ABSTRACTS
2019 National McNair Scholars Conference at UCLA
Researcher: Jazlyn Barrientos
Presentation Title: Transformation of Central American Identity Seen Through Caravan Utilization
Research Focus: Central American Migrant Caravan
School: University of California, San Diego
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
By seeking legal entry, the Central American Caravan is changing internal and external perceptions of Central American identity. With the physical visibility brought upon by their method of travel, they are able to change the visibility they have within Latinidad and the perceptions/portrayals of Central American identity held by the U.S. and Mexico. This will be explored by analyzing the visibility of Central American identity positioned within Latinidad and examining the narrative shift through American and Mexican lenses from paternalism to self- victimization. The history of Central American migration to the U.S. is analyzed to establish the inextricable nature with Central American identity. Perceptions of U.S. and Mexican entities will be explored through media coverage, interviews, and participant observation to conceptualize how outsiders perceive and process Central American identity. Desaparecidos and sudden vanishing become common motifs in the Central American collective memory with disappearances occuring during the Central American crisis, during migration to the United States after the implementation of neoliberalism, and currently the loss of unaccompanied minors in ICE custody. When referring to the current migrant caravan, it groups together all the caravans migrating during this period of anti-immigrant Trump politics, rather than a singular caravan migration event.
Researcher: Josue Luna
Presentation Title: Characterizing the Mechanical Properties of the Helical Macro-Porosity Structure of the Cholla Cacti
Research Focus: Finding high performing engineering materials that utilize minimum weight and volume
School: University of California, San Diego
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Most biological materials have complex anatomies whose outstanding mechanical properties inspire engineers in the design of novel materials. The specific stiffness, toughness, and strength of biological materials often supercede those of traditional engineering materials. Biological materials are also able to combine mechanical properties that are typically mutually exclusive: for example, metals demonstrate high toughness and low strength while ceramics demonstrate high strength but low toughness. Artificial composites offer intermediate properties of strength and toughness of their constituent parts and cannot maximize both simultaneously. However, biological materials contain properties that allow them to have the strength and toughness of both constituent parts instead of the middle ground, maximizing the performances of each.
This research focuses on the cholla cacti (Cylindropuntia), a biological material whose structure consists of a thin-walled hollow cylinder, surrounded by a macro-porosity formation.
Characterizing the mechanical properties of the Cholla’s lignin skeleton will determine how its macro-porosity structure influences its specific mechanical properties compared to those of non- porous materials. The emphasis is on finding high performing materials that are able to maximize their mechanical properties utilizing minimal amount of material in both weight and volume. Tasks for this investigation include characterizing the torsional properties of the lignin skeleton by torsion and axial compression of various samples and qualitative characterization using Micro-CT scanning. A computer-aided design model was created to replicate the structure of the cholla as a perforated plate, where Finite Element Analysis simulations were conducted to provide quantitative and qualitative results for its elastic behavior.
Researcher: Brenda Rincon
Presentation Title: Understanding Aims of Black Lives Matter Movement May Lead to Increased Support of the Movement
Research Focus: Social Psychology
School: University of California, San Diego
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
The Black Lives Matter movement started off as an online call to action to fight antiblack sentiment and discrimination. Over the years, different hashtags have been created in opposition to the Black Lives Matter slogan. It was hypothesized that differing levels of support for the Black Lives Matter movement were largely due to flawed understanding of the movement. In this study, a survey was created to assess level of understanding of the Black Lives Matter movement, support for the movement, zero sum beliefs, and to attain participant demographic information. When comparing understanding of goals of the movement and support for Black Lives Matter, it was found that increased understanding correlated with increased support. It was also found that demographic characteristics such as political orientation and race/ ethnicity were not correlated to support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The correlation between understanding of the movement and increased support may mean that education is the key to gaining support for the movement and being able to create substantial change.
Researcher: Yvonne Yee
Presentation Title: Sustained delivery of small molecule regulators of autoimmune T-cells
Research Focus: NanoEngineering
School: University of California, San Diego
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Regulatory T-cells (Tregs) suppress adaptive immune cell activation in an antigen-specific manner. Certain hydrophobic small molecules can induce Treg differentiation and their application as a therapy may promote restoration in the balance of the T-cell subsets and mitigation of inflammatory disorders. We hypothesize that the sustained local delivery of hydrophobic small molecule immunomodulators (SMI) of T-cell activation will enrich Treg cell. The primary objective was to encapsulate the SMIs within a hydrophilic carrier molecule and evaluate the biological activity of the SMI-carrier complex. SMIs were encapsulated in a carrier complex to improve solubility. Spectrophotometry was used to quantify the loading of the SMIs into the carrier. The fold expansion and phenotype of in vitro stimulated T-cells were quantified using cell counting and flow cytometry. The carrier complex improved the aqueous solubility of SMI in water by over 100-fold compared to reported values. Expansion of T-cells cultured with encapsulated SMI was comparable to positive controls and 4-fold less than negative controls. The suppression of T-cell expansion suggests that the encapsulated SMI maintains efficacy supporting the application of this method to improve SMI delivery for Treg expansion.