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  Ivermectin Activates Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons to Enhance Dopamine Release

  Tyler Love, Jordan Yorgason, Hillary Wadsworth, Alicia Warnecke, Joshua Barlow, Emma Steimle, Joakim Ronström, Pacen Williams, Christopher Galbraith, Jared Baldridge, Michael Jakowec, and Daryl Davies

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

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

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

  • acetylcholine receptors

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

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  The Genome of Huauzontle (Chenopodium berlandieri), a North American Relative of Quinoa

  Ashley K. Marcheschi, Jeff Maughan, Peter J. Maughan, David E. Jarvis, Kate E. Jaggi, and Eric N. Jellen

  Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a popular Andean seed crop that has a reduced ability to thrive outside of its native range. A related member of the Allotetraploid Goosefoot Complex (ATGC), pitseed goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri), is a minimally invasive North American weed that is able to survive in climates and environments that are restrictive to quinoa growth. C. berlandieri has been independently domesticated at least three times, including in Mesoamerica as the immature panicle vegetable ‘huauzontle.’ To assess the capacity of C. berlandieri as a genetic resource for improvement of C. quinoa, we sequenced the whole genome of a huauzontle accession from Puebla, México.

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  Understanding the Molecular Phenotype of Obesity-Associated Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma in the Context of the Obesity Paradox

  Elisa McRae, Joseph Wride, Carter Norton, Matthew Tufts, Connor Peterson, Badí Quinteros, Olivia Rodriguez, and Alejandro Sanchez

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

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  Fish Tattoos: The Evolutionary Cost of Black Spot Disease

  Eric J. Morris and Jerry B. Johnson

  QUESTION

  Does Black Spot Disease increase the fitness of male fishes?

  HYPOTHESIS

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

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  Achievement Goals and Burnout in Pre-Health Profession Undergraduate Students

  Hunter Nelson and Jamie Jensen

  Oral Presentation Honorable

  Relevant Background

  • STEM majors are saturated with Pre-health students

  • There is high demand for academic excellence and high competition

  • Medical school programs (Dyrbye, 2016) and health careers (Shanafelt et al., 2022) show a high rate of burnout

  • Symptoms of burnout are mental fatigue, less selfsatisfaction, and depression (Koutsimani, 2021).

  • Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) may predict burnout (Nadon et al., 2020).

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  Reproduce or live longer?: A life history analysis of black bears in a semiarid environment

  Brenden M. Orocu, Cambria Armstrong, Janene Auger, Hal L. Black, Randy T. Larsen, Brock R. McMillan, and Mark C. Belk

  In population demographics, each population has an age stage vital rate (fecundity and survival) in its life history that has the greatest influence on the asymptotic population growth rate, λ.

  American black bears (Ursus americanus) are found throughout North America. Other studies on population demographics have focused on populations in higher resource availability areas but none in semiarid environments where resource scarcity is a result of the variable climate.

  Objective

  Our objective was to determine if factors influencing population dynamics of black bears in semi-arid environments were similar to factors affecting population dynamics in mesic environments where most of our current understanding has been derived.

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  Microbial Thiamine and Riboflavin Influence Drosophila Melanogaster Dietary Preference for Yeast

  Dean B. Peterson and John M. Chaston

  Naturally prefer a yeast restricted diet over a full yeast diet

  • Restricted – 50g yeast and 100g glucose (50g Y:100g G)
  • Full – 100g yeast and 100g glucose per (100g Y:100g G)
  • Microbes affect this dietary preference for yeast (DPY) through an unknown mechanism
  • Common microbes studied with flies are acetic acid bacteria (AAB) and lactic acid bacteria (LAB)

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  Staying Hydrated: A Comparative Analysis of Humectants in Human Tissue

  Rachel Prince, Jason Adams, and Joseph Monsen

  3rd Place Poster Design

  Humectants are an important class of compounds that attract and retain water within a cell. When mixed with water to create wetting solutions, humectants can prevent desiccation of cadaveric specimens1. Recognizing a relative scarcity of comparative studies analyzing the effects of various wetting solutions on post-preservation cadaveric maintenance, we utilized wet-dry analysis in order to compare the effects of four common humectants on water retention in human cadaveric tissue including brain, cardiac muscle, liver, lung, skeletal muscle, and skin. We created a concentration gradient for each humectant to identify the optimal concentrations of each compound for water retention, after which we compared water retention in tissue at the optimal concentrations of each humectant under standardized conditions. Through this simple assay, we show that all types of cadaveric tissues submerged in concentrations of 13-15% glycerol retained the most moisture.

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  Chasing the Rainbow: Systematics of New Guinean Rainbow Skinks

  Taylor Probst and Alison Whiting

  Oral Presentation Honorable Mention

  • Carlia are known as the “Rainbow skinks” due to their iridescent scales (see Figure 1).

  • Carlia are found across Oceania (see figure 2), however only relationships among the Australian species are known.

  • New Guinean Carlia are divided into three species groups based on size, distribution, and morphology.

  • Species within the Carlia fusca complex have primarily been delineated based on regional color patterns (see Figure 4).

  • New Guinea is known for extreme lizard diversity, specifically within skinks.

  • Research has shown that many lizard groups underwent a rapid diversification within New Guinea, and there are many undiscovered species.

  • We seek to produce the first ever molecular phylogeny of the rainbow skinks from Papua New

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  Leucine Lock: A Diagnostic Tool to Revolutionize Rapid Antigen Testing

  Kaitlyn Robinson, Jonathon Hill, Benjamin Johnson, and Matt Goff

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

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

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

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  ZMP-Induced Activation of AMPK Enhances Accumbal Dopamine Function

  Isabella Roque, Jordan Yorgason, Rachel Campbell, Serin Baker, Jared McFarlane, Oliver Saunders, and David Thomson

  Oral Presentation Honorable Mention

  • Dopamine terminal function is associated with motivation

  • Fasting activates AMPK, a cellular sensor that measures intracellular AMP relative to ATP

  • AMPK activation is a target of interest for age related cognitive decline, prevention of muscle wasting, etc.

  • ZMP is an endogenous nucleotide AMP mimetic that activates AMPK

  • The present study examined the novel precursor ZMP compound called P39 using an ex vivo mouse model

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  Cold and Traffic Tolerance of Hybrid Bermudagrass and Kentucky Bluegrass in a Cool Season, Arid Climate

  Caden J. Seely, H. Burgin, N. Hansen, G. Wear, and Bryan G. Hopkins

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

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

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  Effects of Methamphetamine on Microglia Through Reactive Oxygen Species

  Chase Seiter, Jordan Yorgason, Nathan Sheets, James Blood, Lydia Hawley, Erin Taylor, Eliza White, Hillary Wadsworth, and Jason Hansen

  ▪ Dopamine release in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) underlies motivational behavior for methamphetamine (METH) reward.

  ▪ ATP is a chemoattractant to microglia and is METH on ATP release and clearance are unknown.

  ▪ Furthermore, METH is known to produce reactive dopamine terminal function, microglia morphology and METH interactions are unknown.

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  Neural Epigenetic Changes in Response to Morphine: A Peek into the Science of Addiction

  Timothy Smartt, Jeffrey Edwards, and Addison Smartt

  Introduction

  Since the 1990's, the United States has experienced a crisis of opioid addiction and overdose. The effects of opioids on the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the reward center of the brain, are a primary cause of opioid dependence.

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  Invasive Phragmites Effect on Utah Wetlands Soil Composition

  Cecilia Steffen, Rachel Wood, and Madison L. Brown

  Introduction

  • Invasive Phragmites australis (referred to as Phragmites), invaded Utah wetlands in the 1980's. Efforts have been made since then to remove Phragmites through various treatments.

  • Phragmites outcompetes other wetland plants, causing it to be the dominant species. This is called a monoculture.

  • Utah's wetlands are important for many species migrations, filtration, and nutrient cycling.

  • How do Phragmites treatments effect soil nutrients and moisture? How do untreated Phragmites wetlands compare to native dominant wetlands?

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  Understanding Refractory Status Epilepticus with Novel HD-MEA Technology

  Isaac Stubbs, Ryley Parrish, Melissa Blotter, Max Holmes, and Skyler Russell

  3rd Place Oral Presentation

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

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  Cell Motion and Multicellular Organization: A Mathematical Model for pattern formation in the Dictyostelium discoideum slug

  Henry Tullis, Emily Evans, and John Dallon

  Understanding multicellular behavior is key to biology and medicine

  • Embryonic development requires coordinated cell motion, differentiation
  • Wound healing also relies on emergent multicellular processes
  • Dictyostelium discoideum (Dd) has been identified as a model organism for biomedical research, partly because it is a simple example of multicellularity
  • Understanding Dd can improve, inform approaches to these tricky problems

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  Lake Bonneville's Legacy: Genetic Drift and Diversity Loss in Snake Range Bonneville Cutthroat Trout

  Tanner Van Orden, Dennis Shiozawa, Peter Searle, Ana Kokkonen, Jonathan Reynolds, and R. Paul Evans

  • Many Bonneville Basin streams have been isolated for 18,000-plus years (Behnke 1976).
  • Bonneville cutthroat trout in small streams may have been experiencing genetic drift since the desiccation of Lake Bonneville.
  • Small streams in the west desert of Utah and Nevada are at a high risk of genetic drift and diversity loss due to their small size

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  Ultrasound Imaging of Abductor Hallucis Volume Demonstrated by Strong Agreement with MRI

  Jacob Willes and Aaron W. Johnson

  Due to the complexity of assessing the individual strength and function of certain deep small muscles within the body such intrinsic foot muscles, ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may provide a means to appropriately evaluate these muscles. Assessing foot muscles using US and MRI provides a unique and important model to compare muscle volume. Since intrinsic foot muscles are crucial for function and mobility while influencing quality of life, being able to accurately measure foot muscle volume is important. For example, the tracking of atrophy or hypertrophy due to disease or therapeutic intervention. While MRI is often considered to be the reference standard of medical imaging, US provides a cost effective, rapid and dynamic way of assessing muscle size and function. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and intratester reliability of US imaging in assessing abductor hallucis (ABDH) muscle volume compared to MRI.

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  Bird and Small Mammal Preference for Water Developments

  Lizzie Wilson and Randy Larsen

   Different types of water developments nicknamed “guzzlers” have been installed in many different arid and semi-arid environments to provide water resources to game species in the state of Utah.

   Upland game guzzlers are usually covered by a sheet of metal and are used to target species like chukar partridge and quail (Figure 1).

   Big game guzzlers are open pools of water that are used to target species like mule deer and desert big horn sheep (Figure 2).  Most visitations to guzzlers are by native species not targeted by the guzzlers or wildlife management efforts (3).

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  Targeting HSP90: A Novel Approach to Combat Synovial Sarcomas

  Peyton Worley, Jared Barrott, Matt Kirkham, and Drake Heithoff

  Synovial sarcomas are rare muscle cancers that have very few targeted therapies. HSP90 is a protein upregulated in this form of cancer and many others. A screening of this cancer was done in vitro, using FDA-approved drugs, showing that HSP90 could be a promising treatment option. A novel HSP90 inhibitor was applied to human and mouse synovial sarcoma cell lines and was analyzed after receiving a drug treatment for HSP90.