Spring 2017 Undergraduate Research Symposium: April 19th

Undergraduate Research Symposium April 19th, 2017

Presenter Name Julia Abovich Omer Ashmaig Justin Baman Chris Bartelt Brandon Chen Paola Correia Christina Crawford

Joelle Danz Nandini Doshi Ravi Doshi Katie Duval Kristen Eichamer Paula Fernandez Begne Taylor Forte Karly Hampshire Jocelyn Hong Allison Irwin Migyeong Jang Elliot Ji Samika Joshi Michelle Kagei

Title of Presentation Comparing Pronoun Usages of Autistic and Non-Autistic Children Characterizing the Effect of Asynchronous Distributed Microelectrode Theta Stimulation on Spatial Memory Influence of Astrocyte Activation on Fear Memory Consolidation Investigation on the Influence of Soil Characteristics on Burkholderia Strains' Growth and Survival Rates Investigation of the IGF-1R and ZEB-1 Signal Cascade in Mesenchymal Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells Recuperação para Reconciliação O papel da arte na recuperação das memorias coletivas sobre a guerra colonial Immigration Rights in Contemporary Spanish Film: The Difficulties of Representing the Immigrant Experience in PostFranco Spain Harm Reduction: The Influence of Law Enforcement, Education, and Needle Exchange Programs Intergenerational olfactory sensitivity in a mouse model Long Term Hearing Loss Outcome in a Patient with Biotinidase Deficiency Searching for antagonists of the transcriptional activating function of H2A.Z in Arabidopsis thaliana Time Period Parasites Have to Successfully Invade Danaus plexippus Larvae Determining the lethal and direct/sexually transmitted effects of pyriproxyfen on adult Aedes albopictus SEIR Model To Evaluate the Epidemiological Effects of Supersusceptibility in M.tuberulosis Stereospecific Effects of MDMA on Neuronal Oxytocin Activity and Oxytocin-Related Behavior The Development and Evaluation of an Intersectional Sexual Violence Curriculum Effect of BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism on Sensory Neuron Regeneration Exploring Near-Nativeness in Second-Language English Speakers Strategic Use of Censorship and Anti-Corruption Campaign in China under Reformist and Hardline Rulers Effects of IGF1R/FAK pathway inhibition on metastatic TNBC cell angiogenesis and clonogenecity Pediatric vaccination in rural Udaipur, India: The impact of agency, local perceptions, and social determinants of health on maternal health-seeking behaviors and current coverage

Dennis Kamara Kristina Kennedy Sarah Kesaria Shoeb Lallani Julie Lin Pai Liu Adriana Miljanic Tongjia Mou Meagan Naraine Andrea Ochoa Lozano Olubusola Osunsany Elsa Pantoja García Shloka Parvatrao Akshar Patel Joshua Perlin Stephanie Pintas Joshua Pughe Sanford Zhiyu Qian Emma Reidy Branca Sanchez Katherine Schnitzer Emily Siegel Jenani Srijeyanthan

Bethanie Tabachnik Danielle Trottier Alina Ulezko

Alzheimer’s Disease and Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy: Does Race Matter?

Acquisition of Negation: Semantic Contexts of Development and Grammar in Children Autobiographical memory retrieval of action and scene words using fMRI data analysis Neuropathology of Striatal Interneurons in Transgenic Nonhuman Primate Models of Huntington’s Disease The evolution of virulence in a natural parasite of Caenorhabditis elegans SRPK2 phosphorylation of AEP in Alzheimer’s Disease Investigating sampling effects in plant – pollinator network structure The potential role of FGFR-TACC3 fusion protein on HPV positive cancer cells Nuclear Factor-kB mediates Zinc Deficiency-Induced NCC Upregulation in Mouse Distal Convoluted Tubular Cells Moda, Vida, ou Gênero?

Analysis of the Correlation between Fatigue and Hemoglobin Levels in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Speech Error Patterns: Understanding Linguistic Patterns in English-Spanish Bilinguals Considering Impacts of Gender and Trauma History on Personal Growth and Forgiveness Clinical outcomes after atrial fibrillation ablation using the hybrid convergent technique.

Lifespan Goals and Agency-Communion: The Effect of Goal Motivation on Well-Being Energy Expenditure and Substrate Oxidation in ClinicallyStable Adults with Cystic Fibrosis Properties of Quantum Walks within Various One Dimensional Media When Oncogene Meets Metabolism: BRAFV600E-specific Regulation of CSGLcA-T in Human Melanoma An Investigation of the Linguistic Properties of Emoji Dominican Middle Class Immigrant’s Neighborhood Selection: Is it a Mobilization Strategy or is it Influenced by Race?

How We Eat Status Pronoun Use in Narrative Storytelling Effects of Comorbid Cannabis Use Disorder, Polysubstance Use Disorder, or no SUD on PTSD on Declarative Memory, Attention, and Emotion Recognition The development of the ventral visual pathway in humans Experience, Identity, and Agency of Gay Male Erotic Dancers Improving allogeneic bone marrow stem cell transplantation

Simrun Uppal Namrata Verghese Pasang Wangmo

Sierra Weiss Aiden Williams Pamela Wong

Sarah Ye Julia Yu Jessie Zhao Chaojie Zhong

through the effect of FMS-like receptor tyrosine kinase 3 ligand on plasmacytoid dendritic cells Effects of Visual Stimuli on Male Reproductive Performance in Transgenic Rhesus Monkeys Communion and Forgiveness Motivations in Narrative COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BIPOLAR ELECTROCAUTERY INDUCED INJURY IN A PORCINE NEUROSURGICAL MODEL Where Do Holocaust Euthanasia Practices Fit into the Modern Euthanasia Discussion Efficacy of Momordica charantia for the Mitigation of Postpartum Infection and Hemorrhage Determining the Effects of Myeloma-Derived Amino Acid Substitutions in the Functional Domain of Mcl-1 on StressInduced Apoptosis A transgenic mouse model for studying spermatogenesis and genome instability Defects of Myogenesis in a Mouse Model of Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy A Brief Analysis of Brexit A Study into Emoji Use in a Multi-Party Chat

Julia Abovich Comparing Pronoun Usages of Autistic and Non-Autistic Children Julia Abovich, Emory University; Gyeongmo Kim, Emory University; Maggie Norman, Emory University This paper compares pronoun usages of children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to those of typical children in relation to mothers’ usages of pronouns. Previous studies have shown that children with high-functioning ASD produce pronouns less often and less accurately than typical children do (Arnold et al., 2009). We analyzed the Tager-Flusberg ASD corpus (Tager-Flusberg et al., 1990) using CLAN, recording the frequency of pronoun usages of children with high-functioning ASD, while looking into the mothers’ pronoun usages as well to determine pronoun usages by the children. We also looked at the context of pronoun use and analyzed the types of errors. This was compared with the pronoun type-token ratio of typically developing children and their mothers per Li and Fang (2011). The results show that children with high-functioning ASD have higher type-token ratios than their respective mothers and typically developing children, meaning that the children produce fewer types of pronouns, as well as fewer utterances of those pronouns than their mothers and typically developing children overall. In addition, mistakes regarding pronoun usage such as pronoun reversal and avoidance were observed. This study suggests that children with high-functioning ASD have late language development because they are not using pronouns in their language the same way as typically developing children do by the age of 22-28 months (Harrington 2012).

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Omer Ashmaig Characterizing the Effect of Asynchronous Distributed Microelectrode Theta Stimulation on Spatial Memory Omer Ashmaig; Sang Park; Mark Connolly; Robert Gross, MD/PhD There is a great need of a therapeutic method for treating epileptic patients that is characterized by a high success rate in seizure frequency reduction and minimal side effects. Current methods in treating epilepsy include either anti-epileptic drugs or surgery. However, there are many cases where neither are effective. Electrical brain stimulation, or neural modulation, may represent an effective novel therapeutic method with minimal side effects. In the tetanus toxin rat model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, asynchronous distributed microelectrode theta stimulation (ADMETS) in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus has been shown to reduce seizure frequency (Desai et al., 2016). This supports the hypothesis that ADMETS induces a seizure resistant state, even in post-stimulation conditions, possibly through selective suppression of neural activity at a given frequency. Furthermore, previous studies have shown the critical role that the hippocampus plays in spatial memory (Silva et al., 1985). Critical to developing novel neural modulation therapies will be rigorous assessment of how they impact behavior. In this project, we aim to characterize the effects of ADMETS on the hippocampal circuity and its manifestation in terms of spatial memory.

Justin Baman Influence of Astrocyte Activation on Fear Memory Consolidation Justin Baman, Division of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychiatric Disorders, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Brian G Dias, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been studied in populations that underwent a stressful experience. PTSD is often catalyzed by over-consolidation of memories related to traumatic events. We explore cellular mechanisms underlying memory consolidation through auditory fear conditioning of mice with a neutral tone (CS) paired with mild foot-shock. Memory consolidation is assayed the following day, when CS is presented alone, and freezing response measured. The role of neurons in memory consolidation is well studied, however the role of astrocytes a type of glial cell has been largely ignored. Mice with hM3Dq G-protein coupled receptor expression on all astrocytes within the brain were either given clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) (which binds to the hM3Dq receptor to activate the astrocyte) or vehicle following the auditory fear conditioning training during the period of memory consolidation. Animals that received CNO exhibited lower levels of behavioral freezing the following day when presented with CS alone. Another strain of mice without hM3Dq receptor expression underwent intracranial surgeries prior to the same experimental procedure, where we used Cre-loxP recombination to cause hM3Dq expression specifically in the amygdala, a region of the brain associated with fear consolidation. Animals that received CNO (activating only the astrocytes of the amygdala) also exhibited lower levels of behavioral freezing the following day presented with the harmless sound. These data suggest that astrocyte activation within the amygdala during the period of memory consolidation suppresses memory consolidation. The exploration of the influence of amygdala astrocyte activation on memory consolidation may shed light on understanding PTSD.

Chris Bartelt Investigation on the Influence of Soil Characteristics on Burkholderia Strains' Growth and Survival Rates Chris Bartelt, Dr. Erika Diaz Almeyda, Dr. Nicole Gerardo, Emory University Through beneficial, symbiotic relationships, microorganisms play vital roles in the lives of other species. The question of how these benefits are shaped by their mode of transmission from host to host, however, remains largely unexplored. In an effort to understand how transmission mode shapes symbiosis, we are using squash bugs (Anasa tristis) and their bacterial symbiont in the genus Burkholderia as a model system. My specific goal is to investigate, using the markrecapture method, how the growth and survival of Burkholderia strains are affected by various changes to the soil environment in which they develop. I intend to pursue various environmental changes, such as the presence of competition and types of plants growing in the soil as focal points for this semester’s investigation to help me further understand how specific bacterial strains interact with and survive within their environment during growth and development.

Brandon Chen Investigation of the IGF-1R and ZEB-1 Signal Cascade in Mesenchymal Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells Brandon Chen, Zach Harrison, Rachel Pan, Somin Kim Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) constitutes 15-20% of breast cancer diagnoses and characteristically lack estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors expression. TNBC is an aggressive cancer with high metastatic and low survival rates; there are currently no approved targeted therapies. The IGF-1R signaling cascade is a strong candidate for targeted treatment, as it promotes transcription of genes, like ZEB-1, which drive epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The effect of IGF-1R inhibition on ZEB-1 expression was deduced using metastatic MDA-MB-231 cells. IGF-1R, pIGF-1R, and ZEB-1 expression levels were analyzed

by Western blot following DMSO, NVP-TAE-226 (IGF-1R inhibitor), IGF-1, and combined TAE and IGF-1 treatments. NVP-TAE-226 decreased ZEB-1 and active IGF-1R expression, and IGF-1 ligand increased their expression; combined treatment resulted in intermediate expression of both proteins. Subcellular fractionation was performed to determine ZEB-1 subcellular localization following the same treatments. ZEB-1 remained in the nucleus in response to all treatments, with expression levels similar to the whole-cell lysate Western blot.

Additionally, potential ZEB-1 transcriptional activity at the IGF-1R promoter and IGF-1R activity at the ZEB-1 promoter are being analyzed via chromatin immunoprecipitation. Modulation of IGF-1R expression in TNBC cells is correlated with similar trends in ZEB-1 expression levels which further supports the role of IGF-1R in TNBC cell EMT. NVP-TAE-226 exhibits promising potential as a targeted treatment therapy due to its reduction of IGF-1R and ZEB-1 expression in TNBC cells. By reducing IGF-1R and ZEB-1 expression levels, EMT rates would decrease and potentially improve overall survival rates for a subset of patients with IGF1R-expressing TNBCs.

Paola Correia Recuperação para Reconciliação O papel da arte na recuperação das memorias coletivas sobre a guerra colonial This project focuses on analyzing, in the absence of government reconciliation resources and the political context, the role played by artistic mediums after the Carnation Revolution, specifically fictional films, to document the events and effects of the colonial war in Portuguese society. The political environment in this analysis is largely based on the public emphasis on the three Ds (Democratization, Decolonization and Development) proposed by the Armed Forces Movement (MFA). In this study, films will be analyzed as replacements for absent formal modes of reconciliation, comparing fictional representations with research and testimonies of fighters.

My analysis focuses on the films Um Adeus Português e Os Imortais in dialogue with scholarly research and testimonies of Portuguese combatants and spectators of the war.

Christina Crawford Immigration Rights in Contemporary Spanish Film: The Difficulties of Representing the Immigrant Experience in Post-Franco Spain Current events become the theme by which many artists produce works. These works frequently inspire a political or social change. Consequently, “artist” has become synonymous with “activist”. Is this a premature understanding? An attempt was made to answer this question using post-Franco Spain and the art that was produced in response to the developing immigration issue. This study exclusively examined films. Critical analyses showed a trend for these films to stray from the harsh reality of the immigrant experience. Gradually, the story of the immigrant was substituted for a more “appealing” tale. While a filmmaker has a story to tell, he/she also has an obligation to produce a work that entertains the audience and makes a profit. In spite of any success and critical appraisal for these films, the shift in narrative and visual focus did not reconstruct the image of the immigrant or disprove any stereotypes. The sampled works have the potential to alter popular opinion and make a social change in the reception of immigrants, yet the films do not directly advocate for change. These films more serve as a reflection of the situations immigrants encounter and not a proclamation to change these situations. It was concluded that artists have the ability to be activists; however, artists are not activists.The study exposes the challenge of an artist: to stay true to the details of a controversial topic while entertaining audiences. The observations made serve as an introduction into the complex relationship between the artist, art, and the spectator.

Joelle Danz Harm Reduction: The Influence of Law Enforcement, Education, and Needle Exchange Programs Joelle Danz, Emory University I have done a limited literature review on harm reduction, focusing on the influence of law enforcement, education, and Needle Exchange Programs. I looked at how the United States and other countries use law enforcement, and how it can tie in with harm reduction. For education, I found that current drug education tends to be propaganda, and improvement is vital for successful harm reduction. I also looked at regions with current Needle Exchange Programs and the accomplishments or challenges they have been having. By no means is this a comprehensive review on all the harm reduction literature; it is a vast field, and I have chosen to focus on only these three topics.

Nandini Doshi Intergenerational olfactory sensitivity in a mouse model Nandini Doshi, Emory University; Brian Dias, PhD Emory University Abstract not available.

Ravi Doshi Long Term Hearing Loss Outcome in a Patient with Biotinidase Deficiency Ravi Doshi, Emory University College of Arts and Sciences; Kavita Dedhia, MD Emory University School of Medicine INTRODUCTION: Biotinidase deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder.

Approximately 75% of cases are associated with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).

OBJECTIVES: To describe the long-term pattern of SNHL from infantile biotinidase deficiency in a pediatric patient and review the existing literature on biotinidase deficiency and hearing loss.

METHODS: Case report with literature review.

RESULTS: An 18 year old male diagnosed with biotinidase deficiency at 18 months of age. He was later identified to have SNHL at age 5. He presented with bilateral symmetric downward sloping mild to severe SNHL. His hearing has been stable on audiograms documented from 2011 to 2016. No other etiology for hearing loss was identified. The patient has been compliant in taking biotin supplements since diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS: There are few studies discussing long-term hearing loss outcomes in patients with biotinidase deficiency. We present a patient with a 5 year follow up showing stable hearing loss, which is the longest reported in the literature.

Katie Duval Searching for antagonists of the transcriptional activating function of H2A.Z in Arabidopsis thaliana Katie Duval, Shannon Torres, Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology in the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University; Roger Deal, Department of Biology, Emory University Chromatin modification is critical for the regulation of gene transcription. In Arabidopsis thaliana, proper transcription of the Flowering Locus C (FLC) gene has been shown to require the histone variant H2A.Z. H2A.Z is conserved in all eukaryotes and has been shown to be critical in stress response and to be misregulated in cancers. Incorporation of H2A.Z into nucleosomes regulates gene expression, sometimes activating and other times repressing it. However, this dual-sided nature of H2A.Z is not well characterized. This project utilized a genetic suppressor screen to identify proteins that make H2A.Z necessary for transcription activation. Mutants lacking the Arp6 protein, a protein required for incorporating H2A.Z into chromatin1, were mutagenized to find suppressor mutations that overcome the need for H2A.Z in FLC transcription. One such mutation, eoa2, has been identified to restore FLC expression and wild-type flowering times.

This project aims to discover the identity of this EOA2 gene by introducing candidate genes into arp6/eoa2 mutant plants and determining if each one restores flowering time and FLC levels to that of arp6 plants. The most promising candidate in our screen, BLISTER (BLI), has been found to associate with the polycomb repressive complex, which has also been shown to regulate FLC2. Identification of the EOA2 gene will shed light on how the universally conserved H2A.Z protein promotes transcription.

Kristen Eichamer Time Period Parasites Have to Successfully Invade Danaus plexippus Larvae Wen Hao Tan and Jacobus de Roode Abstract not available.

Paula Fernandez Begne Determining the lethal and direct/sexually transmitted effects of pyriproxyfen on adult Aedes albopictus Paula Fernandez Begne, Amanda Vicente, Gonzalo Vazquez Prokopec The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is an anthropophilic invasive mosquito species that is a vector for many medically relevant viruses including dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Due to these viruses’ lack of vaccines and difficulty of treatment, controlling disease transmission has relied mostly on vector control (Devine, 2016). Pyriproxyfen (PPF) is a juvenile hormone analogue that acts as a pesticide by mimicking insect growth regulators and preventing metamorphosis and eventual adult emergence. Although PPF has typically been used as a larvicide, it has been shown that topical exposure of adult female Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus to PPF has sterilizing properties (Mbare, 2014). More interestingly, it has also been reported that male insects can transfer PPF to females via mating (Kawada, 1992). To determine whether this is feasible with Aedes albopictus populations, we aimed to determine the lethality and direct/sexually-transmitted sterilizing effects of PPF exposure on male and female adult Aedes albopictus. To do this, we first provided groups of male and female mosquitos with feeding stations that were contaminated with increasing PPF concentrations or with a control solution and observed survivorship to determine LC50. We also observed reproductive parameters, including the number of eggs laid per female in a week post-mating/blood-feeding and hatchability of the eggs laid.

Taylor Forte SEIR Model To Evaluate the Epidemiological Effects of Supersusceptibility in M.tuberulosis Taylor Forte, Emory University; James Moore, PhD, Emory University; Rustom Antia, Emory University Tuberculosis is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that can be spread from person to person through the air when an infected individual coughs or speaks, and people nearby inhale the bacteria. Tuberculosis is extremely prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as parts of India, Russia, and China. Currently there is a lot of research surrounding Tuberculosis due to an interesting phenomenon in which there is a high risk of reinfection with Tuberculosis soon after a patient is treated and cured of an initial disease episode. Although the exact cause of this is unknown, it is hypothesized that this phenomenon could be due to immunosuppression of the heavy drug regiments used to treat Tuberculosis, the fact that the areas where this has been observed have naturally high rates of Tuberculosis infection, or that these people have some genetic components that make them predisposed to be more at risk for infection, or a combination of the above factors. In this model we seek to modify a basic SEIR model to integrate this hyper-susceptible population in order to create simulations of populations affected by Tuberculosis and observe the epidemiological effects on the predicted progress of the disease and the most effective method and level of treatment.

Karly Hampshire Stereospecific Effects of MDMA on Neuronal Oxytocin Activity and Oxytocin-Related Behavior Karly Hampshire, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; Daniel Curry, PhD, Emory University; Leonard Howell, PhD, Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases, Yerkes National Primate Research Center 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a psychoactive drug that has many observable pro-social effects and potentially therapeutic effects, including increased sociability, increased empathy, and facilitation of fear extinction. It is currently under investigation as a treatment for PTSD and autism. Previous studies have reported that MDMA increases release of the neuropeptide oxytocin, a critical regulator of many social behaviors. Its release has been proposed as a mechanism for the pro-social effects of MDMA. MDMA is a racemic mixture of two enantiomers, S+ and R- that have distinct physiological and behavioral effects. We hypothesize that some of these differences may be due to stereospecific activation of oxytocin.

To determine if differential activation of oxytocin neurons might account for the distinct prosocial effects of MDMA’s enantiomers, we used immunofluorescence to quantify cFos-active oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) following treatment with MDMA and its enantiomers in mice. To determine if oxytocin was necessary for observed prosocial behavioral effects, we administered a selective oxytocin antagonist before treatment with MDMA and, later, a social interaction test. Data from immunohistochemistry indicates that R- and racemic MDMA significantly increase oxytocin neuronal activation, while S+ MDMA does not. The social behavior data parallels these results, suggesting that stereospecific social behavior is related to oxytocin activation. However, administration of OTA attenuated, but did not fully block, MDMAinduced social behavior. Therefore, while oxytocin may be an important mediator of MDMA’s effects, it is not necessary for all MDMA-induced social behaviors and is not sufficient for the therapeutic effects of MDMA.

Jocelyn Hong The Development and Evaluation of an Intersectional Sexual Violence Curriculum Jocelyn Hong, Sociology Honors Student, Emory University; Kathleen Krause, PhD Candidate, Rollins School of Public Health; Wanda Swan, MA, Director of the Emory University Respect Program The present pilot program evaluation sought to determine whether there was a change in pretest and posttest scores for participants of SAPA 201 as well as to determine what aspects of the SAPA 201 curriculum needed to be improved or altered. It was hypothesized that there would be an increase in posttest versus pretest scores amongst participants and that there would be a greater change in pretest and posttest scores for participants who had not been SAPA 101 trained prior to SAPA 201 training versus those who had been SAPA 101 trained prior to SAPA 201 training. Eleven college undergraduate students were recruited to participate in the SAPA 201 curriculum and to take a pretest and posttest questionnaire asking their demographic information as well as their confidence levels of their knowledge, skills, and abilities related to racism, sexual violence, allyship, and intersectionality in two time periods, the 1800s-1960s, and the 1960s-present. Additionally, participants completed a posttest free-response section where they provided feedback, thoughts, and suggestions regarding the SAPA 201 curriculum. The analysis provided support for the original hypothesis that there would be an increase in posttest

scores compared to pretest scores, but due to the small sampling size, no definitive conclusions could be drawn about significance.

Allison Irwin Effect of BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism on Sensory Neuron Regeneration Allison Irwin, Emory University; Claire McGregor, Art English, PhD, University of Illinois Peripheral nerve injuries, usually a result of a trauma, cause a loss of motor and sensory function. Full recovery from these injuries is scarce, as very few nerves fully regenerate.

Enhancing peripheral nerve regeneration is crucial to improving functional recovery after nerve injury. Activity-dependent treatments, such as electrical stimulation and exercise, which activate the injured neurons, enhance regeneration after injury. Neuronal brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is required for the efficacy of these treatments. However, roughly a third of Americans have a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the BDNF gene, which results in the replacement of a single amino acid (valine to methionine at position 66, or val66met). In val66met subjects with the SNP there is decreased activity-dependent release of BDNF. We hypothesized that in mice expressing the val66met BDNF SNP, activity-dependent treatments would not enhance nerve regeneration after injury. Mice expressing the val66met BDNF SNP underwent sciatic nerve transection and repair and were treated immediately with one hour of electrical stimulation. In wild type mice, this activity-dependent treatment results in an enhancement of regeneration of both sensory and motor axons. Four weeks later, the lateral gastrocnemius was injected with a retrograde tracer, which was taken up by sensory axons that had regenerated successfully and reinnervated the muscle, and marked the cell bodies of sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia. The L4 dorsal root ganglia were collected and the cell bodies of fluorescent neurons were counted. Comparisons were made between val66met mice that had been stimulated and unstimulated controls.

Migyeong Jang Exploring Near-Nativeness in Second-Language English Speakers Migyeong Jang, Emory University Near-nativeness is a concept applicable to a highly proficient second-language (L2) speaker who is nearly indistinguishable from native (L1) speakers. In this study, L1 and L2 English speakers’ performances in an oral production task and a Grammaticality Judgment Test (GJT) were examined, respectively aiming to assess proficiency in spoken communication and internal knowledge of English grammar. By gauging two possible close correlates of near-nativeness, the study strove to explore the concept and its implications. A positive yet imperfect significant correlation was found between the performances in the oral production task and the GJT, leading to the conclusion that GJT can be a useful measure of linguistic competence in nearnative research. The results also showed that the mean scores of L1 speakers were significantly higher than that of L2 speakers in both the GJT and the oral production task. This finding is in favor of the idea that there is a meaningful difference in language use between L1 speakers and highly proficient L2 speakers. Acknowledging such differences can lead L2 learners to set more realistic and thus more appropriate goals of language learning.

Elliot Ji Strategic Use of Censorship and Anti-Corruption Campaign in China under Reformist and Hardline Rulers Shuwei [Elliot] Ji, Emory University Having a single-party authoritarian regime with state-sponsored media and the Great Firewall, China’s political environment is nothing less than a black box for the outside world. This project involves discovering how political censorship on public discourse and anti-corruption campaign in China is being used strategically based on the political need and ideological preference (i.e. reformist or hardliner) of the incumbent president to serve his overall political agenda. The first phase involves a series of macroanalysis of texts and internet searches since China’s reformist president Jiang Zemin assumed office. The corpus is comprised of all printed materials written in simplified Chinese collected by Google Ngram and internet search entries collected by the scraper of the most popular search engine in China named Baidu Index. The second phase employs microanalysis to look for patterns in the CPC’s nation-wide announcements and meeting transcripts that reflect the strategic use of anti-corruption campaign intended to achieve certain political end deemed desirable by the sitting president. An analysis on the association between the sitting president’s overall policy agenda and the strength of political censorship and anti-corruption campaigns suggests that the sitting president tends to utilize these tools to strategically realize political goals (e.g. winning international recognition or eliminating political dissenters in the party) that fit his agenda rather than simply aiming at brainwashing his fellow citizens. The study will contribute to further research on China’s political environment.

Samika Joshi Effects of IGF1R/FAK pathway inhibition on metastatic TNBC cell angiogenesis and clonogenecity Samika Joshi, Fangyi Lin, Soumya Mandava, Jenny Choi (Oxford College of Emory University) Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly metastatic disease that accounts for 20% of all breast cancer cases, have high recurrence rates, and poor overall survival rates. Presently, there are no target-specific therapies to treat TNBC. Hence, it is important to identify novel therapeutic treatments in order to reduce the dismal mortality rates for this breast cancer subtype. Crosstalk between IGF1R and FAK increases cell motility, invasion and regulates EMT in TNBC cells, all processes that contribute to metastatic potential. Angiogenesis and clonogenicity are processes which are also essential for cancer cell metastasis. In the current study, we investigated the effects of IGF1R and FAK inhibition on clonogenicity and angiogenesis in metastatic TNBC cell lines. Angiogenesis assays were used to determine the effects of IGF1R/FAK pathway inhibition on blood vessel formation in metastatic TNBC cell lines. Colony formation assays were performed to examine the effect of inhibition of the IGF1R/FAK pathway on clonogenecity. Both angiogenic potential and clonogenic survival were reduced in response to decreased expression of IGF1R and FAK. These data suggest that IGF1R and FAK pathways may play an important role in facilitating angiogenesis and clonogenecity in TNBC lines.

Michelle Kagei Pediatric vaccination in rural Udaipur, India: The impact of agency, local perceptions, and social determinants of health on maternal health-seeking behaviors and current coverage Though under-five mortality due to vaccine-preventable diseases in India has sharply decreased over the years, low immunization coverage still burdens many rural, remote regions. Coverage in rural Udaipur is particularly low – nearly half that of national full immunization rates.The aims of this study were to determine the current state of coverage and knowledge and to illuminate how local agency and perceptions of immunization influence the spectrum of maternal healthseeking behaviors in rural Udaipur district. Data were collected in conjunction with Seva Mandir, a non-governmental organization serving rural and tribal communities through developmental programs. In five Seva Mandir villages (two health intervention; one non-health intervention) and three non-intervention villages, thirty-three mothers with children between the ages of nine months and five years were interviewed about their health-seeking behaviors, experiences with immunization, and basic demographics. The worst vaccine knowledge and coverage was observed in non-health intervention villages. Though there was a relatively high level of general immunization awareness, very few mothers could name any vaccines or vaccine-preventable diseases. Even though mothers reported satisfaction with government services, interviews revealed that health workers provided very little information, suggestive of a paternalistic patient-provider relationship. With no inhibitory community beliefs or fear of side effects, the phenomenon of passive acceptance observed in these communities indicates a large clinical gap in communication. Future study must address factors that contribute to passive acceptance of immunization in these communities, including imbalances in the patient-provider relationship and the lack of agency that this brings about.

Dennis Kamara Alzheimer’s Disease and Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy: Does Race Matter?

Dennis Kamara, Emory College; Lary Walker, PhD, Emory School of Medicine African Americans are disproportionately affected by vascular dementia compared to white Americans (Tang et al, 1998), suggesting that the risk factors for dementia may not be uniform among various racial groups. Because some risk factors are modifiable – such as diet and physical activity – it is important to determine whether changes in the brain that are linked to dementia are different in different racial and ethnic groups, which often have different social and cultural norms. Wilkins et al. (2006) noted that, in a small cohort of autopsied AD cases, cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) tended to be more common among African Americans than among white Americans, but this difference was not statistically significant. Thus, vascular conditions may impact the prevalence and course of dementia in African Americans, but additional analysis of a larger number of subjects is needed. This study aimed to determine whether differences exist in vascular Aβ deposition between blacks and whites, hypothesizing that African Americans with end-stage AD will have more CAA than a similar cohort of white Americans.

Kristina Kennedy Acquisition of Negation: Semantic Contexts of Development and Grammar in Children Sophia Skokanic, Rosie Redgrave, Belinda Chung This study focuses on the acquisition of negation in American-English speaking children.

Previous research has shown that there are multiple semantic categories for negation: rejection, disappearance, unfilled expectations, truth-functional, and self-prohibition (Hiltz 2010). This research aims to investigate children’s stages of developing negation in each of these contexts.

Two longitudinal studies from the CHILDES database were gathered and analyzed using CLAN (Kuzaj, 1977; Sachs 1983). This was done to assess the development of negation, specifically the use of “not” over time and the context in which it appears. Our analysis of the corpora showed that children tend to use negations more frequently in different semantic contexts with varied auxiliary verbs as they age. Between the ages of two and four, children begin to work on the grammar of negation as they change the position of “not” from the beginning to the middle of a sentence, between the subject and object. Thus, as children grow older, they acquire a broader range of semantic contexts in which to use the grammar of negation, as well as improve the use of negation by contraction with auxiliary verbs and the position of the negation in the sentence.

Sarah Kesaria Autobiographical memory retrieval of action and scene words using fMRI data analysis Dr. Stephan Hamman, Charles Ferris Autobiographical memory retrieval is a process that recruits a diverse network of regions throughout the brain. During autobiographical memory retrieval cortex is typically recruited to generate mental imagery, and in the simulation of action. Prior studies have identified brain regions involved in spontaneous visual mental imagery as well as distinct regions associated with mental simulation of action. Our aim was to determine whether content rich narrative autobiographical memories retrieved naturalistically during fMRI scanning would recruit the same cortex as tasks in which these behaviors are intentionally elicited. The current study utilizes spoken memories retrieved concurrently during fMRI scanning via a paradigm that minimized head movement through the use of active noise cancelation software and participant training. Narratives were then analyzed to extract the scene and action content words. Neural activity correlated with actions words is predicted to be significantly increased in the supplementary motor area. Neural activity correlated with scene words is predicted to be significantly increased in the parahippocampal place area. Preliminary results from 16 participants are encouraging, but highlight methodological improvements which can be made to optimize the paradigm for this purpose.

Shoeb Lallani Neuropathology of Striatal Interneurons in Transgenic Nonhuman Primate Models of Huntington’s Disease

Shoeb Lallani, Emory University; Rosa M. Villalba, PhD, Emory University; Antony W.S. Chan, Emory University Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterized by ataxia, cognitive impairment, and psychiatric disturbances. The genetic cause of HD is an expansion of a cysteine-adenine-guanine (CAG) trinucleotide repeat in exon one of the human huntingtin (HTT) gene, which leads to a poly-glutamine (poly-Q) expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) protein. The poly-Q expansion results in production and accumulation of polyglutamine aggregates and leads to regional-specific brain atrophy in the striatum and cortex. This atrophy is due mainly to the loss of striatal projection neurons, while interneurons are relatively spared. To better understand the progressive mechanism of HD and the development of therapeutic agents against HD, an animal model that can recapitulate human conditions including neuropathology and progressive clinical manifestation is important to advance our knowledge about HD. Because of close physiological, neurological, and genetic similarities between humans and nonhuman primates (NHPs), monkeys can serve as valuable models for understanding the underlying mechanism of HD. Our lab has developed a transgenic NHP model of human HD that exhibits progressive clinical manifestation similar to human HD patients. In this project, we performed in-depth stereological analysis on wild-type (WT) and HD-NHPs to evaluate the total number and density of calretinin (CR), parvalbumin (PV), and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-positive striatal interneurons. Our results show striatal atrophy and tendency of interneurons to be spared, which is consistent with studies in HD patients. This study provides further support of our HD-NHP model and its potential to serve as a preclinical animal model of HD.

Julie Lin The evolution of virulence in a natural parasite of Caenorhabditis elegans Julie Lin, Amanda Kyle Gibson, Emory University Department of Biology; Jaap de Roode, Emory University Department of Biology; Levi Morran, Emory University Department of Biology The evolution of parasite virulence has extensive implications in disease, medicine, and public health. Here, we define virulence as the harm that a parasite does to its host. The transmissionvirulence trade-off hypothesis is the main model for virulence evolution. It assumes that virulence and transmission are positively correlated: increased virulence corresponds to increased replication in the host and thus an increased transmission rate. However, a trade-off exists: increasing virulence also incurs a cost of higher host mortality, such that hosts may die before they can transmit the parasite. Conversely, low virulence allows for a prolonged duration of infection, but the rate of transmission is very low. Therefore, the model predicts that parasites will achieve the highest fitness, or lifetime transmission, at an intermediate level of virulence.

We will test this major evolutionary hypothesis using the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and its microsporidian parasite Nematocida parisii. Microsporidians are eukaryotic parasites closely related to fungi, and several species are known to infect humans. Nematocida parisii infects the intestinal cells of C. elegans and transmits itself horizontally through the production of spores. We will expose C. elegans to thirteen strains of N. parisii and measure virulence by observing the lifespan of infected hosts. We will measure parasite fitness by the number of secondary infections caused by one infected host. The trade-off hypothesis predicts that strains with intermediate mortality will have the highest fitness. By understanding how virulence evolves, we can design future interventions that select for lower virulence in human parasites.

Pai Liu SRPK2 phosphorylation of AEP in Alzheimer’s Disease Pai Liu, Zhihao Wang, Xia Liu, Keqiang Ye Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease affecting roughly 10-30% of the population aged above 65. One of the hallmarks of many neurodegenerative diseases, especially AD, is the neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) made of truncated and hyperphosphorylated tau. Interestingly, previous studies show that serine-arginine protein kinase 2 (SRPK2) and asparagine endopeptidase (AEP) are implicated in tau phosphorylation and cleavage, respectively. Our lab has found that the activity of SRPK2 was greatly increased in the brain of APP/PS1 mice. Recently, SRPK2 is found to phosphorylate tau at S214 in Alzheimer’s Disease mice and patients. It is possible that SRPK2 triggers tau to aggregate, which contributes to AD onset. AEP can directly cleave tau at N255 and N368 independent of caspases or calpains and produces neurotoxic fragments (Zhang et al., 2015). Recently, our lab found that SRPK2 directly phosphorylates AEP on S266 in vitro, so we hypothesize that SRPK2 can phosphorylate AEP to increase its enzymatic activity in vivo, which leads to elevated APP and Tau cleavage and AD pathogenesis. Our main hypothesis is that SRPK2 phosphorylates AEP and increases its cleavage and enzymatic activity, leading to higher concentration and re-distribution of P-S226 in cytosol. In order to contribute to the long-term understanding of AD pathogenesis and the relationship between SRPK2 and AEP, this project is to examine the enzymatic activity of PS226 (phosphorylated AEP) in lysosomes, nuclei, and cytosol in Abeta-treated neurons using methods such as Immunofluorescence, Subcellular fraction, and Western blot analysis.

Adriana Miljanic Investigating sampling effects in plant – pollinator network structure Andriana Miljanic, Emily Dobbs, Connor Morozumi, Berry Brosi, PhD Pollination networks are representations of the connections between plant and pollinator species, and these networks have highly consistent structure that is apparently consistent irrespective of the species involved, the ecosystem, or the geographic area. A key feature of this structure is “nestedness” which is related to the specialization within networks. In nested networks, more-specialized plants interact with a subset of the same pollinator species that more-generalized plants interact with, and the same pattern holds for specialist and generalist pollinators as well. However, a key gap in our understanding of nestedness in natural systems is if this pattern of nestedness is due to sampling effects. We sampled plant and pollinator abundances independently of visitation networks. We will compare these visitation networks with a “null model” of visitation based only on the abundances of plants and pollinators.

Tongjia Mou The potential role of FGFR-TACC3 fusion protein on HPV positive cancer cells

Georgia Z Chen, PHD, Winship Cancer Institute Dongsheng Wang PhD, Winship Cancer Institute Abstract not available.

Meagan Naraine Nuclear Factor-kB mediates Zinc Deficiency-Induced NCC Upregulation in Mouse Distal Convoluted Tubular Cells Meagan K. Naraine, Emory University; Mirandy S. Li, BS, Emory University; Jasmine Williams, Emory University; Monisha Mistry, Emory University; Robert S. Hoover, MD, Emory University, Atlanta VA; Clintoria R. Williams, PhD, Emory University, Atlanta VA Zn2+ deficiency (ZnD), a common disorder in chronic kidney disease, contributes to hypertension. However, the mechanism is unknown. The Sodium Chloride Cotransporter (NCC) plays a critical role in blood pressure homeostasis. Recently, our lab found that ZnD leads to hyperactivation of NCC that was reversed with Zn2+ supplementation, suggesting a novel mechanism by which ZnD contributes to hypertension. Other studies have shown that Nuclear Factor-kB (NFkB) is activated in ZnD. The purpose of this study was to determine the role NFkB plays in ZnD-induced NCC upregulation. We hypothesized that ZnD activates NFkB, which leads to an upregulation of NCC. To investigate this, mouse distal convoluted tubular (mDCT15) cells were treated with the pharmacological agent Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a NFkB inhibitor, for 24 hours prior to inducing ZnD with the Zn2+ chelator TPEN for 24 additional hours. The findings show that NFkB inhibition prevented ZnD-induced NCC increases in mRNA and protein expression, using qRT-PCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence techniques.

Future studies will further investigate the role of NFkB in NCC regulation. Specifically, we will examine the effects of ZnD on (a)NFkB activation via phosphorylation and nuclear translocation using Western blot techniques and (b)NCC activation via phosphorylation, surface localization, and activity using Western blot, biotinylation, immunofluorescence, and thiazide-sensitive Na+ uptake techniques. We hypothesize that these findings will show that NFkB inhibition prevents ZnD-induced increases in NFkB and NCC activation. Understanding the mechanisms by which ZnD contributes to hypertension may have an important impact on the treatment of blood pressure dysregulation.

Andrea Ochoa Lozano Moda, Vida, ou GĂŞnero?

Portugal, at the turn of the 20th century, with the appearance of a significant increase in the presence of women in the labor market, the government of the time ideologically and politically called for the return of women to their traditional roles as mothers, wives and housewives.

Salazar's first and most salient sexual policy and reflection of personal attitude was the 1933 Constitution, which legitimized a dictatorial apprehension of Salazar's power. The Constitution announced the equality of treatment of all citizens by law and, as a result, "denial of any privilege of birth, nobility, noble title, sex or social status" (Art.5). However, in the following sentences of the constitutional text it was quickly clarified that the affirmation of social equality in the Portuguese society had to be made with caution and taking into account "the differences resulting from its nature and the good of the family" (Article 5). Salazarism denied women full legitimate equality with men. To a certain extent, women had enjoyed more equality during the previous liberal period, however, Salazar believed that women embodied a "feminine nature," which was more suited to specific social roles in particular, motherhood and marriage. My purpose is to analyze some magazines published during the time of Salazar's government to find any influence of his political discourse on feminine roles in everyday life.

Olubusola Osunsany Analysis of the Correlation between Fatigue and Hemoglobin Levels in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Olubusola Osunsanya, Emory University Department of Biology; Canhua Xiao, PhD, RN, Emory University School of Nursing Abstract not available.

Elsa Pantoja GarcĂ­a Speech Error Patterns: Understanding Linguistic Patterns in English-Spanish Bilinguals Elsa Pantoja GarcĂ­a, Undergraduate Emory University This study examines the frequency of lab-induced errors in English-Spanish bilinguals. Previous research has shown that English monolinguals are more likely to produce a speech error in word initial consonants and had shown a lexical bias effect; meaning speech errors that produced words were more likely to be produced than non-words; however, Spanish monolinguals did not show this pattern. Lists containing six word pairings and target phrase were shown for 0.9 seconds with 0.1 second interlude. Participants were required say the last pair seen when indicated by the signal. A questionnaire was used to examine the bilingual background of participants. The study found that bilingual individuals produce speech errors at rates less than English monolinguals, and have characteristics of speech errors produced by both English monolinguals and Spanish monolinguals. This study supports the theory that both languages are always active and interact with one another. It may also give insight as to whether bilinguals have a better grasp of language as whole in which they are less likely to make mistakes.

Shloka Parvatrao Considering Impacts of Gender and Trauma History on Personal Growth and Forgiveness Shloka Parvatrao; Jordan A. Booker, PhD; Robyn Fivush, PhD. Individuals who experience more traumatic experiences may tend to remain enmeshed in past hurts and generally be resistant to finding closure and growth from past challenges. This study considered the ties between trauma history, displays of narrative growth in discussing a personal challenge, and reports of motivations to forgive past transgressors (people who hurt the individual). We considered the direct ties among these variables, as well as differences in the ties between growth and forgiveness based on gender. College students were recruited for an online study in which they wrote open-ended narratives of a past negative setback or challenge. These narratives were coded for displays of personal growth and self-discovery versus enmeshment and an inability to move on from the event. Participants also provided a tally of witnessed and experienced traumatic events (e.g., abrupt loss of a loved one; physical assault; etc.). Lastly, participants reported on three motivational dimensions of forgiveness: motivations to avoid a transgressor; motivations for revenge toward a transgressor; and motivations to show benevolence toward a transgressor. Surprisingly, trauma history was not associated with narrative growth or forgiveness motivations. However, displays of growth were negatively associated with motivations to avoid transgressors. Gender influenced the ties between growth and motivations for revenge. Men who showed less growth tended to report higher motivations for revenge, whereas women reported lower revenge motivation regardless of growth. Findings support the importance of meaning-making that involves constructively moving forward from past challenges and hurts.

Akshar Patel Clinical outcomes after atrial fibrillation ablation using the hybrid convergent technique.

Abstract not available.

Joshua Perlin Lifespan Goals and Agency-Communion: The Effect of Goal Motivation on Well-Being Joshua Perlin, Emory University; Jordan Booker, PhD Emory University; Agency and communion are two motivations with ties to well-being that are used to describe identity. This study assessed profiles of agency and communion in the context of narrated lifespan goals. We hypothesized that individuals high in both agency and communion would have the highest scores of well-being, whereas those low in both would have the lowest scores.

However, our investigation was also exploratory insofar as we did not know which dimensions of well-being would significantly differ between profiles and whether joint effects would be supported between motivations. In other words, if individuals higher in both motivations rated higher on measures of well-being, would that be a function of their high agency, high communion, or an interaction between the two? Community adults (18-24 years) were recruited into the study. Participants provided open-ended narratives of lifespan goals and completed self-reports about well-being. Lifespan goals were then coded by independent research teams on a 0-3 scale for agency (e.g, self-focused, achievement-oriented) and communion (e.g., otherfocused, empathic). We examined the relationship between these goal dispositions and varying dimensions of well-being based on Ryff’s (1995) Scales of Psychological Well-Being. Four motivational profiles emerged: High Agency Low Communion (HALC), Low Agency High Communion (LAHC), Low Agency Low Communion (LALC), and High Agency High Communion (HAHC). Out of six dimensions of well-being, mean-level differences existed among motivational profiles for autonomy, personal growth, and sense of purpose. HAHC profiles had the highest well-being scores, whereas LALC had the lowest. Joint effects between motivations were not supported.

Stephanie Pintas Energy Expenditure and Substrate Oxidation in Clinically-Stable Adults with Cystic Fibrosis Stephanie K. Pintas; Elizabeth A. Ivie; Erin C. Millson, MS, RDN, LD; Arlene A. Stecenko, MD; Thomas R. Ziegler, MD; Jessica A. Alvarez, RD, PhD Undernutrition is common in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF); however, most studies have focused on pediatric CF populations. The aim of this study was to examine resting energy expenditure (REE) and substrate oxidation rates of clinically stable adults with CF compared to healthy controls (HC). Based on the literature that REE is elevated and fat oxidation rates are lower in CF children, we hypothesized that REE would be higher and whole-body fat oxidation would be lower in adults with CF versus HC. We studied 21 clinically-stable adults with CF and 23 healthy subjects matched to CF subjects for age, body mass index (BMI), sex and race. REE was determined by indirect calorimetry (IC) and also estimated with the Harris-Benedict prediction equation in the fasted state. Carbohydrate and fat oxidation rates were assessed using several published stoichiometric equations. Lean body mass was measured using dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry. REE as a function of kg body weight and lean body mass was higher in adults with CF compared to HC. This likely reflects the higher metabolic demands associated with lung infection and inflammation in CF subjects. The Harris Benedict prediction equation more accurately predicted measured REE in CF subjects. There was no significant difference between fat or carbohydrate oxidation rates, however there was a trend towards higher fat oxidation in individuals with CF. Further study with larger sample sizes are required to

determine potential differences between adults with CF and HC, the relationship to lung dysfunction, and the nutritional implications of these findings.

Joshua Pughe Sanford Properties of Quantum Walks within Various One Dimensional Media Joshua Pughe Sanford Recent work has shown that the canonical interpretation of Renormalization Group (RG) analysis on the quantum ultra walk produces incorrect results for determining the walk dimension, which describes the long term scaling of the system. Motivated by this inconsistency, we develop two numerical methods for approximating the walk dimension for 1D quantum walks. First, we approximate the walk dimension using the Nth moment of position in the large N limit. Then, we reproduce the walk dimension through envelope collapse. These methods are used to compare the quantum ultra walk to its classical analog, the persistent random walk.

These methodologies are then extended to the quantum random walk, as well as various walks with three chiral states, including the Grover walk, the cyclic Grover Walk, and the hierarchical Grover walk, all of which provide insight into the efficacy of our numerical methods as well as impart some understanding of how lattice geometry affects the scaling of the walk. Though our analysis, it is found that both methods are widely applicable, yet become less accurate for walks with large coin variability. Finally, we discuss how these methods can be made more robust, and conclude that, from the results of our numerical methods, the canonical interpretation of the RG flow for the quantum ultra walk is indeed misguided.

Zhiyu Qian When Oncogene Meets Metabolism: BRAFV600E-specific Regulation of CSGLcA-T in Human Melanoma Zhiyu (Jason) Qian, Emory University; Ruiting Lin, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine; Jing Chen, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine Abstract not available.

Emma Reidy An Investigation of the Linguistic Properties of Emoji Emma Reidy, Marjorie Pak, Emory University Department of Linguistics Since their rise to popularity over recent years, claims have emerged that emoji constitute their own language, with no substantiation that they meet linguistic classification requirements. This study investigates whether emoji have become their own language, or whether they are simply pictorial representations of a previously established language. The study uses a two-part survey to determine the emoji usage habits of students on both individual and sentence levels through translation, both from emoji to English and vice versa. Word ordering and sentence organization are also analyzed. This is a presentation of ongoing research, and preliminary conclusions will be shared.

Branca Sanchez Dominican Middle Class Immigrant’s Neighborhood Selection: Is it a Mobilization Strategy or is it Influenced by Race?

Branca Sanchez, Irene Browne, PhD Dept. Of Sociology, Emory University; Belisa Gonzalez, Dept. of Sociology, Ithaca College; Katharine Tatum, Dept. of Sociology, Emory University Hispanics are currently the fastest growing population in the U.S. and it's therefore important that we understand their experiences. Scholars debate whether middle class Latino immigrants have “made it” and successfully assimilated into U.S institutions, or whether middle class Latino immigrants continue to experience racism that creates disadvantages. I address this debate by looking at residential decisions and experiences. We ask: Where and why do middle class Dominican immigrants choose where to live? We determine if neighborhood selection is a mobility or a racially influenced decision. We draw elements of our research from Welcher, PhD and her research on black middle class families and their residential choices in Atlanta. She found that respondents faces a dilemma: choose a black neighborhood - shield their children from discrimination, but have lower quality amenities or choose a white neighborhood –actively navigate discrimination, but acquire high quality amenities. I question if middle class Latino immigrants make a similar tradeoff. I attempt to answer these questions by interviewing 38 Dominican first generation middle class immigrants. Moreover, I focus my study on parents whom reside in metro Atlanta. My findings suggest that neighborhood selectivity is primarily a mobility decision. Unlike middle class African American parents, the middle class Dominican immigrants we interviewed rarely reported that issues of race or concerns with discrimination influenced their mobility decisions. Instead, they cited the importance of good schools and proximity to work, that is, “mobility” reasons. Interestingly, these decisions led respondents into different types of neighborhoods: predominantly-white or racially-mixed.

Katherine Schnitzer How We Eat Status Katherine Schnitzer Status is everywhere. Though it is most evident in education level, job placement, and overall wealth, status even extends to taste in food. Once status is introduced, people are encouraged to engage in status competition, stratifying society further, as access to cultural resources differs. Using data from a survey conducted on culinary tastes of Emory undergraduates, I examine the relationship between cultural capital and culinary taste to see how status divides us on something as quotidian as food. I use cultural capital as a measure of status linked through proxy measures of those surveyed, including their parents’ education (Aschaffenburg & Maas), as there is a positive association between the two (Bourdieu). Drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital, which is “external wealth converted into an integral part of the person [and] into a habitus,” I formulated my hypotheses. I expected to find that those who are of higher cultural capital would be more omnivorous (wide-ranging) in terms of culinary taste and that college students (n = 92) overall have a high level of cultural capital. Upon examination of the survey results, I conclude that cultural capital is a strong influencer in large varieties of culture, most notably proven by frequency of attendance at off-campus restaurants and pickiness.

Emily Siegel Pronoun Use in Narrative Storytelling Emily Siegel, Megan Peterson, Faith Freeman, Stacy Lee We compared children's use of pronouns in narrative storytelling across different age groups.

According to Campbell, children as young as 2.5 years old use pronouns as frequently as they use nouns and null references, and older children's use of pronouns is more accurate than that of younger children (Matsuoka, 2016). In this study, we looked at the Slobin Frog Story corpus on the CHILDES website (Berman & Slobin, 1994) to analyze the pronoun production of participants ages 3, 4, 5, 9, and 20 years old in terms of their frequency, complexity, and accuracy (clear vs. unclear references). As we hypothesized, the frequency and complexity of pronouns increased with age while the amount of unclear references decreased. We also noticed that the participants’ use of the full referent itself increased with age. We came to the conclusion that this referent repetition indicated the development of theory of mind: because older children were able to fully assess their listener’s viewpoint, they repeated the full referent more often in order to make clear references. Older participants were able to evade reference ambiguity not only because of their increased linguistic knowledge (including knowledge of more complex pronoun forms), but also because of the development of theory of mind.

Jenani Srijeyanthan Effects of Comorbid Cannabis Use Disorder, Polysubstance Use Disorder, or no SUD on PTSD on Declarative Memory, Attention, and Emotion Recognition Jenani Srijeyanthan, Emory University; Negar Fani, PhD, Emory University; Raven Hardy, Emory University Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is clinically diagnosed when individuals are exposed to a traumatic event and experiences symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyperarousal. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD is predicted to be at 6.8%, while current prevalence is estimated at 3.5%. Substance Use Disorders (SUD) have been on the rise of comorbid diagnosis with PTSD, with studies estimating comorbid PTSD/Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in 51.9% of men and comorbid PTSD/drug SUD in about 34.5% of men (27.9% and 26.9% for women, respectively). One hypothesized explanation of this trend is the concept of selfmedication, in which individuals use recreational substances to provide psychiatric symptom relief. While PTSD is typically historically comorbid with AUD, there is a current phenomenon of PTSD/Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) in which the Veterans Administration cites comorbidity in about 25% of the veteran population. Neurobiological studies found that individuals with PTSD have lower levels of natural endocannabinoids within their brains. Additionally, the CB-1 receptor tract implicated with endocannabinoids runs along the same areas implicated in PTSD (amygdala, white matter tracts, hippocampus, and cortical areas). With the large amount of evidence supporting the role endocannabinoids have in the PTSD brain, as well as the effect comorbid SUD’s have on psychiatric diagnoses, it is important to study why this shift from alcohol to cannabis is occurring within PTSD patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine potential differences in declarative memory, attention, and emotion discrimination/recognition in PTSD patients with either CUD, Polysubstance Use Disorder (PSUD), or no SUD.

Bethanie Tabachnik The development of the ventral visual pathway in humans Bethanie Tabachnik, Frederik Kamps, Daniel Dilks, Emory University Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of adult humans have discovered a number of neural structures selectively responsive to complex visual stimuli, including faces, places, bodies, and everyday objects. Despite abundant work investigating these regions in adulthood, almost no work has investigated how this functionally specialized visual cortex gets wired up in development? Here we plan to explore the development of face-, place-, body-, and object-selective cortex using fMRI in children, beginning at age 5. Obtaining quality fMRI data from young children possess substantial challenges, namely, children have short attention spans and consequently are often not willing to spend enough time in the scanner, making it difficult to then collect the necessary amount of data. To meet this challenge, we have we have devised novel, highly engaging stimuli including movies of faces, places, bodies and objects (toys), which increases the amount of time children are willing to spend in the scanner, and thus the amount of data we are able to collect from each child. The maturity of each region will be investigated by comparing the size and selectivity of the region between children and adults.

Taken together, this work aims to provide the highest quality data to date on the development of the face-, place-, body-, and object-selective cortex to date, providing a powerful first look at the development of functionally specialized visual cortex in humans.

Danielle Trottier Experience, Identity, and Agency of Gay Male Erotic Dancers Danielle Trottier While the subject of women engaged in heterosexual sex work has been extensively discussed in academic literature, there is a lack of scholarship on male homosexual sex work. In this study, I examine the agency of gay male entertainers using the narratives of three erotic dancers from a prominent gay male strip club in Atlanta. I pose the question, How do gay male entertainers experience and understand their work, identity, and agency? The dancers featured vary in their experiences with and attitudes about the male entertainment industry, thus providing a range of perspectives. In contrast to previous scholarship positioning sex workers as either victims or empowered agents, I contend that both empowerment and oppression exist simultaneously.

Alina Ulezko Improving allogeneic bone marrow stem cell transplantation through the effect of FMSlike receptor tyrosine kinase 3 ligand on plasmacytoid dendritic cells Alina Ulezko, Emory University; Mojibade Hassan, Emory University; Edmund K. Waller, MD/PhD/FACP, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University Hematological malignancies can be cured with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Donor hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) can come from two sources: bone marrow (BM) or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilized peripheral blood (G-PB). Graft immune cell content affects transplant outcomes. A randomized multi-center clinical trial (BMTCTN 0201) showed better overall survival (OS), less graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) among recipients of donor BM grafts with more plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC), while the same effect was not seen among recipients of G-PB grafts. These clinical and other pre-clinical data indicate pDC from BM grafts are more effective than pDC from G-PB grafts in regulating post-transplant GvHD. We hypothesized that strategies to increase the content of pDC in a marrow graft would lead to better outcomes after allo-HSCT. We tested whether FMSlike receptor tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (Flt3L) administration to mice would increase the content of pDC in BM, and whether transplantation of Flt3L-stimulated BM (F-BM) would result in better transplant outcomes in a murine model of allo-HSCT. Flow cytometric analysis of F-BM versus unstimulated BM showed a 3-fold increase in BM pDC count. F-BM pDCs expressed significantly less CCR5, suggesting differences in homing, and less CD86, suggesting less effectiveness in activating T cells. When T-cell depleted BM/F-BM with none, 1, or 4 million T cells was administered to mice via allo-HSCT, recipients of F-BM had better early OS than recipients of BM alone, as well as less GvHD. These results suggest that donor treatment with Flt3L may improve clinical outcomes in allo-HSCT.

Simrun Uppal Effects of Visual Stimuli on Male Reproductive Performance in Transgenic Rhesus Monkeys Simrun Uppal, Carissa Hunter, Jessica Raper, Anthony Chan Huntington’s disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disease; it is characterized by a repeating trinucleotide sequence of letters in the DNA. Huntington’s has been found to affect the anterior pituitary by previous studies; affecting hormones in the subject, including testosterone.

The purpose of this study is to test the effects of visual stimuli on reproductive performance in male rhesus macaques affected by Huntington’s Disease. Our study aims to review differences in stimuli viewing, as well as changes in testosterone and semen motility.

Namrata Verghese Communion and Forgiveness Motivations in Narrative Namrata Verghese, Emory University; Jordan Booker, Ph.D, Emory University; Robyn Fivush, Ph.D, Emory University This study considered ties between communion and forgiveness motivations in women and men’s narrative recollections of interpersonal conflicts. Communion—typically expressed in language of intimacy and union—and forgiveness are both based in emphasizing positive, desirable aspects of interpersonal relationships (Moskowitz, Suh, & Desaulniers, 1994). Further, current findings indicate that women report greater motivations of relatedness and greater motivations to forgive others (Moskowitz et al., 1994; Miller, Worthington, & McDaniel, 2008).

Hence, we expected displays of communion from conflict narratives to be correlated with motivations to forgive and that women would report emphasize communion and forgiveness more than men. College students were recruited into an online study in which they provided two narratives of interpersonal conflict (one from the perspective of a transgressor; one from the perspective of a victim) and reported on motivations to forgive a transgressor. Findings did not support direct associations between communion and forgiveness. However, because women reported fewer antagonistic motivations of revenge-seeking and displayed more victimperspective communion, gender was considered as a moderating factor. In displays of communion from transgressor-perspective narratives, men who showed more communion also reported relatively less revenge-seeking. In displays of communion from victim-perspective narratives, men who displayed more communion tended to report greater motivations of benevolence toward others, whereas women reported higher levels of benevolence regardless of displayed communion. Findings reinforce the importance of positive responses to challenges in relationships.

Pasang Wangmo COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BIPOLAR ELECTROCAUTERY INDUCED INJURY IN A PORCINE NEUROSURGICAL MODEL Anil K Roy, MD, Nefize Turan, MD, Pasang Wangmo, BS, Louis Nkrumah, MD, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery; Stewart Neil, MD, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology; Gustavo Pradilla, MD, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery Introduction: Bipolar electrocautery is frequently used for hemostasis during neurosurgical procedures. Novel bipolar systems for port based access to deep brain lesions have been developed. The purpose of this study was to compare the extent of thermal injury induced by current bipolar systems with that of the newly developed system. Material/Methods: A 36.4Kg farm swine underwent bilateral craniectomies.The cortical surface was divided into three regions for surface electrocoagulation with three different bipolar system groups:TRIOwand (NICO corporation), Spetzler-Malis (Codman Neuro) and Silverglide (Stryker). Within each region,7 separate lesions were made by coagulating for three seconds over the cortical surface.The maximal depth of thermal injury and mean area of injury in Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained slides were quantified using ImageJ. Results:Depth of injury was significantly different among the groups (p<0.001).Depth of injury by the TRIOwand was lower than Spetzler-Malis (p<0.001) and Silverglide bipolar forceps (p=0.048). The Silverglide bipolar forceps showed significantly less depth of injury compared to Spetzler-Malis forceps (p<0.001). Area of injury

was found to be significantly different among the groups (p<0.001). The area of injury induced

by TRIOwand was significantly less than Spetzler-Malis group (p<0.001) and Silverglide group (p<0.001). Ischemic changes and vacuolization was seen in all three groups.

Conclusion:Thermal injury is induced to varying extents by all bipolar systems. In this porcine model, the change of bipolar design for port-based access did not appear to increase depth/area of injury when compared to conventional bipolar designs.Further studies would be required to evaluate their performance in real world hemorrhagic conditions.

Sierra Weiss Where Do Holocaust Euthanasia Practices Fit into the Modern Euthanasia Discussion While approximately 200,000 people with disabilities were murdered during the Holocaust, outside of Germany, this travesty is mostly left out of discussions about the Holocaust. The euthanasia program that made so many deaths possible is also left out of discussions about modern bioethical decisions about euthanasia and its modern descendant, abortion. Among the plethora of memorials, museums, narratives, literature, and memories about the Jewish experience of the Holocaust, it is unlikely to come across memorialization of the thousands of people with disabilities who were murdered at the same time without looking specifically for it, especially outside of Germany where memorialization of the T4 program is most common.

Through creating an archive of materials, memories, and information about the euthanasia program during the Holocaust, this project will bring forth a rich combination of memorialization.

Further, through comparison with the incredible thriving of the Jewish population in the years following the Holocaust, this project will create an understanding of the importance of memorialization and the effect on the descendants of a population that experienced severe discrimination and genocide. This project will uncover how the lack of memorialization of the people with disabilities who were killed during the Holocaust affects modern selected abortion of fetuses with disabilities and how it might have different if it followed a similar trope to the remembrance of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust by the modern Jewish population.

Aiden Williams Efficacy of Momordica charantia for the Mitigation of Postpartum Infection and Hemorrhage Aidan Williams, Department of Human Health, Emory University; Cassandra Quave, PhD, Center for the Study of Human Health, Department of Dermatology, Emory University School of Medicine; James Lyles, PhD, Center for the Study of Human Health, Emory University; Kate Nelson, Department of Dermatology, Emory University School of Medicine Extracts from bitter melon (Momordica charantia) have traditionally been used in Southeast Asia for numerous medical conditions, including acute infection, diabetes-related complications, and various uses with fertility. Although the bulk of documented information regarding bitter melon is related to antimicrobial efficacy, a neglected area of research is its use as an abortifacient. The combination of these two bioactivities can be used to mitigate postpartum infection and postpartum hemorrhage burdens, the leading causes of maternal mortality. This project will investigate the uterotonic efficacy of M. charantia and its action against Streptococcus pyogenes, a perpetrator in postpartum infection with the intention of simultaneously acting against hemorrhage and infection burdens during the postpartum period. The study is accomplished through classical pharmacognosy techniques, antibacterial MIC assays, and collagen gel uterine contractility assays.

Pamela Wong Determining the Effects of Myeloma-Derived Amino Acid Substitutions in the Functional Domain of Mcl-1 on Stress-Induced Apoptosis Pamela Wong, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; Lawrence Boise, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells. Myeloma cells retain many characteristics of normal plasma cells, and one of which is their dependence on Mcl-1, an anti-apoptotic protein in the Bcl-2 family of apoptotic regulators. Our study investigates whether amino acid substitutions in the functional region of Mcl-1 —L267V, V249L, N223S, R214Q—observed in some myeloma patients affect Mcl-1’s anti-apoptotic ability. We generated FL5.12 cells that stably over-express Wild Type(WT) Mcl-1 or mutant Mcl-1. By western blot analysis, real time, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and proteasome inhibition, we found that the L267V mutation destabilizes the Mcl-1 protein. We then subjected FL5.12 stable cell lines to IL-3 withdrawal, treatment with chemotherapy agents (Vincristine and Etoposide), and transient over-expression of Bim. We found that over-expression of WT Mcl-1 protects FL5.12 cells from IL-3 withdrawal only transiently and does not protect against Vincristine or Etoposide-induced apoptosis. When Bim is over-expressed transiently in FL5.12 stable cell lines, we found that over-expression of WT Mcl-1 can protect the cells. In contrast, over-expression of Mcl-1 V249L does not protect as well as WT Mcl-1; over-expression of Mcl-1 L267V cannot protect the cells at all, which is consistent with our findings that the L267V mutation destabilizes the protein. Follow up studies need to be done on why Mcl-1 over-expression can only protect against apoptosis induced from specific methods and the mechanism through which V249L decreases Mcl-1’s anti-apoptotic ability. Our findings will provide insights into why patients with such mutations fare better, which can inform treatment.

Sarah Ye A transgenic mouse model for studying spermatogenesis and genome instability Sarah Ye, Emory University; Poompui Punyawai, Department of Human Genetics, Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurological Diseases; Anthony Chan, Department of Human Genetics, Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurological Diseases Many neurodegenerative inherited diseases such as Kennedy’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxias, and Huntington’s disease are caused by trinucleotide repeat (TNR) mutations in coding genes. Studies have reported a correlation between higher expansion rate though paternal transmission and meiosis which suggests genome instability during spermatogenesis plays a role in disease transmission. Although germline expansions in trinucleotide disorders are well documented, the expansion mechanism is unknown. A working model system will be needed in order to further study TNR disorders and genome instability during spermatogenesis. This study aims to create a transgenic mouse model with a spectrum of fluorescent tags that are expressed in specific sperm cell types in the testicles (“Testi-bow mice). These “testi-bow” mice allow sperm cells to be identified at a specific stage of development which can be isolated and sorted for molecular analysis to determine the genome instability in specific types of sperm cells. “Testi-bow” mice will be characterized based on their specific transgene expression pattern in the sperm cells, and will be central in subsequent studies investigating genome instability and TNR expansion.

Julia Yu Defects of Myogenesis in a Mouse Model of Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy Yu, J1, Vest, KE2,3, Pavlath, GK3 and Corbett, AH2 1. College of Arts and Sciences, Emory University; 2. Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine; 3. Department of Pharmacology, Emory University School of Medicine Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a late onset disorder that causes progressive muscle atrophy in specific skeletal muscles in humans. Affected muscles include upper eyelid, pharyngeal, and proximal limb muscles, which causes drooping eyes, dysphagia, and loss of mobility. This disorder is caused by a dominant mutation in the gene that expresses polyadenylate-binding protein nuclear 1 (PABPN1) protein that causes an alanine expansion in the amino-terminus. Damaged muscle tissue can be regenerated through a process called myogenesis. Satellite cells are adult muscle stem cells that activate during muscle injury to differentiate and fuse into damaged myofibers to restore their function. In previous studies, the most common mouse model overexpressed mutant PABPN1, which do not genocopy OPMD patients. We use a new mouse model that expresses native levels of mutant PABPN1, more closely mirroring human OPMD patients. An abundance of satellite cells is usually found in the pharynx compared to other muscles. In previous experiments, a decrease in satellite cells was observed in mutant mice. Because the pharynx is affected by OPMD, satellite cell function may also be affected in OPMD. In vitro differentiation was tested using cells isolated from our mouse model. Results showed a decrease in satellite cell function in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. Real-time PCR data suggest differences in steady state levels of MyoD, eMyHC, and Acta1 in OPMD mice, which are biomarkers of myogenesis. A decrease in levels of Slc25a4, Vdac3, and Ddilt4l was observed, which are proteins involved in RNA processing.

Jessie Zhao A Brief Analysis of Brexit Jessie Zhao, Emory University I use the established Nelson–Siegel model (1987) to study the properties of interest rate term structure, focusing on three time-varying parameters – level, slope, and curvature – at different maturities for each yield in the United Kingdom, United States, and Euro-area countries. I show that these three factors used to forecast the term structure react sensitively to the Brexit timeline. Government interventions in regards to adjusting monetary policies and output and inflation targets are closely related to the change in the term structure. However, the effectiveness of these adjustments on the market is still unknown because it has only been three months since the referendum took place, and not enough analytical evidence is available in order to make firm statements. Instead, I propose and use the Nelson–Siegel model (1987) to compare and contrast the change in these three factors across time, and investigate the economic impacts on both households and firms in the post-Brexit period.

Chaojie Zhong A Study into Emoji Use in a Multi-Party Chat Chaojie Zhong, Emory University Emoji saw a large increase in popularity in recent years, which culminated in the selection of the Face with Tears of Joy as the first ever pictograph Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year in 2015.

Although there is a plethora of folk opinions on this social sensation, academic research on emoji in use is lacking, and the existing corpora do not place an emphasis on emoji. How do people use emoji? Is it simply a transparent and intuitive way of communicating emotion? As the inventory of emoji continues to grow and people continue to send it to each other, investigation into the nature and usage of emoji is warranted. This study aims to answer two questions: whether there is a consensus on the meaning of emoji, and how individuals adapt a potentially unclear system in daily communications without much confusion. A survey is administered to find out if there is any agreement on emoji, and an existing online chat group will be followed and observed to explore how emoji is used in reality. The results show that emoji is interpreted differently by individuals, but the sentiment perception of emoji is highly consistent. The partially conventionalized emoji is also used mostly in sentence final position similar to punctuation, suggesting the importance of context in meaning making of emoji.