id authorlist Faculty Supervisor(s) abstract
UF1 Stephen Proctor, Christopher Lupton, Lisa Ott Managing glycerol as a waste product of biodiesel fuel production Biodiesel fuel, used as a renewable supplement or replacement for petroleum diesel fuel, generates 10% by volume of co-product glycerol during production. Since biodiesel fuel production neared 3 billion gallons in the US in the last measured year, this means nearly 300 million gallons of glycerol was also generated. One goal of our work is utilizing the glycerol generated as a co-product from biodiesel production to generate a useful, value-added product for biodiesel manufacturers. To this end, we have worked to develop a process for transforming co-product glycerol into deep eutectic solvents (DESs). DESs are an exciting class of non-volatile, reusable, biodegradable solvents made from combining biodiesel co-product glycerol with a simple, inexpensive, readily available salt. We have successfully prepared several suites of DESs using this method. Another goal of this work is to employ these DESs in the organic chemistry teaching laboratories at Chico State and across the California State University system. Using DESs in the teaching labs has a variety of benefits: it can reduce the cost of solvent acquisition and disposal, it can reduce chemical waste from our laboratories, it can reduce student exposure to volatile solvents, and it can teach undergraduate students about the principles of green chemistry. Herein, we describe the development of organic chemistry teaching labs using DESs prepared with biodiesel co-product glycerol. Labs for both non-majors organic chemistry and majors-level organic chemistry were pursued and developed.
UF1 Tiffani Lamas, Lauren Paciulla, Alex Grimm, Drew Fetzer, Shruti Aggarwal, Lauren Housley Investigating cytokine secretion in the breast cancer microenvironment and the effects of treatment with a broccoli phytochemical Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 12% to 24% of breast cancer cases and is characterized by high proliferation and invasion rates. Tumor cells and cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME), e.g., tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), interact through signaling (e.g., cytokines) to promote cancer progression. Sulforaphane (SFN) is an isothiocyanate derived from broccoli that has been shown to hinder TNBC progression. SFN reduced proliferation in breast cancer cells and altered cytokine signaling between breast cancer cells and fat cells in the TME. In our lab, SFN reduced proliferation of TNBC cells that were grown with macrophages. However, mechanisms underlying SFN’s effects in a multicellular context remain unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of SFN treatment on cytokine secretion of TNBC cells grown in the presence of TAM secretions. TAMs and TNBC cells were cocultured for 24 and 48 hours in transwell plates. As a control, each cell type was grown in single culture and underwent the same treatment protocols as cocultured cells. Prior to culturing, cells were treated with SFN (15 μM), vehicle control (DMSO), or no treatment. Media was collected at 24- and 48-hour time points and stored at -80°C. Cytokine levels in media were measured at UC Davis Medical Center via multiplex ELISA (Bio-Rad). Preliminary analysis revealed changes in cytokines following coculture and treatment with SFN. Analysis will continue to investigate the effects of coculture, SFN treatment, and correlations among cytokines secreted and cancer cell behaviors.
UF1 Gabrielle Wyatt, Sandrine Matiasek Phytoaccumulation at the Butte College Bioswale: Assessment of heavy metal translocation in California wetland plants. Modern urban infrastructure is dominated by impervious surfaces that reduce rainwater infiltration and generate urban stormwater runoff. Stormwater runoff mobilizes pollutants, including heavy metals, that have been deposited between rain events. Vegetated bioswales are one solution for the bioremediation of urban stormwater runoff. Plants within bioswales are capable of bioaccumulating heavy metals at levels higher than required for biological processes. Plant bioaccumulation in roots, termed phytostabilization, aids in preventing heavy metals from entering the watershed. Translocation of heavy metals from roots to shoots can be quantified using the translocation factor(TF). Plants with high translocation factors can be used in phytoextraction, and then be removed from the system by pruning. This field study aims to investigate the phytoremediation mechanisms involved in a vegetated bioswale located on the Butte College campus. Knowledge obtained from this study is important for planning and managing bioswale systems for urban stormwater remediation of heavy metals.
UF1 Brooke Marigo, Malin Eiremo, Jasmine Taylor, Michael Painter Mental Health Awareness in Teenagers Adequate Mental health education and resources are often limited or not available in rural and remote areas. Adolescents are at an increased risk for mental illness and despite fourteen being the average age of early signs of mental illness, most individuals do not seek help until adulthood. Additionally, stress, anxiety, and depression have a close relationship with decreased graduation rates and suicide. Currently, in Butte County, there is no mental health education integrated in Junior highschool or High school curriculum. Mental health education for adolescents is crucial in order to raise awareness, decrease stigma, and increase access to care. Working closely with educators, our team developed a mental health wellness plan and formulated it into an easily integratable program for Butte County educators. Our program consists of a knowledge survey, presentation, and information on available resources. This program is easily adaptable to classroom or virtual presentation. This program is designed to become a standard in Junior high and High school curriculum with predicted outcomes being increased knowledge of mental illness and available resources to adolescents in Butte County.
UF1 James Lawrence, Euitaek Yang, Kartheek Gavini, and Kodeeswaran Parameshwaran

Modeling PTSD like phenotypes in mice and reversal of symptoms by

pharmacotherapy 		Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder affects approximately 3.5% of individuals in the United States who have been exposed to traumatic emotional or physical distress. While the symptoms of the disorder in humans have been documented extensively, the neurophysiological mechanisms that promote the onset of symptoms, including anxiety, mood disorders, and various other forms of cognitive decline remain uncertain. Development of preclinical animal models that express the behavioral phenotypes observed in human PTSD patients can be useful in understanding the altered neurophysiological mechanisms. We hypothesized that exposure of mice to traumatic stress would produce PTSD like symptoms, which can be reversed by pharmacotherapy. In an initial set of experiments, male mice (C57BL/B6, one month old) were exposed to adult male Long Evans rats for 30 min for one day to induce traumatic stress in mice. Third day after the stress mice were subjected to elevated plus maze test to evaluate anxiety. Results show that exposure to rats did not induce anxiety in mice. In a separate set of experiments male mice were exposed to a multimodal stress paradigm that included series of different types of stress that included restraint, swimming, rat exposure and brief anesthesia. Seven days later mice were subjected to open field test and radial arm maze test to assess anxiety and working memory. Results show mice exposed to multimodal stress exhibited anxiety and impairments in spatial working memory. These symptoms were reversed when stressed mice were injected with PHA 568487, a selective agonist of 
UF1 Cora Piper, Cawa Tran Asexual reproduction of the sea anemone Aiptasia under artificial moonlight Asexual reproduction gives sea anemones and corals an evolutionary advantage, allowing them to reproduce in the absence of a sexual partner. Although sea anemones have been observed to increase their rate of asexual reproduction following a full moon, how reproduction may change under laboratory conditions has yet to be explored. We hypothesized that the sea anemone Exaiptasia pallida (Aiptasia), a model system for coral symbiosis studies, will effectively increase its rate of asexual reproduction and juvenile development in response to artificial moonlight. To test this hypothesis, we observed the effects of different light conditions and the presence of algal symbionts on the rate of anemone asexual reproduction. In this study, we found that the rate of asexual reproduction of symbiotic anemones increased under blue light but did not change under white light and no light. Meanwhile, the rate of asexual reproduction in aposymbiotic anemones did not change under any of the light conditions. The goal of this experiment was to explore asexual reproduction and development of sea anemones with applications to corals. This study has potential to advance knowledge about the effects of moonlight on coral reproduction in reefs. Furthermore, it provides researchers studying Aiptasia with the knowledge that varying light conditions from the environment can influence asexual reproduction, thereby developing a more efficient method of propagating anemones for laboratory studies.
UF1 Kendall Block, Carolynn Arpin Development of Potent Isoflavone Carbamate Derivatives to Target Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurogenerative disorder commonly found among the elderly. It currently affects 5.8 million people in America and it is projected to affect 40 million by 2050.1 There is no cure or prevention for the disease yet. On a biochemical level, the disease is associated with decreased levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) in the brain. Current pharmaceuticals used to treat AD are reversible inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which is the enzyme responsible for hydrolyzing ACh. Previous research has shown that AChE inhibitors with isoflavone scaffolds and others with carbamate moieties have all been exhibiting great potential to be potent inhibitors of AChE.2, 3 For example, the carbamate moiety is present in rivastigmine, a pharmaceutical currently used to treat AD, and this is a key structural motif in many other FDA-approved drugs. Thus, we have designed and are currently preparing a library of novel AChE inhibitors that combine both the isoflavone and carbamate functionalities within the same molecule. Both experimentally and computationally, we will then assess the library’s abilities to inhibit AChE to further suppress, halt, and/or reverse the symptoms of AD. Inhibitor design, synthetic efforts, and computational docking studies will all be presented.
UF1 Austin DuBose, Dr. Alejandro Calderón-Urrea, Dr. Carolynn C. Arpin Library Synthesis of Nematocides: The Fluorescent Chalcones Every year, parasitic plant nematodes cause about $80 billion (USD) worth of agricultural damage worldwide. Certain pesticides that were previously used for this issue have been banned due to their environmental and human health hazards. There has yet to be another safe pesticide to combat nematodes. In pursuit of developing a new nematocide, the lab of Dr. Alejandro Calderón-Urrea at CSU Fresno screened over 100 different chalcones and identified three that potently exterminated Caenorhabditis elegans (a free-living nematode) and Meloidogyne incognita (a plant parasitic nematode). Intriguingly, the Calderón-Urrea lab found that subjecting the nematodes to these three chalcones together had a synergistic rather than an additive effect. They also tested the effects of the chalcones on beneficial soil organisms and concluded that they were safe for use. Still to be elucidated is the chalcones’ mechanism of how the compounds exhibit their effects on the nematode. We hypothesize that the chalcone inhibits the activity of an enzyme during a metabolic pathway that is crucial for the worm’s survival, but we have yet to identify said enzyme. To closely study the compounds’ effects on the nematodes, we are using established chemical synthesis procedures in new ways to append a fluorescent molecule onto our lead chalcones. Our novel fluorescently-tagged compounds will then be used to track the chalcones’ movement in the nematode and potentially reveal their mode of action. Project motivation, compound design, accomplished and current synthetic efforts will all be presented.
UF1 Yovvani Mojica Perez, Andrea Villegas-Fregoso, Pablo K. Cornejo-Warner, Sandrine J. Matiasek Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis of a Butte College Bioswale Urban storm runoff is a major issue because it may contain high levels of pesticides, nutrients, metals, suspended solids, and hydrocarbons that can contaminate surface waters. These constituents are of concern due to their effects on aquatic life and invertebrate communities. Low impact development can restore natural hydrologic functions of watersheds through green infrastructure that is engineered to reduce runoff, remove pollutants, and increase stormwater runoff infiltration into local aquifers. Bioswales are a type of green infrastructure consisting of a vegetated drainage basin to catch sediments, treat contaminants, and increase infiltration. The Butte College Bioswale treats storm runoff from a 5.1 acre parking lot before draining into Clear Creek. The focus of our research is to perform a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the current bioswale and compare it to hypothetical bioswales containing amendments meant to aid the treatment of runoff, including zerovalent iron, walnut shell biochar, logging residual biochar, rice hull biochar, and water treatment residuals. LCA is a quantitative tool that is used to measure the environmental impacts of infrastructure and water quality emissions. This will measure the environmental impacts of the Butte College bioswale over a 20 year lifespan. The environmental impacts we are focused on are eutrophication, acidification, ozone depletion, global warming, and smog. To establish our basis for comparison, we measured the inflow and outflow of nutrients through the bioswale, and estimated the amount of constituents released to water
UF1 Dillon Anderson, Nicholas Barnett, Paul C. Arpin Femtosecond Pump Probe Spectroscopy How do you measure something that happens within a time span of a few quadrillionths of a second? Investigating processes that take place on a picosecond time scale, or shorter, has become possible through the development of ultrashort laser pulses. Using Pump-Probe Femtosecond Spectroscopy we can observe processes such as molecular motions, chemical reactions, and intermolecular energy transfer. In particular, we are investigating a quantitative model connecting oscillations found in the time dependent spectra of molecules to molecular vibrations observed in real time. We’ll describe the instrument we built to accomplish this experiment, our preliminary results on laser dye IR 125, and our current progress using Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating (FROG) to characterize our laser pulse.
UF1 Blake Buckner, Paul Arpin Astigmatism in Coherent Diffraction Microscopy Cameras and microscopes typically use lenses to form an image of an object onto a detector. Soft x-ray microscopes can provide very high resolution images with chemical and elemental specificity, however it is very difficult to fabricate high quality lenses in this region of the spectrum. One solution to this is to use Coherent Diffractive Imaging to computationally reconstruct the image of an object from measurements of its far-field diffraction pattern. In many configurations, off-axis spherical mirrors illuminate the object which introduces astigmatism to the illuminating beam. We investigate the effects of astigmatism in the illuminating beam on the quality of reconstructions. We will show our progress so for both with numerical simulations and experimentally using an experiment scaled to work with visible light.
UF1 Scott Stokes, Todd Greene Stratigraphic Framework of the Pliocene Tuscan Formation and Quaternary Units in the Vina Sub-basin, Chico, CA The Vina Sub-basin (VSB) is considered a high-priority groundwater basin within a rich agricultural area in the northeastern Sacramento Valley, near the cities of Chico and Durham, California. Recently acquired Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) data is currently being used to help create a Hydrogeologic Conceptual Model (HCM) as part of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan mandated by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). However, the focus of this study is to fill in a 130 square km gap between two main AEM fly zones within the VSB in order to better understand the geologic and hydrogeologic characteristics of the Pliocene-aged Tuscan Formation and overlying Quaternary aquifer system. This gap contains well completion reports and geophysical log data from 151 wells of varying quality and vertical resolution. The data was digitized and inserted into the Petra software (IHS-Markit) and was used to create three time-equivalent subsurface horizons (UT2, MT-1 and TT1). The subsurface horizons were then used to construct structure maps and percent coarse material maps with the intention to display spatial variations between horizons and highlight channelized areas with high concentrations of coarse sediment. We also assigned quality control values to every subsurface horizon pick to compare maps from low and high quality picks to demonstrate the value of having a geologist qualify well completion report data.
UF1 Letzi Maldonado, Casey Becker, Austin DuBose, Nick Barnett, Dahlia Chavez, Juan Diaz, Matthew McDonald, Dr. Karl Voigtritter, and Dr. Carolynn Arpin Hemoglobin Drug Synthesis and Assessment - An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment As students continue to pursue careers in the medicinal chemistry field, it becomes increasingly important to provide them with relevant experiences in the academic laboratory. Our goal is to provide such an experience as an undergraduate organic chemistry experiment that is an informative and engaging introduction to the medicinal chemistry field. In the experiment, students carry out tasks similar to those assigned to medicinal chemists in the field: drug synthesis, assessment of biological activity, and data analysis. The experiment begins with the synthesis of a drug, which students choose from one of four scaffolds. The second step is to assess how potently the drug binds to the heme-binding site of apohemoglobin, a variation of the protein hemoglobin with its heme group removed. Drug binding is assessed via a novel fluorescence competitive displacement assay developed by our lab. The final step of the experiment is for students to analyze their fluorescence data, estimate their drug’s potency of binding, and compare their results with those of others to deduce effective binders. We have also developed an extensive tutorial for students to computationally dock their compound in the binding site using Chimera. The experiment is an ideal Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE), has been deployed twice in the organic chemistry lab for majors, and we intend to adapt it for broader use in the non-majors lab. Experiment design, results, and student feedback will all be presented.
UF1 Joshua Meadows, Dillon Anderson, Lennard Vanderspek The Traveling Salestronaut The traveling salesman is a famous computational optimization problem in which a salesman seeks to find the shortest path between many fixed points. It is known to be computationally challenging for large numbers of destinations. We explore a version of the classic traveling salesman problem where instead of traveling between fixed points, the salesman travels through the solar system to different planets, thus making them a traveling salestronaut. This adds significant additional challenges to the classical problem, in that most potential trajectories will never actually reach the intended planet. This also requires the solution of a system of nonlinear differential equations to compute any potential trajectory for the salestronaut. We additionally permit the salestronaut to change their velocity through a rocket burn at each planet. The goal being for the salestronaut to reach all desired planets in the best possible route. In order to do this, we created an algorithm that can find multiple valid paths between any pair of planets, and chooses the “best” one. There are different ways to define what the best path is. We have investigated two choices: first, the path which results in the least amount of rocket fuel used, and second, the path that minimizes the travel time. We report on initial results showing the range of possible valid trajectories for two and three destinations.
UF1 Caylin Stanley, Steven Janssen, Raymond J. Bogiatto, Troy D. Cline Using Stable Isotopes to better understand the Transcontinental Movement of Avian Influenza Into the Pacific Flyway Influenza viruses are important human pathogens, accounting for an average of 25,000 deaths each year in the United States (Salomon and Webster 2009). Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses are endemic to many regions of Asia and North Africa, occasionally acquiring the ability to infect humans. One mechanism by which these viruses move into North America from Asia is through migratory waterfowl, natural hosts of AIV. Highly Pathogenic AIV, in North America, has caused significant human infection and loss to the commercial poultry industry. The Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) is a frequent winter visitor in the Pacific Flyway. However, the breeding distribution of these birds is relatively unknown. The closely related American Wigeon’s summer nesting ground lies predominantly in Alaska, where they are likely to interact with Eurasian Wigeon and the potentially dangerous Asian-lineage virus. The goal of this ongoing interdisciplinary project is to determine the breeding distribution of Eurasian Wigeon and improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which Asian-lineage avian influenza viruses enter and spread within the Pacific Flyway. Primary feathers from hunter-killed, immature Eurasian and American Wigeon were processed and sent off for analysis of Hydrogen and Oxygen Stable Isotope ratios. Once our analyzed data is interpreted, we hope to construct a map showing natal origin of individuals carrying the virus. These results should also allow us to predict the nesting distribution of Eurasian Wigeon.
UF1 Monica C. So, Carlos M. Melchor Filtration of Persistent Organic Pollutants from Water using Metal-Organic Frameworks Water contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as malachite green has been a huge problem since the boom of industrialisation. To minimize this contamination problem, an effective water-filtration system is necessary. The purpose of this experiment was to test the efficiency of four different metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in removing the toxic malachite green oxalate, a type of persistent organic pollutant (POP), from a water sample. We synthesized four MOFs via solvothermal synthesis: UiO-66, UiO-66-NH2, ZIF-8, and ZIF-67. The MOFs were then tested on how efficient they were in removing the POP from the sample using UV-Vis spectroscopy. To determine what factors affected adsorption capacity between MOFs and POPs, we varied the organic linkers (UiO-66- vs. UiO-66-NH2) and metal cations (ZIF-8 vs. ZIF-67). Out of the four MOFs, ZIF-67 displayed the highest adsorption capacity of malachite green.
UF1 Letzi Maldonado, Casey Becker, Austin DuBose, Nick Barnett, Dahlia Chavez, Juan Diaz, Matthew McDonald, Dr. Karl Voigtritter, and Dr. Carolynn Arpin Hemoglobin Drug Synthesis and Assessment - An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment As students continue to pursue careers in the medicinal chemistry field, it becomes increasingly important to provide them with relevant experiences in the academic laboratory. Our goal is to provide such an experience as an undergraduate organic chemistry experiment that is an informative and engaging introduction to the medicinal chemistry field. In the experiment, students carry out tasks similar to those assigned to medicinal chemists in the field: drug synthesis, assessment of biological activity, and data analysis. The experiment begins with the synthesis of a drug, which students choose from one of four scaffolds. The second step is to assess how potently the drug binds to the heme-binding site of apohemoglobin, a variation of the protein hemoglobin with its heme group removed. Drug binding is assessed via a novel fluorescence competitive displacement assay developed by our lab. The final step of the experiment is for students to analyze their fluorescence data, estimate their drug’s potency of binding, and compare their results with those of others to deduce effective binders. We have also developed an extensive tutorial for students to computationally dock their compound in the binding site using Chimera. The experiment is an ideal Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE), has been deployed twice in the organic chemistry lab for majors, and we intend to adapt it for broader use in the non-majors lab. Experiment design, results, and student feedback will all be presented.