SURF 2024 Program

Ruth Alemayehu, Department of Biology 

• Supervisor: Marc Johnson 

• Talk Title: Exploring socio-eco-evolutionary dynamics of white clover in cities 

Abstract: More than half of the world’s population live in urban areas. As cities continue to expand, we are seeing increased evidence of how urbanization can alter ecology and evolution. The rapid growth of urban areas can lead to various environmental inequities including access to green spaces and biodiversity within cities. However, it is not yet fully understood how human social structures shape and exacerbate these inequities and their effects on trophic interactions and natural selection. This study tests how socio-economic variation (income, education, and visible minority population) affects the ecology and evolution of white clover (Trifolium repens), a perennial plant, and ecological interactions with mutualistic and antagonistic species with which it interacts. We sampled natural white clover from 35 green spaces/public parks in Etobicoke and Mississauga. We measured plant density and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production, a Mendelian inherited anti-herbivore defence, to test evolutionary responses to socio-economic variation. Additionally, we measured three ecologically important variables; pollination, herbivory, and the presence of rhizobium, a nitrogen-fixing root bacteria. This project will help us further understand the impact of socio-economic variation on ecology and evolution, and provide insight into how to design more sustainable and equitable cities that prioritize human and environmental well-being. 

Maryam Fazili, Department of Psychology 

• Supervisor: Loren Martin 

• Talk Title: Investigating The Role of the Ventral Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Placebo Analgesia 

Abstract: Chronic pain is one of the largest health epidemics, affecting ~20% of the population worldwide and costing over $685 billion per year in medical expenses and lost work productivity. The persistence of pain after an injury has healed is thought to result from maladaptive learning such that systems initially involved in tissue recovery and survival have gone off course and become dysfunctional. However, this learning may be malleable and reversible through pharmacological conditioning, where the administration of analgesic drugs becomes associated with specific contextual cues. In this phenomenon, the mere pairing of drugs with environmental or situational stimuli can trigger pain relief in the absence of active drug. This concept is commonly referred to as placebo analgesia. In the current study, we used the spared nerve injury (SNI) model of chronic pain combined with a regimen of morphine treatment whereby we administered morphine over four days within specific contextual chambers. Following morphine conditioning, mice were injected with a saline solution on a test day, which resulted in robust analgesia. Whole brain c-fos analysis was conducted and the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) was identified as a candidate region driving conditioned morphine analgesia. Next, we investigated the role of the vACC and mu-opioid receptors within this region to determine whether they are specifically required for conditioned morphine analgesia. Our results indicate that when the vACC is stimulated on test day, the placebo analgesic response is abolished. Furthermore, results indicate that mu-opioid receptor activation in the vACC was required for placebo analgesia. This data furthers our understanding of the role of the vACC in placebo analgesia and contributes to the advancement of intervention and treatment strategies for individuals suffering from chronic pain. Specifically, these findings suggest that contextual cues, such as the expectation of pain relief, may play a greater role in pain management than initially thought.

Maha Jahangir, Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences  

• Supervisor: David McMillen 

• Talk Title: Modifying Antithetic Integral Feedback (AIF) Based on Theoretical Predictions for Enhanced Regulation and Noise Suppression in Gene Expression 

Abstract: Precise regulation of gene expression is crucial for creating stable and reliable biological systems, fundamental to synthetic biology advancements. Controlling gene expression finely tunes cellular functions, leading to predictable and efficient outcomes. Antithetic Integral Feedback (AIF) is a biochemical feedback mechanism that regulates intracellular molecular species in Escherichia coli (E. coli). However, traditional AIF implementations often increase noise, complicating precise regulation. Recent theories suggest robust regulation and minimal noise can be achieved under specific conditions. This research aims to experimentally validate these predictions by replicating and modifying the AIF system to enhance performance. Modifications involve altering the feedback network to reduce the target species' production, thereby decreasing noise levels. The study includes designing and assembling DNA constructs using molecular cloning techniques, and integrating these constructs into E. coli strains, and verifying functionality through PCR. Fluorescence microscopy will measure protein expression levels, followed by data analysis to assess gene expression fluctuations. The objective is to demonstrate that the modified AIF system can achieve near-perfect regulation with reduced noise, enhancing gene expression systems' stability. This research will contribute to developing reliable engineered biological circuits, offering insights into designing efficient gene regulation mechanisms in synthetic biology.

Laura Madrid, Department of Mathematical & Computational Sciences 

• Supervisor: Lisa Zhang 

• Talk Title: Computer Vision for Assisted Indoor Climbing 

Abstract: Indoor rock climbing originated in the 1970's. Since then, it has gained massive popularity by providing a physical and mental stimulus for individuals of diverse age groups and abilities. The world of indoor rock climbing is constantly developing and is particularly of interest to computer scientists due to its various aspects, inviting exploration into areas such as path generation, pose estimation, hold detection, and human-object interaction for research and study. In regards to finding rock holds, and inferring a climbing path, climbers heavily rely upon their sight. However, those who are visually impaired must rely on their other senses to perform the same tasks. Our project consisted of building the Indoor Rock Climbing Assistance Tool (IRCAT) to effectively assist visually impaired indoor rock climbers by making next step suggestions during their top rope or auto-belay ascent.

Celina Mankarios, Department of Geography, Geomatics, and Environment 

• Supervisor: Praneeta Mudaliar 

• Talk Title: The Power of Care in Youth-Led Commoning 

Molly McDonald, Department of Biology 

• Supervisor: Helene Wagner 

• Talk Title: Landscape Effects on Seed Quality of a Hummingbird-Pollinated Plant 

Abstract: Heliconia tortuosa (red twist) is a keystone tropical plant whose nectar sustains many hummingbird species throughout the dry season of Costa Rica’s montane rainforests. Successful pollination in this plant is primarily facilitated by high mobility, traplining hummingbirds. This benefits the plant by introducing long-distance pollen, increasing genetic diversity. Forest habitat fragmentation affects these specialist pollinators, as they are reluctant to traverse between forest patches. Therefore, H. tortuosa populations in small, isolated patches are expected to experience increased inbreeding compared to larger, more connected patches, potentially reducing seed quality. We conducted a germination experiment with 740 seeds collected from 36 forest patches along a forest fragmentation gradient. Regression analysis indicated that seed quality, measured by germination success, decreased with patch isolation. Additional seeds from the same plants were genotyped, confirming that sites with low germination rates were more inbred. These results confirm that forest habitat fragmentation, through altering pollinator movement behaviour, leads to inbreeding depression in this plant. As seed quality is continually reduced, fewer plants will be available to support the remaining hummingbird population, perpetuating a cycle which may threaten not only the H. tortuosa pollinator network, but the availability of nectar needed to sustain the entire hummingbird community. 

Hokyung Moon (Leah)*, Department of Sociology 

• Supervisor: Jayne Baker 

• Talk Title: Exploring TikTok as a Tool for Instruction and Assessment 

*Presenting collaborative work, led by Hokyung Moon (Leah) with contributions from Bryce McMurtry 

Abstract: In recent years, the educational system has been transforming from traditional teaching methods to digitally integrated instruction. This shift was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly advanced mobile distance learning. Alongside this trend in education, there has been growing scholarly interest in incorporating popular social media into classrooms to enhance student engagement and communication. This study explores TikTok’s effectiveness as a tool for teaching and learning in higher education. Through a survey designed to gain students’ insights on using TikTok in higher education, the results indicate overall positive feedback, with students noting meaningful improvements in their learning experiences. Ultimately, this study sheds light on TikTok’s potential to supplement traditional educational practices, making the learning experience more engaging and relevant to students.

Saghar Tavakoli, Department of Psychology 

• Supervisor: Christina Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden 

• Talk Title: Are We Better at Conveying Emotions Through Speech or Song? 

Abstract: There have been many studies measuring how humans convey and perceive emotion. However, few studies compare the ease with which emotions can be conveyed through two important means of human communication: speech and song. Evolutionarily speaking, song is thought to be better at conveying emotion and bringing pleasure. As such, one might hypothesize that music is a superior tool for communicating emotion than speech. However, speech is used much more frequently to convey nuanced emotions, so speech may be better for communicating emotion than song. This study examines the ease and accuracy of conveying emotion in speech and song using improvisation, a factor which studies do not consider in emotional communication. Experiment 1 had participants improvise spoken and sung utterances for 5 different emotions and rated their subjective ease of expressing the emotion. Experiment 2 had a different set of participants listen to each recording from Exp. 1 and choose the correct emotion for each clip while also rating their confidence in their choice. Experiment 3 is identical to Exp. 2, except the recordings are low-pass filtered to remove semantics and leave only the pitch and rhythm of speech and song. Answering the question of whether people are better at perceiving and conveying emotion through speech or song may give further insight into the roles of music and language in our everyday lives, including the primary functional uses of speech and song. 

Khue Tran, Department of Biology 

• Supervisor: Alex Nguyen Ba 

• Talk Title: A platform for determining mutation rate of human oncogenes 

Abstract: Over the course of evolution, divergence in traits between complex multicellular organisms is phenotypically evident compared to simpler, single-celled organisms. Despite this divergence, the multicellular human and unicellular yeast still share thousands of functionally similar genes, known as orthologous genes. The aim of this project is to systematically identify all the pathogenic and benign missense variants of human oncogenes in a humanised yeast model. This project begins with the development of functional assays to determine how different gene deletions affect yeast mutation rate and growth. Then, an optimised human orthologous sequence is reintegrated back into yeast to examine their functional similarity. Our findings will contribute to the construction of a variant effect map for the respective human gene using Tile Region Exchanged (T-Rex) Mutagenesis and high-throughput sequencing. This experiment seeks to ascertain the mutation rate and cellular damage response of yeast once the orthologous gene is deleted. Ten different genes (RAD1, RAD5, RAD6, RAD9, RAD10, RAD18, RAD50, RAD54, RAD57, and TSA1) were independently excised from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae model and replaced with human genes. Using the selected assays, this project can continue to expand to identify all the human gene orthologs and the pathogenicity of their variants.

Ido Zivli, Department of Psychology 

• Supervisor: Benjamin Wolfe 

• Talk Title: Safety on the road is a matter of where and when you look: the impact of gaze location and blink timing 

Abstract: Avoiding collisions on the road requires timely responses; even a small delay can mean the difference between life and death (Green, 2000). Are reaction times related to where drivers look? To investigate this question, 30 participants watched brief clips of real road videos containing road hazards. They indicated the location of hazards while their eye movements were monitored. To examine the relation between looking behavior and the speed of locating hazards, we divided trials based on reaction time and analyzed where they looked and blink rate around hazard onset. We found that when participants responded later, they tended to blink more before hazard onset compared to participants who responded earlier, in which case they tended to blink after they had responded, suggesting that blink timing matters for noticing hazards. With this analysis, we hope to better understand the impact of where drivers look and when they blink on their hazard detection abilities. Our results have implications for driver alerting systems in manually-controlled and semi-autonomous vehicles.