Spring 2017 Undergraduate Research Symposium: April 18th

Undergraduate Research Symposium April 18th, 2017

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Presenter Name Mariamawit Abebe Abdulaziz Aldakhel Abdullah Al-Obaidi Deanna Altomara Amelia Anderson Jorge Arce Claire Barnes

Brian Bloom Shauna Bowes

Dylan Boye Rachel Brenner Zaphyr Brooks Jazmin Campos Ryan Chin Jessica Cifuentes Scott Clanton II Monica Corley Nathaniel Cox Lina Du Nia Dubon-Robinson Rema Elmostafa Ronnie Festok Divine Francis

Title of Presentation Targeting Neuroinflammatory Signaling Pathway to Block the Epileptogenic Effect of Early-Life Seizures The Volatility of Money: The Call Money Market and Monetary Policy Regime Change Modeling Huntington’s Disease using Astrocytes derived from a Transgenic HD Monkey’s Neural Progenitor Cells.

Caulobacter crescentus: how pilus retraction regulates bacteriophage infection Cytoplasmic sequestration of LSD1 by neurofibrullary tangles may contribute to neuronal cell death in Alzheimer’s Disease Preliminary Micelle Cluster Formation The Politics of Religious Exemptions in U.S. Federal Courts under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) The Politics of Religious Exemptions in U.S. Federal Courts Psychopathic Personality and Depression in Two Large Adult Community Samples: Can certain psychopathic traits protect against depressive features?

Surgical Teaching Tool Development with GoPro Camera Stuck in the Doldrums: A Study on Anhedonia and Mood Repair in Children of Depressed Moms Les Voix Des Femmes Du Congo Desmosome Composition and Localization in Stationary and Migrating Cells Glial Cell Reprogramming for Recovery of Ischemic Stroke in Neonatal Rats Photoelectron Velocity Map Imaging Spectroscopy of the Beryllium Sulfide Anion, BeS⁻ Microglial Androgen Receptor Knock-Out Mice Are Not Affected

by Therapy The Effects of Collaborative Governance on CommunityBuilding Initiatives A Longitudinal Study of the Psychological Development of Twin Pairs and Mental Health Care Patients Neuroprotection with allopregnanolone in the retina and brain against optic nerve crush The Awareness of the Environmental Health Effects of Biomass Burning Using Cookstoves in Tibetan Households The effects of natural remedies on C. albicans Exploring Self-Polymerization Pathways in Dynamic Chemical Networks The Application of CdS Nanorods Towards Solar Energy 2

Hannah Friedman Apoorvs Gangavelli Mihir Ghetiya Lucy Hansen Shannon Hill Nancy Holbrook Mengtong Hu Soyon Hwang

Hang Jiang Jake Johnson Elena Jordanov Jacob Kasel Junyuan Ke Ryann Khalil Rachel Kim Alyssa Kim Eunheh Koh Kaela Kuitchoua Alexander Liu Kelley Lou Isadora Martins Ethan Morris Elias Neibart Elana Norman Elizabeth O'Gorman

Peter Oliveira Soens Javier Omar

A Longitudinal Twin Study of Child and Adult Psychopathology The Effects of Fasudil on Prefrontal Cortex Dendritic Spine Structure and Cognition in Adolescents Role of Opportunity Cost in Effort-Based Decision Making Effects of the International Monetary Fund's Data Standards on Government Transparency Exploring Physical Aging Rate of Polystyrene Films with Addition of Plasticizer Fungal Endophytes in Asclepias Dissecting the Role of LCMT-1 in Hematopoiesis by Using a Mouse Model Measurement of Cerebral Vasospasm in Vivo and Neurobehavioral Outcomes in a Rodent Model of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Use sequence-to-sequence model to tokenize Chinese Cell Reprogramming for Vascular Repair Formation and Spectroscopic Characterization of Methanediol SĂŁo Paulo and the Formation of National Identity in The Year My Parents Went on Vacation Predicting Blood Donations via Machine Learning Approaches Authors: Spectroscopic characterization of the electronic structure of ThCl/Cl+ Effects Of Orientation and Texture Change On Object Recognition Sex Differences in Mother-Infant Synchrony Examined in Mothers with and Infants Exposed to Prenatal Depression Does living near DDT/DDE contaminated sites increase the body burden in humans? A literature review Chronic stress and obesogenic diets alter brain structure in female rhesus macaques Navigation: A two-system process An Ethno-botanical Investigation of Anti-Cancer Plants Used in Native-American Medicine The Role of Media in Language Acquisition How do we recognize faces and places?

Understanding the Establishment Clause Through the States Spatial development in a sample of Samoan children Comparison of behavioral outcomes between a social and nonsocial rewarding task in the valproate rat model of autism spectrum disorder Analyzing Fluctuations in Global Nitrous Oxide Emissions The Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Working Memory and Verbal Fluency in Sedentary Older Adults 3

Jubilee Park Caleb Parsons Ruhika Prasad Jiayue Qiu Mario Ramirez Danielle Randall Camila Reed-Guevara Adam Ring Momo Rutkin Sean Setzen Faraz Sewani Preston Sheng Ellie Studdard Maya Subbanna Ye Sung Jit Hui Tan Jacquelyn Thelin Chad Tucker Aras Ural Namrata Verghese Namrata Verghese Kelly Vogel

Raekwon Williams Thomas Xia Soungbin Yim Michael Yoo

Antibacterial Properties of Medicinal Plant Extracts on ESKAPE Pathogens The Hands That Rebuilt the South: The Convict Lease System and Postbellum Georgia Analyzing the role of LCMT-1 in hematopoiesis Motility Selection of Aminoglycoside Phosphotransferase (3’) Type IIIa Functional Outcomes after Orthobiologic Injections: Bone Marrow Aspirate versus Fat Graft Investigating genetic risk factors of schizophrenia among individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome Historiography in Seneca the Younger Chemical Evidence for Cacao-based Beverages in Ancient Central American Vessels Electronic Property Changes In Polythiophine Chains Revealing Solar Water Splitting Electrode Surface Reaction Mechanisms through Kinetic Isotope Effect Studies Role of LCMT-1 in Fetal Mouse Liver Growth and Development Exploiting Drosophila to examine RNA exosome-linked disease.

Murdered for Voting: A Search for the Truth about the Murder of Isaiah Nixon Developing a Quantitive Method of Diagnosing Alzheimers Disease Does Mental Rotation Enhance Mathematical Competence?

Family and Cultural Predictors of Willingness to Care and Ageism among Young Adults Characterization of a mouse model with novel Scn8a gene mutation Avondale Estates: A Historical Analysis at its Contemporary Formation The Eects of Panel Assignment on the US Court of Appeals in Death Penalty Cases Communion and Forgiveness Motivations in Narrative Unearthing Ted Hughes: Mapping a Life Through Poems The Role of the Interaction Between the Orbitofrontal Cortex and Basolateral Amygdala in the Development of Habitual Behaviors Investigating the Role of Religiosity in Comorbid Alcohol and Tobacco Use among Individuals of African Ancestry Effects of Prevotella copri on levels of thioredoxin-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Investigating the gap between the adoption year of emission standards and fuel quality standards The Effect of the Expression of dNab2 in the Body Wall Neurons of Drosophila 4

Liliana Zha

Jinyi Zhang Shuohao Zhang

Understanding the economic drivers of food choice using qualitative analyses of market survey data from regions in Tanzania and Kenya A Cross-cultural Study on Inequity Aversion and Altruism Monetary Policy and Mutual Funds

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Mariamawit Abebe Targeting Neuroinflammatory Signaling Pathway to Block the Epileptogenic Effect of Early-Life Seizures Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a receptor in the brain that may contribute to neuroinflammation and neuronal damage in seizures and epilepsy. PGE2 is activated as part of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) signaling pathways during inflammation. The novel antiinflammatory drug, TG6-10-1, acts as a competitive antagonist that selectively inhibits the COX2 prostaglandin enzyme also known as the PGE2 receptor (Dingledine et al. 2015). We plan to test the efficacy of TG6-10-1 in our “Two Hit” model of epileptogenesis using double transgenic Cx3CR1/CCR2 mice. These transgenic mice express green fluorescent protein (GFP) in brain resident immune cells, microglia, and red fluorescent protein (RFP) in infiltrating monocytes. We have previously shown that status epilepticus (SE) in these mice during early life increases their later susceptibility to seizure-induced neuroinflammation and seizure susceptibility. Here, we will induce SE in our transgenic mice using Kainic Acid (KA) on postnatal date 25 (P25) and the second KA-SE on P39. By administering TG6-10-1 after the first seizures, we will determine whether this new drug targeting prostaglandin signaling pathway protect against early life seizure-induced worsening of later seizure-induced activation of microglia and monocytes (as a measure of neuroinflammation) and increased susceptibility to later-life seizures.

Abdulaziz Aldakhel The Volatility of Money: The Call Money Market and Monetary Policy Regime Change Caroline Fohlin, PhD Emory University; Abdulaziz Aldakhel, RA Emory University This research examines the fluctuations of the money market from the early 1900s until the early 1930s. This paper investigates the call money rate, the overnight rate on lending in the New York Stock Exchange, during that period and the nature of the market for such funds. the analysis takes into account important events that took place during that time. In other literature, some scholars attribute the changes in the interest rate to certain events or legislation during that period, such as the the Aldrich-Vreeland Act, the establishment of the Federal Reserve System, and World War I, which they argue led to these shifts. In order to study the call money market, we collected daily market rates—open, high, low, and ruling rates—from contemporary newspaper reports.

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Abdullah Al-Obaidi Modeling Huntington’s Disease using Astrocytes derived from a Transgenic HD Monkey’s Neural Progenitor Cells.

In K. Cho, PhD Emory University; Anthony W.S. Chan, PhD Emory University; Abdullah AlObaidi, Undergraduate, Emory University Huntington’s Disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease that results in cognitive, motor, and psychiatric dysfunctions due to the expansion of a specific protein (HTT) in the brain.

The expansion of HTT impedes the ability of Astrocytes, the most abundant cells in the brain that play a role in maintaining homeostasis and neural development in the central nervous system, from keeping homeostasis. In this study, we have utilized our lab’s transgenic monkey to produce HD cells and compared it with non-HD (Wild type) cells. We surveyed the population of cells by looking into the expression of the HD gene and using Immunocytochemistry to tag the cells with a specific neural marker (EM48). We have also tagged the astrocytes with GFAP and ALDH1L1 to see cells that do not express the HD gene. We have established neural progenitor cells (rNPCs) – self-renewing cells that generate glial cells (e.g astrocytes) – derived from HD monkey induced pluripotent stem cells (HD-iPSCs) and tagged for them with PAX6 neural marker. After developing NPCs differentiation protocol, we were able to differentiate NPCs into astrocytes. This gives us grounds to study the development of HD and discover possible future treatments because we can use apply gene therapy and look at different neural pathways to study neural degradation.

Deanna Altomara Caulobacter crescentus: how pilus retraction regulates bacteriophage infection Deanna Altomara, Emory University; Rebecca Dillard, Emory University; Elizabeth Wright, PhD Emory University Abstract not avilable.

Amelia Anderson Cytoplasmic sequestration of LSD1 by neurofibrullary tangles may contribute to neuronal cell death in Alzheimer’s Disease Amelia J. Anderson, Amanda K. Engstrom, Rohitha A. Moudgal, Michael A. Christopher, Dexter A. Myrick, Department f Cell Biology, Emory University; Benjamin G. Barwick, Department of Microbiology an Immunology, Emory University; Allan I. Levey, Department of Neurology, Emory University; David J. Katz, Dept. of Cell Biology, Emory University Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by memory loss in the aging population. AD is associated with pathological formation of β- amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles of Tau (NFTs). These aggregates are believed to cause hippocampal and frontal cortical neurodegeneration, but the mechanism is unknown. We have shown that deletion of the histone demethylase, LSD1, in mice, recapitulates many aspects of AD. Additionally, LSD1 co-localizes with NFTs in human post-mortem AD cases. This led to the following model: NFTs sequester LSD1 in the cytoplasm, resulting in loss of LSD1 nuclear function and neuronal cell death. To test this, we utilized a Tau mouse model (P301S), which forms NFTs resulting in AD phenotypes. We made P301S mice heterozygous for LSD1, decreasing the levels of LSD1 produced. We hypothesize that decreased levels of LSD1 in the nucleus may result in a faster and more severe Tau neurodegeneration phenotype in the brain and spinal cord. I have performed neuronal staining on the brain of both variations of Tau mice at 6, 8, 10, and 12 months to determine when/if there is a difference in neurodegeneration. My data show that when LSD1 is reduced in P301S mice, the neuronal cell death is more severe and begins earlier than in P301S mice with wild type levels of LSD1. Additionally, control LSD1 heterozygous mice do not show any signs of neurodegeneration. This supports our hypothesis that NFTs function by sequestering LSD1. Therefore, it may be possible to target LSD1 to limit Tau mediated neurodegeneration.

Jorge Arce Preliminary Micelle Cluster Formation Jorge Arce Micelles are an aggregation of molecules that have hydrophobic tails on the inter shell, and hydrophilic heads on the exposed surface The 2010 Gobl study reported that cluster count formation and critical micelle concentration are integral characteristics of micelles. In this study, we wanted to further expand the understanding of micelles with shorter hydrophobic carbon tails. The subset of short carbon tail micelles has posed a problem for accurately defining the cluster count formation because the aggregation count has been thought of as very low and even non-spherical. To test the 8 carbon tail surfactants aggregation, we ran preliminary simulations with two different types of force fields, Trappe and United-Atom. In each simulation, the concentration of surfactants was 30 for an initial starting point. The simulations have shown that the United Atom force-field allows the micelle to reach a critical micelle concentration of 80~ of the experimental value. Future simulations will be carried varying the concentration of surfactants from 15 to 25, we hope to see an increase in cmc. Varying the cmc to experimental values and cluster concentration allows us to replicate the experimental environment. At the same time, we hope to integrate the micelles with a protein to see the interactions between both.

Claire Barnes The Politics of Religious Exemptions in U.S. Federal Courts under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) Claire Barnes, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; Benjamin R. Hertzberg, Ph.D., Kirsten Widener, J.D., Daniel Arnon, MSc, Emory Department of Political Science; Micah Schwartzman, J.D., D.Phil., University of Virginia School of Law Abstract not available.

Brian Bloom The Politics of Religious Exemptions in U.S. Federal Courts Benjamin Hertzberg, Kirsten Widner, Daniel Arnon, Tyler Zelinger, Ian Lu, Claire Barnes Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act was created to allow religious persons to challenge land regulations or prison policies that are discriminatory. I am researching if plaintiffs who come from documented, well-known religions have an easier time winning with the RLUIPA. This research indicates whether or not each religion has equal chance at winning in the court. As part of the research, I was given cases to code by the professor and Graduate student I worked with. To code a case, I had to find out who won the court case, what the standard was, and if a religious doctrine was relied. They decided I ought to summarize RLUIPA cases at the district level so they found these cases and sent them to me. Once I coded the cases, the professors used them to find patterns about who was winning or losing the court cases and why. They used stats to find these patterns. As everyone’s rights are important, it can point out a disparity between the privileges of each religion in the court. This type of research is important in that it protects the constitutional rights of religions. At this point, not all data has been collected. However, preliminary research seems to point to the idea that religious doctrines are not commonly relied upon for the decision and marginalized religions are more likely to win.

Shauna Bowes Psychopathic Personality and Depression in Two Large Adult Community Samples: Can certain psychopathic traits protect against depressive features?

Shauna M. Bowes, Emory University; Ashley L. Watts, MA, Emory University; Scott O. Lilienfeld, Ph.D., Emory University Given the prevalence of depression in society, it is essential to identify individual differences in personality that may protect against or confer risk for depressive features. Certain psychopathic traits, such as social charm and fearlessness, may place individuals at decreased risk for depression, whereas others, such as antisociality and recklessness, may place individuals at increased risk. In the present study, I sought to elucidate the associations among the dimensions of psychopathy and depression in two large, mixed-gender North American community samples (n1=430; n2=441) recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. I used multiple indices of both psychopathy and depression, including two widely used clinical measures of depression and three self-report psychopathy measures. Consistent with previous research, Boldness features were moderately negatively correlated with depression, whereas Disinhibition features were moderately positively correlated with depression. Coldheartedness was negatively associated with depression, although the magnitude of this relation was weak, whereas Meanness was positively related to depression. There were virtually no gender differences in the relations between psychopathy and depression. Moreover, there was little evidence that Boldness features protected against depression in the presence of the disinhibited and mean features of psychopathy. In addition, psychopathy broadly incremented normative personality traits, specifically Extraversion and Neuroticism, in predicting depression, although the incremental contribution was relatively small in magnitude. Finally, psychopathy’s differential associations with depression were largely mirrored in the relations among dimensions of psychopathy and other internalizing features, namely anger and anxiety. These findings demonstrate that individual differences in personality are significant predictors of depressive symptoms.

Dylan Boye Surgical Teaching Tool Development with GoPro Camera Dylan Boye, Emory University; Robert Runner, MD, Emory University Department of Orthopaedics; William Carpenter, MD, Emory University Department of Orthopaedics; Greg Erens, MD, Emory University Department of Orthopaedics Previous efforts to teach orthopedic operations have utilized only slideshows and textbooks.

Students go to lecture, do readings, and eventually make their way into the operating room to watch the procedure for themselves. However, our research hopes to develop this process of learning, adding a more intermediate step to the education of medical students in the field. To achieve this, a GoPro camera was put to work in the operating room, recording knee and hip replacements in high definition video. These videos were then taken and edited to include bulleted tips, pauses to allow a better look, and more, all resulting in a more comprehensive teaching tool. With this intermediate step, adding a visual aspect to the education process that can be revisited repeatedly, we predict that students will more efficiently learn the procedures.

Rachel Brenner Stuck in the Doldrums: A Study on Anhedonia and Mood Repair in Children of Depressed Moms Rachel Brener, Emory University; Sherryl Goodman, PhD Emory University; Katherine Cullum, MA Emory University; Judy Garber, PhD Vanderbilt University The purpose of this study was to assess whether children of depressed mothers demonstrate deficits in two important emotion regulatory processes: mood repair and hedonic capacity. We hypothesized that: (1) mothers’ depression history would be significantly associated with children’s mood repair and hedonic capacity; (2) children’s mood repair would be significantly associated with their hedonic capacity. Participants were 131 children ages 8 through 10 years old, 65 had mothers with a lifetime history of depression and 66 had mothers with no history of depression. Mood repair was measured by children’s self-report on the Feelings and Me-Child Version questionnaire. Hedonic capacity was measured by the Pleasant Events Scale and a mood induction procedure involving children rating their mood on a six-point scale (high positive to high negative) at baseline and after watching sad, neutral, and happy video clips from popular children’s movies. We focused on the mood ratings at baseline and after the positive video clip, and calculated a standardized residual score to index change in mood from baseline to after the positive video. Contrary to the first hypothesis, mothers’ depression history was not significantly associated with children’s mood repair or their hedonic capacity. The second hypothesis was partially supported in that more adaptive mood repair strategies were significantly associated with their hedonic capacity as indicated by their greater enjoyment of events and their more positive response to the positive mood induction. These results indicate an early emergence of problems with hedonic processing, albeit not linked to maternal depression.

Zaphyr Brooks Les Voix Des Femmes Du Congo Zaphyr Brooks, Emory University; Subha Xavier, Ph.D. in French Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Assistant Professor in the Department of French and Italian Studies The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been recently defined as the “rape capital of the world” (Brookings 2013; UN Report 2010). Such claims based on numerical data comprise an incomplete narrative of gender-based violence (GBV). This project aims to contribute to an exploration and celebration of efforts by Congolese women to combat the one-sided narrative.

The legacy of slavery and colonialism in the Congo has lead to a normalization of GBV, something that is inadvertently perpetuated by reports that are unable to identify underlying causes, nor acknowledge the work of women to resist. My research project challenges assumptions about GBV in the DRC as inevitable and totalizing in order to isolate its causes and examine the struggle of Congolese women to end such violence. I began with a survey of literature that looked at the problem from its historical roots to its modern forms. The review consisted of scholarly works (Nzongola-Ntalaja, 2002; Hunt 2015), a dissertation (Semwayo, 2013), articles (Wolfe, 2016), and films (Peck, 2000; Ndaliko, 2010). My findings pointed to political instability, the lack of judicial response and a culture of silence as causes for the high rates of GBV in the region. For the next stage, I am conducting interviews with Congolese women between the ages of 18-60 living in the DRC and the US. Through this compilation of female voices I will foster an alternative perspective to the problem of GBV which favors ongoing efforts by women to counter this form of injustice in the DRC.

Jazmin Campos Desmosome Composition and Localization in Stationary and Migrating Cells Jazmin Campos, Emory University; Emily Bartle, Laney Graduate School; Tara Urner, Emory University; Saher Fatteh, Emory University; Alexa L. Mattheyses, PhD. Emory School of Medicine Desmosomes are cell-cell junctions critical for maintaining strong cell adhesion. The function of desmosomes is dependent on their protein composition and linkage to the cytoskeleton of the cell. Although desmosomes are very important structures for maintaining epithelial tissue integrity, their formation and maturation dynamics are still not well understood. This project aims to better understand these dynamics in the context of cell migration. Cell migration is important in wound healing, and this process involves remodeling of cell-cell junctions. It has been reported that during cell migration, desmosomes interact with the actin cytoskeleton as they begin to form. This finding is particularly interesting because typically desmosomes are linked to keratin while adherence junctions, a second type of cell-cell junctions, are linked to the actin cytoskeleton. Thus, we hypothesize that during cell migration desmosomes mix with adherens junctions at the front of the migrating cell and as they mature and separate into distinct junctions or treadmill backwards, they become associated with keratin rather than actin. We address this hypothesis using fluorescence imaging of migrating cells to reveal dynamics of desmosome localizations with adherens junctions, keratin, and the actin cytoskeleton. We anticipate our results will show if desmosome-actin association in migrating cells is driven by a co-localization with adherence junctions. Overall this work will lead to a deeper understanding of desmosome formation and dynamics.

Ryan Chin Glial Cell Reprogramming for Recovery of Ischemic Stroke in Neonatal Rats Ryan Chin, Emory University; Ameya Gangal, Emory University; Zach Wei, PhD Emory University; Shan Ping Yu, MD Department of Anesthesiology Emory University; Ling Wei, MD Department of Anesthesiology Emory University Abstract not available.

Jessica Cifuentes Photoelectron Velocity Map Imaging Spectroscopy of the Beryllium Sulfide Anion, BeS⁻ Michael C. Heaven, Amanda R. Dermer, Mallory L. Green, Kyle J. Mascaritolo, Jessica E. Cifuentes The transition of the BeS⁻ anion to the BeS ground state molecule was studied to find the electron affinity, also known as the detachment energy of electrons, and information about the quantum states using photoelectron velocity map imaging spectroscopy. This method uses the properties of light from a tunable laser source, the Nd:YAG or Excimer pumped dye laser, to take off electrons from molecules and maps the electrons from BeS⁻ anions. The closer the energy was to the exact amount needed to detach an electron from BeS⁻, the higher the resolution was of the spectra. There were four experimental photodetachment energies used to acquire spectra that were slightly above the exact amount of energy needed to detach electrons from BeS⁻ anions. The electrons that were detached had kinetic energy because of the excess energy that was inputted. This kinetic energy is found from the spectra produced and is subtracted from the energy inputted from the lasers to find the energy level in between, the electron affinity of BeS⁻ anions. The results were compared to theoretical calculations which yielded similar results. The use of photoelectron velocity map imaging spectroscopy of BeS⁻ anions helps to discover unique bonding properties that can be used in machinery or materials for the future.

Scott Clanton II Microglial Androgen Receptor Knock-Out Mice Are Not Affected by Therapy Scott Clanton II, Emory University; Jill Ward, PhD Emory University; Arthur English, PhD Emory University Around 20 million Americans have suffered a nerve injury, and of those who experienced a traumatic injury, only 10% will see a full recovery. Regeneration is difficult in the nervous system, and many inhibitors to nerve growth are naturally present in the body following injury.

Locally-produced, sex-independent testosterone has been found to be a strong promoter of growth and functional recovery. It has been thought that testosterone also aids in the activation of microglia, immune cells in the nervous system that aid in the clearing of debris following injury. This study aims to analyze the direct effect of testosterone on microglia through androgen receptors (ARs). We used CX3CR1 AR knockouts as well as Lys M AR knockouts, which are both microglia-specific AR knockouts, to test this. Knockout animals were electrically stimulated via direct current applied to the nerve through an electrical cuff, and were compared to untreated animals. We did not find a significant difference between the two groups, suggesting that microglia activation by way of testosterone signaling is critical in the regeneration process, and this pathway could be a meaningful target for regeneration.

Monica Corley The Effects of Collaborative Governance on Community-Building Initiatives Prof. Michael Rich, Department of Political Science, Emory University; Monica Corley, Cassandra Pereda, Cam Liao, David Paek, Emory University Despite efforts to eradicate poverty and improve underserved communities, many Americans live in poverty and many communities do not have access to resources needed to help individuals break the cycle of poverty. Many programs are currently implemented separately by the government, and by non-profit and private agencies, but we predict that initiatives that bring together the public, private, and nonprofit sectors will be more effective in assisting low- and moderate-income communities. This study examines the effects of comprehensive community initiatives that embrace a collaborative governance approach, which occurs when these different sectors work together. An online survey was sent to leaders of organizations within each sector in the 60 largest U.S. cities, which asked questions about the organization's participation in comprehensive community initiatives and their cross-sector relationships. Internet research is also underway to identify different initiatives in each city. Our research goals are to: 1. Measure the extent of collaboration to address poverty within these cities; 2. Identify what factors best predict the variation among cities in the extent of collaboration; 3. Determine whether collaboration affects community-building initiatives by examining the relationship between collaboration and outcomes related to economic mobility and poverty reduction. Although we are still gathering data, we expect to see a positive relationship between collaboration and the effects of poverty reduction strategies. If this relationship holds, we can conclude that collaboration is a better strategy than one organization acting alone. Consequently, organizations will begin to work with other sectors and have greater success in their communities.

Nathaniel Cox A Longitudinal Study of the Psychological Development of Twin Pairs and Mental Health Care Patients Nathaniel Cox, Holly Poore, Irwin Waldman, PhD, Emory University This longitudinal study investigates the development of 884 twin pairs from the Georgia Twin Registry, a community sample of twins born between 1980 and 1991, and 696 children from a clinic-referred sample. Children in the clinic-referred sample were recruited from various University clinics and Learning centers and either met DSM-IV criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or exhibited symptoms of expected ADHD. The current phase of the study involves locating and re-contacting these original participants to assess common forms of adult psychopathology such as major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and anxiety disorders.

Additional measures will help us assess substance use disorders, psychopathy, and personality traits. Participants will also give DNA samples to investigate genetic factors that may influence the development of the aforementioned disorders. All families in the original twin sample have been identified using online people search engines including Radaris and Zabasearch and families in the clinic sample will be located in the same way. Data from both samples will provide valuable insights into environmental and genetic influences on comorbidity between ADHD and other common disorders based on the participants’

developmental tendencies, and how these results compare with previous literature in behavioral genetics.

Lina Du Neuroprotection with allopregnanolone in the retina and brain against optic nerve crush Lina Du, Elena G. Sergeeva, PhD, Emory University Medical School; Donald G. Stein, PhD, Emory University Medical School Optic nerve injury can occur after brain trauma, blast injury or penetrating orbital trauma. Other optic neuropathies result from glaucoma, ischemia, tumors, infections, inflammatory processes and demyelinating conditions. All these diseases can cause serious disruptions of visual function, cutting off signals between the retina and brain, and lead to death of retinal and brain neurons. This degeneration is associated with inflammatory response both in the eye and brain.

To date, there is no available treatment to protect the retinal and brain cells and recover lost visual function. Progesterone and its metabolite allopregnanolone (ALLO), which occur naturally in the brain, have been shown to be neuroprotective in a variety of brain diseases, ameliorating inflammation and providing trophic support. In this study we examine the effects of ALLO following optic nerve injury in a mouse model. We hypothesized that treatment with ALLO can reduce neurodegeneration in the retina and brain as well as improve visual function. We evaluate visual function by recording pattern electroretinograms to assess the activity of retinal ganglion cells, and visual evoked potentials, to measure activity in the primary visual cortex. We tested visual behavior using optokinetic tracking, visual cliff and looming response tests. To examine inflammation and degeneration induced by ONC in the retina and brain, and whether ALLO can ameliorate the inflammation, we will use immunofluorescence to assess the expression and distribution of the markers of microglia, astrocytes, RGCs and neurons. This study is a first step to develop neuroprotective treatment with ALLO after optic nerve crush.

Nia Dubon-Robinson The Awareness of the Environmental Health Effects of Biomass Burning Using Cookstoves in Tibetan Households Nia Dubon-Robinson; Sam Peters, Doctoral Student, Rollins School of Public Health; Eri Saikawa, PhD Emory University In developing countries, the simple act of cooking can have a lasting effect on population health.

Cookstoves are a biomass burning tool used for multiple purposes. They serve as a source of heating, cooking, ritual and more. Though some have evolved to include chimneys, their use in the household can still have extensive effects leading to Household Air Pollution (HAP). The buildup of metal within black carbon and particulate matter, and the burning of certain biomasses increase HAP. HAP in homes often goes unnoticed. An increase in HAP can lead to premature mortality and the eventual development of hypertension. When the biomass that households are burning is free, such as twigs and shrubs, it is inefficient in its combustion.

Though there is ventilation in the home, there can be severe clogging in the chimney causing back draft and increasing HAP. To understand the impact and the awareness of HAP, a collection of survey data was done during the summer of 2016, in the villages of Dora, Shamuchu, and Yoloshi, Tibet. The villagers were asked a series of questions pertaining to their usage of cookstoves. Patterns were observed in result of the survey’s responses. There were many unanswered questions that led to no significant correlation, but demonstrated the lack of understanding from the villagers on HAP. The lack of knowledge about cookstoves health impacts limits HAP mitigation potential. In conclusion, the patterns shown can be used to support the importance of future cookstove alternatives and enhancements to better reduce HAP.

Rema Elmostafa The effects of natural remedies on C. albicans Rema Elmostafa, Dr. Meleah Hickman, Emory University Candida albicans is a unicellular commensal eukaryote in the human gastrointestinal microbiome. Most often, C. albicans harmlessly cohabitates the gut alongside other microbes.

However, when the opportunity arises, it can lead to serious, sometimes fatal infection. Even superficial infections, such as thrush, athlete’s foot, and vaginal yeast infections, can occur in otherwise healthy individuals when the gut microbiome is compromised during a course of antibiotics. Up to 75% of men and women in the United States experience the symptoms of yeast infections at one point in their lives [1]. Similar to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, C. albicans is rapidly acquiring resistance to anti-fungal medication at rates much faster than new drugs are emerging. C. albicans has enlisted multiple mechanisms to develop drug resistance.

For example, C. albicans is capable of forming highly resistant biofilms to protect from antifungal medication [3]. Adaptive changes at the genotypic and phenotypic level of this yeast have decreased antifungal drug efficacy and revived interest in centuries old natural home remedies which claim to alleviate and treat yeast infections. One common remedy is apple cider vinegar (ACV). While there is little research on the claim of home remedies in inhibiting the growth of C. albicans, there remains the magazines, blogs, ‘wives’ tales’, and OTC natural remedies advertising their use of ACV. In this study, we will investigate the efficacy of natural home remedies such as apple cider vinegar, in inhibiting the growth of Candida albicans in comparison with commonly used antifungal drugs such as fluconazole.

Ronnie Festok Exploring Self-Polymerization Pathways in Dynamic Chemical Networks Ronnie Festok; Yushi Bai, PhD; Emory University; David G. Lynn, Emory University Chemical evolution, a precursor to biological evolution, depicts a process in which complex biomolecules are formed from simpler organic components. As these molecules became increasingly more complex, they developed the ability to self-polymerize into larger informationcontaining structures that have the potential to template this process from generation-togeneration. Biology’s Central Dogma outlines this idea, systematically depicting the informational flow from nucleic acids to proteins. While the detailed chemical conditions and reactions that gave rise to the initial template for this template-directed process are unknown, prions present a much simpler system in which the protein itself templates its own propagation.

Hereditary information is found in the prion’s quaternary structure and serves as a distinct exception to our current understanding of genetic informational processing. This study seeks to explore and understand the chemical mechanisms through which peptide monomers polymerize into particles and fibers while also outlining the kinetics of the process by exploiting this unique characteristic of prions. We sought to design and synthesize a chemical system that selects a template capable of directing the polymerization of itself and explore the ways this system functions. In doing so, we hope to gain a greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying chemical evolution and identify new pathways for the emergence of biopolymers.

Divine Francis The Application of CdS Nanorods Towards Solar Energy Divine Francis, Emory University One of the biggest issues of the 21st century is climate change, and the solution is the pursuit of renewable energy, particularly solar energy. Past research indicates that with the help of a Nickel-modified Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) photocatalyst (in the form of a nanorod), visible light can be used to split off hydrogen from alcohol. The hydrogen and the resulting carbonyl compound can then be stored and later recombined to produce energy. The aim of this study is to optimize the hydrogen generation of Ni-modified CdS nanorods. The procedure consists of synthesizing batches of CdS nanorods, tipping them with Ni, and then performing a pump-probe transient absorption spectroscopy study to observe the hydrogen generation of the system. To optimize the process, either the size of the nanorods will be varied on a range from 200nm to 500nmor, or the ligands attached to the nanorod will be switched. At the end, the hydrogen generation data will inform the lab group which method is optimal for hydrogen generation.

Future studies will rely on this data to work on understanding how hydrogen generation in alcohols occurs, which will contribute to a new method in generating solar energy.

Hannah Friedman A Longitudinal Twin Study of Child and Adult Psychopathology Hannah Friedman, Holly Poore, Irwin Waldman, PhD Emory University Twin studies allow for the examination of how much variance in a behavioral phenotype can be attributed to genetics, non-shared, and shared environmental influences. The current investigation includes 884 twin pairs from the Georgia Twin Registry (M=8.5), a community sample of twins born in in the state of Georgia between 1980 and 1991, and 636 children from a clinic-referred sample (M=11.6). Children in the clinic sample were recruited from several University clinics and Learning centers and either met criteria for DSM-IV ADHD or were suspected of having ADHD (Ficks, 2013). After more than two decades since the initial data collection occurred, the present study will attempt to locate the adult participants and collect follow-up data from them on common forms of adult psychopathology, including DSM-V symptoms of anxiety disorders, Major Depression, PTSD and OCD. Additional tests will include measures of personality, temperament, and DNA samples. These measures will also include other forms of adult psychopathology such as Substance Use Disorders and Psychopathy.

Particular focus will be given to the possible relation between childhood externalizing disorders, such ADHD and conduct disorder, and adult psychopathology, such as Substance Use Disorders. Previous longitudinal studies have identified childhood ADHD as a risk factor for developing substance use issues in adulthood (Molina & Pelham, 2003). The wide age span of this longitudinal twin study will allow for changes in psychopathology and heritability to be examined over time and may add to our understanding of the risk factors, genetic contributors, and clinical course of mental disorders.

Apoorva Gangavelli The Effects of Fasudil on Prefrontal Cortex Dendritic Spine Structure and Cognition in Adolescents Apoorva Gangavelli, Lauren Shapiro, Shannon Gourley, PhD, Emory University The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in executive functions like mood regulation and decisionmaking and is the last part of the brain to mature. During adolescence, the PFC undergoes significant structural changes including a remodeling process in which dendritic spines, the sites of excitatory synapses, are pruned. This maturation process is believed to be involved in the transition to adulthood, but may also cause vulnerability to psychiatric disease. The Gourley lab determined that inhibition of the cytoskeletal regulatory factor, Rho-kinase, through use of the drug fasudil, has antidepressant-like efficacy in adolescent mice, but not adult mice. The current study tests the hypothesis that the antidepressant-like effects of fasudil in adolescents are due to enhanced structural remodeling in the PFC. To test this hypothesis, we used confocal microscopy to image the dendritic spines in the PFC of mice expressing yellow fluorescent protein. The data indicate that there are significantly less dendritic spines in the fasudil treated adolescents than saline treated adolescents and that fasudil does not affect dendritic spine density in adults. This finding suggests that fasudil promotes pruning of dendritic spines in adolescents. Next, we wanted to observe if fasudil had an effect on cognition, so we administered the reversal learning task, a PFC-dependent task, to both adolescent and adult mice. Our results indicate that fasudil did not alter performance in the reversal learning task in adolescent mice, suggesting that the reduction in dendritic spine density induced by fasudil does not negatively affect cognition.

Mihir Ghetiya Role of Opportunity Cost in Effort-Based Decision Making Mihir Ghetiya, Candidate for BS in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology 2019 Emory University; Michael Treadway, PhD Emory University; Jessica Cooper, PhD Emory University; Asim Lal, BS Emory University; Chelsea Leonard, BS Emory University The goal of this study is to examine the role of opportunity cost in effort-based decision making in a cohort of healthy individuals. Effort-based decision making explains how we integrate the amount of effort required to perform an action and associated rewards to make decisions. In the present study, we used the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT), in which subjects have 20 minutes to repeatedly choose between performing a “hard-task” for a higher, variable, amount of reward, or an “easy-task” for a lower, consistent, amount of reward. To examine opportunity cost, we used a within-subjects design (N = 40) and manipulated the time interval between consecutive trials. In the non-equivalent delays condition, the time required to complete the hard task was longer than the time required to complete the easy task—selecting the “hard task” resulted in fewer trials and less opportunity to encounter high rewards that may occur at later trials, introducing an opportunity cost of choosing the “hard-task”. In the equivalent delays condition, the time required to complete the hard and easy tasks was equated by adding a brief delay after each “easy-task” selection. The results from the experiment indicate that decreasing the opportunity cost of performing a “hard-task” by equating the time associated with each task increased participants’ willingness to perform the “hard-task”. The implications of this opportunity-cost effect will be discussed.

Lucy Hansen Effects of the International Monetary Fund's Data Standards on Government Transparency Lucy Hansen, Eric Reinhardt, PhD, Emory University Numerous studies indicate that a high level of government transparency is associated with positive outcomes. For example, a transparent government is widely recognized as a contributing factor in better functioning financial markets. Government transparency is usually studied as an independent variable, analyzing the outcomes associated with various levels of transparency. This project takes a novel approach by treating government transparency as the dependent variable and investigating the causes of increased transparency. More specifically, we evaluated whether the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) data standards initiatives promote increased transparency. Over the last twenty years, these initiatives have defined specific guidelines for data reporting with the goal of increasing transparency in IMF member countries. Using a multivariate regression analysis of government transparency indices and IMF data standard subscription, we determined the magnitude of the influence of IMF data initiatives on government transparency. Aggregate results suggest that subscription to the IMF data standards is associated with an increase in levels of transparency, but this increase occurs at a decreasing rate. These results can be used in the future to evaluate the success of this institutionalized, international project that aims to improve countries’ transparency and thus their economic and political stability.

Shannon Hill Exploring Physical Aging Rate of Polystyrene Films with Addition of Plasticizer Shannon Hill, Emory University; Michael Thees, Emory University; Connie Roth, PhD Emory University A polymer in a supercool liquid state will fall out of equilibrium into a glassy state when cooled past its glass transition temperature Tg. At this point, the polymer can no longer return to equilibrium without a process called physical aging. Physical aging is a nonlinear process, activated through an enthalpic driving force due to the material having a lower density than it normally would have at equilibrium. The rate of this physical aging process becomes limited at low temperatures by the decreasing thermal energy of the system. Plasticizers such as dioctyl phthalate (DOP) are frequently added to polymer materials to modify their properties. For example, 4 wt% DOP added to polystyrene (PS) leads to a decrease in Tg of PS by 8 oC. Experimentally how addition of plasticizer modifies the physical aging rate of a polymer has not been studied. We measured the physical aging rate β for 4 wt% DOP in PS films at varying temperatures between 40 and 65 oC. This was done using ellipsometry to determine the physical aging rate from the film thickness decrease as a function of aging time after a thermal quench. Our data for neat PS was verified by comparing to existing measurements in the literature of physical aging rate. We explore how addition of DOP to PS alters its physical aging rate at different aging temperatures below the Tg of the material.

Nancy Holbrook Fungal Endophytes in Asclepias Nancy Holbrook, Emory University; Nicole Gerardo, PhD Emory University; Erica Harris, Emory University Interest in the ecological importance and presence of fungal endophytes, non-pathogenic fungi that live inside plant tissues, has increased among scientists in recent years. Studies of endophytes in plants from the equator to the arctic, and from tropical trees to agricultural grasses, demonstrate the remarkably widespread nature of fungal endophyte infection. This thesis project focuses on the cultivation and identification of fungal foliar endophytes, fungal endophytes found growing within leaves, in four Asclepias (milkweed) species: A. curassavica, A. incarnata, A. syriaca, and A. tuberosa. Incidence and prevalence of endophytes, as well as composition of the fungal endophyte communities in the four species is compared and possible implications for monarch herbivores of Asclepias are discussed. Results indicate a diverse community of fungal foliar endophytes within the leaves for Asclepias spp.

Mengtong Hu Dissecting the Role of LCMT-1 in Hematopoiesis by Using a Mouse Model Mengtong Hu, Rhea Fogla, Amand Delgado, Ruhika Prasad, Emory College of Arts & Sciences; Zhengqi Wang, Ph.D., Kevin Bunting, Ph.D., David C. Pallas, Ph.D., Emory University School of Medicine Abstract not available.

Soyon Hwang Measurement of Cerebral Vasospasm in Vivo and Neurobehavioral Outcomes in a Rodent Model of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Nefize Turan, MD Emory University; Anil K Roy, MD Emory University; Pasang Wangmo; Gustavo Pradilla, MD Emory University Abstract not available.

Hang Jiang Use sequence-to-sequence model to tokenize Chinese Hang Jiang, Catherine Xiao, Jinho D. Choi Much scholarship has been done on Indo-European language processing with the goal of accurate machine translation. However, little work has been done so far in the Chinese language, because it is character-based and lacking spaces between words. Our project aims to explore whether Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), a new algorithm based on Neural Network, is capable of performing better than previous approaches that rely heavily on human choices of features Specifically, we look at whether sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) model is capable of clustering phrases in Chinese together and splitting them with single space, a process called tokenization. (ex. The process of converting raw text ‘我们是谁’ that literally means ‘we are who’ into ‘我们 是 谁’ is called tokenization. By modifying seq2seq model that translates English to French with RNN algorithm, we treated tokenized Chinese as a foreign language to be translated from raw texts. After encoding Chinese and also experimenting parameters, we got reasonable results. However, F1 evaluation score (a standard score to test how well tokenized output comply with target output in every single position) is around 30% without optimization.

Our future direction is to limit the search scope of characters in order to prevent characters beyond each input sentence from showing up in output of the sentence. This process is called beam search and it will largely boost our F1 score to state-of-art.

Jake Johnson Cell Reprogramming for Vascular Repair Jake Johnson, Sang Ho Lee, Young Sup Yoon, Emory University Abstract not available.

Elena Jordanov Formation and Spectroscopic Characterization of Methanediol Elena Jordanov, BS Emory University; Carson Powers & Luyao Zou, PhD Emory University; Samuel Zinga, BS Emory University; Susanna Widicus Weaver, PhD California Institute of Technology Similarly to how all humans have unique fingerprints, so do molecules. That is, when one investigates molecules with a permanent dipole moment via rotational spectroscopy, each of these molecules holds a unique set of fingerprints (or rotational transitions) within a certain frequency range. These spectral fingerprints can be used to search for a molecule in space, but first a laboratory spectrum must be obtained. Methanediol is a predicted interstellar molecule that is thought to be a chemical precursor to sugars. It has been theorized to be thermodynamically stable and to form from the reaction of formaldehyde and water at temperatures under 300 K; it is thought to readily undergo unimolecular decomposition at temperatures above 298 K. Thus, due to methanediol’s unstable nature, as well as its small dipole moment, rotational transitions of this molecule have not been measured. However, our calculations predict that methanediol will comprise 25% of the products from the reaction between formaldehyde and water. Therefore, experiments are being conducted to characterize the rotational spectrum of methanediol through the use of a millimeter/submillimeter spectrometer coupled with a flow cell. Gaseous formaldehyde and water are allowed to interact in the flow cell, with the goal of promoting gas-phase formation of methanediol. Spectra are then collected and analyzed to identify potential methanediol spectral lines. The experimental design and preliminary results will be presented.

Jacob Kasel São Paulo and the Formation of National Identity in The Year My Parents Went on Vacation Jacob Kasel, Emory University; Ana Catarina Teixeira, Ph.D., Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Emory University Director Cao Hamburger’s 2006 film The Year My Parents Went on Vacation tells the story of a young boy, Mauro whose parents are arrested during Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1970 and who subsequently moves to live with his grandfather in a predominately Jewish neighborhood of São Paulo. In my work, I examine how the film’s depiction of São Paulo, the largest city in Latin America, encourages discussion about how many different ethnic groups, including those of Jewish, Italian, Greek and Afro-Brazilian descent, interact in an urban space. In depicting a myriad of ethnic groups, the film complicates traditional visions of Brazilian national identity (such as that in seminal works of Brazilian social theory like Gilberto Freyre’s The Masters and the Slaves) that conceive it as a melting pot of Indigenous, Portuguese, and African populations.

By depicting São Paulo as a space in which groups other than these three interact, the film encourages a rethinking and a revisiting of traditional visions of Brazilian national identity, giving special emphasis to questions of immigration and migration during the twentieth century.

Junyuan Ke Predicting Blood Donations via Machine Learning Approaches Authors: Junyuan Ke; Joyce Ho, PhD, Emory University Machine Learning is the study of “training a computer to learn by itself�. This research focuses on predicting blood donations through multiple Machine Learning Approaches. We were given a dataset of various information about blood donors collected from a mobile blood donation vehicle that drives around College campuses. By applying machine learning to a blood donation dataset, we utilized Machine Learning algorithms to recognize the patterns in the information about blood donors and predict if a person will donate blood within a given time period.

Ryann Khalil Spectroscopic characterization of the electronic structure of ThCl/Cl+ Ryann Khalil, Emory University; Robert Van Gundy, Joshua Bartlett, Michael Heaven, Emory University; Samuel Battey, Kirk Peterson, Washington State University In this project, the ground and excited electronic states of the ThCl+ ion were studied. This was done in order to verify prior theoretical calculations of the energies of these states, and evaluate the applicability of Ligand Field Theory when applied to actinic compounds. Electronic spectra were recorded using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and two color photoionization techniques.

The latter included photon ionization efficiency (PIE), resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) and zero-kinetic energy photoelectron (ZEKE) spectroscopy. ZEKE was conducted following favorable results from LIF, PIE, and REMPI. Energies for the ground and excited electronic states of ThCl+ were successfully obtained. The ionization threshold was observed at 51,344(5) cm-1 , which was close to the theoretical value. Three excited vibrational levels were observed, which were also close to their respective theoretical values. One electronically excited state of ThCl+ was observed at 949 cm-1 above the ground state, higher than the theoretical value of 596 cm-1. Overall, the results largely conform to Ligand Field Theory, and suggest that it is applicable to ThCl+ . Similar studies should be conducted with other actinic compounds to determine whether this applicability extends to more complex ligands. Because the energy of the electronically excited state was higher than the theoretical value, some refinement of computational methods applied to ThCl+ may be necessary.

Rachel Kim Effects Of Orientation and Texture Change On Object Recognition Rachel Kim, BA, Emory University; Simon Lacey, PhD, Emory University; Krish Sathian, MD, PhD, Emory University Abstract not available.

Alyssa Kim Sex Differences in Mother-Infant Synchrony Examined in Mothers with and Infants Exposed to Prenatal Depression Alyssa Kim, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; Meeka Halperin, BA Emory University; Sherryl Goodman, PhD, Emory University Previous research has found that a lack of synchrony in mother-infant relationships highly correlates with infant emotional dysregulation, which, consequently, positively correlates with child psychopathology (T.P. Beauchaine, 2015 and Chaplin, 2005). As a whole, this study examines the role of mother-infant synchrony as a moderator in the relationship between prenatal depression and infant emotional regulation, but it also explores the potential sex difference in mother-infant synchrony in hopes of identifying potential influencing factors in low synchrony. Indicators of infant emotional regulation, such as baseline respiratory nasal arrhythmia (RSA) and temperament, were measured at 6 months of age, and synchrony is measured by data coding of video clips of mothers and their infants during face-to-face free-play interaction at 3 months of age through frequency and length of eye gaze. By identifying various factors, such as mother-infant synchrony and sex differences, that positively or negatively influence infant emotional dysregulation, it may lead to further ideas and conclusions on the development of child psychopathology.

Eunheh Koh Does living near DDT/DDE contaminated sites increase the body burden in humans? A literature review Abstract not available.

Kaela Kuitchoua Chronic stress and obesogenic diets alter brain structure in female rhesus macaques Kaela Kuitchoua, Emory University; Jodi Godfrey, PhD Emory University, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Vasiliki Michopoulos, PhD Emory University, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Mar M. Sanchez, PhD Emory University, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Mark E. Wilson, PhD Emory University, Yerkes National Primate Research Center Exposure to chronic stress and obesogenic diets are contributing factors to the rise of obesity.

However, the consequences of these environmental factors on the brain remain unclear. The present study seeks to understand how dietary environment and social status affect the brain temporal volume. Social subordination in rhesus monkeys was used as a model because previous studies have shown that subordinate monkeys eat more than dominant monkeys when calorically dense diets (CDD) are available. Half of the animals were dominant, and the other half were subordinate. They were randomly separated into two groups; one group only had access to typical, low-calorie food (n=8) and the other group (n=8) had access to both the lowcalorie food and CDD. Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were collected and analyzed. We found that dietary environment influenced feeding behavior, where the animals in the choice dietary condition ate more food and gained more weight in one year. The influence of a dietary choice on white matter and grey matter volume the temporal region was dependent on social status (all p's <0.05). In the low-calorie group, subordinate animals had increased temporal volumes, however, in the “choice” group, the dominant animals had increased temporal volumes. In addition, we found that the right temporal lobe volume was positively associated with rates of aggression received, which predicted greater white matter volume in animals that had access to the low-calorie diet only. We see the opposite effect in those with a dietary choice in left temporal auditory white matter volume.

Alexander Liu Navigation: A two-system process Daniel Diks, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University; Freddy Kamps; Alexander Liu Recent work has suggested that visual scene processing may be composed of two distinct systems: one for navigation, including the occipital place area (OPA), and the other for scene categorization, including the parahippocampal place area (PPA). If this is true, then it should be possible to i) selectively modulate the two systems by changing task demands, and ii) differentially ‘impair’ one system, while leaving the other system intact. To test our first prediction we propose to measure responses in OPA and PPA using fMRI while adult participants perform a navigation task and a categorization task on images of scenes. If OPA is part of the navigation system, while PPA is part of the categorization system, then we predict a greater response in OPA during the navigation task than the categorization task, and the opposite pattern in PPA. To test our second prediction, we will measure responses in OPA and PPA using fMRI in the same navigation and categorization tasks, but this time on inverted images of scenes. Behavioral data has shown it is possible to ‘impair’ the navigation system by inverting the scenes without impairing the categorization system. Thus, we predict OPA to have a significantly reduced response in this region during the inverted navigation task relative to the upright navigation task but no difference in response between the upright and inverted categorization tasks. In contrast, we predict PPA to have no difference in response between the upright and inverted categorization tasks or navigation tasks.

Kelley Lou An Ethno-botanical Investigation of Anti-Cancer Plants Used in Native-American Medicine Kelley Lou, Tharanga Samarakoon, PhD, Emory University; Cassandra L. Quave, PhD, Emory University A review of the ethnobotanical literature was conducted to investigate the specific plant species that are in Lullwater Preserve with anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties and are used by Native-American populations. Lullwater is majestic nature preserve located in Emory Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campus in Atlanta, GA which was previously occupied by the Creek and Cherokee people. There is currently a lack of research on Lullwater and its plant species. Research with Native American books and medicinal dictionaries revealed that out of 160 species in Lullwater, four species had prevalent cancer uses: Chimaphila maculata (L.) Pursh, Hydrangea aboresecens L., Tradescantia virginiana L., and Xanthorhiza simplicissima Marshall. All four of these species can be prepared in multiple manners into a poultice, wash or tonic and many parts of the plant are utilized. The bark, root or flower are the common functional elements and are often prepared in conjunction with other functional ingredients. These- species contain a number of chemical compounds that are important in cancer and tumor treatment. It is possible that quercetin, colchicine and berberine, which are found in H. aboresecens, C. maculata, and X. simplicissima, respectively, are compounds that hold important roles in the process of cancer cell apoptosis. Findings suggest that these plants could hold greater remedial properties, which can be further explored through extraction and cancer cell testing. Given that the literature showed that Native American populations used these plants for medicinal purposes, these species may have potential in the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.

Isadora Martins The Role of Media in Language Acquisition Amy Aidman, Senior Lecturer This study works in collaboration with Kids Video Connection (KVC), an organization that aims to improve and refine video production and media literacy skills of youth. Influenced by the Common Sense Census Media Use by Tweens and Teens study, I created a survey to quantify the percentage of KVC students in a workshop that have used or are still using media (such as television shows and movies, online practices and apps) as a method for learning a new language. I plan to focus on the respondentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; gender, age, and family income to find patterns and correlations within the data. This study is important because youth are using media to learn languages, improve their skills and communicate in general but there is still very little data on how students are influenced by media in second language learning and whether or not it is a safe and effective method. There is controversy over the effectiveness of using media to learn topics as complex as language because many believe languages must be taught in a classroom setting. This study does not seek to disqualify those claims. Instead, it attempts to understand how media are being used by students to learn languages. Since this is a pilot study, the results are not easily generalizable but one possible outcome is a positively correlated increase in the amount of languages learned and the amount of media used and an inverse relationship between family income and the reliance on media to learn a new language.

Ethan Morris How do we recognize faces and places?

Frederik S. Kamps, Ethan Morris, Daniel D. Dilks How do we recognize complex visual stimuli like faces and places? fMRI research has revealed a number of category selective regions (e.g., responding preferentially to faces or places), but the precise information each represents remains unclear. Some evidence supports the existence of a general organizing principle in which more posterior regions represent “parts” and more anterior regions represent “wholes.” To test “parts-whole” processing, we measured responses in two face-selective regions (occipital face area, OFA, and fusiform face area, FFA) and two place-selective regions (occipital place area, OPA, and parahippocampal place area, PPA) to images of arranged and scrambled faces and places. To test how “parts-whole” processing generalizes across different face and place information, we explored how these same regions represent the arrangement of both internal face information (e.g., eyes, nose, mouth) and external face information (e.g., hair, head, shoulders), as well as internal scene information (e.g., furniture) and external scene information (e.g., walls, floors, ceilings) information. Consistent with the “parts-whole” hypothesis, we found the more posterior OFA represents parts of both internal and external face elements, while the more anterior FFA represented the configuration of both internal and external face elements. We also found evidence of “parts-whole” processing across scene regions, but interestingly only for external, not internal scene elements. Our results thus provide stronger support for a general organizing principle of “parts-whole” processing across occipitotemporal cortex, and further shed light on the precise kinds of face and scene information (i.e., internal versus external) represented within this general “parts-whole” framework.

Elias Neibart Understanding the Establishment Clause Through the States Elias Neibart, Dr. Judd Owen, PhD, Emory University We contend that the most obvious original intent of the Establishment Clause—the constitutional provision prohibiting Congress from establishing a religion—was to prevent the federal government from establishing a national religion. After determining the Framers of the Constitution’s original intent, we later sought to determine, based on the wording of the religion clauses, whether a further part of the intention was to allow state autonomy regarding religion, and if so how the states used their autonomy. We used the principal Framer of the Establishment Clause, James Madison, to assess how exactly the Framers envisioned state government involvement with religion. We note that James Madison defended antiestablishment provisions and the freedom of conscious within his home state of Virginia.

Additionally, we find that states adopted language that, for the most part, reflected antiestablishment and free exercise sentiments, but also incorporated some religious aspects that would appear wholly unconstitutional in today’s predominant religion clause jurisprudence.

Therefore, analyzing the state constitutions of the first thirteen states, the federal establishment clause and the debates around these documents, reveals an America where the national government seldom interfered with religion and state governments embraced and entangled themselves with religion in a panoply of non-invasive ways. This analysis therefore informs current discourse surrounding religion’s role in public life, as it 1) speaks to the national government effectively deferring to the states and 2) indicates that state governments, though

they rarely directly favored one faith, held a legal and constitutional prerogative to cultivate religion within their jurisdictions.

Elana Norman Spatial development in a sample of Samoan children Elana Norman, Stella F. Lourenco, PhD Emory University; Sami Yousif, Yale University Spatial reasoning is important to ever day functioning (e.g., Uttal & Cohen, 2012) and is strongly correlated with success in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields (Vasilyeva & Lourenco, 2012); yet, there are long-standing questions about the biological and experiential factors that lead to individual differences in these abilities (e.g., Levine et al., 2005).

Cross-cultural research can help to fill this gap. In this study, we explored the spatial abilities of children from Samoa. Through this research, we found significant differences between perceptual and symbolic measures of spatial reasoning and, critically, no evidence of gender differences on any of the administered tasks (Yousif, Norman, & Lourenco, submitted). At Emory, we extended this work by adding a sample of American children. By including an American sample, we directly compared American and Samoan children—tested on the exact same measures—to better understand which aspects of spatial knowledge are innate and which are learned. In the American participants’, there was a lack of sex differences throughout three of the four tasks. The only sex difference found was in the perspective taking task where American males outperformed American females. The lack of sex differences raises questions about the innateness of spatial differences and the stability of past results. Overall, the American participants performed better on all four tasks compared to the Samoan participants.

Thus, we concluded that spatial experience profoundly impacts the development of spatial abilities.

Elizabeth O'Gorman Comparison of behavioral outcomes between a social and nonsocial rewarding task in the valproate rat model of autism spectrum disorder Elizabeth O'Gorman, Chia-Chun "Jeffrey" Hsu, Teresa Madsen, Ph.D., Donald "Tig" Rainnie, Ph.D., Emory University Social deficits are a core symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In utero exposure to valproate (VPA), a drug used clinically as a treatment for epilepsy, has been shown to increase incidence of ASD in human offspring. To examine the etiology of ASD, we produced an autistic phenotype in a male Sprague Dawley rat model by using VPA. We evaluated the face-validity of this model by conducting repeated social preference tests on VPA-treated rats. To examine the processing of social reward, we compared VPA-treated rats to saline-treated rats using two behavioral paradigms: three-chamber social preference test, a social rewarding paradigm, and food conditioning, a non-social rewarding behavioral paradigm. During the three-chamber social preference test, we found no significant difference between VPA-treated and saline-treated rats in time spent interacting with the novel probe rat. During food conditioning training, however, we found that VPA-treated rats spent more time in and have shorter latency to enter the food magazine. Thus, these findings suggest differential reward processing for VPA-treated and saline-treated rats. In the future, we aim to analyze neural data and neural oscillatory patterns in the nucleus accumbens and basolateral amygdala, brain regions associated with the reward system, during both behavioral paradigms to exam the processing of reward.

Peter Oliveira Soens Analyzing Fluctuations in Global Nitrous Oxide Emissions Peter Oliveira Soens Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that has approximately 300 times more Greenhouse Warming Potential (GWP) than carbon dioxide. This study has assessed the change in the global atmospheric mixing ratios of nitrous oxide between 1995 and 2014 in order to create better estimates of nitrous oxide emissions from various sources. The data is from the Global Carbon Project (GCP) and the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI). We used several different types of modelling software in order to investigate the fluctuations in global emissions. This knowledge would help us understand nitrous oxideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s broader relationship with the environment and allow us to more effectively combat its negative effects.

Javier Omar The Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Working Memory and Verbal Fluency in Sedentary Older Adults Javier Omar, Joe Nocera, PhD, Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta VA Medical Center; Department of Neurology, Emory University The aim of this project is to examine the impact of aerobic exercise on frontally-mediated executive function tasks in sedentary older adults. The study will specifically focus on understanding the impact of aerobic exercise on both working memory and verbal fluency.

These executive functions are critical for tasks of daily living and are known to exhibit agerelated decline. Forty participants (age 65-89) will be enrolled in a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention. This intervention will consist of a cycling-based aerobic activity, a form of aerobic exercise that has been shown in previous studies to improve cognitive functions in sedentary older adults (Nocera, McGregor, Hass, & Crosson, 2015). Participants will be administered preand post-assessments for both working memory and verbal fluency in order to objectively quantify the impact of the intervention.

Jubilee Park Antibacterial Properties of Medicinal Plant Extracts on ESKAPE Pathogens The Infectious Diseases Society of America has identified a faction of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp.) – acronymically dubbed 'the ESKAPE pathogens' – capable of 'escaping' the effects of antibiotics. These pathogens are the leading cause of nosocomial infections in the world. Most of them are multidrug resistant isolates, which is one of the greatest challenges in clinical practice. Multidrug resistance is amongst the top threats to global public health and is usually caused by excessive drug usage or prescription, inappropriate use of antimicrobials, and substandard pharmaceuticals. Novel treatments for ESKAPE pathogens are desperately needed. The Quave lab focuses on drug discovery efforts to improve treatment options for drug-resistant bacterial infections with natural products derived from medicinal plants. This project examines the antibacterial potential of ethnobotanically used plant extracts on Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acineobacter baumanii.

Caleb Parsons The Hands That Rebuilt the South: The Convict Lease System and Postbellum Georgia Abstract not available.

Ruhika Prasad Analyzing the role of LCMT-1 in hematopoiesis David Pallas, PhD, Emory University; Rhea Fogla, Emory University; Amanda Delgado, Emory University; Mentong Hu, Emory University Studying blood development helps us determine causes for certain blood disorders in which cells are unable to function normally, such as blood cancers like leukemia or other blood diseases such as anemias. This knowledge will help us eventually develop different treatment methods for the multitudes of people affected by these diseases. Our work investigates the role of Leucine Carboxyl Methyltransferase-1 (LCMT-1) in blood development and regulation of a specific protein phosphatase called PP2A. Initial results with a global knockout mouse for LCMT-1 revealed that LCMT-1 is essential for normal blood development; its loss causes anemia and embryonic death. To determine LCMT-1 role's in blood development, we have acquired a conditional LCMT-1 knockout mouse, allowing us to knockout LCMT-1 specifically in blood cells. This system will allow us to study LCMT-1’s role in the blood development of adult mice. The mice will first be re-derived prior to our experiments. Then through a combination of breeding schemes we will generate mice that have lost LCMT-1 in hematopoietic stem cells. We will then use this new mouse model to examine the role of LCMT-1 in blood development. This mouse model allows us to do experiments with adult mice, and avoids extrinsic effects on blood development in the mouse due to the loss of LCMT-1 in other tissues. Our investigations should reveal important new information about the role of LCMT-1 and protein phosphorylation in blood development, with the long-term goal of eventually giving blood disease patients more options for possible treatments

Jiayue Qiu Motility Selection of Aminoglycoside Phosphotransferase (3â&#x20AC;&#x2122;) Type IIIa Ichiro Matsumura, PhD, Associate Professor Emory University; Jiayue Qiu, Emory University Abstract not available.

Mario Ramirez Functional Outcomes after Orthobiologic Injections: Bone Marrow Aspirate versus Fat Graft R. Amadeus Mason, MD Emory University; Anna R. Cruz, MD Emory University; Kenneth Mautner, MD Emory University; Michael Gottschalk, MD Emory University; Poonam Dalwadi, Georgia Institute of Technology; Mario Ramirez, Emory University Abstract not available.

Danielle Randall Investigating genetic risk factors of schizophrenia among individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome Michael Epstein, PhD Emory University The goal of this research project is to identify genetic factors the lead to the development of schizophrenia. We will perform a whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis on data from individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a genetic disorder resulting from a deletion of part of chromosome 22. Individuals with this deletion have a 25-30-fold increased risk of developing schizophrenia compared to individuals without the deletion. Interestingly, variants in the intact region of chromosome 22 that are not deleted do not appear to play a significant role in schizophrenia. Thus, it is possible that performing a WGS on individuals with this condition could uncover additional important genetic factors that lead to schizophrenia. We will use the computer programs PLINK, R, and perl to perform the analyses in attempts to identify novel genetic variants that associate with schizophrenia. We will generate a qq-plot and a Manhattan plot of the results to see if there are any variants that are statistically significant and to ensure results do not suffer from any systematic bias. Any variants that are beyond the significant threshold will potentially provide evidence for a genetic risk factor for schizophrenia.

Camila Reed-Guevara Historiography in Seneca the Younger Camila Reed-Guevara, Jonathan Master My research is on the Letters on Ethics to Lucilius written by Seneca the Younger. Beginning my research in stoic philosophy, I ask major questions: should one sacrifice her moral and ethical beliefs in order to be politically or economically successful? And, does working alongside a critically flawed person or inside a morally questionable institution automatically tarnish your integrity? These questions prompted me to look at Seneca the Younger, who was a Roman politician and philosopher from 4 BCE-65 CE. He lived through the first five Roman emperors and was tutor to the final Julio-Claudian emperor, Nero. He functions as a critical figure in history and his character and influence is highly debated to this day. To me, the more important question is what was Seneca’s philosophy of education? My research is on the curriculum and readings that Seneca believed made a good student. Using Seneca’s role as a tutor for Nero as a heuristic for understanding how his teaching practices could be actualized is a good way to use history to better understand philosophical writing. Finally, I evaluate the relevance of Seneca’s answers to the eternal questions of knowledge production in our current time period.

My research will culminate in final research paper.

Adam Ring Chemical Evidence for Cacao-based Beverages in Ancient Central American Vessels Adam Ring, Emory University; Douglas Mulford, PhD Emory University; Renee Stein, PhD Carlos Museum Cacao was used in a variety of ceremonial beverages in many pre-Columbian Central American cultures. The cacao may have been mixed with other stimulant substances, most of them derived from plants. Published studies indicate that traces of the cacao and additives can be identified through analysis to detect the three chemical markers indicative of cacao - the methylxanthines: theobromine, theophylline, and caffeine. The goal of this project is to systematically sample and analyze residues found in pots from the Carlos Museum’s Americas collection using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Instrumental procedures were optimized to maximize the separation of a set of standard solutions containing the three methylxanthines of interest. Conditions found to demonstrate the most separation include: increasing the solvent’s polarity to decrease methylxanthine solubility, lowering the flow-rate of the sample as it passes through the column, and lowering the solvent pH to increase the molecules’ formal charge and electrostatic interactions with the solid phase of the column.

Samples from approximately 20 vases in Carlos Museum’s Americas collection were collected for analysis using this set of HPLC conditions. Results from this analysis will reveal information about the function and cultural context of these vessels.

Momo Rutkin Electronic Property Changes In Polythiophine Chains Momo Rutkin, Jeff Schriber, Francesco Evangelista, PhD, Emory University A prevalent topic researched in chemistry today focuses on innovating solar-driven photochemical processes. In order to maximize stored energy and reduce photon lost to entropy, we would have to explore methods that promote electrons changing energy from a long wavelength to that of high energy photons, a process known as upconversion. In order increase the feasibility of this upconversion we must dig deeper into the electronic structure and excited state properties of energy storage materials. Research is currently being done on triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion, where electrons in two triplet energy states are raised to a higher singlet state because it maximizes the time it takes for the electrons to settle back to their ground states. This transition releases energy that can be used for a long period of time. One molecule with semiconducting properties capable of doing triplet-triplet annihilation is the polythiophene molecule. In my research, we want to figure out how the different electronic properties of polythiophene molecules, such as the energy bandgap, changes as we continue adding molecules to extend the polythiophene chain. Using the software Psi4, we take the optimized geometry of various polythiophene chain lengths and compute the energy difference between singlet and triplet states using a variety of quantum mechanical methods including both density functional theory and coupled cluster theory. With the knowledge of various electronic properties of molecules using quantum chemistry, we can better understand the potential applications of many different molecules to a variety of different research fields including solar energy research.

Sean Setzen Revealing Solar Water Splitting Electrode Surface Reaction Mechanisms through Kinetic Isotope Effect Studies Sean Setzen, Undergraduate Emory College of Arts and Sciences; Zed Xu, Graduate Student Emory University; Dr. Tianquan Lian, PhD University of Pennsylvania Hematite, Fe2O3, has a multitude of properties that would make it the ideal surface for solar water splitting but it does also have some properties that provide â&#x20AC;&#x153;kinetic limitationsâ&#x20AC;? for charge transfer. Solar water splitting is the use of a photocatalyst, in this case the hematite photoanode, to split water molecules into their constituent parts, H2 gas and O2 gas as this offers an abundance of energy in a renewable manner. In this experiment, our goal is to use the Kinetic Isotope Effect to unveil the surface reaction mechanism on a solar water splitting electrode through the use of photoelectrochemical characterization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and the kinetic isotope effect. The goal of this important research is to be able to create a new form of solar panel that holds energy for longer periods of time as current solar panels, however large they may be, are not good at sustaining the energy they absorb for an extended period of time. As a result, we use physical chemistry and electrochemistry to see how we can best optimize a form of charge transfer that will hold for long enough that the energy absorbed can be stored. This is vital as it will offer a more efficient alternative energy source.

Faraz Sewani Role of LCMT-1 in Fetal Mouse Liver Growth and Development Faraz Sewani, Grant Schleifer, Chris Cutler, Jonathan Park, Daniella Gonzalez, Alexandra Hildreth, and David Pallas Abstract not available.

Preston Sheng Exploiting Drosophila to examine RNA exosome-linked disease.

Preston Sheng, Derrick J. Morton, Christopher Rounds, Binta Jalloh, Ken Moberg, and Anita H. Corbett Emory University, Department of Biology Many diseases begin as the result of small, single base mutations in the genome. Identifying these diseases can prove very challenging. One area of interest is the multi-protein RNA exosome complex, a complex that plays a crucial role in the degradation and processing of RNA. Mutations in multiple genes that encode RNA exosome subunits are linked to distinct disease. Interestingly, RNA exosome subunit EXOSC3 is linked to Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia Type 1b (PCH1b), a disease affecting the cerebellum and the pons, causing severe intellectual and motor defects. Those effected typically do not survive past childhood. My preliminary data show that we can assess RNA exosome function in a tissue-specific manner in Drosophila.

Knockdown of EXOSC3 (fly Rrp40) in all neurons (elav>Gal4), glial cells (repo>Gal4) and globally (actin>Gal4) is lethal; however, knockdown in mushroom bodies (OK107>Gal4), which are analogous to the hippocampus in higher eukaryotes, yields viable flies providing an in vivo venue to assess RNA exosome subunit function. RNA exosome function is critical but not absolutely required for viability in the mushroom bodies. Moreover, my preliminary data show that loss of Rrp40 in mushroom bodies yields a highly penetrant phenotype evident in the loss of alpha lobes and outgrowth of beta lobes providing a platform to investigate a potential role for RNA exosome subunits and links to learning and memory deficits. These studies will provide insight into the function of the RNA exosome in vivo and explore the functional consequences of defects in the RNA exosome linked to very distinct disease.

Ellie Studdard Murdered for Voting: A Search for the Truth about the Murder of Isaiah Nixon Ellie Studdard, Emory University; Hank Klibanoff, Emory University Throughout the Civil Rights Era in the United States, untold brutalities were inflicted against black Americans, some resulting in death. The Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project investigates instances of civil rights violations that took place in Georgia beginning in the early 1940s. This project investigated the case of Isaiah Nixon, who voted in the 1948 special election for Governor in Georgia. The investigation began with archival FBI files showing that after Isaiah Nixon voted, two men came to his house. Those men, brothers Jim A. and Johnnie Johnson, attempted to bring Isaiah Nixon with them and when he refused they shot him. Isaiah Nixon died within two days. The FBI investigation led students to a fieldwork trip to Montgomery County, Georgia. The visit to the towns of Alston, Uvalda, and Mt. Vernon led to the surprising discovery of Isaiah Nixon’s grave, presumed by his family to be lost for nearly 60 years. We contacted the Nixon family with news of the grave, giving the surviving members a sense of closure they had lacked since 1948. The final aim of this investigation is to bring the Nixon family together with a nephew of the murderers in order to facilitate a conversation of closure and restorative justice.

We hope to illustrate how investigations into the errors of the past can lead to productive action in the present.

Maya Subbanna Developing a Quantitive Method of Diagnosing Alzheimers Disease Maya Subbanna, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; David Gutman, MD, PhD Emory University School of Medicine Alzheimer’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder which significantly affects long and short term memory in 5.5 million Americans each year. The gold standard to diagnose the disease comes from a post-mortem analysis of the brain, looking at the concentrations and deposition pattern of certain biomarkers. This research focuses on finding a quantitative analysis to characterizing the disease, which would lead to more accurate methods of diagnosing the disease in living patients. Brain sections were acquired from autopsy specimens contributed to the Emory Brain Bank. Paraformaldehyde-fixed tissue blocks from various regions were prepared by immuno-labeling with antibodies to the Aβ biomarker. The brain regions were also treated with Di-aminobenzidine (DAB) in order to develop a brown stain where the Aβ biomarker is located. Abnormal deposition of the Aβ biomarker has been shown to be a key diagnostic hallmark of Alzheimer’s pathology. Following sectioning and staining, digital images of the slides were analyzed using image analysis algorithms contained in the Aperio ImageScope.

Annotating the slides entailed outlining areas of the brain regions affected by high concentrations of Aβ biomarker (illustrated by high concentrations of brown staining), which was most prevalent in the cerebral cortex. Once slides were annotated, we used a positive pixel count algorithm to quantify amounts of biomarker present in these brain regions, serving as a method of characterizing the disease. As the accuracy and efficiency of digital technology used to characterize Alzheimer’s Disease improves, diagnosis of the disease could shift from subjective psychological assessment to objective quantitative parameters.

Ye Sung Does Mental Rotation Enhance Mathematical Competence?

If spatial cognition plays a crucial role in childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education (Uttal, Miller, & Newcombe, 2013), specifically STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), then why have educators and researchers not eagerly explored how to use it in their favor? Although it has been found that spatial abilities are related to mathematical ability (Lubinski, 2010; Mix & Cheng, 2012), it is largely unclear what constitutes these correlations. In the proposed research, we test whether there is a causal relation between spatial and mathematical abilities by training children on mental rotation and then assessing the impact of training on their math performance. Following two recent studies (Cheng & Mix, 2012; Hawes et al., 2015), we focus on training mental rotation and its potential effect on arithmetic performance with 6- to 8-year-olds. The current study proposes a 7-day online training procedure to test the casual relation between mental rotation and arithmetic performance. In addition to informing theory about the nature of the relation between spatial and mathematical abilities, we aim to offer a novel training approach by demonstrating the feasibility of an online procedure for children.

Jit Hui Tan Family and Cultural Predictors of Willingness to Care and Ageism among Young Adults Jit Hui Tan, Nancy Bliwise, PhD, Emory University The aging of the United States population necessitates further understanding of familial factors that encourage caregiving and positive attitudes towards the older population. This study examined the normative, structural, and associational dimensions of intergenerational solidarity within the family, and their ability to predict willingness to care and ageism among college students. We investigated the role of culture on family dynamics and norms through the moderating effects of ethnic group and ethnic identification across non-Hispanic White, Asian, Black, and Hispanic ethnicities. Lastly, we explored the intergenerational transmission of norms from parent to child. We administered online surveys to 287 Emory University undergraduate students and 137 parents, measuring their levels of normative, structural, and associational solidarity, willingness to care, and ageism. Using hierarchical linear regression analyses, normative solidarity was shown to predict willingness to care and ageism, above and beyond structural and associational solidarity. Although significant differences across ethnic groups were found, ethnic group and ethnic identification were not significant moderators of any relationships. Finally, parentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s familism norms were shown to indirectly influence childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s willingness to care through the transmission of familism norms to the child.

Jacquelyn Thelin Characterization of a mouse model with novel Scn8a gene mutation Jacquelyn Thelin, Kameryn McCarty Butler, Andrew Escayg Voltage-gated sodium channels are protein complexes embedded in the cell membrane that regulate the initiation and propagation of action potentials, a critical mechanism for electrical signaling between neurons. The Scn8a gene encodes the voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.6, and is found throughout both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Recent studies of Scn8a in mice demonstrate that gain-of-function mutations lead to increased neuronal hyperexcitability, seizures, and ataxia. Conversely, loss-of-function mutations contribute to decreased neuronal firing, resulting in increased seizure resistance and a wide range of movement disorders. Our lab previously generated a mouse with a novel nine-base pair inframe deletion in Scn8a using CRISPR Cas-9 technology. In this study, we characterized the anxiety levels, motor skill , and seizure susceptibility of mice heterozygous for this novel deletion. Our results indicate heterozygous mutant mice do not show significant differences in anxiety levels or motor skill compared to wild-type littermates. However, heterozygous mutant mice display increased resistance to electrically- and chemically-induced seizures compared to wild-type littermates, suggesting the in-frame deletion reduces the activity of Nav1.6 and subsequent neuronal firing. These results further expand our knowledge of Scn8a mutations and their role in mediating neurological diseases associated with seizures and movement disorders.

Chad Tucker Avondale Estates: A Historical Analysis at its Contemporary Formation Elizabeth Goodstein, PhD, Emory University Avondale Estates functions as a microcosm to the broader American narrative of suburbia. A few miles east of Atlanta, it is notable for its Tudor revival style architecture that mimics Medieval Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;like few other suburbs in the United States. Our research focuses an effort to build a cohesive narrative of Avondaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible utility in regard to its artistic past, as a method of revitalizing it presently. There was literature about Avondale Estates, yet none on its historical formation, which we sought to uncover. Limitations of the literature were apparent in a lack of consolidated history purely on this location. Under the broader framework of suburbanization, we scoured books for information, particularly photographs, about what Avondale contained during its inception (1920s) as it shifted from Ingleside to its modern name.

Our results have uncovered a few notable actors, wealthy moguls, and Druid Hills as the muse for the inspiration of Avondale Estates. However, our research seeks to continue discovery of other suburbs branding the medieval Tudor revival style architecture in other parts of the United States, like Forest Hills Gardens and Westchester County in the northeastern seaboard.

Aras Ural The Effects of Panel Assignment on the US Court of Appeals in Death Penalty Cases Tom Clark, PhD, Emory University; Deborah Beim, PhD, Yale University; Benjamin E. Lauderdale, PhD, London School of Economics We use the random assignment of three judge panels on the US Court of Appeals to measure the preferences of individual judges for granting relief in death penalty appeals, and how they are aggregated into decisions. This project aims to provide evidence that judges on the US Court of Appeals for the 5th, 6th, 9th, and 11th Circuits apply highly inconsistent thresholds for relief in death penalty sentences. This has the potential to allow for significant arbitrariness in the application of the death penalty. In showing that different judges apply different standards for granting relief (“liberal” versus “conservative”) on a panel, we provide evidence that the US Court of Appeals grants relief in death penalty cases in an inconsistent manner and we examine the extent to which this affects whether/when appellants are executed. To measure the apparent rate of inconsistency, we measure the rates at which individual judges would prefer to grant relief if they were to decide cases individually. Our approach has been to collect the data by searching the Westlaw database of court briefs, coding the judges on the panel and the panel’s decision (grant/deny relief) belonging to each of the aforementioned circuits. Using a 1D casespace framework model along-with adopting two main approaches to estimate said models, we will be able to statistically estimate the individual preferences of judges and thus see how these are aggregated into decisions.

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 victim-perspective communion, gender was considered as a moderating factor. In displays of communion from transgressorperspective 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.

Namrata Verghese Unearthing Ted Hughes: Mapping a Life Through Poems Namrata Verghese, Emory University Ted Hughes (1930-1998), a prominent twentieth-century English poet, is consistently described as one of the greatest poets of his generation. His acclaimed professional career, during which he served as Britain’s Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death, in conjunction with his highly contentious personal life centered on his tumultuous marriage to renowned poet Sylvia Plath, renders him one of the most important literary figures of the twentieth century. In 1997, a year before his death, Emory University acquired an extensive archive of Ted Hughes’s personal papers. Weighing over two tons and currently housed in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Library, the archive comprises letters, manuscripts, and other documents spanning the years 1940 to 1997. My research aims to map these primary source documents to a timeline of Ted Hughes’s personal and professional life, specifically noting salient life events, such as Sylvia Plath’s suicide, for significant archival parallels.

Kelly Vogel The Role of the Interaction Between the Orbitofrontal Cortex and Basolateral Amygdala in the Development of Habitual Behaviors Elizabeth Pitts, Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University; Shannon L. Gourley, Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine The purpose of this research is to investigate the neural circuitry involved in habitual behaviors.

Habitual behavior patterns are currently not very well understood, yet they are pivotal to destructive disorders like drug addictions. Without a strong understanding of the neural systems involved in these behaviors, it is difficult to develop appropriate interventions. In this project, we are investigating the impact that the interaction between the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA) has on the acquisition of the behaviors in question. To explore this hypothesis, we performed instrumental conditioning and the contingency degradation behavioral assays on a mouse model; the mice had their OFC and BLA inhibited to various degrees (contralaterally, ipsilaterally, or not at all). Based on how these mice performed in these tests along with confirmation from histology that the appropriate target sites were affected, we found that indications that disrupting the connection between the OFC and BLA augments the prevalence of habitual behavior in the mice. This suggests that these regions are important in the development of habitual behaviors and could be crucial in understanding habitual-driven behaviors like drug addictions as well as potential interventions. To strengthen the significance of our findings, we are planning to research this work by adding additional cohorts to the study.

Raekwon Williams Investigating the Role of Religiosity in Comorbid Alcohol and Tobacco Use among Individuals of African Ancestry Raekwon Williams, Andrew Boateng-Paku, Keith Whitfield, Rohan Palmer Our lab is intrigued in examining gene-environment interactions as it relates to substance use and SUDs that result. The current methodological approach is data mining and analysis of relevant literature on racial differences and propensity toward drug addiction for African Americans. While much of the literature has highlighted various factors which influence or serve as a buffer for one’s propensity towards substance abuse (Haber et al 2013)—such as parental monitoring or use amongst peers (Musci et al 2015)—this specific study is interested in the role that religiosity/spirituality plays directly. Utilizing a dataset from a longitudinal twin study by Dr. Keith Whitfield—the North Carolina African American Twin Studies of Aging (NCAATSA)—a multiple regression model was ran to test the correlation between religiosity and comorbid alcohol and tobacco use. The dataset includes information of participants’ religious affiliation, prayer frequency, and church attendance as a measure of religiosity. We expect to find a significant effect of overall religiosity/spirituality decreasing the likelihood of substance abuse; in future directions for the study, the measure of religiosity will be operationalized in a manner that questions whether it is internal (ie. Sanctity of the body, moralistic concerns) or external concerns (ie. Belief in a higher being, or that substance use is ‘sinful’) which are most ‘protective’. Due to underrepresentation of African Americans, particularly in epidemiological research, this study contributes to prior research aimed at understanding more about environmental and genetic variables which influence drug abuse, and how these variables compare to other racial groups.

Thomas Xia Effects of Prevotella copri on levels of thioredoxin-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Thomas Yu Xia; Ashfaqul Alam, PhD Emory University; Hiroshi Qadota, PhD Emory University; Guy M. Benian, MD Emory University; Andrew S. Neish, MD Emory University.

The enteric microbiota consists of trillions of microorganisms that coexist with their host. This ecological community can influence a range of host functions such as immunological responses, nutrition absorption, and intestinal wound recovery. In a recent study conducted by our lab, for example, it was shown that the composition of the microbiota around an injury site in the intestines can differ from that around non-injured, normal gut cells. One specific example is Prevotella copri which is a bacterium that was found in relatively higher levels around sites of injury. This bacterium is also suspected to affect host inflammatory responses, as it has been observed that P. copri is found in higher levels in the stools of patients with newly developed rheumatoid arthritis. Inflammatory responses are thought to be linked to reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are formed by the metabolism of oxygen and can damage cells through oxidative stress. The damaging effects of ROS are counterbalanced by redox proteins which neutralize ROS. Given these observations, the change in the levels of a highly conserved redox protein, thioredoxin-1 (TRX-1), were measured in response to P. copri. Caenorhabditis elegans was chosen as the host organism because the nematode directly consumes bacteria as a source of nutrition. P. copri was fed to the C. elegans, and TRX-1 levels were detected through immunofluorescence and Western Blot.

Soungbin Yim Investigating the gap between the adoption year of emission standards and fuel quality standards Soungbin Yim, Undergraduate Student at Emory University; Eri Saikawa Assistant Professor at Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; Jennifer Fundora, Undergraduate Student at Emory University; Jacqueline Yap, J.D. Candidate at the George Washington University Law School Emory University Major sources of air pollution in metropolitan areas are vehicle exhausts that come from combustion of diesel and gasoline fuels. Both gasoline and diesel combustion are known to emit various air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), black carbon, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These air pollutants can have potential health impacts, such as causing chronic respiratory diseases, mutations in cells that can lead to cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. One way to reduce these emissions is adopting vehicle emission standards and fuel quality standards. Although it is most effective to adopt both at the same time, many countries adopted emission standards and fuel quality standards at different times. We investigated countriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; trend of adopting the two standards between 1975 and 2013.

We categorized countries based on income, following the World Bank database. Major findings were that most countries adopted emission standards earlier than fuel quality standards. Also, the gap between the adoption year of emission standards and fuel quality standards were much smaller for upper middle to high-income (UMH) countries than for low to lower middle income (LLM) countries. Possible reason is that although low sulfur fuel is a key to the implementation of advanced vehicle emission controls, many LLM countries do not have an access to the high quality fuel with low sulfur. This leads to a significant disharmony between emission standards and fuel quality standards for LLM countries, which needs to be addressed to mitigate air pollution in a more effective and appropriate way.

Michael Yoo The Effect of the Expression of dNab2 in the Body Wall Neurons of Drosophila Michael Yoo, Undergraduate, Emory University; Kenneth Moberg, PhD, Emory University; Edwin Corgiat, BS, University of the Cumberlands Abstract not available.

Liliana Zha Understanding the economic drivers of food choice using qualitative analyses of market survey data from regions in Tanzania and Kenya Amy Webb-Girard, PhD Emory University; Liliana Zha, Emory University Almost 75% and more than 80% of the economically active population in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, relies on agriculture as a source of income. The majority of the rural population in both countries relies on subsistence farming as a means of income and food. However, the variability in climate and seasons render the population vulnerable to widespread chronic food insecurity. Women and children, in particular, are susceptible to the negative effects of malnutrition. As a result, it is necessary to identify both the most affordable and nutritious diets available, giving extra consideration to the foods locally grown and available. To study the purchasing behavior, availability of foods, and characteristics of markets, vendor surveys and food market data provided by researchers in an ongoing project led by Professor Webb-Girard at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health are examined. Staple foods and price trends among three markets in Homa Bay, Kenya are identified using comparative qualitative analyses and a Cost of the Diet (CotD) assessment is initiated. By utilizing the CotD software and performing qualitative comparative analysis on previously retrieved seasonal market survey data from Homa Bay and Migori, this study aims to assist in understanding the availability and prices of foods, which are contributing factors to the drivers of food choice.

Jinyi Zhang A Cross-cultural Study on Inequity Aversion and Altruism Jinyi Zhang, Emory University; Erin Robbins, PhD, University of St. Andrews; Philippe Rochat, PhD, Emory University The current research consists of three studies. A total number of 220 participants from Samoa (n=52, mean age=8), China (n=63, mean age=9.38) and the US (n=105, mean age=7.48) were recruited. The first study is based on a research done by Fehr, Bernard & Rockenbach (2008).

Children were asked to divide rewards between themselves and an anonymous partner. In each trial there were two choices, one egalitarian choice – (“1 sticker for you, 1 sticker for the other kid”) and one alternative choice (“1 for you, 0 for the other kid” or “1 for you, 2 for the other kid” or “2 for you, 0 for the other kid”). There were totally 3 trials. In the second game, the procedure was the same except the objects being divided were undesirable (plastic bugs). In the third game, children were asked to choose different levels of pain and rewards (low pain paired with low rewards to high pain paired with high rewards) for themselves and an anonymous partner.

The results showed significant cultural differences in the two sharing games. Chinese children behaved the most altruistic, American children behaved the most egalitarian, and Samoan children behaved the most ambiguous. Results from the pain-reward game showed that culture and age are significant predictors of the level of harm chosen. Chinese children who are 8 years old and above applied less harm to others than they did to themselves, indicating altruistic tendency. Younger Chinese children and children from other cultures did not display such tendency.

Shuohao Zhang Monetary Policy and Mutual Funds John Kim, Delwin Olivan The project Monetary Policy and Mutual Funds studies the effect of monetary policy and flowperformance incentives on risk taking for the class of Active Equity Mutual Funds (AEMF), funds that are operated actively by managers and mainly consist of investment on equities. First, we document that the past decade provided several conditions that encouraged these funds to chase higher returns while taking higher risk, with low interest rates encouraging large outflows from Money Market Funds (MMFs). Leveraging previous studies on similar reaching for yield by MMFs, we analyze fund returns and risk taking during and around the recent financial crisis. We utilize discrete Federal announcements providing forward guidance about interest rates and asset purchases to inform event studies analyzing these factors. We hypothesize that our results will provide evidence of a strong interaction between MMFs and AEMFs. The incentives that led to MMF outflows should also generated significant pressure on AEMFs. In addition, we expect to see that AEMFs responded to low interest rates by increasing their risk to pursue higher returns.