeks postnatal that
could underlie increases in the capacity for stabilization of
LTP over the same period but also raise questions as to the
identity and functions of integrins present at synapses at
the different ages examined.
DUX4-Mediation of FSHD Pathogenesis
Roni Hazim
Mentor: Leslie Lock
Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) is a form of muscular dystrophy associated with heterochromatin loss in
the sub-telomeric region of human chromosome 4q. In
most cases of FSHD, the heterochromatin loss results
from deletion of macrosatellite repeats called D4Z4. The
heterochromatin loss is thought to allow expression of a
double-homeobox transcription factor, called DUX4, that
is encoded within the D4Z4 repeats. In FSHD, the DUX4
transcript is stabilized by a polyadenylation signal present
in permissive haplotypes of chromosome 4q. Although
FSHD myotubes have been shown to produce a stabilized
DUX4 transcript, the expression pattern of this transcription factor has not been studied extensively. The goal of
this study is to determine whether DUX4 is expressed in
pluripotent cells of the early embryo. We used induced
pluripotent stem (iPS) cells isolated from FSHD and control subjects as a model of the pluripotent stem cells of the
early embryo. Using an RT-PCR assay, we demonstrated
Change in Sexual Behavior and HPV Knowledge in
Peruvian Female Sex Workers following Participation
in an HPV Vaccine Clinical Trial
Omeid Heidari
Mentor: Brandon Brown
Limited data exist on the effect of participation in vaccine
trials on behavior change. Two hundred FSWs working in
Lima, Peru received HPV vaccine in either the standard (0,
2, 6 month) or modified (0, 3, 6 month) schedule. Participants received comprehensive screening and treatment for
STIs, counseling on safe sex practices, education about
HPV and its vaccine, and oral contraceptives, condoms,
and family planning with each visit. We assessed vaccine
completion rates, change in sexual practices, and changes
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in knowledge about HPV resulting from participation in
the vaccine trial. There were high rates of vaccine completion, 91% overall. The number of new and total clients
over a 30 day period decreased significantly (p<0.001).
Knowledge about HPV and related disease increased in all
participant responses. All participants listed at least one
preventative measure during the month seven follow up
survey.
Modern Narcocorridos in Los Angeles: A New Audience, Local Performers, and Narco Culture
Felipe Hernandez
Mentor: Cecilia Sun
This paper examines the new narcocorrido “drug ballad” style
and culture emerging from Los Angeles, California. Narcocorrido is a popular subgenre of the corrido that developed in
northern Mexico. The lyrics of narcocorridos celebrate the
deeds of drug traffickers—drug smuggling, murder, torture, and corruption—as well as make references to specific people, events, and locations. In this paper, I first
describe the traditional genre, musical structure, and traditional artists. Then I depict how new artists from Los Angeles have diverged from this. I examine the effect that
narcocorridos have had on listeners/audience members of
two age groups (15–30 and 31–60). In addition, I examine
the effect that narcocorridos have had on musicians in Los
Angeles. Finally, I look at the connection between Mexican
drug cartels and narcocorrido artists, many of whom have
received death threats. Through interviews, textual analysis,
and surveys, I look at the perspective and opinion of the
local musician and audience member/listener on the new
style and culture emerging from Los Angeles. The musicians believe that, although, this music is a part of Mexican
culture it is violent and promotes drug use and materialism.
On the other hand, while the listener understands the message they enjoy dancing and listening to the music. Narcocorridos are dangerous, violent, and people are murdered for
performing/listening to them. In the current drug world,
people brutally die while others get rich, peasants work for
pennies while Americans use drugs; narcocorridos are the
factual tales of this world.
Do Latinos Benefit from Expressive Writing?
Janette Hernandez
Mentors: Belinda Campos, Eric Knowles
Previous studies have indicated that writing about traumatic experiences can be an effective therapeutic tool for
alleviating the harmful effects of trauma for European
Americans. These effects, however, are not universal and
have been shown not to extend to members of Asian cultures. This research examined whether the benefits of expressive writing extend to members of Latino cultures.
Overall, we hypothesized that Latinos would benefit from
expressive writing because Latino culture values open
emotional expression for positive emotion, but not negative emotion. Expressive writing may thus provide Latinos
with an acceptable way to express negative emotion, gain
insight, and alleviate the harm of traumatic experiences.
Latino American (n=35) and European American participants (n=13) were randomly assigned to write either about
a trauma or about trivial topics for four consecutive days.
All participants completed measures that tapped Latino
cultural scripts, emotion expressivity, and health prior to
the writing task and wore an Actigraph sleep monitor each
night over the course of the study. A post-task measure of
health was obtained one month after the last day of writing. All writings and Actigraph results were tested using
repeated measures ANOVAs to analyze participants’
trends in insight word use and sleep across the four writing
days. Results partially supported the hypotheses. Latinos
showed small, but not significant reductions in symptoms
one month after the last writing task and an increase in
sleep efficiency over the four nights of the study. Latinos
did not, however, show an increase in insight word use
across the days of the study. Implications and future research are discussed.
Lateral Load Behavior and Modeling of Low-Rise
Reinforced Concrete Walls for Performance Based
Design
Luis Herrera
Mentor: John Wallace
The function of reinforced concrete (RC) structural walls is
mainly to impede lateral forces such as seismic loads. Due
to the importance that a structural wall has in resisting
earthquake loads, it is vital to model and assess their behavior when subjected to strenuous loads. The purpose of
this paper aims to validate the American Concrete Institute
(ACI) code provision on determining the shear strength of
RC walls. There is a particular interest in looking at shear
walls with intermediate slenderness (aspect ratio 1–3). Furthermore, the influences of how the boundary reinforcement and the axial load impacts the shear strength of the
RC structural walls are evaluated. Eight large-scale RC
structural walls were constructed according to the ACI
code and are being tested with a reversed-cyclic loading.
Linear Variable Differential Transformers (LVDTs) were
placed on the specimens in order to measure linear displacements on various points of the wall. Strain gauges
were also installed on the reinforcing steel of the specimens. Three walls were tested in which the specimens
were subjected to both load and displacement controlled
tests. Specimens one and two failed under 105 kip and 165
kip lateral force, respectively, while being subjected to an
axial load of 144kip (10% of their compressive strength).
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Individual Differences in Rumintion and Stress
Reactivity
Marzena Hiler
Mentor: Sally Dickerson
Research suggests that certain situations may increase the
cortisol response to psychological stress more than others.
Reactivation of the stress response has been associated
with negative health implications. Some individuals reactivate the stress response following psychological stressors
through a process called rumination, which involves repetitive mental rehearsal of a past event. This process has been
shown to increase the cortisol response following a
stressor, increase negative thinking, and impair problem
solving. However, who engages in rumination and why is
yet to be determined. This study hypothesized that guilt
and shame would increase rumination after stress, thereby
increasing overall stress reactivity and recovery. Some research suggests that shame affects the physiological stress
response while guilt does not. However, research in this
area is limited and we are seeking a potential interaction
between shame and guilt on rumination and cortisol reactivity. Preliminary analyses showed a negative correlation
exists between salivary cortisol and guilt, suggesting participants with higher self-reported guilt had lower cortisol
reactivity at baseline. Finally, rumination was positively
correlated with shame. Final results will determine if a relationship between shame and rumination results in elevated
cortisol responses. Implications of this research may be
useful to determine why certain individuals ruminate and
which variables interact with rumination to produce elevated stress reactivity.
blood flow within the preformed vessels to render the tissue viable over long periods of time. This study analyzes
the data generated from the dynamic imaging methods in
vivo and can revolutionize the tactics utilized in creating
functional prevascularized tissues.
Longitudinal, in-vivo Imaging to Assess Blood Flow
and Oxygenation in Implantable, Prevascularized
Tissues
Ryan Hingorani
Mentor: Bernard Choi
Viability assessment in implantable, prevascularized engineered tissues is often difficult since hemodynamics cannot
traditionally be monitored in vivo. Due to this problem, we
have employed wide field and microscopic imaging modalities to measure hemoglobin saturation and blood flow
within tissues in vivo and longitudinally. Fibrin based prevascularized tissues are cultured in vitro and implanted into
dorsal window chambers on severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. With these dynamic imaging methods,
including multispectral imaging, laser speckle imaging, and
intravital microscopy, we have observed anastomosis with
the host post-implantation followed by initial perfusion of
the preformed vessels with highly oxygenated blood. Over
time, however, flow seized in the tissue due to thrombus
formation. Our findings suggest that alternate prevascularization strategies must be explored to avoid thrombus
formation and promote continuous, highly oxygenated
Out of Mind, Out of Sight: Marked Bodies and the
Politics of Invisibility
Asia Nichole Hodges
Mentor: Frank B. Wilderson, III
In 2005, then President Carlos Menem infamously declared that, “In Argentina, blacks do not exist, that is a
Brazilian problem.” Though statistically inaccurate, if taken
metaphorically, Menem was speaking the truth of racial
politics in Argentina, using the very language of invisibility
that shapes the political discourse on matters of race, discrimination and redress: out of mind, out of sight. But
what happens when there is a black body present? Over a
10-month, participant observer, ethnographic field study, I
meticulously gathered evidence of the Afro-Argentine
presence in the city of Buenos Aires, in addition to documenting my own journey as a black and as a woman in a
culture that lauds neither. Incorporating photo analysis,
statistical data, interviews, journal entries, and the theoretical frameworks provided by scholars of critical race theory,
I formulate a provocative portrait of modern Buenos Aires
in a gesture of critique of the invisibility discourse.
Geometric Design of Segmented Microfluidic
Perfusion Chamber
Victoria Ho
Mentor: Elliot Hui
Microfluidics is the science of manipulating small volumes
of fluid. Advantages include reduced reagent consumption,
faster reaction times with increased surface area, and better
precision in fluid manipulation. Previously, we reported a
microfluidic device that is capable of creating segmented
flow over a brain tissue slice for localized delivery of different chemicals. The device is 150 µm in height and is
created with soft lithography—starting with two solutions
containing different chemicals, fluid streams are merged
with a sharp uniform boundary between the two segments.
In this new design we have reduced the angle of approach
between the inlet and outlet streams with respect to the
bulk flow within the device. In addition, the main chamber
geometry has been changed from a square to a circle. The
effect of these two additions is to provide a curved interface between the two streams within the observation portion of the chamber. We also integrated a pneumatic
channel underneath the tissue chamber to apply tensile
stress on the tissue sample. This integration will help us
investigate the effects of delivered drugs in conjunction
with physical stress.
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A Joke and Nothing More: Voice, Writing, and
Kundera’s Comedy of Failed Finitude
Joseph Hong
Mentor: Ackbar Abbas
Czech novelist Milan Kundera (1929-) has gained international fame through his ability to blend a modernist style
with a profound cynicism to produce highly complex
comedies during the dark period of Stalinist occupation in
Czechoslovakia. Kundera presents characters that intrigue
the reader through their complexity, malevolence, or even
their simplicity. The mediums of voice and writing, the
phenomena that bind these characters through linguistic
communication, are thus difficult to dismiss in Kundera’s
work. This project will specifically examine the voice in its
tensions with writing in two of Kundera’s novels: The Book
of Laughter and Forgetting and The Joke. The voice and writing
as artifacts within the Kunderan text provides the materials
for comedy by directing the reader towards notions of the
subject. For theoretical work on voice and comedy, I will
be relying primarily on Mladen Dolar’s A Voice and Nothing
More (2008) and Alenka Zupancic’s The Odd One In: On
Comedy (2008), respectively. Further, notions of the Kunderan subject developed by this analysis of voice and writing will ultimately call into question the political qualities of
these novels. Despite the explicit political backdrops of
Kundera’s work, these texts remain skeptical towards the
subject’s capacity for political activism.
Engineering Affinity Reagents for the CoCrystallization of G Protein-Coupled Receptors
Richard Hooy
Mentor: Gregory Weiss
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play an essential
role in converting extracellular stimuli into cellular and
tissue functions. As with other signaling mediators, unchecked signaling through these receptors leads to disease,
e.g. cancer. For this reason, GPCRs are major targets for
pharmaceutical companies. Historically, rapid discovery of
drugs that specifically interact with GPCRs has been difficult due to limited availability of structural data. Furthermore, efforts to produce crystal structures of GPCRs have
been slowed by the receptors’ resistance to solubilization,
purification and crystallization. Here, we demonstrate progress towards a co-crystallization technique that circumvents the problems associated with stabilizing GPCRs in
solution and creating quality crystals. Using oligonucleotide
site-directed mutagenesis and high-throughput screening
via phage display we have identified several variants of
ligands, stromal derived factor (SDF)-1 and viral macrophage inflammatory protein (vMIP)-II to the GCPR,
CXCR4. The variants demonstrate matured avidity and
bind CXCR4 with affinities that surpass their wild-type
counterparts. The variants have the potential to be useful
reagents for crystallization of CXCR4 and for understand-
ing receptor-ligand interactions associated with GPCRmediated signaling. Finally, structural insight provided by
these structures will be invaluable to structure-based drugdesign, potentially presenting new ways to treat cancer, and
HIV-1 infection.
Asynchronous Learning: A Comparison of Knowledge
Acquisition Between Traditional Conference Lectures
versus iTunesU MP4 Distance Learning among
Emergency Medicine Residents
Kayvon Hosseini
Mentor: Bharath Chakravarthy
Asynchronous learning has been introduced to EM education recently because of its flexibility and adaptability to
generation Y learning style. This study assesses the effectiveness of using iTunesU for online EM resident lectures
compared to traditional in-house conference by evaluating
participants’ knowledge retention. This prospective, experimental study was conducted at the tertiary university
hospital, a Level I trauma center. The participants are the
17 EM residents. One resident has been omitted, as she is
one of the investigators. We video-recorded the presentations, and linked the lecturer’s associated audio. The videos
were converted to an MP4 video file, and uploaded to
iTunesU. The lectures are available for immediate playback
on any iTunes enabled device. Knowledge retention is
tested using a three-item quiz. Conference attendees submit their responses after lecture. Distance learners view the
lectures on iTunesU, and submit their responses electronically. This ongoing study started in October 2011. Upon
data completion, the data will be analyzed using descriptive
analysis and comparative analysis will be conducted using
chi-square test. To date, 101 conference attendees’ (CA)
and 10 distance learners’ (DL) responses are obtained. The
average knowledge retention score was 76.95% in the CA
group compared to 78.4% in the DL group.
Analyzing the Effect of Deletion/Mutation Constructs
of EFEMP1 in Glioma Cell Invasion and AnchorageIndependent Growth
Hao Hsu
Mentor: Yi-Hong Zhou
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and
lethal type of brain tumor found in humans. Current
treatment options for GMB include surgery, radiotherapy,
chemotherapy, supportive symptomatic therapy, etc. Those
treatments have very limited success in eradicating GBM in
patients because tumor cells are highly resilient and complex. Traditional surgery yields small success in improving
patients’ survival time since GBM is highly invasive and
will most likely reoccur after the surgery. Zhou et al. described that EGF-containing fibulin-like extracellular matrix protein 1 (EFEMP1) plays a significant tumor
suppressor role in malignant glioma cells in vivo in the set-
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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tings of subcutaneous (sc) and intracranial (ic) xenograft
systems, however, not changing growth in vitro. This makes
EFEMP1 a potential therapeutic agent against GBM. In
contrast to in vivo suppression of glioma cell tumorigenicity, data from in vitro matrigel invasion assays show that
over expression of EFEMP1 can also promote tumor invasion probably via enhancing the extracellar processing of
pro-invasive matrix metallopeptidase 2 (MMP2). Therefore
it is necessary to identify tumor invasion domain in
EFEMP1. Armed with this knowledge, we hope that
modifying EFEMP1 gene by deleting the tumor invasion
region while retaining tumor suppressor region will result
in better tumor suppression function and safer for patients.
Dr. Zhou has postulated that modulating various functional domains of EFEMP1 may change EFEMP1 regulation of MMP2 expression and invasion. This paper
examines the effect of the deletion/ mutation constructs
on tumor cell invasion and anchorage independent growth.
between various forms of intimacy (e.g., emotional, sexual
or physical, intellectual) and relationship satisfaction. To
learn more about the complex role intimacy plays in relationships across ethnicities, we examined: (1) whether East
Asian (n=55), Hispanic (n=21), and Caucasian American
(n=24) college students differed in levels of sexual and
non-sexual physical intimacy; and (2) how ethnicity moderated the association between sexual/non-sexual physical
intimacy and relationship well-being in 76 romantic couples (n=152). Couples came into the laboratory together
and completed self-reports of satisfaction with sexual and
non-sexual physical intimacy, frequency of sexual and nonsexual physically intimate behaviors, relationship satisfaction, and relationship commitment via online questionnaires. Results showed that, although ethnic groups did not
differ in frequency of either sexual or non-sexual intimacy,
there were ethnic differences in levels of satisfaction with
sexual intimacy (e.g. intercourse) (Asians < Hispanics), but
not non-sexual physical intimacy (e.g. affectionate behaviors). There were also ethnic differences in the strength of
the relationship between sexual intimacy and relationship
satisfaction (Hispanics < Caucasians). These differences
could be due to cultural differences in sexual communication and the relative importance of sexual intimacy in romantic relationships within each ethnic group. Findings
could inform couples therapists and individuals about the
specific needs of ethnically diverse couples.
A Green Approach to Insect Pest Control Efforts: The
Effects of Sticky Surfaces on Bedbug Locomotion
Irvin Huang
Mentor: Catherine Loudon
Bedbugs have been shooting up in numbers, not just in the
United States, but internationally as well. The most common form of treatment for a bedbug infestation is with
chemical pesticides, which can have harmful effects on
both people and the environment. By studying bedbug
locomotion in regards to sticky surfaces, the end results
could potentially be applied towards improving the design
of existing bedbug monitors and traps. I investigated bedbug locomotion on sticky surfaces by recording high-speed
videos of bedbugs walking onto double-sided sticky tape
and glue traps. I then analyzed these videos by recording
when each of the six legs went up and down to create a
gait diagram. These gait diagrams help to visually emphasize the difference in movement once the bedbug makes
contact with the sticky surface. We have found that bedbugs are usually slowed down by the sticky surfaces, as
indicated by a longer gait and deviation from the standard
tripod gait. By observing how bedbugs move, we can develop and improve traps as a viable alternative to environmentally harmful pesticides.
Shakespearean Figurations of the Gift
Erin Hughes
Mentor: Julia Lupton
Though not often paired together by Shakespeare scholars,
A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Othello both challenge the
notion of “selfish gifts” that currently dominates gift theory (the interdisciplinary study of gift-exchange relationships) and gift-theory approaches to Early Modern
literature. This model treats gift exchange as a negotiation
of power in which the giver places the recipient in a position of debt by imposing on him or her the obligation to
reciprocate. By emphasizing the creative power of the recipient in gift exchange as well as the vulnerability involved
for both giver and recipient, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and Othello resist this model and open up a reinterpretation
of the dynamics of gift exchange focused on the idea of
inner giftedness. As the two plays demonstrate, at stake in
gift exchange for both giver and recipient is the affirmation
of inner giftedness—a valued particularity of skill, virtue,
or potential to contribute—and it is from this negotiation
of inner giftedness which both the creative power and the
vulnerability of giver and recipient derive. Heavily influenced by, but also moving away from, classical and biblical
visions of individual giftedness, in which inner gifts of skill
or virtue were seen as originating from a divine source outside the self rather than the creative power of the individ-
A Cross-Ethnic Study of Physical Intimacy and
Relationship Quality in Romantic Couples
Justin Huft
Mentor: Chuansheng Chen
Intimacy plays an important role in romantic relationships.
However, until recently, there has been little research done
investigating the correlation between physical intimacy—
closeness in touching and/or sexual behaviors with another person—and overall relationship satisfaction. Literature indicates that there may be a positive association
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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ual, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Othello dramatize the
shift to a more individualized sense of gifted interiority
through scenes of material gift exchange.
The Effect of the Norris-LaGuardia Act on Strikes
and Wages
Yvonne Hui
Mentor: Gary Richardson
In the years 1920 to 1940, we see low wages and record
highs for unemployment as well as a surge in strike activity.
Strikes are often a worker’s only tool to bargain for higher
wages or better working conditions with their employer.
Prior to the 1930s, the government often stood on the side
of business, helping break strikes that were brought to
court. Government began to take a more proactive stance
toward not only the economy, but labor relations as well
during the time of the New Deal legislation, an example
being the Norris-LaGuardia Act. This study examines the
relationship between real wages and strikes before and after the Norris-LaGuardia Act. The results reveal that
strikes had no affect on wages before the act, but had a
positive effect after the act.
Making the Byline: Marguerite Higgins and her
Contribution to Transnational Reporting
Colleen Humfreville
Mentor: Alice Fahs
Marguerite Higgins, making a name for herself in the socalled “man’s world” of journalism, came face to face with
historical events that could otherwise only be experienced
through the paper-thin, ink-ridden pages of the New York
Herald Tribune. By looking at her articles produced during
both WWII and the Cold War—after her initial emergence
into the international scene in the fall of 1944—the piece
focuses on how she establishes her own narratorial authority within the texts. These articles are then compared to her
writings in her memoirs for the same experiences. During
WWII, it becomes clear that while Higgins omits herself
from her articles as much as she can, she fills the reader in
on her experience writing the story in her memoir. In the
Cold War, initially these two accounts matched up, but as
the situation worsened and Higgins became more pessimistic about the termination of Soviet power, her own writings soon reflect a more negative outlook on the “new”
Poland and its government. This does not mean that she is
anti-Communist. It is important to note that this opinion
arose out of experience in two wars, with Higgins being a
firsthand observer to the fall of Poland to Communist
forces through their repressive strategies. Thus, it would be
simplifying the case to say that she was simply antiCommunist, against the political ideology, their beliefs, and
their tactics; rather, she became critical of the actions conspiring around her as she gained more experience in war
reporting.
Visual-Motor Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed
Visual Input
Melanie Humphrey
Mentor: Alyssa Brewer
Polymorphisms in the BDNF and dopamine genes may
predict different capacities for visual-motor learning and
motor map plasticity. In this study, we investigate potential
differences in cortical plasticity in subjects with either one
BDNF or one or more of five dopamine genetic polymorphisms by studying the effects of short-term adaptation to
left-right visual input reversal on visual-motor task performance. Firstly, subjects completed visual-motor questionnaires and gave blood for genetic screening of the
BDNF and the five dopamine polymorphisms. Secondly,
subjects completed one hour of baseline visual-motor testing while wearing control goggles with a field of view restricted to match the experimental goggles. Lastly, subjects
wore experimental goggles that left-right reversed visual
input for a second hour. In both conditions, subjects completed two visual-motor tasks, Reaching and a Walking
Maze, and one control motor task, Finger Tapping. The
Finger Tapping task showed no difference in performance
between the BDNF wildtype val66val and the val66met
polymorphisms during both conditions, as expected for a
pure motor task. Performance on the Reaching and Walking Maze tasks worsened for all subjects during the altered
visual input condition compared to the control condition.
The subjects with the BDNF val66met polymorphism preformed worse during the altered visual input condition and
showed more rapid improvement than those subjects with
the wildtype val66val genotype, indicating a difference in
neural plasticity between these two BDNF polymorphisms.
Using the current analysis, no significant difference was
found among the five dopamine genotypes in any of the
tasks.
Identification of Potential Serodiagnostic and Subunit
Vaccine Antigens by Antibody Profiling of
Toxoplasmosis Cases in Turkey
Chris Hung
Mentor: Li Liang
Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that is capable of infecting any endothermic animals, including humans. The infection primarily targets those who are
immunosuppressed, such as fetes and HIV patients.
Women who develop acute toxoplasmosis during pregnancy are at risk of transmitting the infection to the fetus
which may lead to fetal damage. Current diagnosis of recent infection by serology is complex, and often requires
test by an experienced toxoplasmosis reference laboratory
using a panel of serologic and molecular tests. To identify
antigens with potential for improved diagnosis, we probed
protein microarrays displaying the polypeptide products of
2,700 Toxoplasma exons with well-characterized sera from
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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Turkey. The primary goal was to discover antigens that are
unique between the acute- and the chronic-phase patients,
especially to those chronic patients who are still presenting
detectable Immunoglobulin M (IgM), which is usually predominantly secreted during the acute infection. A sera collection composed of negative, acute, chronic, and IgM
persistent chronic from Turkey was used to probe the microarray chips for both IgM and IgG subtypes. After statistical analysis, there are 31 differentially reactive antigens
found for IgG antibody and 55 differentially reactive antigens found for IgM antibody. All these antigens can discriminate acute from IgM persistent cases with the p-value
less than 0.05. In summary, all these antigens can be considered as sera diagnostic candidates. Further investigation
is needed to confirm and validate our findings.
bronchioles modified to become vulnerable for another
asthma attack? To answer this question, we have focused
on a mechanical property known as prestress that is intrinsic in a healthy bronchiole. Prestress is a tension that is
built in the tissue to resist stress from the outer environment. A hypothesis was made that prestress was lost or
diminished in the bronchioles of patients who are vulnerable to asthma attack. To understand this property further,
a tissue engineered model of bronchioles was developed
from collagen and human lung fibroblast cells. This engineered tissue was successfully able to possess the property
of prestress. Furthermore, micro scale observations were
made using imaging technique known as second harmonic
generation. These images revealed the collagen fibers in the
engineered tissue. Images were then analyzed using autocorrelation. We have found that tissues with prestress had
a highly uniform orientation of collagen fibers while tissues
without prestress had random networks of collagen fiber.
The significance of this finding is that if asthma is caused
by loss of prestress, it may be possible to diagnose whether
a patient is susceptible to an asthma attack or not by imaging its bronchioles rather than taking a biopsy.
Electromechanical Reshaping of ex-vivo Porcine Trachea
Syed Hussain
Mentor: Brian Wong
The trachea, or the airway leading to the lungs, is a cartilaginous anatomical structure particularly prone to stenosis
as a result of trauma and intubation. In previous experiments, electrical current or the application of voltage over
a period of time has been known to significantly reshape
cartilage tissue. Electro-mechanical reshaping or EMR may
be used to “reform” or reshape aforementioned traumatic
cartilaginous trachea. Several ex-vivo porcine tracheas were
used for this study. Each porcine trachea contains approximately 25 to 30 tracheal rings. Tracheal rings or
cross-sections of the airway were harvested and cut at the
overlap region to maintain the entirety of each ring. The
natural concavity of the ring was reversed around a piece
of cork. A pair of cathodes and anodes was pierced
through the cartilage at a distance of 3mm apart and current was applied. The sample is allowed time to rehydrate.
The results or degree of shape change were quantified via
the use of pictures before and after EMR. The difference
in the degree of curvature was measured for different parameters and compared. Results show that reshaping the
tracheal airway is possible. The parameter of 5V 3min produced almost double the degree of reshaping when compared to 3V 3min. This presents valuable opportunities to
reshape airway in humans using a minimally invasive and
traumatic method.
Correlation of Actual Alcohol Consumption with
Computerized Self Reported Alcohol Consumption in
Trauma Patients
Bryan Imayanagita
Mentors: Cristobal Barrios, Allen Kong
Alcohol related injuries are a large group within the Emergency Department trauma patient population. The relationship between alcohol and trauma has been well known
within the emergency department but no study has shown
the relationship between alcohol and trauma within the
inpatient population. Trauma patients, which included inpatient traumas, were given the Intervention questionnaire
as part of their hospitalization at University of California,
Irvine Medical Center in order to assess their alcohol dependency based on their responses to the questionnaire.
The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a correlation between the reported alcohol consumption by the
Computerized Alcohol Screening and Intervention tool
and actual alcohol consumption. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Score from the questionnaire was
correlated with the Injury Severity Score, blood alcohol
concentration, and length of stay of 1,336 trauma patients.
Regression analysis indicated that injury severity score did
not have a significant correlation with predicting dependency among trauma patients. Blood Alcohol Concentrations was one of the greatest indicators of injury, with
positive blood concentration patients having a 13.5 times
greater risk of dependency. The findings suggest that actual
alcohol consumption is a good predictor of dependency
and there is a correlation with the score from the self ad-
Engineered Collagen-Fibroblast Tissue: Its Image
Analysis on Prestress
Kenji Ikemura
Mentor: Steven George
An asthma attack triggers the lining of the airway to swell,
which reduces air flow into the lungs. An attack can damage the bronchioles in the lungs causing them to be susceptible to another attack. Our question is how were the
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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ministered computerized alcohol screening intervention
tool.
heights to the flame, and then compares the heating height
and carbon monoxide emissions.
Palladium Extraction with 5-(4-methylphenyl)-1,3,4oxadiazole-2-thiol in Nitric Acid
Oliver Jan
Mentor: Mikael Nilsson
Nuclear fission during nuclear power generation cycles
allows for the probability for precious metals such as palladium to be formed. This project focuses on the liquidliquid extraction of palladium(II) using 5-(4-methylphenyl)1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol (MPOT) in 1-octanol using simulated nitric acid media conditions analogous to actual spent
nuclear fuel. MPOT was proposed as the organic extracting reagent to take advantage of soft electron coordination
with palladium metal from nitrogen and sulfur sites, with
this behavior characterized from previous literature. To
fully understand the extraction behavior, it is necessary to
test for extraction efficiency by determining distribution
ratios by varying ligand concentration as well as varying the
acidity of the aqueous phase. Distribution ratios will be
calculated using high purity germanium detection methods
after neutron activation analysis at the UCI TRIGA reactor. This research will help the economic viability of nuclear energy and will allow for an alternative source of
strategic metals for future usage.
Does Neighborhood Level Violence Predict
Children’s Antisocial Behavior?
Amanda Jara
Mentor: Candice Odgers
The neighborhoods that children grow up in are believed
to have far reaching effects on their mental health and behavior. The majority of prior research has focused on how
neighborhood-level poverty influences children’s development, with less attention paid to the features of poor
neighborhoods that may transmit the effects of poverty to
children. In this study, we combined measures of streetlevel neighborhood violence collected in collaboration with
the CrimeMappers project with multiple measures of
neighborhood settings (e.g., poverty, neighborhood problems, safety, and social cohesion) to capture the local
neighborhoods of the 2,232 children in the Environmental-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study. More specifically,
we: (1) characterized the amount of crime and violence
that children are exposed to each month in their local
communities, (2) tested whether neighborhood violence
predicted children’s antisocial behavior (as rated by mothers and teachers), and (3) tested whether the effect of
neighborhood violence on children’s antisocial behavior
held after controlling for family and neighborhood-SES as
well as exposure to violence in the family. Preliminary results indicate that neighborhood level violence has robust
effects on children’s behavior and suggest that children’s
growing up in poor neighborhoods may experience a cumulative effect of family and neighborhood violence. Results of this study are positioned to aid our understanding
of how exposure to violence and poverty in local communities may influence children’s lives.
Carbon Monoxide Emission from Impinging
Diffusion Flames
Maribel Jaquez-Nunez
Mentor: Derek Dunn-Rankin
Surfaces heated by flames impinging on them are very
common and widely used in industrial applications, including welding, glass shaping, metal melting, indoor cooking
and heating. An important parameter for controlling the
efficiency of an impinging flame is the heating height,
which is related to combustion incompletion. When combustion is incomplete, the combustion process is thermally
inefficient and it releases unwanted products such as carbon monoxide (CO). Incomplete combustion of impinging
flames results from interruption of the flame chemistry
during quenching. Therefore, finding a relationship between heating height and flame efficiency can lead to better completion of the chemical reaction during burning.
This experiment consists of an axisymmetric jet flame that
is impinged with horizontal (90º) flat plates. The metal
plates under flame impingement have various temperature
distributions in the radial direction from the center of the
flame. Finding an optimal heating height that produces
minimal CO emission is an essential task. Current results
have shown that as the impinging height decreases CO
emissions increase. Therefore, this study examines the
temperature distribution with different impingement
The Effect of Changes in Production on Employment
before, during, and after the Great Depression
Mildred Jara
Mentor: Gary Richardson
The high unemployment rate during the Great Depression
is one of the most lingering memories of the 1930s, not
only because of its high levels, but also because of its longterm persistence. The recovery phase of the Depression
mildly ameliorated the high unemployment levels through
the introduction of new firms and plants, but employment
levels still remained low despite a recovering economy.
Using industrial production and factory employment indexes from the Federal Reserve Bulletin this study seeks to
discover whether changes in production affected employment differently during the 1920s, the 1930s and the late
1930s in nine prominent manufacturing industries of the
United States. Linear multivariable regression using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) are run in order estimate the
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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employment elasticities with respect to output of nine
manufacturing industries in the U.S. during periods of expansion (1920s and late 1930s) and contraction (1930s).
Findings show that the relationship between changes in
production and employment varies throughout the business cycle. More specifically, employment elasticities are
larger during times of economic expansion than during
contractions. In fact, the correlation between employment
and output was close to zero during the recovery phase of
the Depression indicating a jobless recovery.
Accuracy of Breast Density Segmentation Techniques
in X-Ray CT and 3D MRI: A Gold Standard
Comparison
Travis Johnson
Mentor: Sabee Molloi
Breast density is, behind age, the second leading risk factor
for the development of breast cancer in women; however,
there is currently no generally accepted quantitative measure of this characteristic. The projective nature of mammographic images makes density measurements difficult;
three dimensional imaging techniques are needed for accurate quantification. Density is often determined from segmentation algorithms, but without an established method
for comparison, it is difficult to determine the accuracy of
these classifications. In this study, chemical decomposition
is used as the gold standard. Forty post-mortem breast
tissue samples with masses varying from 136g to 2330g
were imaged with three-dimensional MRI and a cone beam
x-ray computed tomography (CBCT) system before being
decomposed into water, lipid, and protein. The MR images
were segmented with an FCM based bias field correction
algorithm: coherent localized intensity clustering (CLIC).
For the CBCT images, a simple “by-hand” single energy
thresholding (SET) method and an FCM based algorithm
(FCMChen) were applied. Simple linear regression analysis
was performed for each technique. The segmentation
techniques all show a good correlation with the gold standard values from decomposition. The R-squared value of
this fitting is 0.93 for SET, 0.92 for FCMChen, and 0.88
for CLIC; however, the fitting parameters were significantly different in each case. Therefore, each segmentation
technique tested can accurately differentiate between samples of different density; but, for a given system and clustering technique, a calibration data set may be required to
interpret the results faithfully as a quantitative measure of
breast density.
Self-Identification among Multiracial and Multiethnic
Latinos
Briana Jex
Mentor: Cynthia Feliciano
To address the current gap in research about ethnic identity, this study examines how multiracial and multiethnic
Latinos self-identify. In addition, this study examines
whom multiracial/multiethnic Latinos would be open to
dating. Twenty-eight in-depth semistructured interviews
were conducted with multiracial/multiethnic Latinos who
are current or recent graduates of two-year or four-year
colleges or universities. I examined how factors such as
higher education experiences, exposure to their ethnic cultures, communities they resided in, phenotype, and language influenced how they self-identified and whom they
were willing to date. In this study, I found most respondents strongly identified with pan-ethnic terms (whether to
self-identify ethnically or racially) and asserted specific ethnic identities based on their parents’ or grandparents’
countries of origin, especially the respondents who were
currently enrolled or had graduated from a four-year university. Respondents used pan-ethnic terms and their specific racial/ethnic groups interchangeably. I found
multiethnic Latinos were more likely to identify racially as
Latino/Hispanic while multiracial Latinos would racially
identify as Latino/Other race (i.e., Latino/Black or Latino/White). Multiracial Latinos struggled more in how
they self-identified based on their phenotype and ability to
speak Spanish or other languages. Multiethnic Latinos selfidentified based on their ability to speak Spanish and their
exposure to the several Latino cultures they belonged to.
Results from this study show that multiracial/multiethnic
college educated Latinos are less likely to date outside of
the racial/ethnic groups they belong to. This study suggests that phenotype, language, exposure to one’s cultures,
and college experiences influence how multiracial and multiethnic Latinos self-identify and whom they find desirable
to date.
Specificity of FTY720 for Nutrient Transporters
Yoosun Joo
Mentor: Aimee Edinger
FTY720 is a sphingolipid-based drug that is a potential
anti-cancer drug because it selectively starves cancer cells
by down-regulating nutrient transporters. In this study, the
selectivity of FTY720 for nutrient transporters was evaluated by determining whether FTY720 also affects trafficking of the epidermal growth factor receptor or the
transferrin receptor. To measure the change in surface proteins over time, fluorescence-labeled biomolecules, such as
antibodies or receptor ligands, were used in tandem with
flow cytometry to measure changes in surface protein levels over time. The results show that while 4f2 is downregulated by FTY720 treatment, it is unclear whether
EGFR is down-regulated because of the poor resolution of
the assay. The results also show that FTY720 does not
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increase the endocytosis of the transferrin receptor, but
may block its recycling. Thus, this paper presents a partial
answer to why FTY720 causes a bioenergetic crisis in cancer cells by suggesting that the drug causes a rapid downregulation of some nutrient transporters while blocking the
recycling of other cell surface proteins.
Effects of Laser Micro-Irradiation on H3S10
Phosphorylation of PTK2 Mitotic Cells
Sami Kabbara
Mentor: Michael Berns
The intent of this study is to determine the effect of laser
micro-irradiation on H3S10 phosphorylation in mitotic
cells. Histones are proteins that are essential for DNA
condensation. As such, the modifications of histones play
an important role in signaling events for cell cycle progression as well as transcription and replication. PhosphoHistone H3 (phH3S10) begins to be detected in S-phase
and reaches its peak in mitosis. For this reason this histone
modification has been described as a mitotic marker. The
goal of this research project is to determine the kinetics of
Histone H3 on Serine 10(H3S10) phosphorylation in rat
kangaroo cells (Potorous tridactylus/ PtK2) in mitosis.
This study will be performed by irradiating PtK2 cells using different femtosecond near infrared (NIR) 800 nm
Ti:Sapphire laser intensities in order to see whether they
will retain the histone modification or whether an accelerated loss of H3S10 will occur after irradiation. We will also
study the level of phH3S10 retention or loss in naturally
occurring and laser induced lagging chromosomes. Damaged irradiated cells will also be stained for known double
strand break markers and repair proteins (Ku) to determine
whether there is retention or loss of the “mitotic mark”
within the damaged regions of the cell. Initial results demonstrated that sites of cells irradiated at high intensity,
along with naturally occurring and laser induced lagging
chromosomes, showed retention of phH3S10 compared to
rest of the chromosomes in the cell. It is concluded that
laser micro-irradiation does have an effect on phH3S10 in
mitotic PtK2 cells.
Designing a Novel Approach to Measure and Select
for Advanced Cardiac Endurance in Drosophila
melanogaster
Ashley Kadakia
Mentor: Michael Rose
The specific aim of the proposed experiment was to construct a device (cardio cage) that was designed to compel a
population of Drosophila melanogaster to maintain constant
motion until exhaustion in hopes of testing and selecting
for advanced cardiac endurance. Such a device would make
it possible to study cardiac function using fruit flies as a
research model. The cardio cage prototype is capable of
exhausting the majority of individuals in a population
within an hour. However, more work is needed to increase
the cardio cages effectiveness in coercing the entire population to exhaustion.
Prophylactic Low Molecular Weight Heparin Dosing
in High Body Mass Index
Tamana Kaderi
Mentor: Cristobal Barrios
Patients in the ICU are at a higher risk for the development of DVT due to multiple factors, including immobility. Anticoagulants such as LMWH have become common
protocol in hospitals to prevent the rate of DVT. While
standardized dosing of patients with a normal BMI has
been developed, there is little research on patients with
BMI considered obese. We hypothesize that patients with
BMI>30 given standard dosing of LMWH who still developed DVT are likely under-dosed. This is a retrospective
study categorizing 1,457 patients with either BMI>30 or
BMI≤30 who received prophylactic LMWH and had correctly drawn anti-Xa levels. The occurrence of DVT was
also measured with some possible confounding factors.
There was a higher rate of DVT in patients with BMI>30
compared to BMI≤30. Approximately 86% of patients
with BMI>30 who had prophylactic LMWH with timely
drawn anti-Xa levels had too low of a trough value. These
findings suggest that the implementation of a higher dosing protocol of LMWH for obese patients at risk for DVT
may be necessary.
The Effects of Rule Accessibility on Moral Judgments
Hannah Kang
Mentor: Peter Ditto
A large body of studies points to the idea that a perception
of a factual outcome is often aligned with personal attitude
and belief of the issue. Also, many studies have provided
evidence that moral rules that are cognitively more accessible can affect moral judgment. Based on the existing body
of literature, this study investigates the relationship between cognitive accessibility of moral rules and the perception of the cost and benefit of the outcome. By
understanding how moral judgment can be affected by the
accessibility of a moral rule, it will help to resolve disagreements in moral and political issues. The studies consist of participants from various background recruited at
the University of California, Irvine, and participants in
each study were randomly assigned to two conditions with
contrasting moral rules. The studies were in survey format,
which tested the hypothesis that cognitive accessibility affects the cost and benefit analysis of the outcome. The
data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package
for the Social Science (SPSS). Several problems that need
to be resolved include measuring subtle changes in judgment, and any potential incompatibility between manipulation in cognitive accessibility and measurement of the
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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effect. The subject area needs further investigation and
understanding.
Relationship Between Maternal Age, Paternal Age,
Prematurity, Birth Weight and Autism
Patil Kavarian
Mentors: Christy Hom, Ira Lott
Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first
three years of life, and affects the brain’s development of
social and communication skills. The intent of this study is
to examine if there is a relationship between autism and
advanced maternal age (≥35 years of age), advanced paternal age (≥35 years of age), prematurity (gestational age <33
weeks), and low birth weight (<5.5 lbs). For this study,
medical and clinic records for 470 patients seen in the UCI
Medical Center Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Clinic
between June 2007 and June 2011 were reviewed in order
to collect information about the following variables: maternal age at the time of the patient’s birth, paternal age at
the time of the patient’s birth, patient’s birth weight, and
patient’s gestational age. Our study did not find a significant association between autism and parental age; however,
we did find that patients’ gestational age and birth weight
were significantly associated with the incidence of autism,
but not in the direction that we hypothesized. Premature
babies were less likely to have autism than babies born at
33 weeks gestation or beyond. Similarly, we found that low
birth weight was associated with a lower incidence of autism. Therefore, our analysis demonstrated that prematurity and low birth weight were related to a lower incidence
of being Autistic. The underrepresentation of autism in
children with a history of prematurity and low birth weight
may in fact be due to their classification under other, more
severe neurological disorders, resulting in a diagnosis other
than autism.
Aircraft Control via Moving Masses
Khizar Karwa
Mentor: John Garman
Aircraft control is usually done using control surfaces on
the tails and wings. These surfaces are adjusted to produce
forces and moments about the center of gravity of the aircraft, which results in achieving the desired orientation of
the aircraft. However, during gusty conditions the control
surfaces may be ineffective due to the bad airflow conditions. For small-size UAVs with low inertia moving a mass
such as moving the propulsion battery of the aircraft will
be sufficient to control the orientation of the aircraft. This
moving mass will replace the need for the control surfaces,
which produce drag on the plane and are easily damaged in
service. Various mass actuation methods were tested and it
was determined that stepper motors were most suitable
due to the low system weight and the fast actuation speed.
The first prototype for this system is being sized to fit the
mass actuation system. The first prototype will be manufactured and tested by the end of the spring quarter.
Propulsion Performance Optimization Using Current
Limiting
Khizar Karwa
Mentor: John Garman
The propulsion systems of UAVs encounter a large range
of conditions throughout their flight envelopes. Large current draw occurs on takeoff, where the toque is highest,
and high engine speed is desired during high speed cruise.
High battery voltage is required for achieving high engine
speed. However, the high battery voltage will cause a very
large current draw on takeoff. As a consequence, propulsion systems are sized for takeoff conditions if there is a
current limit due to a fuse in the system or the current limit
of the system components. In this project a microcontroller was used to ensure that the current drawn by the motor
did not exceed a set value. Normally the motor controller
varies the voltage of the battery across the motor based on
the command signal from the radio transmitter controlled
by the pilot. The current limiting system uses the signal
from the radio as the desired current to be drawn and dynamically controls the voltage across the motor to match
the flight conditions. On takeoff, where low engine speed
is sufficient to provide high torque and high thrust, the
controller limits the voltage applied across the motor below the maximum battery voltage. During cruise or high
speed flight, the controller allows more or even all of the
battery voltage to be applied across the motor. This ability
to draw the maximum current allowed from the propulsion
system ensures that the components are used at their normal operating conditions.
N-glycan Branching in Immunosenescence
Khachik Khachikyan
Mentor: Michael Demetriou
Immunosenescence is a term that describes the association
of aging with a decline in the function of the immune system. This contributes to the decreased immune response
to vaccination and infection observed in the elderly. Previous studies in mice have shown that increased N-glycan
branching prevents T cell hyperactivity. However, it is unclear what role N-glycan branching plays in immunosenescence. To address this question, I used flow cytometry to
examine and compare the levels of branching in the naïve
and memory CD4+ T cells of young and old mice. I found
that memory T cells have higher levels of branching than
naïve CD4+ T cells regardless of the age of the mouse.
However, old mice had higher levels of branching than the
young mice in all T cell subsets studied. This supports the
suggestion that N-glycan branching levels on T cells increase as mice age. This increase might work along with
other factors to reduce the normal function of the aging
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immune system. Further studies are required to further
explore the role of branching and T cell aging.
Talking, Walking, Teaching: The Roles of
Anthropomorphism in Children’s Literature
Victoria Kim
Mentor: Julia Lupton
The prevalent use of anthropomorphism in children’s literature is significant in our collective understanding of
human beings and human nature. The act of storytelling in
itself is a reflection of communal experiences, distinctly
human emotions, and cultural perceptions. However, this
use of animals in the place of humans for the instruction
of our youth is problematic. For one, the representation of
talking, clothed animals complicates the relationship with
real animals. Moreover, the enthusiasm in which children
readers adopt anthropomorphism is countered by our innate desire to distance ourselves from anything remotely
bestial. In order to understand this conflicting relationship
between humans and animals, I draw from an array of
children’s literature within a wide, historical range, starting
with Aesop’s Fables, Charles Perrault’s Little Red Riding
Hood, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and
ending with Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. Within these four
works, animals become actors in front of a human audience as well as allegorical disguises of humans for humans.
Animals also take part in absurdity, and even become extensions of our own human selves. In examining these
various depictions of animals, I demonstrate how the roles
of anthropomorphism progress from a strict adherence to
an animal-human divide that necessitates a deliberate use
of anthropomorphism for moral lessons into a mutual
convergence that facilitates understanding between humans and animals. Anthropomorphism embodies diverse
roles so that the relationship between animals and humans
is not separate and stagnant, but rather an interaction that
is in active conversation with one another.
The Effect of Particle Size on Folding Pattern of
Langmuir Monolayers
Akihisa Kodama
Mentor: Michael Dennin
Langmuir monolayers are a single layer of amphiphilic
molecules on the surface of an aqueous subphase. When
this monolayer is compressed, the molecules are forced
closer and closer together until it collapses and some of
monolayer forms folds into the aqueous subphase, creating
a 3-dimensional structure. Experiments have shown that
SDS-DODAB monolayers have reversible folds. However,
the addition of particles can affect the folding behavior of
the monolayer. In the experiment reported on here, particles with diameters of 1 µm, 0.5 µm, 0.1 µm, and 20 nm
were deposited on a SDS-DODAB monolayer. A surfacepressure vs. area isotherm and a fluorescence microscope
were used to analyze the folding patterns of the monolayer.
It was found that the 1 µm and 20 nm beads cause the
monolayer to fold reversibly, similar to pure SDS-DODAB
but the 20 nm beads cause it to fold at a lower surface
pressure. The 0.5 µm and 0.1 µm beads cause the
monolayer to fold irreversibly; even when the monolayer is
expanded, the folded structure remains. It was concluded
that the SDS-DODAB coats the beads in this size range
instead of unfolding. This research can be used to understand the behavior of pollutant particles interacting with
the lung surfactant in our lungs and further our understanding of the causes of some respiratory diseases.
Precursor Up-Regulation and Protease Effects on the
Production of Polyketides in Yeast
Marc Kryger
Mentor: Nancy Da Silva
Polyketides are valuable pharmaceuticals and biorenewable industry chemicals that can be synthesized in
the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, the effects of
up-regulation of native metabolic precursor pathways on
the synthesis level of the model polyketide 6methylsalicylic acid (6-MSA) were investigated. Two different promoter systems, PPGK1 and PADH2, were used in the
engineered host strains. Additionally, production levels in
strain BY4741 and protease-deficient strains were compared, revealing an improvement in 6-MSA production in
the absence of the proteases PEP4 and PRB1.
Developmental Effects and Systemic Response to
Hypoxia during the Neonatal Stage
Michele Kunde
Mentors: Gregory Adams, Kenneth Baldwin
Inflammation contributes to the detrimental effects of
multiple chronic illnesses, including childhood obesity and
asthma. The intent of this study is to discover a way to
mimic the systemic response found in children with these
chronic diseases, and to find an explanation on a molecular
level for this response to eventually find ways to reverse
their negative effects. We tested the effects of hypoxia on
neonatal rats by placing them in a chamber that controls
oxygen levels. We expected a systemic inflammatory response, similar to that which is seen in obese or asthmatic
children. This response did occur in the hypoxic neonatal
rats, making our model successful in creating a condition
in rats that emulates that of asthmatic or obese children.
This model will be useful in determining ways to combat
the negative symptoms of these two major childhood afflictions.
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Collagen and Elastic Fibers’ Ultrastructure and
Composition of Decellularized Porcine Extracellular
Matrix
Anh La
Mentor: Steven George
Decellularization of intact tissues provides an instructive 3D extracellular matrix (ECM) that can enhance cell proliferation, migration, and adhesion. The decellularized ECM
must be able to provide the mechanical and chemical cues
similar to that of the intact tissues. Removal of cells in intact tissues can cause a disruption in ECM. Because collagen and elastic fibers make up the main structural proteins
in ECM, we are studying the ultrastructure, composition,
and mechanical properties of those fibers in a porcine
heart tissue during and immediately following the decellularization process. Image analysis of the fibers ultrastructure is being compared to the direct mechanical and
chemical tests to show whether noninvasive measurement
could be achieved. The tissue was imaged by two-photon
microscopy before decellularization, after perfusion with
Trypsin, and after perfusion with TritonX-100 solutions.
The images were analyzed by ImageJ to measure the diameter, area fraction, and aspect of ratio for the fibers.
Biochemical assays were used to confirm the fibers content. Indentation tests give additional insights into the
ECM structures by analyzing the tissue stiffness. The results show that the fibers’ area fraction and diameter decrease over time. This correlates with a gradual drop in
fiber content and tissue mechanics during the decellularization process, which is consistent with the loss of cell and
tissue integrity. Noninvasive measurement of ECM is able
to provide information about the change of the fibers
properties that show similar trend in biochemical assays
and indentation test.
sition state along with the reactants and products suggests
the nucleophile in the first step is the sulfide. The second
oxidation was observed to be slower than the first from
comparing the respective activation energies of the two
oxidation reactions. From the calculated energy differences
of HOMOs and LUMOs showed no significant correlation
with the Taft substituent constants. Preliminary results
suggest that both mechanisms may be concerted.
Is Early Maternal Employment Related to Theory of
Mind and School Readiness in Children with Autism
Spectrum Disorder?
Lesley Lai
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Although considerable research has examined the association between maternal employment and child outcomes in
typically developing (TD) children, less is known about this
relationship in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD). In the TD literature, maternal employment has
been found to have a both positive and negative association with child development and school readiness, depending on the outcome under examination. One of the major
features that characterize individuals with ASD is their lack
of awareness of their own and others’ intentions in social
situations. This impairment in social cognition has been
linked to a deficit in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability
to infer the mental states of others, such as their feelings
and beliefs. The goal of this study was to examine the associations among history of early maternal employment,
ToM, and school readiness in children with ASD. Children
were administered a battery of theory of mind tasks and
the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of
Learning. Because children with ASD display impairments
in cognitive functioning and social and communicative
abilities, results are expected to indicate a negative relationship between: (a) history of early maternal employment
and ToM in children with ASD, and (b) history of early
maternal employment and school readiness in children
with ASD. The findings from this study should be of interest to families and professionals who provide counsel
and support to parents of children with ASD.
Computational Study of the Mechanisms of Oxidation
of Aliphatic Sulfides and Aliphatic Sulfoxides by
Dimethyldioxirane
Julie La
Mentor: Fillmore Freeman
There is much speculation among scientists concerning the
mechanisms for the stepwise oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and of sulfoxides to sulfones by dioxiranes. The
greatest aspect of the reaction is the ability to transfer oxygen to a variety of compounds under mild experimental
conditions. In order to elucidate the mechanisms, the dioxirane oxidation of aliphatic sulfides has been studied
using CCSD (T) and QCISD(T) with the cc-pVTZ basis
set. The hybrid density functionals B3LYP, B3PW91, and
PBE1PBE with 6-311+G(d,p) basis set were also used.
The oxidation mechanism includes the breaking of a 3member ring to form a bond with aliphatic sulfur compounds. This reaction creates sulfoxides and can be further
oxidized to sulfone. By studying the structures of the tran-
Pixel VGA: Repurposed Electronic Waste
Nicholas LaJeunesse
Mentor: Garnet Hertz
As a result of rapid technology change, low initial cost, and
planned obsolescence, approximately 250 million functioning TVs, VCRs, cell phones, computers, and CRT monitors are discarded each year in the United States. Pixel
VGA serves to reuse these discarded computer monitors
by transforming them into large video wall systems for use
with artistic, architectural, and interactive applications. We
found that through recent advances in do-it-yourself and
open source electronics we could engineer custom video
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driver hardware for computer monitors at less than $10
per monitor. Using a familiar micro controller (Arduino)
and a computer monitor tester (Tiny VGA) we designed
and built a custom interface capable of controlling 60
computer monitors. This interface produced single color
images on each monitor with each monitor’s color and
color alternating frequency dependent on a preprogrammed script. This interface was easily adaptable to different monitors and different monitor arrangements
resulting in an inexpensive and aesthetic light installation.
These light installations have applications in low resolution
video wall displays, ambient light displays, and interactive
public art displays.
Pharmacological Profiles of L-stepholidine on
Different Subtypes of Dopamine Receptors
Melanie Lam
Mentor: Yan Zhang
L-stepholidine (SPD) is a tetrahydroprotoberberine
(THPB) alkaloid isolated from the Chinese herb Stephania.
SPD was the first compound possessing dual actions on
brain dopamine receptors, while eliciting partial D1 receptor agonist activity while antagonizing D2 receptors.
Therefore the potential role of SPD in the treatment of
drug abuse and psychotic disorders has recently received
more attention. In this study, we characterized the pharmacological profiles of SPD on different subtypes of dopamine receptors D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5. In this study,
the cloned dopamine receptors D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5
were transfected in human embryonic kidney-293T cells,
individually. Intracellular calcium changes of these dopamine receptor-expressing cells upon SPD treatment were
monitored by Flurometric Imaging Plate Reader. The results showed that SPD has high affinity to these dopamine
receptors. SPD can stimulate D1 and D5 receptor while
blocking D2, D3 and D4 receptors. This study on the
pharmacological effects of SPD will help us understand the
acting mechanism of SPD in the brain and explore different dopamine receptors related biological functions.
Neural Stem Cells Genetically-Modified to Express
Neprilysin Reduce Aβ Pathology in Alzheimer
Transgenic Models
Daniel Lan
Mentor: Mathew Blurton-Jones
Short-term neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation
improves cognition in Alzheimer disease (AD) transgenic
mice by enhancing endogenous synaptic connectivity in
the absence of any effects on the underlying beta-amyloid
(Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangle pathology. However, the
long term success of cell based approaches may require
combinatorial approaches that also modify disease
pathology. Accordingly, we genetically-modified murine
NSCs to stably express and secrete the Aβ-degrading
enzyme neprilysin (sNEP). In vitro examination of sNEPexpressing NSCs confirmed that this approach enhances
Aβ-degrading activity without altering the multipotent
phenotype of NSCs and that sNEP expression protects
NSCs from Aβ-induced toxicity. To determine whether
sNEP-expressing NSCs can also modulate ADpathogenesis in vivo, we performed transplantation studies
using a well characterized transgenic model of AD, 3xTgAD mice. Aged transgenic mice were transplanted
unilaterally with sNEP-NSCs versus control-transfected
NSCs. After three months, stem cell engraftment,
neprilysin expression, and AD pathology were examined.
Our findings reveal that stem cell-mediated delivery of
NEP provides marked and significant reductions in Aβ
pathology in 3xTg-AD transgenic mice. Remarkably, Aβ
levels are reduced not only in the hippocampus and
subiculum adjacent to engrafted NSCs, but also within the
amygdala and medial septum, areas that receive afferent
projections from the engrafted region. Taken together, our
data suggest that genetically-modified NSCs could provide
a powerful combinatorial approach to not only enhance
synaptic plasticity but to also modify underlying AD
pathology.
ADHD Symptoms, Negative Mood, and Academic
Nonattendance: the Role of Social & Interpersonal
Difficulties
Benjamin Latham-Bryman
Mentor: Larry Jamner
Adolescents with ADHD experience more negative mood,
more difficulty interacting with their peers, and poorer
school attendance compared to their non-ADHD peers. It
is not entirely clear what the dynamics between these attentional, affective, and social factors are, or how combinations of these factors may predict certain academic
outcomes for adolescents with ADHD. This study aimed
to explain, in part, why teens with ADHD are at increased
risk for school non-attendance. Participants (n = 522) were
high school students in Orange County who completed a
battery of surveys, including the Barratt Impulsivity Scale
(BIS) and the Measure of Attentional and Behavioral Styles
(MABS). Using an electronic diary, participants were
prompted every 30 minutes during waking hours to rate
their location, activities, social partners, moods, and
whether they were hassled over eight four-day sessions
during their high school careers. It was hypothesized that
those with more ADHD symptoms would experience
more hassles and negative affect, and spend less time with
friends, which in turn would predict decreased school attendance. Preliminary findings indicate that, although there
is a positive relationship between ADHD symptoms, as
measured by the BIS, and hassles (r = .09, p < .05), and
between the BIS and several affective measures, school
attendance was not significantly associated with either the
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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BIS or MABS scales. Post-hoc analyses will examine individual differences in certain components of ADHD (e.g.
impulsivity, poor planning, inattention), and their associations with social interaction, school attendance, and experiences of hassle and negative affect.
and displayed showing very weak linear correlation for
each of the variables. Likewise, an ANOVA analysis was
tested showing significance in the means for each year with
p-values 4.68E-06, 1.21E-06, 3.54E-05 for the top lip, bottom lip, and top compared to bottom, respectively. Linear
Regression plots and ANOVA analysis showed that there
is a difference in the means of lip size over the years for
each of the variables, but statistical methods were not able
to further determine the change.
High-Throughput Inhibitor Screening of the Potential
Virulence Factor, RipA, from Yersinia pestis
Yama Latif
Mentor: Celia Goulding
The causative agent of the bubonic plague, pestis, still poses
a global threat. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the
bacteria’s pathogenesis is desired. The rip operon, which
comprises ripA, ripB, and ripC genes, has been shown to be
essential for the intracellular proliferation of Y. pestis within
its host’s activated macrophage. Previously, we have structurally and biochemically characterized the protein encoded by the ripA gene. RipA belongs to the family I CoA
transferases, and has a preference for butyryl-CoA, which
led us to propose its role in producing butyrate, an antiinflammatory, to lower nitric oxide levels in macrophages.
Here, we present high-throughput screening of RipA using
the entire library from the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Diversity Set II. Differential scanning fluorimetry, which
quantitatively measures the thermal stability of proteinligand interactions, revealed compounds that enhance the
stability of RipA. These compounds are currently being
investigated, using an HPLC-based assay, for their ability
to inhibit RipA function. We have also co-crystallized
RipA with the NCI compound 83318. These new findings
along with continued research will provide us with an enhanced insight into Y. pestis’ pathogenesis and may lead to
the development of future broad-range therapeutics.
Debugging with JTag
Julian Lawrence
Mentor: Ian Harris
Man’s dependency on embedded systems (computers designed for specific functions) has been continuously increasing, and the more our technology improves the more
we trust them in our everyday lives. When we put this
much trust in our devices we want some assurance that
they are working properly. With so many devices out there
we want a universal way to interface and test our device.
Fortunately most systems today use the Joint Test Action
Group (JTag) debug port, IEEE 1149.1 Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture, which allows
us to interface with the embedded system. We preformed
our tests on a TI Stellaris board which uses an ARM microcontroller; ARM was a good medium to work with because they are widely used in embedded systems. We
interfaced to JTag port of the ARM with an AVR microcontroller, and were able to manipulate the registers of the
JTag port. This gives us access to certain functionality of
the ARM chip and allows us to acquire the information we
desire.
Progress towards the Asymmetric Hetero-Claisen
Approach to Welwitindolinone B
Bonnie Le
Mentor: Kenneth Shea
The welwitindolinone alkaloids, isolated from Australian
soil samples, have been found to have antifungal and anticancer properties, as well as reversing multiple drug resistance. One member of this family, Welwitindolinone B, is
of interest due to the complexity of the structure and because its biological properties remain unknown. To synthesize the carbon skeleton of Welwitindolinone B, we are
employing a type 2 intramolecular Diels–Alder cycloaddition. A key intermediate in the synthesis is an oxindole
Diels–Alder reaction precursor. A single stereocenter in
this intermediate would set the stereochemistry of the entire molecule providing access to an enantiopure Welwitinidolinone B. I am developing an asymmetric heteroClaisen approach for the synthesis of the oxindole intermediate, which would set the stereochemistry of the oxindole C3 stereocenter. Using a model system, I found that a
similar oxindole can be synthesized by condensing a ni-
Investigating the Change in Women’s Lip Size by
Measuring Frontal Views of Faces from Vogue
Magazine
Lauren Law
Mentor: Brian Wong
Traditionally, quantitative approaches in defining lip size
have been limited to studying photographs from the present. Often times, facial aesthetic studies use images from
current media or from human subjects. The overall change
in lip size has not been exclusively investigated, and comparing surface area of lip sizes over time is critical to determining a trend. Our study aims to project outside the
scope of current lip attractiveness studies and focus on
determining the overall trend in lip size over the past 60
years. A total of 138 Vogue magazines were reviewed and
images from selected years meeting a defined set of inclusion criteria were analyzed. Image J software was used to
make surface area measurements of the top lip, bottom lip,
and interpupillary distance, which was used to normalize
the data. Averages of these data were taken for each year
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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trone and a monosubstituted ketene. Using these results, I
have taken the method on to a racemic synthesis of the
oxindole precursor of the Welwitindolinone B carbon
skeleton. Since the nitrone-ketene addition is amenable to
asymmetric induction, this study establishes a potential
asymmetric route to Welwitindolinone B.
Self Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles into Uniform
Nanoarrays via Diblock Copolymer Micellar
Lithography
Daniel Kha Le
Mentor: Regina Ragan
Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an area
of great interest because it has the ability to enhance Raman scattering up to 109 times, effectively enhancing signals to the point of single molecule detection. Signal
enhancement is due to the effect of surface plasmon resonance in tandem with closely spaced nanoparticles to create localized regions that enhance the signal given off
when a laser beam excites an electron in a molecule, which
then emits a photon characteristic of its vibrational mode.
Current techniques involving e-beam lithography to form
nanostructures is cumbersome and expensive. Here, we
explore a more cost effective method of forming uniform
nanoarrays by using an ability of polystyrene-block-poly-2vinylpyridine, a diblock copolymer, to form into spherical
micelles, which in turn, act as a nanocarrier carrying gold
from a gold salt, hydrogen tetrachloroaurate hydride, to
form a hexagonal array of nanoparticles. The nature of the
ordering is due to the spherical micelles spontaneously
ordering themselves with the lowest Gibbs free energy,
and thermodynamically, hexagonal packing is the preferred
arrangement. Using a technique known as doctor-blading,
we experiment with forming a monolayer of micelles carrying the gold nanoparticles. By removing the polymer via
oxygen plasma, we see the gold nanoparticles in a uniform
array dictated by the micelles. By using micellar nanolithography, we can create a uniform domain of nanoparticles
cheaply and efficiently. Our future work involves crosslinking reactions between Au nanoparticle arrays and gold
nanoparticles in colloidal solution to achieve nanoparticle
clusters with close inter-particle spacing for SERS.
The Role of Social Support in the Relationship
Between Internet Use and Depression
Phuong-Khanh Le
Mentor: JoAnn Prause
Excessive Internet use is categorized as a type of behavioral addiction that has often been associated with depressive symptoms. Study findings differ in how Internet use
influences the risk of depression. Therefore, factors that
may explain the gap in literature deserve a closer look. The
purpose of the study is to examine the role of social support in the relationship between Internet use and depres-
sion among college students. Students are one of the most
vulnerable groups to Internet addiction due to frequent
exposure to the Internet for academic, entertainment, and
social purposes. The importance of this study is to find a
possible intervention or treatment for Internet addiction in
the student population. Participants were asked to complete an online survey collecting information on their
demographic characteristics, internet usage, depressive
symptoms, and perceived social support. Preliminary findings showed that the more time spent online, the higher
the depression score (r = .142, p = .042). Furthermore,
while higher Internet addiction score was significantly correlated with higher depression score (r = .422, p < .001)
and lower perceived social support (r = -.256, p < .001),
higher depression score was associated with lower social
support (r = -.419, p < .001). This indicates that people
who are highly dependent on the Internet tend to lack social support in real life, and thus, display more depression.
The moderating and mediating effects of social support on
the relationship between different levels of Internet addiction and depression will be examined through further
analysis.
Crystallization of a Dye-Decolorizing Peroxidase,
DyP, from Mycobacterium tuberculosis
VIncent Le
Mentor: Celia Goulding
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), infects approximately one third of the
world’s population. TB is one of the leading killers among
infectious diseases. Like other intracellular pathogens, iron
acquisition is a major requirement for Mtb pathogenesis,
thus making novel proteins involved in iron acquisition
potential targets for anti-TB pharmaceuticals. The Goulding lab has identified a heme-acquisition system in which a
heme-degrading enzyme, MhuD, facilitates iron acquisition
from heme via cleavage of the tetrapyrrole ring. We propose that a secondary mechanism exists in Mtb by which
Mtb Rv0799c (DyP) releases iron from heme without
cleavage of the tetrapyrrole ring, resulting in accumulation
of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX). The aims of this project are
to determine: i) heme- and/or PPIX-binding of DyP; ii)
stoichiometry of heme- and/or PPIX to DyP; and iii) to
crystallize DyP in heme-, PPIX-, and unbound form. To
address this, we expressed and affinity-purified DyP to
95% purity. Heme and PPIX binding was assessed via absorbance spectroscopy, observing Soret maxima at approximately 402 nm and 406 nm for heme- and PPIXbound DyP, respectively. Heme titrations into unbound
DyP were performed to determine stoichiometry, resulting
in a 1:1 protein to heme ratio. Unbound DyP and hemeDyP have been used to set up sparse-matrix crystallization
screens. Crystal growth has been observed and rigorous
optimization of crystal conditions is currently underway.
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A Three-Dimensional Microvascular Gas Exchange
Unit for Carbon Capture
Y Le-Ho
Mentor: Aaron Esser-Kahn
The capture of carbon dioxide from mixed gas streams
such as flue gas requires materials with increased capacity
for gas exchange. High efficiency systems already exist in
the form of vascularized lung tissue. Herein we report a
technique for the synthesis of a three-dimensional microvascular gas exchange unit capable of removing carbon
dioxide from flowing gas created using a previously reported Vaporization of a Sacrificial Component (VaSC)
technique using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer
and poly lactic acid (PLA) fibers. A solution of monoethanolamine was used to capture the carbon dioxide. A pH
sensitive dye was used to observe the color shift visually
and UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to quantify the color
change. Initial studies were completed on two- and threedimensional hexagonal patterns. Additional patterns with
increased hierarchy and fiber count were designed based
on mathematical models on close packing of circles. The
increased channel count required redesign of the original
tuning board to accommodate and properly tension the
individual fibers. A new board was fabricated with 36 tuning pegs, 30 additional pegs compared to the initial version,
and was capable of accommodating the increased fiber
count. The study shows tighter packing and placement of
the channels increased the capture rate of carbon dioxide.
in the work place, this may create the idea that there are
differences. Examination of the data indicates that sex
does not correlate with job dissatisfaction as previous studies have suggested.
Automated Variable Ordering for Self-Stabilizing Java
David Lee
Mentor: Brian Demsky
Modern software is becoming increasingly complex, resulting in more bugs and errors in critical systems, such as
flight controls. A single error could break the program,
putting lives in danger. Rather than attempt to find and fix
all bugs, self-stabilizing Java guarantees that, should an
error occur, the program will eventually leave that error
state and return to normal operations. This means that the
system will never fail and prevents any potential disasters.
In order to always exit the error state in self-stabilizing
Java, the data flow must be non-cyclical. This way, erroneous data will eventually leave the program and the program
can continue working properly. With larger programs, it
becomes incredibly difficult to find this data flow. I developed a system that automatically finds and displays the
flow by looking at the structure of the program and the
context in which each variable is used. The overall data
flow of the program is pieced together from lower scale
data flow behavior in specific circumstances. Although
some preliminary tests have been done, further testing is
needed to evaluate the system. In addition, there was insufficient time to complete the project. Although the method
has been designed, it has yet to be implemented. If implemented, my system will ease self-stabilizing Java programming. Designing this system has also deepened my
understanding of compilers, while giving me a greater appreciation for the variety of computer tools and their uses.
The Relationship Between Gender and Job
Dissatisfaction
Allison Lee
Mentor: Judith Treas
Traditional gender stereotypes assume that men place a
higher value on traits such as a high income, job prestige,
and opportunities for advancement, while women value
the importance of their job, whether they help others, and
flexible hours. There has been a shift from factory labor to
service-centered jobs, an increase in labor force participation of women, and greater educational attainments and
entry into higher status jobs for women. It is important to
reexamine whether these variables differ by gender, because gender differences in job dissatisfaction can affect
management policies, leadership styles, and incentives. The
goal of this study was to examine whether overall job dissatisfaction has changed over time and whether gender
differences have narrowed or widened. Analyzing data
from the General Social Survey in 1989, 1998, and 2006,
ordinary least squares regressions indicate that the overall
level of dissatisfaction has remained the same between
employed men and women. Controlling for age, education,
year, prestige, sex, as well as interaction effects, sex is not
statistically significant. Because some sociologists focus on
looking for inherent differences between men and women
The Effects of Attentional Modulation on Motor
Control Measured Through Handwriting
Francis Lee
Mentor: Charles Wright
Previous research has used handwriting to assess motor
control in Alzheimer’s patients. Wright et al. (1999) showed
that that despite similar looking letters, fine motor control
was impaired with increased cognitive load in Alzheimer’s
patients as opposed to age-matched normal controls. Using a similar handwriting paradigm, we compared handwriting produced using dominant and non-dominant hand
across conditions designed to modulate attention. We
modulated attention by providing different levels of visual
feedback as well as providing a secondary task. Differences
between the conditions were assessed with novel measurements strategies, resulting in a variety of different performance parameters characterizing each trial. An analysis
of the different performance parameters shows how varying visual feedback changes handwriting between the
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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dominant and the non-dominant hand. We explore the
implications of translating this paradigm to best derive a
normative measure for medical purposes.
Elemental Nutrient Ratios in Southern California
Jeanette Lee
Mentor: Adam Martiny
The Redfield ratio is the atomic ratio of carbon, nitrogen
and phosphorus found in marine phytoplankton. The Redfield ratio consists of a carbon to nitrogen to phosphorus
ratio of empirically 106:16:1 which is assumed to be constant. C:N:P ratios in phytoplankton are indicators for
studying seasonal variation of phytoplankton. My work
involves isolating the concentrations of carbon, nitrogen
and phosphorus in seawater to create a C:N:P ratio. The
objective of this study was to examine two questions: What
is the seasonal variation in C:N:P ratios? And, Are they
different from the standard Redfield ratio? To examine
these questions, I collected 34 samples from Newport
Beach Pier weekly for three months during winter. Particles were filtered from seawater to analyze the C:N:P ratio
in surrounding waters. Particulate phosphorus in the cells
is measured through a spectrometer, along with soluble
reactive phosphorus in seawater surrounding phytoplankton cells. Particulate organic nitrate is reduced from nitrate
to nitrite through a copper-cadmium column. The results
for the mean concentrations for particulate organic carbon
were 42.86 µmol/L, particulate organic nitrogen was 7.82
µmol/L and particulate organic phosphorus was 0.52
µmol/L. My ratios ranged from 66:09:01 to 150:19:01 with
a mean of 88.80:11.2:01. The average ratio mean was lower
than the Redfield ratio of 106:16:01. This study suggests
that water in the coastal regions of Southern California has
lower elemental nutrient ratios during the winter. Further
studies during other seasons will be necessary to conclude
whether seasonal variation influences the nutrient ratio.
Investigating Rhodiola rosea’s Mechanism of Action
Through Dietary Restriction and the Target of Rapamycin
Kevin Lee
Mentor: Mahtab Jafari
The root extract of Rhodiola rosea has been found to be a
promising anti-aging botanical, as it has been shown to
increase lifespan and improve health in adult Drosophila
melanogaster. However, its mechanism of action has yet to
be discovered and understood. Dietary restriction (DR) is
the most robust method for extending lifespan and improving health in model organisms. The target of rapamycin (TOR) complex has been strongly implicated in the
action of DR. This complex is involved in a multitude of
cellular processes and, in particular, transcriptional regulation incorporating inputs from cell stresses, growth factor
stimuli, and energy and nutrient states. As a result, we hy-
pothesize that R. rosea may also act to mimic DR, possibly
by perturbing the TOR pathway. We examined the action
of R. rosea in relation to dietary restriction by varying dietary yeast concentrations in the fly. In general, fly lifespan
increases as dietary yeast content decreases, and the action
of a compound that mimics DR is minimized as dietary
yeast content decreases. Inhibition of TOR also decreases
sugar and fat levels in the fly. We found that R. rosea extends lifespan independently from dietary yeast content,
extends lifespan when TOR is inhibited, and has no effect
on fly sugar and fat content. These results suggest that R.
rosea acts by a mechanism independent from that of DR
and TOR.
Trakinas
Jaque Lenhard
Mentor: Lisa Naugle
This piece is in homage to Mariana Piardi, who was called
Trakinas by some of her select friends. After her death last
year, I began analyzing how fragile one’s life is. On a daily
basis, people seem to pass by their lives without realizing
how precious each moment and each day is, and often
tend to take their lives for granted. This piece deals with
my own analysis of how to make each moment special, and
how to interact with each other in order to fully understand the meaning of friendship. I also explored the concept of picking out, in the sense of picking our own path,
making our own decisions, and standing strong in our position towards what we decide to pick and choose in our
lives. During my research in Spain last summer, I was able
to clearly understand some of my personal choices, and
how they related to my expressiveness towards others. I
also took the opportunity of sharing special moments with
as many people as possible, living each day to the fullest
and never just merely getting by, because we never know
when will be the day that we might make the wrong decision, and end up compromising something as precious as
our own lives.
The Influence of Gender Perceptions on Latina
Ethnic Identity Development
Denise Leon
Mentor: Maria Estela Zarate
Today, the face of college campuses is changing as recent
studies by the Pew Hispanic Center indicate a twenty-four
percent Hispanic college enrollment spike from 2009 to
2010. Furthermore, Latinas outnumber Latinos in higher
education by more than half, as estimates of fifty-seven
percent of Latino/a college students are female. Despite
the growing number of Latinas on college campuses, Latinas do not see their identity reflected among academia.
The purpose of this project is to understand the factors
that influence freshmen Latina students’ self identification
and how this self reported identity develops over their
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years in college. This study focuses on the process of identity development as well as the intersecting factors of gender and ethnicity. The identities of Latinas may consist of
combinations of new gender roles as well as traditional
cultural roles passed down from their families. Little research specializes in understanding the influences of Latina
ethnic identity development and more is needed to understand how Latina undergraduates perceive themselves, in
order to help college institutions create a better environment reflective of Latinas in college. A cross-sectional
study is used to examine the identification process of ten
Latina undergraduates who are either in their first, fourth
or fifth year of college. Latina students reported more
positive views towards feminism. Many also perceived
gender stereotypes in relation to their identity as Latinas,
for instance to fulfill their role in the home and college was
seen as a way to breakthrough from these stereotypes.
Using EEG Recordings of Covert Shifts of Spatial
Attention to Signal Intended Direction
Alvin Li
Mentor: Michael D’Zmura
The goal of this study is to investigate the electroencephalographic (EEG) dynamics of sustained covert spatial attention. Covert shifts of spatial attention are those that are
made in the absence of overt movements of the eyes, head,
or body. Prior work shows that paying attention to something one is not looking at directly can be used to signal
intended direction in a single dimension. We recorded
EEG from subjects as they directed and held attention in
one of nine directions varying in both left-right and updown dimensions for 750ms. We found significant (p <
.005) differences in mean voltage and in the energy found
canonical frequency bands over central-left parietal electrodes at 355–371ms and 543–551ms after attention shift
for up vs. down and left vs. right respectively. Results suggest that EEG can be used to determine the direction in
which a person is attending covertly.
Effect of Genetic Amyloid Beta augmentation on
Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology in Mouse Model of
AD
Lisa Leung
Mentors: David Cribbs, Vitaly Vasilevko
Abeta accumulates in the brain in the form of amyloid
plaques, which is a major feature of Alzheimer’s pathology.
Previous studies have suggested that the accumulation and
aggregation of Abeta peptides lead to detrimental effects in
diseased brains including inflammation, neurofibrillar tangles, and neuronal loss. The effect of genetic addition of
familial Dutch and Iowa mutations of amyloid beta to mice
already expressing human Abeta and tau proteins on amyloid pathology and inflammatory status in animal models
of Alzheimer’s Disease was analyzed. Connections between amyloid beta load and inflammation in the pathology of Alzheimer’s type were established. Amyloid
precursor protein (APP) transgenic (Tg) named
APP/TgSwDI and triple transgenic mice (3xTg) were
crossed and resulting offspring were aged to 26 months.
Mouse brain tissue was analyzed for amyloid plaque load,
microglial and astrocytes activation markers using immunohistochemistry and followed by Image J analysis. APP
concentration and glial activation status were determined
by Western blots. Based on our immunohistochemical
data, we found that amyloid plaque load and glial activation
increased in 3xTgxDI mice compared with DI or 3xTg
controls. The Western blots analysis showed increased
levels of APP and astrocyte activation marker as well. As
we expected, genetic amyloid beta augmentation in mouse
models of AD slightly increased amyloid plaque load and
inflammatory processes in genetically double crossed mice.
The increase in pathology was additive of the pathologies
coming from these two mouse models. Amyloid beta genetic augmentation proportionally increases inflammatory
processes in the AD mouse model.
Performance Profiler for Tilera Bare Metal
Environment
Michael Li
Mentor: Brian Demsky
This project programmed a performance profiler for the
Tilera Bare Metal Environment (BME) to assess the performance of parallel garbage collection on the Tilera
TILEPro64 chip. The BME is a hypervisor for running
performance sensitive or custom OS code. The profiler
was programmed primarily with C tailored to Tilera’s
BME. The profiler has the ability to track four separate
measurements simultaneously per chip, such as cache hits
and general memory accesses.
Engineering Superhydrophobic Surfaces via Tunable
Parameters to Increase Air-Trapping Condition
Jessica Lim
Mentor: Michelle Khine
Superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces, surfaces that exhibit extreme water repellency, have many interesting and useful
applications due to self-cleaning and non-stick properties.
These surfaces display contact angle (CA), the angle between the solid surface and liquid/vapor interface, greater
than 150˚. The wettability of a surface is affected by its
chemical composition and geometrical structure. Current
methods used to generate SH surfaces produce heterogeneous surface structures and often require chemical surface
modifications (CMS) that degrade over time. We present a
method for tuning the geometrical surface structure to increase hydrophobicity without CMS. Important geometrical parameters, such as the feature’s diameter, spacing, and
height, are photolithographically patterned and oxygen
plasma etched into polyolefin (PO) film. PO is a shape
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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memory polymer that shrinks by 95% its original surface
area, enabling an increase in the aspect ratio of the patterned surface structures. This creates smaller feature sizes
with taller pillars. After the PO film is patterned, it is
shrunk and molded in polydimethylsiloxane, where its water CA measurements are taken to determine the hydrophobiticity. We hypothesize that SH surfaces can be
optimized from tuning the previously mentioned geometric parameters. Preliminary data shows that decreasing feature diameter results in a more hydrophobic surface. We
are able to fabricate homogeneous SH surfaces across the
entire surface. Further research into optimal aspect ratios
of surface structures is required to make more robust and
increasingly hydrophobic surfaces. However, these initial
findings present a potential application as a surface coating
for medical implants, microfluidic devices, vehicle coatings,
etc.
The Psychosociocultural Analysis on Undocumented
Latina/o Students’ Academic Persistence
Estefania Lopez
Mentor: Jeanett Castellanos
Undocumented university students present a unique and
exceptional sub-sample of the larger population of undocumented youth because of the extraordinary challenges
they face in pursuing higher education. These unique educational challenges exist in the midst of the additional
stigma of having an undocumented status. While a sizeable
amount of the extant literature details undocumented students’ navigational experiences through societal barriers,
prejudice, and drawbacks, very little research exists on undocumented youths’ internalization of their stigmatizedundocumented identity and this identity’s impact on academic persistence. This study examines the psychosociocultural factors that contribute to academic persistence
among undocumented students in higher education. Particularly, this study considers the psychological concerns,
social support systems, and cultural factors of undocumented students’ experiences in postsecondary institutions.
Using a qualitative design, the researcher conducted ten
semi-structured interviews with AB540 students between
the ages of 18–25. Data collection for this study is ongoing. Preliminary findings suggest that the most prevalent
psychological concerns involve financial constraints and
apprehension for future job placement, the strongest social
support is granted by family and friends, and culture has a
strong bearing on how AB 540 students experience the
university environment. Findings can lead to policy development and/or change, which could potentially help facilitate undocumented student persistence in higher
education.
Hmong Social Organization
Bao Lor
Mentor: John Liu
Previous research indicates that the Hmong are a homogenous community based on the fact that they share a common culture. However, not much research has been
conducted on the social organization of clans and subclans
that creates a division among the “homogenous community.” The ideology of clans and subclans is important to
the Hmong social organization because they determine
how a community functions together. The goal of this
study is to understand the differences within the Hmong
community in California by studying its social structure
and ability to maintain its clans and subclans. In order to
understand the Hmong social organization, interviews
have been conducted with Hmong of the first generation,
1.5 generation, and second generation living in America.
While Hmong individuals in Santa Ana, California showed
more commitment at the clan level, individuals in Sacramento, California demonstrated a stronger bond at the
subclan level. This is due to the fact that Santa Ana has a
smaller Hmong community than Sacramento, limiting their
ability to have established subclans. This is important because it shows that, depending on the size of a Hmong
community, the clan and subclan become essential for the
people at different levels. These results provide strong evidence that Hmong social organizations depend upon the
context in which they operate, like the size of their community.
International Legal Regimes on Intellectual Property
and Biodiversity
Scott Lorenzen
Mentor: Anthony Smith
Biodiversity conservation is being increasingly threatened
by the globalization of Western intellectual property rights,
which have been expanded to stimulate private sector investment in agriculture and other areas of biotechnology.
This paper links a string of U.S. Supreme Court cases
granting firms the right to patent various forms of life, to
multi-national agribusiness firms that were instrumental in
shaping the TRIPS agreement, to the impact of those
rights on biodiversity. Many biotechnology patents are
granted for seeds engineered to increase crop yields
through the mechanism of recombinant DNA. The introduction of novel life forms into ecosystems is detrimental
to biodiversity; genetic material can escape cultivation,
change habitat dynamics and reduce the number of plant
and animal species in those environments. However, multinational agribusiness firms have enormous economic interest in securing global markets for their genetically
modified seeds. While intensive farming has had significant
negative impacts on the environment, international laws
governing biodiversity conservation do not approach the
 Nineteenth Annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium  
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Gα15. The stably transfected cells were then selected for
after treatment in medium that contained zeocin and Geneticin. The stable clones are selected based on their efficacy and potency to the dopamine treatment. The
preliminary screenings have been established and the D1
and D2 stable cell lines have been successfully created.
Tests have been done with fractions of traditional Chinese
medicine that resulted in potential agonists and antagonists
to the D1 and D2 receptors. Future experiments must be
carried out in order to identify the specific chemical(s) responsible for the activation or inactivation of the dopamine receptors.
comprehensive protections granted for private firms in
defense of their creations. The main findings of this paper
demonstrate how IPRs are being used at the expense of
the environment and the developing world, and why regulatory policies favoring biodiversity should be used to
weaken property rights like those in TRIPS.
Tumor Cell Migration in 3D Collagen Matrix
Becky Lu
Mentor: Michelle Digman
In cancer metastasis, tumor cells enter the blood stream
and later exit the blood stream to foreign tissue where they
grow and proliferate in the process of extravasation. The
ability of cells to migrate within the extracellular matrix
and reorganize collagen structures as it exits the blood
stream depends on its cellular property and the properties
of the matrix. Since primary tumors are three-dimensional,
extravasation is difficult to study but with Multiphoton
Microscopy we can begin to understand how invasive tumor cells migrate. In this present study, breast cancer cells
and Chinese hamster ovarian cells (MB231 paxillan- eGFP,
CHO K-1 alpha-5 integrin) grow in collagen gel which
represents the microenvironment of living tissue. I transfected the cells with fluorescent tagged proteins and analyzed the cell’s focal adhesion using Multiphoton
Microscopy (MPM) as an imaging technique to characterize its migration in the collagen gel of specific stiffness.
Results show through varying collagen concentrations that
collagen fibers should be of a certain diameter to allow the
cell’s sensors to grasp to thick fibers and to adhere to the
plate. Such results allow for better understanding of tumor
cell dynamics in living tissue.
Perfecting the Art of Transportation: Urban Structure
within Los Angeles Film
Kimberly Lucas
Mentor: Julia Lupton
Urbanism is a school of thought generally associated with
the Social Sciences or Engineering. Yet, a city’s urban
structure and design is incredibly influential on the narratives it creates. In Los Angeles, the urban structure, which
is defined by its roads and freeways, is more than images
and motifs within LA films, but becomes an integral part
of how the film is constructed. To begin, we look at a variety of LA films, which all use the freeway as a metaphor of
the city itself, a device through which the city communicates itself to its audience. Then, we see that how the different interpretations of Los Angeles roads as either public
or private space heavily influences the outcome of
noir/neo-noir film, making it dark and cynical in Chinatown,
or family friendly in Roger Rabbit. Lastly, we see how the
postmodern structure the roads and freeways create in Los
Angeles is recreated in the structure of the film Crash. Not
only does the film mimic the structure of the city, but it
depicts how the city uses its roads and freeways to push its
inhabitants together, forcing on them the interactions they
miss by not living in a modern, centralized city. The urban
structure of Los Angeles is not only a central part of the
films which take place in its city limits, but influences the
quality of its inhabitants’ lives.
Identification of Potential Agonists and Antagonists
for Dopamine Receptors Using Traditional Chinese
Medicines
Tracy Lu
Mentors: Olivier Civelli, Zhiwei Wang
Dopamine receptors are G-protein coupled receptors
(GPCRs), a large and diverse class of the transmembrane
proteins that upon activation exert transduction pathways
and cellular responses. Dopamine receptors are subcategorized into D1-like receptors and D2-like receptors, which
activate or inhibit a second messenger cascade through the
GPCR, such as cAMP. There have been several D1-like
receptor agonists that are being used to treat hypertension.
The D2 gene has been shown to be involved in schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder, movement disorders
and migraine. The objective of this study is to make stable
cell lines, which can be used in the FLIPR (Fluorometric
Image Plate Reader) to screen for agonists and antagonists
of the dopamine receptors. The D1 and D2 receptors were
cloned into plasmids with pcDNA3.1/zeocin vectors to
generate stable cell lines in HEK293 cells together with
The Effects of Diet on Amylase Gene Expression
An Ly
Mentor: Donovan German
A common observation in nutritional physiology is that
herbivores have elevated activities of the starch-degrading
enzyme amylase in comparison to their carnivorous brethren. This has been observed in all taxa tested to date.
However, it remains unclear how herbivores achieve this
end: do they simply express a single amylase gene at high
levels, thus giving them more starch-degrading capacity
with many molecules of a single amylase isoform, or, do
they express multiple different amylase isoforms with different substrate affinities? The goal of this project is to
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compare the amylase genes being expressed in prickleback
fishes (family Stichaeidae) that have different diets, ranging
from strict carnivory, to omnivory, to strict herbivory.
Amylase genes were amplified from four prickleback species using specific primers, and were cloned into TOP10
chemically competent cells using a cloning kit. Sequencing
from the clones (in progress) suggests that there may be at
least four sequence variants in the herbivores, indicating
that they may be expressing multiple amylase genes, or at
least different splice variants. The significance of these
different variants will be explored in future projects.
Safavid Iran and the Rise of Religious Legitimacy in
Shi’i Islam
Arman Majidi
Mentors: Touraj Daryaee, Bojan Petrovic
The goal is to discuss the contributions made to the modern Iranian state by a tribal order that transformed into a
religiously legitimate governing body, whose fall created
the environment for religious leaders to become political,
thereby creating the foundation upon which the current
Iranian regime relies.
Progress Towards the Total Synthesis of (–)-Stenine
Victor Mak
Mentor: Kenneth Shea
(–)-Stenine is one of 139 alkaloids isolated from the Stemona family of plants that display biological activity. They
are used in East Asian countries as homeopathic remedies
for pertussis, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and other respiratory
ailments. The objective of this project is to complete the
most expedient synthesis of (–)-stenine to date, thereby
laying a framework for the synthesis of the remaining 20
members of the stenine group that contain the same pyrrolo[1,2-a]azepine core. The azepine-2-one core is synthesized diastereoselectively using the type 2 N-acylnitroso
intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction. Selective hydrogenation of the resulting cycloadduct followed by reductive N–
O bond cleavage and in situ pyrrolidine formation provides
an advanced tricyclic intermediate towards the total synthesis of (–)-stenine.
Translation Initiation Function in Self-Cleaving
Ribozymes
Mahyar Malekan
Mentor: Andrej Luptak
HDV-like self-cleaving ribozymes have been found to
serve various roles in the retrotransposon cycle, including
the promotion of translation initiation. To test the function
of ribozymes in translation, DNA plasmids are constructed
to contain the ribozyme sequence upstream of a luciferase
sequence. The luciferase is used as a reporter gene to determine whether the preceding ribozyme is able to initiate
translation. The ribozymes are tested both in vitro with rabbit reticulocyte lysate and in vivo by transfection into Droso-
phila S2 cells. After translation, luciferin is added to the
samples and the reactions are photographed with a light
sensitive camera. Luciferase catalyzes the oxidation of luciferin to produce light; thus, the amount of light produced
by each reaction is directly proportional to the amount of
luciferase produced by ribozyme-driven translation. Four
sequences were examined for translation activity: a type II
hammerhead ribozyme, a type III hammerhead ribozyme,
an HDV-like ribozyme found in an RTE retrotransposon
in the African mosquito Anopheles gambiae, and, as a negative control, a simple stem loop. The hammerhead ribozymes were not expected to drive translation; however,
a significant amount of luciferase was produced in these
reactions. The HDV-like ribozyme in A. gambie and stem
loop translation reactions produced very little light.
Super-Resolution Imaging Reveals Functional
Relationship between Inositol Trisphosphate
Receptors and Myosin IIA
Austin Mandoyan
Mentor: Ian Parker
The purpose of this study was to develop a greater understanding of the clustering of inositol trisphosphate receptors (IP3R) and the role that myosin IIA proteins play in
facilitating such clustering. N-butyl toluene sulfonamide
(BTS), an inhibitor of myosin-actin binding, was used to
study the relationship between IP3R and myosin. Using
calcium imaging and super-resolution imaging techniques
known as SCCaNR and STORM, myosin was shown to
have two distinct effects on IP3R. When the interaction
between myosin and IP3R was disrupted, the fluorescence
intensity of Ca2+ signals mediated by IP3Rs (puffs) was
significantly reduced, and IP3R clusters were more motile.
Thus, myosin IIA altered both IP3R cluster formation and
IP3R activity.
The Search to be Normal: Clinical, Pharmaceutical
and Social Influences on the Experience of one’s
Menstrual Cycle
Shadia Mansour
Mentor: Michael Montoya
The construction of a defined “Premenstrual Syndrome”
(PMS) and negative perceptions on menstruation have
pathologized changes experienced by women in relation to
their monthly menstrual cycle. Rather than noted “symptoms” or changes women experience being a mere indicator of the onset of one’s menses, they have been used as a
sign of an illness needing medical attention. As PMS is
classified as a medical condition in clinical and pharmaceutical settings negative views on menstruation have been
adopted. In turn, a woman may embody these perceptions.
A woman embodying these negative views may have a
negative effect on her menstrual cycle and changes that
may or may not take place. This study explores the ways in
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which the menstrual cycle is addressed in clinical, pharmaceutical and social domains and how these approaches influence a woman’s view of her cycle and changes
associated with it. Fifteen individual women were interviewed for approximately one hour. The interviews
showed that these three influences do have significant and
distinct impacts that have created a stigmatized culture
around menstruation. This culture consists of varying ideas
of a “normal” menstrual cycle by each of the three domains. Participants in the study compared themselves to
perceived “norms” which developed into negative views of
their cycle if it deviated from the norm.
Fuel Control Analysis for Ion Propulsion System on
UCISAT-II
Sean Marquez
Mentor: Benjamin Villac
UCISAT-II is a cube satellite project composed of an electric propulsion system, a cutting-edge feature proposed for
UCISAT-II, which plays an important role in changing the
attitude dynamics of the spacecraft. Design implementation for controlling a fuel line to the ion thrusters requires
analysis on the fluid dynamics of the fuel propellant as well
as an understanding of its overall contribution to thrust
force for a high voltage colloid thruster. Previous studies
that have implemented the use of colloid thrusters for attitude control for a small-scale satellite include JPL’s ST7
spacecraft, which consisted of a relatively high priced
piezo-transducing micro-valve and a compressible bellowed fuel tank for fuel control. For the purposes of an
undergraduate design project, it is of interest to design a
mechanism that emulates the same functionality but for an
affordable price. In this study, a fluid analysis for a steady,
incompressible, laminar flow through a straight circular
tube of constant cross section, also known as Poiseuille
flow, was assumed. Three different fuel controller design
systems were investigated. The resulting down selected
design consisted of a pinch valve mechanism that could be
accomplished using low outgassing Teflon tubing that
would interface with a 20-micron inner diameter capillary
tube and high torque micro-servo motors. Further study
would require the design and assembly of a custom vacuum chamber for actual hardware testing.
Analysis of the Compatibility and Stability of the
Electrolyte/Cathode Interface in LSGM-based SOFCs
Ali Mansouri
Mentor: Daniel Mumm
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) have been considered
among the most promising technologies for high efficiency, environmentally friendly energy generation in recent years. However their high operational temperatures
cause rapid degradation of the components. Much effort
has been put in attempting to lower the SOFC operational
temperature to an intermediate range (~600–800 °C) while
maintaining system performance. In this study the compatibility of the LSGM electrolyte material, which has a
higher ionic conductivity over intermediate temperature
ranges that conventional electrolytes, was tested with various cathode materials over extended periods of time. The
LSGM and cathode materials were synthesized using the
glycine-nitrate combustion process, and then pressed and
heated so that they were small flat pellets. These pellets
were subsequently fabricated into testing cells and put under similar conditions to an operating SOFC for various
periods of time and different temperatures, while conducting electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to determine
the ionic conductivity. X-ray diffraction tests of the samples were conducted both before and after testing conditions to observe the creation of potential new phases due
to diffusion. The samples were also studied using SEM and
TEM microscopy to determine the structure of new
phases. The results showed that cathode materials with
Pervoskite structure showed instability with the LSGM
electrolyte. Double Pervoskite cathode materials were also
studied as materials with higher activation energy for
cation diffusion. Subsequent research is planned to create a
diffusion boundary layer along the interface and see how
much the chemical potential is lowered.
Crosslinking Analysis by Site Directed Mutagenesis
on the Polyketide Synthase Product Template
Domain and Acyl Carrier Protein
Delsy Martinez
Mentor: Sheryl Tsai
Polyketide synthases (PKS) are multi-domain enzyme
complexes that synthesize natural polyketide products of
biological importance which can have anticancer and antibiotic properties. The Acyl-Carrier Protein (ACP) domain
tethers and channels biological intermediates throughout
the entire iterative biosynthetic cycle by relying on specific
protein-protein interactions. The Product Template (PT)
domain is responsible for aldol cyclization and aromatization of a polyketide in its active pocket site. The objective
of this study is to analyze selective crosslinking between
the PKS PT of Colletotrichum lagenarium (PKS 1) and PKS
ACP of Giberella fujikuroi (PKS 4). This will provide insight
into multi-domain interactions which will clarify how the
PT interacts with the ACP. We hypothesized that mutations of specific active site residues in the PT domain will
result in a loss of crosslinking. Site directed mutagenesis
was employed to determine which amino acid residues of
PKS 1 PT are essential for crosslinking and ACP domain
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recognition. Crosslinking assays were conducted for analysis of the mutants generated. As of right now only two
mutants, H274A and H274D have been shown to be unessential for crosslinking due to the fact that the crosslinking
of PT and ACP is still observed.
The Stereospecific Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling
of Protected 1,3-diols
Luisruben Martinez
Mentor: Elizabeth Jarvo
Polyketides are natural products of great importance in
medicine. Therapeutic agents such as cholesterol lowering
statins are based on the polyketide family. Many polyketides contain tertiary carbon stereocenters in a 1,3 relationship with an alcohol or functionalized oxygen.
Installation of this functionality is difficult because of a
limited number of efficient synthetic methods. This project
involves the construction of tertiary carbon stereocenters
using transition metal catalysis. A method has been developed to cross-couple alky Grignard with acetonideprotected 1,3-diols using nickel as a catalyst. A notable
feature of this reaction is that the starting material rather
than a chiral ligand determines the stereochemistry of the
product. The optimization and scope of this reaction will
be presented.
Effects of the Kinase Inhibitor DW12 on the
Phosphoproteome of BaF3 Cells Overexpressing
PIM-1 Kinase
Jacob Matson
Mentor: Paul Gershon
The goal of this project is to understand the effects of a
novel kinase inhibitor and potential anti cancer drug,
DW12 on the global phosphoproteome of cells overexpressing PIM-1 kinase. PIM-1 kinase is implicated in several cancers and potentially responsible for tumor
aggressiveness, increased metastasis, and chemotherapy
drug resistance. Protein from three groups of cells, control,
PIM-1 overexpression and PIM-1 with DW12 were digested to peptides and isotopically labeled for relative
quantitation, then mixed and subject to three forms of
phosphopeptide enrichment prior to mass spectrometry
analysis. The experiment successfully identified 5,215
unique phosphorylated peptides from 4,446 unique phosphorylated proteins containing 9,444 unique phosphorylation sites. Relative quantitation ratios show that DW12
decreased overall phosphorylation relative to the other cell
groups.
Relationship Between Parenting Styles and SelfEsteem in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Wah Wah Maung
Mentor: Timothy Wigal
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) are likely to have lower self-esteem than those
without ADHD. Parental discipline styles can be one of
the risk factors which contribute to self-esteem problems,
but there has been little research provided regarding family
discipline style and global self-worth in those with ADHD.
Data were collected from 96 ADHD and 48 Local Normative Controls (LNCG) at 24 months, 36 months, 6 years
and 12 years during the Multimodal Treatment Study of
children with ADHD (MTA) follow-up study. The Harter
self report was used to assess global self-worth and Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) was used to measure
parental discipline. It was predicted that appropriate discipline would increase children’s global self-worth as they
age. Results indicated a modest significant relationship at
6- and 12-year follow-ups suggesting that inconsistent discipline and patterns of global self-worth are related.
ADHD diagnosis, ethnicity, and age/time were all found
to have distinct self-esteem trajectories. Hispanics tended
to exhibit low self-esteem and parents are likely to use inconsistent discipline compared to Caucasians and other
ethnic groups.
Prioritizing World Principles: A Sectoral Analysis of
World Polity Ties
Aaron McCullough
Mentor: David Frank
Ties to the world polity—the network of states, transnational corporations, and international organizations—are
consequential for all kinds of outcomes, but these ties are
variably distributed. Beckfield finds that inequality in ties
across the entire spectrum of INGO (international nongovernmental organization) sectors remains high as a function of wealth, world-system position, and civilization type.
I expand upon Beckfield’s work by applying his analysis to
the following five INGO sectors: law, psychology,
women’s rights, environmental, and LGBT. Membership
data from the Yearbook of International Organizations were
collected on 14 organizations from the LGBT sector and
25 organizations from the other four sectors for the years
1965 through 2005. Using a random-effects panel regression model, I find that tertiary enrollment has a larger effect on INGO memberships than GDP per capita in all
sectors except the LGBT sector. In line with a conflictcentered model of world polity theory, this finding suggests that nation-states maintain their dominance in the
global arena by way of culture.
Proof in the Pictures: Understanding the Roles of
Visualization and Diagrams in Mathematical Practice
Through Diagrammatic Euclidean Geometry
Paul McEldowney
Mentor: Jeremy Heis
This project examines the extent to which diagrammatic
Euclidean geometry is refuted by historical objections that
diagrammatic inference is unreliable and unrigorous. Test-
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ing the claim that visualization plays a nonessential part of
mathematics, such an examination reveals epistemic and
methodological roles of visualization within mathematical
pedagogy and research. I argue that objections about reliability can be responded to by pointing out the communal
regulatory aspects that govern diagrammatic inference, and
by appealing to the structure of our visual system. With
respect to rigor, I argue that many of the objections regarding gaps in reasoning can be responded to through a
deeper examination of how diagrams behave as inferentially engaged components of a proof independent of the
text. While worries about gaps in reasoning make up only
part of diagrammatic geometry’s problem of rigor, the
practice’s lack of rigor does not entail a preclusion of its
practice. This can be seen by looking at the 17th-century
algebraization of geometry. Even if diagrammatic geometry
faced issues of rigor, mathematicians have historically responded to such issues by applying another mathematical
theory. However, such responses did not act as refutations,
but as attempts to improve the original practice. Using diagrammatic geometry as a base case, this project aims to
outline a way in which mathematicians should feel comfortable in incorporating visual methods in principle, even
if such methods are not entirely rigorous.
tion of the negative chronotropic responses from -11±5 to
-23±6 beats/min. Thus, EA at P5-6 decreases PBGevoked hypotension and bradycardia as well as the NAmb
PBG sensitive preganglionic cardiac vagal output through
opioid neurotransmitter systems.
Effects of Nutrient Stress on Cells Lacking the TSC2
Protein
Ryan McMonigle
Mentor: Aimee Edinger
Normal functioning cells cope with a lack of extracellular
nutrients by becoming quiescent and initiating autophagy.
However, cancerous cells have re-engineered themselves to
ignore regulatory checkpoints for growth, which causes
them to attempt to grow in the presence of inadequate
extracellular nutrients. Treating cancer by limiting cellular
access to extracellular nutrients, thereby allowing cancerous cells to essentially destroy themselves, is an area of
active research. The TOR kinase is an important driver of
growth that is activated in many cancer cells. Loss of the
negative regulator of TOR, TSC2, leads to a syndrome in
humans characterized by benign tumors. I hypothesized
that cells lacking the TSC2 protein would mimic cancer
cells and be more susceptible to nutrient stress than TSC2
wildtype cells. Surprisingly, TSC2-/- MEFs had a survival
advantage over TSC2+/+ MEFs in response to nutrient
stress. The insensitivity of TSC2-/- MEFs to nutrient
stress was accompanied by maintained TOR signaling in
contrast to the loss of TOR signaling in wildtype cells. One
response to nutrient deprivation is the up-regulation of
nutrient transporter proteins. TSC2-/- MEFs exhibited a
much larger increase in cell surface nutrient transporters in
response to nutrient stress than the TSC2+/+ MEFs.
TOR signaling was required for this up-regulation leading
to the conclusion that the survival advantage of TSC2-/MEFs is due to a hyperactivation of mTOR that allows
them to rapidly up-regulate surface nutrient transporters
when exposed to low nutrient conditions.
Modulation of Cardiopulmonary Depressor Reflex in
Nucleus Ambiguous by Electroacupuncture: Role of
Opioid Neural Pathways
Tyler McGlasson
Mentor: Stephanie Tjen-a-looi
We know that the stimulation of cardiopulmonary receptors with phenylbiguanide (PBG) yields a reflex depression
of both heart rate and blood pressure. This pathway is mediated by nucleus ambiguous (NAmb) in the medulla and
parasympathetic cardiac neurons of the brainstem. This
study investigated the neurotransmitter mechanisms that
are used during electroacupuncture (EA) on the PGB induced hypotension and bradycardia. We hypothesized that
one of the ways the stimulation of EA modulates the effect
of PBG is through opioid modulation in the NAmb. Anesthetized and ventilated cats were studied during repeated
stimulation with PBG or cardiac vagal afferents while low
frequency EA (2 Hz) was applied at P5-6 acupoints overlying the median nerve for 30 min and NAmb neuronal activity, heart rate and blood pressure were recorded.
Microinjection of kainic acid into the NAmb impaired the
PBG-induced depression of heart rate from -60±11 to 36±11 beats/min. Likewise, EA reduced the PBG-induced
depressor and bradycardia reflex by 52 and 61%, respectively. Cardiac vagal afferent-evoked preganglionic cellular
activity in the NAmb was reduced by EA for about 60
min. Blockade of opioid receptors using naloxone reversed
the EA-related modulation of the evoked cardiac vagal
activity by 73%. Similarly, naloxone reversed EA modula-
Recantation Across Abuse Types
Nancy Mendoza
Mentor: Jodi Quas
Much of what is known about children disclosures and
recantation of claims of child maltreatment has been
gleaned from studies examining sexual abuse. This study
has investigated patterns of recantation across three types
of abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, and exposure to
domestic violence. The study further analyzed differences
in recantation rates based on victim demographics (e.g. age,
gender) and case characteristics (e.g. presence of corroborative evidence). The sample included 112 case files of substantiated allegations of maltreatment, with alleged victims
ranging from four to nine years old. Results revealed
higher recantation rates in sexual abuse cases than in
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physical abuse or exposure to domestic violence cases.
There was no statistical significance found in regards to
recantation rates and case characteristics. It can be concluded that recants can occur in substantiated of abuse and
recants can be possible influenced by corroborative evidence and child demographics. These findings can be of
importance for social service workers and authorities in
understanding how victim claims occur and have implications for legal professionals charged with investigating maltreatment cases.
The Effects of Varying Oxygen Conditions on Tumor
Cell Behavior
Nicole Mendoza
Mentor: Steven George
Hypoxia is the oxygenation state that is below the physiological norm for a given tissue. Although previous studies
provide evidence that hypoxia plays a critical role in tumor
progression, efforts are still being made to create in vitro
models of hypoxia-induced tumor angiogenesis. Developing these models requires an in depth analysis of the effects of different oxygen concentrations on tumor cells.
The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of oxygen tension on human colon cancer cells in twodimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) cultures. It
was found that the tumor cell’s response varied depending
on incubation under conditions of physiological hyperoxic
(20% O2), physiological normoxic (5% O2), or physiological hypoxic (1% O2) conditions, and that this response was
additionally dependent on culture dimensionality. In both
2-D and 3-D systems, the tumor cells experienced the
same overall symptoms of distress, where cell proliferation
and viability decreased with decreasing oxygen levels. Interestingly, hypoxic tumor cells were found to have different migrating behaviors in 2-D compared to 3-D culture.
Numerous scratch assays on tumor cell monolayers demonstrate virtually no migration, while tumor cell spheroids
in a fibrin gel reveal noticeable migration, especially in response to hypoxia. This discrepancy suggests that studies
that attempt to model the tumor response to hypoxia in 2D environments, alone, are not adequate. The 3-D system
provides a more physiologically relevant environment that
may offer different, and more accurate, conclusions. The
results from this study will help set the groundwork for
creating an accurate in vitro model of hypoxia-induced tumor angiogenesis.
UCI’s Undergraduate Law Forum Journal: Patent
Protection for Dielectric Mirroring Technology
Heriberto Meza
Mentors: Sherilyn Sellgren, Caesar Sereseres
If a device or a process is found to be “fundamentally
similar” to a patented method, process or device, it may be
held liable for infringement under the doctrine of equiva-
lents. This project focuses on a specific form of ion beam
sputtering and dielectric mirroring technology. Careful examination of the technology and relevant case precedents
reveals that the U.S. Supreme Court may have applied the
doctrine of equivalents in a questionable manner.
Structure-Function Relationship of Mycocerosic Acid
Synthase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Nathan Mih
Mentor: Sheryl Tsai
Tuberculosis is a deadly disease, infecting about one-third
of the entire world. The highly contagious bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is responsible for this disease.
The main reason Mtb is such a difficult pathogen to fight
lies in the construction of its waxy cell envelope, which
allows Mtb to be resistant to many antibiotics and numerous other treatments, and also able to remain dormant in
humans for years until the immune system is compromised. Polyketide synthases (PKS) and fatty acid synthases
(FAS) are responsible for biosynthesizing many of the cell
wall components and it has been found that almost 10% of
Mtb’s genome encodes for these proteins. My research
focuses on crystallizing the structure of mycocerosic acid
synthase (MAS), a type I iterative PKS that synthesizes
mycocerosic acid which is a major component of the cell
wall. Discovering the structure of this protein will allow up
to better develop drugs to fight TB. We have currently
tested numerous crystallization methods and are in the
process of refining results. Using x-ray diffraction on a
refined crystal will then allow us to elucidate the structure
of MAS.
Centromeric Re-replication is a Potent Inducer of
Aneuploidy
Juan Miranda
Mentor: Joachim Li
Eukaryotic DNA replication is controlled by many mechanisms to prevent re-replication, and deregulation of said
mechanisms is known to lead to cell death. This lethality is
presumably due to genomic instability; however, direct
evidence supporting this hypothesis has not been shown.
We hypothesize that the re-replication of a centromere will
disrupt that chromosome’s mitotic segregation and generate aneuploidy. To test this we conditionally induced localized re-replication of CEN9, the centromere of
Chromosome 9 (Chr9). We followed the distribution of
the Chr9 during cell division using a color reporter that
indicates the number of Chr9 copies in the cell; cells with
no copies are white, one copy pink, and two or more copies red. After inducing transient re-replication of CEN9 we
plated individual cells and allowed them to grow into
whole colonies. Most cells properly distributed one copy of
Chr9 to each daughter cell (1:1 segregation) to generate
pink colonies, while missegregation of Chr9 to one daugh-
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ter cell and none to the other (2:0 missegregation) generate
red/white sectored colonies. Preliminary results show an
increase of 2.05% in white sectored colonies, indicative of
a chromosomal missegregation event. We confirmed that
the white portions of the sectored colonies had a lowered
copy number of Chr9 demonstrating that centromeric rereplication is a potent inducer of aneuploidy.
Cell Clustering Using Shape Context
Allison Mok
Mentors: Ernie Esser, Fredrick Park
Given a set of boundary points from a 2-D image, we consider a descriptor in which the shape context captures the
distribution of those points relative to each other. We have
applied the shape context descriptor to cancer cell images.
Using the shape context, we clustered a list of cancer cell
images into groups having similar shapes. To do this clustering, we used the K-means algorithm. Additionally, we
implemented a cell context descriptor by gathering information about the different intensity values. To do so, we
divided the cell into polar rectangles and, in each rectangle,
we measured the intensity by counting the number of
times the cell concentration hit a certain value. We kept
track of this with histograms which taken together was our
cell context descriptor. This applied concepts from
mathematics, computer science, and biology in helping
quantify early stage cancer cell images. For future work,
through this shape and cell context descriptor, we hope to
provide a method of distinguishing cancer cells by means
of digital image processing. Afterwards, we intend on
combining the contextual and shape information to help
further cluster the possible types of cancerous cell images.
Metabolite-Induced Change in Self-Scission of Ribozyme Found in F. prausnitzii
Roya Mirilavassani
Mentor: Andrej Luptak
Through the advent of structure based searches, many new
self-cleaving ribozymes have been discovered across multiple species though the function of most of these newly
discovered ribozymes is a mystery. One ribozyme, from
the anti-inflammatory commensal human gut bacterium
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, was discovered 106 nucleotides
upstream of the phosphoglucosamine mutase (GlmM) start
codon with an additional partial copy downstream, suggesting it may play a role in the regulation of GlmM expression. In other words, this ribozyme may also be a
riboswitch, a gene regulating RNA. The glucosamine-6phosphate activated ribozyme (glmS ribozyme), found in
bacteria, also doubles as a riboswitch by controlling gene
expression via self-cleavage in response to changes in concentration of either the substrate or product of the GlmM
protein, glucosamine-1-phospate and glucosamine-6phosphate respectively. We propose that the concentration
of one of these glucosamine phosphate isomers will affect
the cleavage rate of the F. prausnitzii ribozyme in a similar
fashion to that of the glmS ribozyme. The F. prausnitzii underwent cotranscriptional kinetics assays in order to test
the effect of the metabolite on kinetic rate. Preliminary
data suggests that the metabolite may slow cleavage rate,
but further experiments will need to be conducted before
in vivo studies can be done to confirm that this effect on
cleavage will facilitate regulation of the GlmM gene.
From Test Tube to Nursery: Micropropagation of
Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)
Mason Montoya
Mentor: Franz Hoffmann
Advances in plant tissue culture have provided a basis for
the successful in vitro micropropagation of many horticultural plant species, making them more widely available at a
lower price. Bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae) is a popular
ornamental plant whose natural mechanisms of propagation are too slow and low yielding to meet the current
commercial demands. Micropropagation would greatly
contribute to overcoming the limitations this species poses
to the horticultural and landscaping industry. However, the
feasibility of micropropagation was questioned for more
than 30 years due to Strelitzia's recalcitrance to tissue culture. We succeeded in overcoming the multiple obstacles
posed by this species and, after six years of work and several undergraduate research projects, can finally report the
establishment of mass-propagated plants under nursery
conditions. We used dissected embryos from seeds to successfully induce the formation of multiple shoots on a culture medium containing 0.2 mg/L of the synthetic plant
hormone thidiazuron (TDZ) as well as several measures to
reduce oxidative stress to the cultured tissues. However,
seeds are scarce and embryos genetically different from the
mother plant. Thus, the use of somatic tissue is more efficient and leads to true clonal propagation. We dissected
meristems from elite plants and, initially unsuccessfully,
tried to induce multiplication with traditional hormonal
Combinatorial Games: The Game of Chomp
Verenice Mojica
Mentor: Sarah Eichhorn
Previous research has demonstrated that the game of
Chomp has a winning strategy for the first player; however,
the construction of the strategy has not yet been found.
The purpose of this project is to attain possible patterns
that will help in the construction of the general winning
strategy for any board size. In order to attain these patterns, an adaptive learning program was developed which
provided the P-positions and opening winning moves of
the game. The patterns in the data allowed for the formation of two conjectures referred to as the Opening Winning Move Conjecture and Constant Row Value
Conjecture.
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treatments and culture techniques. The use of charcoalsupplemented medium and the surgical splitting of the
primary shoot led to the production of multiple clones
derived from vertically split shoot apices. This application
of meristem splitting has not been reported before.
Quantifying Dental Pulpal Vitality with Laser Speckle
Imaging
Cameron Moore
Mentor: Bernard Choi
With 1.4 million oral injuries per year, many dentists may
be performing unnecessary procedures because of the
varying degree of damage to the pulpal of teeth. The pulpal
of the tooth is a direct indicator of the overall health of the
tooth, and if enough damage is done then the potential for
a root canal is highly increased. The current “hot and cold”
test is commonly used to diagnose the health of teeth. This
is done when the dentist applies certain chemicals that create a hot and cold sensation, and then asks the patient how
their discomfort changes with varying the degree of the
“hot and cold.” With so many oral injuries per year, a more
reliable method that can be measured is needed to aid dentists in accurate diagnosis. Measurements of blood flow in
the pulp of the tooth are a more reliable indicator of the
health of the damaged tooth. Our preliminary data suggest
that use of non-invasive laser speckle imaging techniques;
provide quick and reliable measurements of blood flow in
the lab. To integrate laser speckle imaging into a clinical
tool, our approach is to evaluate the use of lower-cost,
commercially-available oral cameras to see if our laboratory
findings can be duplicated. We propose ultimately to develop a prototype laser speckle imaging system using an
oral camera, to enable dentists to diagnose injured teeth
without any discomfort.
Playing for Immunity: The Construction of the
Narrative on Survivor
Jeremy Moore
Mentor: Victoria Johnson
The question of what makes television “watchable” is
brought to the forefront in an exploration of how watershed reality television show Survivor creates an engaging
narrative each season without scripted characters and
events. To obtain these narratives, the producers of Survivor must carefully construct each element of their show to
appeal to a contemporary, widespread American audience.
The plot itself is contingent upon the show’s competition,
which references American capitalism and the fetishization
of the individual. The exotic settings reference the classic
natural and adventurous themes that have enjoyed timeless
success in literature, and the appropriation of tribalism
unknowingly reifies Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism.
The characters (contestants) are edited and presented
based entirely upon appealing to the audience, as evi-
denced by the season in which contestants were labeled as
good or evil based not on their actions in the game but by
modern conceptions of gender roles. These components
describe how Survivor should be viewed—not just as a television show but as a piece in the larger field of humanistic
inquiry, with concrete links to popular literature written
both before and after its debut. To reduce the show’s success to simple voyeurism would be an academic mistake.
Instead, the construction of a reality show that allows for
such engaging narratives must itself be studied to understand what constitutes a watchable program in contemporary America and, in turn, what that reflects about our
society.
Echo Park and Urban Cultural Identity: The Cultural
Politics of Urban Space in the Face of Gentrification
Christian Morales
Mentor: Samuel Gilmore
Gentrification in Echo Park has redefined the way residents identify themselves and the city. The transformation
of property values and neighborhood landmarks and
demographics are the most powerful contributors to the
reshaping of a city’s identity. The purpose of this research
is to explore the multiple dimensions of urban cultural
identity through the various perspectives of those who
have experienced the city’s changing identity from a primarily working class neighborhood to a center point for
emerging artists and musicians. Urban cultural identity is
defined by the values, attitudes, social processes, and
shared cultural understandings that are shaped by an informant’s resident status or association to Echo Park. This
study includes in-depth interviews with long-term residents
to frequent city visitors, as well as participant observations
from neighborhood council meetings and other community events. The results demonstrate that urban cultural
identity represents a continuum of insider-outsider distinctions. Longer-term residents’ urban cultural identity is ascribed by a variety of factors including neighborhood
approval, survival methods, socio-economic status, and
definitions of respect. Many of these constructs overlap
and vary, but they all represent the complexities of urban
development caused by neo-liberal housing and business
policies and resistance to urban transformation.
Increased Detection of Alcohol Consumption and AtRisk Drinking with Computerized Alcohol Screening
and Brief Intervention (CASI)
Felipe Moreno
Mentor: Shahram Lotfipour
The objective of this project is to assess the effectiveness
of alcohol screening using Computerized Alcohol Screening and brief Intervention (CASI) compared to alcohol
screening by triage nurse during Medical Screening Examination (MSE) in the ED. Retrospective review of the
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CASI/MSE database from January 2008 through December 2009, from a tertiary level I Trauma ED, was performed. Inclusion criteria included age ≥18, and
completion of both the MSE and CASI. We analyzed the
database by comparing age, gender, primary language
(English, Spanish), and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores using McNemar’s analysis. Data
was available for 5,835 patients. CASI showed a statistically
significant increase in detection of at-risk drinking over
MSE across all ages, gender, and primary language. MSE
found 2.5% at-risk drinkers while CASI found 11.5% at
risk drinkers (Odds ratio 8.88, 95%CI 6.89-11.61). Similar
results were found in 18 to 20 year-old patients. MSE identified 1.7% at-risk drinkers and CASI reported 15.94%
(Odds ratio 19.33, 95% CI 6.29-96.74). CASI increased
detection of at-risk alcohol drinkers compared with MSE
across all ages, gender, and primary language. CASI is a
promising innovative method for alcohol screening in the
ED for the adult population including under-aged drinkers.
study seeks to understand whether or not bedside ultrasound measurements are sufficient in diagnosing shoulder
dislocation through statistical comparisons with x-ray interpretations. Case reports in the emergency medicine literature have shown that US can be useful in demonstrating
adequate reduction of an acutely dislocated shoulder.
However, no studies to date have attempted to systemically
describe a standardized approach to US evaluation of the
acute shoulder injury in the Emergency Department (ED)
or delineate the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of US
in diagnosing acute shoulder dislocation. Over an elevenmonth period, 75 subjects were enrolled in a prospective
observational study. Patients visiting the ED with a complaint of shoulder pain who were scheduled for conventional x-ray also received US examinations. The
measurement between the humeral head and glenoid rim is
a positive value in a normal shoulder, and a negative value
in an anteriorly dislocated shoulder. Most patient examinations with positive x-ray interpretations of anterior shoulder dislocation also had a negative glenohumeral US
measurement. The US measurements of the glenohumeral
distances in these patients were compared to x-ray interpretations with 100% specificity and 85.7% sensitivity. The
study is limited by the limited number of positive anterior
dislocations; however, it suggests that US is an effective
alternative to x-ray interpretation in diagnosing anterior
shoulder dislocation.
Stress Reactivity and Depression in Early Pregnancy
Amber Morley
Mentor: Ilona Yim
For women, pregnancy can be a period of vulnerability to
depression. During pregnancy a woman’s biochemistry is
drastically altered in order to support the demands of the
growing fetus. Stress reactivity may enhance this vulnerability. A study addressing stress generation found that
women who were experiencing depressive symptoms had
an increase in sympathetic responsivity to behavioral stress.
No study to date has addressed the relationship between
stress reactivity and depression in pregnancy. This study
examined whether autonomic reactivity to a laboratory
stressor during early stages of pregnancy predicted concurrent and future depressive symptoms. Twenty-six women
in their second trimester of pregnancy were assessed using
alpha amylase— a non-invasive biomarker for the autonomic nervous system —as a marker for stress reactivity.
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Edinburgh
Postnatal Depression scale and the Epidemiologic Studies
Depression scale. Contrary to previous studies, stress reactivity was significantly associated with a decrease in future
depressive symptoms but not concurrent depressive symptoms. The results suggest a negative relationship between
stress reactivity and depression.
Effects of the Hudood Law upon Pakistan
Hassan Mukhlis
Mentor: Bojan Petrovic
My research centered on looking for comparisons within
the original Islamic law and the Hudood Ordinance. I
wanted to find the text the framers of the Hudood Ordinance used to develop the laws. My research first focused
on finding what specific sources of Sharia Hudood laws
came from. I found that, without a doubt, more than 90%
of the law came directly from religious texts. The similarities in punishment, conviction, evidence, and trail are all
on point and very similar to the original Islamic law. Next,
I looked at the outcomes of the Hudood Ordinance upon
the legislative, judicial, executive branches as well as the
society and culture in Pakistan. I concluded that the Hudood Ordnance had both a positive and negative impact
on Pakistan and its people.
Utility of Bedside Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of
Acute Shoulder Dislocation in the Emergency
Department
Emile Muallem
Mentor: John Christian Fox
Bedside Ultrasound (US) is an emerging point-of-care imaging modality that can potentially diagnose acute shoulder
dislocation without exposing patients to radiation. The
How Positive Writing Intervention Effects Test
Performance
Mana Naeim
Mentor: Joanne Zinger
This study aims to examine the effects of a positive form
of experimental disclosure on graduate school entrance
exam performance. Specifically, our goal is to discover
whether students who write about their best possible exam
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selves (i.e. a future in which they have done as well as possible on the exam and in which all of their academic and
career goals have been realized) will perform better compared to students in a control condition. A previous study
by Frattaroli, Thomas, and Lyubomirsky found that students who engaged in expressive writing (disclosing one’s
deepest thoughts and feelings about their exam) had improved test scores compared to a control group. Our study
aims to advance this knowledge further by replacing the
expressive writing group with a “best possible self” writing
group. Students preparing to take the LSAT, MCAT, or
PCAT were recruited both from UCI and the local community and were given either the control or the best possible self writing prompt nine days before their exams.
Preliminary analyses of test scores provided by the participants revealed that, on average, the control group (N = 37)
scored in the 58th percentile, whereas the best possible self
group (N =41) scored in the 59th percentile. Finally, possible mechanisms that could account for the effects of written disclosure on exam performance, such as test anxiety,
study habits, depressive symptoms, and working memory,
will also be discussed.
Question-Asking Behavior among Parents with
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and
Typically Developing Children
Karen Naguib
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Previous research examining mother-child verbal interactions found that mothers altered their question-asking behavior to meet child capabilities. One article examined
verbal interactions among fathers and children with autism
spectrum disorders (ASDs) but its conclusions are limited
by a small sample size. This study investigated: (1) types
and frequencies of questions asked by mothers compared
to fathers within families of children with ASDs and those
of neurotypical (NT) children, (2) types and frequencies of
questions asked by parents in the ASDs group compared
to the NT group, and (3) differences between parents’
question type and adequacy of child responses for both
groups. Thirty-five parents (19 ASD; 16 NT) participated
in 10-minute semi-structured playtimes. Two raters coded
for counts of Wh-questions (e.g., What is this?) and
Yes/No-questions (e.g., Are these apples?). Child responses
were coded as adequate or inadequate as defined by Curcio
and Paccia. Inter-rater reliability was excellent (intraclass
correlations>.95). Findings are: (1)Within-group analyses
demonstrated no significant differences between parents
for Wh- or Y/N-questions in either group. (2) Mothers of
children with ASDs asked marginally more Wh-questions
(t (23.277)=-1.997, p=.058) and significantly more
Yes/No-questions (t (32)=-2.059, p=.048) than mothers
with NT children. Fathers of children with ASDs asked
significantly more Y/N-questions (t(32)=-2.38, p=.03). (3)
Fathers of NT children elicited significantly more adequate
responses compared to mothers (t(15)=-.2.238, p=.041);
no significant associations were found in the ASD group.
Results have implications for interventions altering question-asking behaviors to enhance communication of children with ASDs.
The Effects of Parental Anxiety and Medication
Attitudes on the Use of Pain Medication in Pediatric
Cancer Patients
Vincent Reginald Narvaez
Mentor: Michelle Fortier
Parents of pediatric cancer patients experience uncertainty
with regards to cancer-related pain. Parental pain management at home is very important in managing the overall
symptoms of pediatric cancer patients. It is very important
to investigate the relationship between parental anxiety and
pain medication use. Studies have suggested that more
anxious parents tend to experience more symptoms of
acute stress compared to less anxious parents. Studies in
post-operative children have also found that parental attitudes can be a barrier in pain management. In this study, I
hypothesized that parents’ having more favorable attitudes
to medication administer more analgesics to their children.
I also hypothesized that increased levels of anxiety in parents lead to a greater use of analgesic medication in the
management of pediatric cancer pain. The study found that
parents who had fewer misconceptions about medication
avoidance (p = 0.09) and appropriate use (p = 0.03) administered more medication to their children. Parental attitudes regarding fear of side effects did not significantly
impact the administration of medication. In terms of anxiety, only child-trait anxiety showed a significant relationship with the administration of medication (p = 0.04). The
implications of this study may include parental counseling
and intervention by the healthcare providers on medication
administration. The healthcare providers must address
questions regarding how much medication, how often, and
what signs of pain to look for. This way, pediatric cancer
patients can be treated adequately and appropriately for
pain at home.
Understanding the Role of the United States
Government in Monitoring Economic Stability
Michelle Nelson
Mentor: Gary Richardson
Historically, the United States’ economy has gone through
a series of “booms” and “busts” wherein the rates of unemployment, consumer confidence and consumption fluctuate at high levels. For the past century in the United
States, Americans have looked to the government not only
to monitor economic policy, but also to intervene in the
event of a financial crisis. One of the most drastic interventions was the Great Depression, which began in 1929.
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My goal for this research was to determine the role of the
government during a financial crisis in congruence with
economic reform policies. In this study I examined the
time period leading up to, during, and following economic
downturn in order to determine the most effective method
to stimulate the economy as measured by the financial
health of New York banks in the given time period based
on their balance sheets. By analyzing banking statements in
relation to public policies for both time periods, I was able
to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the government’s intervention. Because the United States goes
through periods of economic fluctuations, it is essential
that policymakers understand both past and current reforms in order to maintain a stable financial system. This
study shows the most effective reform policies following a
strong shift in consumer behavior.
Francisco versus Rural Visalia). Banking data from the
years 1931, 1932, 1933, and 1934 (for the Bank of America
National Trade of savings association consolidation in
both Visalia and San Francisco) were for changes in the
following: paid-up capital, surplus & profits, deposits,
loans and discounts, bonds and securities, and other liquid
assets and liabilities in banks. Further research was also
done on the Great Depression in California as a whole to
contextualize data. After analyzing my hypothesis and the
percentage change in capital flow within the two respective
banks, it was found that my null hypothesis had been rejected. The change in capital in rural areas was less than
that of metropolitan areas; showing that metropolitan areas
suffered more during the Great Depression. In conclusion,
rural areas suffered less than metropolitan areas, and had
lower changes in capital flow and assets. Also, rural areas
suffered fewer bank closures.
Role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism
Spectrum Disorders
Zahra Nematinejad
Mentor: Pinar Coskun
In recent years, several lines of evidence have suggested
the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the etiology of
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Some reports have
linked mitochondrial dysfunction and altered metabolism
to social and cognitive deficits in Autism. Limited scientific
advances, however, have been made towards the causes of
the idiopathic ASD cases. This study hypothesizes that
mitochondrial dysfunction might orchestrate the functional
and clinical features characteristic of ASD. We used idiopathic ASD cell lines and age-matched controls, with n=6,
and n=3 for ASD and control, respectively. We ran several
assays to characterize mitochondrial efficiency in these cell
lines. Net endogenous ATP levels, cellular viability via
MTT assay, apoptotic threshold as a function of Caspase-3
and -7 activity, and metabolic profile via XF seahorse assay
of these cells lines were measured, plotted and evaluated.
Overall, ASD cell lines exhibited lower viability and lower
apoptotic threshold versus control lines. These cell lines
also presented with altered ATP production and defective
metabolic profile.
U.S. Foreign Relations in a Post-Cold War World:
Cuba and Vietnam
Andrew Nguyen
Mentor: Wayne Sandholtz
With the Cold War over, U.S. foreign policy is no longer
framed within a bipolar world, the “us versus them” mentality. With the threat of a communist superpower gone,
the United States does not have to oppose communism
vigorously across the globe. In fact, the U.S. has extensive
foreign relations with states that are still dominated by
communist regimes but are not world powers. Most of the
current literature focuses on U.S. relations with other great
powers, but tends to ignore relations with lesser powers.
My goal is to understand the rationale of U.S. foreign policy with small communist states. This paper examines U.S.
relations with Cuba and Vietnam from 1990 to the present.
Any contact between the U.S. and these two states was
considered, with emphasis on bilateral agreements and U.S.
law and policy. Cuban relations revolve around heavy economic sanctions while Vietnamese relations have been
productive and focused on increased economic ties since
the country switched to capitalism in the early 1990s. U.S.
foreign policy seems to be guided by economic interests.
The evidence shows that when the U.S. decides to engage
with another state, they primarily and extensively cooperate
on economic issues while downplaying the importance of
other issues, such as human rights. If the other state does
not have an economic interest for the United States, the
U.S. will not actively engage in positive relations, leaving
the other state open to either neutrality or antagonism.
Bank Morbidity in Rural vs. Cosmopolitan Areas
during the Great Depression
Stella Ng
Mentor: Gary Richardson
In 1933, the United States Congress and Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the Emergency Banking Relief act to remedy
the chaos and uncertainty of the Great Depression. This
act would go on to change the way banking was handled in
the United States, from capital flow to loan regulation. In
order to explore the changes in regulation in a more concentrated state, the focus of this study is in the state of
California, and its differing regions (Metropolitan San
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The mTOR Inhibitor INK128 and the HDAC
Inhibitor Vorinostat Synergistically Induce Apoptotic
Death in SUP-B15 Leukemia Cells
Duc Nguyen
Mentor: David Fruman
Increased signaling through the PI3K-mTOR-AKT pathway, involved in diverse cellular processes such as growth,
survival, and proliferation, characterizes many cancers.
Multiple proteins within the pathway have been identified
as druggable targets but the promise of initial inhibitors
has been mitigated by compensatory mechanisms that confer resistance. In this study, we investigate the efficacy of
combinatorial drug treatment of INK128, an active site
mTOR inhibitor (asTORi), and Vorinostat, an HDAC inhibitor which relieves transcriptional repression of many
genes including mediators of apoptosis, or programmed
cell death. The leukemia cell line SUP-B15 was incubated
with varying concentrations of INK, Vorinostat, or combination treatment at 24, 48, and 72 hours. Cell viability
was determined by 7AAD, which binds to exposed DNA
of cells with compromised membranes. Apoptosis was
assessed by Annexin V, which binds to phosphatidylserine
exposed on the surface of apoptotic cells, and by caspase
activity. Fluorescently labeled cells were quantitated by
flow cytometry. Our results indicate a synergistic effect of
combination treatment in inducing death when compared
to single agent treatment. Increased Annexin V staining
and caspase activity signify that this form of death was
apoptosis. Overall, our results suggest that disruption of
PI3K-mTOR-AKT signalling and presumed abrogation of
compensatory resistance mechanisms can lead to effective
cancer therapy.
A Novel Microfluidic Device for Point-of-Care PCR
Analysis in a Portable Diagnostic Unit
Eric Nguyen
Mentor: Abraham Lee
Current methods of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) are
restricted to being performed in a lab due to bulky and
non-portable devices such as thermocyclers. This poses a
problem for medical diagnosis because in remote regions
such as in developing countries, patient samples need to be
delivered to a laboratory for analysis and the diagnosis
submitted back to the doctors and medical personnel in
that remote region. This process can be expensive and
there is lag time between when a sample of the patient is
obtained and when the results return. This project aims to
produce a low cost portable device capable of performing
PCR in less than fifteen minutes with no dependence on
external pumps, power supplies, or analytical tools. The
device will accomplish sample preparation, DNA amplification, and optical analysis internally with no specialized
user training required. This will be done by creating a Labon-a-chip (LOC) that will pump the sample through a re-
gion of hot and warm to break up and polymerize the
DNA, the thermocycling process. The sample will be
pumped through the microfluidic channels via LCATs.
The project will be broken up into four stages and this
summer will focus on the stage that incorporates the thermocycler and the LCATs. We are very optimistic about
this project and expect exceptional results for this project
over the summer.
Study
of
the
Mechanism
of
Alkenyl
Alkenethiosulfinates formation from Alkenesulfenic
Acids
Evelyn Nguyen
Mentor: Fillmore Freeman
A computational chemistry study of the formation of thiosulfinates from alkenesulfenic acids (R-S-O-H) found in
garlic was done in this research. The calculations were carried out using CCSD(T) and QCISD(T) with the cc-pVDZ
basis set and also using the hybrid density functionals
B3LYP, B3PW91, and PBE1PBE with the 6-311+G(d,p)
basis set. Potential energy profile diagrams were used at the
B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory to locate the lowest
energy conformers of the sulfenic acids and thiosulfinates
which were used to calculation activation energies, atomic
charges, relative energies, frequencies, bond lengths bond
angles, dipole moments, HOMOs, LUMOs, and vibrational spectra of the reactants, transition states and products in the reactions. The transformation of sulfenic acids
to thiosulfinates goes through a dehydrative cyclocondensation mechanism, which proceeds through a cyclic hydrogen-bonded five-center transition state. The effects of
substituents on the sulfenic acids on the activation barriers
were also determined.
The Quantitative Differences of Gray Matter
Concentration in Healthy Brains due to Gender and
Aging
Helen Nguyen
Mentor: Frithjof Kruggel
Until recently, brain structures could only be quantified
post-mortem. Now, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is
used to reveal detailed human brain anatomy during a lifetime. We analyzed a large MRI database to find quantitative differences in brain structures due to gender and
changes that occur with healthy aging. The results of our
study can be used as normative data to assess the amount
of pathological changes due to brain diseases (e.g., cerebral
infarction) or due to pathological aging (e.g., Alzheimer’s
disease). High resolution T1-weighted MR images were
acquired in 502 healthy subjects (age 18–70, 248 females
and 254 males). Images were corrected for intensity inhomogeneities. The intracranial compartment was cut out
and segmented into the major compartments gray and
white matter and cerebrospinal fluid. Each brain was sepa-
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rated into 116 regions-of-interest based on the Anatomical
Automatic Labeling (AAL) template. Gray matter (GM)
concentrations in all regions of all subjects were calculated.
Gender-related differences and age-related changes were
determined using linear regression. Highly significant results were found in 16 regions in which the GM concentration differed up to 4% between genders. A highly
significant loss of GM concentration with age was found in
72 regions at a rate up to 0.4% per year.
effects against cancer cells but produce none or fewer cardiovascular and cerebral vascular side effects. Based on this
rationale, we tested the effects of 55 Coxib analogues on
the growth of two prostate cancer cell lines: PC3 that was
derived from a bone-metastasis prostate cancer specimen
and DU145 that was derived from a brain-metastasis prostate cancer specimen. Our testing consisted of two parts.
Firstly, potent Coxib analogues were isolated through
MTT assays that revealed cell viability. Secondly, compounds with IC50s (concentration with 50% cell viability
inhibition) less than 50 μM were labeled as potent and analyzed further via flow cytometry and Western blot for
regulatory proteins. Results indicate that one analogue,
Coxib L-DJ, demonstrated consistent potency with an IC50
approximately 6 times lower than the IC50 of the original
Coxib for both cell lines (15 μM and 30 μM vs. 200+ μM).
In addition, flow cytometry and Western blot suggest that
Coxib L-DJ specifically induces apoptosis in PC3 cells and
G1 arrest in DU145 cells, possibly through Wnt-signaling
or mTOR pathway. Therefore, Coxib L-DJ may have targeted anti-cancer effects against different prostate cancer
metastasis and deserves further study to fully elucidate the
mechanism of its action, any potential risks, and its in vivo
anti-tumor efficacy in animal models.
Internalization of CD98 in Sup-B15 Cells
Jannett Nguyen
Mentor: Aimee Edinger
Sup-B15 cells are a line of human leukemia cells; more
specifically, they are B-cell lymphoblasts, immature cells
that are destined to differentiate into mature lymphocytes.
In previous studies, the Edinger Lab has shown that
FTY720, a sphingolipid-based drug, selectively kills cancer
cells by down-regulating their nutrient transporters, causing cancer cell starvation. The goal of my project is to determine if CD98, a glycoprotein that forms amino acid
transporters on the cell surface, is internalized upon treatment with FTY720. To study the internalization of CD98,
a 4f2 stain was performed and the data was gathered using
flow cytometry. Sup-B15 cells were first labeled with a
primary antibody and then incubated in a 5uM FTY720
solution for different amounts of time. A secondary antibody stain was used to determine the amount of surface
CD98 remaining after the treatment. The results show that
with 5uM FTY720 treatment, about 60% of surface CD98
is internalized after an hour of treatment. Additionally,
further results show that CD98 is internalized into a recycling endosome upon FTY720 treatment and that a washout of FTY720 will cause CD98 to be recycled back to the
cell surface. These results help elucidate the mechanisms
through which FTY720 down-regulates nutrient transporters.
Palladium-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Zincke
Aldehydes
Lucas Nguyen
Mentor: Chris Vanderwal
Though it has been known for nearly a century, the Zincke
reaction and its utility were recently demonstrated in the
synthesis of several natural products with its ability to
quickly generate molecular complexity and to form pyridine derivatives. Thus, this project explores the previously
unstudied reactivity of Zincke aldehydes in palladiumcatalyzed cross-coupling reactions, helping not only to accelerate the application of Zincke aldehyde in organic synthesis, but also synthesize currently unavailable pyridines.
The development of this reaction required systematic arrays screening precatalysts, coupling partners, bases, temperature, etc. to identify the optimal conditions to facilitate
the Heck reaction. Extensive investigation demonstrated
good regioselectivity, but with only moderate yields,
thereby limiting synthetic viability. However, this work still
presents an efficient route toward functionalized pyridines.
Recent forays attempt to pursue alternatives, including the
Heck-equivalent Negishi reaction involving organozinc
intermediates from the zincation of Zincke aldehydes.
The Anti-Proliferative Effects of a Novel
Cyclooxygenase Inhibitor Analogue on Prostate
Cancer Cells
Linda Nguyen
Mentor: Xiaolin Zi
Coxib, an FDA approved cyclooxygenase-inhibitory analgesic, has been demonstrated as a lead compound for its
anti-proliferative effect against many cancers, including
prostate cancer. However, there have been concerns that
the clinically relevant dose and duration of Coxib required
to produce notable anticancer effects significantly increases
the risk of heart attack and stroke through extensive COX
inhibition. However, Coxib’s anti-proliferative effect was
shown to be both independent and dependent of its COX
inhibitory activity. Therefore, it is possible to design novel
Coxib analogues that have more potent anti-proliferative
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Elucidating the Novel Priming Mechanism by the
Enzyme AuaEII in Aurachin D Biosynthesis
My Chi Nguyen
Mentor: Sheryl Tsai
Polyketide biosynthesis is usually initiated by incorporating
acetate starter units. The biosynthetic pathway of Aurachins is unique in that it involves a novel non-acetate
priming strategy. Previous research has revealed that activation of these unconventional starter units are done by a
protein called AuaEII. Here, we report the preliminary
expression, purification, and crystallization of AuaEII. We
are in the process of obtaining new DNA constructs that
will give proteins that are more amenable to crystallization.
Solving the crystal structure of AuaEII would allow us to
observe its specificity for the non-acetate starter unit, anthranoyl-CoA, and give us insight into how the enzyme
functions.
The Role of Extracellular Matrix in Regulating BoneMarrow Derived Macrophage Phenotype
Phoebe Nguyen
Mentor: Wendy Liu
Macrophage cells are the key mediators of chronic response to biomaterial implants, recurrent inflammatory
diseases, and wound healing processes. Macrophage cells
display remarkable plasticity and polarize towards two distinctive phenotypes upon exposure to different stimuli.
Pro-inflammatory, or classically-activated (CA or M1)
macrophages are characterized by a high level of cell
spreading, expression of nitric oxide synthase, and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Conversely, alternatively-activated (AA or M2) macrophages are characterized
by a high degree of cell elongation, expression of arginase,
and secretion of pro-healing cytokines. While the role of
soluble mediators in macrophage polarization has been
well documented, the role of insoluble environment is not
well understood. Here, we investigate the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) on bone-marrow derived macrophage (BMDM) polarization by examining the effects of:
(1) various ECM proteins including fibronectin, collagen,
and Matrigel, (2) ECM density, and (3) ECM geometry
using micropatterning adsorption of fibronectin along
elongated shape. Results show that BMDM cells cultured
on different substrates for 24 hours exhibit striking morphological differences, protein marker expression, and cytokine secretion levels. BMDM cells display more cell
spreading on fibronectin when compared to those on collagen and Matrigel. Furthermore, the level of cell spreading
was altered by ECM concentration. Interestingly, BMDM
cells on micropatterned surface form more adhesion sites
along fibronectin-patterned region, express markers of
alternative activation, and display elongated shape when
compared to those on unpatterned surface. The findings
suggest that both the soluble and insoluble factors within
the cellular environment significantly influence macrophage polarization and phenotype.
Mechanical Changes of Bovine Tendon following
Electromechanical Reshaping
Tony Nguyen
Mentor: Brian Wong
Tendons and ligaments are connective tissues that provide
the human body with mechanical stability and joint movement. They routinely undergo massive stress and strain
that can result in injury. The use of a recently developed
technique, known as electromechanical reshaping (EMR),
has been studied and demonstrated to provide a change in
shape and biomechanical properties in an ex vivo bovine
tissue model. EMR uses milliamp DC currents in the form
of platinum electrodes that produce an electrochemical
reaction within the tendon. During EMR, redox chemistry
driven changes in the structure of matrix molecules, as well
as transient localized changes in tissue pH at the electrodes
alter the tendon’s mechanical behavior. To assess the differences in length change and mechanical behavior, the
tendon was placed under mechanical stress (either extension or compression), and the Young’s modulus was
measured using a precision mechanical testing platform.
One future possible application for EMR is to treat Dupuytren’s contracture that causes the palmar fascia, a connective tissue in the hand to stiffen and limit hand
movement. Thus the use of EMR to alter mechanical
properties of tendon offers several advantages in noninvasive and non-destructive methods to alter the mechanical properties connective tissues.
Maoism, Revolution as a Process
Y Nguyen
Mentor: Yang Su
Maoism has long been identified as a static concept, often
characterizing particularities of politics, military tactics, and
economic policies of China under Mao Zedong. However,
very few academic works identify the development of these
characteristics as being conditioned by the historical conflicts within and without China. The purpose of this study
is to trace the development of Maoism, not only in China
(1926–1949), but also in Vietnam. The first part of the
study argues that the development of the political, military
and economic dimensions of the Chinese Revolution was
shaped by historical internal and external conflicts. However, reciprocally, these dimensions and the revolutionaries
of China shaped the details and resolutions of these conflicts. This first part uses historical biographies, works on
Maoist thought, historical books on the Chinese Revolution, and Mao’s writings. The second part of the study uses
biographies of leading Vietnamese Revolutionaries, the
written works of these revolutionaries, and historical books
on Vietnamese Revolution (1945–1975) to argue that the
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adoption and development of similar military, economic,
and political characteristics of the Vietnamese Revolution
were influenced by historical conflicts, both internal and
external, which made Maoism relevant. As a result of this
work, a historical theory is constructed, presenting history
as not circular, but rather helical, conditioned through conflicts and contradictions in and outside a society, which
process, however, can only be enacted through individual
agents of history. Thus, Maoism, a product of this process,
must too be conceptualized and understood as a dynamic
and developmental theory, emerging from historical contradictions.
“Glasgow’s Miles Better” Phantasmagorical
Constructions of the Post Industrial City: Rethinking
Glasgow in the Twenty First Century
Kelly Novahom
Mentor: Alexander Gelley
In 1990, Glasgow was designated as the European City of
Culture. The title had many implications at the time for
Glasgow and its attempt at revitalizing the urban landscape. It was about a century ago that Glasgow was considered an ugly city but with a thriving economy based on
heavy industry, shipbuilding, and engineering. This is not
the case today for Glasgow. It has enjoyed multiple titles in
the past decade: UK City of Architecture and Design in
1999, European Capital of Sport in 2003, and more recently became part of UNESCO and given the honor of
becoming City of Music in 2008 through their partnership.
Glasgow has established itself as a prominent European
city and has thrived in recent years as a popular tourist
spot. It is important to synthesize revolutionary thought
and critique of our socio-political environment in the context of cultural production in Glasgow of the twenty-first
century, specifically as it can be related to particular
pseudo-political campaigns and endeavors to create a new
reputation for Glasgow, bringing the arts and entertainment industries to the forefront of the city’s image. Not
just in Glasgow but perhaps in all cities transitioning from
industrial to postindustrial, one must look at the ramifications for such a huge shift from manufacturing goods to
reliance on an economy based on culture and entertainment. The rapid changes in the city obscure the future of
the community itself by throwing out the idea: What is
Glasgow?
The Effects of Nicotine Pretreatment during
Adolescence on CRF and Dopamine Interactions in
Behavior
Emily Nolasco
Mentor: Frances Leslie
Adolescence is transitional period characterized by behavioral and neurological changes. Neurotransmitter systems,
such as the dopamine (DA) system, actively mature during
this period, making them vulnerable to the effects of
drugs, such as nicotine (the main psychoactive component
in tobacco). Initiation of smoking typically occurs during
adolescence, and teenage smokers have an increased risk of
progressing to other illicit drugs. Evidence suggests that
the DA system, which mediates reward, may be affected by
nicotine exposure. We have previously shown that nicotine
pretreatment during adolescence affects DA-mediated locomotion and penile response. Neurochemical studies revealed that nicotine pretreatment also increases the
number of quinpirole-, a dopamine 2 (D2)-like receptor
agonist, activated corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) cells
in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus
suggesting that CRF may mediate some of nicotine’s effects on DA-mediated responses. This study sought to
determine if CRF-1 receptors mediate increased locomotor
activity and/or penile response observed in those animals.
Adolescent male Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated for
four consecutive days, postnatal (P) 28-31, with either
nicotine (0.06 mg/kg) or saline. On P32, rats were habituated to an open-field box and given an injection of saline
or 10 mg/kg CP 376395, a CRF-1 receptor antagonist, 10
minutes into habituation and 0.4 mg/kg quinpirole 20
minutes later. Locomotor activity was recorded for 30
minutes, after which penile response was immediately
scored. CRF-1 receptors do not mediate quinpiroleinduced locomotion in nicotine-pretreated rats, but they do
mediate penile response. These results suggest a novel
mechanism for D2-like penile response in adolescent rats.
Obstacles for Change: Challenges Faced by Critical
Resistance Activists
Albert Novelozo
Mentor: Elliott Currie
A prison industrial complex (PIC) understanding of the
process of punishment takes into account political, economic, and ideological structures. As PIC abolitionists,
Critical Resistance activists’ work confronts such issues as
surveillance, policing, political domination, neoliberalism,
racism, sexism, heteronormativity, state violence and oppression, and global capitalism. They work toward their
radical agenda of “shrinking the system into nonexistence” through four main strategies: intervention, prevention, accountability, and transformation. However, research has not investigated what challenges PIC
abolitionists encounter in their daily work. Therefore, this
study aims to uncover these challenges. Drawing from participant observations and conversational interviews, two
major challenges were found. First, the public’s narrow
imagination for alternatives to the current system hindered
discussion about how to address the nuances of the PIC.
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Second, difficulties with retaining and using new members
overburdened those who were active in the organization. I
suggest that a new orientation program will better prepare
activists to overcome the general public’s one-dimensional
preference to solving complex issues. Also, creating a position within Critical Resistance to ensure new members develop a sense of investment will ensure that the workload
is spread evenly. Implementing these changes is likely to
minimize the challenges discussed by participants of this
study.
Expression of Heparan Sulfates in Regenerating
Limbs of an Axolotl
Michelle Oei
Mentor: David Gardiner
The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a unique vertebrate
with the ability to regenerate its limbs after injury. It has
been previously shown that there are three essential factors
for limb regeneration: a wound epithelium, nerve signaling
and positional information. Heparan sulfates have been
shown to be an essential component in the third factor of
regeneration, positional information. We analyzed the expression of heparan sulfate modification enzymes during
limb regeneration by RT-PCR. Our studies show that there
is differential expression of certain heparan sulfate modification enzymes, NDST2, HS3OST1, and HS6OST1 across
the anterior/posterior axis of the limb blastema. This suggests the sulfation patterns on heparan sulfates are the molecular mechanism of positional information during axolotl
limb regeneration.
Deconstruction of Tai Chi Silk Reeling Exercise to
Determine Causal Benefits
Gabriel Orenstein
Mentor: Shin Lin
Tai Chi silk reeling exercise is beneficial to health, yielding
increased blood flow and electrical conductance among
subjects in several studies in our lab. This exercise contains
multiple components, including circular arm motion, deep
breathing, and weight shifting of the legs, all of which require complete use of the lungs, diaphragm, limb movement, and mental concentration. For individuals
undergoing rehabilitation treatment for compromised locomotive or respiratory function, including all facets of silk
reeling could be problematic. By isolating and testing components of silk reeling, the benefits of the entire exercise
can be allocated to specific components, and made more
available to people with limited respiratory and motor
function. Using laser doppler-flowmetry (LDF) and AMI
devices to measure blood flow and electrical conductance,
respectively, we measured the physiological change in major components of silk reeling: up and down arm movement, side-to-side arm movement, deep breathing, and
weight shifting. Experiments of vertical arm movement
yielded the greatest increase in both blood flow and electrical conductance, measured at PC8 and LU10 acupuncture
points, respectively. Weight shifting and horizontal arm
movement resulted in minimal change to LDF and AMI
measures. Deep breathing created peaks in LDF, but had
no detectable effect on AMI. In conclusion, the benefits
measured by LDF and AMI during silk reeling are primarily due to the change in the elevation of the arm relative to
the heart.
Determining Affinity of the Nicotinic Acetylcholine
Receptor Antagonist AT-1001 Using Radioligand
Binding Displacement
Hilda Ortiz
Mentor: Frances Leslie
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are considered
to be the receptors responsible for nicotine dependence.
These receptors have different subtypes that have distinct
distributions throughout the brain. While the alpha4beta2
has long been considered the primary subtype in nicotine
dependence the alpha3beta4 subtype, which plays an important role in motivation and drug abuse, has gained attention as a new target for tobacco dependence
medications. We have previously shown that AT1001, an
alpha3beta4 nAChR antagonist, decreases nicotine selfadministration. Here, we used a regional brain slice binding
assay to determine the affinity of AT1001 for the various
subtypes of nAChRs. Brains from naïve adult male rats
were collected, sectioned coronally, and incubated with
[125I]-epibatidine (0.25 nM) alone or in the presence of 200
nM cytosine to distinguish binding to alpha4beta2 and alpha3beta4 nAChRs, respectively. Dose-response curves
for AT1001 displacement of [125I]-epibatidine showed potent inhibition at the alpha3beta4 receptor in the MHb,
IPN, and AP. However, no inhibition occurred at the alpha3beta2 or alpha4beta2 nAChRs. The data show that the
antagonist AT1001 was potent at alpha3beta4 nAChRs and
highly selective for this receptor subtype. These results
support our behavioral data and the hypothesis that the
decrease in nicotine self-administration is through alpha3beta4 nAChRs.
Expression and Purification of a Novel Channelrhodopsin-2 Homolog in Escherichia coli
Dane Osmond
Mentor: Hartmut Luecke
Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) is a photon-activated selective
ion channel first discovered in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardti. The structure of ChR2 found in prototypic C.
reinhardtii is similar to that of other known microbial
rhodopsins, possessing a characteristic seven transmembrane helices, along with a single all-trans retinal bound
within the protein. The all-trans retinal is isomerized upon
illumination with blue light, which causes a conformational
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change and opens the channel, causing an inward influx of
cations that depolarizes the cell, enabling photoaxis and
photophobic response in the algae. A high-resolution
structure of ChR2 is necessary in order to elucidate its
cation transfer pathway and possible gating mechanism.
Through collaboration with the Boyden lab at MIT, we
have received a ChR2 homolog discovered in the algae
Neochlorosarcina sp (NsChR2). NsChR2 has a 52% similar
sequence identity and similar channel function to ChR2,
making it a suitable candidate for study. Our goal is to optimize the crystallization of the protein and determine its
structure. Following purification of NsChR2, spectrophotometry determined an increased absorption at 470 nm,
indicating proper functionality and folding. Crystals of
NsChR2 were obtained successfully under the conditions
of PEG 100 and NH4NO3, and diffraction data revealed
8Å resolution. Further optimization of the crystal conditions will be necessary to increase the resolution of diffraction. The crystal structure of NsChR2 will aid in gaining an
understanding of the mechanism of cation transfer and ion
selectivity and gating in activation and inactivation of
ChR2 based on NsChR2.
Crystallization of Near-Iron Transporter (NEAT) Five
Wildtype and Q29T Mutant
Federico Palacios
Mentor: Celia Goulding
In order to meet their iron requirements, some pathogens
have evolved uptake pathways to scavenge the ironcontaining cofactor heme from host hemoproteins. As part
of its heme uptake pathway, Bacillus anthracis, the causative
agent of the anthrax disease, secretes two proteins with
high affinity for both heme and hemoglobin. These proteins, termed hemophores, are IsdX1 and IsdX2 (ironregulated surface determinants 1 and 2). Previous studies
have shown that both proteins contain conserved modules
known as Near-Iron Transporter (NEAT) domains which
perform necessary tasks associated with heme uptake including hemoglobin/heme binding, heme extraction, and
transfer to a downstream receptor (IsdC). While each of
the five IsdX2 NEAT domains can associate with hemoglobin only the NEAT-1 and -5 domains of IsdX2 can
extract heme from hemoglobin. It is hypothesized that a
conserved amino acid sequence (26-MMNQY-30) on
IsdX2-NEAT5 is involved in heme extraction and that a
single amino acid substitution (Q29T) inactivates the heme
scavenging abilities of the domain. The goal of this project
is to express, purify and crystallize the wildtype (WT) and
the Q29T variant of the IsdX2-NEAT5 to determine how
heme is incorporated within the domain’s active site. Both
WT-IsdX2-NEAT5 and Q29T-IsdX2-NEAT5 have been
cloned into pET28a vectors as fusion-proteins with a
thrombin cleavable His-tag. Both proteins were overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified using FPLC techniques, and had their His-tag cleaved. Heme was subsequently added to the purified proteins to yield a 1:1
complex with heme. The respective heme-loaded proteins
were used to set up crystal trials by means of sparse matrix
crystal screens. Over 480 different conditions are being
monitored for signs of crystal growth. Crystal hits have not
yet been found but positive results will be optimized and
harvested for x-ray diffraction. A structural analysis of this
protein domain will increase the understanding of IsdX2NEAT5 heme binding and potentially result in the development of new therapeutics targeted against this protein.
Characterizing the Stiffness of Matrigel Using Optical
Active Microrheology
Breanna Padilla
Mentor: Elliot Botvinick
Understanding extracellular matrix mechanics that direct
cellular behavior such as phenotype, proliferation and migration is crucial for developing and improving cellular
based therapies. Matrigel is a commercial extracellular matrix (ECM) used as a cell culture platform for its ability to
promote cell migration and cell proliferation. By using laser-tweezer particle tracking, or active microrheology, we
directly measured the stiffness of Matrigel ECM under
various temperature conditions, concentrations and prestress conditions. Pre-stress conditions are generated by a
novel stress gradient device that was created in the lab to
observe cellular behavior under the influence of 3D ECM
mechanics. Active microrheology allows for characterization of stress gradient created by the device in the Matrigel
ECM, which is vital to the investigation of cellular behavior in response to a change in ECM mechanics. Results
have shown that the stiffness found in our micro scale
measurements are similar to the macro scale measurements
found in literature. There is some discrepancy between our
micro scale measurements and those found with atomic
force microscopy, which is due to the materials sensitivity
to temperature. Also the strain gradient device was shown
to generate an asymmetrical stiffness gradient as predicted.
Remote Senses
Chad Palsulich
Mentor: Ian Harris
At the most primal level, a person’s life moment to moment is defined by their senses. Each person experiences
their surroundings through the various modes of real-time
input received from the external environment, the most
important of which is sight. We record sights and sounds
from a different perspective to give a person an out-ofbody experience and, in turn, alter their reality. Through
the use of video glasses and a remote-controlled, wireless
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transfer module, we create an immersive experience that
gives the user a novel perspective.
Determining the Structure and Function of
Monooxygenase BexE, Involved in the Biosynthesis
of BE-7585A
Avinash Patel
Mentor: Sheryl Tsai
The BE-7585A biosynthesis pathway contains in it a rare
core rearrangement step which is catalyzed by one of the
pathways three monooxygenases. Based on previous studies BexE is the mostly likely candidate for performing the
anthracycline to angucycline core conversion. Unlike similar polyketide Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs)
founding other pathways BexE is capable of not only incorporating oxygen molecules to its substrate but is able
use them to cleave and form a C-C bond in the core structure. Using X-ray crystallography and molecular replacement the structure of BexE was solved to 2.5Å, and was
found to have its FAD in the IN conformation with no
substrate bound. Docking and homologue modeling has
implicated several residues as being possibly catalytic and
has shown that cap domain has two distinct conformations
based on substrate binding. Future functional and
mutagenesis studies will be performed to probe these theories. BexE’s unique function makes it a powerful tool in
protein engineering and combinatorial chemistry since it is
cable to converting anthracyclines to angucyclines.
Evaluation of 11C-Dalene, a Novel Agent for Beta
Amyloid Senile Plaques in the Human Brain
Bhavin Patel
Mentor: Jogeshwar Mukherjee
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a disorder in the brain that
affects memory and behavior. It is characterized by betaamyloid senile plaques (SP) found in various regions of the
brain, including the hippocampus. The aim of this study is
to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel imaging agent, 411C-methylamino-4’-(N,N-dimethylamino)stilbene (11CDalene), to bind to SP sites in the hippocampus region of
the human brain (AD and control) for eventual use in human studies. Dalene was synthesized using two precursors
and purified using HPLC, a technique used to separate a
mixture of compounds. In vitro autoradiography studies of
Dalene were performed on 7-micron slices of hippocampus of AD patients (n=2) and control brains (n=2). Slices
were viewed using Optiquant analysis program. The images revealed that 11C-Dalene bound specifically to SP
present in AD brains compared to normal controls.
AD/Control hippocampus ratio was 2.5. In the case of
11C-PIB, a known radiotracer for Alzheimer’s disease,
similar results were observed: AD/Control hippocampus
ratio=3. Non-specific binding was assessed using PIB.
These studies suggest that 11C-Dalene is an effective imag-
ing agent for Alzheimer’s disease because of its binding
capabilities in hippocampus regions of the brain and similar binding results to the known radiotracer 11C-PIB.
Binding of [18F]FBM to the Beta Amyloid Senile
Plaques and Neurofibrillary Tangles in the Human
Brain
Himika Patel
Mentor: Jogeshwar Mukherjee
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease
that is characterized by proteins called beta-amyloid senile
plaques (SPs) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT). There is a
need to visualize these proteins in the brain at the initial
stages and through the progression of Alzheimer’s disease
in order to find a definitive diagnosis. Many radioactive
imaging agents or radiotracers bind to these SP and NFT
sites and are visualized by Positron Emission Tomography
(PET), a non-invasive imaging technique that can measure
the radioactivity of a radiotracer. Thus, the radiotracers
that bind to the SP and NFT sites can be seen as “hot
spots” in the brain and the progression of the disease can
be possibly found. We have synthesized a PET imaging
agent, 4’-[(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)(methyl)amino]-4-phenyl-3buten-2-malonitrile ([18F]FBM), and determined if it can
bind to both SP and NFT sites in the human brain, and
how it compares to Pittsburgh Compound B ([11C]PIB),
which is known to bind only to SP sites. The experiments
performed included [18F]FBM and [11C]PIB binding to
adjacent human brain slices, displacement studies with
unlabeled FBM and PIB, and [11C]PIB and [18F]FBM binding to the same brain sections simultaneously. These studies suggest that [18F]FBM binds to some SP sites
concurrently with [11C]PIB, yet it shows its own unique
biding profile in brain sections that may be possible NFT
sites. The possible binding of a radiotracer to both SP and
NFT sites could be a break through for Alzheimer’s disease patients, making the complete diagnosis of the disease
possible.
Effect of in vitro Exposure of Benzo-a-Pyrene on
Hepatic Adipogenesis
Reshma Patel
Mentor: Ulrike Luderer
Benzo-a-pyrene (BaP) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
commonly found in burned food, cigarette smoke, and air
pollution. Reactive oxygen species are produced during
BaP metabolism in the body. In a previous study, we hypothesized that mice with a deficiency in glutathione synthesis due to deletion of Gclm would be more sensitive to
the in utero reproductive toxicity of BaP. Female Gclm+/mice were mated with Gclm+/- male mice and were treated
orally with 0 or 2mg/kg/day BaP during gestational days
7–16. The 8-month old female offspring were euthanized,
and liver, ovaries, and adipose tissue were collected. We
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found that adipose tissue weights hepatic lipid increased in
BaP-treated Gclm+/+ compared to control Gclm+/+ females; no such effects were observed in Gclm-/- females.
Thus, in this retrospective study using tissues from the
same mice, we hypothesize that in utero treatment with BaP
increases hepatic expression of adipogenesis genes in
Gclm+/+ females, but that Gclm-/- females are protected.
We saw no effect on the adipogenic genes Fas, Srebp-1c,
and Fabp4 in livers of Gclm+/+ females exposed prenatally to BaP, and significant downregulation of these genes
in Gclm-/- females regardless of BaP exposure. There were
no effects of genotype or BaP exposure on the hepatic
expression of antioxidant genes Trx2, Sod1, Prdx3, Txnrd1,
and Txnrd2, while hepatic Gstp1 and Trx1 expression was
increased only in the Gclm -/- mice regardless of prenatal
BaP. We conclude that the hepatic downregulation of adipogenesis genes and upregulation of antioxidant genes protects Gclm null mice against fatty liver caused by prenatal
exposure to BaP.
structed. We considered the novel “shortest paths” approach for probabilistic fiber tracking. This approach uses
DW-MRI data to construct a weighted digraph from which
the most probable tract between two points is determined.
Notably, it only considers the probability of transitions
between voxels; it does not consider the amount of diffusivity (i.e. the signal strength) within the voxel. As a result,
reconstructed tracts may consist of voxels with low diffusivity, which generally do not belong to a tract. Here, we
addressed this issue by implementing two modified approaches that scale the graph’s edge weights by an amount
related to the signal strength: approach A used the mean
diffusivity; approach B used the variance of edge weights.
We compared the original method against our approaches,
using simulated datasets with Rician noise, and taking the
distance between simulated and reconstructed fibers as an
error measure. We found that both modified approaches
worked better over a signal-to-noise ratio between 10dB to
30dB. In addition, we saw that the median error in approach A remained low even when the signal-to-noise ratio
was 5dB. These results suggest that incorporating diffusivity information provides a more robust approach to reconstructing fiber bundles. We will now test the performance
of our approaches in patient datasets.
Efficiency of Water Electrolysis Using a Solid
Polymer Electrolyte
Ashkan Paykar
Mentor: Yun Wang
Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), such as nafion, are currently being used as potential membranes for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Instead of a PEM fuel
cell which produces energy and water from the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, a water electrolysis cell was
built using the SPE nafion to produce hydrogen from water. Vertical channels were drilled on brass plates that
transported the water across the surface of a teflon-treated
carbon fiber paper that was used as a catalyst layer for the
nafion on one side of the device and transported the electrons to the other side. Then, the electrons recombined
with the hydrogen protons transported by the nafion,
flowed out of the cell, traveled through a desiccator, and
into an inverted graduated cylinder that is under water. The
amount of hydrogen was measured over a set period of
time to determine the amount of hydrogen produced by
our electrolytic cell. It produced hydrogen under varying
temperatures of water and voltages so that trends could be
identified and the maximum efficiency of our cell could be
found. The data will be used to improve the efficiency of
future iterations of electrolytic cells.
Fluorescent Labeling RNA to Analyze Ribozyme
Kinetics by Fluorescence Anisotropy
Michael Peng
Mentor: Andrej Luptak
Recent studies have found numerous HDV-like ribozymes
in a variety of organisms and in vitro experiments have confirmed the activity of the self-cleaving RNAs. In order to
progress our understanding of HDV-like ribozyme cleavage, new methods need to be developed in order to analyze
ribozyme kinetics. The aim of this project is to find a viable fluorophore to label RNA through conjugation of the
5 ribonucleotide triphosphate and record real-time measurements of ribozyme self-cleavage activity by fluorescence
anisotropy, which allows us to monitor structural transitions in millisecond resolution. To accomplish this we have
developed a method to couple the fluorophore containing
a primary amine to the 5 end of synthesized RNA. In the
end, this project will further our knowledge of HDV-like
ribozymes; however, this technique can be applied to a
variety of applications that extends beyond the scope of
this project.
Evaluating the “Shortest Paths” Approach to
Detecting Brain Fiber Bundles
Edgar Pena
Mentor: Frithjof Kruggel
Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DWMRI) is an imaging technique that maps the mobility of
water molecules in cross-sections of the brain. From these
images, fiber bundles of the human brain can be recon-
Quality of Maternal Care Influences Child Emotional
Development
Sarah Peraza
Mentor: Elysia Davis
The emotional development of a child is influenced by the
quality of care he or she receives. Previous rodent studies
have shown that unpredictable or fragmented maternal
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care has lifelong effects on the brain and behavior of the
offspring. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how the predictability of maternal care influences child outcomes in humans. In order to quantify
data, I coded maternal behaviors such as speech, toy manipulation, and touch during a 10-minute play period between mother and child at 12 months of age. These codes
were then analyzed using Theme software, which identifies
patterns of behaviors within the coded data. At 24 months
of age, the child’s emotional development was assessed
using the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire
(ECBQ). I found that mothers whose behavior was more
predictable and less fragmented at 12 months have children who exhibit less negative emotionality at 24 months
of age. This suggests that more predictable (or less fragmented) maternal care is beneficial to a child’s emotional
development. The correlation between maternal behavior
and infant development implies that more emphasis must
be put on providing children with stable environments at
an early age.
A PDMS Micropressure Device Used to Measure
Fibroblast Response to Biaxial Loading
Noemi Perlas
Mentor: Steven George
Mechanical stress is a major factor affecting the inflammatory response to a wound. To address this issue, we created
an inexpensive, biocompatible, and optically clear polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micropressure device. Unlike previous devices which use a single pressure system, this
pneumatically driven device can apply cyclic biaxial stresses
under both a positive and negative pressure system. Consequently, the micropressure device can demonstrate biaxial loading, one of the most common types of stress cells
undergo in vivo. Its applications have allowed for initial testing on the effect of load inducing on fibroblast growth and
actin concentration and morphology related to injurious or
beneficial effects.
Farming and Agriculture in the West Bank: Water
Access and Treatment of Wastewater
Syuzanna Petrosyan
Mentor: Daniel Brunstetter
Water issues in the West Bank territories continue to be a
challenge today as Palestinian farmers are significantly affected by unequal water access. To some extent, both Israeli and Palestinian governments are responsible for not
ensuring effective water sustainability for the coming years,
with Israel bearing more accountability as it has control of
almost all of the main water sources in the area. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the over forty years of ongoing occupation, combined with a Palestinian government
that is marked with corruption, have significantly contributed to the situation. First-hand accounts of politicians, as
well as data collected by NGOs from the region demonstrate the lack of fair water distribution, which is greatly
affecting Palestinian agriculture and economy. Not only
does this situation hinder the creation of a viable Palestinian economy and, thus, a state, but it is also takes away
people’s right to have access to water sources that, even
though scarce, are still available. Moreover, the regional
struggle over dominance of integral water resources must
be understood to recognize its impact on farmers, agriculture, the economy, and finally the peace process.
Triflumizole: A Newly Identified Obesogen
Hang Pham
Mentor: Bruce Blumberg
The prevalence of obesity in both adults and children has
become an epidemic, particularly in the United States. The
obesogen hypothesis proposes the existence of chemicals
that may alter lipid homeostasis, thereby contributing to
the development of obesity. Data from our laboratory
showed that the fungicide triflumizole (TFZ) activated
PPARγ, a master regulator of adipogenesis, and increased
adipocyte differentiation in human adipose tissue derived
mesenchymal stromal stem cells (MSCs). My study used
another well-established adipogenesis model, 3T3-L1 cells,
to confirm that TFZ is capable of increasing lipid accumulation and adipogenic gene induction. I found that TFZ
increased adipogenesis in a PPARγ-dependent manner.
Therefore, I conclude that TFZ is a potential obesogen
that may contribute to the development of obesity.
Characterization of SA1 and SA2 Subunits of Cohesin
Hoang Pham
Mentor: Kyoko Yokomori
Cohesins are conserved and essential multi-protein complexes critical for sister chromatid cohesion and higherorder chromatin organization critical for mitosis, DNA
repair, and gene regulation. In higher eukaroytes, two cohesin complexes are present in somatic cells, both sharing
two Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes family proteins (SMC1 and SMC3) and a non-SMC protein termed
Rad21, but differing in their second non-SMC subunit by
having either SA1 or SA2. Recent evidence suggests that
the two cohesin complexes have distinct functions in the
cell. We have preliminary evidence that cohesin containing
SA2 is preferentially recruited to DNA damage sites and is
involved in DNA repair. However, how SA1 and SA2 proteins functionally differ is unclear. Thus, we generated
GFP-tagged deletion and chimeric mutants to dissect SA1
and SA2 protein domains and examined their functional
differences in human cells. We found that the conserved
Irr1 and STAG domains in the middle regions of both
proteins are involved in cohesin complex formation. In
contrast, the N- and C-terminal regions of SA1 and SA2
are divergent and SA2 contains a unique nuclear localiza-
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tion signal (NLS) sequence in the C-terminal region. We
also found that the presence of SA2C confers damage site
targeting activity to an SA1/SA2 chimeric protein. The
results indicate that the C-terminus of SA2 is important for
nuclear localization and recruitment to damage sites. Taken
together, SA1 and SA2 each have a distinct functional domain organization, which underlies the differential activities of the two cohesin complexes in the cell.
not elicit an anti-aging effect on TOR mutant (Tub-GAL4/UAS-TORFRB) flies. Inhibition of TOR has been associated with a reduction in sugar, fat, and protein. Our results
show that R. damascena feeding led to an elevation in sugar
and fat while having no effect on soluble protein levels in
Drosophila melanogaster. Although features of R. damascena
demonstrate TOR activity is required, its anti-aging effect
may not be a result of inhibiting TOR.
Motor Vehicle Collision in Relation to the Proximity
of Electronic Billboard in a Large Urban Setting
Kevin Pham
Mentor: Bharath Chakravarthy
Light emitting diode (LED) billboards have been increasingly used because they offer more dynamic advertising,
but have also created concern over their potential to distract drivers from focusing on the road. We conducted a
study in order to observe if there was a correlation between LED billboards and motor traffic collisions. This
experiment observed 39 Los Angeles Billboards for a time
period before LED construction (5/31/06–5/30/07) and
for a period after (6/18/08–6/17/09). A 1,000 ft. visibility
radius was applied for each billboard. After gathering collision data, there were 7,247 crashes on the 33 streets evaluated of which 600 car crashes were inside the radius in the
pre-LED period. In the period after, there were 6,642
crashes of which 596 were inside the radius. Comparing
crashes on the 33 streets evaluated, and those in proximity
of the billboards, we found that there was a risk ratio of
1.08 (95%CI 0.97-1.21). If this increasing trend in the ratio
of car crashes within the visible radius is due to the LED
billboards, each billboard could account for 1.5 crashes,
with a total of 50 excess car crashes. The trend observed
can possibly be indicative of the driver interference LED
billboards pose.
Motor Vehicle Collision in Relation to the Proximity
of Electronic Billboard in a Large Urban Setting
Kevin Pham
Mentor: Shahram Lotfipour
Light emitting diode (LED) billboards have been increasingly used because they offer more dynamic advertising,
but have also created concern over their potential to distract drivers from focusing on the road. We conducted a
study in order to observe if there was a correlation between LED billboards and motor traffic collisions. This
experiment observed 39 Los Angeles Billboards for a time
period before LED construction (5/31/06–5/30/07) and
for a period after (6/18/08–6/17/09). A 1,000 ft. visibility
radius was applied for each billboard. After gathering collision data, there were 7,247 crashes on the 33 streets evaluated of which 600 car crashes were inside the radius in the
pre-LED period. In the period after, there were 6,642
crashes of which 596 were inside the radius. Comparing
crashes on the 33 streets evaluated, and those in proximity
of the billboards, we found that there was a risk ratio of
1.08 (95%CI 0.97-1.21). If this increasing trend in the ratio
of car crashes within the visible radius is due to the LED
billboards, each billboard could account for 1.5 crashes,
with a total of 50 excess car crashes. The trend observed
can possibly be indicative of the driver interference LED
billboards pose.
The Impact of Rosa Damascena on the Target of
Rapamycin
Kevin Pham
Mentor: Mahtab Jafari
R. Damascena is a hybrid rose species commonly harvested
for rose oil in the perfume industry and rose water as a
flavoring agent, and is predominantly grown in France,
Turkey, Iran, and Bulgaria. We have previously found the
extract of the flower petals to extend lifespan in the B
strain of Drosophila melanogaster, though its mode of action
is unknown. Life extension in animals can be accomplished
by inhibiting pathways such as, insulin and insulin-like
growth factor signaling (IIS), and the target of rapamycin
(TOR) complex. Here, we test whether R. damascena inhibits the TOR complex in Drosophila by using a combination
of genetic, biochemical, and survival assays. We found that
R. damascena extends lifespan in male but not female wildtype w1118 flies. However, R. damascena supplementation did
Determining the Role of Lhx2 in the Maintenance of
the Radial Glia Population
Ryan Pham
Mentor: Edwin Monuki
There are many neurological diseases that can be attributed
to decreased cortical development and much is still unknown about the specific factors that play a role in regulating mammalian cortical development. Thus, studying these
factors and the mechanisms by which they act are now of
great interest. From previous research studies, it has been
found transcription factor Lhx2 has been significant in
determining cortical fate during beginning phase of mouse
embryonic development. However, Lhx2 expression is still
present past this development phase, suggesting that Lhx2
plays an additional role after cortical specification. Unpublished experiments using conditional transgenic mice that
inactivate Lhx2 during this part of development result in
progeny that show a phenotype of cortical size reduction.
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Observation of this phenotype suggests premature depletion of the neural stem cells. Proper maintenance of radial
glia and mitotic rate of these cells is critical for production
of a normal-sized cortex. To determine if Lhx2 plays a role
in proper maintenance of radial glia cell cycle, calculations
based on known protocol comparing Lhx2 mutant knockout and control mice will be made. From the slope of the
line and the plateau of the graph obtained, cell cycle length
and growth fraction in the initial population can, respectively, be determined. We predict there will be a decrease
in stem cell population in Lhx2 deficient mice supporting
the hypothesis Lhx2 plays a role in the maintanence of
radial glia. We also predict Lhx2 null radial glia will also
exhibit a lengthened cell cycle.
Doing Business in Vietnam: The Importance of
Personal Relationship
Thao Chi Pham
Mentor: Jone Pearce
Personal connections are an important business practice in
many Asian countries. In China the connections are called
guanxi, and in Vietnam they are called quen biet. Here I
compare data from Chinese and American managers to
data collected from Vietnamese managers. I found that
Vietnamese managers reported their connections as important as Chinese managers did and more important than
American managers did. According to Xin & Pearce, in
China, which lacks formal institutional support, private
company executives relied significantly more on building
connections with government officials to defend themselves against threats, they made more extensive use of gift
giving to build these connections, and maintained business
connections of greater trust than did executives in the
more structurally secure collective-hybrid and state-owned
companies. I adopted and expanded questionnaires from
Xin & Peace and found that in Vietnam, managers in private organizations reported their connections are more
important and trust their connections more than stateowned and foreign-owned managers. There were more gift
exchange activities in private organizations than stateowned and foreign-owned organizations. None of the
three sectors reported having connections with individuals
holding positions in government; all sectors managers reported that they depend on their connections.
Tissue Variations Affect Pericyte-Induced Endothelial
Cell Sprouting and Lumen Formation in an in vitro
Angiogenesis Assay
Duc Phan
Mentor: Christopher Hughes
In vivo studies show that pericytes (PC) play an important
role during angiogenesis. These cells are recruited to the
growing vessel and are required for the proper development and maturation of vessels; however, the mechanisms
they employ to accomplish this task are still poorly understood. Therefore, construction and optimization of in vitro
angiogenesis models in the presence of PC are critical to
studying their function at the molecular level. In a previous
study, PC were isolated from human placental tissue, characterized, and shown to support endothelial cell (EC)
sprouting and lumen formation in an in vitro angiogenesis
assay. In this study, PC were furthered characterized and
tissue variations in isolated PC lines were investigated. To
this end, 5 PC lines were isolated, characterized, and cocultured in close contact with EC in the angiogenesis assay.
Results showed significant variations in the abilities to
support sprouting and lumen formation across the different PC lines, suggesting that future in vitro studies of PC
need to take into account the effect of tissue variations.
Mechanisms of Rapid Dendritic Spine Loss in
Hippocampal Pyramidal Neurons Induced by
Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
Lucas Phi
Mentor: Tallie Z. Baram
Stress can provoke dendritic spine loss in the hippocampus
and impair hippocampus-dependent cognitive function.
Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is released by interneurons in the hippocampus and has been identified as
a mediator of stress-induced dendritic spine loss. This project will investigate how CRH interferes with cellular machinery, leading to decreased spine integrity as well what
could prevent spine degradation. CRH has been shown to
reduce the number of dendritic spines in vitro in dissociated
hippocampal neurons and this loss is both time- and dosedependent. This project focuses on CRH receptor type 1
(CRHR1), which is expressed by hippocampal pyramidal
neurons and co-localize with post-synaptic density
(PSD95), a marker of mature spines. Previous studies have
shown that a CRHR1 antagonist (NBI30775) prevents the
spine loss induced by CRH. CRHR1 is a G-coupled protein receptor; these receptors are classically internalized
upon ligand binding. The project tests to see if CRHR1 is
internalized in hippocampal pyramidal neurons and if this
internalization is involved in CRH induced spine loss. Dynasore, an antagonist for dynamin, was used to block internalization of all receptors in the neurons. Spines were
quantified by the presence of PSD95 and the images were
generated by confocal laser scanning microscopy on a Ziess LSM-510. It was found that dynamin mediated internalization is necessary for CRH-induced spine loss. It is
not clear which receptor must be internalized to induce
spine loss but future research will utilize a GFP-fused recombinant CRHR1 to determine whether the CRHR1 internalization is required for spine loss.
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Caught in the Middle: A Comparative Historiography
of the Importance of Armenia among the Roman,
Parthian, and Sassanid Empires
Daniel Poochigian
Mentor: Touraj Daryaee
Understanding the complicated maneuverings of the great
powers of the Ancient World allows us a better understanding of diplomacy in the modern day. Two great empires, the Roman and the Iranian empires of the Arsacids
and the Sassanians, bordered each other throughout antiquity and held a major focal point in the Kingdom of Armenia. But what was the importance of Armenia for the
Romans and for the Iranians, and how did it change over
time? In my research, I have used Roman and Persian primary source documents, as well as secondary literature, to
determine what role Armenia played in antiquity for both
of these empires. By omitting Armenian sources, I have
removed some of the bias that these sources would have
on our understanding of the complicated diplomacy between Rome and Iran. By translating Latin documents myself, I was able to present a more nuanced view of Roman
opinions of Armenia. My exploration of the sources determined that Armenia’s critical geographic importance
made it not only a strategic region to possess and a site of
economic importance, but also an important political station for members of the Arsacid and Sassanid dynasties.
This interpretation of Armenian history allows us to expand our own understanding of the Arsacid and Sassanian
dynasties, as well as Rome’s responses to its neighbor to
the east.
Impact of Background Noise on Brain Responses to
Tones in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Kevin Phung
Mentor: Julie Patterson
Latency increase and amplitude reduction in the negative
going auditory evoked brain potential peak at 100 ms
(N100) derived from the electroencephalogram (EEG)
have been reported in patients suffering from paranoid
schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar I disorder. The goal of this study was to investigate whether the
reaction time, response accuracy, response time standard
deviation, and N100 evoked potential amplitude and latency in patient responses to tones with and without the
presence of white background noise could be used to distinguish between the three disorders. N100 amplitude was
significantly reduced in paranoid schizophrenia compared
the other groups and they also showed reaction time increase in tone alone. For tone in noise, bipolar I patients
showed more accuracy in response than the two schizophrenia groups. The variability of responses was greater
for the paranoid schizophrenia than the other patient
groups. Both schizophrenia groups showed diminished
accuracies compared to the bipolar and controls in tone in
noise, suggesting that the presence of psychosis may be
implicated. These results indicate distinguishable differences between patient groups in N100 that make it a possible candidate biomarker or endophenotype for these
disorders.
Differences in Communication: A Comparison of
Societies in Costa Rica and Irvine
Henna Pithia
Mentor: Paula Garb
This research project focuses on culture and the differences perceived between a cultural group in Costa Rica and
a cultural group in Irvine. Although the study does not
account for all differences between the two cultural groups
(i.e. age, gender, other variables), it does reveal differences
in the way that these individuals think in terms of high
context-low context cultures. Through a process of interviewing random people in Costa Rica and Irvine, fundamental questions that were asked of each candidate such
as, “list five words that describe you,” encourage further
research into how the Costa Rican individuals seem to give
more high-context based answers whereas individuals interviewed in Irvine seem to respond with low context answers. The answers given by all of the respondents reveal
differences in cultures that are interesting and valuable. It
is my wish to further explore the answers provided by each
of the individuals and the connection these answers have
to high context and low context societies.
Playground: A Collaborative Approach to Evolution
through Movement
Jason Poullard
Mentors: Chad Hall, Sheron Wray
Playground is a creative choreographic project that traces
the development of movement vocabulary from childhood
to adulthood. Inspired by movement through observation
and play with my nephew, this research culminates in a
Senior Thesis concert to be performed in June 2012. After
a play date with my nephew in late 2010, I realized the
processes of observing, retaining, copying and regurgitating one’s movement reflected the same process I used
when taking a dance class or working with a choreographer
here at UC Irvine. My thesis concert is a collaborative effort between the dancers and me as we investigate how our
movement ability has been informed and inspired by the
most basic, simplistic forms that are evidently acquired and
learned through play. The dance works to be performed
reflect research that encourages dancers to detach from
sensory approaches and ideas of choreography and performance and return to the playful. Innocent and silly play
does not fit within the confines of our social contexts once
you become an adult. Although there is some faint recog-
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nition of the expressivity, freedom and relevance of childhood, it is only a memory. My thesis poses the question:
can an adult be a kid again? Even further, has the kid ever
left the adult? Beyond finding answers to these holistic
questions, my research directly supports the work of Rudolph Laban and Irmgard Bartenieff, befitting as I have
looked to their systems of defining and notating the fundamentals of movement to foreground my research and
even support their work.
Making Fictions: Reading, Education, and the
Imagination in Austen and the Brontës
Jennifer Prescott
Mentor: Andrea Henderson
In antebellum America, critics were preoccupied with the
effects of fiction on female readers not only because of the
potential immoral content of such fiction, but also because
they feared their readers would fail to differentiate between
fiction and reality, and would begin to make fictions of
their own within their real lives. The concern with the effects of novels on impressionable readers not only concerned the critics who discussed them, but pervaded some
of the novels themselves. Three English novels which were
popular in America and discuss the effects of reading on
their characters, both in terms of social advancement and
morality as well as in making fictions, are Jane Austen’s
Northanger Abbey, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and Emily
Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Through close-readings of the
texts, their authors’ views on the place of reading and making fictions within the lives of ordinary people emerge, as
well as particular prescriptions for the proper way to incorporate fiction into one’s life. Northanger Abbey suggests
that reading both fiction and nonfiction concurrently provides necessary training in generic distinctions between
fiction and reality. This training makes the important socialization of Hareton in Wuthering Heights, necessary to
achieve the novel’s just ending possible, as well as allows
Jane Eyre to advance both her station in life and her female agency through reading and making fictions. If
American readers had listened to the prescriptions for the
proper way to read fiction embedded in the novels themselves, then the critics’ concerns would have been unwarranted.
Effect of Diamantane Nanoparticle on the Thermal
Stability in Nanocrystalline Aluminum Alloy
Chan Pun
Mentor: Farghalli Mohamed
Aluminum alloys have been the materials of choice for
both civil and military aircraft structure. Aluminum 5083 is
a potential candidate for structural applications in aerospace and the automobile industry. Thus, enhancing its
strength via refinement can lead to reduction not only in
weight but also in energy consumption. Aluminum 5083
powders were cryomilled with 0.5wt% diamantane for 8
hours, producing mechanically alloyed powders with an
average grain size of 17 nm. The grain size remained
nanocrystalline (less than100 nm) for Al 5083 alloy with
0.5% diamantane, even after 48 h at the highest temperature of 773 K. The thermal stability of Nanoscale grains in
cryomilled Aluminum 5083 alloy powder containing 0.5%
Diamantane was investigated. The cryomilled powders
were characterized using both Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) technique.
The thermal stability results were found to be consistent
with the grain growth model based on drag forces exerted
by dispersed particles against grain boundary migration
(Burke model). Analysis of grain size data from the thermal
exposure experiments indicated that diffusive grain growth
theory could not account for the observed behavior.
Gender Conformity and the Prison Industrial
Complex
Sophie Punkar
Mentors: Elliott Currie, Cheryl Maxson
Feminist scholars have argued that prisons produce gender
roles and require conformity to these roles. Although empirical studies have gathered information about the effects
of institutional practices on transgender and gender nonconforming subjects within penal institutions, scholars
have not identified specific practices within penal institutions that produce gender conformity. This paper uses survey and interview data gathered in a study of youth and
staff within California’s Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)
to identify institutional practices that produce gender roles.
In this sense, the institution is a space of gender conformity. Data analysis revealed that the institution maintained
gender roles through different programming and practices
according to gender. My work also discusses the limitations
of previous attempts at policy reform.
Contemporary Dance Collage in NYC: SkinnyDipping
Amy Quanbeck
Mentor: Lisa Naugle
Mischievous and playful, skinny-dipping can be platonic or
sensual. Whether one explores this freeing feeling alone or
with others, it is something to be shared. This piece focuses on the playfulness of relationships, mainly those with
flirtatious intentions. It dives into thoughts on romantic
endeavors and how we discover those in different stages of
life. Development of this piece involved creating detailed
movement with imagery and sensation. It included the exploration of juxtaposing virtuosity and presentation with
subtlety and introspection. Authenticity and presence can
often be highlighted through emotional experiences on
stage. Audiences can connect with or interpret the symbolism they are seeing and more clearly do so when that in-
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cludes universal expressions such as laughter and humor.
This became a large part of the process and final presentation. My experiences in New York City provided an overwhelming amount of information to process and apply in
my dancing and choreography. This piece is a development
of some of the questions I posed during my time there.
The Treatment of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Cultured Cells by Rhodiola rosea
Victor Ramos
Mentor: Mahtab Jafari
Aging can be described as a progressive generalized impairment of function, resulting in an increasing vulnerability to environmental challenge and a growing risk of
disease and death. Rhodiola rosea is a plant from the Crassulaceae family found throughout the world in mountainous,
cold regions that may result in the retardation of both aging and the progression of aging-related conditions like
cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and neurodegenerative
diseases. While the protective and beneficial physiological
effects of R. rosea are well documented, including lifespan
extension in D. melanogaster, its mechanism of action remains largely unknown. Among the several possible explanations, it may work by mitigating mitochondrial
dysfunction. To address the question of the mechanism of
action of R. rosea, mitochondrial dysfunction was induced
chemically in cultured cells using dinitrophenol and rotenone followed by administration of the extract. To ascertain any rescue in function, ATP levels were measured in
human cultured cells. It was found that R. rosea increased
levels of ATP in both of the models, indicating that R. rosea
may mitigate its positive effects by rescuing cells from issues of the mitochondria.
Mechanical Characterization of Recycled Aggregates
in Concrete
Gustav Quinn
Mentor: Ayman Mosallam
The effects of the addition of various recycled aggregates
to ready-mix concrete were investigated. Batches of readymix concrete were prepared with varying amounts of
commonly recycled materials, like rubber and glass, and
were subjected to a compressive strength test. The stressstrain relationship and Poisson’s ratio were measured. The
samples were compared to the control to determine the
variance in mechanical properties. Although compressive
strength was decreased across the board, recycled aggregates have promise in non-structural applications.
The Perception of Male Sex-Roles in Media
Richard Ramos
Mentor: Catherine Bolzendahl
Gender, as a social construction, involves conceptions of
appropriate behavior and traits based on sex. For men this
is seen through the social construction of masculinity, or
ideas about what it means to be a “good” man in society.
Various social institutions support and promulgate masculinity, but popular media has been recognized as a key site
for the representation of masculine stereotypes. This article
concerns how men perceive the messages in these advertisements. Theories of media influence suggest consumers
selectively perceive and consume media, suggesting that
there is a gap between how young men are portrayed and
how young men view these portrayals. Alcohol advertisements have been recognized as a key contributor for the
portrayal of men participating in masculine activities or
behaviors .While researchers have effectively shown that
alcohol advertisements reinforce negative male sex roles,
much less work has been done on how men perceive the
messages in these advertisements. Using the theory of interpretive community, developed by Stanley Fish, this
study examines the issue of how sharing a media experience with an interpretative community verse individually
may have an effect on perception and experience of that
piece of media. Participants were all shown a series of
three beer commercials. Six individual interviews and two
focus groups were conducted with volunteer males, African American, Indian, Asian and Mexican at University
California Irvine.
Structural and Functional Analysis of Human Cortical
and Subcortical Visual Pathways
Jacob Redmond
Mentor: Alyssa Brewer
Patients with hemianopsia from damage to the occipital
lobe experience a full or partial loss of the ability to perceive one half of their visual world in one or both eyes.
Our long-term goal is to measure the plasticity of visual
cortex in these patients as a result of natural recovery or
rehabilitation. Past research in this area has been limited by
coarse, low resolution measurements. A recent study produced promising results for measurements of cortical plasticity during visual rehabilitation of hemianopsia patients,
but the regions of investigation were limited to early visual
areas such as V1, V2 and V3. Now, advances in neuroimaging techniques have produced high resolution measurements of retinotopic organization not only across
human visual cortex, but also in subcortical structures such
as the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, regions
which may be involved in the process of recovery and cortical reorganization. Here, we use structural and functional
magnetic resonance imaging to measure retinotopic responses and organization in the cortical visual pathways
and subcortical structures in four healthy adult human subjects. These in vivo measurements of normal functional responses within these cortical and subcortical pathways to
these stimuli can next be used as a reference for compari-
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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son to measurements in patients who have suffered a cortical stroke resulting in hemianopsia and are undergoing
visual rehabilitation therapy.
Using Depth to Create a Better Visual Interface
Brian Reinhart
Mentor: Deva Ramanan
Over the last decade there has been a tremendous growth
in the use and research of interface technologies that stem
away from the traditional mouse and keyboard. These new
interfaces rely on touch and voice, but we believe that the
human hand has a nearly infinite range of gestures and that
there is potential for far more innovation in the field of
ubiquitous interfaces. The goal of my research over the last
year has been to employ depth cameras to allow us to perform real-time gesture recognition. Using the process of
nearest neighbors and various heuristics to decrease the
size of the search space, we can effectively map various
gestures to interface events.
Investigating Properties of the Auditory Temporal
System
Matthew Richardson
Mentor: Bruce Berg
Traditionally, the earliest stages of temporal processing in
the peripheral auditory system have not been differentiated
from the earliest stages of spectral processing, in which
frequency information is detected from energy cues in
sound. However, a new technique aimed at better isolating
this peripheral system has recently corroborated growing
evidence that the filtering properties of these two processes are markedly different. The bandwidths of temporal
filters were shown to be wider than spectral filters and
most surprisingly they did not appear to vary with intensity
level. This technique adjusts two equidistant narrow bands
of noise (the maskers) in the frequency range around a
narrow band of noise that is either 10Hz amplitudemodulated (the signal) or unmodulated (no-signal).
Thresholds for detecting the depth of modulation of the
signal are determined as a function of the bandwidth between the two maskers. To further investigate yet unknown properties of temporal filters this study employed a
similar technique. However, each masker was adjusted individually while the other was held at a constant distance
from the signal/no-signal band in order to observe possible asymmetries between the separate threshold functions.
Also, data was collected at two intensity levels to further
test the effects of intensity on filter bandwidths. The
threshold functions from the two masker adjustment tasks
did reveal differences in effective masking on each side of
the signal, giving evidence of asymmetries in temporal filters. Similar threshold functions were observed for both
intensity conditions, supporting the finding of intensity
independence for temporal filters.
Latina/o Mestizaje: The Influence of Generational
Assimilation on Spiritual and Religious Practices
Maria Rivera
Mentor: Jeanett Castellanos
Although Roman Catholicism is the leading religion among
Latina/os, many practice folk beliefs and other spiritual
practices. This study investigated how the historical colonization of Mexicans has influenced Mexicans’ religious
and spiritual beliefs, values and practices. Twelve selfidentified Mexican and Mexican-American participants (six
women and six males), six of whom identified themselves
as curanderas/os and six active Roman Catholic Church
members, took part in a qualitative study that used a purposive random sample. The data gathered was examined
for patterns of similarities found in the interviews. Emerging themes include: (1) Roman Catholics have learned their
religious beliefs, behaviors and values from their mothers’
teachings, (2) Curanderos were raised in a Christian faith
religion and began to practice Curanderismo because they
spiritually felt that it was a gift from God in order to heal,
help and cleanse individuals in need. Curanderos learned
these spiritual practices as deemed by the church, from
their mother and other family members. Individuals who
seek curanderismo services were found to dually practice
religious (i.e., Catholicism) and spiritual practices and beliefs. Participants who consulted curandera/os sought consultations to help maintain and protect their families and
themselves. The study’s findings provide insight for the
Latina/o dual belief systems in the context of religion and
spirituality. Further, the results help mental health and service providers to understand Latina/o cultural values, beliefs, and practices.
Contribution of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder and Early Substance Use to Adult
Delinquency
Jenny Roa
Mentor: Timothy Wigal
The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and
early substance use (before age 15) contribute to adult delinquency (ages 18 and older). We hypothesized that individuals with ADHD who were early substance users would
engage in more delinquent behavior than individuals: 1)
without ADHD who were not early substance users, 2)
without ADHD who were early substance users, and 3)
with ADHD who were not early substance users. Data was
examined from the follow-up studies on the NIMH Collaborative Multisite Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
Individuals with ADHD and without ADHD from the UC
Irvine site were classified into groups based on meeting
criteria as early substance users (before age 15) at the 24or 36-month, 6- or 8-year follow-up assessments. Delin-
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quency scores were assigned to ADHD and LNCG individuals (early and non-early substance users) based on a
range of self-reported involvement in delinquent acts at the
12-year assessment. One hundred five participants had
complete substance use and delinquency information.
ADHD/early substance users resulted with the highest
delinquency scores, followed by ADHD/non-early substance users, LNCG/early substance users, and
LNCG/non-early substance users. Secondary analyses on
moderators of substance use suggested that ADHD individuals who had histories of family substance use, single
parents, low family incomes, and peers engaging in substance use were more likely to become early substance users.
of Lille’s Plaint of Nature, where he uses Nature as a voice
through which he condemns ways of life that are considered by his society as deplorable, such as homosexuality. In
addition, Nature is present in many famous literary works
of that time period that convey the message that gender
roles are rigid and immutable, scolding characters for displaying behaviors that are not normative to their respective
genders and classes. Just as easily, Nature solidifies class
roles, punishing characters that behave as those of lower
social status. Yet, in all of these texts, the mere fact that the
characters that Nature punishes seem to “naturally” behave in the ways that society deems deviant shows that the
naturalization of its class and gender roles is a weak argument. With this in mind, this paper examines four texts in
which naturalized nobility and gender roles are both presented and called into question: The Wife of Bath’s Tale by
Geoffrey Chaucer, Le Roman de Silence by Heldris of Cornwall, Lanval by Marie de France, and Gawain and the Green
Knight by the Gawain poet. Using the primary characters in
each text as examples, this paper argues that these authors
saw gender and class as entities that are not as rigid as their
society held them to be.
Jane Austen: Literature and Characterization in
Transition
Melissa Rose
Mentor: Irene Tucker
Jane Austen contributed to the formation of the emerging
genre of the novel with her particular style of realism based
on an accumulation of seemingly mundane details. The
prominent style of writing in the eighteenth century was
based on William Gilpin’s theory of the picturesque. It was
originally associated with landscaping with the goal to
regulate nature and, therefore, make it more beautiful.
When applied to literature, the picturesque tended to have
a didactic and often moralizing effect. Prominent writers
such as Samuel Richardson created heroines like Pamela to
be models to women readers. Jane Austen defied such
regulating and moralizing forces. Her novels contained
such a magnitude of details that they could no longer be
defined as picturesque, yet contemporary critics praised
them as being more lifelike than the novels of her predecessors. With this new kind of realism came a new kind of
character. According to the contemporary newspaper Literary Gazette, Austen’s characters resembled real people
more than characters had in previous novels. Their personalities did not always confirm to the didactic principles
of the picturesque and wicked characters were as capable
of achieving happy endings as the heroines. The evolution
of this new kind of character can be observed over the
span of Austen’s career from Sense and Sensibility to Emma
to Persuasion. This new style shifted the picturesque purpose of promoting the existing aristocratic social hierarchy
to developing a new hierarchy based on merit.
Breaking the Game: How the Mario Brothers, Link,
and Little Nell Get what they Came For
Ilyssa Russ
Mentor: Jami Bartlett
Theorists of play and critics of video game design often
contend that there is a “narrative paradox” within game
studies—a question of whether a player can ever truly have
a form of human agency or free will within the constraints
of a totally designed and coded platform. Two modes of
thought exist in contemporary game studies: ludology—
studying games simply as games—and narratology—studying
games through their storylines and narrative processes.
When looked at in relation to more traditional, literary or
textual forms of narrative like Charles Dickens’ serial novel
The Old Curiosity Shop, the kinds of narrative found in
games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda seem to
function in very different ways. Therefore, a new mode of
inquiry—spatiality—seems to be a way to bridge the gap
between previously limited classes of query. Spatiality studies game designers less as storytellers or code-programmers
and more as narrative architects. The “space” a game creates can act as an intermediary deposit between narrative
and platform design because “space” is a two-fold system;
it is both a structurally designed mechanical apparatus and
a place where narrative potential is embedded. A redefinition of agency in both game and narrative theory, then,
becomes crucial to an understanding of “semblances” of
agency in games in an ultimate attempt to move beyond
the term “agency” all together—something this paper calls
“breaking the game.”
Nature and the Intersection of Gender and Class in
Medieval Literature
Skyler Rosso
Mentor: Rebecca Davis
The figure of Nature in Medieval European texts is often
portrayed as a moral guide whose task it is to instruct and
enforce societal morals and norms. This is evident in Alan
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Protecting Loyalty to the Truth? A Comparative
Analysis of Whistleblower Legislation
Sara Sabour
Mentor: Diana Kapiszewski
This research seeks to account for cross-national variation
in governments’ commitment to addressing fraud and corruption as reflected in their whistleblower protection laws.
It examines every national comprehensive whistleblower
protection law in existence: those of Canada, Ghana, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Malaysia, Peru, Romania, South
Africa, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United
States. Since these laws are a very effective corruption and
fraud detection mechanism, we might expect that countries
around the world would have well-developed whistleblower laws providing whistleblowers significant protection from retaliation. However, this is not the case; these
laws vary in degree of development and protection. This
project seeks to explain why such laws vary in enactment
year, type of wrongdoing protected, and degree of protection and/or sanctions they place on whistleblowers. Most
literature on whistleblower protection laws is primarily
descriptive and fails to distinguish between the condition(s) that facilitate introducing whistleblower laws and
the causes that actually push whistleblower laws to be
passed. I make a contribution to that literature, arguing
that the type and degree of scandal prior to the enactment
of a whistleblower law and a country’s orientation in the
collectivist-individualistic national culture dimension help
to explain the cross-national variation in the level of protection. Understanding cross-national variation in the introduction of this type of legislation represents the first
step toward a fruitful discussion about what constitutes an
effective whistleblower protection law and when and
where these laws are effective tools to combat corruption.
Further, with the increasing occurrence of international
conferences focused on “corruption,” a better understanding could shape the type of technical assistance the global
community provides.
UCI’s Undergraduate Law Forum Journal:
Comparison of American and Italian Copyright Law
Sara Sabour
Mentors: Sherilyn Sellgren, Caesar Sereseres
The American and Italian systems of copyright protection
are similar in many respects. However, the Italian system
has an additional emphasis on the concept of “author’s
rights” (as opposed to the more pragmatic, economicallyoriented focus in the American system). This project focuses on whether the Italian system might benefit from
incorporation of an American-style “fair use defense” to
copyright infringement claims, or whether such a defense
would conflict with Italy’s cultural values or perhaps even
with the underlying principles of the authors’ rights perspective.
Hearing Testing Using iPhone Application
Technology
Niloufar Safvati
Mentor: Hamid Djalilian
Hearing loss has become a prominent issue in teenagers
and young adults due to the popularity of listening to music through various music players, and continues to be an
issue for adults as they age. Therefore, routine hearing tests
are among the crucial factors in maintaining proper hearing
health. This study examines the accuracy of an automated
iPhone hearing test as compared to conventional manual
audiometry. The hearing of 23 individuals was assessed
using conventional audiometry, the iPhone hearing test in a
soundproof room, and the iPhone hearing test in a quiet
room at the participants’ residences. The hearing test results of the conventional hearing test were not statistically
different from the hearing test results of either the iPhone
hearing test taken in the sound-booth or the iPhone hearing test taken at home. The conventional hearing test differed by only 5dB or less in 72% of hearing thresholds
taken from the iPhone hearing test in the sound-booth and
76% of hearing thresholds taken from the iPhone hearing
test taken at home. The relatively high accuracy of the
proposed iPhone hearing test makes it a beneficial technological application that is both user-friendly and economical.
Analysis of Function of Fndc3a in Mammary Gland
Development and Adiposity in Mice
Amy Sage
Mentor: Grant MacGregor
Human obesity is a risk factor for development of breast
cancer, as well as cardiovascular and inflammatory disease.
An important goal of basic research is to identify novel
genes involved in regulating adipose mass and mammary
gland development and understanding how they function.
The laboratory mouse is a powerful mammalian genetic
model system that can be used to investigate biology of the
mammary gland and body mass regulation. We are investigating the function of a novel protein, Fibronectin type-III
domain containing protein 3a (Fndc3a) in mammary gland development and adiposity. Fndc3a is expressed in several
tissues, including mammary epithelial cells and adipocytes.
Loss of function of Fndc3a in mice causes defective mammary gland development associated with increased body
mass in females. To analyze consequences of the loss of
Fndc3a on mammary gland development, inguinal mammary glands were isolated from 3-, 7- and 12-week old
mice, and at day 2 post-partum Fndc3a mutant, heterozygote and control mice. Mammary tissue was analyzed using
histology and whole mount analysis. Fndc3a -/- mice exhibited increased body, mammary gland, and ovarian fat pad
mass. Mutants displayed abnormal mammary gland development, with delayed ductal infiltration of the mammary
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fat pad, reduced total duct length, decreased ductal diameters, and adipocyte hypertrophy. Heterozygote mice displayed intermediate phenotypes in adipocyte mass and
mammary gland development. The findings indicate that
Fndc3a is required in a dose dependent manner for several
discrete aspects of mammary gland development as well as
regulation of body mass in the adult female mouse.
database. All data were at the aggregate level and broken
down in a 12-month time series. This study found that
bank failures do have an effect on consumer confidence.
The Effects of Rhodiola rosea on Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Drosophila melanogaster
Kathyrn Salvadora
Mentor: Mahtab Jafari
Rhodiola rosea is used in Asian and European countries to
stimulate physical endurance and central nervous system
activity while also relieving symptoms of fatigue, depression, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases. We recently found that R. rosea could increase lifespan and
improve health in the fly Drosophila melanogaster. However,
its mechanism of action in humans or flies is still unknown. Our previous finding that R. rosea could also decrease the levels of reactive oxygen species in isolated
mitochondria suggest that it could protect against mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria are essential cellular
components that convert the food we eat into a usable
energy source, ATP, and are involved in cell growth, differentiation, and death (apoptosis). Dysfunction of mitochondria is increasingly implicated in many age-related
diseases, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and
type 2 diabetes. In this study, we examined the action of
Rhodiola rosea on mitochondrial dysfunction through the
use of two fly models: flies heterozygous for the mitochondrial antioxidant superoxide dismutase enzyme
(SOD2), and flies supplemented with the mitochondrial
uncoupler dinitrophenol (DNP). Rhodiola rosea extends the
lifespan of SOD2 heterozygous flies as expected. However, the extract appeared to exacerbate the action of
DNP, extending lifespan at a low, beneficial dose of DNP,
and shortening lifespan at a high, detrimental DNP dose.
This latter finding suggests that R. rosea could act in a
manner similar to DNP, though we found no evidence of
increased mitochondrial content, increased heat shock protein levels, or decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, features associated with DNP treatment.
The Effect of Prenatal Exposure to the Obesogen
Tributyltin on Murine Adiposity
Margaret Sahu
Mentor: Bruce Blumberg
The widespread incidence of obesity is a critical current
global epidemic. Research shows that obesity is not only
the result of caloric overdosing, but also of the interaction
between our metabolism and the environment. Individuals
vary both in the amount of energy they store and in the
types of adipose tissue they store it in. These differences
can play a significant role in the development of obesity
and associated pathologies, such as insulin resistance, high
blood pressure and dyslipidemia. The obesogen hypothesis
proposes that exposure to certain environmental compounds promotes obesity by altering the balance of lipid
accumulation and storage at the cellular level. One wellknown obesogen is tributyltin (TBT), an endocrine disrupter used as a biocide and a plastic stabilizer. In this
study, we examined the effect of in utero TBT exposure on
mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and on different fat depots in C57BL/6J mice. TBT-exposed mice showed increased adiposity and increased adipocyte sizes in all
analyzed fat depots. These mice also showed increased
levels of adipogenic and decreased levels of osteogenic
gene markers at the mRNA level. These data indicate that
the obesogenic effect of TBT involves increasing white
adipose tissue size, which may result from promoting adipogenic gene expression at the expense of osteogenic
pathways.
The Effect of Bank Failures on Consumer Confidence
Stella Sakhon
Mentor: Gary Richardson
The Great Recession of 2007–2009, which originated from
the financial sector, was the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression. This reignited interest in
understanding the relationship between the financial crisis
and the economy. This study examines the effect bank
failures have on consumers’ confidence. To measure consumer confidence we used retail sales data that was compiled from the archives of the Board of Governors. Bank
failures were based on Ali Anari’s dataset on deposits of
failed banks. Other variables that were included are industrial production, production of consumer and producer
goods, selected commodities, and stock prices that was
compiled from the Historical Statistics of the United States
Altered Function of Kinesin by HALO Interaction
Jamil Samaan
Mentor: Steven Gross
Molecular motor transport via kinesin is an essential process of cell organization and function, and its impairment
can contribute to human neurologic diseases and cancer.
To better understand kinesin regulation, we work to dissect how the Halo protein contributes to control of lipid
droplet clearing in drosophila melanogaster embryos.
While we know that Halo regulates kinesin-mediated
transport, we do not know if the effect is direct (altering
kinesin) or indirect (targeting kinesin co-factors). Through
co-immunnoprecipitation pull-downs using truncated
K559 kinesin which lacks the tail domain, HALO was not
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observed to have a direct interaction with the kinesin head.
In vitro optical trap studies with full length kinesin also
showed no significant sign of activation or recruitment of
kinesin to cargo. These results have three potential interpretations: first, the recombinant HALO produced was not
functional, second that HALO in vivo works by altering
other proteins that affect kinesin, or third, that while
HALO in vivo does directly target kinesin, it does so only
when additionally interacting with additional unknown
partners. These questions will be addressed with a combination of injection studies of the recombinant HALO into
developing embryos, and Drosophila kinesin coimmunoprecipitation pull downs from embryo lysates.
Impact of Tai Chi on Athletic Performance
Asal Samadi
Mentor: Shin Lin
In Oriental Medicine the Chinese word “Qi” refers to vital
energy, which circulates through channels of the body
known as meridians. This flow of Qi is essential for health
and wellness, whereas blockage can lead to disease and
dysfunction. Mind-body practices are based on the idea
that the human body is connected to mind and brain functions. One such practice, Tai Chi, which originated in
China, includes the regulation of mind, body and respiration. This form of martial art is thought to enhance the
circulation of Qi in the body for health, wellness and healing. The objective of our research is to test whether incorporating Tai Chi techniques into daily exercise will
improve athletic performance. Each individual subject
lifted weights, and calculations based on the International
Fitness Professionals Association’s chart were made to
determine “one repetition maximum.” This study showed
that performing Tai Chi before weight lifting increased the
number of repetitions at 50% of one repetition maximum,
thus illustrating its benefits to athletic endurance.
All-Electric Car with Wireless Data Telemetry
Emilio Sanchez
Mentor: J. Michael McCarthy
This year’s goal is to produce racecars for competition in
the Energy Invitational event hosted by UCI in the spring.
This competition challenges the race team to achieve a
maximum speed and distance over a course for $1.00 of
energy. For the Energy Invitational competition our primary vehicle will be a new all-electric car. Our main test
bed is GAMMA; this vehicle will be a giant leap forward
for us in drive-train technology. This year’s objective is to
implement four-wheel torque vectored drive with braking
regeneration on the front wheels. The purpose of this project is to successfully torque vector the car’s wheels so that
the user has far better control when turning than most
modern cars. This project will implement braking regeneration on the front wheels, so as to recycle the car’s ki-
netic energy and store it back into the car batteries. Most
modern cars use only brake pads, essentially wasting the
vehicle’s kinetic energy. GAMMA will also feature realtime wireless data streaming of many electrical and mechanical aspects of the car, allowing the pit team crew, onboard-computer, and driver to readily optimize the car’s
performance. Looking towards the future, we are hoping
to learn from this project and also implement many aspects
of this system on future electric, hybrid, and fuel-cell car
projects.
Gender Differences in Math Course Selection across
High School Latino Students
Alyssa Sanders
Mentor: AnneMarie Conley
Research demonstrates that high school course taking is
related to students’ achievement and their college bound
success. Most of the student achievement literature is focused on course grades and test scores, paying little attention to course selection, although this does have a
profound affect on long-term success. Moreover, while the
gender gap in math achievement is starting to narrow
among the majority, much less is known about whether
this is true for minority populations as well. The goal of
this study is twofold: (1) to examine gender differences in
math course choices between Latino students and nonLatino students, and (2) evaluate gender differences in
math achievement. Data for this study comes from the CA
Motivation Project, and consists of data from one high
school in an urban school district within California. The
data follows a total of 789 students (46% female, 54%
male) from 2005 through 2008. The focus of the project
was to see if females are at a greater risk when it comes to
mathematical achievement in the Latino community.
Analysis of the data shows Latino students at this high
school are, on average, in lower level classes then other
ethnicities. In addition, females at this school are choosing
higher level classes than males among all four years in
every ethnicity.
Wnt and Angiogenesis: Gene Expression and
Implications in Mural Cell Recruitment
Daniel Sandoval
Mentor: Christopher Hughes
Wnts are secreted signaling molecules involved in polarization, migration and proliferation of many different cell
types including those involved in angiogenesis. In order to
investigate the role Wnt-5a may have on individual cell
types involved in angiogenesis, the gene expression levels
of Wnt-5a and its receptors were analyzed in fibroblasts,
monocytes, smooth muscle, and endothelial cells using
quantitative real time PCR. Once Wnt-5a and its receptors’
expression were characterized, cells were tested for their
migratory response to wnt5a conditioned medium in Tran-
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swells. Wnt-5a was expressed by all cell types, and receptors implicated in migration were expressed at higher levels
in smooth muscle cells. A larger number of smooth muscles cells migrated across Transwells when treated with
Wnt-5a conditioned media. These results suggest that Wnt5a may play a role in the recruitment of smooth muscle
during angiogenesis.
Groups A&B showed a higher increase in the relative rate
of blood flow, hemoglobin oxygen saturation and vascular
density when compared to Group C. We hypothesize that
the hemodynamic changes noted in Groups A&B is due to
a higher metabolic demand introduced by the islets. The
mouse DWM is an effective and inexpensive tool in the
longitudinal assessment of the vascular response to islet
transplantation and biomaterials. This simple and inexpensive model can be utilized as a tool to test the effects of
modifications in the physical and chemical composition of
biomaterial implants, on their biocompatibility. In combination with fluorescent microscopy, longitudinal in-vivo islet
survival and function studies can also be undertaken.
Importance of Incentives in Reducing Facility
Violence
Maritza Sandoval
Mentor: Cheryl Maxson
The California Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has undergone recent changes according to the remedial plans
that followed the Farrell lawsuit, including reducing population size, removing lengthy isolation lockdowns, and increasing the number of programs offered. Even with these
modifications, violence rates vary among the five youth
correctional facilities of DJJ. Some facilities have offered
incentives to their youth in an attempt to lower these rates
and the engagement of violence. Six staff interviews from
two DJJ facilities were analyzed to explore how incentives
were effective in reducing the amount of violence among
youth through the perception of the facility staff. Four
reoccurring themes were found, including rewards, facility
characteristics, feelings of safety, and violence levels. Incentives were offered in both facilities and were perceived
by staff to be a very effective way of reducing violence.
This serves as an example that good behavior among youth
in an institutional setting could be achieved without having
to resort to extreme measures of punishment.
Optimization and Characterization of Novel
Pyroelectric X-ray Sources for Medical Applications
Vladimir Satchouk
Mentor: Sabee Molloi
Pyroelectric crystals, materials which generate voltages due
to applied heat, show potential x-ray imaging and therapy
applications. As pyroelectric sources are inherently flux
limited, characterizing efficient x-ray production is necessary for practical applications. A polarized z-cut lithium
tantalate crystal measuring 1 cm3 was thermally cycled
across a temperature gradient of 140 °C in a 7x10-3 Torr
vacuum. Measurements of electron flux and x-ray spectrum were recorded and averaged for five thermal cycles
(heating and cooling). In addition, simulations for electronphoton conversion efficiencies in reflection and transmission geometry x-ray emitters were conducted using the
EGSnrc Monte Carlo simulation package using monoenergetic electron beams from 30 to 120 KeV with gold, silver,
tungsten, molybdenum, and copper targets of various
thicknesses. Spectral comparison between simulated models of experimental conditions and recorded experimental
spectra were compared using goodness-of-fit analysis. Anode target thickness and composition related to maximum
photon fluence were determined for tested target materials.
We found that a monoenergetic electron beam at 85 KeV
best approximated the overall spectral shape of the experimental setup at 0.22% RMS error between the observed and simulated spectrum. For the transmission
anodes simulated, copper produced the best electronphoton conversion ratio (incident electrons/detected photons) of 1.02% at a thickness of 8.5 microns at 100 keV.
Likewise, copper significantly outperformed other materials with respect to photon flux in reflection geometry. We
conclude that the complex emission properties of pyroelectric x-ray sources can be accurately approximated
using spectral fitting methods.
Noninvasive in-vivo Monitoring of Host Response to
Biomaterial Encapsulated Islets using the Dorsal
Window Model
Vatche Satamian
Mentors: Rahul Krishnan, Jonathan Lakey
Attempts at finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus are
being explored using surgical techniques, the most important being islet transplantation. When transplanted islets
are encapsulated within biomaterial devices and inserted
subcutaneously into recipients, their survival rates and
function are enhanced significantly. In-vivo, noninvasive
evaluation, assessment and monitoring of implanted islets
and biomaterials is difficult and expensive and it is the
problem which our study aims to address, using Laser
Speckle imaging (LSI), Wide-Field Functional Imaging
(WiFI) and the mouse dorsal window chamber model
(DWM). The host response to either porcine (Group A) or
mouse islets (Group B) encapsulated within macroscopic
high-guluronate alginate sheets was monitored using LSI
and WiFI, performed on days 0, 2, 4, and 7 postimplantation. Blank sheets were used as control (Group C).
By the seventh day, the peri-implant microvasculature in
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Designing and Building a Traverse System to
Measure Passive Scalar Mixing in Grid Generated
Turbulence
Thomas Sayles
Mentor: John LaRue
A passive scalar is any diffusive contaminant that does not
alter the flow in which it is introduced. Examples of passive scalars mixing in turbulent flow are everywhere:
smoke from a smokestack, fuel mixing in a pre-mixer, even
oil spills. In the wind tunnel lab at UCI, the passive scalar
which is introduced to turbulent flow is temperature. Located downstream of a biplanar grid, which creates turbulence, is another grid of very fine wires. Some of these
wires are heated, which in turn, introduce the passive scalar
to the flow. Velocity and temperature measurements are
taken using hot wire and cold wire anemometry. Until
now, these sensors were attached to a large traverse that
moved up and down the wind tunnel test section. However, more delicate measurements were needed and a new
traverse was to be designed and fabricated. This new minitraverse needed to take multiple cold wire measurements at
different positions simultaneously. The mini-traverse is
composed of very high quality calipers used to measure the
exact locations of the sensors. The computer aided design
was completed using SolidWorks, a three dimensional
modeling software. The fabrication of the mini-traverse
was completed in the machine shop. As the new minitraverse had more sensors than the previous traverse, the
LabView code necessary to operate and analyze this data
needed to be changed as well.
Assessment of Passive Scalar Wake Flapping
Thomas Sayles
Mentor: John LaRue
A passive scalar is any diffusive contaminant that does not
alter the flow in which it is introduced. The mixing of a
passive scalar is studied to better understand fuel mixing
with air in a gas turbine pre-mixer. This is modeled in the
UCI wind tunnel by passing air in the test section over
heated wires, which will create a thermal wake, and studying the mixing of the heated air and the ambient air. If the
incoming flow is laminar the thermal wake will evolve
through the test section as a thin sheet that slowly grows in
thickness through molecular diffusion. If the incoming
flow is turbulent, the wake width can increase substantially
signifying faster mixing due to the action of turbulent stirring. However, turbulence could act in two distinct ways:
flapping and diffusion. Flapping occurs when the turbulence flaps the thin wake without tearing it apart. This
would enhance the molecular mixing only slightly, but the
apparent width of the wake would look large without real
molecular mixing actually happening. On the other hand,
in the case of turbulent diffusion, the thin wake is broken
apart into smaller clumps and scattered around the location
of the original thin wake and in this case, molecular mixing
is greatly enhanced by the increased surface area. Simultaneous measurements using two cold wire sensors across
the wake can be used to assess the presence of flapping as
opposed to turbulent diffusion. By measuring the correlation between the two measurements as a function of the
gap between them, the presence of flapping can be detected by the presence of noticeable negative correlation.
Tentative measurements close to the heated wires have
shown the presence of this negative correlation, indicating
some flapping. Further measurements are still needed.
Do Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum
Disorder View Maternal Employment Differently than
Mothers of Neurotypical Children?
Ronica Señores
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Results from two recent meta-analyses indicate that maternal employment has positive and negative associations with
children's achievement and behavior, with the size and
direction of associations contingent on contextual factors,
features of maternal employment, and specific outcomes.
Less is known about the role of maternal employment in
relation to development in children with Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD). Recent studies indicate that mothers of
children with ASD often feel a responsibility to provide
their child with extra care and attention, which could be
especially difficult for mothers who are employed full-time
outside of the home. The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences in attitudes toward maternal
employment between mothers of children with ASD and
mothers of neurotypical (NT) children. The association
between attitudes toward maternal employment and school
readiness were also examined. Mothers of children with
ASD and NT children were administered the Beliefs
About the Consequences of Maternal Employment for
Children (BACMEC) scale to assess their beliefs about the
costs and benefits of maternal employment. Results are
expected to indicate that mothers of children with ASD
will perceive more costs and fewer benefits from maternal
employment than mothers of NT children. Further research that integrates mothers’ beliefs about the consequences of their employment with characteristics of
maternal employment (e.g., type, hours) and family indicators such as income could provide useful information and
guidance for families that are striving to combine parental
employment with the special demands of caring for children with ASD.
Dream and Fantasy in the Filipino-American Relation
Noelle Sepina
Mentor: Jared Sexton
This paper reframes the historical relation between the
United States and the Philippines by focusing on the rele-
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vance of the social force of imagination, or dreaming, in
producing the deeply asymmetrical political and economic
realities of both nations. It is divided into three sections.
The first section discusses cultural theorist Neferti Tadiar’s
concept of “fantasy-production” in order to outline a politics of dreaming and especially the ways in which U.S.
global hegemony depends, in part, upon the codification
and appropriation of Filipino dreams. The second section
describes linkages between this ongoing imperial relationship, from the U.S.-Philippines War onward, and the history of slavery and segregation in the U.S. with reference
to what the eminent sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois terms
“the problem of the color line.” For Du Bois, a rigorous
formulation of the color line is required in order to displace the ideas of race, nation, class, gender and sexuality
that constitute modern global history as a history of domination. It also entails bringing “the darker races of man”
[sic] into a shared ethical discourse. To that end, the third
section considers possibilities for alliance between African
Americans and Filipinos on the basis of a radical political
imagination with the potential to produce dreams that escape the dominant logic of the world-system of racial capitalism, the logic of the color line. This project presents a
critical account of the contradictory relationship between
the U.S. and the Philippines in hopes of dreaming otherwise, pursuing what literary critic Jean-Michel Rabate calls
“dream ethics.” Because the problem of the color line is a
global one, this dreaming involves of necessity the imagining another world, or sense of world, altogether.
liminary data of HUVEC with knocked down IFITM1
expression, but showed differing results in the agiogenic
process. Our findings suggest that CD81 interacts with
IFITM1 on the transcriptional level and plays a role in the
angiogenesis of HUVEC in vitro.
Causes of Corruption in Colonial India
Madiha Shahabuddin
Mentor: James Danziger
Much research has established that pervasive corruption
touches nearly all aspects of South Asian society today,
from police forces to statewide politics. From the mildest
forms such as rishwat (bribery) to violence and exploitation,
scholars have shown how corruption has a debilitating impact on the development of society. Less study, however,
has been devoted to identifying the causes of corruption in
this region. Some theories posit that the origins of corruption stem from British colonization of India, whose colonial administration may have planted the seeds for the
institutionalized corruption seen in modern South Asia.
Under this model, the British occupation of India was a
possible catalyst for the creation of new forms of corruption, due to their tendency to bestow “favors” upon Indian
leaders in exchange for control of the region. Through a
survey of books, scholarly articles, and archival sources by
Indian and Western authors, this thesis attempts to map
the development of corruption in South Asia vis-à-vis British colonization in the region. Through a case study of
colonial India, this paper includes a discussion on the definition of corruption, power organization in pre-colonial
India, and the administrative structure of the British Raj.
Based on this research, this study categorizes the types of
corruption that occurred and traces how colonization of
South Asia played a large role in developing the already
extant forms of corruption into the institutionalized forms
seen in the region today.
CD81 (TAPA-1) Interacts with IFITM1 at the
Transcriptional Level in Human Umbilical Vein
Endothelial Cells
Cameron Shaaban
Mentor: Christopher Hughes
Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels by
sprouting from the preexisting vasculature in response to
angiogenic stimuli. Intereferon Inducible Transmembrane
1 (IFITM1) has been identified as a regulator of angiogenisis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).
The tetraspanin CD81, the target of an antiproliferative
antibody (TAPA-1), was identified as a candidate gene for
interacting with and regulating IFITM1. Therefore, we
examined the role of CD81 in the expression of IFITM1
and its regulation of HUVEC angiogenesis. CD81 and
IFITM1 expression was examined in HUVEC cell strains
by quantitative real-time PCR. CD81 knockdown cells
were generated and examined by in vitro Fibrin Gel Bead
Assay. HUVEC cells with knocked down CD81 mRNA
showed decreased expression of IFITM1 mRNA. However, HUVEC cells with knocked down IFITM1 mRNA
did not show a significant difference in expression of
CD81 mRNA. Also, knockdown of CD81 in HUVEC
examined in the Fibrin Gel Bead Assay did not mirror pre-
Muslim American Women: Applicability of Islamic
Principles in a Western Context
Mehwish Shakeel
Mentors: Christine Hegel, Karen Leonard
Muslim women in the West are often misunderstood and
perceived through a series of stereotypes associated with
the religion of Islam. The project investigates how Muslim
women in America, specifically at UC Irvine, are mediating
a non-Islamic dominant culture in relation to their faith
and crafting a self-image through the fusion of Islamic and
American values. The research examines what aspects of
Western influence and popular American culture have
shaped the way these women interpret and practice Islam.
The concept of modesty is studied and the different ways
Muslim women practice this notion of modesty in their
daily actions. The study further investigates how Islam and
the Western values are compatible and applicable with one
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another through every day practices and decision-making
and the level at which Islam is adaptable and correlated to
the West in a broader context. The paper presents findings
based on interviews with Muslim women at UC Irvine.
The Years since 9/11 and U.S. Political Involvement
in the Middle East: A Study of Afghanistan
John Shen
Mentor: Donna Schuele
American foreign policy when it comes to U.S.Afghanistan relations has been somewhat muddled over
the years since Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Through
various machinations of the media and the presidencies of
both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, much work still
remains to be done on the ground overseas in the Middle
East. I will focus primarily on Afghanistan and combine
several different elements on several different topics, such
as public opinion on continued U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, the military viewpoint of the war in Afghanistan,
and the Congressional viewpoint on how the war is going
overseas. In addition, I will work in topics such as
women’s rights, U.S. intelligence in the field of information
gathering and counterintelligence in the wake of free elections, and finally some miscellaneous topics. The main goal
of my research is to find the underlying causes for the continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan. I wish to uncover
truths that few others know about, and truths that may be
censored. I wish to dig up information originating and told
from both sides of the conflict (U.S. and Afghanistan) in
the hopes that in doing so I will be able to gain a better
picture of what it is that’s going on “behind the scenes” in
the US war oversea in Afghanistan. Of course, though I
will draw information from both sides of the conflict, I will
focus exclusively on portraying the U.S. point of view
(whether it be its political, intelligence-related, economic,
military, and/or social aspects) of the conflict.
Motivation and Self-Regulation in Transfer Students:
Relations to Beliefs About Future Career
Gina Shirinian
Mentor: Jutta Heckhausen
Various challenges face recent college graduates transitioning from school to the workplace. The goal of this project
was to examine how education-related motivation and selfregulation strategies relate to students’ beliefs about their
future careers. Successful college students use various motivational and self-regulatory strategies to reach their academic goals and perform optimally. The specific
motivational and self-regulatory strategies investigated in
this study were education-related activation of: (1) behavioral resources such as time, effort, and skills (selective
primary control strategies), (2) additional motivational resources such as increasing commitment (selective secondary control strategies), and (3) creative means such as
soliciting help from others (compensatory primary control
strategies). The authors hypothesized that students who
endorsed these strategies would also have positive perceptions of the likelihood of obtaining a career goal. One
hundred and seventy transfer students at UCI specified
how certain, committed, and in control they were of attaining a self-identified career goal. Students also completed a
scale which measured the use of various motivational and
self-regulatory strategies. Results indicated a positive association between motivational and self-regulation strategies
and self-perceived ability to obtain future career goals.
These results provide support that motivational strategies
used in the education-domain are related to future beliefs
about career attainment. Thus, the benefits of using various education-related motivational and self-regulatory
strategies during college may reach beyond academic performance.
The Design and Technology Relationship: A Study
Involving iPad2
Tej Shiwakoti
Mentor: Sanjoy Mazumdar
Today, technology is playing a vital role in the ways people
think, work, and live. Many products seem to be very successful in the marketplace whereas others are neglected.
Some of this may be due to the functioning of the market,
pricing, marketing, and advertising, among others. The
sustainability lies in the design philosophy itself. From a
user’s perspective does design play a role in technological
products? Should it play role? This study pursued these
questions to understand the relationship between technology and design are interconnected. After briefly looking at
various digital tablet computers I selected the iPad2. The
iPad and iPad2 are examples of technologies that people
are purchasing, as sales are very high. Many news reports
indicate that these are being introduced and used in fields
that vary from medical school, to K-12 education, to
manufacturing, film-making and more. Focusing on the
iPad2, I studied the relation between technology and design in depth by examining academic sources, such as
books and journal articles, and conducted Web research
regarding the product, its capabilities, and product reviews
available on the Web, and some audio video materials, and
compared it with the real product. More specifically, I
looked at a software-hardware combination—Sketchbook
Pro for iPad2. Based on this I developed a categorization
of users (Professional, Regular, and Novice), because they
have different ways of interfacing and using the product.
In conclusion, I suggest how this might affect the design
of such technologies.
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Effect of Alk1 on VEGF/VEGFR2 Expression in
Endothelial Cells
Ankita Shukla
Mentor: Christopher Hughes
Alk1 is a member of the TGF-β receptor family and is expressed primarily by arterial endothelial cells (EC). Mutations in Alk1 are responsible for Hereditary Hemorrhagic
Telangiectasia Type 2 (HHT2), a disease that causes arteriovenous malformations (AVMS) and capillary overgrowths. Mutations in Alk1 perturb key factors of
angiogenesis such as VEGF and others downstream to it.
This study investigated the role of Alk1 in the expression
of VEGF and its receptor 2 (VEGFR2) by knocking out
the gene using siRNAs. SiAlk1-treated cells were also incorporated in a 3-D fibrin gel, which simulates angiogenesis in vitro. The data indicates that loss of Alk1 increases
sprouting even at high concentrations of VEGF, while the
optimal sprouting concentration for control cells is
1ng/ml. Also, loss of Alk1 resulted in a significant increase
only in VEGFR2 expression, but not in VEGF. Therefore,
it was concluded that although loss of Alk1 may be sufficient in increasing sprouting, it does not necessarily increase VEGF signaling to downstream factors.
Application of Images in Colonial Mexico
Pablo Silva Jr.
Mentor: Rachel O’Toole
My research focuses on the conversion sites and the methods employed by the religious authorities to convert the
indigenous natives of Uruapan in the Mexican colonial
region of Michoacán. I am arguing that the “spiritual conquest” was not as successful as many Catholic evangelical
chroniclers claimed during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. My research explores how exactly mendicant
friars employed the architecture of small chapels and temples along with the visual imaginary to convert the indigenous natives. Conversion ultimately was a slow progression
of acculturation and syncretism into Catholicism. Indigenous religion and Christian doctrine were entwined in a
process that, over time, became naturalized and formed a
hybrid ideology and new Mexican religious culture.
Construction of Active Turbulence Generator to Study
Passive Scalar Mixing
Adam Silver
Mentor: John LaRue
Turbulent mixing of a passive scalar can be applied to
study many interesting phenomena such as dispersion of
pollutants. A passive scalar is a contaminant that diffuses
in a flow without having any dynamical effect on the fluid
motion. To study turbulent mixing in a wind tunnel it is
typical to use a passive grid consisting of stationary rods to
generate nearly homogeneous and isotropic turbulence.
However passive grids generate very low intensity turbulence. To obtain higher intensity an active grid with rotating flaps can be used. The active grid consists of 30
stepper motors which rotate 18 horizontal and 12 vertical
rods controlled by two microcontrollers. My task was programming the microcontrollers to deliver highly randomized motor control to generate nearly isotropic and
homogeneous turbulence. Upon beginning, detailed tutorials for single core and multiple core microcontrollers were
completed in order to better understand their programming and the functionality. It was then that the existing
program was redesigned and improved to better generate
highly randomized motor control. Newly added capabilities
include control of re-assignment times for random velocities and directions of the motors; this level of randomization is expected to be required for generating isotropic and
homogeneous turbulence. Upon programming, the limits
on randomization capabilities of the microcontrollers were
discovered, however the current design is appropriate for
the applications. After programming was completed, additional assistance in the completion of the grid was provided.
Visual Search Asymmetry in Luminance, Contrast,
and Blackshot Texture Discrimination
Andrew Silva
Mentor: Charles Chubb
Previous research implicates three separate mechanisms by
which the human brain preattentively discriminates textures devoid of color and spatial structure: texture luminance, texture contrast, and amount of pure black in the
texture, hereafter termed “blackshot.” This conclusion
suggests that textures with identical levels of luminance,
contrast and blackshot, but differing levels of other qualities, are impossible to discriminate preattentively. However, this understanding of texture perception may be
incomplete, as previous studies used stimuli that did not
account for potential asymmetries in figure/ground perception. This study examines this crucial relationship to
determine if the human perceptual system reacts differently to figures with high levels of one of the three aforementioned qualities than figures with low levels of the
same quality. In order to accomplish this, subjects were
asked to locate a texture-filled target of either high or low
incidence of a given quality amongst a background filled
with texture of the same quality but opposite incidence
level. Subjects performed this judgment for luminance,
contrast, and blackshot. A likelihood ratio test revealed
significant perceptual asymmetries across conditions for
every subject. Further analysis confirmed strong systematic
patterns of asymmetry across all subjects. This suggests
that the current model of grayscale texture perception is
inadequate to explain the brain’s perceptual mechanisms.
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Girls Like Me & Other Stories: A Thesis
Hannah Simon
Mentor: Ron Carlson
I started writing the stories for my thesis during the summer of 2011. The first story I wrote, “The Revenge of the
Trailer Park Heiress” was a quirky tale about a violent and
poor girl living in a trailer park who insisted that she was
“The Trailer Park Heiress,” (and that her rival Becky Kay
Pastie was not). During the time I wrote this story, I was
trying very hard to make a story about a “crazy person”
instead of fashioning a story organically. I wanted the
“Trailer Park Heiress” to be funny, and sad, and dark—
very much so a dark comedy. The second story I wrote
was “Tickles.” Again, another tale—a bit contrived. Because I was still in that “tale” mindset, I was trying to think
of something quirky and weird, that could be endearing
and sentimental and make people cry, and yet still be centered around crazy-ish people. As I continued to write
more tales, my advisor, Ron Carlson, told me to write
more “real” pieces; stories that meant something to me. I
then wrote five or six stories, not really about the “insane”
as a group, but stories that are centered around a very neurotic and quirky girl who may have Aspergers, may have
OCD, might be schizo, but she is real and part me. I hope
you enjoy my stories.
The Art of Community Health and Healing
Sylvia Smith
Mentors: Zahra Ahmed, Jessica Millward
During the summer of 2011, I engaged my concurrent research studying the relationship between African diasporic
dance and its communities. By observing this specific cultural continuity, I aspired to apply acquired research
knowledge regarding the effects dance has on the health of
individuals and, consequently, their entire community.
Namely, by initiating community cohesion through dance,
the project’s purpose was to observe the physical and mental health benefits of dance, modeling a tradition of cultural
continuities that is centuries long. This project idea was
initiated out of work that emerged out of the “Collaborative Conversations on the Continent” partnership between
the University of Ghana, Legon and twenty-four UCI faculty, staff, and students. Through this work, I aspired to
initiate and observe a holistic approach to AfricanAmerican community building by constructing a space
where the gap between theory and practice would be
bridged. Specifically, I tested the theories revolving around
African diasporic cultural retention and continuums, and
community health and healing, by exercising socialization
practices and constructing a communal space focused
around dance, which drew on strategies that encourage
potential mental and physical health. It also served to further observe the results of community building through
the African derived aesthetic of dance for the aim of con-
cluding innovative yet historic methods for community
preservation, health, and growth. Therefore, as one demonstration of this research, during the Symposium I will
present a visual representation of the program accompanied with excerpts from my paper.
The Potential of Non-Subspecies I Salmonella enterica in Cancer Therapy
Bossakara Sokhom
Mentor: Nabil Arrach
Salmonella has a natural ability to colonize solid tumors, and
survive in both hypoxic and oxygenated regions of the tumor. To date, Salmonella developed for anticancer therapy
belong to Salmonella enterica subspecies I, a group that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), causes more than 99% of infection in humans. In
contrast, non-subspecies I strains of Salmonella enterica are
known as commensals to human, and mainly cause diseases in children and immuno-compromised individuals.
Here, we explore the potential of non-subspecies I strains
in cancer therapy. Ten non-subspecies I strains were tested
for their ability to invade and kill human breast, prostate,
and colorectal cancer cells. All ten strains were efficient at
killing cancer cells similar to subspecies I strains S. typhimurium. The cytotoxicity by Salmonella was mainly due to
extracellular bacteria. We also found that non-subspecies I
S. houtenae has a higher invasion rate, but lower intracellular
replication than S. typhimurium. Due to their reduced virulence, and their ability to invade and kill cancer cells, Salmonella enterica non-subspecies I strains may prove to be a
good alternative for the delivery and activation of cancer
therapeutics.
Phylogenetics of Fishes in the Family Stichaeidae
Abraham Sosa
Mentor: Donovan German
Modern comparative physiology has become evolutionary
in nature, and multiple-species comparisons are common.
However, valid comparisons of physiological or morphological parameters among species must be grounded in
phylogenetically-informed analyses to avoid dubious conclusions. The goal of this project is to generate a molecular
phylogeny for fishes in the family Stichaeidae, which represent a model for understanding the evolution of dietary
specialization on the physiological level in vertebrate animals. Tissues (muscle or fin) from stichaeids were obtained
either from museums, or directly from fishes in their natural habitat in California, and DNA was extracted. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) conditions were optimized
for three genes [two mitochondrial (16s and cytb) and one
nuclear (tmo4c4)], and PCR is underway. Here, I will present the phylogeny based on 16s sequences, which are
completed for all 160 individuals for the analysis. The phylogenetic tree (in progress) generated in this study will ad-
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vance the field nutritional physiology by providing the
backdrop for a rigorous, phylogenetically informed analysis.
understand recent shifts in different women’s relationships
to oral contraceptives. In the case of the birth control pill
as a lifestyle drug, I show how the marketing campaigns of
Yaz and Seasonale target middle-class white women with
the promise of disciplining their bodies to adhere to rescripted concepts of femininity, while expanding the market for those drugs. I also look at federal and individual
state decisions to cut funds for services such as Medicaid
and Planned Parenthood that help provide low-income
women and women of color with access to oral contraceptives. Although these cases appear to be separate occurrences, I argue that both the expansion of a previously
limited pharmaceutical market and the privatization of access to the birth control pill are results of the neoliberal
political economy in which social welfare is privatized and
free market conditions to increase capital accumulation are
promoted.
Defining Devices: A Revised Typology of Energy
Feedback Technology
Cassandra Squiers
Mentors: Richard Matthew, Daniel Stokols
Feedback is promoted as a promising strategy for energy
conservation and hundreds of devices have emerged on
the market in recent years. Reviews of feedback research
have found average savings of 10%, with effects ranging
from increases in consumption to reductions of over 20%.
These studies suggest that effectiveness varies based on the
type of feedback, and propose categories to better understand and distinguish between these types. However, current categorizations lack the technological sophistication to
account for the diversity in available products. A review of
existing typologies identified the following issues: (1) the
200+ currently available feedback devices in the marketplace are grouped into four (or fewer) categories; (2) categories focus primarily on the type of information and
ignore physical design and operating differences; and (3)
none provide a systematic description of the specific attributes that vary by category. This paper presents a revised
typology of technological feedback devices, derived theoretically from a qualitative device review, as well as empirically, via hierarchical cluster analysis of 218 feedback
products coded on 120 device attributes. It is hoped that
this report will assist both researchers and practitioners in
the fields of energy efficiency and conservation and that it
may serve as the basis for publicly available product information on feedback devices, much like that which is available for other consumer electronics categories (e.g.
televisions, cameras, etc.).
Regulation of Kinesin by CK II
Alyssa Strawn
Mentor: Steven Gross
Molecular motor transport is responsible for the active
transportation of organelles, vesicles and proteins through
the cell. However, regulation of this complex transportation system is poorly understood. Deregulation of kinesin,
a molecular motor, has been linked to several human diseases such as neuro-degeneration and type II diabetes.
Kinesin is composed of two heavy chain globular domains
that “walk” along the microtubule, along with two cargo
specific light chains. Research shows that casein kinase II
(CK II), a signaling kinase, activates kinesin via the catalytic alpha subunit interaction though the mechanism is
unknown. A proposed co-evolution theory supports this
interaction. To test this theory, His-tagged CKII alpha was
purified and will first be tested for its activity by using
microtubule sedimentation experiments to assay for the
fraction of active kinesin. Once the recombinant CKIIalpha is shown to be active, we can test the predictions by
making selected CKII-alpha point-mutants that are predicted by the theory to alter the effect of CKII on kinesin
in particular ways.
Lifestyle Drugs, Budget Cuts, and Neoliberalism:
Reshaping Women’s Relationships to Oral
Contraceptives
Cassandra Stiftl
Mentors: Karen Kim, Jennifer Terry
Women’s access to reproductive technologies has always
been stratified racially. In Killing the Black Body Dorothy
Roberts demonstrates how poor black women’s reproduction is discouraged and pathologized while middle class
white women are encouraged to reproduce. She later updates this argument in “Race Gender and Genetic Technologies: A New Reproductive Dystopia?” to show how
Neoliberal policies and ideology mediate women’s relationships to reprogenetic technologies such as in-vitro fertilization and pre-natal genetic screening such that black
women’s and white women’s experiences are no longer in
direct opposition to one another. In a similar turn to Neoliberalism, I will look to neoliberal policies and ideology to
Identify Potential Subunit Vaccine Candidates for
Plasmodium Falciparum
Nathan Sugarman
Mentor: Philip Felgner
Plasmodium falciparum, a parasite that infects humans leading
to Malaria disease, is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the developing world. As such, the development of an effective vaccine is urgently needed.
Vaccines currently in clinical trials target a select number
of antigens and have demonstrated limited effectiveness in
preventing illness. A critical factor in field is determining
what constitutes protective antimalarial immunity in hu-
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mans and which antigens are responsible for mediating
protection. In this experiment we plan to distinguish antigens that contribute to long term immunity of plasmodium
falciparum. More than 100 patient sera samples, that
spanned the course of two years, were probed on a protein
microarray consisting of 823 Plasmodium falciparum antigens.
These samples were obtained from a clinical study to test
an attenuated whole organism vaccine. One group of volunteers received the vaccine, the second group got the placebo, and both groups were challenged with parasite
infected mosquitos. The vaccinated group was protected
from the challenge. The placebo group was not protected
and developed parasitemia with symptoms of malaria disease. Vaccinated individuals prior to challenge had a distinct antibody profile against hundreds of antigens that was
lacking in the placebo controls. The controls developed an
antibody response to the pararasitemia that developed after
they were challenged, but this response was against a different collection of antigens than was induced by the vaccination. These results reveal the extent of the immune
response that results after exposure to parasites, and highlight a small set of non-blood stage antigens that are
strongly associated with the protective response induced in
individuals immunized with attenuated parasites. This
work also identified subunit vaccine antigen candidates
that may be biomarkers useful for monitoring individuals
in malaria vaccine clinical trials.
Analysis of Tumor-Stromal Migration on
Micromechanical Reconfigurable Co-Cultures
Philip Suh
Mentor: Elliot Hui
Signaling between a tumor and its surrounding stroma
provides significant cues for tumor progression. Moreover,
investigation of tumor and stroma interaction may provide
important clues to the initiation of localized angiogenesis,
the spread and growth of new vasculature. Newly formed
vasculature provides tumors with a nutrient rich environment to sustain and support increased tumor proliferation.
In order to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the cancer microenvironment, tumor and stromal cell, specifically
HT-1080 human fibrosarcoma and normal human lung
fibroblasts (NHLF) respectively, were co-cultured on a
novel micromechanical reconfigurable culture (MRC) platform. MRC is capable of maintaining separate populations
of cells while allowing manipulation of juxtacrine (contact
mode) and paracrine signaling (gap mode). Gene expression was analyzed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) after 12 and 48 hours of co-culture.
However, one limitation to MRC is that there is no physical barrier preventing cross-migration during contact mode
co-culture. Thus, the aggressive migration of HT-1080
onto the NHLF side during contact culture may cause
concern for contamination. HT-1080 contamination could
cause false-positives of NHLF gene regulation during data
analysis. QPCR and fluorescence imaging were performed
to analyze the extent of migration and resulting changes to
the stromal population gene expression. Preliminary results, through quantification of a tumor specific gene, indicate that there is a 5% cross-contamination of HT-1080
onto the NHLF culture. Although this contamination accounts for false positives in genes MMP9 and JAG1, it is
not a major concern for most other genes involved in angiogenesis.
Asian American Dating Patterns
Cheng-Wei (Billy) Sun
Mentor: Belinda Robnett-Olsen
Asian Americans are the majority of the population in the
UC system, specifically UCI. From previous research conducted by Robnett-Olsen and Feliciano, there is a clear line
of discrimination towards dating Southeast Asians, especially from Northeast Asians. The line of preference is
visible but previous surveys did not comprehend a detailed
view of factors such as cultural perseverance, social mobility, and social stigma. Previous research has focused on
populations as a whole, and has used factors such as skin
color, facial structures, and GDP of one's country of origin. To study a sample at UCI with in-depth interviews, the
high concentration of Asian Americas and higher education would reveal more underlying reasons for exclusion
and discrimination. The findings have revealed factors
ranging from influence of Korean Pop culture to racist
ideals based on Nationalism. This research also examines
case examples of the social and dating realm of UCI. By
using UCI as a sample the economic, and education factors
are leveled among potential dates, therefore brining deeper
reason to dating exclusion. The overall goal is to find more
meaningful variables to discrimination of Southeast Asians,
other than racist ideals perpetuated by historical grief.
Preclinical Evaluation of Photosensitizers in the Use
of PDT on Normal Vasculature Using the Dorsal
Window Chamber Model
Xiaocong Sun
Mentor: Bernard Choi
Studies have been conducted on the use of photodynamic
therapy (PDT) as a replacement or supplemental treatment
option to cause shutdown in both small and large vasculature. The objective of this study is to evaluate a PDT protocol that involves use of an intravascular photosensitizer,
Benzoporphrin Monoacid Ring A (BPD) activated by one
excitation light sources. The project aims to find the characteristic radiant energy required to induce shutdown in
normal vasculature in a dorsal window chamber animal
model. The dorsal window chamber animal model is currently being used to provide flow analysis of vessels located within the window. The baseline image taken before
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any experimentation is performed, is then compared to
subsequent images at different time points. There is no
vascular shutdown at a low radiant exposure; there is complete vascular shutdown at a high radiant exposure; there is
vascular shutdown first but blood flow later at an intermediate radiant exposure. This study shows that BPDmediated PDT can shutdown normal microvasculature
persistently.
ways, variation across these multidimensional measures of
gender related attitudes has received insufficient attention
in recent literature. The purpose of my research is to initially explore: a) whether there are differences in gender
role attitudes, and b) whether determinants of support vary
across different measures of gender ideology. This article
examines attitudes and support across four different dimensions of gender ideology: traditional family roles as
they pertain to caretaking, support for men’s private role,
women’s public role and traditional gendered roles in regards to women’s nature. My research carried out an extensive review of relevant literature and the
implementation of statistical analysis. The latter was conducted using a combination of ordinary least squares
(OLS) and logistic regression using the 2002 GSS data. My
findings show evidence for a gender cleavage in these various dimensions. Across all four measures, I conclude that
women are consistently more supportive of egalitarian
gender ideology than their male counterparts. Moreover,
differences in cross-model comparisons of predictors imply that gender ideology is multidimensional and support
for one aspect of gender ideology does not necessarily predict support for another.
The Effects of Uroleucon macolai Herbivory on Interactions Between Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
(AMF) and Baccharis salicifolia
Carl Supnet
Mentor: Kailen Mooney
Mycorrhizal fungi induce beneficial physiological and biochemical changes in host plants, which in turn may improve plant-defenses against herbivores. So when
herbivorous insects feed on plants to obtain nutrients, the
induced plant stress can influence the propensity of host
plants to associate with mycorrhizal fungi. This experiment
sought to understand the underlying mechanisms through
which herbivory alters the mutualistic interactions between
the plants and mycorrhizal fungi. The California native
plant species, Baccharis salicifolia, and the plant phloem feeding aphid, Uroleucon macolai, were studied to determine
whether or not different levels of the aphid herbivory have
distinguishable effects on mycorrhizal-plant relationships.
A total of 128 Baccharis plants were each either subjected
to no herbivory or a specific level of aphid herbivory (low,
medium, or high aphid densities) and, after four weeks, the
plant roots were harvested and assessed for mycorrhizal
colonization. There were significantly higher levels of root
colonization observed in the plants with herbivores than in
the plants without herbivores but the level of herbivory did
not have distinguishable effects on root colonization.
Overall root colonization was significantly higher in the
female plants than in the male plants although the observed differences in root colonization between male and
female plants are more reflective of the female’ higher demands of resources due to their reproductive activity. No
significant differences were observed between the effects
of herbivory on male versus female root colonization. This
study demonstrates that phloem feeding herbivory does
influence the association of plants with mycorrhizal fungi
overall but the intensity of the herbivory does not have a
significant impact on the association.
Substituent and Geometrical Effects in the
Mechanisms of the Dimethyl Dioxirane Oxidations of
4-Substituted Methylsulfanylbenzenes and 4Substituted Methylsulfinylbenzenes
Show Takenaka
Mentor: Fillmore Freeman
The mechanisms of the reactions of dimethyl dioxirane
with 4X-substituted methylsulfanylbenzenes and 4Xsubstituted methylsulfinylbenzene (X = H, CH3, OCH3, F,
Cl, Br, CN, NO2) have been studied using high levels of
modern electronic theory including the hybrid density
functionals B3LYP, B3PW91, and PBE1PBE with the 6311+G(d,p) basis set and also using CCSD(T) and
QCISD(T) with the cc-pVDZ basis set. The dimethyl dioxirane oxidation of methylsulfanylbenzenes may involve a
concerted mechanism while the mechanism of the oxidation of methylsulfinylbenzene may involve a stepwise
mechanism. The oxidation of methylsulfinylbenzenes is
facilitated by electron releasing groups. Hammett plots are
linear with dipole moments and frequencies of methylsulfanylbenzenes and methylsulfinylbenzenes.
Unsupervised Learning in Rats: Exercise vs Enriched
Environment
Roxanne Talamayan-Pascua
Mentor: Linda Palmer
The differential effects of an enriched environment or exercise have been explored on a molecular level. However,
there is little literature on the behavioral effects of these
treatments. Specifically, what types of behavior do the two
Unequal Equality? Patterns of Support across
Dimensions of Gender Equality
Nayab Syeda
Mentor: Catherine Bolzendahl
Previous research indicates that there is a progression towards embracing a broader notion of gender roles. While
gender ideology has been operationalized in a range of
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treatments elicit in rats when put through an unsupervised
and unrewarded learning task? Measures were taken during
four sessions of a new, unsupervised complex arena. Results show that enriched rats have a faster rate of learning
than exercised rats as inferred from a faster decline in rate
of exploration. Further research on the differences between exercise and non-enriched handling can show the
benefits of exercise alone.
Effects of the Social and Environmental Context on
Eating Behaviors among Adolescents: Describing the
Social Ecology of “Stress Eating”
Amanda Tan
Mentor: Larry Jamner
There appears to be a link between stress and eating behaviors among adolescents. This study aimed to explore
the relationships between anxiety, stress, urge to eat and
snacking in a sample of local high school students. Participants were 522 teens enrolled in Project MASH, a fouryear longitudinal study of adolescent stress and health. Participants were outfitted with electronic diaries which
prompted them every thirty minutes for up to eight fourday intervals over the course of their high school careers.
When prompted, participants were asked to rate their current levels of stress and anxiety, as well as their location,
activities, social partners, their urge to eat, and whether or
not they had consumed a snack or soda since the last signal. Results show that participants who reported concurrent high stress and urge to eat were more than twice as
likely to consume soda in the next 30 minutes (OR = 2.17,
CI = 2.05-2.29) and 52% more likely to eat a snack (OR =
1.52, CI = 1.46-1.59). Reports of concurrent high anxiety
and urge to eat resulted in a 44% greater likelihood of soda
consumption (OR = 1.44, CI = 1.33-1.55) and 26% greater
likelihood of snacking in the next 30 minutes (OR = 1.26,
CI = 1.19- 1.33). These findings show that adolescent eating behavior is heavily influenced by mood, with anxiety
and stress playing a key role in unhealthy eating patterns
which could have long-lasting effects on overall health and
wellbeing.
Characterization of Cytochrome P450 in Toxoplasma
gondii
Darany Tan
Mentor: Naomi Morrissette
Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes have been found to
mediate vital processes in a variety of organisms by catalyzing a monooxygenation reaction. Previous research in the
laboratory has identified a single gene for a CYP protein in
Toxoplasma gondii (TgCYP), and preliminary studies have
shown the protein localizes to the mitochondria and uses
acetone as its substrate. We hypothesized that TgCYP detoxifies acetone produced during amino acid or fatty acid
metabolism. To determine the role of TgCYP in
Toxoplasma, we used targeted gene deletion to create a type
II tgcyp null line that can be used for future studies of animal infection and bradyzoite differentiation. We investigated the effects of nutrient limitation in vitro by
quantifying parasite replication in host cells in the absence
of glucose. Glucose depletion resulted in a slight defect in
both the parental and tgcyp null parasites, demonstrating
tgcyp null tachyzoites are not hypersensitive to the absence
of glucose.
The Influence of Target Probability on Feature-Based
Attention
Jessica Tan
Mentor: Ramesh Srinivasan
Attention plays an important role in enhancing the brain’s
processing of the environment. Attention is especially important in the processing of behaviorally relevant visual
features (such as a target’s orientation). However, despite
its importance, the extent to which attention depends on a
target’s probability is relatively unexplored. We examined
this question by measuring the degree that individuals attend to target features as the target probability is adjusted
from 0 to 100%. The attentional processing of target features is probed by measuring electroencephalographic
(EEG) responses to two unattended flickering gratings
(f2= 8.5 Hz and f2= 8 Hz) that match the orientations of
two potential Gabor targets (oriented 45 degrees apart).
These steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) responses were measured separately over “infrequent” and
“frequent” target probabilities (i.e., from 0, 10, 20, 30, 40,
and 50% and from 50 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100% respectively) within each session. We observed a relatively stable
increase in the response to the target orientation as its
probability increased from 0 to 90%, followed by a sharp
increase when the target appeared at 100% probability.
SSVEP responses to the flicker containing the “frequent”
target orientation showed significant modulation, indicating that attention to the target orientation depends on the
target probability. The significant modulation primarily
resulted from a sharp peak in the SSVEP response when
the target was 100% probable, which indicates a discrete
shift in the way attention is applied when the target feature
is certain. Thus, the results indicate that individual’s attentional strategies are sensitive to the probability in which
events occur in the environment.
A Tank Experiment to Study the Fluid Dynamics of
Sub-Glacial Melt Water Plumes
Rachael Tan
Mentor: Fracois Primeau
A tank model was developed to simulate the sub-glacial
plume entrainment of a glacial fjord when the surface melt
water from the interior of an ice sheet drains to the ice
base and enters the ocean from under the tidewater gla-
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ciers. Rising plumes drag the ambient water and transport
heat to the glacier front. If the freshwater plume rises
along the face of the ice, vertical glacial melting is accelerated, which contributes to sea level rise. This tank model
experiment was designed to determine how plumes rise
and how they impact fjord oceanography. The ocean was
simulated by filling a tank with salt water at 31 ppt and
having tubes that connect this tank to another tank filled
with fresh water. Plumes were observed when the fresh
water was allowed to flow through a tube into the salt water. Plume characteristics and speeds varied with hydrostatic pressure differences created by change of water
heights between the two tanks and different tube diameters. An important result is that very slow freshwater
plumes rise along the glacial face and faster plumes project
further from the face but become turbulent and interact
with the face. The velocities and flow of the plumes are
very sensitive to the diameter of the outlet through which
the fresh water flowed and the experiments show the importance of adequately taking into account the diameter of
sub glacial channels.
gest the need for further research into the role of cytokine
polymorphisms in immune disorders and the relationship
between past histories of immune disorders and breast or
ovarian cancers.
Construction and Development of 3-D Perfused
Cardiac Microtissues
Julie Taylor
Mentor: Steven George
Studies revolving around myocardial infarctions have been
limited to monolayer in vitro studies or in vivo observation
studies. Monolayer 2-D cultures do not accurately depict
the natural 3-D complex environment of cardiomyocytes
and in vivo observation studies are limited by the number of
controllable variables. Therefore, this research aims to create a new engineered 3-D microenvironment to mimic the
native environment of the cardiomyocytes in order to provide a physiologically relevant platform to test and observe
them. Through the use of endothelial progenitor cells
(EPCs), stromal cells (fibroblasts/NHLFs), human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs), and a
microfluidic device for high-throughput screening, anatomically-inspired three-dimensional metabolically-active
cardiac microtissues perfused with human capillaries are
generated. The growth of the vascular network and hESCCM functionality are assessed through optical imaging,
beating frequency, response to drug stimulus, and calcium
signaling. Cells were found to remain viable and functional
in this 3-D microenvironment through one month. The
diameter of hESC-CM was found to increase linearly over
time. A limited vascular network was observed in the
hESC-CM environment relative to the control tissue
(EPCs and NHLFs only). Through calcium imaging of
hESC-CM, it was also observed that the hESC-CM cells
culture in the device responded to drug stimulus.
Relationship Between Genes that Control
Inflammation and Rates of Infection and Immune
Disorders in Breast or Ovarian Cancer Cases and
Controls
Steven Tate
Mentor: Argyrios Ziogas
Genetic polymorphisms in cytokine genes have been
shown to affect susceptibility to numerous cancers, including breast cancer. We hypothesized that variants in cytokine genes are related to a past history of infections or
immune disorders and that these associations differ between breast and ovarian cancer cases and controls. We
investigated the association of variants in 280 cytokine tagSNPs with rates of reported immune disorders or infections in cancer patients and controls. We used fisher’s exact tests for univariate analysis and unconditional logistic
regression to study whether the number of reported infections or immune disorders is associated with risk of breast
or ovarian cancer. In controls, but not cases, heterozygotes
of rs3136558(IL1B) were less likely to report a past history
of arthritis than homozygotes(p=0.0004) and heterozygotes of rs84460(IL2RB) were less likely to report a past
history of asthma than homozygotes(p=0.0003). We created summary variables that accounted for number of infections or number of immune disorders. We observed an
increased risk of cancer with reporting a past history of 2
immune disorders(OR: 1.828, 95% CI: 1.081-3.092) and 3
or more immune disorders(OR: 1.822, 95% CI: 1.0843.064), but we did not observe any associations between
cancer risk and past history of infections. We constructed
Manhattan Plots including all 280 cytokine SNPs for each
of the immune disorders and infections. These results sug-
Rapid Fabrication of DNA Microarrays Using Shrink
Wrap Film
Bakr Teebi
Mentor: Michelle Khine
Conventional DNA microarrays are microfabricated using
standard photolithography techniques onto glass or silicon
substrates, but the time and costs associated with making
these limits its production in large quantities. In this work,
microarrays were fabricated by patterning at the macroscale on a low cost thermoplastic substrate and leveraging
the heat-induced shrinkage of pre-stressed shape memory
polymers to achieve a micro-scale array with 300 μm wells.
Our method obviates the need to use photolithography to
achieve micro-scale resolution and also is able to rapidly
create a microarray within 30 minutes. Furthermore, standard DNA microarrays are limited by their surface area
and the maximum allowable concentration of DNA within
these patterns is 8,200 features/mm2, which is smaller than
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the potential amount of DNA that can bind within the
wells. The ultimate goal of the project is to increase the
surface probe density within the patterns and at the same
time, maintain the surface chemistry with DNA. In the
future, this could be used to increase the fluorescence sensitivity, which would allow for accurate qualitative assessment of gene expression levels.
City of Sound: Postwar Social Problems in Late WWII
Radio Dramas
Jillian Tempesta
Mentor: Allison Perlman
In the mid-twentieth century, the American home was the
locus of moral power. Couched in this authoritative yet
intimate position, radio dramas created a fictional space
between the public and private in which audiences could
explore social changes. Entities like the Office of War Information (OWI) colonized this imaginative space to rouse
support from the home front during WWII; individual
writers negotiated among these government messages and
their own personal agendas to use radio as a pedagogical
platform. After the OWI and other agencies disbanded,
radio dramas continued to grapple with the social problems triggered by the end of the war. This project examines
two radio writers whose programs dealt explicitly with
postwar problems through narrative. In On A Note of Triumph, Norman Corwin masks the anxiety of returning veterans by abstracting the experiences of American families
into fables of ideal small-town life; fan letters reveal that
many listeners received this program as a parable to be
repeated in churches and schools. Irna Phillips, a soap opera tycoon, created model fictional towns and populated
them with characters who navigated the new domestic social spaces. An analysis of the programs’ literary tropes—
especially the structural conceit of the small town—shows
how these problems would ideally be received in a certain
kind of imagined community.
An Analysis of the Establishment and Efficacy of the
Protected Origen Labeling Program for Coffee Grown
in the Marcala Region in Western Honduras
Florian Termin
Mentor: Steven Topik
Following the collapse of coffee prices in the early 2000s
and imminent future price volatility coffee growers based
in the Marcala region of northwestern Honduras started
examining ways to add value to their coffee and better
promote it on international markets. Growers and other
elements of the local coffee industry came together with
local agencies and foreign governments to jointly develop a
European style protected Origen labeling program for
Marcala Grown coffee. This initiative became the first of
its kind in Central America. It exports coffee grown in the
Marcala Region under the program’s own exclusive label.
The Marcala Protected Origen Program seeks to maintain
the coffee’s quality and consistency through stringent harvesting, milling, and processing procedures. Only coffee
meeting these requirements can be exported as Marcala
Grown. All these measures attempt to increase the coffee’s
reputation, attract international coffee buyers and ultimately result in better prices paid to the growers in what is
one of Latin America’s poorest countries. Success is, however, elusive with most consumers being largely ignorant of
the origin of their coffee. Nascent progress can however
be seen with coffee traders and roasters who source their
coffee from Marcala and laud its quality and consistency.
Bridging the Divide: Online Education as an
Instrument for Peacebuilding in the Georgian-Abkhaz
Conflict
Christine Thrasher
Mentor: Paula Garb
Research indicates that online learning can be a helpful
asset to students living in communities with poor educational access. Dr. Paula Garb sought to apply this knowledge in the context of peacebuilding, by developing and
implementing a UCI Extension online course in conflict
resolution and public policy writing, taken by students living through the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. The goal of the
student researcher’s involvement in this project was to assist in course development and implementation, and to
evaluate the overall efficacy of the course. The course
evaluation will be used to improve future incarnations of
the course. In order to investigate course efficacy, the student researcher observed student-student interactions and
student-teacher interactions during the course, examined
student academic performance, and administered a course
evaluation survey at the end of the course. Academic performance for most students was low, with many students
unable to complete assignments satisfactorily, which can
be explained by poor academic preparation, as well as language barrier issues. Despite this, survey results indicate
that most students had a positive experience in the course
and that the online dialogue improved their understanding
of the other side of the conflict. Future versions of the
course should work at a slower pace, cover fewer topics,
and focus more on online dialogue.
Analysis of Photoreceptor Rescue by Transplantation
of p-SC Derived RPE Cells
Christopher Tio
Mentor: Magdalene Seiler
Retinal diseases such as Retinitis Pigmentosa and AgeRelated Macular Degeneration are characterized by retinal
photoreceptor epithelium (RPE) dysfunction and photoreceptor dysfunction, leading to impaired vision and eventually blindness. Transplants of human Embryonic Stem Cell
(hESC)-derived RPE cells have successfully been able to
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rescue photoreceptors in the Royal College of Surgeons
rat, a model of retinal disease. Thus, human stem cell derivatives potentially offer a viable source of replacement
tissue for retinal disease treatment. This study focused on
using parthenogenetic pluripotent cell lines to derive RPEs
which, unlike human ESC, are homozygous for major histocompatibility alleles. RCS rats were transplanted with
parthenogenetic Stem Cell (p-SC)-derived RPE sheets and
their visual acuity was measured by optokinetic testing.
The dorso-ventral portion of the transplant eye was dissected and cryostat sections were stained with Hematoxylin
and eosin to identify human implant areas.
Iron Inhibits AID-Mediated Deamination Activity
Leading to Impairment of Class Switch
Recombination
Daniel Tran
Mentor: Paolo Casali
Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is essential
for immunoglobulin class switch recombination. AID actively converts dC to dU in S region DNA followed by
uracil DNA deglycosylase (UNG), thereby leading to DNA
cleavage and subsequent Ig class switch. Here we demonstrate that ferrous (Fe2+) ions significantly impaired CSR,
as shown by flow cytometry and ELISA analysis depicting
the decreased proportions of switched IgG+ B cells and
secreted IgG antibodies, respectively, without the alteration of cell viability, proliferation, and plasma cell differentiation. In addition, through RT-qPCR analysis, the levels
of germline transcripts and CSR-related genes such as
Aicda and 14-3-3 were not affected by Fe2+. Furthermore,
Fe2+, but not other divalent metal cations such as Zn2+,
Mn2+, Mg2+ or Ni2+, effectively inhibits AID-mediated
deamination, as illustrated by our in vitro DNA deamination
assays. More importantly, Fe2+ does not affect Ung deglycosylation activity as shown by our Ung deglycosylation
assay, suggesting a direct inhibition of AID deamination
activity by iron.
Altered Insulin Response to an Acute Bout of
Exercise in Pediatric Obesity
Brian Tran
Mentor: Pietro Galassetti
Pediatric obesity typically leads to insulin resistance and
often evolves into Type II Diabetes. As exercise training
improves insulin sensitivity, exercise is systematically used
to slow or prevent this transition. Very little is known,
however, on whether obese children display distinct alterations in the modulation of insulin sensitivity during individual exercise bouts. Therefore, we measured insulin
responses to exercise in 133 children—57 with healthy
weight (NW, 35 girls), 20 overweight (OW, 10 girls), and
56 obese (Ob, 26 girls). Blood samples were drawn before
and after a standardized exercise challenge (ten 2-minute
bouts of cycling at ~80% VO2 max punctuated by 1minute rest periods). In a smaller group (14NW, 6OW,
15Ob), exercise was performed 45 min after ingesting a
high-fat meal. Plasma glucose was similar at baseline and
increased slightly and similarly in all groups during exercise. Basal insulin was significantly higher in Ob as compared to both OW and NW; end-exercise insulin, however,
increased moderately over pre-exercise baseline in NW
(+6.5±2.7 pmol/L) and in OW (+4.7±7.7 pmol/L), but
decreased significantly in Ob (-15 ± 4.7 pmol/L, P<0.0167
vs NW). Within the Ob group, the exercise-induced drop
was greater proportionally to the severity of obesity. Highfat feeding caused in all subjects an acute increase in insulin that was similarly corrected by exercise in all three
groups. Our data suggests that the modulatory effect of
exercise on insulin levels may be even more beneficial in
Ob than in healthy children, indicating a possible compensatory effect aimed at offsetting higher basal insulin concentrations.
ZEN: Multimedia Feedback System for Stress and
Pain Reduction
Stephanie Tran
Mentors: Mark Bachman, Michelle Fortier
Pain is one of life’s primitive mechanisms and an essential
sensation for survival. The current efforts to manage pain
are seriously inadequate. The ZEN project is designed to
explore the use of mobile Web-based technologies, coupled with portable and wearable physiological sensing, for
the delivery of multimedia intended to assist a patient in
reaching a relaxed or meditative state in an everyday setting. Ultimately, this kind of technology can be used to
help patients reduce stress or pain, especially during perioperative care. Heart rate variability, skin conductivity,
and temperature are among the more common physiological signs used to indicate levels of stress, pain, and anxiety.
Based on current evidence, heart rate is hypothesized to
increase, temperature tends to drop slightly, and the skin
conductance increases when placed under a stressful or
pain condition. The first prototype was tested through an
experiment designed by Dr. Fortier’s lab. This preliminary
study allows the validation the sensors used to assure they
are appropriate for a biofeedback application and can
sense small changes in the aforementioned physiological
signals with appropriate precision. The results of the experiment provide a promising step toward integrating a
biofeedback to correspond to the physiological monitoring. When placed in a stressful condition, the heart rate
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and skin conductance did evidently increase and temperature on the surface of the skin remained constant. The
next step is amplifying the signals and filtering physiological data, which can be used for the development of the
multimedia feedback system.
Quantifying the Influence of Cyclical Strain Duration
and Frequency on Corneal Fibroblasts Morphology
Using Micropatterned Deformable Membrane
Devices
Stephanie Tran
Mentor: James Jester
The cornea is a highly transparent thin layer that covers the
pupil and iris, which refracts light into the retina and contributes to nearly two thirds of the eye's total optical
power. The cornea, about 500 microns thick in humans, is
composed of collagen fibrils which assemble to form long
fibers, thus creating an extracellular matrix. We are interested in understanding the deposition of such a highly organized collagenous extracellular matrix during corneal
development. To do so, we must test whether corneal cells,
specifically corneal fibroblasts, respond to certain forces by
examining the morphology of these cells after undergoing
cyclical strains. For the purposes of this experiment, we
will subject rabbit corneal fibroblasts to cyclical strains and
quantify the alignment of these cells in relation to micropatterns on deformable membrane devices. These devices create pressure in a microchamber from underneath,
and subsequently stretch the cells through deflection of the
membrane. The rabbit corneal fibroblasts will be plated at
a density of 15,000 cells/cm2 and stretched at different
frequencies for durations of 18, 24, and 48hrs. The cells’
alignment will then be measured using OrientationJ. Using
this data, we can then quantify the effects of strain frequency and duration on cell morphology and control these
effects according to those various inputs. The data and
results of this experiment are still being collected and analyzed.
The Action of Curcumin as a Sirtuin-Activating
Compound and Dietary Restriction Mimetic
Teresa Tran
Mentor: Mahtab Jafari
Curcumin, an extract from Curcuma longa (turmeric), has
been known to have abundant health benefits, including
anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in human
and animal studies. Preliminary studies have suggested that
curcumin extended lifespan and improved health span in
Drosophila melanogaster flies; however, the compound’s
mechanism of action is unknown. This study evaluated its
molecular mechanism to observe whether curcumin extended lifespan in D. melanogaster through a Sir2-dependent
mechanism by acting as a dietary restriction mimetic. Two
lifespan assays (Sir2 and % yeast in diet variables) were
conducted to determine if curcumin extends lifespan in
which the Sir2 pathway is inhibited or activated. Three
feeding assays were also performed to examine Sir2 gene
expression, NAD+/NADH levels, and glycolytic gene expression in curcumin fed flies. It was found that curcumin
extended lifespan in the absence of Sir2. This suggests that
curcumin may work through other age-related mechanisms
outside the Sir2 pathway.
Expression of Functional Mechanically Gated Channel mPiezo1 in Xenopus oocytes
Truc Tran
Mentor: Francesco Tombola
Mechanically-gated channels play a big role in many
physiological processes, including pain sensation, hearing,
and homeostasis. Studies have recently identified two
highly conserved mechanically-gated ion channels, called
Piezo1 and Piezo2. mPiezo1 and mPiezo2 conferred
stretch-activated currents in HEK293T and Neuro2A cells
as assayed under patch clamp conditions. In this project,
we show that functional mPiezo1 can be expressed in
Xenopus oocytes . mPiezo1 was subcloned into a Xenopus
oocyte expression vector. The donor plasmid, mPiezo1iresGEP-pcDNA3.1, and the acceptor plasmid,
pGEMHE, were each double digested with XbaI and HindIII enzymes to generate mPiezo1 insert and pGEMHE
vector fragments, respectively. mPiezo1-pGEMHE plasmid was constructed by ligating the insert and vector fragments. mRNA was produced by in vitro transcription and
was injected into Xenopus oocytes. Xenopus oocytes were
patch clamped in the excised inside-out configuration.
Stimulation of the membrane by a pressure clamp yielded
inward currents, confirming mPiezo1 expression and functionality in oocytes. For further studies, stimulation of
mPiezo1 in the whole oocyte along with voltage-clamp
fluorometry (VCF) will be performed for deeper understanding of mPiezo1 protein function and structure.
UV-Photolysis of CH3OOH in Water and Ice
Van Tran
Mentor: Sergey Nizkorodov
Methyl peroxide (CH3OOH), the simplest organoperoxide,
serves as a major reservoir of hydroxyl radicals under
photolysis in the atmosphere. The hydroxyl radical is the
most important atmospheric oxidant due to its high reactivity to remove pollutants. Although previous studies have
examined the photochemical behavior of CH3OOH in the
gaseous phase, the photochemistry of CH3OOH in the
liquid phase is still unclear. To address this issue, I conducted a standard iodiometric peroxide test on aqueous
CH3OOH that allowed me to quantify: (1) the concentration of CH3OOH during photolysis and (2) the extinction
coefficient of CH3OOH over the whole range of the spectrum. The oxidation of I- by CH3OOH was carried out for
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four hours before the absorbance reached a steady asymptote at 470 nm, while oxidation of I-by H2O2 was completed after one hour. The concentration of the photolyzed
CH3OOH was shown to decay exponentially as a function
of time. A test method for trace quantities of carbonyl
compounds with 2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH)
indicated an 86.2% increase of carbonyls, mainly formaldehyde, during CH3OOH photolysis. With the actinic flux,
the rate of CH3OOH photolysis can be determined and
used to improve the accuracy of numerical models that are
used to predict future climate change and regulate anthropogenic air pollution.
iccation resistance. We found that both of these
physiological characteristics were significantly lower in the
dying groups compared to the same-aged not-dying
groups. Our results suggest that D. melanogaster may be
used as a model organism to study physiological changes
that occur when death is imminent.
Are We Barking Up the Wrong Tree? Promotion,
Action and Impact in Energy Conservation
Alexander Truong
Mentor: Daniel Stokols
Conservation encompasses hundreds of specific behaviors,
including choices about what we buy and how we travel
and use energy in the home. These behaviors vary, not
only in their situation determinants but also their environmental impact, accounting for as much as 20% or as little
as .5% of a persons’ carbon footprint. Recent research
highlights a disconnect between those behaviors with the
greatest impact and those which people report engaging in
most often. Little is known, however, about what behaviors are being promoted to the American public, especially
those who are not actively seeking this information. This
poster presents data on the promotion of energy conserving behavior in U.S. lifestyle magazines, comparing it to
both self-report survey data and end-use energy saving
potential. Comparative analysis reveals several areas where
behaviors with little environmental impact are overemphasized and others where energy savings could likely be
maximized, given increased behavioral attention.
Neural Correlates of Action Selection in Older Adults
Xuan Tran
Mentor: Steven Cramer
Older adults have greater activation of cortical motor areas
than younger adults during performance of simple motor
tasks. In young individuals, the dorsal premotor cortex is
active during action selection, a task that requires individuals to choose a motor response based on externally provided cues. This study aimed to examine the neural
correlates of action selection in ten older adults during the
performance of joystick-movement task. Functional magnetic resonance scans were used to identify the activation
levels in the brain during task performance. Reaction time
was longer for the action selection task than the execution
only task as hypothesized. The frontal gyrus, occipital
gyrus, and bilateral parietal lobules were more active during
action selection than during execution only conditions.
Reaction time was positively correlated with changes in
PMd activation between action selection and execution
only tasks, although the correlation was not significant.
This study provides the preliminary foundation to understanding the neural correlates of action selection in older
adults.
The Response of Stress and Biphentin in Children
Diagnosed with ADHD
Carmen Truong
Mentor: Sharon Wigal
The purpose of this study is to observe the effects of
medication and stress on children with AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children received individually determined optimal doses of the stimulant medication, Biphentin® on one of the two consecutive
modified laboratory school days, a setting known for reliably measuring the exact timing of treatment effects. Blood
pressure and heart rate measurements collected postadministration of the Permanent Product Measurement of
Performance (PERMP), an ability-adjusted math test, were
presumed to be stress-related when compared to baseline
data. In addition, children ranked their stress levels on a
stress rating scale and completed grammar tasks as measures of academic performance. The results suggested that
children with ADHD demonstrate a decreased stress response when medicated as measured by blood pressure,
heart rate, and academic performance. Completion of a
more difficult PERMP test than the actual assigned level
was associated with higher measurements on physiological
responses as associated with stress responses.
Physiology Declines Prior to Death in Drosophila
melanogaster
Xuan Tran
Mentor: Laurence Mueller
For a period of 6–15 days prior to death, the fecundity and
virility of Drosophila melanogaster fall significantly below
those of same-aged flies that are not near death. Using individual fecundity estimates and previously described
models, it is possible to accurately predict which flies in a
population are near death at any given age; these flies are
said to be in the “death spiral.” In this study of approximately 7,600 females, we used cohort mortality data and
individual fecundity estimates to dichotomize each of five
replicate populations of same-aged D. melanogaster into
“death spiral” and “non-spiral” groups. We then compared
these groups for two physiological characteristics that decline during aging; namely, time spent in motion, and des-
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Health Behaviors and Quality of Life among Cervical
Cancer Survivors
Marie Truong
Mentor: Kathryn Osann
Women with cervical cancer experience profound emotional distress and compromised quality of life (QOL),
which may impact survival. Evidence also suggests that
poor health behaviors, including smoking, high alcohol
consumption and lack of exercise, are associated with
lower QOL in cancer survivors, thus potentially compromising outcomes. We investigated health behaviors posttreatment and associations with QOL in a randomized
clinical trial testing the ability of a psychosocial telephone
counseling (PTC) intervention to improve QOL in 204
cervical cancer survivors. QOL (FACT-Cx), depression,
anxiety, perceived stress and health behaviors were assessed by questionnaire at baseline, four months and nine
months post-enrollment. Associations between QOL and
health behaviors were investigated using analysis of variance. Women with the poorest health behaviors reported
significantly lower QOL at baseline (p=0.002). Those with
less healthy behaviors had higher levels of depression
(p=0.002), anxiety (p=0.076), and perceived stress
(p=0.012). Women with poor health behaviors also had
lower levels of adaptive coping and higher levels of maladaptive coping although differences did not reach statistical significance (p=0.143 and p=0.057 respectively). In
conclusion, survivors of cervical cancer who had the poorest health behaviors (increased smoking, less exercise and
higher alcohol intake) also had lower QOL and higher levels of depression, anxiety and perceived stress. Both health
behaviors and associated quality of life may be factors influencing cancer recurrence and survival. Further analysis
will explore associations between changes in health behaviors and quality of life and their association with parameters in the immune system, which may reflect a better long
term outcome.
Characterization of the Putative Active Compounds of
Rhodiola rosea
Stephanie Truong
Mentor: Mahtab Jafari
The root extract of Rhodiola rosea, a plant used in traditional
medicine to treat a multitude of ailments, is able to decrease mitochondrial superoxide levels and protect against
mitochondrial dysfunction in flies, protect flies and human
cultured cells against oxidative insults, improve physical
performance in flies, and extend the lifespan of flies and
worms. This extract is composed of at least 140 identifiable compounds, though its activity is thought to be limited to a few compounds. These are the three “rosavins”
(rosavin, rosarin, and rosin), salidroside, tyrosol, and cinnamyl alcohol. The molecular mechanism of R. rosea is not
known. Therefore, experiments using the fruit fly, Droso-
phila melanogaster, were conducted on these compounds to
characterize their individual actions and enhance our
knowledge of the extract. Four hundred and eighty flies
were used for each compound to evaluate their ability to
extend lifespan. None of the compounds extended lifespan
in males. However, in females, rosavin and rosarin both
extended lifespan. Rhodiola rosea has also been found to
down-regulate the expression levels of three of the Drosophila insulin-like peptides (Dilps), which are intimately involved in the aging process. We observed that rosavin did
not down regulate dILP5 in males, which is consistent with
its inability to extend lifespan in males. Future work will
examine the action of the other putative compounds with
respect to dILP expression levels. The inability of these
compounds to extend lifespan suggests that other, untested molecules are responsible for the action of R. rosea
in fruit flies.
Parental Monitoring in the 21st Century
Thanh Truong
Mentor: Candice Odgers
Poorly monitored adolescents are more likely to engage in
antisocial activities, sexual behavior, substance use, and
violence. However, researchers have questioned whether it
is parental monitoring per se that is responsible for reducing involvement in adolescent risk taking. Stattin and Kerr
have shown that parental knowledge—a common measure
of parental monitoring—is largely a function of what adolescents are willing to disclose and argue that prior evaluations of the role of parental monitoring in adolescents’
lives may have been overstated. In this study, we asked
whether new technologies—mobile phones, text messaging and other electronic forms of communication—
introduce opportunities for parents to monitor their children in new ways or ways that do not rely solely on the
child’s level of disclosure. Semi-structured parent interviews and adolescent daily experience mobile-phone based
surveys of 74 parent-adolescent dyads from Orange
County are used to: 1) examine the role that technology
plays in parental monitoring,2) characterize parents who
use technology to monitor their children, and 3) test how
new forms of parenting monitoring relate to adolescent
risky behavior. We found that more than half of the parents reported using cell phones and social networking
websites to monitor their child. Parents were more likely to
use technology for solicitation—to gain information about
a child’s activities and friends—than for control. Parents
reporting less technological parental monitoring tended to
report lower income and better parent-child communication. Future analyses will explore how monitoring via
technology relates to adolescents daily behaviors.
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UCI’s Undergraduate Law Forum Journal: CyberDefamation and the Opinion Defense
Terri Tsui
Mentors: Sherilyn Sellgren, Caesar Sereseres
False information generated (or repeated) online can lead
to potential liability for defamation. However, the “opinion
defense” might protect free speech if the false information
is clearly nothing more than an opinion, and is not really
taken seriously by those who read it. The difficulty is how
courts can determine whether all sorts of online comments
or postings should be punished due to their potential to
harm stock values or personal reputations through fraud or
negligence, or whether such comments and postings deserve the protection of the opinion defense. This project
focuses on the new legal standard developed for this purpose in 2000 with regard to online chat boards for stock
traders, and then explores whether the same standard has
continuing relevance given the wide variety of new mediums for online communication in use today.
The Experiences of Salvadoran Immigrant Fathers
and Mothers Separated from their Children
Jocelyn Valencia
Mentor: Cynthia Feliciano
Today, about 11–12 million undocumented immigrants
live within the United States searching for ways to alleviate
their family struggles back home. Many of these undocumented are transnational parents—parents who immigrate to
a host country and leave their children behind. In many
instances, transnational parents come with the hope of
providing financial assistance to their family back home.
Previous research has reported financial struggles and
emotional trauma of both the children back home and the
Latina mothers residing in the United States. However,
little research has analyzed the father’s experience as a
transnational parent. In my research, I aimed to analyze
and compare the effects that children left behind have on
the experiences of both Salvadoran transnational mothers
and fathers in the United States. Through the interviews
conducted with ten transnational mothers and fathers,
their personal experiences demonstrated a disparity in the
emotional and financial support provided to their children
back in El Salvador. While Salvadoran mothers provided
their children with both emotional and financial support
from afar, the men demonstrated an insufficient effort in
providing financial assistance to their children and in maintaining an emotional bond with their children. Such findings bring insight to the struggles of transnational parents
and thus further calls for political, economic and health
services to help mediate their strained relationships with
their children, as a result of their status.
Fluorescent Muscimol Inhibits Arc Protein
Upregulation in the Hippocampus
Anthony Turk
Mentor: Timothy Allen
Fluorescently-conjugated muscimol (FCM) is a GABAAagonist that causes rapid and reversible suppression of
neural activity. FCM is similar in effect to muscimol but
remains advantageous for our purposes because, unlike
muscimol, its spread can be measured using fluorescence
imaging. FCM was infused at four sites in the adult male
rat hippocampus, two in each the dorsal and ventral hippocampus. The results suggest the spread of FCM is directly proportional to the amount of Arc (activity-regulated
cytoskeleton-associated protein) inactivation. Arc is an
immediate early gene and a common marker of neural activity. The results show that FCM can be localized and
contained in the hippocampus, allowing future studies to
be conducted with high spatial resolution. Due to the large
and lipophilic molecular structure of FCM, we can predict
it will not diffuse across myelinated fiber tracts or white
matter. After 24 hours, a normal amount of Arc is expressed, indicating a return to baseline for neurological
activity, but the spread of FCM can still be viewed due to
the effects of the fluorescence. By day 15, FCM can no
longer be traced and is completely metabolized, while neurological activity is back to normal. We can now accurately
quantify the relationship between FCM spread and neurological inactivation, which will be of great interest to neuroscientists who aim to assess brain-behavior relationships
in freely-behaving rats using advanced temporary inactivation techniques.
Comparing the Relative Outcomes of Surgical
Resection and Ablation as the Treatment of
Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Julie Van
Mentor: David Imagawa
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which accounts for 80–
90% of primary liver cancer, is the most common solidorgan cancer in the world and the fifth leading cause of
cancer mortality worldwide. Because HCC is difficult to
diagnose at an early stage, the curative standard of surgical
resection is not often a possibility. Instead, radiofrequency
ablation is commonly the treatment performed. Because
patients who qualify for resection treatment have a less
severe form of HCC, it was hypothesized that patients who
undergo resection will have a better survival rate than
those who undergo radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The
intent of this study is to evaluate the survival of HCC patients who undergo resection verses ablation. Survival was
analyzed by using the Kaplan-Meier survival curve. For
resection, Kaplan-Meier analysis shows that the 1-year survival is 85% and 5-year survival is 42.5%. For radiofrequency ablation, the 1-year survival is 55% and 5-year
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survival is 15%. The median survival was 1,601 days for
patients treated with surgical resection and 446 days for
patients treated with radiofrequency ablation. These results
suggest that patients that undergo resection do have a
higher survivability than patients who undergo ablation.
Characterization of the HIV-1 LTR Derived from
Rare Individuals that do not Progress to AIDS
Despite High Viral Load
Joseph Van Dorn
Mentor: David Camerini
The rise and spread of human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) infection has led to a worldwide pandemic of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). A thorough
understanding of HIV pathogenesis and the anti-HIV immune response is critical to effective treatment of the disease. An elite group of HIV-1+ patients referred to as
viremic nonprogressors (VNPs) do not develop AIDS despite containing viral loads similar to those of patients referred to as progressors, who would develop AIDS if left
untreated. By understanding the mechanism through
which the VNP strains of HIV and/or the immune systems of the VNP induce this asymptomatic condition, a
viable treatment against the virus may be developed. Because of the LTR region’s importance in expression of
viral genes, we chose to use this genetic sequence as the
focus of our analysis. The sequences of several different
HIV-1 strains within clade B were compared, producing a
consensus sequence for the LTR region. Two primers that
are complementary to the 5′ and 3′ region of LTR were
created based of this consensus sequence, and the LTR
sequence was isolated from the HIV genome of eight VNP
patients using a series of polymerase chain reactions
(PCRs). These isolates were ligated into a plasmid and
transformed into bacteria. DNA was extracted from these
bacteria and is now being sequenced so it may be compared to the consensus HIV-1 LTR sequence. We hope
that our study will shed light on the rare, favorable response to HIV-1 infection of VNP.
Growth Induced Switch in Yeast Bud Formation
Arturo Vargas
Mentor: German Enciso
By employing tools from mathematical modeling we study
the cell’s ability to switch from polar growth to isotropic
growth, a key step in the process of bud formation in a
yeast cell. During polar growth a cell exhibits growth in a
very focused direction, creating a bud; the switch between
polar to isotropic growth allows for the cell’s bud to further grow in all directions. The construction of the model
is built upon Dr. Doug Kellogg’s research suggesting that
the switch between polar growth to isotropic growth is the
result of a relay of signals that is dependent of the growth
of a cell’s membrane. The model is presented in two
stages; in the first stage we present the core model, which
describes the bistable interaction between the protein Zds1
and the phosphatase PP2A. Under this scenario, that interaction is ultimately responsible for activating the master
regulator of the cell cycle leading to isotropic growth. The
second stage of the model is the complete relay of signals
that begins via vesicle transport to the membrane of a cell.
The network of communication is constructed via a system
of differential equations. Overall, this model suggests a
mechanism for the cell to use membrane growth as a signal
for the regulation of bud formation.
Exploring Social Networks and Social Support in a
High Dense Mexican American Neighboorhood
versus a Low-Density Mexican American
Neighboorhood
Marjory Vazquez
Mentor: Maria Rendon
Past research has found that high dense Mexican American
neighborhoods are protective to older Mexican Americans
in terms of physical and mental health. Mortality, morbidity and depression rates have found to be lower among
Mexican Americans living in high dense Mexican American
neighborhoods. Literature suggests one plausible reason
why high dense Mexican American neighborhoods are associated with better health may be higher levels of social
support and social cohesion in these communities. While
plausible, this theoretical argument ignores research that
finds social ties among immigrants and particularly the
poor to be fractured and less cohesive than once thought
to be. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare social support mechanisms and social networks of
Mexican Americans in high and low dense Mexican
American neighborhoods. This study examines the extent
to which social ties are neighborhood bound and how social networks and social support is influenced by the racial/ethnic composition of neighborhoods. In doing so,
this study examines if and why high dense Mexican American neighborhoods provide residents with the kind of social cohesion believed to contribute to good health.
Findings suggest that there was more social cohesion in the
highly dense American community, and evidence of different social support patterns.
Toxoplasma gondii: p450 Bacterial Expression and
Protein Purification
George Vela
Mentor: Naomi Morrissette
Toxoplasma gondii is an important parasite in human disease.
The prevalence of T. gondii infected humans is estimated to
be 30% of the worldwide population where infection is up
to 90% in certain populations. One reason T. gondii infection is so abundant is because infection is non-sterilizing.
Human infection is characterized by the tachyzoite (acute
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Design of a Customizable Non-Uniform MicrofluidicBased Biaxial Cyclic Cell Straining Device For Study
of Cell Mechanics
Timothy Vu
Mentors: James Jester, Abraham Lee
Cell mechanics is the study of how a cell responds to mechanical loads. Many body parts come into contact with
mechanical stimulus, such as the eye, heart, skin, etc. The
need to stimulate these cell responses is important for the
understanding of cells and tissue engineering applications.
Though some cell stretching devices have been created for
this purpose, they are uniform and don’t model variations
in the body. We have developed a novel microfluidic device that can perform non-uniform deformation of cells.
By creating a substrate of multi-thicknesses in a desired
shape, we can provide regions of high and low strain and
semi-controllable cell alignment. To test the device, we
looked at cell alignment on the device stretched and unstretched. Results show that we can abruptly induce microenvironment changes to make cells align at different directions. We have witnessed corneal fibroblast aligning with
the direction of both radial strain and circumferential
strain, something not witnessed before in previous devices.
infection) and bradyzoite (encysted form, latent infection)
stages. Current therapies are ineffective against the bradyzoite stage of infection. Recent literature shows p450 inhibitors decrease the number of bradyzoites in T. gondii
infected mice. Identification of T. gondii p450 inhibitors
may provide insight on the development of new antiparasitic drugs to target bradyzoite formation. We have
identified a hypothetical protein that contains essential
conserved p450 motifs in the C-terminal end. In frame
fusion to YFP shows colocalization to a mitochondrion
marker. I hypothesize that this is a T. gondii p450 protein
and is important for the T. gondii tachyzoite to bradyzoite
transition. The goal of this study is to express this hypothetical T. gondii p450 protein with an in frame HIS tag and
collect purified protein on a nickel column. Resolving the
structure of this protein will be beneficial to illuminating
potential targets for identifying p450 inhibitors.
Comparison of Inhaled Corticosteroids Using
Impulse Oscillometry in Children
Shruthi Vijayalakshmi
Mentor: Steven George
Asthma is a lung disease characterized by airway obstruction and is one of the most common chronic disorders in
children. Impulse oscillometry (IOS) has been increasingly
used as a noninvasive method to assess airway resistance
and reactance in children. Therefore, this study aims to use
IOS to compare the effect of two inhaled corticosteroids at
varying concentrations on asthma control. The two corticosteroids compared in this study are Fluticasone (Brand
name Flovent®) in concentrations of 44 and 110 mcg/puff
and Beclomethasone (Brand name Qvar®) in concentrations of 40 and 80 mcg/puff. Thirty-five Children aged 6
to 17 years who were being actively treated for asthma on
the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Breathmobile™
were enrolled in the study. Children were treated with either Flovent or Qvar over an average treatment period of 6
weeks. Baseline IOS and standard spirometry maneuvers
were performed in accordance with ATS/ERS standards at
the beginning and end of the treatment period. General
linear regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were
later applied to compare pulmonary function before and
after administration of either Flovent or Qvar. Our results
suggest that Qvar is more effective than Flovent in reducing asthma symptoms. The two IOS indices of the small
airways—AX and R5-R20—are reduced in patients being
treated with particularly effective at identifying uncontrolled and controlled asthma in children. Additionally,
ACT scores of children being treated with Qvar show significant improvement (p= 0.03). Thus, treatment of
asthma with Qvar may be useful in the overall clinical
strategy to achieve control.
An Analysis of Distance from Collision Site to
Pedestrian Home Residence in Pedestrian versus
Automobile Collisions in Southern California
Philip Wan
Mentor: Shahram Lotfipour
Pedestrian injuries relating to automobile collision continue not only to be detrimental to an individual, but also
increase the societal burden in the United States. The purpose of this study is to characterize if distance from collision site to pedestrian home residence in any way affects
the frequency of collisions. Additional factors such as injury severity score, age, gender, ethnicity, and blood alcohol level were evaluated with respect to the distance from
home to collision site. 1,908 trauma patients related in
automobile versus pedestrian collision were presented to
the University of California, Irvine, Medical Center between January 2000 to December 2009. 980 of the 1,908
patients had viable data associated with their medical record number which was retrieved from the UCI Trauma
Registry and analyzed. 76.7 percent of the analyzed data
had pedestrians hit within the average 4.5 miles away from
home residence, of which 57.1 percent were struck within
1 mile away from home. An R-squared value of 0.8468
identifies an inverse logarithmic relationship between distance proximity of collision site to home. Ages 0–14 years
and 65 years and above were struck closer to home than
any other age groups. Gender, ethnicity, blood alcohol
level, and injury severity score were not significant determinants for distance collision away from home. Understanding these relationships allows appropriate
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intervention, education, and policy making to prevent further pedestrian injuries.
A Hall Array Sensor Structural Accelerometer
Kevin Wang
Mentor: Mark Bachman
Structural health monitoring is widely used for monitoring
the structural integrity of a structure to determine points of
stress and failures. By monitoring the movements of structures we can validate the design specifications and determine the safety and continued use of a building. This
project presents the design and fabrication of a reduced
sized accelerometer using hall array sensor to detect micron level movements, along with preliminary data. The
device can be manufactured in bulk and installed throughout a structure to provide better mapping of the structures
characteristics. This data is stored locally and collected for
analysis.
Development of Improved TiO2 Nanotube Field
Emission X-Ray Source
Sohan Weeraratne
Mentor: Sabee Molloi
The modern usage of carbon nanotubes in x-ray tubes
contains preexisting problems in the hopes of longevity as
well as stable emission. This is due to carbon’s chemical
characteristics, which make it susceptible to problems limiting its function in x-ray emission. Our purpose is to develop a high-performance x-ray tube based on titanium
dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes as its emission enhancer. The
incorporation of TiO2 nanotubes can be used to increase
electron field emission as well as provide more stable emission. Titanium dioxide is already oxidized and therefore
cannot be impeded in ways such that carbon was. Also,
metallic features of TiO2 allow it to withstand heating effects. This project will consist of an electrochemical setup
consisting of an electrolyte solution with a titanium sheet
submerged in order to oxidize. TiO2 nanotube growth requires only a container, electrolyte, platinum electrode, and
DC supply. Throughout the course of this project, different attempts to manipulate key aspects of growth requirements will allow temperamental breakthroughs from the
parameters we hope to accomplish in the field of
nanotechnologic x-ray tubes. Chemical doping during
growth as well as after annealing will be one of the main
tested strategies throughout the project as well as altering
percent concentration of the electrolyte both for increased
conductance. By analyzing results, we will test these nanotubes for conductivity, density, as well as overall pattern of
growth using different machines available in order to track
and learn from patterns attained by countless testing.
A Microfluidic Trap System for C. elegans Egg Counting
Yuang Wen
Mentor: Elliot Hui
Assays that measure egg-laying assess the well-being of
Caenorhabditis elegans in specific environments. If a worm’s
egg count during the course of an experiment varies significantly from a wild type worm growing on an E. coli
seeded agar plate, then that worm cannot be considered as
thriving. The previous C. elegans counting technique is inefficient, for it takes days to collect an accurate egg-count.
The goal of this research project is to develop a system
that sequentially traps eggs as they are laid by worms in
microfluidic devices, which allows for accurate and efficient egg-counting for worms cultured in liquid media.
Prototypes of the microfluidic trap: (1) were fabricated
with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) using standard photolithography and soft lithography methods, (2) were tested
with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) beads as well as
C. elegans eggs in suspension; and (3) were tested in-vivo.
Results show that beads as well as C. elegans are able to be
trapped by the device, but not in a sequential order. In-vivo
testing showed similar results as testing with beads and
suspended eggs. These results manifest a successful application of microfluidics to studies in environmental biology.
Reverse Engineering Embedded Systems
Charles Whitlock
Mentor: Ian Harris
Nowadays, computer chips contain billions of transistors.
Each transistor plays a vital role in the chip’s architecture.
The transistors are responsible for holding important information about the chip. This information is accessed via
the pins on the microchip. There may be only 500 pins on
a microchip in order to access certain components, which
is a very low number of pins compared to the number of
transistors. So how do you observe so much data with only
so few points of access? One way to observe and control
information on a chip is with Joint Test Action Group.
Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) is the IEEE 1149.1 Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture. A
JTAG connection can be established on any chip that adheres to this standard and is connected using only four
wires for communication. JTAG is generally used for debugging a chip, but can also be used for transferring data
to and from the chip. A popular architecture used for chips
today is the ARM architecture. ARM has a way of accessing important parts of their chips trough the ARM Debug
Interface (ADI). Using a JTAG connection in order to
communicate with the ADI, one can gain access to all of
the data that is stored on the chip. By using the simple circuitry in order to establish a JTAG connection and the
simple protocol for using the ADI, we were successfully
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able to create an open source system that observes and
controls registers and memory on the microchip.
factors for re-offending. Preliminary results suggest that,
although the IJ program helped officers address some risk
factors for offending, there is room for improvement in
targeting the most robust risk factors for re-offending,
such as antisocial attitudes. Implications for disseminating
truly “evidence-based” practices in probation are discussed.
The Correlation Between Memory and Hardiness
Yasith Wickramarachchi
Mentor: Salvatore Maddi
The human brain is interconnected and has many different
types of processes that work together to contribute to
normal activity. In addition, many of these processes are
based on other processes in the brain, such as the case in
hardiness. Hardiness is the measure of a person’s ability to
cope with stress and adversity. It has been shown to be
important in regards to child development, business management and military competency. It is still unclear, however, as to all the components that impact hardiness and,
to help answer this question, I compared hardiness levels
to declarative and priming memory levels to discover any
correlation between them. To address this inquiry I tested
university students for declarative memory, priming memory and hardiness levels and looked for any correlation
between memory and Hardiness. I found that declarative
memory was significantly more correlated to Hardiness
compared to priming memory. I concluded that this correlation could be due to declarative memory being part of
the conscious brain system while priming memory is part
of the subconscious brain system and, since Hardiness is a
conscious brain system, it is significantly affected by declarative memory.
In Vivo Imaging of a Stem Cell Niche
Brandon Wong
Mentor: Elliot Hui
Since assays of large vertebrate animals are time consuming and costly, many biologists have turned to C. elegans for
genetic experimentation. As a model organism, many genetic interactions have been well documented but not understood. To understand how or why these processes
occur, further experimentation is necessary; however, due
to the micro-scaled nature of C. elegans, there are difficulties
immobilizing the worm while leaving it unharmed. Recent
microfludic device have found methods to immobilize C.
elegans in chemical free manner. We propose the use of a
previously engineered microfludic device constructed from
PDMS to immobilize C. elegans and keep the worms in device to image a division of a stem cell in vivo.
The Role of Interleukin-22 during Salmonella enterica
serovar Typhimurium Infection
Christina Wong
Mentor: Manuela Raffatellu
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (Salmonella) is a bacterial pathogen of the gastrointestinal tract that thrives in
the inflamed environment produced by the host immune
response. Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is one of the most highly
induced genes during Salmonella infection. It induces production of antimicrobial peptides in the gut epithelium, e.g.
lipocalin-2 and calprotectin, to which Salmonella but not the
resident microbial flora is resistant. Interestingly, Salmonella
numbers are lower in IL-22-/- mice than in WT mice. To
explore this finding, we analyzed protein samples from the
crypts of the cecum and large intestine in IL-22-/- and WT
mice infected with Salmonella. We found that production of
lipocalin-2 and calprotectin was significantly reduced in IL22-/-mice. Crypt preparations contained almost no neutrophils, as shown by Western blot analysis probing for the
neutrophil marker myeoloperoxidase. Thus, crypt analysis
allows direct monitoring of the impact of IL-22 on the
epithelium. In whole cecum, the amount of neutrophils,
which contain large quantities of calprotectin, was high and
differences in antimicrobial peptide production were less
pronounced. To investigate the effect that the lack of IL22 has on the gut environment, we analyzed the microbiota
composition of IL-22-/- and WT mice. After streptomycin
treatment and infection, the flora returned to the gut in
greater numbers in IL-22-/- mice than it did in WT mice,
Risk, Needs, Responsivity and Recidivism: An
Assessment of Hawaii’s Interactive Journaling
Program
Madison Wilson
Mentor: Jennifer Skeem
Over 3% of the U.S. population is under correctional supervision, and the majority—over four million people—
are supervised in the community on probation (Bureau of
Justice Statistics, 2010). As many as 60–75% of probationers re-offend, which deepens their penetration into the
correctional system and contributes to prison overcrowding. This situation underscores the need for more effective
probation programs. Previous research has shown that
when probation officers target changeable risk factors—
like substance abuse or attitudes that are favorable toward
crime—in their meetings with probationers, their probationers are significantly less likely to re-offend. This principle of effective intervention is called the “need” principle.
Although “Interactive Journaling” (IJ) programs ostensibly
help officers adhere to the need principle and are extensively marketed to probation systems as “evidence-based,”
this study is the first to evaluate this claim. Based on 66
audiotaped meetings between probation officers and probationers enrolled in this IJ program, we assessed the extent to which officers’ targeted probationers’ identified risk
 Undergraduate Research: Managing the Future  
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and with a higher percentage of Enterobacteriacea. Salmonella
grows better in WT mice because IL-22-induced antimicrobial peptides kill susceptible microbiota but not resistant Salmonella. In summary, IL-22 promotes Salmonella
growth by inducing antimicrobial peptides.
Sex Determination in Lamprophis fuliginosus
Matthew Wong
Mentor: James Hicks
To determine the sex of a neonatal snake, in this case the
Brown House Snake Lamprophis fuliginosus, literature suggests manual eversion of the snakes’ hemipenes. The researcher’s correct recognition of hemipenes indicates a
male whereas the absence of hemipenes indicates a female.
Care must be taken not to mistake a female’s oviductal
papillae for hemipenes. Manual eversion also presents a
risk of physical harm to the neonatal snake. To address the
possible inaccuracy of misinterpretation and potential
physical damage of manual eversion of hemipenes, an alternative method was sought that could either supplement
or replace manual eversion of hemipenes as a form of sex
determination in neonatal L. fuliginosus. Brown House
Snakes exhibit sexual dimorphism which is the apparent
morphological difference that exists between the males and
females of a particular species. Female Brown House
Snakes commonly present as larger in both size and mass
between the two sexes and also exhibit shorter tail length
(TL) than males. By calculating what percent a neonatal L.
fuliginosus’ TL is of its total length, a researcher can determine what sex the snake is without a manual eversion of
the cloaca. This method has also been tested in adult
Brown House Snakes with high accuracy and precision in
correctly “determining” the snake’s sex. The study shows
that with high accuracy, this method of discerning what
percent of total length a snake’s TL can confidently and
safely determine a neonatal Lamprophis fuliginosus’ sex.
Air Pollution Exposure in Boyle Heights:
Implications of Activity Patterns and Mode of
Transportation
Lisa Wu
Mentor: Douglas Houston
Disadvantaged, low-income communities are, in many
cases, disproportionately located near heavily polluted,
congested roadways which are associated with increased
health risks such as respiratory problems. However, few
insights are available regarding the relationship of personal
travel/activity patterns and the magnitude of exposure to
vehicle pollutants on a daily basis. This study focused on
the air pollution exposure related to the travel and activity
patterns for residents of a predominantly Latino, low income community located in Los Angeles, California called
Boyle Heights. The locations of residents of Boyle Heights
(N=26) were recorded on a 15-second interval for a week
using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices to identify
location and travel periods. Also, air pollution exposure
was recorded using portable air monitoring devices to
measure particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAH), an air pollutant typically emitted from heavy duty
diesel trucks. Preliminary analyses shows that the average
participant spent only 5% of their day travelling, but that
they experienced about 40% of their daily air pollution
exposure during this time. Exposures were higher during
periods of walking and waiting at a bus stop compared to
periods spent indoor activities or in-vehicle driving. On
average, exposures were higher for younger participants
(20–29) who spent more time outdoors in recreational areas and traveling. Findings provide important insights regarding the environmental justice implications of goods
movement in southern California and inform strategies for
more sustainable and fair land use, housing, and transportation management.
Development of Cyclopropenes as Novel
Bioorthogonal Chemical Reporters
Bryan Xie
Mentor: Jennifer Prescher
Bioorthogonal chemical reporters are small functional
groups that can be metabolically incorporated into cellular
biomolecules and subsequently detected with selective,
biocompatible chemistries. This two-step process has been
used to image and retrieve biomolecules from complex
environments, and has led to significant advances in our
understanding of biological systems. The chemical reporter
strategy, while powerful, has been largely limited to monitoring one biological feature at a time. This is due to a lack
of suitable reporters and reactions that can be used to
probe multiple biomolecules in tandem. Here, we have
described a new candidate bioorthogonal chemical reporter, cyclopropene. A variety of cyclopropene scaffolds
were synthesized and demonstrated to be stable in cellular
environments. Importantly, these functional groups can
also be incorporated onto protein and glycan cell surfaces
and detected using a highly selective Diels-Alder reaction
with tetrazine derivatives. The cyclopropene-tetrazine reaction can also be performed concurrently with azide-alkyne
cycloaddition, the most widely used bioorthogonal reaction
in chemical biology to date. Thus, our work is expanding
the chemical toolkit for studies of complex cellular systems.
The Roles of BMP Signaling in the Drosophila Accessory Gland
Daixi Xin
Mentor: Rahul Warrior
The Drosophila melanogaster accessory glands, although different in structure, are thought to have similar functions to
the human prostate. Like its human counterpart, the Droso-
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phila accessory glands contain Bone Morphogenic Protein
Signaling (BMP), a growth signaling pathway that is associated with micrometastases of cancer in the human prostate
when overexpressed. There are two types of cells that
make up the accessory gland: main and secondary cells.
Both cells are thought to secrete proteins and seminal
fluid. It is currently unclear how gene expression is regulated in the accessory glands, and this project aims to determine the presence of BMP activity and explore its roles
in expression. In the BMP pathway, Decapentaplegic
(Dpp) is one of the ligands and Thickveins (Tkv) is one of
the receptors. We used RNA interference to mediate
knockdown of Dpp with several different GAL4 drivers at
room temperature and 29 °C. With the same GAL4 drivers, we drove constitutive activation of Tkv receptor at
both temperatures as well. The resulting accessory glands
showed expression in both the main and secondary cells
for Dpp RNAi knockdown. However for constitutively
activated Tkv, there was no expression in secondary cells
for most of the GAL4 lines used. These results suggest
that constitutive activation of Tkv may be indirectly causing inhibition of BMP signaling in the secondary cells,
while Dpp knockdown has no visible effect on either cell
type expression.
Acetyl-Coenzyme CoA Carboxylase: Target for AntiMycobacterial Therapeutics
Kimberline Yang
Mentor: Sheryl Tsai
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest
pathogens. Its extensive lipid cell wall, composed of longchain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, multimethylbranched fatty acids, and mycolic acids, underlies its virulence, survival, latency, and antibiotic resistance within its
host. Acetyl-CoA carboxylases commit acetyl-CoA to the
biosynthesis of these fatty acids in M. tuberculosis. ACCases
catalyze the first committed step in fatty acid biosynthesis,
the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA. M. Tuberculosis has six carboxyltransferase (CT) subunits (accD1-6),
each providing a different biological role and different extender units for the biosynthesis of fatty acids by controlling ACCase substrate specificity for acyl-CoA. One of the
CT subunits, AccD6, is essential for pathogen survival and
cell wall lipid biosynthesis. We have solved the crystal
structure of AccD6 and its substrate specificity for acetylCoA to produce malonyl-CoA. In silico and in vitro screening have identified a potent inhibitor, NCI-172033 with a
Ki of 1.8 μM. In addition, we have elucidated the preferred
oligomeric state of AccD6 when complexed with the biotin carboxylase subunit, AccA3, to be a dimer. These significant findings make AccD6 a potential target for antimycobacterial drug design.
The Role of Cholecystokinin Octapeptide in Rostral
Ventrolateral Medulla during Electroacupuncture
Modulation of Pressor Reflexes in Rats
Zheyan Xu
Mentors: Min Li, Stephanie Tjen-a-looi
Electroacupuncture (EA) is effective in about 70% of subjects and patients. Acupuncture is used to treat cardiovascular diseases including hypertension. We have shown in a
rat model that EA modulates elevated blood pressure response induced by gastric distention (GD). However, a
third of the subjects do not respond to EA. Therefore, this
study aims to investigate the mechanism underlying the
antagonistic effect of EA. We hypothesize that cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) in rostral ventrolateral
medulla (rVLM) inhibits the inhibitory EA effect on sympathoexcitatory responses. Experiments were performed
on anesthetized rats every 10 min with GD. We observed
consistent increases of mean arterial pressure (MAP) with
repeated applications of GD. For EA responders, 30 min
of EA at the Jianshi and Neiguan acupoints overlying the
median nerves reduced the increases in blood pressure and
microinjection of CCK agonist into rVLM reversed the
effect of EA. On the other hand, we observed that deactivation of CCK-A receptors converted the lack of responsiveness of EA effect into EA-responsive rats. Thus, our
data suggest that CCK-8 interferes with the actions of EA
and deactivation of the CCK-A receptors, may in part,
convert non-responders into responders to EA effect.
The Molecular Mechanism of p53 Rescue by Small
Organic Molecules
Josephine Yao
Mentors: Jack Chen, Hartmut Luecke
The tumor suppressor gene p53 plays a big role in human
cancers by regulating cell cycle arrest, DNA repairs, and
apoptosis. A mutation in p53 can trigger uncontrolled cell
growth and is shown to occur in about half of all human
cancers. A process called p53 rescue is used to describe the
direct reactivation of mutated p53 proteins. It has been
recently discovered that a small organic compound, which
must remain unspecified due to patenting reasons, has the
ability to salvage the function of the p53 missense mutation R175H. This specific mutation is one of the three
most predominant mutations in human cancers and is one
of the most challenging mutations to rescue, which has
typically been accomplished using second-site mutations.
Although the in vivo effect of this compound has been
characterized, the molecular mechanism of p53 rescue is
not yet understood. My goal is to determine the binding
site of this compound by using x-ray crystallography and to
understand the mechanism that allows it to rescue the
function of p53 mutant R175H by using wild-type p53 to
serve as a comparison with R175H. Once the structure is
solved with this compound bound to p53, further studies
can be carried out to examine the effects of this compound
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on other p53 variants and to improve the effectiveness of
this compound in repairing p53 function.
Downregulation of NIPBL in the Cardiac
Primordium Gives Rise to Heart Defects in NIPBL
Conditional Mutant Mice
Mona Yazdi
Mentor: Anne Calof
Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is a developmental
disorder that affects multiple organ systems and can range
in severity from undiagnosed to failure to thrive. Some of
the most common features of patients with CdLS are low
birth weight, cardiac and gastrointestinal defects, growth
and mental retardation, and upper limb deficiencies. Incidence of congenital heart defects in people with CdLS is as
high as 20–30% (as compared to 0.8% for the general
population), and these defects can range in severity from
minor atrial septal defects (ASD) to more serious forms
such as Tetralogy of Fallot. A majority of CdLS cases are
due to mutation in one copy of the Nipped B-like (NIPBL)
gene, which encodes a cohesion-associated protein that is
conserved among all eukaryotes. In this study we use the
FlEx gene-trapping technology to establish a new conditional allelic series of Nipbl. Our initial objectives were to
establish the Nipbl FlEx/+ line and then toggle the Nipbl
allele in vivo. Nipbl FlEx/+ mice, with the Nipbl FlEx allele
in the mutant conformation, displayed many of the phenotypes observed in our original Nipbl RRS564/+ line, making it a reliable model for CdLS. Our second objective was
to use the Nipbl FlEx series of alleles to identify in which
tissues heart defects initiate during development. We
found that lowering levels of Nipbl in the heart leads to
large ASDs and ventricular septal defects (VSD).
The Effects of Maternal Cortisol during Pregnancy on
Fetal Growth
Audrey Yeh
Mentors: Claudia Buss, Sonja Entringer, Pathik Wadhwa
An adverse fetal environment (e.g., maternal under- or
over-nutrition, maternal medical conditions, maternal psychosocial stress during pregnancy) is associated with
changes in birth weight and with increased risk for disease
later in life (concept of “fetal programming of health and
disease”). The stress-related hormone cortisol has been
discussed as a potential candidate mechanism mediating
the effects of exposure to different adverse conditions during pregnancy on the developing fetus. The objective of
this study was to look at the association between measures
of maternal plasma cortisol levels during pregnancy and
fetal growth in humans. We hypothesized that high levels
of maternal cortisol, particularly during early gestation, are
associated with a reduction in fetal growth. Maternal serum
cortisol levels and ultrasound measures of fetal biometry
were longitudinally assessed in N=167 mother-fetus pairs
in early (15.46 ± 0.94 mean ± standard deviation (SD)
wks), mid (25.75 ± 1.23 wks) and late (36.37 ± 1.21 wks)
gestation. Based on published norms, we calculated estimated fetal weight percentiles as well as the difference in
percentiles at each time point. Statistical analyses were
conducted to test the effects of early maternal cortisol levels on changes in fetal weight percentiles from mid to late
gestation, adjusting for obstetric risk conditions and infant
sex. Our results showed that higher levels of plasma maternal cortisol in early gestation time point 1 (T1) were associated with reduced fetal growth from mid to late
gestation (F(1;162)=3.4, p=0.03). We conclude that elevations of cortisol early in gestation may have profound effects on fetal growth.
Cleaning Processes and Evaluation of Non-Contact
Atomic Force Microscope Tip
Mike Yen
Mentor: Phil Collins
An atomic force microscope (AFM) is the primary tool
used by the Collins Research group to image carbon nanotubes. The AFM consists of a cantilever and tip that is
used to scan the sample’s surface, and when brought into
proximity of the sample’s surface, forces between the tip
and sample deflect the cantilever, thus leading to a highly
detailed image. It is a common problem for the tip to become defective either by breaking or by picking up contamination from the sample. Replacing an AFM tip is
expensive due to the frequency of failing. The goal of my
research was to find an efficient method of cleaning the
contaminated AFM tips. In order to test various cleaning
methods I collected 34 defective AFM tips, determined
which were broken and which were contaminated by imaging each tip with a SEM. After the imaging I would either
expose the tip under a UV lamp, in an acetone bath, oxygen plasma, or a combination of these. These cleaning
methods proved ineffective in removing the contaminates
from the AFM tips. This finding suggested that the contaminates were not carbon based molecules, which I confirmed using the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
(EDS) of the SEM available to the Collins group. This
suggests that there is no easy method for cleaning contaminated AFM tips.
Affordable Housing in Orange County
Jorge Zavala
Mentor: Victoria Basolo
Ever since the post-federal era, affordable housing has
been on the decline, largely because the Reagan Administration imposed dramatic cuts on programs and funding
aimed at developing low-income housing. A main reason
that the construction of affordable housing is criticized is
because opponents believe it will drive property values
down in the area where it is implemented. In an effort to
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shed light on the interaction between the implementation
of affordable housing and property values, average property values for homes in Orange County were analyzed at
the zip code level. A sample of 58 of the 148 zip codes in
Orange County were analyzed using an interrupted time
series design which looked at average home values five
years prior to and five years after the construction of an
affordable housing development. In order to be classified
as an affordable housing development, at least one Low
Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) had to be awarded
in the zip code area. Results demonstrate that housing
value did not decrease as a result of affordable housing. In
fact, results demonstrate that property values had a slight
increase after the development of affordable housing.
However, most expressive writing studies have included
predominately European-American participants; therefore,
very little is known about the effect of expressive writing
interventions for Asian-Americans. In two different expressive writing studies (one at UC Riverside and one at
UC Irvine), European-American students (N=21) and
Asian-American students (N=28) who were planning to
take a graduate school entrance exam (LSAT, MCAT, or
PCAT) wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings
about their upcoming exam. The essays from both of these
studies were analyzed using open and focused coding procedures, with the goal of identifying the emerging themes
for each group. Preliminary qualitative results showed that
Asian-Americans’ essays were largely focused on stress
(e.g., “Currently, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the
amount of information”), talked a lot about future plans
(e.g., “My alternate plans for the future are to get a teaching
credential and for graduate school”), and placed a good
deal of emphasis on self-criticism (e.g., “I still refuse to
push myself for some unknown reason inside of me”).
European-Americans’ essays, in contrast, were predominately focused on reflection (e.g., “I should start by explaining that I am a perfectionist”), often involved realism (e.g.,
“This isn’t to say I’m not at all worried about it”), and also
frequently mentioned stress (e.g., “I feel worn out”). Quantitative results (e.g., word count comparisons and test performance comparisons) will also be discussed.
Is Mental State Language Use Related to Friendship
Quality in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Morgan Zisch
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Research continues to inform the development of interventions and therapies that alleviate symptoms associated
with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The improved
socio-communicative skills that often result from these
therapies have been found to lead to more rewarding social
relationships. Research indicates that in neurotypical (NT)
children, positive associations exist between use of mental
state language and understanding of mental states, and between mental state understanding and friendship quality.
Little is known about these associations in children with
ASD, who, on average, are reported to be lonelier and to
have poorer quality friendships than NT children. This
study examined mental state language use as it relates to
friendship quality in kindergarten-aged children with and
without ASD. Participants narrated a wordless picture
book while being audio recorded. Their narratives were
subsequently coded for frequency of mental state language
use. One parent of each child reported on their child’s
friendship quality with a close playmate. Results are expected to indicate that children with ASD used fewer mental state words and have lower quality friendships than NT
children. Further, a positive association between mental
state language use and friendship quality is expected in
both the ASD and NT groups. These findings would suggest that ASD interventions should target mental state language use in order to increase social skills related to
friendship quality, which could ultimately allow children
with ASD to lead less lonely and more fulfilling lives.
Group Projects 
Low Cost Fuel Composition Sensors for Smart
Combustion
Maxwell Daly, Anthony Jordan
Mentor: Vince McDonell
With new technologies having the ability to tap into previously unobtainable natural gas reserves, the opportunity to
operate more natural gas fired burners is on the rise. However, not all natural gas supplies are composed of the same
constituent gases and in the same proportions. For this
reason it is important to be aware of the exact fuel composition entering a burner so as to be able to prevent hardware damage, maintain low emission readings, and
maximize efficiency of the combustor. In this work, the
development of an inexpensive sensor array that could
measure the composition of natural gas in a manner sufficient to be applied in fuel flexible burner control systems is
explored. While many very expensive sensors that could
fulfill this role exist, ultrasonic sensors were eventually
chosen due to their affordability and their unique physical
properties in which they operate. By estimating the speed
of sound within a given medium an ultrasonic sensor can
be used to determine the composition of that substance. In
order to replicate the various mixtures of natural gas, a
Ethnic Differences Between Asian-Americans and
European-Americans in an Expressive Writing Study
Juan Zizumbo
Mentor: Joanne Zinger
Expressive writing allows participants to express their
deepest emotions fully in a confidential environment.
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mixing station was developed to combine the three main
fuels comprising natural gas (methane, ethane, propane).
After the simulated gas is created it flows through the sensor housing where the composition data is taken. The results obtained are evaluated to assess the extent to whether
the ultrasonic approach is viable and the level of accuracy
with which can be expected to perform while maintaining
low cost.
Retention Strategies for Community-Based Research:
A Literature Review
Sira Manukyan, Christina Szeto
Mentor: Kimberley Lakes
Retention of participants in longitudinal studies is imperative for understanding health issues and disparities among
diverse populations. Previous research has indicated the
importance of retention of diverse populations in order to
avoid systematic bias as well as limited generalization and
validity of results. Prior studies have documented differences in retention rates by ethnicity; for example, NonLatino White, Latino, Asian and African Americans had
retention rates of 59.7%, 69.1%, 51.3% and 49.3%, respectively, in a study of depression treatments. In addition,
demographic and socioeconomic factors, including gender,
also are linked to retention of participants. When retention
systematically varies for certain groups, researchers’ ability
to generalize clinical study findings is limited. Therefore, a
greater understanding of the reasons leading to low retention rates and strategies to improve retention are essential
for successful generalization of research results and improvement of the health of diverse groups. We completed
a literature review to identify common reasons for lower
retention rates and previously successful strategies for improving retention rates among socioeconomically and ethnically diverse groups to develop a retention plan for the
National Children’s Study. Although retention has been
problematic in many studies, successful strategies for optimal retention have been documented and include: tailoring of procedures towards varying cultures, sufficient
incentives for participation, ongoing communication and
contact, face-to-face interviews, extensive information collection, social support, flexible scheduling, culturally
knowledgeable and educated staff, and community involvement.
Latina
Undergraduates’
Perceptions
of
Microaggressors, Coping, and Well-Being
Esmeralda Hernandez, Liliana Quintero
Mentor: Jeanett Castellanos
Latinas are a growing student population that continues to
fall behind consistently across all levels of the education
system. Microaggressions have shown to result in Latina
undergraduates’ feeling of isolation, marginalization, which
over time can affect their college outcomes as well as their
well-being. Furthermore, literature has shed more light on
the elements for coping and well-being that Latina/o undergraduates use in navigating their educational experience.
This study examines Latina undergraduates’ perceptions of
microaggressors and their use of coping and strengthbased practices to maintain healthy and positive functioning, or well-being using the psychosocialcultural framework. Approximately 100 Latina undergraduates were
surveyed online using a demographic sheet and 10 selfreported scales. Results show the role of microaggressors
on Latina undergraduate well-being and the degree to
which Latinas use or do not use coping mechanisms and
draw upon their strengths to mediate the effects of their
undergraduate experiences. Results also show the differences according to class level and generation. This study
suggests more research is needed on how Latina undergraduates cope with the experience of microaggressors.
Three-Window Bedside Ultrasound vs. Chest X-ray
for Confirmation of Endotracheal Tube Placement
Shane Breazeale, Trang Tran
Mentors: Shahram Lotfipour, Elizabeth Turner
The standard of care for determining the accuracy of endotracheal tube (ETT) placement is chest x-ray. The primary objective of this study is to determine if ultrasound is
adequately sensitive and specific for the proper determination of endotracheal tube placement. ETT placement is
evaluated using the combination of three US windows
(movement of the diaphragm on the left and right, presence of bilateral lung sliding, and visualization of the ETT
in the trachea). A secondary objective is to determine the
timeliness of the ultrasound results relative to chest x-ray
(CXR). After intubation has been performed and before
CXR results are available, a three-window bedsideultrasound (US) is performed by a physician trained in
point-of-care ultrasound. After obtaining the views, an
impression is recorded regarding the positioning of the
endotracheal tube. The final decisions regarding tube management are made based upon the results of the CXR per
standard of care. Patient enrollment is currently ongoing
with 85 patients from the ICU and ED. Preliminary data
shows that ultrasound is significantly faster and similarly
accurate as CXR for determination of ETT placement after
intubation. The mean time between intubation and ultrasound completion is 24 minutes, while the mean time between intubation and CXR completion is 53 minutes
(P<0.005). Ultrasound can be a safer, quicker, and more
cost efficient method compared to CXR in confirming
ETT placement.
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The Effects of Emergency Physician-Performed
Pelvic Ultrasound on Emergency Department Length
of Stay
Christopher Gilani, Daniel Wu
Mentors: Alan Chiem, Shahram Lotfipour
Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a growing
problem in the United States and researchers are exploring
ways to reduce patient wait times by increasing patient
turnover rates. The objective of this prospective observational study is to determine if there is a difference in length
of stay (LOS) in the ED between patients who receive an
emergency physician performed pelvic ultrasound (EPPU)
compared to those that receive a radiology performed pelvic ultrasound (RPPU). Data was collected in an urban
academic ED through a convenience sampling of patients
who required a pelvic ultrasound scan. Researchers collected the following data: triage time, type of pelvic ultrasound, length of ultrasound scan, disposition time,
discharge diagnosis, and the patient demographics. Of the
157 patients that were enrolled, 48 received an EPPU only,
85 received a RPPU only, and 25 patients received both
but were excluded from the analysis. Patients that received
an EPPU had a shorter LOS than those who received a
RPPU by an average of 162 minutes (95% CI 106 to 209
min). When the possible delaying factors were controlled,
the average reduced LOS was 108 minutes (95% CI 38 to
166 minutes). Given that a reduction in LOS was observed
for patients who received an EPPU versus an RPPU even
after correcting for confounding variables and without
detriment to patient diagnoses, EPPUs may be used more
frequently as a possible means to alleviate ED overcrowding.
highlights that Latina/o commuters face additional familial
obligations, financial stressors, report feeling more marginalized and are less academically involved. This study seeks
to implement a psychosociocultural framework to examine
300 Latina/o commuter undergraduate students’ educational experiences. In particular, the researchers will measure the psychological (educational ganas, academic
motivation, home and school cultural brokering), social
(student involvement and connectedness, family and peer
perceived support), and cultural variables (cultural congruity, university environment, gender role adherence, familismo) in the context of college adjustment. Data
collection for the study is ongoing. Expected results are
that Latina/o commuters’ unique experiences require an
extra amount of educational ganas, educational motivation,
and initiative—exerting a unique will power to obtain their
academic goals. Findings will contribute to a better understanding on the factors that influence Latina/o commuter
undergraduates persistence compared to their on-campus
living counterparts.
A Single Protocol for Isolation of Kinesin and Dynein
from Drosophilia Embryos
Diana Hoang, Satyajeet Salvi
Mentors: Preetha Anand, Steven Gross
Microtubule based transport powered by molecular motor
proteins is critical to the growth of both individual cells
and multi cellular organisms. Many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, have been linked to altered transport. Kinesin and Dyenin are the two major eukaryotic
motor proteins for anterograde and retrograde transport,
respectively. They are involved in the transport of a wide
range of cargos including lipid droplets, lysosomes mitochondria. Evaluating the function of purified kinesin/dyenin in vitro in a controlled environment is the
foremost strategy a biophysicist usually uses to understand
the molecular motor proteins, which then leads to the understanding of in vivo functions of kinesin/dyenin. Kinesin
and dyenin have been purified from various sources like
bovine, murine, and chicken. This proposal is to purify
kinesin and dyenin, in quantities suitable for biochemical
and single molecular motility assays, from drosophila embryos. This is a combination of modified kinesin purification recently established in our group and the dyenin
purification established by Hays et al. The basic principle
for this purification is to immobilize kinesin/dyenin on
polymerized microtubules and then the motor protein release will be achieved by the addition of ATP. The single
molecular processivity of both motor proteins will be
evaluated after isolation.
Bridging Two Worlds: Latina/o Undergraduate
Commuters, Familial Expectations, and Persistence
Rosa Mejia, Melissa Munoz
Mentor: Jeanett Castellanos
The Latina/o population is one of the fastest growing racial ethnic minority groups in the U.S. Although there has
been an expediential growth in this population over the
past two decades, their numbers are not fully represented
in higher education. Further impacting their representation
in higher education, of those Latina/os enrolled, many face
various educational barriers that hinder their academic experiences, which ultimately impact their retention and persistence. One specific educational challenge for Latina/o
students is when they do not have the luxury to live on
campus and commuting becomes part of their daily academic routine. Although the literature highlights the role
of student integration, involvement, and campus organizations as contributing factors of Latina/o persistence and
retention, the unique educational processes Latina/o
commuters navigate throughout their educational journeys
remain minimally examined and understood. Past literature
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The Role of D2 Receptor Isoforms in Mediating the
Effects of Antipsychotics
Ahsan Ahmad, Katherine Phan
Mentor: Emiliana Borrelli
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness that affects 1–2%
of human population. Although the cause of Schizophrenia remains a mystery, with the development of antipsychotics various symptoms of schizophrenia may be
attenuated. There are two types of antipsychotics, typical
(1st generation) and atypical (2nd generation). Atypical antipsychotics produce fewer extrapyramidal symptoms
(EPS) or movement disorders than typical antipsychotics,
but it is still unclear how both drugs bring out the therapeutic effects. Previous studies have shown that numerous
antipsychotics mediate their effects via the D2L isoform
alone, indicating that the two Dopamine D2 receptor isoforms—D2L and D2S have different roles in vivo. Since the
dopaminergic pathway is implicated in Schizophrenia and
other mental disorders, and because D2R isoforms are
imperative for the therapeutic efficacy of antipsychotics, it
is important to understand the role of D2S and D2L in
vivo and in the presence of antipsychotics. For our experiment, groups of male mice for each genotype (D2L-/-,
D2S-/-, and the respective WTs) were tested in Open
Field and Novel Home Cage (NHC) for baseline motor
behavior. The mice were injected intraperitoneally with
haloperidol (typical antipsychotic), or clozapine (atypical
antipsychotic) and the locomotor was recorded for an
hour. Results revealed that the absence of D2S debilitates
baseline motor behavior. D2S-/- mice treated with low
dose of Haloperidol (0.2mg/Kg) significantly reduced locomotion compared to its respective wildtype. Similarly,
D2S-/- mice, when treated with Clozapine moved significantly less than its respective saline, than the D2L-/- mice.
These results suggest that both first and second generation
antipsychotics target the D2L isoform.
Medical
Student
Bedside
Ultrasound:
A
Comprehensive Analysis
Cecilia Pham, Amy To
Mentor: John Christian Fox
Bedside ultrasound in emergency departments has become
more prominent in recent years due to its speed, low risk,
and cost effectiveness. Studies showing that basic training
builds measurable ultrasound skills have led to recent integrations of permanent ultrasound courses into several
medical school curricula nationwide, including that of University of California, Irvine School of Medicine (UCI SoM)
in 2010. Because these curricula are relatively new, studies
on them are sparse. We analyzed the program at UCI SoM
in order to assess effectiveness and optimize the program
as needed. The first class (MS1 1st year) that received a year
of Ultrasound in Medical Education (USMedEd) was
evaluated with written and practical exams throughout the
year. The class before them (MS2 2nd year) was also tested
in the same manner after receiving rudimentary training
prior to USMedEd. MS1 written and practical preUSMedEd mean scores were 32% and 7%, respectively,
while post-USMedEd scores were 65% and 67%. MS2
written and practical pre-USMedEd scores were 44% and
11%, respectively. MS1 scores clearly increased throughout
the year. End of the year results for both consecutive
classes in their first year revealed higher scores for MS1
students who received USMedEd training, compared to
MS2 students with basic training. USMedEd is an effective
ultrasound-training program for medical students thus far,
and has the potential to further enhance skills by providing
frequent ultrasound exposure. Although there were limitations, this study sets a foundation for future studies that
can be conducted when medical school ultrasound courses
are more ubiquitous.
Microfabricated Fluidic Platform with PDMS
Cantilevers for Studying the Biomechanics of
Cardiomyocytes
Andrea Navarro, Tracey Tien
Mentor: William Tang
There is a strong interest in understanding the contractility
of cardiac muscles and, in particular, through the use of
cardiomyocyte as a model to provide insight into the biomechanics of the cardiovascular system. Experiments on
isolated cardiomyocytes in a well-controlled environment
can provide a better understanding of the morphological,
biochemical, and electrophysiological characteristics of the
heart. With this greater knowledge from cardiomyocytes,
we can develop better diagnostic tools and therapeutic
treatments for various cardiovascular diseases. The aim of
this study was to meet the need to quantify cardiomyocyte
contractile force with the latest fabrication techniques in
microfluidic devices based on poly(dimethylsiloxane)
(PDMS). Cardiomyocytes were seeded onto a PDMS cantilever with ridges and cultured to confluency. The aim was
to observe and measure the amount of cantilever deformation as a result of the stress induced onto the cantilever
surfaces from the cardiomyocyte contractile forces. The
shape and degree of the cantilever bending under stress
could be used to infer the contractility of the cells. We
have established the culturing protocol and have demonstrated culturing the cardiomyocytes to confluency on petri
dish. We have also observed the cells beating autonomously at confluency. Further, we have also succeeded in
culturing the cells to confluency on the PDMS cantilevers.
We are currently pursuing improvements on the experimental setups to allow robust cardiomyocyte contractions
on the PDMS cantilevers. Future work includes nextgeneration designs of the platform and potentially replacing PDMS with other polymeric materials that allow for a
more elegant fabrication process.
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False Memories: An Examination across Paradigms
Devan Duenas, Howard Lee
Mentor: Elizabeth Loftus
Researchers have been studying false memories for decades. In 1995, Loftus & Pickrell’s Lost in the Mall study introduced the field of memory to a new research paradigm
in which subjects were led to believe and remember entire
events that never occurred. In a related line of research,
Crombag et al. released the first in a series of studies
known as “crashing memory” studies. Crashing memories
involve subjects describing having seen video footage of
highly publicized news events when in fact no footage exists. Few studies, if any, have examined whether subjects
susceptible to false memories in one of these research
paradigms are susceptible to false memories in the other.
To examine this question, this study had participants imagine and write about childhood events that did not happen,
as well as asked them whether they had seen nonexistent
video footage related to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Results indicated that a significant minority of subjects
developed new memories and beliefs of childhood events.
Also, a significant minority reported seeing the nonexistent
9/11 footage and reported false memories of details from
the nonexistent footage. However, there appeared to be no
relationship between susceptibility to false childhood
memories and false memories of the 9/11 footage. These
and other results are discussed.
Scale of Empathy from week 1 to week 10 (F=6.73,
p=0.01)—but not on the Santa Clara Brief Compassion
Scale (F=0.262, p=0.61)—than students in “Introduction
to Global Health,” with adjustments for gender, age, ethnicities, career choices and whether or not the respondent
intended to become a physician. Courses such as “Compassion in Medicine” could provide an effective educational intervention for fostering empathy among pre-health
professional students; however, longitudinal study is
needed to evaluate the prolonged effect of the intervention. Also, students’ self-selection to enroll in each class
could be a serious bias in our study.
Examining the Influence of Language on
Generalization Abilities in Infancy
Theresa Lavery, Joanne Lepore
Mentor: Angela Lukowski
The abilities to recall the past and generalize learning materials are fundamental aspects of learning and memory. Research indicates that these abilities are apparent when
infants are approximately nine months of age and continue
to develop over the second year of life and beyond. One
factor that affects the ability to recall and generalize information is the presence of supportive adult language. The
goal of this research was to examine whether differences in
the supportiveness of adult language interacted with child
language comprehension abilities to affect generalization
abilities. To this end, 20-month-old children were tested at
two sessions. At the first session, children were presented
with six novel three-step event sequences. Two sequences
were presented in a highly-supportive condition that included the name of the sequence and narration of each
action, two sequences were presented in a moderatelysupportive condition that included the name of the sequence but non-informative attention-getting information
in place of the action names, and two sequences were presented in a minimally-supportive condition that included
only attention-getting information. Encoding was assessed
at the first session; delayed recall was assessed after approximately seven days. Data collection is ongoing but
analyses will be completed before the Symposium date.
Our hypothesis is that children with better comprehension
abilities will outperform children with poorer comprehension abilities, particularly on sequences tested in the highlyand moderately-supportive conditions. These findings will
be among the first to demonstrate the interaction between
child language comprehension and adult language use on
generalization abilities in late infancy.
Can We Teach Empathy?: Evidence from a Class on
Compassion in Medicine
Geoffrey Blair Astudillo, Daisy Lopez
Mentor: Johanna Shapiro
Empathy plays an important role in patient care. However,
multiple studies indicate that empathy declines as health
care providers progress through their professional education. Evidence-based educational interventions are needed
to foster empathy among health professional students.
This study evaluated a 10-week course titled “Compassion
in Medicine” that aimed to foster compassion and empathy
among pre-health undergraduate students at UC Irvine.
Surveys were administered to students enrolled in “Compassion in Medicine” (n=135) preceding and following the
course. Students enrolled in “Introduction to Global
Health” (n=108) were used as control subjects. Students’
level of empathy was evaluated using the Jefferson Scale of
Empathy (JSE)-Health Professional Student Version; level
of compassion was evaluated using the Santa Clara Brief
Compassion Scale (SCBCS). Other demographic variables
were also included in the survey to control for confounding effects. A general linear model of repeated measures
was used to evaluate mean changes of scores within students from week 1 to week 10, and between students from
each course. Students in “Compassion in Medicine” scored
significantly higher (F=24.32, p<0.001) on the Jefferson
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Characterization of Non-Premixed Methane Flames
with Water Vapor Addition in a Counterflow
Configuration
Daniel Jaimes, Alex Kindel
Mentor: Derek Dunn-Rankin
An experimental study of nonpremixed methane/air
flames is conducted using a counterflow configuration. A
conventional “flat” flame results from the reaction located
between the opposed fuel and oxidizer burner jets that
define the counterflow setup. The purpose of this study is
to determine the physical and thermal effects in adding
pre-vaporized water to the methane fuel stream with an
emphasis on the use of non-intrusive temperature acquisition methods. Water vapor addition is quantified by water/fuel molar ratios and plotted versus maximum flame
temperatures. Temperatures are determined using a B-type
bare wire thermocouple along with two non-interfering
profiling methods. The sodium line reversal method employs the presence of an alkali species in laminar flames as
the source for determining the maximum flame temperature; the spectrum line from the present species is matched
with the calibrated background light source continuum
resulting in thermal equilibrium according to Kirchoff’s
law. For thin filament pyrometry, the photometric exposure of CCD cameras is found to be a non-trivial function
of exposure time and image-plane illuminance; temperatures may then be found using the specific calibration
found for each type of CCD camera.Preliminary results
show that a flame can sustain 0.8 water/methane molar
ratio before quenching at a temperature of approximately
1800 K. Physical flame effects with an increase to the water/methane ratio appear as a decrease in luminosity and
an intensified blue zone. Decreasing the fuel flow rate provides similar results along with an increase of curvature to
the flame. Distinguishing the physical and thermal effects
of water vapor addition to methane flames will establish an
understanding of combustion applications where there is
substantial levels of water in the fuel such as occurs in
methane hydrate combustion, emulsified water/fuel spray
combustion, and LNG pool fires.
Optimizing Retinal-Specific Differentiation of
Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Joshua Almodovar, Jared Taylor
Mentors: Hans Keirstead, Magdalene Seiler
Retinal diseases affect more than 12 million Americans.
These diseases, such as macular degeneration and retinitis
pigmentosa, are associated with dysfunctional photoreceptors and/or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Thus, an
effective strategy may be to replace the damaged retinal
cells if they connect to the remaining inner retina. This
study investigates the optimization of differentiation of
human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into photoreceptor
progenitors before they are co-cultured with hESC-derived
RPE. hESCs are differentiated according to modifications
of Nistor et al., including delayed hyaluronic acid treatment,
longer time in suspension culture, and a change in concentration and treatment time with transcription factors Dkk1
and LeftyA. This study focuses on variations in exposure
time and concentration of ActivinA, Sonic Hedgehog
(shh), and FGF-8. Using immunohistochemistry analysis
for retinal-specific factors (ret. RX, Chx10, Crx, Nrl), the
following parameters were found to direct a high percentage of retinal progenitors: addition of ActivinA from day 7
(versus day 26) and FGF-8 treatment starting day 7.
Treatment with shh in the first week did not improve the
results from the previous protocol. These parameters can
now be used to begin the next tissue culture experiment
which will result in retinal tissue for transplantation into
retinal degenerate rats. This can ultimately lead to treatment for retinal degeneration in humans.
Effect of the Sdic Multigene Family on Sperm Competition in D. Melanogaster
Carolus Chan, Kania Gandasetiawan
Mentors: Jose Ranz, Shu-Dan Yeh
In Drosophila melanogaster, sperm of different males must
compete for fertilization due to the females’ multiple mating tactics. As a result, genes involved in improving male
reproductive fitness are thought to be quickly incorporated
into the genome. Sdic, or Sperm-specific dynein intermediate
chain, is a newly evolved chimeric gene present in the genome of the D. melanogaster species but absent in its closest
relatives. The gene Sdic is duplicated in tandem and has
been shown to be testes specific. Importantly, the gene Sdic
has been hypothesized to affect sperm motility, which
raises the possibility that Sdic can contribute to the differential success among males. In order to study the effects of
Sdic on male fertility, we evaluated the sperm competence
of a strain with the Sdic multigene family knocked out
against a wild type strain. In the defense assay, the experimental strain is the first to mate and must displace or inactivate sperm from the wild type strain. Using the progeny
size as a proxy for sperm competence, we find a nonsignificant trend consistent with a lower sperm competence of males without the Sdic multigene family in the
defense assay. This result contrasts with the previous offense assays in which the experimental males were second
to mate resulting in detection of lower competence of the
sperm of males without the Sdic multigene family.
The Role of Gamma-aminobutyric Acid in the
Bezold-Jarisch Reflex during Electroacupuncture
Mindy Bui, Justine Chen
Mentor: Stephanie Tjen-A-Looi
Although electroacupuncture (EA) has been previously
shown to have significant influence on the sympathetic
nervous system, less is known about the effect of EA on
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the parasympathetic nervous system. The hypothesis in
this experiment was that EA would reduce the BezoldJarisch reflex, characterized by cardiopulmonary depressor
and bradycardia responses, through a gamma-aminobutyric
acid (GABA) neurotransmitter mechanism in the medullary nucleus ambiguus (NAmb). In this experiment, a
Bezold-Jarisch reflex was induced in feline models through
the use of phenylbiguanide (PBG). EA was applied to the
P5-P6 acupoints overlying the median nerve and the blood
pressure and heart rate recorded. In order to evaluate the
role of GABA receptors during the action of EA, gabazine
was microinjected into the NAmb, thereby inhibiting the
action of the GABA receptors. Following the application
of EA, the PBG-induced depressor and bradycardia reflex
were reduced significantly. Blockade of GABA receptors
was shown to reverse the modulation effects of EA by
approximately 53%. Likewise no effect was observed following the injection of saline control into the NAmb.
From these results the experiment concluded that electroacupuncture was able to modulate cardiopulmonary
depressor and bradycardia responses caused by PBG
through GABA neurotransmitter systems in the medullary
nucleus ambiguus.
Early Assessment of Burn Wounds Using Spatial
Frequency Domain Imaging
Lynn Tran, Maggie Young
Mentor: Bernard Choi
Early diagnosis of burn severity is an important step for
physicians to make treatment decisions. There are four
degrees of burn severity, among which differentiation between second degree superficial and deep is most difficult
to diagnose. In addition, it has been shown that evaluation
by an experienced surgeon to determine the healing time
based on severity of the burn is only about 50–70% accurate. To resolve this issue, we propose Laser Speckle Imaging (LSI) as functional imaging of microvasculature at the
site of injury on a preclinical model. We have measured the
blood flow on different degree of burns as a diagnosis.
Higher and lower values of Speckle Flow Index (SFI) correlate to higher and lower blood flow in the microvasculature. Comparing the SFI values of first, second, and third
degree of burns at day 0, 1, 7, and 14 days respectively, we
observed that all degree of burns result in lower SFI values
by day 14. Among them, second degree of burn results in
highest flow at day 14. In addition, the SFI values collected
following the burn at day 0 show an increase in first and
second degrees of burns. This is due to the exposure of
microvasculature in first and second degree of burn.
Therefore, higher blood flow is detected with potential
faster healing time due to more blood vessels available at
the site of injury. However, the third degree of burn shows
a decrease. From understanding of third degree burns, the
microvasculature beneath the epidermis is damaged when
third degree of burn in induced; hence, there is less flow
and lower potential to heal. The data we collected from the
experiment correlates to our control data, proving the potential in LSI. Through visualization of blood flow using
LSI, we believe that this combined technology can be integrated into an affordable and effective early diagnostic tool
to aid burn surgeons make better treatment decisions.
Technologies for Assisting with Food Insecurity:
Strengthening Community Based Organizations
Robert Rodriguez, Minhnhut Vo
Mentors: Gillian Hayes, Melissa Mazmanian
Community based organizations play integral roles in assisting low-income residents in accessing food resources.
In their daily work, these community workers face challenges regarding increased need for food assistance from
the local population. We have identified two areas for
which technology can be of assistance, including mapping
the current community food resources available to residents, and creating connections and collaborations between local residents who have excess food and those
organizations that directly serve low-income populations.
Engaging with these problems using participatory design
methods (where the community workers’ perceptions and
opinions are integral to the design process) ensure a final
outcome where the technology is likely to be adopted and
useful to the community. The design and development of
our system seeks to strengthen the local community in
their ability to serve their low-income residents. We use
participatory methods to design, develop, and evaluate two
applications (Community Food Resource Map Application
and Community Food Supply Networking Application),
that leverage community work and contributes significantly
to the state of the art in community resource management
tools for food insecurity and within computer supported
cooperative work.
Examining the Effects of Parent and Child Sleep
Habits on Parent-Child Interactions
Shichun Ling, Miriam Ohana
Mentor: Angela Lukowski
Previous research has indicated that infant sleep habits
affect both infant and parent behavior, but the majority of
these data were collected using subjective reports. Research has not yet established, however, whether these
same relations would be observed using objective reporting techniques. The goal of this research was to examine
relations between child and parent sleep habits during the
second year of life and to determine whether characteristics of child and parent sleep are related to the quality of
parent-child interactions. To this end, 20-month-old children and one of their parents wore actigraphs for three
consecutive days and nights; parents also recorded their
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own sleep-wake activity and that of their children using
sleep diaries. Upon return of the actigraphs, parents read a
picture book to their children for approximately five minutes and they played with their children using three commercially-available toys provided by the researcher. Data
collection is ongoing but coding and analyses will be completed before the Symposium date. Our hypothesis is that
children and parents with better sleep habits will engage in
more positive parent-child interactions than those with
worse sleep habits and that these relations will differ when
examining objective versus subjective reports of participant sleep. These findings will be among the first to indicate that characteristics of child and parent sleep habits are
related to objective recordings of child and parent behavior
and that the observed relations may differ when different
reporting techniques are employed.
Leisure Time Physical Activity of Working Age
Population in the United States
Jocelyn Lo, Aram Seo
Mentor: Haiou Yang
Physical inactivity is considered one of the risk factors for
several health conditions related to cardiovascular disease
(CVD), including hypertension and obesity. Recent data
indicates there may be an increase in physical activity with
a possible linkage with the economic downturn. The goal
of this project is to explore the demographic characteristics
of working-age people who are engaged in leisure time
physical activity. Data for this project comes from the
2004–2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The
data was analyzed with the STATA S/E statistical software. The analysis is focused on the relationship between
leisure time physical activity and demographic characteristics, including: age, gender, ethnicity, education, occupation, and yearly earning. We also examined the dynamics of
these relationships during the years of 2004–2010. A major
finding indicates increasing trends of leisure time physical
activity in the years 2004–2010. In particular, the proportion of working-age population engaged in leisure time
activity is relatively elevated from 2008–2010, around the
time the economic recession started in the U.S. Another
finding is the differentiations in leisure time activity in age,
gender, ethnicity, occupation, education, and yearly earning. For example, working age people with Hispanic background are less likely to engage in leisure time physical
activity. These findings have important implications for
future health promotion programs for various population
groups.
A Demographic Portrait of Physicians Excluded by
the Federal Government from Medicare and Medicaid
Elaine Tong, Stephanie Vreeland
Mentor: Paul Jesilow
This study replicates work done by UCI researchers nearly
three decades ago. The original study looked at the demographic characteristics of the 147 physicians who had been
suspended or excluded from billing Medicare and Medicaid
from 1977 to 1982. That study reported that the sanctioned physicians were most likely family or general practitioners or psychiatrists and that 36% of them had
graduated from foreign medical schools. The current study
explores the demographic portrait of the 198 physicians
suspended or excluded from Medicare and Medicaid during 2010–2011. The analyses revealed some similarities and
differences from the earlier research. Suspended or excluded physicians still include large numbers of family and
general practitioners, as well as psychiatrists. But their
numbers now also include substantial numbers of internists. The recent findings reveal that the percentage of foreign graduates has not changed; 39% of the suspended or
excluded physicians during the recent two years had graduated from foreign medical schools. But graduates of highly
respected U.S. medical schools—such as the University of
Virginia, UCLA, University of Texas, USC, and three from
UCI—were also represented. Our presentation will include
a discussion of these findings.
The Role of cVLM during Electroacupuncture
Response to the Hypotensive Effects Caused by
Gastric Distension
Fady Gabra, Lily Sung
Mentor: Stephanie Tjen-A-Looi
Electroacupuncture (EA) has been used for decades as a
traditional Chinese treatment for pain and stress. Previous
studies have shown that the application of EA can evoke
normalization of blood pressure and heart rate in animals
that deviate from normal conditions. A rat model is used
in our experiment to study the role of EA in animals. Hypotension and bradycardia are induced in hypercapnic acidotic rats with gastric distention. A high concentration of
O2 and CO2 associated with an increased concentration of
protons stimulates central chemoreceptors. Repeated balloon inflation of the stomach every 10–15 minutes leads to
a withdrawal of sympathetic activity, causing a decrease in
blood pressure and heart rate. EA is applied at the P5, P6
acupoints overlaying the median nerve in 30-minute intervals, and a normalization of blood pressure and heart rate
is observed over long periods of time. The normalization is
measured by calculating the change in mean arterial pressure and heart rate before and after applying EA. Furthermore, we studied the mechanism leading to the
normalization effects of EA by investigating the role of the
caudal ventral lateral medulla (cVLM) and the neurotrans-
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mitters involved using microinjections of Kynurenic acid, a
glutamate receptor antagonist. In our experiment,
kynurenic acid was able to inhibit the normalization effects
of electroacupuncture, causing a large decrease in blood
pressure and heart rate. Changes seen in the mean arterial
pressure after injection of Kynurenic acid suggest that both
the cVLM and glutamate are involved in the EA response.
transferase) acts as functional repair enzyme in the brain, it
is thought that the PIMT knockout mouse may exhibit
higher levels of phosphorylation than wild-type mice in
proteins that control signaling between nerve cells. The
changes in phosphorylation of specific nerve cell proteins,
such as synapsin, in both the PIMT knockout and wildtype PIMT mouse was studied. 1D SDS-PAGE separation
followed by Western blotting was performed using phospho-specific antibodies to detect differences in expression
levels of known phosphorylation sites in synapsin. At the
synapsin serine-9 specific site, the results clearly show a
significant increase in phosphorylation in the PIMT
knockout mouse brain extracts compared to the extracts
from wild-type mouse brain. At the synapsin serine-603
site, there is no significant difference in phosphorylation.
There is also no difference in the expression levels of synapsin itself between the wild type and knockout. These
results indicate that when PIMT function is impaired, either during aging or neurodegenerative diseased brains,
neuronal proteins become differently modified and therefore have impaired function.
Activation of Pathway from Nuclues Tractus
Solitarius to Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla following
Application of Electroacupuncture
Sneha Butala, Vu Truong
Mentor: Zhi-Ling Guo
Electroacupuncture at Jianshi-Neiguan acupoints (P5-P6,
overlaying the median nerve) regulates cardiovascular function via neuronal mechanisms. The nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) is one region of the brainstem that receives
sensory afferent inputs, integrates the information, and
sends projections to a variety of brain regions responsible
for influencing autonomic and cardiovascular output. A
direct projection from the NTS to the rostral ventrolateral
medulla (rVLM) is an area important for cardiorespiratory
reflexes and homeostasis. Therefore, the aim of the study
is to examine EA activation of the NTS neurons and
whether or not they directly synapse with rVLM neurons.
Seven to ten days prior to EA stimulation, a retrograde
transported tracer, rhodamine–labeled fluorescent microspheres in suspension was injected into the rVLM. Following bilateral stimulation and cervical vagotomy, either EA
for 30min at P5-P6 acupoints or control stimulation (needle placement at P5-P6 without stimulation) was applied.
Compared to controls (n= 5), a significant increase in the
number of c-Fos positive neurons was observed in all NTS
sub-regions (commissural NTS (SolC), lateral NTS (SolL),
medial NTS (SolM), and ventral NTS (SolV)) of rats
treated with EA (n=6; *P<0.05, **P<0.01). Moreover,
neurons double-labeled with both c-Fos and retrograde
tracer in the NTS were identified more frequently in EAtreated animals than in control animals. Thus, the data
provides evidence supporting that EA at the P5-P6 acupoints activates NTS neurons that further relay signals to
rVLM neurons.
Examining Relations Between Child Sleep Habits
and Cognitive Functioning
Laura Hurwitz, Allison Tanaka
Mentor: Angela Lukowski
Previous research indicates that sleep is related to recall
memory and executive functioning in infancy, but the majority of the conducted research has been obtained using
subjective parent reports of infant sleep habits. The goal of
this research was to examine the relations between objective measures of child sleep habits during the second year
of life and performance on measures of executive functioning. To this end, 20-month-old children were tested at
two sessions. At the first session, children were presented
with two novel three-step event sequences to assess their
encoding of them. The children wore actigraphs for three
consecutive days and nights between the sessions; their
parents also recorded their sleep-wake activity using sleep
diaries. At the second session, participants recalled the information that was presented at the first session; in some
cases, performance was assessed after presenting children
with some additional information that was expected to
interfere with their memory. Children also participated in
assessments of executive functioning to assess planning
and working memory abilities. Data collection is currently
ongoing but analyses will be completed before the Symposium date. Our hypothesis is that longer durations of
nighttime sleep and reduced frequency of night awakenings
will be related to better performance on the cognitive assessments. As such, these findings will contribute to expanding the previous literature documenting the effects of
sleep on cognitive functioning in infancy.
A Deficiency in the Protein Repair Enzyme PIMT
Leads to Hyperphosphorylation of Synapsin in Mouse
Brain
Rachel Kaufman, Rana Khoury
Mentor: Dana Aswad
Studies of global protein phosphorylation levels have
shown an increase in brains of both aged humans and
those who have neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Since hyperphosphorylation may be a
marker for decreased cognitive brain function during aging, and because PIMT (protein L-isoaspartate methyl-
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Microfluidic Platform for Circulating Tumor Cells
Michael Lum, Shravya Nagurla
Mentor: William Tang
Circulating Tumor Cells(CTCs) are believed to be the origin of lethal metastatic diseases, the cause of over 90% of
cancer deaths. CTCs are rare cells present in the bloodstream of patients diagnosed with cancer. Isolation of
these cells will enable characterization, detection and monitoring of metastatic cancers, thereby expanding our understanding of metastasis. In our study, we have built a highthroughput microfluidic device which provides an enhanced platform for CTC isolation and perform experiments to isolate CTCs based on two physical properties,
their size and mass. We use a typical solution containing
microbeads of sizes 7μm and 20μm to mimic red blood
cells and CTCs, respectively. This solution is used as a substitute to blood and is flowed through microfluidic channels to separate the larger microbeads from the smaller
beads via a series of branches. We have achieved a separation of 20μm between the array of smaller and larger microbeads using the present devices. Experimental
observations show that the current devices are sensitive to
flow rates; thus, we have designed various experiments that
involve testing each device with a range of flow rates.
The Use of Optical Coherence Tomography in
Detection of the Progression of Tooth Decay
Lucy Hallajian, Leina Rizzo
Mentors: Jennifer Holtzman, Petra Wilder-Smith
Dental caries (decay) is a common chronic disease that can
lead to pain, poor nutrition, tooth loss and even death. It
remains as the second most common of disorders and affects both primary and permanent dentitions. The purpose
of this study is to identify the ability of a commercially
available Optical Coherence Tomography system to detect
early demineralization and pre-caries and hence to evaluate
its usefulness to clinicians as a diagnostic tool to guide
therapeutic decisions. Twenty-one whole teeth with visually sound, anatomically deep occlusal pit and fissures were
selected for visual examination. The area of interest was
photographed and baseline images were taken with a microscope and OCT prior to, and at each endpoint of demineralization. Conventional clinical assessment using the
ICDAS scale was used as a gold standard. The teeth were
exposed to a demineralizing agent and assessed at 2, 6, 14,
24, 48, 72, and 96 hours of demineralization. OCT images
were visually examined by 1 blind investigator. OCT was
able to detect early caries in 100% of samples. Pre-carious
regions on teeth exposed to the demineralizing agent for
greater than six hours showed areas of intense light backscattering. These finding support the potential clinical utility of OCT for early pre-caries detection, thereby allowing
for more effective treatment that allows for prevention of
the development of caries.
Prevalence of Suicidal Patients who Visit the
Emergency Department with Non-Psychiatric Chief
Complaints
Calvin Tan, Samantha Wong
Mentors: Bharath Chakravarthy, Shahram Lotfipour
Suicidal ideation is a major, preventable health problem.
Yet, many people do not seek the treatment options
needed in order to live a healthy lifestyle. We sought to
prove that there is a significantly greater underlying percentage of people who have suicidal tendencies than the
percentage of people who seek medical attention. Furthermore, we evaluated patients presented to the University of California Medical Center's Emergency Department
with non-psychiatric complaints based on age, gender,
race, marital status, primary language spoken, relevant past
medical and psychiatric history, and overall health. These
eight demographics were used to determine if any of the
evaluated factors greatly influenced the prevalence of suicidal ideation. Two hundred and fifteen subjects were
given self-administered questionnaires which scored each
patient between 0 and 38. Patients with a score of 6 or
greater were considered to be at high risk for suicidal ideation. Of the 215 subjects evaluated, 3.72% tested positive
for suicidal ideation. Based on limited data, we were not
able to find any significant differences among the eight
demographics. However, a descriptive analysis demonstrated primary language, relevant past medical history, age,
and marital status may be the key predictors of suicidal
ideation, while race and gender were determined to be less
significantly associated with suicidal ideation.
Effect of Public Health Intervention to Decrease the
Occurrence of Headaches among College Students
during an Academic Quarter
Stephanie Awanyai, Nahall Emadi Paramkouhi
Mentors: Zuzana Bic, David Timberlake
Although there has been countless research on headaches
and their prevalence in a general population, there is a lack
of research on how headaches affect the lives of undergraduate students. This research study includes two parts:
the pilot and the intervention study. In the pilot study, a
Lifestyle and Stress Assessment survey was administered to
75 randomly selected University of California, Irvine (UCI)
students during week 10 of winter quarter 2012. The purpose was to assess the frequency of headaches when UCI
students were experiencing different lifestyle risk factors at
the end of the quarter. The results indicate that 68% of the
participants experienced headaches, with 44% having experienced two or more headaches in a week. The goal of
the intervention study was to determine the effects of the
health intervention on the students’ lifestyle and if it reduces the incidence overall. One intervention and two surveys (pre- and post- intervention) were conducted during
the first five weeks of spring quarter 2012 for 35 partici-
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pants. The pre-intervention survey showed 60% experienced headaches, with 39.9% experiencing two or more
headaches in a week. The predicted results of the intervention study include a decrease in headache occurrences during week 5 as a result of the intervention and changes in:
(1) consumption of fruits and vegetables, (2) engagement
in physical activity, (3) frequency of unhealthy lifestyle habits, and (4) frequency of stress level. This study could improve the quality of life for undergraduate students at UCI.
tion, rotation, scaling, and change of starting point. This
descriptor is based on the FFT of the centroid distance
function applied to a binary image of the cell data. We
provide numerical results using K-means with this descriptor to distinguish different cells shapes. We then show how
to improve this descriptor by incorporating the measurement of concentrations within the cells. We define this
addition to the descriptor by dividing the cell data into
specific regions and computing the histogram of stem cell
concentration within these regions. This approach applies
concepts from mathematics, computer science and biology
to help quantify tumor cells.
Positive and Negative Experiences in Romantic
Relationships: How Do these Experiences Affect
Anger in Adolescents and Rates of Offending while
Incarcerated?
Stephanie Navarro, Navneet Sandhu
Mentor: Elizabeth Cauffman
Limited research has examined the effect positive (i.e., feeling care and support) and negative (i.e., domestic violence
inflicted upon male youth by partner) experiences in romantic relationships have on youth and their influence on
adolescents’ levels of anger. We examined how positive
and negative experiences in adolescent romantic relationships affect levels of anger and, consequently, how anger
influences institutional offending. We predicted that higher
levels of anger, prompted by negative experiences in romantic relationships, would increase rates of offending. A
sample (n=373) of serious male adolescent offenders in
their first two months of incarceration completed a series
of attitudinal, experiential, and behavioral scales geared
toward mental health, relationships, and delinquency. Contrary to our hypothesis, positive experiences in romantic
relationships were not related to feelings of anger. As expected, however, negative experiences in romantic relationships predicted higher levels of anger within the first
two months of incarceration. Further supporting our hypothesis, levels of anger obtained at the initial interview
predicted higher rates of offending reported at month 1,
and levels of anger obtained at month 1 predicted higher
rates of offending reported at month 2. These findings
suggest that youths’ negative experiences in romantic relationships may have the potential to affect their psychological adjustment by increasing their anger levels and
potentially increasing their rates of offending while incarcerated.
So Much to Say but No One to Listen: Social
Constraints and Distress in Caregivers of Adolescent
and Young Adult Cancer Patients
Alyssa Marie Dy, Mario Padilla
Mentor: Roxane Cohen Silver
Providing care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients is often a stressful and demanding experience.
Caregivers may feel the need to disclose their thoughts and
feelings about this experience with others who may or may
not be receptive. Actual or perceived hindrances on the
verbal disclosure of one’s thoughts or feelings about an
experience are known as social constraints, and may be
associated with elevated levels of psychological distress.
The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between social constraints and psychological distress among
caregivers of AYA cancer patients. Eighty-four caregivers
(86% parents; 85% female, ages 24–68) of patients undergoing active treatment and diagnosed within the past five
years (41% Leukemia, 59% solid tumors) were recruited
from an outpatient cancer clinic. Participants completed a
survey about their perceived social constraints from friends
and family members as well as their psychological distress
during the past month. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that greater social constraints (β = .346, t =
3.288, p = .002) were significantly associated with higher
psychological distress. Results demonstrated that 11.6% of
the variance in caregivers’ psychological distress was explained by social constraints from their immediate social
network. These findings suggest that it is important to
identify caregivers with high social constraints because they
may be at higher risk for psychological distress. Interventions may consider strategies to minimize social constraints
within caregivers’ social networks to mitigate their distress,
which may have implications for the quality of care they
provide for AYA patients.
Centroid Distance Function and the Fourier
Descriptor with Applications to Cancer Cell
Classification
Swati Bhonsle, Alissa Klinzmann
Mentors: Ernie Esser, Fredrick Park
Given images consisting of stem cell concentrations in
tumors, we provide a method of distinguishing cancer cells
by means of K-means clustering using a Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT) descriptor, which is invariant to transla-
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Effects of Bile Salt on Pancreatic Islets Survival in
vitro
Bryan Boubion, Kelly Vo
Mentor: Alessio Pigazzi
Bariatric surgery in type 2 diabetes mellitus is observed to
improve glucose control as well as increasing serum bile
acids, suggesting that bile acids are involved in glucose metabolism. Bile acids are commonly known to assist in lipid
metabolism by forming micelles to process dietary fats. We
hypothesized that bile acids can have either a positive or
negative effect on islets. We compared the effects of sodium deoxycholate (DCA) and sodium ursodeoxycholate
(UDCA), derivatives of two common bile acids in blood
serum, on rat pancreatic islets in vitro based on islet yield
recovery rate and percentage of viable, dead or apoptotic
cells. UDCA had the highest yield recovery rate and viability, as well as the lowest dead and apoptosis percent, demonstrating that UDCA posesses cytoprotective properties.
On the other hand, DCA had the opposite effect and was
detrimental to islets. These results suggest that the actions
of bile acids are not only restricted to lipid metabolism but
also act to regulate glucose metabolism by directly targeting pancreatic islet cells.
Speaking without Words: Nonverbal Discomfort in
Intergroup Interactions
Sang Do, Malika Erickson
Mentor: Eric Knowles
This research examined and identified specific nonverbal
behaviors expressed by White Americans when preparing
for interracial interactions. We manipulated partner race
(Black or White) and conversation topic (race-related or
race-neutral). Participants were video-recorded as they
viewed a picture of their anticipated partner and a conversation topic. We hypothesized a main effect of partner race
and topic, in which participants shown a Black partner
and/or race-related topic during the experiment would
express more nonverbal discomfort than those shown a
White partner and/or neutral topic (low threat). We also
expected participants preparing to speak to a Black partner
about a racial topic (high threat) to express the most nonverbal discomfort. Preliminary results suggest that our hypotheses were partially supported. Though not statistically
significant, participants in the high threat condition displayed the most nonverbal discomfort as assessed by four
independent coders. Participants in the Black partner, neutral topic condition displayed the next most nonverbal discomfort, followed by participants in the White partner,
race-related topic condition, and then by participants in the
White partner, neutral topic condition. We identified the
three most common nonverbal behaviors of discomfort
exhibited by participants in the high threat condition. Participants in this condition tended to avert their eyes, selftouch, and frown.
Microplatforms for Malaria Diagnosis
James Junyszek, Indrani Mikkilineni
Mentor: William Tang
As the most common method of malarial diagnosis now is
for a skilled technician to observe various blood smears,
the major problem is in developing countries where these
types of technicians and facilities do not exist. Our approach is to quantify the degree of malarial infection by
developing a microfluidic device integrated with an optical
detection system that would be more objective and costeffective to help those developing countries in need. We
started by developing the optical detection system. Once
that seemed to work well, we started off by just trying to
detect a single bead, and then went on to detect several
large beads. After a lot of testing and making adjustments
to the optical detection system, we finally observed some
of the small 5–10 μm polystyrene microspheres.
Clinical Research Study to Assess the Effects of Dry
Mouth Dentifrice in the Oral Tissues
Stephanie Mansour, Tasneem Nabelsi
Mentor: Petra Wilder-Smith
Xerostomia, also known as “dry mouth,” is a common
condition that affects the oral cavities of individuals. Wellknown causes of dry mouth are resulting side effects of
antidepressants, chemotherapy and radiation, diuretics, and
painkillers. They all affect the salivary glands of the mouth
and decrease their functionality, which is otherwise known
as “salivary gland hypofunction.” With the lack of saliva in
the mouth, maintenance of soft and hard tissues of the
mouth becomes compromised. These problems eventually
lead to the deterioration of the epithelial layers of the
mouth. It is not simple diagnosing a patient with dry
mouth. There are many different methods used to determine if a patient has dry mouth. Using the use of imaging
techniques such as optimal coherence tomography (OCT),
this becomes possible. OCT generates high resolution microstructural images. Specifically, OCT can be used to detect dry mouth by quantifying the amount of moisture in
the oral mucosa. OCT images have been able to show that
moist tissues increase light scattering and dryer tissues reduce light scattering. Furthermore, dry tissue has a higher
index of refraction than moist tissue due to higher protein
concentration. This experiment analyzes the results of using toothpaste with an active ingredient that treats dry
mouth, versus regular fluoride toothpaste, focusing on five
locations in the oral cavity. The effects of the two toothpastes on the oral epithelia will be monitored using OCT.
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Differences in Post-Traumatic Growth among
Caucasian and Hispanic Caregivers of Adolescent and
Young Adult Cancer Patients
Ashley Hwang, Kelsey Martinez
Mentors: Leonard Sender, Roxane Silver
Caregiving for an adolescent or young adult (AYA) cancer
patient can be a highly stressful and potentially traumatic
experience. Whereas some caregivers may report positive
life changes, or post-traumatic growth (PTG), as a result of
their experiences, others may not. The aim of this study
was to determine whether sociocultural differences play a
role in the degree of PTG reported among caregivers of
AYA cancer patients. Caucasian (n=39) and Hispanic
(n=40) caregivers of AYA cancer patients (ages 12–24)
who were diagnosed within the last five years and were
undergoing active treatment were recruited from an outpatient cancer clinic. Caregivers completed either English or
Spanish surveys about their caregiving-related PTG. Hispanic caregivers (M=4.521) reported significantly more
positive growth in response to their child’s illness than
Caucasian caregivers (M=3.754) [t(77) = 3.11, p < 0.01].
These results suggest a greater need to acknowledge the
relevance of sociocultural differences among caregivers’
psychological adjustment to the stressful experience of
providing care for AYA cancer patients. Accounting for
these sociocultural differences may assist clinicians in better promoting higher levels of PTG in caregivers, as well as
their families.
logical conditions in the human body. Furthermore, the
use of design of experiment programs has grown in popularity because they greatly increase the speed of protocol
development. Thus in order to create a high yield of cardiac progenitors the Design of Experiment (DoE) methodology was used in combination with the wrinkled
polyolefin substrates. Upon finishing the experiment, the
overall yield increased to 75%.
Temporal Variations in a Marine Microbial
Community
Arianna Houriani, Yasmin Oskooilar
Mentor: Adam Martiny
Microbial species, such as bacteria, account for the largest
biomass on Earth and are huge contributors in ecological
processes. It has been known for many years that the frequencies of particular species and the factors that influence
such distributions are significant to determine how environmental changes alter an ecosystem. Microbes have a
significant role in regulating ecosystem processes and it is
important to know how environmental variations impact
microbial community composition over an extended period of time. We have studied such fluctuations including
factors like temperature, nitrate, phosphate, ammonium
concentrations, and salinity. This data was collected during
a period of one year (2010–2011) and we have accounted
for the nutrient concentrations as well as bacterial DNA
specifics. We have discovered that microbial concentrations have changed over the course of the year, depending
on how environmental factors have altered. For example,
an increase in phosphate concentrations caused an algal
bloom. This project is important because it could allow for
the prediction of how future environmental conditions will
affect the Earth, which will, in turn, influence the resources
and living conditions of humans around the world.
Optimization of Cardiac Differentiation from Human
Embyronic Stem Cells Using the Design of
Experiment Methodology and the Subsequent Effects
of Aligned Substrates on Cardiogenesis
Jeffrey Go, Catherine Nguyen
Mentor: Michelle Khine
According to the American Heart Association, more than
16.3 million individuals in the United States suffer from
coronary heart disease and over 7.9 million have suffered
from a myocardial infarction (heart attack). Since the heart
is a non-regenerative organ, the dead myocardium cannot
be easily replenished. The discovery of stem cells has become a growing interest in the biomedical engineering
community because they are capable of unlimited selfrenewal and retain the potential to undergo differentiation
into several cell types. By studying stem cell differentiation
and development, suitable treatments for certain diseases
such as heart disease may be found. In order to use cardiac
cells for further experimentation, a high purity is needed in
order to prevent the proliferation of unwanted cell types.
Recently, it has been shown that the stem cell’s microenvironment can influence the development of specialized cells
from hESCs including cardiomyocytes. One of the most
promising developments in the stem cell community is the
use of multi-scale alignment grooves to mimic the physio-
Interparental Agreement on Reports of Adaptive and
Maladaptive Behaviors in Children with Autism
Spectrum Disorders and Neurotypical Children
Christopher Chanes-Mets, Vinnie Wu
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Child assessments are based on mothers’ reports, but examining fathers’ perspectives and factors related to parental agreement may provide comprehensive assessments.
Parents do not always agree but, as children age, there
seems to be more agreement. Little is known about agreement between parents raising children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This study investigated: (1)
agreement between mothers’ and fathers’ reports of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors in children with ASDs and
neurotypical (NT) children, and (2) associations between
child age and extent of parental agreement. Forty-six sets
of parents of children with ASDs and 20 sets of parents of
NT children completed questionnaires. Mothers of NT
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children reported higher self-care behaviors than fathers,
t(19)=2.677, p=.015. Mothers of children with ASDs reported greater negative emotionality than fathers,
t(45)=2.187, p=.034. Difference scores were calculated
such that lower scores demonstrated more parental agreement. Correlations indicated that for parents of NT children, parents with older children agreed more than parents
of younger children in communication, socialization, and
maladaptive behaviors, rs>.319, p=.170. For parents of
children with ASDs, correlations were nearly zero except
in social-communication where parents agreed less as children aged, r=.367, p=.012. Compared to fathers, mothers
of NT children report better adaptive behaviors, but
mothers of children with ASDs report worse maladaptive
behaviors. Perhaps child age is not related to parental
agreement in the ASDs group because symptoms are similarly presented to both parents despite age. These findings
have implications for professionals relying upon parental
reports.
Concrete Canoe
Willoughby Peterson, Franklin Ruiz
Mentor: Ayman Mosallam
The National Concrete Canoe Competition hosted by the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gives civil
engineering students the opportunity to apply their ingenuity with a material not commonly used in water. The major
challenge is to create a durable and versatile concrete to be
used for a canoe; however, a balance must be met between
lightness and strength to create a structurally sound concrete canoe that is also competitive in races. In our research program, we worked on developing and evaluating
the structural performance and physical properties of two
concrete mixtures that encompassed the two major challenges of weight and strength through analysis and testing
while also using environmentally-friendly materials. The
two techniques included the use of recycled glass spheres
as well as Expanded Polystyrene (EPS). These techniques
led to the development of green concrete through the reuse materials that are not biodegradable that enabled us to
can achieve our goal to build the most environmentallyconscious concrete canoe in UCI history. The strength of
one of the mixes compensated for the lightness and weakness of the other concrete. The outcome of this research
project provided us with the opportunity to build one of
the only canoes in the last four years to survive the rigors
of the competition with very minimal damage.
Exploring Optimal Challenge Point for Hand Motor
Skill Rehabilitation
Jason Dinh, Jennifer Tsau
Mentor: David Reinkensmeyer
We created, set up, and executed an experiment using MusicGlove and the computer game “Frets on Fire” (FOF) to
develop a method for determining if there is an optimal
challenge point for maximum learning and what that optimal point is for each subject. The MusicGlove is a low cost
device that was developed for home hand rehabilitation
and merges the ideology of music based therapy with practicing actual hand function movements used in daily activities. Music based therapy has long been studied and used
due to its highly repetitive and motivating nature. To effectively determine the optimal level for a patient to rehabilitate, a challenge point for the rehabilitating individual must
be established. Based on the challenge point framework,
there are three factors that can affect how the individual
learns: skill level of the performer, complexity of the task,
and the task environment. All three factors tie into an individual’s interest level and motivation for desiring to improve. By modifying specific parameters within the FOF
game with the MusicGlove, such as the duration of the
timing window to hit a successful note, it is possible to
modify the target success rate of the individual dynamically. We performed such an experiment on a group of
able-bodied human subjects to explore subject interest
with different rehabilitation methods as well as collect
quantitative data to analyze subject progress. Although the
research study is still in progress, there are promising positive results within the first group of subjects. Preliminary
results showed that the challenge point theory can be applied to effectively challenge and increase an individual’s
potential to learn a task better. Subject motivation is very
dependent on the success level of each individual, and the
level of improvement is a factor of both target success
level and motivation.
Wireless Local Area Network Antenna Design
Shashank Reddi, Eric Wang
Mentor: Pai Chou
This project specifically involves establishing a wireless
local area network under the constraints of low power
consumption and self-sustainability. Wireless technologies
are taken for granted since there is advanced infrastructure
already in place. With the necessary power always available,
Wi-Fi signals do not face major complications in homes or
offices. However, during a disaster, there are always limitations on resources as well as unpredictable, various natural
environments that our design will address. Our design
consists of an 802.11g helical antenna with solar powered
repeaters, which provides omni-directional network coverage, while also having high gain and being self-sustainable.
Therefore, this wireless local area network (WLAN) will
prove to use low power while broadcasting in an ample
amount of area such as the size of Aldrich Park (roughly
the size of a football field). The success of this project
could potentially bring more attention and progress toward
implementing a more productive and effective emergency
routine.
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Asian American College Students’ Well-Being: A
Comprehensive Analysis of Psychological, Ssocial and
Cultural Factors within the Context of the Family
Vi Ly, Hoa Nha Nguyen
Mentor: Jeanett Castellanos
Previous research on Asian American college students
highlights that there are mental health consequences associated with high academic achievement and the expectations that surround such achievements. Specifically, past
studies have found that high academic stress among Asian
and Asian American college students led to lower mental
health and well-being. Furthermore, the distress that students often experiences is attributed to trying to meet parental expectations. Given the mental health implications
of academic stress in Asian American students, and how
family expectations may play a role, it is important to understand Asian American students’ well-being in the context of different familial factors. However, there are no
culturally-specific measures that assess Asian American
well-being. Although there are a handful of etic measures
that account for general well-being there are no assessments that culturally assess Asian American well-being
based on cultural values, beliefs, and practices. Given the
gap in the literature, the purpose of this study is twofold:
1) to comprehensively examine Asian American college
students’ well-being using the Psychosociocultural (PSC)
framework, and 2) to develop a culturally-relevant scale
that encompasses Asian American well-being through an
emic approach. Data collection is currently ongoing. Expected results are that academic performance, acculturation, enculturation, and family conflict may significantly
influence Asian American college students’ well-being. The
findings have implications for mental health care facilities
among higher education institution that cater to the Asian
American population.
on other devices for innovative design patterns, researching human kinesiology and ergonomics to recognize human constraints during computer interaction, and learning
how to use the Kinect device as a sensor for our desired
platform. Although we are currently limited by hardware
capabilities, like the inaccuracies of the Kinect sensory information and the computing power of currently available
commercial machines, we conclude that the results shown
warrant further research in the area of NUI-based operating systems.
Hopes, Aspirations, and Concerns among Mothers
and Fathers of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum
Disorders
Zoha Bootwala, Poelene Silla
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD) often express apprehension about the likelihood of
their child growing up to assume adult responsibilities and
maintaining social relationships. This study examined this
issue in more detail by gathering information on the differences in hope between parents of adolescents with ASD
and parents of neurotypical (NT) adolescents. In addition,
we examined the variations between maternal and paternal
aspirations and concerns for their adolescents’ future in
terms of post-high school education, occupational/vocational activities, residential placement, social
and romantic relationships. We hypothesized lower levels
of hope and higher levels of concern for parents of adolescents with ASD than parents with NT adolescents. In addition, we predicted gender-of-parent differences such that
greater concerns would be expressed by mothers and
greater aspirations by fathers in the ASD and NT groups.
Parents completed Likert-scale and open-ended questionnaire items assessing hope, aspirations, and concerns for
their adolescents. Preliminary findings suggest that, on average, parents of adolescents with ASD had higher hope
than parents with NT adolescents, but lower aspirations
and more concerns for their children compared to parents
with NT adolescents. This research leads to greater insight
into the commonalities and differences in parental future
orientation among families of adolescents with and without ASD. Hope, aspirations, and concerns are important
aspects to study in parents because of their associations
with well-being and potential role in motivating parents to
pursue interventions that assist academic, employment,
housing, and social outcomes for their adolescent with
ASD as they become adults.
INUIT: Interactive Natural User Interface Terminal
Christopher Guevara, Kaushik Shankar
Mentor: Garnet Hertz
Human Computer Interaction, the way in which humans
use computers, plays an important role in a computer’s
usefulness. With the onset of the Graphical User Interface
(e.g., icons, buttons, windows), using a computer has been
made more intuitive compared to the rudimentary command-line interface. In recent years, however, advancements in human tracking (e.g., OpenCV, Kinect) have
paved the way for a novel human-computer interface
composed of simple gestures and poses—the Natural User
Interface (NUI). Although many applications have been
made using human tracking hardware, very few prototypes
of an operating system has been created. We present a
novel prototype that demonstrates the potential capabilities
of an operating system that is based on an NUI. Development of this software involved analyzing existing platforms
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Marital Quality and Commitment among Parents of
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Neurotypical Children
Deicy Gonzalez, Natalya Sivashov
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
It has been established that parents of children with
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) experience more
parenting stress than those of neurotypical (NT) children.
This parenting stress has been associated with poorer
marital quality, specifically marital dissatisfaction.
However, less is known about other facets of the marital
relationship. This study examines: (1) all mothers
compared to all fathers in multiple components of marital
quality: satisfaction, conflict, and commitment, (2) parents
raising children with ASDs compared with those with NT
children in satisfaction, conflict, and commitment, and (3)
the associations between these components of the marital
relationship within each group. Fifty-one parents raising
children with ASDs and 21 parents raising NT children
independently completed multiple questionnaires tapping
into aspects of their marriage during study visits. The
average age of the child in the ASDs group was 5.35 years
(SD = 1.36) and was 4.46 (SD = 1.07) in the NT group.
Preliminary analyses using t-tests revealed no significant
differences between all mothers compared to all fathers
across all three components and no significant differences
between the parents of children with ASDs and those of
NT children across all three components. Additional
analyses will examine the differences in the magnitude of
correlations among the three components of marital
quality in each group. Further research examining not only
marital satisfaction but other aspects of the marital
relationship may provide deeper insight to understanding
marriages between mothers and fathers raising children
with ASDs.
Second Axis Induction by Head Organizer in Hydra
Christopher Munoz, Ivan Perez
Mentor: Hans Bode
The ability of a Hydra to regenerate itself fully following
bisection of the whole animal is an interesting phenomenon to study. The bottom half of a Hydra that has been
bisected laterally anywhere along the body column has the
potential to regenerate a complete head at its apical end.
The regenerated head consists of the hypostome and tentacles. Subsequently the regenerating animal grows once
more into a complete organism. The head organizer, located in the hypostome of an intact hydra plays a critical
role in this regeneration process. When this head organizer
is transplanted to the body column of an intact Hydra, it
will induce the formation of a second axis consisting of a
head and body column. A question of interest is the rate of
formation of the head organizer during head regeneration.
This question was examined by bisecting Hydra. Then, at
specific times thereafter, the regenerating apical end was
isolated and transplanted to the body column of a host
animal. Fifteen to twenty grafts were carried out for each
time of head regeneration. The results of our experiments
showed that as more time was allotted for regeneration,
the formation of the head organizer was more complete,
and was consequently more capable of inducing 2nd axis
formation on a host. The formation of the head organizer
was fairly complete by 16–24 hours following bisection as
the fraction of transplants that formed a second axis by
this time was relatively high.
Finite Element Analysis of the Biomechanics of
Cardiomyocytes
Aswini Ponnaluri, Abdullah Siddiqui
Mentor: William Tang
By understanding the biomechanics of heart cells, or cardiomyocytes, diagnostic tools and therapeutic treatments
for cardiovascular diseases can be refined in order to alleviate the strain on the health care system. In order to assess the contractility of the whole heart, isolated
cardiomyocytes will be grown to confluence, in order to
measure the force of contraction. While quantifying cardiomyocyte contractile force has yet to be achieved experimentally, Professor Tang’s Mircobiomechanics
Laboratory group purposes that by seeding cells onto a
micro scale cantilever polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) beam
the contractile force of confluent cardiomyocytes can be
measured and observed optically from the movement of
the beam. The purposed design of the PDMS beam is 14–
60µm thick, varying lengths from 200–1600µm in length,
and two channels etched from the top of the beam 20µm
from the transverse edges, 20µm in length and 20µm in
depth. In order to accurately assess the design parameters
of PDMS beam, computer generated finite element analysis will be used in order to verify purposed dimensions and
predict the strength and mode of deformation induced by
the cells. Several iterations of the PDMS beam have been
constructed in COMSOL, Nastran, and finally Solidworks.
Using COMSOL, the purposed thickness of the beam was
verified to be 60µm in total depth. The final Solidworks
iteration is currently undergoing refinement in order to
confidently extract tangible dimensions.
Memory Distortions: Individual Differences and
Paradigm Comparisons
Anita Chen, Jospeh McCall
Mentor: Elizabeth Loftus
Despite several memory distortion paradigms developing
over the last 30 years, there has been little research comparing paradigms. Undergraduates (N = 393) participated
in an experiment that included four paradigms: classic misinformation effect, crashing memory (with target event
United 93), imagination inflation, and memory for emotion
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inconsistency. After confirming that each paradigm
worked within itself, we found that susceptibility to false
memory in one paradigm did not predict susceptibility in
another. Patterns of individual differences predicting paradigms confirmed the weak interrelation between paradigms. Performance on a classic misinformation
experiment did not predict whether someone would be
more likely to say they saw nonexistent footage of a plane
crash ten years ago.
and therefore cannot explain the differences in sperm
competence detected. Another assumption is that the deleted AnnX-like genes in Sdic knockout flies are not expressed in testis and therefore cannot explain the
documented effect. In this study, we use molecular biology
techniques to validate that the testes in strains used in the
previous experiment do significantly express sw but not
AnnX-like genes.
Characterization of the Neo-VCPR155H/- Knock-In
Mouse Model of VCP-Associated Inclusion Body
Myopathy, Paget Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia (IBMPFD)
Veeral Katheria, Christopher Nguyen
Mentor: Virginia Kimonis
Inclusion body myopathy associated with Paget’s disease
of bone and frontotemporal dementia, also called
IBMPFD, is a progressive disorder caused by mutations in
the Valosin Containing Protein (VCP) gene. VCP belongs
to the family of type II AAA-ATPase, which has been suggested to be involved with a cellular activities including
homotypic membrane fusion, transcription activation, nuclear envelope reconstruction, post-mitotic organelle reassembly, cell cycle control, apoptosis and endoplasmic
reticulum associated degradation of proteins (ERAD). In
order to further study effects of identified VCP mutations
and pathogenesis of IBMPFD in vivo, a knock-in mouse
model has been created expressing the common R155H
mutation (VCPR155H/-) in the heterozygote state. These
mice were characterized and found to be invaluable as they
present the pathology of IBMPFD and thus can be utilized
to develop targeted molecular treatment. VCPR155H/- mice
Association Between Frontal Cortical Activation and
the Behavioral Activation System (BAS)
Mark Dennison, Nathalie Nguyen
Mentor: Margaret Schneider
Determining if a person is more likely to seek out a reward
or avoid punishment is useful for understanding behavior.
Thirty-five healthy adolescent participants (ages 10–12)
were recruited from a local middle school to complete self
report surveys measuring the Behavioral Activation System
(BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), and to undergo an electroencephalogram (EEG) recording for 16
minutes (two 4-minute eyes open sessions, two 4-minute
eyes closed sessions). Based on prior work by Schneider et
al., cortical asymmetry was calculated as the difference between normalized alpha power in the left and right frontal
cortex. We determined that three out of the four EEG
sessions revealed a correlation with the BAS Drive subscale that approached the level of statistical significance (α
= 0.05; r =.314, p =.070; r =.293, p =.093; r =.288, p
=.094). These results are consistent with existing research
among adults showing a positive relationship between the
BAS Drive and left dominant cortical activity. These
measurements may prove useful in future behavior-based
interventions where classifying personality types is advantageous.
expressed significant progressive muscle weakness
shown by rotarod and grip strength analysis. The
quadriceps muscle and brain tissue revealed progressive cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43, ubiquitinpositive inclusion bodies and increased LC3-II expression. In summary, the mice generated replicate the
Experimental Analysis of Efficiency of Sperm-Specific
Gene SDIC in Drosophila melanogaster
Mashya Abbassi, Tiffanie Do
Mentors: Jose Ranz, Shu-dan Yeh
Novel chimeric genes provide insight on the evolution of
how genes and their functions form. After the divergence
between D. melanogaster and D. simulans 2–3 million years
ago, a chimeric gene Sdic was formed by several duplications, deletions, and the fusion of the neighboring genes
AnnX and sw. Succeeding duplications of Sdic formed a
multigene family only found in D. melanogaster. Subsequent
studies showing Sdic expression in testis suggest the primary function of Sdic influences sperm motility. A previous
experiment was performed to confirm the phenotypic
function of Sdic and showed that flies with the Sdic multigene had a statistically significantly higher competence
than flies without Sdic. The experiment assumed that
transgenically reinserted sw is properly expressed in testis
phenotype of human disease, and therefore can be used to
further study the pathological mechanism of IBMPFD and
novel treatments.
Examining Latina/o High School Students’ College
Aspirations: A Psychosociocultural Approach
Elizabeth Ortiz, Anacany Torres
Mentor: Jeanett Castellanos
California has an educational crisis as Latina/o students
become the largest racial ethnic minority group in the education system with low retention and minimal college
transfer. Specifically, the literature strongly suggests numerous unique educational barriers that hinder Latina/o
students’ educational success. With such dismal experiences, only a few Latina/o students apply to four-year institutions and aspire for a college education. Currently,
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Latina/os comprise 15% of the college population, with
the majority of them entering higher education through
community colleges. Given that the literature that has not
examined what factors motivate or encourage Latina/o
students to pursue a university education, the purpose of
this study is to highlight the contributing factors to this
decision process. Specifically, the study examines the factors that influence Latina/o high school students’ educational experience, persistence, and college aspirations. The
literature has concentrated on why Latina/o high school
students drop out as opposed highlighting their educational success processes. This study will examine the specific pyschosociocultural factors that influence Latina/o
students in choosing to attend college. The pyschosociocultural framework will be implemented to examine
psychological (i.e., self-confidence, motivation) social (parental support) and cultural (i.e., school fit) factors. Data
collection is currently ongoing. Preliminary findings will
provide insight on how to improve the current Latina/o
educational processes and may lend direction to university
outreach efforts. Implications for the findings include providing evidence to school districts on the pivotal role(s)
school environment and parental support play in a
Latina/o child’s K–12 educational path. Other implications
include empirical evidence to support future research on
Latina/o adolescent’s educational pathways.
Design and Testing of a Sensor System to Measure
Foot Pressures in Ballet Pointe Shoes
Amy Pham, Lillian Wang
Mentors: Mark Bachman, Jeffrey Russell
Studies indicate that ballet dancers commonly suffer from
foot and ankle injuries. Pointe dancing requires dancers to
balance their weight on the toe tips while their ankles and
feet are in maximal plantar flexion, thus placing great demands on the bones and surrounding soft tissues. Dancers
must compress their forefeet into the highly restricted and
rigid space of pointe shoes; this exerts pressures that may
contribute to injuries. Previous studies using force plates
have collected ground reaction forces (GRF) in dancers;
however, these only provide the overall force that is exerted on the base of support. To our knowledge, only one
study has measured the pressures exerted on the toes while
en pointe. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to design and develop an in vivo pressure-sensing system to
measure the pressures exerted on various locations of the
foot and ankle during pointe dancing. The device we designed features a portable 1x1.5in data-logging chip that
can be secured anywhere on the dancer; this ensures
maximal comfort and does not interfere with the dancer’s
movement. The attached pressure sensors are flat, thus
reducing force attenuation and fitting inside the minimal
space available in a pointe shoe. We chose sensor placements on specific anatomical locations of the forefoot and
ankle based on the likelihood that pressure in these areas
could contribute to conditions such as hallux valgus, bunions, bunionettes, and Achilles’ tendinopathy. In conclusion, the ability to collect dynamic foot and ankle pressure
data in which the dancer is not constrained by a static platform may create a more detailed picture of the stresses
endured during dance.
Overexpression of EFEMP1 Correlates with
Downregulation of PTK2 in Glioma Cells
Steve Kang, Christopher Vo
Mentor: Yi-Hong Zhou
Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive
and lethal brain cancer and is consequentially associated
with poor prognosis and high mortality rates. EGF containing fibulin-like extracellular matrix protein (EFEMP1),
which is characterized as a tumor suppressor in various
cancers, has recently been linked to GBM as well. However, the mechanism underlying the role of EFEMP1 as a
tumor suppressor is still largely unknown. The intent of
this study is to explore the relationship between EFEMP1
and PTK2 (Protein tyrosine kinase 2) in regards to its suppressive function in the glioma cell line, U251HF. Exogenous EFEMP1 was engineered to U251HF cells via
lentiviral infection. A wound healing assay within this study
demonstrated that overexpression of EFEMP1 significantly suppressed U251HF migration in vitro and
simultaneously downregulated PTK2 gene expression,
which was further quantified by real time qRT-PCR and
immunoblotting. Overall, this study suggests that
EFEMP1 potentially targets glioma cell migration via inhibition of PTK2 expression.
Neighborhood and Juvenile Offenders’ Perceptions of
the Justice System
Brande Otis, Susan Wensley
Mentor: Elizabeth Cauffman
Prior research has established a relationship between
neighborhood disorder and crime; however, research neglects the viewpoint of the juvenile offender. This study
examines perceived neighborhood disorder from a sample
of first time juvenile offender males (N=466) and its relationship to the participants’ perceived legitimacy and cynicism of the justice system and its legal actors. The study
was conducted across three states, California, Louisiana,
and Pennsylvania, using Tyler’s Procedural Justice Inventory and Sampson’s measure of Neighborhood Disorder.
Correlational analyses revealed a strong relationship between the California participants’ perception of their
neighborhood disorder and cynicism toward the justice
system (CA, r= .2399), as well as doubts in the legitimacy
of the law in California and Pennsylvania (CA, r= -.21, PA,
r= -.1768). Significant neighborhood disorder was negatively related to perceptions of the police for Louisiana
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version of the SWAN (administered in English, Spanish, or
Vietnamese) and the new self-report version of the SWAN
(administered in English). We analyzed the reliability and
validity of scores using SPSS. Results provided strong evidence of reliability and validity for the scores we obtained
from new SWAN self-report scale. In conclusion, the
SWAN self-report scale shows promise as a measure that
can be used as part of a multi-informant approach to
evaluating an adolescent’s abilities.
(LA, r= -.3138), and Pennsylvania (PA, r=-.1753). Given
the relationship between youths’ perception of their
neighborhood disorder and legal behavior, future research
is warranted and should consider qualitative studies to understand the legal nuances of individual neighborhoods.
Developing a Separation Method for Water-Soluble
Vitamins Using Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid
Chromatography (HILIC)
Sana Noori, Jennifer Padolina
Mentor: Faizy Ahmed
Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography (HILIC)
is a powerful separation technique that is widely used to
separate some biomolecules, organic, and some inorganic
molecules by using their differences in polarity. HILIC
focuses mostly on polar compounds, which are difficult to
separate on reversed phase liquid chromatography. Its ability will be applied in order to separate specific watersoluble vitamins. The water-soluble vitamins that are used
in this experiment are: nicotinamide, riboflavin, nicotinic
acid, thiamine, ascorbic acid, cyanocobalamin (vitamin
B12), and folic acid. It is very important to develop a
method to separate and quantify these vitamins in order to
determine the quality assurance of commercially developed
multi-vitamin products. The hypothesis guiding this experiment is that HILIC can be used to develop a robust
and reproducible separation method for water-soluble vitamins and other polar compounds. The hypothesis was
tested by adjusting the buffer concentration (100 mM ammonium formate), pH, and various mobile phase compositions. The results from this experiment are still pending.
However, there is promising data that has recently arisen
that suggest that a dependable method can be developed.
Video Modeling for Autism
Van Erick Custodio, Katherine Nguyen, Rachel Rose
Ulgado
Mentor: Gillian Hayes
Technology has long been used in the autism space to provide assistive tools for therapy. One such tool is through
video-modeling, which allows autistic individuals to model
their own behavior after watching a video of someone else
performing a task (for example, brushing teeth or setting
the table), or even by watching themselves completing a
task successfully (also known as self-modeling). Video
modeling is particularly useful because it can present concepts and instruction in an engaging way and can also provide useful feedback for people with autism. In this
research, we aim to gain a better understanding of how
video-modeling can be used to help adolescents with autism. We implemented design guidelines from research and
related work and we will present our prototypes of a video
modeling application to support individuals with autism.
Though the scope of our project focuses on adolescents
with autism who are making the transition from school
into the workplace, the overall system design is applicable
to various concepts; we also present our visions for future
work and research on this topic.
SWAN Self-Report Rating Scale: Reliability and
Validity in a Sample of 7th-Grade Students
Sara Arastoo, Nimrah Salim, Swetha Sirisinahal
Mentor: Kimberley Lakes
The Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD (Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) symptoms and Normal
behavior (SWAN) rating scale was created to establish a
new dimensional approach to measuring attention and hyperactivity. By rewording various items on the scale and
using a broader range of alternative ratings, the SWAN
reduces the over-identification of extreme cases of
ADHD. There are three subscales within the SWAN: attention, hyperactivity, and behavioral control. Previous
studies have provided validity and reliability evidence for
parent and teacher versions of the SWAN. As part of a
larger, ongoing research study, we recently developed and
evaluated an adolescent self-report version of the SWAN.
In this study, we analyze questionnaire data from 40 7th
grade students of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds at
a public middle school. Our instruments include the parent
Neural Basis of Sequence Memories in a Rat
Nathan Lo, Clare Quirk, Stephanie Yun
Mentors: Timothy Allen, Norbert Fortin
Episodic memory is defined as the capacity to remember
personal events. Episodic memories are a vital part of our
daily lives and the basic neurobiological mechanisms are
not understood. Rodent research is needed to identify the
biological events of personal memory. Rodents are useful
in administering techniques that are not practical in humans. We hypothesize that the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex play an integral part in associating events that
happen in the formation of episodic memories. We further
hypothesize that that the two structures work as a unit,
predicting when function of either structure is compromised, similar behavioral deficits will be observed. In our
experiment, rats perform a sequence task that requires
them to retrieve episodic-like memories by distinguishing
correct in and out of sequence items. Rats are tested in the
sequence task after being infused with fluorescently-
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conjugated muscimol, a GABAA agonist that temporarily
inhibits neural activity. Infusions with muscimol are made
in the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, ipsilateral hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, or the contralateral hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Saline infusions are served
as a control. Single unit recordings made in hippocampus
and prefrontal cortex will be used to further identify the
role of the structures in sequence memory. Ultimately our
research contributes to translational studies such as a clinical analysis of Alzheimer’s disease, adding a better understanding of how episodic memories are processed in the
brain.
“Project Playhouse”: An Engineering Design Project
Joseph Bell, Victoria Biggs, Mukuria Mukuria
Mentor: Farzin Zareian
The UC Irvine Chapter of the National Society of Black
Engineers (NSBE) has embarked on an ambitious creative
project, titled “Project Playhouse,” involving the collaborative student-faculty design and construction of a wood
light-frame (WLF) playhouse structure. The student members of NSBE have chosen to address the concerns of minority communities that can demonstrate a need for a safe
spatial resource (especially in light of widespread economic
hardships), by making it a goal to contribute this engineered playhouse structure as a donation to a candidate
facility where it can serve the youth in the area by providing a safe place to play and learn. The resultant design (as
defined by the structure’s exterior and interior compositional elements, material choices, member connections,
etc.) seeks to optimize the goals of safety, childfriendliness, and environmental sustainability. Methods and
results are conveyed through interactive video presentation
media resources, including on-site footage and helpful diagrams. This project’s outcomes were projected to engage
students as they apply their classroom skills to a hands-on
major-related endeavor that is a highly productive community-building real-world experience for all those involved in
the planning, design/development, and construction processes.
Corrosion Properties of Ultra-Fine Grained and
Commercial Aluminum
Arezoo Orouji, Megan Rizk, Rena Yang
Mentor: Farghalli Mohamed
Corrosion, which can be defined as a process of deterioration of a material caused by chemical reactions with its
surroundings, is a very common failure mechanism. In
recent years, nanostructured materials have become an
attractive area of research due to the fact that nanostructured materials, unlike conventional materials, exhibit significantly improved mechanical and chemical properties.
Both the Ultra-fine grained and commercial Aluminum
samples were polished until their surfaces had a mirror-like
appearance. A salt spray test was then conducted, followed
by an ASTM Standard B117. A final SEM investigation
showed that that the ultra-fine grained Al had more corrosion resistance than commercial Al during the experimentation.
The Effects of Emotional Intelligence and Hardiness
on Stressful Consumer Episodes
Sihua (Sophia) Mai, Kenny Su, Karen Sun
Mentor: Salvatore Maddi
The relationship between Hardiness and Emotional Intelligence in the context of coping mechanisms in a stressful
consumer episode has not been examined in previous research. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Hardiness and Emotional Intelligence in
the context of stressful consumer episodes. A stressful
consumer episode involves the potentially stressful interaction between the consumer and customer service representatives. Hardiness is a component of personality that
allows an individual to excel in stressful situations. Emotional Intelligence is the knowledge, recognition, and control of one’s emotions. We reasoned that an individual with
higher levels of Emotional Intelligence would have a
higher awareness and control of their emotions even in a
stressful situation. Thus, Emotional Intelligence may be
related to Hardiness. We hypothesized that Hardiness and
Emotional Intelligence may protect against negative coping
mechanisms in a stressful situation. Participants included
105 undergraduates enrolled in a Hardiness course. They
completed a survey containing measures of Hardiness,
Emotional Intelligence, and coping mechanisms at the beginning and end of the course. Statistical analysis focused
on correlational analysis as well as t-tests. Hardiness was
found to have a significant effect on many strategies, including action coping, rational coping, and emotional venting. Hardiness was also significantly correlated with
Emotional Intelligence in the pretest and posttest surveys.
These results suggest that Emotional Intelligence may play
a role along with Hardiness in the use of positive coping
mechanisms when dealing with stressful consumer episodes.
Sustainable Desalination: Growing Green Energy to
Deliver Drinking Water
Andrew Karman, Tiffany Tu, Yanwen Wu
Mentors: Sunny Jiang, Yun Wang
Desalination technology offers the potential to substantially reduce water scarcity by converting the almost inexhaustible supply of seawater and the apparently vast
quantities of brackish groundwater into new sources of
freshwater. Historically, the high cost and energy requirements of desalination have limited its use. In this project,
we developed an innovative design that could generate
electric power needed for current desalination technology,
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which could also serve as a pretreatment to desalination by
reducing organic content in wastewater. This innovative
design combines the recent development in microbial fuel
cell (MFC) technology with the traditional electrodialysis
membranes to achieve energy production and salt removal
with the use of bacterial metabolic activity and organic
wastes. A novel membrane-less MFC that uses aerobic
microorganisms as a cathodic catalyst was constructed as a
proof-of concept model. The anode chamber was inoculated with wastewater sludge for anaerobic bacteria to aggregate while dissolved oxygen was utilized as the electron
acceptor. Preliminary results indicate a stable voltage of
600 mV along with 80% removal of total organic substrate.
These results show that present MFC technology does not
posses the capability of providing substantial power for
desalination devices, but MFCs may serve as an effective
form of pretreating water before desalination treatment.
nents in the prevention and control of diabetes. In the
family-oriented Latino culture, mothers and daughters often share a close bond. Therefore, interventions that leverage the nature of these mother-daughter dyads have the
potential for yielding substantive and lasting changes in
lifestyle that may lead to the reduction of obesity and diabetes. Seventy-one participants (35 mothers, 36 daughters)
participated in a 16-week educational diet and exercise
program designed to encourage mothers and daughters to
work together in engaging in a healthy lifestyle and meet
their respective diet and exercise goals. Over 85% of participants reported that they exercised more and made
healthier food choices as a result of the Unidas program.
In addition, over 80% of mothers and daughters reported
that participating together in the Unidas program made it
easier to meet their exercise and diet goals and improved
their own relationship. Further analyses will examine associations between mother-daughter support and diet and
exercise outcomes. These findings suggest that a diabetes
lifestyle intervention that is tailored to the cultural dynamics of the Hispanic community was well-received by participants and resulted in self-reported improvements in diet
and exercise.
Framing and Adaptaion Effects in Optimal Stopping
Problems
Maxim Gorbunov, Alvin Li, Andrew Silva
Mentor: Michael Lee
Optimal stopping problems are a set of exercises in which
one must choose the best alternative under uncertain circumstances. We used a modification of Lee and Campbell’s (2006) optimal stopping paradigm in which subjects
selected the highest or lowest value from a serially presented set of five numbers without the ability to backtrack.
The numbers that subjects encountered during the experiment were sampled from symmetric high or low skewed
distributions. Half of the subjects encountered an unexpected change in distribution at the midpoint of the experiment. The symmetry between a high-skewed search for
the largest and a low-skewed search for the smallest allowed for examination of framing effects within our paradigm. We found that subjects were able to adapt well to an
unexpected change in distribution but found no significant
main effect for framing. This suggests that, when given a
set of numbers with known limits, people behave similarly
when shown numbers near the maximum or minimum
bounds of the set in this task.
Production of Nanostructured Titanium via
Cryomilling and Spark Plasma Sintering
Casey Burgwald, Sapphire Lopez, Thinh Nguyen
Mentor: Farghalli Mohamed
Crystalline materials, such as metals and ceramics, are
composed of grains. Each grain is a region consisting of an
arrangement of atoms with a specific orientation. Commercially available materials usually have grain sizes greater
than 10 μm (10 x 10-6 m). Currently, many researchers are
investigating the production of nanostructured materials,
which have grain sizes less than 1 μm (1 x 10-6 m). Nanostructured materials have been shown to exhibit enhanced
strength and hardness properties. In this project, the production of nanostructured titanium using the techniques of
cryomilling and spark plasma sintering was explored. Titanium was chosen as the material of study due to its importance in biomedical and dental implant applications. Since
spark plasma sintering requires the use of high temperatures, the final grain size of the titanium is affected by the
parameters, particularly temperature, used during sintering.
Different sets of SPS parameters were used to produce
different samples of titanium, and the resulting grain sizes,
porosity densities, and hardness values were measured and
compared. It was found that lower sintering temperatures
resulted in finer grain sizes, but greater porosities, while
higher sintering temperatures resulted in larger grains sizes
and lower porosities. Therefore, an optimum temperature
exists that results in an optimum combination of grain size
and porosity. Measured hardness values correlated with
Barriers and Facilitators Associated with Diet and
Exercise among Mexican American Mothers with
Type 2 Diabetes and their Overweight/Obese
Daughters
Brenda Nava, Marisol Palomera, Elizabeth Renteria
Mentor: Dara Sorkin
The focus of this study, “Unidas por la vida,” or “United for
life,” was to assess the feasibility and initial efficacy of a
lifestyle intervention among dyads of Hispanic mothers
who have Type 2 diabetes and their obese or overweight
daughters who are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.
Studies have shown that exercise and diet are key compo-
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grain size according to the Hall-Petch relation such that
samples with finer grain sizes had higher hardness values.
Prevention of UV-Mediated Damage in Human Skin
by Pterostilbene
Amelia Ahmed, Lindsey Cortright, Priscilla Duong
Mentors: Ryan Dellinger, Frank Meyskens
More than one million new cases of non-melanoma skin
cancer (NMSC) along with about 68,000 new cases of malignant melanoma (the most deadly form of skin cancer)
are diagnosed annually in the United States. An estimated
8,700 deaths this year will be the result of skin cancer in
the U.S. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light is a key factor
in the development of skin disorders including cancer. UV
light can initiate a cascade of intracellular signaling, including bioactive lipid signaling, that can result in irreparable
damage to skin cells. The UDP-glucuronosyltransferases
(UGTs) are a specific family of enzymes that remove carcinogens in a cell and inactivate several bioactive lipids
under normal circumstances. Previous work from our lab
demonstrated that UGT2B7, UGT2B10 and UGT2B15
are expressed in human melanocytes and that their expression is lost during melanoma progression. To ascertain if
the observed loss of UGTs was due to UV light, human
melanocytes were exposed to UV-B radiation at a sunburn
dose. We report that expression of all three UGT2B enzymes was dramatically reduced following UV-B radiation.
This down regulation of UGT2bs was not observed after
UV-A exposure. Next we examined if a similar mechanism
may exist in human keratinocytes. Once again UV-B exposure drastically reduced the expression of UGT2B17, but
did not effect expression of UGT1A6. Similarly to
melanocytes, UV-A did not cause reduction of any UGT.
Considering that UGTs protect cells from carcinogen, we
hypothesize that UV-mediated loss of the UGTs would
leave skin cells vulnerable to environmental carcinogen
exposure and thus increase risk for skin cancer. Finally, we
demonstrated that the natural product pterostilbene, found
in grapes and berries, can prevent UV-mediated UGT loss
in both keratinocytes and melanocytes.
Development of a Decision Instrument for Selective
Chest Radiography in Blunt Trauma
Nooreen Khan, Armaan Rowther, Nadia Zuabi
Mentor: Shahram Lotfipour
The purpose of this study is to validate a decision rule for
chest x-radiography (CXR) among patients with blunt
trauma, using clinical criteria to rule out significant intrathoracic injuries (SITI). We conducted a prospective, observational study of blunt trauma victims > 15 years old
who received a CXR per physician judgment from January
2010 to January 2012. Predictive factors included age > 60,
deceleration > 40 mph, chest pain, distracting painful injury, clinical intoxication, altered mental status (AMS), and
chest wall tenderness, recorded before viewing the CXR or
report. Reports were examined for SITI, defined as pneumothorax (PTX), pleural effusion/hemothorax (HTX),
suspicion of aortic injury, > two rib or sternal fractures,
pulmonary contusion, or ruptured diaphragm. A total of
2049 patients were enrolled, 353 of whom sustained an
SITI: 228 (65%) with > 2 rib fractures, 162 (46%) pulmonary contusions, 118 (33%) PTX, 50 (14%) sternal fractures, 37 (10%) HTX, 4 with suspicion of aortic/great
vessel injury and 2 ruptured diaphragms. Four of the 2,049
patients had a significant injury that was not detected by
the decision instrument. It was found that the decision
instrument as a whole had a sensitivity of 98.9%, specificity
of 14.9%, positive predictive value of 19.5% negative predictive value of 98.4%, and odds ratio of 15.2 (95% CI 5.839.7). Patients with none of the seven predictive factors
had a 0.2% (95% CI 0.05-0.5%) chance of having a SITI,
and CXR may therefore be unnecessary in these cases.
Camera-Based Blood Flow Imaging for the Diagnosis
of Neonatal Sepsis
Ryan Farraro, John Guzman, Maggie Young
Mentor: Bernard Choi
Sepsis affects 30 million newborns annually and causes
death in 1–2 million. Antibiotics are a useful treatment
option for the disease. However, in resource-poor nations
the need to provide medications imposes a severe economic burden. A trend in misdiagnosis of sepsis exists
since it is asymptomatic, which leads to antibiotic-resistant
bacterial strains and makes it difficult to fight the infection.
The current method for diagnosing sepsis involves the use
of blood or spinal fluid cultures but there is limited potential for accuracy and the laboratory work is expensive.
Hence, a critical need exists for low-cost and easily deployed methods to improve diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.
To address this issue, a digital camera-based Laser Speckle
Imaging system has been developed that will be capable of
providing real-time feedback of blood flow in the microvasculature. Vascular abnormalities associated with sepsis can be identified to ensure proper distribution of
antibiotics to treat this infectious disease. Based on the
data from our study, we believe that Laser Speckle Imaging
with consumer grade electronics is a potentially inexpensive approach to diagnosing sepsis.
From Byte to Branch: Trees from the Ground up
Austin Fringer, Wesley Fuhrman, Arturo Vargas
Mentor: Sarah Eichhorn
We developed extensive mathematical and computational
methods to classify leaves and model tree structure. We
defined a simple yet plastic recursive algorithm to create
tree structures matching a given pictorial tree profile. Our
model provides estimates of leaf count and other tree
qualities consistent with other methods of leaf mass/count
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estimation; yet, analysis can be performed for a given tree
in seconds and requires very few initial conditions. We
compare the structure of the trees generated by our algorithm to the tree profile it attempted to model, as well as to
leaf counts and other data from real trees. This model is
surprisingly accurate for a multitude of trees. Our model
goes beyond simple generation, allowing for heavy levels
of customization to quickly generate vast numbers of trees,
real or fictional, hinting at a possible method for evolutionary simulation.
grained materials have better yield strength than its larger
grained counterparts. 5083 Al has been used in many structural applications. Accordingly, mechanical tests were performed on samples of ultrafine-grained 5083 Al, which
were annealed at different temperatures, in order to determine grain size effects on its mechanical properties such as
strength. In carrying the study, the microstructure of the
alloy was examined using various techniques such as scanning and transmission electron microscopy.
Sex and Age Differences in Risk Taking
Shannon Handa, Beatriz Martinez, Angelica Vazquez
Mentor: Elizabeth Cauffman
Adolescents are more likely to engage in risky behaviors
than any other age group. Prior research has indicated that
elevated levels of risk-taking may be related to low parental
monitoring, high peer delinquency, and low psychosocial
maturity. Although these relations have been demonstrated
in prior studies, whether (and how) these relations are
moderated by gender and the age of adolescent is less well
documented. As such, this study investigated whether the
relation between various predictors of risk taking (i.e., parental monitoring, peer delinquency, and psychosocial maturity) and youths’ risky behavior varied for males and
females as well as younger and older adolescents. Data for
the present analyses were obtained from 15–18 year old
participants enrolled in the NICHD Study of Early Child
Care & Youth Development. Overall, parental monitoring,
peer delinquency, and psychosocial maturity were significantly related to youths’ risk taking for all youths (i.e.,
males compared to females, and 15 year olds compared to
18 year olds). Though results indicated that peer delinquency was the most significant predictor of risk-taking
behaviors for all youths, the strength of the relation was
significantly stronger for females compared to males, and
15 year olds compared to 18 year olds. Similarly, the relation between psychosocial maturity and youths’ risky behavior was stronger for females than males. Interestingly,
results indicated that the strength of the relation between
parental monitoring and youth’s risky behavior was significantly stronger for 18 year olds than 15 year olds. In summary, these data reinforce the salience of peers during early
adolescence and suggest that females may be particularly
vulnerable to some of these risk factors.
Comparing Attitudes Preceding and Succeeding
Complementary
and
Alternative
Medicine
Undergraduate Courses at University of California,
Irvine
Tiffany Cheng, Jason Kim, Joel Ramirez
Mentors: Shin Lin, John Longhurst
The objective of this study is to determine the changes of
attitudes, motivations, and perceptions of Complementary
and Alternative Medicine (CAM) before and after taking
CAM related courses at University of California, Irvine.
This was a longitudinal, cross sectional questionnaire-based
study conducted on the undergraduates enrolled in “The
Biology of Integrative Medicine” in the School of Biological Sciences, and “Global Health and Nutrition” in the
College of Health Sciences. In the beginning of the class,
61% of 326 respondents had used CAM. The most used
forms of CAM were vitamins/minerals (30%), chiropractics (28%), and body movement (22%). After the class,
71% had used CAM with the top forms of CAM including
massage (23%), body movement (20%), and herbals (19%).
Also, most students before the class indicated interest in
taking more CAM classes (83%) in the following ways:
fulfilling the requirement for graduation (32%), fulfilling a
general education requirement (27%), or as a CAM minor
(13%). Before the class, 74% would have liked to take
more classes on CAM in the following forms: a graduation
requirement (27%), for units only (9%), or as a major (9%).
Both before and after the course, most of the students
rated CAM as effective (52% and 48%). In general, it was
found that the two classes had a positive effect on students’ use, perception, and desire for further education in
CAM.
Investigation of a Near-Superplastic Aluminum Alloy
Alvin Cao, Edmond Kwok, Jonathan Wong
Mentor: Farghalli Mohamed
Mechanical properties of materials have been found to
depend greatly on their grain sizes. The Hall-Petch relation
demonstrates that the yield strength of a material increases
as its grain size decreases. This is explained by the fact that
smaller grains have more grain boundaries to hinder dislocations motion, leading to increased strength of the material. The Hall-Petch relation thus reveals that ultra-fine
Diet and Aging in Drosophila melanogaster
Zeena Al-Tai, Matin Shah, Gerard Tran
Mentors: Laurence Mueller, Michael Rose
The goal of this project is to study the effects of diet
changes at various stages of life in the laboratory fruit fly,
Drosophila melanogaster. Flies were taken from a population
had been adapted to banana-molasses food for over 1,000
generations and exposed to an evolutionarily-novel orange
diet at different points during the life-cycle. Culture me-
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dium with oranges in place of bananas was chosen as the
experimental diet due to previous studies which showed
that an orange diet is stressful for flies during adulthood.
Using a one-stage Gompertz analysis, age-independent and
age-dependent mortality rates were determined, as well as
the total age-specific mortality for each cohort. Female
flies exposed to the orange diet showed a higher rate of
age-independent mortality and a lower rate of agedependent mortality, compared to flies that only received
banana food. Male flies showed similar patterns.
Academic Achievement in Adolescents with Autism
Spectrum Disorder
Nicole Choe, Jane Choi, Amandeep Kaur
Mentor: Wendy Goldberg
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong condition in
which impairments pervade many areas of functioning,
including academic abilities. Research has indicated that
individuals with ASD are more likely than typically developing individuals to have difficulties in reading comprehension, critical thinking, written expression, and
mathematical problem solving, as well as to score lower on
academic achievement tests. Many adolescents with ASD
have been placed in special education programs and have
received therapeutic services in academic and nonacademic settings during their childhood and again in adolescence. The goals of this study were, first, to compare
academic achievement scores in reading (i.e., word recognition and comprehension) and mathematics (i.e., computation and application problems) between NT adolescents
and adolescents with ASD and, second, to determine the
associations between academic achievement and intervention history duration and type among adolescents with
ASD. We hypothesized that: (1) adolescents with ASD
score lower than the NT adolescents on reading and
mathematics academic achievement tests and (2) prior participation in interventions have a positive association with
academic achievement. Preliminary findings from a researcher-administered achievement assessment support the
first hypothesis that adolescents with ASD score lower on
achievement tests when compared to NT adolescents.
Analyses including parental questionnaires of adolescent
intervention history are forthcoming. The findings from
this study may provide parents and educators with additional insight to support their efforts to mitigate academic
difficulties among adolescents with ASD.
Experiential and Socialization Correlates: Delinquent
Youths’ Perceptions of Future Opportunities
Raul Alvarez, Monica Corona, Faith Gifford
Mentor: Elizabeth Cauffman
As adolescents transition into adulthood, youth form expectations for future success, and engage in goal-directed
behaviors. These expectations are shaped by individual
experiences and environmental norms. Among delinquent
youth, however, expectations for success are unclear. This
study examined social influences from parents and peers,
as well as youths’ own work experience, on delinquents’
expectations for the future. A sample of serious delinquent
males (N=350) between the ages of 14–17, the majority of
whom (70.3%) were in a gang prior to incarceration, was
examined. Chi square analyses revealed that youth with
mothers without a legal job were more likely to have both
legal and illegal jobs (X2 (3,350)=12.50 , p<.01). Youth
whose parents engaged in illegal employment were also
more likely to be involved in illegal employment
[F(3,343)=4.37, p=.005]. Gang involvement was associated
with illegal employment (X2(3,350)=29.41, p<.001). In addition, incarceration of family members was significantly
associated with illegal employment. (X2(3,250)=17.20,
p<.01). ANCOVA analyses were used to test how youths’
prior employment related to their future expectations.
Controlling for the aforementioned socializing influences,
youths whose sole employment was legal had significantly
higher expectations for the future than youth who had
never worked [F(3,220)=3.03, p=.03]. Understanding what
influences the types of jobs serious youth offenders have
and how this subsequently affects their perception of opportunities will provide an empirical basis for policy. Specifically, providing at-risk youth with legal employment
opportunities has the potential to improve prosocial goalsetting.
Beliefs about Memory in Undergraduates, the Public
and Psychologists
Stephany Debski, Lavina Ho, Patricia Place
Mentor: Elizabeth Loftus
Beliefs about the repression of traumatic memory can have
consequences both in the legal and therapeutic setting. In
Study 1, (N = 393 undergraduates), we found that those
low on critical thinking and high on empathy tended to
indicate beliefs that memories are repressed and that
memory is reliable. In Study 2, undergraduates, the general
public, and various groups of psychologists participated (N
= 1272). Despite some signs of increased skepticism in
mainstream clinicians since 1994, belief in the idea of repressed memories is still high in 2012, including in the
general public and students, and is especially high among
alternative therapists. Exceptions were researchers, members of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and
Cognition (SARMAC) members, and members of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (SSCP). Implications could include the dissemination of the evidence to
important populations.
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Off-Grid Sustainable Energy Harvesting
Margaret Chan, Rayan Elteriefi, Christopher Hules,
Karina Reyes
Mentor: Mark Bachman
There are many situations and locations all around the
world in which people would not have access to energy,
including remote locations, underdeveloped countries, and
disaster relief camps. We want to be able to provide a system that can deliver energy in these types of situations. We
want this energy system to be sustainable and accessible as
well as easily maintained. The goal was to provide such a
system and for its manufacturing to be easily taught so that
it can be accessible by anyone around the world. We find
that solar energy is accessible, inexpensive, and sustainable
so we developed a system that involves making solar panels from solar cells, EVA, and glass like the industry but
feasible for practically anyone to learn how to put it together. These panels are comparable to industry standards
and cheaper. We have made several different solar modules. Each solar module gave us a chance to refine our
process which eventually led us to an optimal encapsulation technique which does not require sophisticaed machinery or technology.
Design Guidelines for iPad Sketching Applications:
Design, Thinking, and Creativity
Russle Benson, Connie Chauv, Christina Hon, Tej
Shiwakoti
Mentor: Sanjoy Mazumdar
Currently, iPad sketching and design software applications
seem limiting in either their scope of audience or their level
of functionality. On one hand, there are applications that
are easy to use for everyone but are only so because they
provide the most basic tools; on the other hand, there are
applications that allow for more detail and complexity in
drawings but have high learning curves. We wanted to
study and understand how users interfaced with and did
sketching and drawing tasks. We also aimed to develop a
set of guidelines for the design of an application that kept
in mind the learnings from our research. We conducted a
study in which design-novice subjects replicated given images in three iPad applications: Adobe Ideas, Autodesk’s
Sketchbook Pro, and iDraw. We analyzed these three case
studies, taking note of both the favored characteristics that
enabled the users and those that caused difficulties, delays,
confusion, and frustration. Sketchbook Pro was favored
for its user friendliness and intuitiveness and iDraw for its
multitude of functions. Users liked most of the available
gestures but were confused by the placement of icons and
their images. The subjects also expressed that the design of
tutorials was important and they favored tutorials that
demonstrate how to use the tools rather than those that
simply list the abilities. From these findings, we decided
that Sketchbook Pro is a good exemplar to expand upon
with additional abilities with goals of intuitiveness, customizability, and appeal to different users of various levels.
Some design guidelines suggestions we made were to use
easily-understood images for icons, to carefully consider
the combining of related icons, and to provide interactive
tutorials to teach users the less-intuitive or multi-step icon
abilities.
Eurydice
Jaymes Bellous, Zachary Hallett, Megan Ruble, Galen
Sato
Mentor: Keith Fowler
The Fall 2012 production of Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl challenged a group of undergraduate drama students to create
a professional-quality production that included heightened
language and several spectacular effects. The project required the director, production team, and actors to create a
new world that would be presented on stage. Beginning in
August 2012, the production team painstakingly worked
together to create the visual effects for this production,
which ranged from the simplicity of a shadow play to the
complexity of having a realistic effect of rain on stage. In
addition, the actors used inspiration from theatre styles like
Commedia dell’Arte, Kabuki, and clowning to become the
supernatural creatures that inhabit the Underworld. In the
end, we were left with an extremely successful result and
the hope that this production will be remembered by UCI
students for years to come. Eurydice goes to show that with
the ability to branch out and create work outside of their
usual comfort zone, a group of students can create professional-caliber art. It is our hope that Eurydice will inspire
future students to push the limits of their creative boundaries.
Doomsday: Energy Storage and Distribution
Eric Chin, Yichen Lu, Emilio Sanchez, Conrad Wang
Mentor: Pai Chou
The Doomsday project is a portable infrastructure system
that provides basic utilities such as power, water and
communication. This system can be used for disaster areas
or developing countries where basic utilities are not readily
available. The energy storage and distribution subsystem
takes the energy captured by the solar panels and stores
into batteries, which in turn, provide energy to other
Doomsday subsystems. The primary objective of the energy storage and distribution subsystem is to store and distribute energy. This system will power various Doomsday
subsystems that are essential to everyday living. For better
power distribution methods, we will use wireless devices to
communicate between the various subsystems. Wireless
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communications will be used to transmit power requirement data to the server, which will then transmit that data
to our group, the battery storage system. With this, we
would be able to conserve power by shutting off low priority devices or even shutting off a specific circuit when it is
not in use. Our target users are in areas without power
grids or areas that have currently undertaken natural disasters.
Sixth Sense
Nikola Metulev, Daniel Pezzi, Rahul Ramprasad, Alex
Tran
Mentor: Pai Chou
As camps in Afghanistan evolve, protecting the safety of
the people and their supplies should be one of the most
important tasks. Currently, there is no structure in place
that will allow a cheap and efficient way to track and protect food, medicine and other supplies from being stolen.
The unreliability of the power grid and the unavailability of
decent networking solutions make this task even harder for
camps to create such system. The market solutions that
exist today are created to work in places such as the United
States where there is a variety of different parts and technologies available. When it comes to camps in Afghanistan, money, parts and technologies are heavily limited.
Sixth Sense was developed with price and availability of
parts as the main focus. We designed the system to use
cheap parts that are easily replaceable in countries such as
Afghanistan. It is a solar powered wireless camera that
functions as a subsystem of the Doomsday Project developed by the senior design project teams from the Henry
Samueli School of Engineering. The camera only depends
on its own power and draws peak power only when
movement is detected. The data is stored in the main
server on the Doomsday Project to be easily accessed by a
dedicated user.
IRIS
Arno Abramyan, Davit Hovhannisyan, Derek Nham,
Barry Thach
Mentor: Fadi Kurdahi
Project Iris explored the integration of different I/O peripherals—such as cameras, microphones, projectors and
speakers—into a single compact unit based on a Beagleboard. To demonstrate the integration, a stud detector system was implemented. The IRIS unit was programmed to
detect red light coming from a traditional stud finder and
project the studs on the wall. The unit could be started
manually or with a voice command. The user communicates via the voice recognition unit and initializes stud locations using the stud finder; these are later used to calculate
projection coordinates independently from the distance of
the device from the wall. Furthermore, the projector displays vertical lines on the wall, which resembles studs and
allows the user to have an advantage over traditional
mounting tools/applications. The project demonstrated
the ability of the Beagleboard to coordinate the separate
devices and opened the door for numerous applications to
be created on the platform.
Micronet: A Low Power Intranet Server
Julie Do, Justin Lim, Michael Pham, Brian Vu
Mentor: Pai Chou
The “Doomsday Project” is system that will provide clean
water, energy, and information to people in disasterstricken areas. Our group is focused on the IT subsystem,
which is an intranet database server with limited Internet
access dubbed Micronet. We created a Web server and
database with limited Internet access which can download
vital information, store it, and distribute it locally to mobile
phones. The database is hosted on a microcontroller and
uses much less power than conventional servers. This project is aimed at disaster areas where cell phone service is
not available, but the communication of critical information is still needed. This system will improve the living
conditions of people living in disaster areas and increase
the safety for the volunteers who work in such areas.
Improvisation for Performance
Britney Brown, Jaque Lenhard, Edgar Rodriguez, Annie
Spirka
Mentor: Lisa Naugle
Last summer, during our trip to Spain, we had the opportunity of growing as improvisational artists, as well as developing a great friendship, and also delving into selfdiscoveries for personal development. We had such a remarkable progress in our improvisational skills that we left
Spain feeling confident about our abilities to perform in
the moment. We grew in the sense of ensemble because
we were aware of what choices others were making, so that
we could build a coherent performance on the spot. Because we were also spending time outside of movement
classes and performances, those connections made on
stage became even more real. For the Symposium this year
we would like to share our discoveries of improvisation for
performance, as well as sharing some of our most extraordinary moments through pictures and video footage.
Analysis of Corollary Discharge Pathways Using
Human Structural and Functional Neuroimaging
Aaron Craddolph, Jacob Messer, Brianna Penley,
Golroxan Shoa
Mentor: Alyssa Brewer
In our daily visual lives, a distinction is made between objects moving across the visual field and the movement of
our eyes or body through space. Due to small eye movements called microsaccades, the visual information that
falls on the retina should appear ever changing and unstable; however, as a result of corollary discharges in the brain
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that inhibit this extra sensory information, a clear and stable image is perceived. Recent research suggests that cortical and subcortical pathways involved in producing these
corollary discharges could be used for rehabilitation of
patients with visual deficits resulting from cortical strokes.
We are interested in examining whether we can use visual
working memory tasks that may employ these pathways to
aid in such rehabilitation. Here, we first examine these
pathways in control subjects to determine the normal cortical responses along these pathways. We use structural and
functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure responses in the dorsal cortical visual pathways and subcortical structures in four healthy adult human subjects to
delayed saccade and working memory tasks. These in vivo
measurements of normal functional responses within these
cortical and subcortical pathways to these stimuli can next
be used as a reference for comparison to measurements in
patients undergoing visual rehabilitation therapy for cortical injury, developmental disorders, or visual perception
disorders.
learning approach coalescing didactic and kinesthetic approaches.
Autonomous Robotic Mine Exposing Device
(A.R.M.E.D.)
Adrian Austria, Richard Chon, John Lee, Michael Lee
Mentor: Keyue Ma Smedley
According to the United Nations, there are landmines
spread across 78 countries. It is estimated that these landmines kill 15,000 to 20,000 people per year while injuring
many more. Currently, the main method used to detect
these mines is manually using a metal detector. We sought
replace this method of detection with automated mine detection robot. Although there have been other attempts on
automated mine detection, we focused on a low cost design with the possibility of mass production. We integrated
three major components together for our design: a metal
detection block, a robotic platform block, and a control
block. We achieved a working prototype that was able to
stop when metal was detected. Since our control circuit
used the input from the metal detector to stop our robotic
platform, we would be able to program a large amount of
commands once metal is detected. For example, we can
install a type of wireless communication on each robot that
would send out coordinates of possible mines to a central
computer. With proper programming, we can have multiple robots working together to survey a designated area. If
successful, we can save the many lives by removing the
dangers of mine detection and speeding up the process of
mine removal.
Determining the Preferred Teaching Style of
University of California Undergraduates in Regards to
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Daniel Ho, Ngoc-Tram Huynh, Nikka Kanani, Michael
Liu
Mentor: Wadie Najm
Integrative medicine is the holistic practice combining
conventional medicine with complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM). The prevalence of integrative medicine in
contemporary medicinal therapies has engendered an increasing demand for CAM education. We investigated the
preferred learning style of undergraduate students for
CAM education among the following categories: didactic,
kinesthetic, and combination of the two. To do so, we administered a two-part pre/post survey to 36 voluntary UCI
student participants, who attended at least one of three
workshop days of Integrative Medicine Week, with each
workshop encompassing one of the learning style categories. The survey evaluates the participants’ willingness to
pursue further CAM education and their preferred learning
style. Most students are classified as multimodal learners,
based on the results of the given VARK test, a questionnaire used to determine the optimal learning style of a participant. We determined that the majority of the
participants (71.4%) preferred a combination of didactic
and kinesthetic teaching, and most students (93.5%) would
like further CAM education in the form of a general education requirement (51.6%), graded units (29.0%), or P/NP
units (12.9%). After each workshop, generally students
indicated an increased interest in CAM. Overall, our results
suggest a positive reaction towards the integration of additional CAM courses and a preference for a combined
Investigating Corrosion Properties by Using
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy on
Commercial and ECAP Titanium
Terence Leung, John Lionel, Alan Olvera, Ankit
Wadhwa
Mentor: Farghalli Mohamed
Titanium and its alloys are widely used in aerospace, mechanical, and biomedical applications. This wide range of
applications can be attributed to titanium’s high strength,
good corrosion resistance, its positive biocompatibility,
and Osseo integration behavior. Mechanical properties of
materials have been found to depend greatly on their grain
size. ECAP is a top-down approach, which is used to produce ultra-fine grained materials. Both ECAP and commercial Titanium were polished and mounted on the
special raison sample holder for electrochemical impedance spectroscopy test. Both the spectrum and SEM image
shows the ECAP Titanium has better corrosion resistance
than the commercial one.
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miHome
David Dinh, Michael Li, Sonny Lin, Stephen Yang
Mentor: Ian Harris
Home automation is the centralized control of lighting,
heating, ventilation, and household devices within the
home. Several solutions, such as those by Sony and
Craftsman, exist in the market as a means to provide convenience, efficiency, and security to consumers. However,
miHome uses low-cost embedded systems that embed into
current household devices unlike the complex commercial
systems that require you to replace your current devices
with theirs. The miHome system aims to create a similarly
functional system, allowing the user to control and automate household devices remotely through the use of a
mobile device. The system will attempt to do so by building wireless links and control systems with embedded
hardware and software that are controlled via Android devices. The embedded hardware devices are modular from
the control system, which reduces the amount of items
that the user needs to buy. The miHome system increases
the efficiency of the home by saving energy. During the
development phase, additional features which enhance
convenience and security were cut, even though commercial systems would normally contain them. Nonetheless,
the experiment shows that it is possible to create a home
automation package at a lower cost with modular components that can be added on to the system than can be
found commercially.
Obstacles to Water Recycling and Reuse
Mindy Bui, Michael Mori, Huy Nghiem, Robert Wu
Mentors: Stanley Grant, Jean Saphores
Water recycling and reuse is getting increasing attention
from water utilities, government officials, and academics
due to periodic droughts and water restrictions in various
areas of the United States. In this context, our project investigated public perception of water reuse and recycling.
First, we conducted a survey of U.S. households that is
representative of the country’s population. The survey focused on how households perceive the risk of using recycled water both for indoor and outdoor use. We
hypothesized that individuals will have reservations about
recycled water due to a “toilet to tap” mentality. After analyzing our survey data, we do observe a correlation between US households’ willingness to use water recycling
and how “recycled water” is defined.
Anisotropy in the Velocity Field Downstream of a
Fine Wire Array in Grid Turbulence
Basheer Afaneh, Maxwell Daly, Kyle Johnson, Thomas
Sayles
Mentor: John LaRue
A passive scalar is a diffusive contaminant which does not
alter the behavior of the fluid flow in which it is intro-
duced. Gaining a better understanding of how passive scalars mix can help to analyze fluid systems that rely on
mixing, such as air-fuel pre-mixers. The main experiment
aims to study the mixing of a passive scalar in nearly homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flow, created by a biplanar grid which is placed upstream of the test section.
Grid turbulence is chosen because it is the closest experimental representation of the ideal homogeneous, isotropic
turbulence, which is the simplest type of turbulence to
study theoretically. In the main experiment, the scalar is
being injected by a scalar generator consisting of a large
array of fine wires, some of which are electrically heated.
One concern is that the scalar generator affects the isotropy of the flow. To investigate these effects, experiments
are conducted with and without the scalar generator positioned in the wind tunnel. Fluctuations of the three velocity components are measured by two hot wire
anemometers in an “X” configuration at various positions
downstream of the turbulence grid. Without the scalar
generator, v ≈ w and the ratio of u/v is typically within the
range of 1.1 to 1.3. It is found that with the scalar generator in place, that v and w are no longer equal, but u/v and
u/w are still within the acceptable range, therefore it is still
classified as nearly homogenous and isotropic flow.
EERI Seismic Design
Carter Cox, Agnes Nguyen, Jesse Plasmyer, Jesse
Plasmyer
Mentor: Farzin Zareian
The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)
hosts an annual undergraduate seismic design competition
that challenges students to design and fabricate a balsa
wood prototype structure that can successfully survive
earthquake simulations applied while following strict design rules and requirements set out by the Board. Balsa
wood can vary in density and strength, requiring us to
conduct tensile testing on samples of our shipment. It was
found that balsa wood is three times stronger in tension
than in compression. In terms of design, flexibility is key in
earthquake engineering. Therefore, a slender type design
was created where braced box columns provided strength
for a strong core and pin connections on the outer perimeter to increase flexibility within the structure. Entering the
material properties and design concept into an analysis
program called SAP2000, we were able to model our structure and make predictions on its drift and acceleration due
to certain ground motions. Model predictions and actual
values differed due to various factors. Reducing the
amount of structural damages was the objective of our
design to ensure safety to the occupants of our building.
We successfully accomplished that by creating the only
structure that survived all earthquake simulations without
collapsing. With minor modification to the stiffness of the
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building to reduce its drift value, an optimal design that is
complete seismic resistant can be achieved.
duced in the future and help people live safer and more
independent lives.
AfterImage Project: Improved Car Security
David Guo, David Lee, Matt Livezey, Yiyang Yan
Mentor: Ian Harris
The Afterimage Project addresses a common dilemma that
all car owners face: drivers cannot monitor their vehicles at
all times. But, if an incident—such as a collision, theft or
accident—happens to the car while the driver is away, the
driver would want to be notified immediately. There is no
commercial product solution for this problem. Typical car
surveillance systems have no way of notifying the user of
incidents immediately. The Afterimage Project is an embedded system for automobile security, surveillance and
reporting with Android support. Cameras pointing inside
and around the car record incidents when infrared motion
sensors are triggered and store video and photos into a
connecting central computer board kept hidden in the car.
A text message-sending component then immediately notifies the car owner’s smartphone through an Android application that the motion sensors have been triggered,
providing the geographic coordinates to find the car
should it have been stolen and moved. The product user
can reference videos and photos captured at any time for
legal purposes, such as filing police reports or making
claims for insurance companies.
Catalyst
Corinne Chan, Marisa Colcord, Joey Luu, Melissa
Maldonado
Mentor: Gifford Myers
As an undergraduate art organization and gallery space,
Catalyst devoted this year to curating exhibitions, community outreach, and locating Irvine students within the larger
art context. Through curating exhibitions, we gave students the opportunity to hone their skills in another facet
of the art industry which is supplementary to our curriculum, preparing students for future careers and studies. We
ventured into community outreach, which is both imperative and rewarding. By networking with local high school
artists, we encouraged their students to exhibit their work.
We provided a great opportunity for passing on experiences and studio practices to a younger generation of talented emerging artists. As a community of undergraduate
art students, it is necessary to open our art space by becoming involved in the larger context. Seeing artworks in
various communities linked within Southern California—
ranging from large institutions to local art walks—we were
able to see the variety of art making and art thinking that
expanded our intellect. With Catalyst as a space to share
ideas, enhance our knowledge of the art language and expand our networks with different art communities, we are
able to move forward, becoming artists in the second decade of the 21st century.
Stairclimbing Robot to Assist the Disabled
Nha Hoang, Christopher Hules, Minwook Suh, Hung
Tran
Mentor: Animashree Anandkumar
Our team name is Team Stairclimbing Robot Go. We
knew that we wanted our project to help people and, after
some brainstorming, we decided to build a stairclimbing
robot that can transport small objects to assist disabled
people. Our finished product is composed of two main
components—the chassis/base and the front
wheels/stairclimbing mechanism—and both are controlled
by a wireless controller. The base of the robot contains
two motors and its speed can be varied depending on the
controls. The front wheels have two major functions. First,
it angles the robot so it is able to put its wheels on the
stairs and secondly, it distributes the weight to carry the
robot over the stairs. The angle of the wheels can be adjusted by the controller, but we found that a 45 degree angle was ideal for climbing up stairs. When the robot is
going down stairs, the front wheels also act as a safety
buffer for the robot to absorb the shock of the drop. We
had planned for an arm on the robot, but we had to scrap
this idea as we ran out of money for the project. However,
our robot is extremely stable and can stand the weight of
this arm, should it be attached in the future. We believe
that our project is a viable product that can be mass pro-
UCISAT-I: Final Integration, Testing, and Cloning
Timothy Hernandez, Sean Marquez, Eli Uc, Timothy
Van Name
Mentor: Benjamin Villac
The major goal of UCISAT 1 is to take a low resolution
image of the Earth and relay this image to Earth from an
onboard radio to a ground station located at the MSTB
building at UCI. While the satellite is in orbit, it will also
record telemetry such as PCB (printed circuit board) temperatures and battery life. While the satellite is fulfilling its
mission, problems may arise that need to be debugged,
such as hang ups in firmware or various software issue. By
building an exact working duplicate model of the current
UCISAT Cubesat, a better understanding of these issues
that may arise in lower Earth orbit conditions can be
monitored, and methods to fix them can be developed.
This duplicate model will also serve as an educational tool
for the members of UCISAT 1 to teach new members
about the various subsystems as well as its intricacies.
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Doomsday Project Central IT Server
Sara Boone, Ryan Garcia, James Junyszek, Matt Nease
Mentor: Pai Chou
The Central IT server is a vital part to the Doomsday Project, a device used in disaster relief. The Doomsday Project
aims to bring water filtration, energy harvesting, and internet connection to devastated areas. The main controller for
this whole system is the central IT server. The server has
three main parts: a power allocation algorithm to determine which subsystem gets power and when, a transceiver
and custom message format to communicate with the
other subsystems of the Doomsday project, and an emergency alert system to send important or urgent information
to humans in charge of the relief effort. The power allocation algorithm is arguably the most important. It determines if there is enough power for each subsystem and, if
not, which ones should run and which should not. For
example, if there is only enough power to access the internet or pump water, preference should be given to the water as it is more necessary for human survival. The second
main component is communication with other subsystems,
which allows the server to tell each subsystem how much
power it can have. Finally, the emergency alerts will let
people in charge know when something has gone wrong.
For example, it would let people know if the water pump
encountered an error and needed to be manually reset.
This central server is the main life system of the Doomsday project, so it is essential to the final effort of providing
relief to victims of natural disasters.
UC Irvine Rocket Project Avionics, Recovery, and
Payload
Fabio Bendana, Eddie Kwan, Christoph Seeliger,
Charles Smith
Mentor: Kenneth Mease
The avionics sub-team, as a component of the UCI Rocket
Project, is responsible for integrating electrical and computer systems with the mechanical systems of the rocket as
well as providing a recovery system and data collection. To
allow for a more efficient system, reduction in space and
components was necessary. By containing the system
within one module we were able to simplify the avionics
system, which greatly increased reliability. This research
component worked closely with the development of the
payload deployment system due to its dependence on the
release of the recovery system, albeit independent. Building
on the success of last year’s rocket, we used the same electronics and recovery system with the goal of optimizing it
and allowing for a payload to be integrated. In addition in
an effort to reduce overall drag due to the avionics system
a redesigned access hatch and viewing slots were designed.
This work has implications in the amateur high power
rocketry in that it offers better performance and height-
ened efficiency as well as integrated a payload ejection system.
Growing and Extracting Biofuel from Algae
Jahanzeb Ashraf, Quentin Dietz, Sharango Kundu,
Elaine Ngo, Monil Patel
Mentor: Peter Bowler
Our team’s goal is to recreate the best-known methods of
algae biofuel production, study and examine the issues that
hinder its implementation, and design a solution to make
algae biofuel an attractive alternative to fossil fuels. Compared to other common alternative energy mediums, the
ability to use existing infrastructure and engines makes biofuel a stronger candidate as a substitute for petroleum. Algae can grow in salt or fresh water, relieving the strain on a
very important limited resource and greatly increasing the
amount of area available for cultivation. The only basic
needs are light, air, and nutrients that can easily be found
in seawater. We chose to begin our research with a culture
of Botryococcus braunii and have now branched out to the
study of multiple strains. Our experimental strains now
include both saltwater and fresh water algae, each of which
thrive under different conditions. Our experiments have
included, but are not limited to, adjusting lighting, daynight cycles, container shapes, water temperature, and nutrient solutions in order to find the most cost- and energyefficient method of growth. Throughout our year and a
half of research, we have found close to optimal conditions, and have learned about the delicate nature of the
organisms. We have arrived at an ideal environmental setting, developed a cost effective growth-measuring device,
and have begun experimenting with the oil extraction
process.
Testing the Ecological Speciation Hypothesis in
Laboratory Populations of Drosophila melanogaster
Walter Jose, Mytchel Luong, Louise Pagaduan, Grant
Rutledge, Michael Um
Mentor: Michael Rose
In order to test the relative importance of the ecological
speciation and the “null” speciation hypotheses in fostering the evolution of reproductive isolation, hybrid crosses
of replicate populations of Drosophila melanogaster, that have
evolved under contrasting (ecological scenario) as well as
identical (null scenario) selection regimes, were compared
to ancestral populations. Reproductive isolation was measured as a function of development time rates (postzygotic
barrier) between hybrid and pure-type crosses. A greater
signal for reproductive isolation was found between contrasting selection regimes than identical selection regimes.
This result suggests that, with respect to development
time, the ecological speciation hypothesis is of greater importance in the evolution reproductive isolation. However,
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the relative importance of either speciation theory is still
unclear.
to provide accurate periodic oxygen readings. The design
proposed by our group relies on a zinc-air battery that interacts with the ambient air and creates an oxygendependent electrical current. Using a simple circuit with
the zinc-air battery as the source of potential difference
and a resistor of a known value, the current produced by
the zinc-air interface can be calculated by Ohm’s Law,
V=IR. The zinc-air battery oxygen analyzer can be an inexpensive yet effective device for use in developing countries by ameliorating an easily preventable yet potentially
fatal problem.
How Expressive Writing Influences Test Performance
Nairy Aintablian, Kyle Kernohan, Christopher Koo,
Stacy Lee, Meghan Simasingh
Mentor: Joanne Zinger
A recent study by Frattaroli et al. indicated that participants
taking a graduate school entrance exam (GRE, MCAT,
LSAT or PCAT) who wrote about their deepest thoughts
and feelings related to their upcoming exam reported significantly greater reduction in depressive symptoms shortly
before their exam and performed significantly better on
their exams compared to participants who wrote about a
neutral topic. This study aims to replicate this finding and
to identify possible mechanisms that could account for the
improvement in test performance. Participants were recruited from UCI and the local community; individuals
taking the MCAT, LSAT, or PCAT were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (expressive writing
task) or a control group (neutral topic); the writing intervention took place nine days prior to the exam. Participants completed a series of phone interviews (one month
before, three days before, and one week after their exam)
assessing working memory, depressive symptoms, test
emotions, and study habits. In addition, they completed
two short surveys measuring the state test anxiety immediately before and after their exam, and they provided a copy
of their test results from the testing agency. Those in the
expressive writing group (N=35) scored in the 62nd percentile on their exam, whereas the control group (N=37)
scored in the 58th percentile. Despite the small sample size,
the direction of the group means is consistent with previous research showing that expressive writing may improve
test performance. Other psychological variables that could
explain these effects will also be discussed.
Patient-Physician Communication in Diabetic Health
Management
Joselyn Diaz, Linda Nguyen, Jaclyn Spinner, Timothy
Vu, Katie Walton
Mentor: John Billimek
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that requires lifelong
management to prevent the many complications that it can
cause. Sadly, the lifestyle that type 2 diabetes patients must
follow is often a complicated regimen of medications, doctor visits, and more. Following their diabetic regimen is
unlikely if the patient leaves the doctor’s office without a
clear understanding of the necessary lifestyle changes and
the reasons behind them. Studies indicate that patients
who reported poor communication with their physicians
were more likely to have worse management of their diabetes and thus face more adverse health effects; however,
patients who had good communication with their physicians enjoyed better healthcare and diabetes management.
Our study aims to understand the association between
doctor-patient communication and patient adherence to
their diabetic regimen. We analyzed recordings of patients
speaking with their physicians during visits and then performed statistical analyses of that data with information
from patient surveys and medical record abstractions. Our
analyses indicate that there was a correlation between the
ratio of physician/patient speaking during the visit, the
number of barriers to a diabetic regimen mentioned and
addressed during the visit, and patient adherence to their
regimen. Patients who could not adhere to their regimen
raised more barriers, had a lower number of barriers being
addressed during the visit, and had doctors who spoke for
a significantly shorter proportion of the visit compared to
similar factors for adherent patients (p<0.05). Although
these are preliminary results that must be expanded upon
with further analysis, they begin to elucidate the characteristics of effective patient-physician communication.
Zinc-Air Battery Based Medical Oxygen Analyzer
Zain Bokhari, Ricardo Chua, Christopher Jeong, Jonah
Micah Jocson, Jahyuk Koo
Mentor: Michelle Khine
For developing countries like those in Africa, hospital
equipment is commonly second-hand and obsolete. One
such instrument frequently found in these hospitals is the
oxygen concentrator, which provides oxygen at regulated
saturation levels to patients with breathing difficulties.
These concentrators are often outdated and either provide
inaccurate oxygen output readings or do not display them
at all, resulting in unnecessary and avoidable complications
or even death. For example, neonates with sensitive oxygen needs may be subject to inadequate or excessive oxygen in infant incubators, resulting in a myriad of problems
such as lung damage or blindness. In order to reduce the
frequency of these events, an oxygen analyzer can be used
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Infant Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
Device
Jocelyn Chavez, Calvin Hsu, Minh Nguyen, Chenxi
Song, Tieng-An Tea
Mentor: Michelle Khine
Preterm infants have difficulty breathing due to an underdeveloped respiratory system. They often suffer from Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome (IRSD). This disease is
characterized by a deficiency in surfactant, a fluid produced in the lungs which prevents them from collapsing
during normal respiration. Our project, the Infant Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device, will assist
in infant breathing by providing the appropriate air pressure to prevent collapse of the lungs. The CPAP device is
being developed as an Engineering World Health project;
therefore, the design will be affordable for third world
countries relative to options currently available. The design
consists of a variable drive pump to control the flow of air
and a shell and tube type water heater to humidify and heat
the air. The humidified and heated air is then be piped to
one or more infants. The design will also prevent the need
for excessive user interaction by controlling the humidity
and temperature using a proportional derivative controller.
The goal is to create an affordable device requiring minimal user interaction for use in treating IRSD in third world
and developing nations.
The Effects of Maternal Mental Health on Infant
Health in the First Eighteen Months of Life
Jahanzeb Ashraf, Seyed Ali Khalessi Hosseini, Prianka
Kumar, Amit Malhotra, Melissa McManus
Mentor: Stephanie Reich
A growing body of research has demonstrated the detrimental effect maternal depressive symptoms and anxiety
can play in a variety of infant health complications. Few,
however, have considered how feelings of happiness about
and enjoyment of pregnancy might promote child health
postnatally, especially for low income, ethnically diverse
mothers. Data collected from the NICHD-funded Baby
Books Project were used in this study. Participants were
167 low-income, ethnically diverse primiparous mothers.
All participants were interviewed in their homes by a researcher during their third trimester of pregnancy (baseline) and when their infant was 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, and 18
months of age. At the completion of the study, infants’
medical charts from birth until 18 months of age were also
collected. Linear and logistic regressions were used while
controlling for maternal characteristics (age, SES,
race/ethnicity). Results suggest that higher maternal uplift
intensity prenatally promoted better child health after
birth. Specifically, more uplifts during pregnancy predicted
fewer diagnoses of otitis media (β=-0.247, p <0.05), fewer
respiratory tract infections (β=-1.860, p <0.05), including
pneumonia, bronchitis, pharyngitis and sinusitis, and a re-
duced chance of the family needing social services intervention (β=-0.242, p <0.05) during the first 18 months
after birth. This study demonstrated that more intense uplifts (e.g. positive feelings about the pregnancy outcome,
body image, and social support systems) resulted in a
healthier first 18 months for the infant by reducing the
chance of acquiring certain common childhood illnesses.
While ample research has demonstrated risk factors during
pregnancy, this study identified a protective factor during
the prenatal period.
The Effect of Reverse Evolution of Starvation Resistance in Drosophila melanogaster Populations with a
Small Size Evolutionary History
Hamilton Dang, Laurel Dang, Jordan Kopf, Andrew
Lee, Jonathan Tran
Mentors: Laurence Mueller, Michael Rose
The goal of this project is to evaluate the effect of reverse
evolution on laboratory populations of Drosophila
melanogaster with a small size evolutionary history: sustained
bottleneck (N~50 individuals) for 20 generations. Two
highly-replicated regimes with different evolutionary histories—one selected for starvation resistance for 15 generations and its matched control—were studied during five
generations of adaptation to the ancestral environment.
The results show that the initial differentiation between
selection regimes in respect to starvation resistance was
maintained after five generations of reverse evolution. A
variety of effects, including environmental change, lack of
genetic variation, and too few generations, can account for
these results. A higher number of generations of reverse
evolution should show a more distinctive convergence pattern towards the ancestral state.
Can the Total Health MasteryTM Program, which
Uses Advanced Health Education Methodology, Effectively Improve Health and Well Being of Participants?
Michelle Doan, Monica Kamantigue, Natalie
Rivadeneira, Samin Seraji, Karen Truong, Cheryl Ann
Valdez
Mentors: Zuzana Bic, David Timberlake
An increasing trend of chronic diseases and ailments demonstrate a need for health promotion and preventative
education. Studies that promote and demonstrate the success of such programs are scarce, leaving the potential solution to this emergent health crisis unsupported. The goal
of this pilot study was to determine if there were any statistically significant improvements in health and well-being
among the Total Health Mastery TM program’s participants.
Participants are tracked from start to finish using five surveys given within four months comparing results based on
general health, health awareness, and health knowledge.
Changes in overall health and health knowledge were ana-
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micro thruster design and its compatibility with the other
subsystems.
lyzed with the intent to foresee improved: (1) weight management, (2) decreased medication dependency, (3) increased perceived energy levels, (4) improved emotional
well-being, (5) increased adherence to the program, and (6)
increased health knowledge. Predicted results include a
dramatic increase in health knowledge quiz scores and increases in overall health from the baseline. High percentages on the quiz scores indicate high retention and
adherence rates from the program. Most participants have
used education to enhance their well-being both physically
and mentally as shown in the reported results. The program therefore uses effective health education techniques
geared toward health promotion. The study will include a
fifth final survey to be added in June. In order to see
stronger statistical data, the study should continue to include a larger sample of participants. A control and comparison group will also increase the validity of this study.
SonUSkin: Portable Ultrasonic Therapy
Milad Alipour, Thierry Kodsi, Nina Naraghi-Arani, Jared
Olivo, Dhivya Sridhar, Timothy Van Name
Mentor: Michelle Khine
A cost-effective, portable and easy-to-use personal ultrasound device was designed and constructed during this
year. The device is designed to be used in conjunction with
conventional treatment to accelerate the wound healing
process and significantly reduce the amount of scar tissue.
This technology, in addition to promoting flexible therapy
(that does not disrupt the patients’ lifestyle) would dramatically reduce the cost of post-operative medical care to
the insurance companies, clinicians and patients involved.
The design includes a flexible “KneeKap” that contains
piezoelectric transducers, powered by an easy to use circuit
and portable power source. The “KneeKap” uses a silicone
material to propagate the ultrasonic waves to the knee in a
uniform and controllable manner. This enables us to ensure uniform treatment throughout the affected area, without risking burns to the patient. Furthermore, the circuit,
which is controlled by a field programmable gate array, the
Cyclone II, is able to power the four transducers around
the knee from a battery. It is the first battery powered ultrasonic device, and is small enough to be able to integrate
into a knee brace or placed in a pocket comfortably. The
functioning prototype is currently undergoing testing to
measure the efficiency of the treatment using ultrasonic
microphones.
Electric Colloid Propulsion
Joshua Balderas, Scott Bougie, Stephanie Kwok, Brian
Soriano, Timothy Van Name, Timothy Wang
Mentor: Benjamin Villac
The UCISAT2 propulsion subsystem will play a vital role
in delivering the cube satellite through space on its mission
to prove the decontamination of water using solar radiation. The subsystem team now has a custom-made vacuum
chamber where the components will be tested. The ordered stainless steel vacuum chamber is dimensioned to fit
the cube satellite (10 cm x10 cm x 20 cm) and testing apparatuses that will be placed inside. The chamber is equipped
with a pressure gauge, vacuum port, 8-pin power feedthrough, and an NW-50-valve port. A 13-inch glass lid was
part of the design because the experiments need to be
viewed at all times. The decision to order a vacuum rated
to handle 1x10-6 Torr is to replicate an environment as
similar to outer space; the pump will require a minimum
rating of 1x10-3 Torr. While the chamber was being purchased and delivered, a MATLAB program was developed
to measure thrust. This program is used in conjunction
with a test stand that already has a Solidworks design and
will be receiving material soon to start construction. A major change to the copper thruster design is decrease in size
by 60%. The original weight of the prototype was 23.3
grams while the newer design weighs 9.6 grams. Two
thrusters were made that will go into the vacuum and will
test the significance of emitter distance in the copper
sheath in relation to distance of the plate. A common
problem with fuel emitters is the formation of bubbles
inside the capillary that will cause uneven flow and potentially create irregular thrust. The emitter array design was
eliminated for that reason and also because of difficult machinability to fit much small arrays (emitter tubes less than
ten microns) on a smaller thruster design. The results of
the first testing stage will determine the reliability of the
No Tool Left Behind
Ryan Farraro, Avina Gupta, Jaspal Kamboj, Sean
McCanna, Kishen Mistry, Nina Thorosian
Mentor: Michelle Khine
Retained foreign objects, RFOs, are a serious medical
complication in which surgical instruments are left behind
in patients after a surgery. Patients who have to remove
the surgical tool left behind are subject to additional surgery, and the complications of the surgical instrument
within the patient’s body can lead to infection or even
death. This problem affects nearly 1 out of every 1,000 to
1,500 surgeries in the United States, and occurs more frequently, at a rate of 1 out of 677 surgeries, in developing
nations like Africa. In order to prevent these mishaps, a
low cost, a portable system is being designed. This new
strategy will consist of magnetically tagged sponges accompanied with a gauss meter. The gauss meter will be
used to swipe the patient and will detect the magnetic field
produced by the magnets in the sponge. The reading provided by the meter will direct the surgeon to whether or
not a sponge has been left in the body.
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Solar Stove
Rawand Aryan, Mark Beardwood, Ravi Bhakta,
Mohamad Kassem, Ryan Kuehne, Shaun Wilson
Mentor: John Garman
Rural villages around the world rely heavily on biomass
fuel sources for cooking. Biomass fuel, which consists of
dung, wood, and crop residue, brings many negative individual and environmental consequences. The purpose of
the Solar Stove Team is to reduce, if not eliminate, the unwanted side affects of cooking fueled with biomass material by the design and fabrication of an integrated solar
cooking stove. To accomplish this purpose, the team endeavored to develop a system that captures 3 kWh of heat
energy during the day and stores that energy for a period
of 12 hours, which grants users the ability to cook at night
and indoors. A solar satellite dish coated with reflective
tape transmits solar rays to a vessel containing a phase
changing material (PCM) called solar salt. Solar salt, which
is a mixture of potassium nitrate KNO3 and sodium nitrate
NaNO3 in a 60:40 percent ratio, stores the energy associated with the solar rays in the form of latent heat. The solar salt is housed in a cylindrical vessel insulated with
aerogel and specially designed by the team to conduct heat
throughout the solar salt using copper fins. To facilitate the
collection of heat energy, a single axis solar tracker was
designed and constructed using design principals incorporated in the Palomar telescope. The successful design and
implementation of the prototype solar stove system indicates that the system could be used successfully in rural
villages. Once implemented, the lives of rural villagers in
developing regions could be dramatically improved.
Microfluidic Platform for Rapid Tissue Typing
David Chan, Philip Chao, Irfan Kermalli, Jay LePere,
Daniel Lorey, Brandon Wong
Mentor: Michelle Khine
Tissue typing has been proven to make a significant difference on survival rate in organ transplant recipients. However, due to the urgent nature of these transplantations,
there is not enough time for tissue typing to be done. Consequently, surgeons choose to put a healthy organ into a
patient rather than taking the time to HLA match the organ, potentially lowering its viability. Here, we propose the
use of microfludic technology as a platform to perform
rapid tissue typing. By performing tissue typing faster,
more information about the organ can be determined, letting surgeons make a better decision before transplantation
of the organ.
At-Home Spasticity Monitoring Device
Jessica Lim, Tony Nguyen, Christine Sales, Gary Su,
Julie Taylor, Stephen Yoon
Mentor: David Reinkensmeyer
Spasticity is clinically defined as a velocity-dependent increase in the stretch reflex amplitude, causing excessive
contractions, hyperactive stretch reflexes, and involuntary
muscle movement. Commonly used methods to measure
spasticity are subjective and require trained personnel to
properly administer them. Furthermore, there is no
method to determine the efficacy of spasticity treatments
other than a muscle biopsy. In order to avoid an invasive
procedure and overcome the subjectivity of these current
measurements, the main goal of this project is to design a
noninvasive spasticity monitoring device with repeatable,
quantitative measurements. The device is tailored to a patient with neurosarcoidosis and is designed to be selfadministrable in an at-home setting, user-friendly, and affordable. To accomplish this, an Android smartphone is
used, because it is a readily accessible and customizable
device. Additionally, the pendulum test has been proven to
be a reproducible and self-administrable test that shows a
definitive difference between individuals with and without
spasticity. Thus, an application has been developed to use
the pendulum test and the smartphone. While the phone is
attached to the leg with a strap band, the accelerometer
within it detects and records the patient’s leg motion during the pendulum test. Numerical data acquired from the
accelerometer, such as peak amplitude, frequency of
swings, and dampening levels, are then compared to the
patient’s previous data. This device will allow the patient to
track any changes in his/her spasticity levels over time and
determine the effectiveness of his/her spasticity treatments.
Development of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines for the
Urban Environment
Chimaobi Awuchi, Ricardo Barahona, Robert Huynh,
Kevin Leong, Jose Ortiz, Nikolai Poulsen, Aria Sarraf
Mentor: Yun Wang
Large scale horizontal axis wind turbines are being used
increasingly in areas with high speed wind originating from
a fairly constant direction. These turbines are most efficient under these conditions but do not fare well in the low
wind speeds with shifting directionality found in most urban environments. Vertical axis wind turbines currently
have the lowest efficiencies of wind turbines but have the
potential to provide energy under non-ideal conditions and
are more economical to purchase and maintain. In order to
provide the most efficient vertical axis wind turbine for the
urban environment, the team constructed several small
scale models based on the Darrieus and Savonius concepts
while, in parallel, constructing a wind tunnel suitable for
testing the designs. Following the results yielded from the
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small scale tests, a large scale Savonius model was produced and electrical components were assembled both to
gather data and optimize the ability of the turbine to
charge a standard 12v battery. Data obtained suggests that
the team’s Savonius design will be capable of providing up
to 15kW/hr per month with wind speeds ranging from 5
to 10 mph. Future research is aimed towards a SavoniusDarrieus hybrid which may yield a greater efficiency during
seasonal periods of high wind speeds while maintaining
low speed utility.
the successes and failures of each design. We wrote a program—based on a document written by Dr. Robert Liebeck—that designs propellers with a constant pressure
distribution over the propeller disk. We have successfully
manufactured test propellers and are making full-scale
ones. Extensive research has provided us with a design for
optimal power transmission component of our HPA. We
have chosen our rib design based off of those from the
following past HPA: Light Eagle, Daedalus 88, Velair 89,
and the Gossamer Albatross because of the availability of
material and their foam body design. In conclusion, we
have finished writing a sizing code based on limits and our
knowledge gained from research to create a conceptual
design of the HPA.
Starvation Resistance in Drosophila melanogaster:
Response to Forward Directional Selection with Diverse Population Sizes
Monica Chavez, Jerren Ferguson, Marjan Koosha,
Dominic Rentz, Kimberly Romero, Jack Tiernan,
Anderia Yunan
Mentors: Laurence Mueller, Michael Rose
Laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster were
placed under selection for starvation resistance. Eightyfour independent lines kept in different combinations of
population size and selection regime were followed for 14
generations. The results showed that populations undergoing selection had an increase in performance and evolutionary rate as compared to those that were kept in control
conditions. Additionally, small populations showed a decrease in performance and evolutionary rate, as well as an
increase within regime heterogeneity, when compared to
large populations. These findings corroborate the expectation of a decrease in fitness in small populations due to
loss of genetic diversity and thus inbreeding depression. In
conclusion, it is evident that size really matters for the outcome of evolution.
UCISAT-II: Purification of Water via Solar Radiation
Induced
Photodegradation
of
DOM
and
Pharmaceutical By-Products for Space Applications
Keegan Carroll, Olivia Domenici, Kyle Johnson, Jaspal
Kamboj, Ray Oey, Lynn Tran, Timothy Van Name,
Steven Westermire
Mentors: William Cooper, Benjamin Villac
The International Space Station (ISS) possesses a robust
series of water filtration systems that are very demanding
in terms of physical volume and power consumption. Due
to the mass, power, and space limitations onboard any extended manned mission flights or space establishments it is
vital that efficient and effective methods of water purification are implemented. The use of solar radiation—in particular the UV-C waveband—to purify water of microbial
and organic contaminants is implemented in recycled water
purification systems here on Earth. One of UCI-Satellite’s
major goals with their next satellite project is to prove the
feasibility of using solar radiation to purify water of naturally occurring organic contaminants and pharmaceutical
contaminants; the latter posing the greatest challenge for
water purification systems in space. Midodrine, an antihypointensive agent used by astronauts in space, and humic acid, a collection of naturally occurring organic contaminants found in riverbeds, will be purified onboard the
satellite to model man-made contaminants and naturally
occurring contaminants, respectively. Laboratory data
shows that under the presence of UV-C in the 195 wavelength range that both Midrodrine and humic acid degrade
to form low molecular weight organic acids that can be
readily purified. Space water purification systems may be
able to incorporate systems that take advantage of the
presence of solar radiation in space to simplify current systems being used.
The Human Powered Airplane for Sport
Kevin Agahee, Erick Cruz, Athanasios Kaplanis,
Konstantinos Kaplanis, Jaydeep Kar, Jesus Ramos, Ash
Shih, Jacqueline Thomas
Mentors: Robert Liebeck, Kenneth Mease
This creative project’s end result will represent a manned
aircraft. We have researched, designed, fabricated, and
demonstrated the capabilities of a small-scale, unmanned,
electric powered, radio-controlled aircraft’s components to
simulate and validate the feasibility of building, transporting, and flying a full-scale human powered aircraft (HPA).
Some basic requirements are that the HPA be suitable for
small batch production/kit form assembly, can be transported by road, is easily controllable, and attains a cruising
speed and altitude of approximately 10 mph and 8 ft. Programs such as MATLAB, XFOIL and AVL are used to
analyze and optimize the aircraft design. All of these activities are fueled by the desire to design a successful aircraft.
The team made many accomplishments in the design
process. We researched 70+ past HPA projects to learn of
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Design of a Sustainable Dorm for UCI: A Project of
Design, Culture, and Sustainability
Ian Brown, Adam Clements, Jefferson Du, Connie Fu,
Nancy Huynh, Virginia Mac, Keelie Rocker, Jenny
Wong, Jorge Zavala
Mentor: Sanjoy Mazumdar
How can we approach truly sustainable living when it
comes to large college campus environments? It is easy
enough to make a small family house sustainable, but can it
be managed for a dorm housing hundreds of people? In
our research we have tackled that question, designing a
dorm that integrates several passive sustainable features,
including solar chimneys and windcatchers (badgirs) for
ventilation, green roofs for insulation, and grey-water recycling to conserve water and for cooling, among others. We
first did research through available scientific literature into
various passive energy-reducing building features from
different cultures and different climates that contributed to
cooling, heating, conserving water, and ventilation, and
figured out which ones would apply best to a Mediterranean climate such as that of Irvine, CA. We combined all
of these passive sustainable features into a design for a
unique building that can house a population comparable to
UCI’s Middle Earth undergraduate dorms, allowing them a
community focus and ample living space, and began drafting several plans on how to integrate the sustainability features in an organic and pleasing way. We have designed a
floor plan and several sketches, as well as built a model of
the building, and are working on calculations to determine
the exact benefits of this building over more traditional
dorms. It is our hope that this building design can be taken
as inspiration for future construction at UCI and other
campuses like it, and that passive sustainability features can
be used in more buildings everywhere in the world.
Lowering Cardiometabolic Risk Factor Levels: The
Effectiveness of Diabetes Education in Rural Mexico
Jennifer Attias, Miguel Chavez, Angela Gutierrez,
Elizabeth Lang, Cecilia Leyva Melgoza, Armaan
Rowther, Thomas San Nicolas, Timothy Vu, Mona
Yazdi
Mentors: Scott Bartell, John Billimek, John Christian Fox,
Tonya Schuster
As the third leading cause of mortality in Mexico and the
leading case of non-obstetric hospital admissions, diabetes
mellitus and associated co-morbidities constitute a growing
problem for the residents of Mexico. Although a number
of barriers exist that create challenges for diabetic patients,
culturally competent diabetes education programs have
been shown to have significant impacts on hemoglobin
A1C levels and associated cardiometabolic measures for
Mexican Americans. A retrospective data analysis of preexisting health intervention information from the Jose Lemus Lopez Clinic in El Testerazo, Mexico will be done
over six months in order to assess the effectiveness of a
culturally competent diabetes education program conducted by the UC Irvine Chapter of the Flying Samaritans,
a non-profit organization that operates free health clinics
in Baja California, Mexico. Although we expect significant
changes will not be seen in A1C levels of diabetes patients
enrolled in the program over the six month period, we expect increases in patient knowledge of diabetes, behavioral
efficacy, and other barriers to health will be elucidated
through socio-demographic measures. A longer time-frame
will be needed to gauge the long-term effectiveness of such
a program in lowering hemoglobin A1C.
Solar Airplane
Scott Bougie, Timothy Chang, Byron Frenkiel, Hugo
Gonzalez, Kasra Kakavand, Jamie Mac, Thinh Nguyen,
Breanna Padilla, Ronald Truong
Mentor: Albert Yee
Aircraft have always been limited to how far or how long
they can fly by the amount of fuel that is required to keep
them in flight, but by adapting a lightweight plane to be
independent of such power requirements such as fuel or
batteries solar panels can be used to power an aircraft, allowing for extended flight times. Such solar planes could
be used for lightweight surveillance planes, such as UAVs,
used for scouting ahead and observing critical locations.
The purpose of our study is to learn how to and make a
lightweight aircraft that will be able to fly and be remotely
controlled using almost entirely solar power. To do this we
have decided to try and make two different types of planes
using two different types of materials to ultimately see
which design is more efficient. One design is a conventional aircraft, which will be constructed as a built up out
of balsa wood and a carbon fiber rod for a tail boom; the
other plane will be foam based and will be designed as a
flying wing. Ideally we would like to have an adaptation
that does not have a battery at all in the plane, but currently as a safety measure we are including a small battery
to make sure that the receiver maintains a constant power
so that the plane never loses signal and control from the
pilot.
AIAA Design Build Fly
Jessica Chean, Wei-Han Chen, Geoffrey DuBridge,
Khizar Karwa, Kevin Kho, Patrick Lavaveshkul, John
Parcell, Ruel Rabbon, Jacqueline Thomas, Giuseppe
Venneri
Mentor: Robert Liebeck
Design Build Fly is a team engineering project where students work to design, build, and fly a remote control (RC)
aircraft capable of completing three missions set by the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
(AIAA). The three missions required the plane to complete
a speed mission, a simulated passenger flight, and a one
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hundred meter climb in which water must be released
from the aircraft. Analysis of the score showed that weight
was the most important component that affected the
score. The plane was designed to be as light as possible
while also being capable of completing all three missions.
A sizing program was created in MATLAB to determine
the dimensions of the plane while the team also tested
numerous methods for manufacturing components of the
plane. Sizing, building, and testing the plane followed a
schedule set by the team to make progress through different prototypes that underwent testing and optimization
before the final competition plane was made. The team
competed with 68 teams from other colleges and universities from around the world and finished in second place.
UC Irvine Chem-E-Car: Chemically-Powered Model
Car
Thomas Abraham, Mike Beto, Richard Catura, Tommy
Chau, Chau Diep, Sunil Khatri, Nina Naraghi, Nina
NaraghiArani, Uyen Nguyen, Tiffany Tu, Eriberto
Vargas, Elmer Wei, Bernice Wu, Yanwen Wu
Mentor: Hung Nguyen
The goal of the project is to design and construct a model
car that can move 50 to 100 feet while carrying a load containing 0 to 500 mL of water. The Chem-E-Car is powered
by a modified Aluminum- Air battery. The electrodes used
are aluminum and copper sheets, which are placed in a
plastic battery containment box filled with 0.1 M Potassium Hydroxide. Voltage is produced by the movement of
electrons between two electrodes of aluminum and copper
sheets. In the containment box, there are a total of 10
units; each unit contains 15 pieces of copper and 15 pieces
of aluminum. In a single unit, the pieces are arranged in
parallel, while all the units are arranged in series. The 10unit configuration produces approximately 11 volts and 16
mAmp, which is used to power a small Lego motor. The
chassis of the car is made with steel rod axles with custom
threads used to mount hobby car wheels while the platform of the chassis is made of plastic. The car is stopped
by a vitamin C clock reaction. The solution will turn dark
with time, blocking off a LED light source to a photoresistor, which will minimize the current from the battery. A
transistor switch cuts off current to a relay, which then
cuts off power to the motor. The UCI Chem-E-Car competed in the AIChE Western Regional Student Conference
at University of Nevada, Reno.
Bare Bones Dance Theater
Allyson Blackstone, Kimberly Bridgewater, Anne Carr,
Ashley Crocket, Katy Felsinger, Rachel Fowler, Natalie
Johnson, Emily Johnston-O’Neill, Chelsea Kern,
Jaqueline Lenhard, Rebecca Levy, Samantha Matsumoto,
Renae Pryjmak, Amy Quanbeck
Mentor: Jodie Gates
Bare Bones Dance Theater is a student-run, non-profit
organization that encourages and supports meeting of artistic minds. Through the production of an annual dance
concert, the undergraduate dancers, choreographers, production designers, and the larger community collaborate to
produce a professional, theatrical experience. Bare Bones
Dance Theater welcomes undergraduates from all over the
UCI campus to participate and share their creative abilities.
This year was our 25th year and was a success! An estimated 400 people attended our show March 15–17. In addition to our annual show, we organized a movie night,
bake sale, and one of our most popular events, Unplugged. This works-in-progress show brought together
performers to show their work in an open forum and receive feedback during question and answer sessions. Performers from peer institutions such as Cal State Long
Beach, Pomona College, and Scripps were a part of this
exciting event. We also brought in renowned modern
dancer Danielle Agami from Israel to teach workshops
attended by UCI dance students, along with students from
the above mentioned institutions. This inclusive format
fostered a community atmosphere with surrounding
schools and allowed participants to network with their fellow performers. The Bare Bones committee hosted a preopening performance on March 13 that was reserved specifically for high school students from Orange, Santa Ana,
Anaheim and other neighboring schools. This initiative
worked toward our goal of introducing the community to
the artistic work of UCI students, but also supported the
University’s interest in community interaction and further
established dance as a communicative art form.
Assisted Actions Fishing Pole
Kristine Bonifacio, Alexander Chu, Natasha Felsinger,
Emma Gallaraza, Stephanie Gonzales, Ashlee Johnson,
Joshua Johnson, Meghan Knight, Jichi (Max) Mao,
Walter Morales, Amanda Ngo, Clara Nguyen, Eric
Nguyen, Kevin Nguyen, Taaj Raasikh, Reaz Rahman,
Maggie Young
Mentor: Elliot Botvinick
By cross-integrating engineering disciplines the team has
designed a fishing pole which would equip a quadriplegic
incomplete class C subject with a recreational and physically therapeutic hobby while also furthering rehabilitation
of mind and body. Not only is the design relevant to multiple engineering concepts, it also has a direct affect on the
lives of each subject. A strong analysis of motion through
complex gear trains, pulleys, spring theory, and energy are
evident in the design. Through testing and gearing design
we have been able to determine that our complex gear design will give more torque than originally anticipated.
These results widen our projected outcome by allow farther casting and the ability to reel in heavier fish than initially calculated. This in return would mean the subject
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would be able to deep sea fish. This is in contrast to the
lake fishing for which the system was originally designed.
UCI Etude Ensemble: UCI/UCSB Dance Exchange
Sarah Bauer, Allyson Blackstone, Brittney Brewer,
Britney Brown, Marissa Brown, Alex Dreschke, Alec
Guthrie, Chris Johnson, David Lee, Jaqueline Lenhard,
Rebecca Levy, Samantha Matsumoto, Amy Quanbeck,
Brittany Steacy, Mason Trueblood, Knia Ward, Karen
Wing, Andrea Yorita, Jeremy Zapanta
Mentor: Donald McKayle
The goal of the Dance Exchange is to foster and promote
creative, artistic and academic dialogue between emerging
and imminent university dancers. In its eighth year, the
Dance Exchange will reunite the UCI Etude Ensemble
with the UCSB Dance Company for another exciting collaboration in dance. The two-day format (Spring 2012) of
the Dance Exchange will allow each company to experience the educational and artistic environment of the other.
The Etude Ensemble will host the UCSB dancers during
their day-long visit to our campus. As the program has
developed, both companies have been able to share a
deepening of their craft both artistically and academically;
highlights of the program include technique classes, an
evening performance showcasing both companies’ unique
repertories and an open question and answer session for
the audience with the companies. The work during the day
allows us to experience a different modern class and the
opportunity to be in class with new students. The performance will feature a new work and repertory choreographed by Professor Donald McKayle as well as works by
undergraduate choreographers within the Ensemble. This
will also provide the Ensemble with another opportunity
to showcase Professor Donald McKayle’s recently premiered work, “Continents of Humanity.” The Etude Ensemble will have an opportunity to experience company
life by traveling to UCSB to complete the second leg of the
exchange. The Dance Exchange, ultimately, will allow both
students and educators a larger perspective on the validity
of dance as a worthwhile academic pursuit in a university
setting.
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