Each panel session features 3-4 student presentations (detailed below). Attendees are asked to stay for the whole session and not to walk in and out during or between student presentations out of respect for the presenters.

Panel Session 1: 8:30am - 9:45am

  • Session 1A: Genocide & Terror - Room A147
  • Session 1B: Education - Academic Pit
  • Session 1C: Computer Science & Modeling - Room A151
  • Session 1D: Mind & Body - Room A155
  • Session 1E: Infectious Diseases - Room A113
  • Session 1F: Cancer I - Room A115
  • Session 1G: Cancer II - Room A117
  • Session 1I: Chemistry & Physics - Room B101
  • Session 1J: Earth & Space - Room B108
  • Session 1K: STEM Research [CLOSED SESSION] - A119
Schedule

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2017
Friday, April 28th
8:30 AM

Session 1A: Coding the Soviet Great Terror

Rain Bravo '18, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Greg Johnson '17, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Ari Lisitza '18, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A147

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

The Simulating the Soviet Great Terror project is aimed at designing a simulation game in which players take command of characters of varying social and political groups in Russia during the Soviet political purges of 1934 to 1938. This project involves investigating the capacity and limitations of C programming language for turning abstract concepts into concrete code. Currently, the simulation ... Read More

Session 1A: Simulating the Soviet Great Terror

Cameron Birtcher '18, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Daniel Curtis '17, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Richard Osmund '17, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A147

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

The Simulating the Soviet Great Terror project focuses on designing a simulation game centered around the Soviet political purges from 1934 to 1938, and investigating the game’s use as an educational tool to enrich Presenters’ understanding of the purges. The simulation tests the revisionist argument about the social, economic, and political realities that existed in the Soviet Union during the ... Read More

Session 1A: The Origins of Modern Genocide: the Armenian Genocide, Russian Jewish Pogroms, and the Holocaust

Aurora Harkleroad '18, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Gary Yang, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A147

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Over the 20th century, the nature of genocide had become highly systematic and ideologically motivated, setting modern genocide apart from the rest of history. This year marks the 100th anniversary since the Armenian Genocide ended, and as we approach the 100 year marks of modern genocide: reflection is necessary. To ensure the future safety of people everywhere, we must analyze ... Read More

Session 1B: A Fusion of Computer Science Education with Law and Biology

Sagar Nattuvetty, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Akash Palani, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Academic Pit

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Increasing diversity in the booming field of computer science has long been a goal of educators. At Harvey Mudd College, interdisciplinary courses combining computer science and biology had a level of success. The goal of the project conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago was to create two new classes taught in the 2016-2017 school year, one Computer Science ... Read More

Session 1B: An Exploration of the Factors that Motivate Gifted and Talented Students from Underrepresented Populations to Engage in STEM

Isa Baldwin Zurek, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Amy Wang, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Takudzwa George, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Robert Lou, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Clinton Oshipitan, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Academic Pit

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

The purpose of this study is to examine rural Presenters at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy to identify their motivation to engage in STEM education. Dr. Adrienne Coleman, the Multicultural Education Specialist at IMSA, was the primacy researcher, along with five IMSA Presenters, who conducted a qualitative study. According to research, rural Presenters are less likely to attend selective ... Read More

Session 1B: Automated Modeling of Item Difficulty on Critical Reading Tests

Rebecca Mathew '18, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Academic Pit

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Previous studies show that several factors may affect the difficulty of reading comprehension questions, often related to their semantic or syntactic properties. However, the accurate prediction of item difficulty is still a challenge for the testing community. With more accurate models, test developers can produce items more efficiently, which will reduce costs, improve accuracy of skills measurement, and free up ... Read More

Session 1B: How Students Adjust: Analyzing the Accuracy of the W-Curve Theory

Zach Ungerleider, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Aira Peregrino, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Larry Donahue, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Academic Pit

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Session 1C: A Computational Graph-Theory Approach to Analyzing the Spread of Epidemics

Krishi Korrapati, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Sushil Upadhyayula, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A151

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

This investigation utilized both the SIR (Susceptible, Infected, and Recovered) and SI models to determine the progression of various diseases within blocks of a population. The constraints for experiment, chosen comprehensively as possible considering practicality were gender, age, and location (degrees of rural and urban both in the representative countries of each stage of the demographic transition). The experimenters modeled ... Read More

Session 1C: A Distributed Greedy Auction Algorithm to Mitigate Public Mass Shootings

Irena Gao, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A151

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

We introduce a distributed, greedy auction algorithm for an Internet of Things decision support system to evacuate civilians during public internal mass shootings. The public building environment is abstracted into a network of doors and rooms. During the emergency, door agents bid against neighboring doors using a safety score that considers crowd congestion, number of exit doors, and proximity to ... Read More

Session 1C: Development of an Individual-Based Model for Simulation of the Spread of Infectious Diseases within Communities

Chris Chang, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Esther Mathew, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Akhila Vuppalapati, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Ananya Yammunuru, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A151

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Characterizing and modeling the spread of infection in an outbreak is often important in determining how the outbreak is to be stopped. Many different factors must be considered, including vaccination, immunity, quarantine conditions, and rate of spread, however, all of these models rely on people randomly traveling from one community to another. We created a routine-based environment to model the ... Read More

Session 1C: The Spread of Zika Virus using Mathematical Modeling and Epidemiology

Mounisha Kovour, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Igor Zhuravlov, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A151

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

The Zika Virus has been affecting people of three different age groups in over 40 different nations. In 2016 the outbreak affected a very wide population and in July, 93 million people were a risk of infection of the virus in Latin America and South America. Mathematics can be used to model the spread of the Zika virus by utilizing ... Read More

Session 1D: Embodied Cognition: An Invalidation of the Connection between Mind and Body

Alexis Giff, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A155

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

One of modern neuroscience’s most intriguing ideas is that cognition is embodied. Would saying or even thinking of words that correspond to actions cause activation in the regions of the brain that would normally be activated when physically performing the same actions? This study investigates whether brain activity after listening to a hearing-related noun and subsequently saying a hearing-related verb ... Read More

Session 1D: Finding Memory Retrieval Pathways in Epileptic Patients Using Depth Electrodes

Sruti Mohan, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A155

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Epilepsy is a neurological condition of recurrent seizures as caused by changes in the structure of the brain, brain infection or disease, stroke, or genetic reasons. This study focuses on the determining areas of the brain that are active during memory retrieval, as seen through a long term memory test used on epileptic patient. By using data from a language ... Read More

Session 1D: Parental Responsiveness to Typically-Developing Children and Children with Early Brain Injury

Leisha Goel, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A155

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

We report on the progress of an ongoing study on the effect of parental responsiveness, socioeconomic status (SES), and early brain injury on language development in preschool children. Parental responsiveness has been shown to influence language development in children, but the effect of parental responsiveness in atypically developing has not been researched. Typically-developing children and children with early unilateral brain ... Read More

Session 1D: Sleep Hygiene Education in the Work Place

Sofia Rhode, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A155

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

About 50 million Americans do not get adequate sleep, leading to dangerous and unproductive conditions in workplace. Much of this sleep deprivation is a result of poor sleep hygiene, or routine sleep habits and environment. The purpose of this study is to gauge the success of a Sleep Hygiene Educational Module on employees of the OSF Saint Francis Medical Center ... Read More

Session 1E: Examining Cytochrome P450 Reductase as a Drug Target against Human Schistosomiasis

Meghana Kamineni, Illinois Math and Science Academy
Katrina Kuhn, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Grace Ryan, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A113

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Schistosomiasis is a debilitating waterborne disease which affects 260 million people annually in poverty-stricken regions in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. Three species of worm transmit schistosomiasis in its larval stage through unsanitary water conditions. Only one drug, praziquantel, exists to combat schistosomiasis, but due to the disease’s prevalence, drug resistance is expected to develop soon. One protein that ... Read More

Session 1E: Exploring Whether the RID Effector Domain in the MARTX Toxin of Vibrio cholerae Is Sufficient to Downregulate the ERK Pathway

Kasey Cervantes, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A113

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Vibrio cholerae is a gram negative bacterium that is spread through the fecal-oral route that can cause cholera when infected. It is commonly found in third world countries in contaminated water supplies. This study specifically looks into the Rho-Inactivation Domain (RID) effector domain found in the Multifunctional Autoprocessing Repeats-In-Toxin (MARTX) toxin found inside of the El Tor strain of this ... Read More

Session 1E: Role of Pyocyanin, a Secreted Virulence Factor of Pseudomonas aeurignosa, in Respiratory Epithelial Cell Functions

Pranav Narayanan, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Maddi Swanagan, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A113

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a rod-shaped gram negative bacterium that is associated with lung infection of humans with compromised host-defense such as cystic fibrosis. PA secretes proteins, lipopolysaccharides and virulence factors such as pyocyanin (PCN) that modulate host cell signal transduction and immune responses. PCN mediates its cellular effects via reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in host cells. However, molecular ... Read More

Session 1E: The Portal Protein in Herpes Simplex Virus 1

Radeesha Jayewickreme, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A113

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Herpes viruses, including herpes symplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), are human pathogens of a significant disease burden within the population. They are large, double-stranded DNA viruses with virions comprised of four layers: envelope, tegument, capsid, and viral DNA. The herpesvirus capsid dynamically interacts with viral and cellular proteins during multiple steps of the infectious cycle. The capsid selfassembles from six ... Read More

Session 1F: Characterization of Beta Arrestin Induced CXCR4 Internalization after Treatment with Novel Small Molecule Ligands

Yuri Oh, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A115

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Chemokines are traditionally known for their roles in the inflammatory response although we now understand that they are also important in a wide variety of physiological and developmental processes A particular chemokine named stromal derived factor 1 (SDF-1) or CXCL12 and its cognate receptor CXCR4 plays a role in a number of biological processes such as embryonic development, stem cell ... Read More

Session 1F: Examining Change in Cancer Phenotypes by Mutating MLL Using CRISPR/Cas 9 System

Goutam Gutta, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Daniel Mwangi, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Shyam Sai, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A115

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Cancer remains a major cause of death around the world despite the significant progress made through research in targeted therapies and understanding of the biology of cancer. Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene is linked to various cancers but is especially known for causing a variety of childhood leukemias. Also known as KMT2A, MLL is a chromatin modifier that modifies the ... Read More

Session 1F: Modeling CHARGE Syndrome in Human Fibroblast Cells via CRISPR/Cas9

Neil Wary, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A115

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Mutations in chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 7 (CHD7) gene located in human chromosome 8 have been linked to “CHARGE” syndrome, a cluster of disease seen in a number children, for which there is no pharmacotherapy. As there is no cellular or animal model system to study the function of CHD7, the goal of this investigation is to mimic CHARGE ... Read More

Session 1F: The Role of Hedgehog/ GLI in T-cell Lymphoma

Naomi Nakajima, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A115

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

This experiment was performed to determine the role of the Hedgehog (HH) signalling pathway and transcription factors GLI, specifically GLI 1, 2, and 3, in T-cell lymphoma. Using this knowledge we determined which drugs- both alone and in combination- were most effective as therapies. Lymphoma is an aggressive form of cancer that occurs after the abnormal growth of white blood ... Read More

Session 1G: Foxi3 Ablation Retards Bone Derived Prostate Cancer Cell Growth

Dawn Triche, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A117

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Prostate cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the prostate gland and studies have shown that 100% of men that die from prostate cancer have bone involvement. Of the many cells resident in the bone, myeloid cells secrete various soluble factors that contribute to the high turnover rate of cells and molecular processes of bone development. Of particular interest, ... Read More

Session 1G: PI5P: Preparation of a PMB Inositol Ring

Alexander Yow, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A117

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

The scarce naturally occurring phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PIP) Phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate (PI5P) has been found in abnormally high concentrations in lung cancer cells. Due to its instability, PI5P is the only species of PIPs not to have been synthesized before. This research is aimed at synthesizing PI5P in sufficient quantities to facilitate studies on the role of PI5P in the rate of transcription ... Read More

Session 1G: Targeting MLL Gene Expression using CRISPR/Cas9 to Reverse the Phenotypes of Cancer

Sonya Gupta, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Emily Hawker, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Shruthi Sundar, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A117

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Every year, around 12.7 million people around the world are diagnosed with cancer. The Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene, a global chromatin modulator, was first identified in acute aggressive forms of childhood lekukemias. MLL normally regulates gene expression through histone methylation, but when mutated its downstream targets may change, causing excessive replication, exacerbated cell growth, and the formation of cancer. ... Read More

Session 1G: The Effect of MBEH and 4-TBP on Nevomelanocyte Viability and Pigmentation

Pranesh Ravichandran, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A117

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Congenital nevi are pigmented moles on the skin that can develop into melanoma, a malignant type of skin cancer. Minimally invasive treatment is needed to replace surgery in the case of pervasive congenital nevi. It was proposed that tyrosine analogs can be used to treat nevi and prevent cancer formation. Specifically, monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone (MBEH) has been used to ... Read More

Session 1I: Electrochemical Detection of Alpha-Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone Using Flow Injection Analysis with Amperometric Detection

Rebecca Lisk, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room B101

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

The detection of pharmaceutical compounds, biomolecules, and chemicals plays a critical role in medical care, drug development, and environmental testing. In this study, the analytical performances of two novel materials, boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond (BDD) and nitrogen-incorporated tetrahedral amorphous (ta-C:N) carbon, were compared using flow injection analysis with amperometric detection. These electrodes offer potential improvements in the detection figures of merit ... Read More

Session 1I: Examining Contact Line Pinning and the Coffee-Ring Effect

Albert Lu, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room B101

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

When a drop of coffee dries on a solid surface, it leaves a dense, ring-like deposit along the perimeter. Coffee which is initially distributed throughout the drop ends up concentrated at the edge. There already exist theoretical explanations for this effect but they rely on the contact line of the drop remaining fixed (pinning) and the contact angle decreasing while ... Read More

Session 1I: How Chemical Speciation of Sn and Zn Control Their Biouptake by Microorganisms through Adsorption of Zinc on Abrasives

Ashritha Karuturi, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room B101

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

(Abstract private.)

Session 1I: Synthesizing Conjugated Polymers that Can Better Detect Nitroaromatic Compounds

Theodora Khan, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Corona Tsai, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room B101

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Conjugated polymers are organic macromolecules containing alternating double and single bonds. In recent years, conjugated polymers have attracted considerable attention as chemosensory devices to detect nitroaromatic compounds which are commonly found in explosives. The goal of our research is to synthesize a conjugated polymer that will better detect nitroaromatic compounds by improving the efficiency in the polymer's detection abilities. We ... Read More

Session 1J: Designing an Affordable Mobile Tracking System for Communication with a Medium Earth Orbit Satellite

Harrison Carcione, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Charles Kuch, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Soomin Park, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Peijing Xu, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room B108

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

We designed a tracking system to be used in maritime mobile satellite communications. Position is updated each second using a GPS antenna, and the initial design used a magnetometer for heading determination. However, when the mobile apparatus with the sensors was tested on a track, it was found that disturbances in the magnetic field caused inaccuracies of more than 30 ... Read More

Session 1J: Exploring Differential Methods for Determining Heading on a Moving Object

Joseph Hutter, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Advai Podduturi, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Gina Jiang, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room B108

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

To maintain the orientation of an antenna on a moving object, particularly a boat, the instantaneous heading of the object must be known. With a focus on simplicity and robustness, we implemented a solution involving several GPS modules at set distances. We designed a method for heading determination using a least-squares model on a regular N-gon. Using a computer-simulated model, ... Read More

Session 1J: Study of the Magnetosphere of Earth

Nihil Madugula, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room B108

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

We investigate a ten-hour period of data from the GEOTAIL spacecraft with the hope of understanding the portion of the Earth’s magnetotail that the spacecraft encountered on September 17, 1993. By studying the magnetic field measurements (magnitude and components), along with electron flux from other instruments on the spacecraft, we speculate about the time periods that GEOTAIL was in particular ... Read More

Session 1J: Tracking Medium Earth Orbit Satellites on Mobile Apparatus using Differential GPS Systems

Ryan Johnson, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
John Lin, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room B108

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

The company Intelligent Designs LLC is the owner of a satellite that orbits the Earth approximately four times a day. This satellite, known as the Omnispace F2 satellite (formerly known as the ICOF2 satellite), is a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite that is situated in an orbit which is at a 45º incline with respect to the equator and 10,500 ... Read More

Session 1K: Investigating the Impact of Additional Interferometers on Parameter Estimation in Gravitational-Wave Analysis

William Tong, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A119

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

A phenomenon that stands on the brink of revolutionizing our understanding of the cosmos, gravitational waves are disturbances in space-time, propagating from massive binary systems at the speed of light. Transparent to matter particulates and other obstacles that would normally hinder traditional, light-based observatories, gravitational waves hold the potential to provide clear, undistorted data on everything from the Big Bang ... Read More

Session 1K: LIGO Parameter Estimation in 2018: The Effects of New Detectors and Better Sensitivity on Determining the Parameters of GW150914

Andrew Kim, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A119

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Detecting gravitational waves has become a reality with GW150914 and will soon become a regular occurrence. A new detector is currently being built in Japan called KAGRA and INDIGO in India has been approved. A gravitational wave detector in Pisa, Italy, called VIRGO, will go online starting January 2017 and the current LIGO detectors in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana ... Read More

Session 1K: Mitochondrial DNA Oxidative Damage May Predict Cancer Risk: The Normative Aging Study

Lewis Oh, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Abinaya Ramakrishnan, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A119

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Oxidative stress (OS) in response to intra- and extracellular environmental stress can induce carcinogenic mechanisms such as DNA damage and defective DNA repair. 8-hydroxy- 2’deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), an oxidized nucleoside of DNA, is a marker of oxidative stress and has previously been measured in tissue samples only after cancer diagnosis. In this study, we examined the prospective and retrospective association between ... Read More

Session 1K: Suppressor Identification of Disease Resistant Mutant acd6-1

Vandini Agrawal, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Room A119

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

In order to study the plant defense signaling pathways, mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana were examined for phenotype and levels of salicylic acid (SA) in comparison to gain-of-function mutant acd6-1, which exhibits high disease resistance, dwarfism, and high SA levels. For T-series transformed suppressor mutants, diameter and height were measured in centimeters. Gene expression was also predicted using bioinformatics. T-105 and ... Read More