2009 Symposium Summary
See Also: 2009 JSHS Program
On March 5th and 6th 2009 the 44th annual Tennessee Junior Science and Humanities Symposium was held at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, At the 2009 symposium the university hosted 68 high-school students and 18 teachers representing 16 Tennessee high schools. Original research papers from 25 student research scholars were submitted spanning an array of topics and scientific disciplines, and the following represent the top five finishers in the oral presentation category as well as the student with the top poster presentation. Congratulations to the winners, and to all students who performed independent research projects.
FIRST PLACE
Christopher J. King
Creek Wood High School, Charlotte
“Fine Control of Electromagnetic Levitation”
(Engineering)ABSTRACT
“The goal of this second year study was to design and build an electromagnetic levitator capable of repulsively and attractively suspending a permanent magnet in contactless equilibrium with gravity. The construction of this project involved developments in three critical areas: First, a three-dimensional sensor array was designed to accurately sense the position of a permanent magnet in space. Secondly, a main controller board was designed to house four-channel input and output circuitry, as well as fully automated control and mixing functions. The main controller board also houses a serial-to-USB interface that allows for computer monitoring of the device’s function in real time. A third area addressed in this project was the fabrication of a custom CNC-machined electromagnetic head unit that features 8 permanent magnets, 4 fine control electromagnets, and a three-dimensional Hall effect sensing array. This project showed that repulsive levitation is achievable provided a high-speed feedback loop is used. Separation distances of up to 1.5 inches between the levitator unit and the levitated permanent magnet were achieved during testing.”
SECOND PLACE
Michael K. Hsueh
Farragut High School, Knoxville
“Anaerobic co-digestion of grease trap waste with municipal sludge waste for alternative waste disposal”
(Engineering)ABSTRACT
“This project focused on the feasibility of anaerobic co-digestion of grease trap waste (GTW) with municipal sludge waste, and the goal was to explore an alternative solution for grease trap waste management and to investigate methane potential of GTW. This research project tested the co-digestion concept for anaerobically treating GTW. This project involved the use of batch reactors and advanced analytical techniques such as gas chromatography, as well as standard analytical methods. Research results strongly proved that anaerobic co-digestion of GTW and mixed sludge was feasible in batch scale. Quantitative comparison between mono-digestion and co-digestion indicated process improvement, higher biogas yields were achieved with substrate additions less than 4% of the total mass contained in reactors. However, the batch experiment also exhibited inhibitory effects when reactors were overfed with GTW. Saponification can stimulate the dissolution of GTW. Preliminary studies in saponification have shown potential to improve the rate of dissolution to expedite the digestion process.”
THIRD PLACE
Matthew Han
White Station High School, Memphis
“Mechanism of gain of function for Tau-T and drug resistance in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells”
(Medicine and Health)ABSTRACT
“Human breast cancer is an incurable disease. It is often characterized by poor response to standard chemotherapy. Taurine transporter gene (TauT) is often constitutively overexpressed in human breast tumor cells, which show high resistance to chemotherapeutical treatment. A recent study showed that oxidative stress-induced JNK signaling pathway together with c-Jun and AP1 activity contribute to drug resistance. These observations suggest a potential mechanism of gain of function for TauT in drug-resistent tendencies in breast cancer. In the present study, we have shown that TauT is a direct target of c-Jun proto-oncogene. Expression of TauT is up-regulated by c-Jun proto-oncogene in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells as determined by promoter analysis, reporter assay, DNA binding, and Western blot analysis. Inhibition of TauT by RNA interference resulted in a significant reduction of MCF-7 tumor cell growth and enhanced the sensitivity of MCF-7 cells to chemotherapy in dose- and time-dependent manners. These finding suggest that TauT plays a role in the MCF-7 cells’ drug resistance mechanisms and TauT may serve as an ideal target for breast cancer therapy.”
Honorable Mention
Stephanie Jorgensen
Smyrna High School, Smyrna
“A sample of strawberry matter unrelated to food consumption exposed to ethanol production methods generates 0.425% concentrations of ethanol comparable to the 0.535% produced by cornstalk.”
(Engineering)ABSTRACT
“Ethanol fuel, a cost-effective alternative to gasoline, if produced from corn could negatively influence the economy by increasing the costs of corn-related products and other marketable produce. Instead, using plants unrelated to food consumption could greatly benefit our economy as well as our environment. To prove the usefulness of plants unrelated to food consumption, a sample of a strawberry plant’s stem and leaves underwent the mashing, fermentation, and distillation that corn would be exposed to when producing ethanol. At the same time, a sample of cornstalk experienced the same process, yielding similar results. After grinding the samples to increase the surface area, the sample was mixed with a yeast solution, fermented for three days, filtered, and distilled. In each instance, the concentration of the ethanol produced was fairly even: control 1 & 2 (cornstalk) had concentrations of 0.535% and 0% respectively, and strain 1 & 2 (strawberry samples) had concentrations of 0.425% and 0.385% respectively. Because strawberry matter produced ethanol, alternate fuel sources that will not weaken the economy could be explored.”
Honorable Mention
Tiffany N. Young
DeKalb County High School, Smithville “Going Wireless:Comparing Below Ground Transmission with Above Ground Transmission of Electricity”
(Engineering)ABSTRACT
“The researcher knew that electricity could be transmitted wirelessly. But the researcher was curious about the differences between transmitting voltage wirelessly through the earth and through the air. To answer this, a transmitter and a receiving coil were made to transmit and receive voltage. The transmission was tested at four different distances above and below ground with four “trials” for each test. After all testing was concluded, it was found that more voltage could travel through the air than it can through the earth, but more voltage is lost over distance. With transmission through the earth less voltage can be transmitted, but less voltage is lost over distance. It was noticed that when there is less distance between the two coils that a higher voltage could be transmitted. However, below ground transmission lost less voltage over distance than above ground transmission.”
Poster Award Winner
Lindsay Wickman
Farragut High School, Knoxville
“Increased Concentrations of PAI-1 Result in Greater Deposition of Vitronectin Into the Extracellular Matrix”
(Medicine and Health)Abstract
“Vitronectin and PAI-1 are two proteins that work together in many physiological functions, including the regulation of cellular adhesion and migration. This research investigates the hypothesis that PAI-1 binding to two sites within vitronectin is a necessary step in the oligomerization of vitronectin, and that these oligomeric complexes of vitronectin have a higher tendency towards deposition into the ECM. To test this theory, a microtiter plate was coated with an ECM component and solutions containing vitronectin and increasing concentrations of PAI-1. Both wild-type PAI-1 and mutant PAI-1 (which had a weaker affinity for vitronectin’s second binding site) were tested in order to check the importance of the second site to forming oligomeric complexes. Deposition into the ECM was measured immunochemically. As PAI-1 concentrations increased, so did vitronectin deposition to the ECM component. Also, the use of wild-type PAI-1 resulted in significantly more deposition of vitronectin into the ECM compared to the mutant. This research gives insight into how vitronectin is incorporated into the ECM, which could impact the understanding of many physiological processes, including metastasis and wound healing.”
The 2008 TN-JSHS Teacher Award
The Farragut High School Science Academy Braintrust: Jane Skinner (left) and Kristin Baksa (right).
nnually, the TN-JSHS recognizes one science teacher for their excellence and commitment in stimulating talented young high school students to pursue their interests in science, and for providing research experience or mentoring for these students. We are pleased to recognize Kristin Baksa from Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tennessee as the 2009 winner of the TN-JSHS award. Along with her colleague, Jane Skinner, Kristin has been instrumental in partnering with the University of Tennessee to provide cutting edge research experiences for her students in various laboratories at The University of Tennessee, as well as at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This pilot program, UT Pre-Collegiate Research Scholars Program, has been highly successful and continues to provide these unique research experiences through Kristin’s hard work.
UPDATE: The 2009 National JSHS Competition
Kristin Baksa headed a strong Tennessee Delegation consisting of our top three awardees and the two honorable mention students that attended the 47th National Junior Science & Humanities Symposium (JSHS), held April 29 - May 3, in Colorado Springs. Michael Hsueh and Chris King were invited to present their papers for competition and we are pleased to announce that Chris was recognized as the first place winner of the Engineering Competition. For this outstanding accomplishment, Chris will receive a $16,000 scholarship for college and will be representing the United States at the London International Youth Science Forum scheduled on July 29 to August 12, 2009 at London University. We congratulate Chris and all Tennessee students for a job well done!
The Tennessee Delegation poses at breakfast at the 2009 National JSHS in Colorado Springs. From left to right, top: Kristin Baksa, Matt Han, Michael Hsueh; bottom, Chris King, Tiffany Young, Stephanie Jorgensen.
Chris King shows off his first place award certificate from the Engineering competition at the 2009 National JSHS.