Spring 2018 Undergraduate Research Symposium: April 24th

Undergraduate Research Symposium April 24th, 2018

Presenter Name Danial Arslan Lily-Michelle Arthur Betsy Benitez Drew Bryant

Coco Cao Priyanka Desai Juliana Dieterich Boff Evangelia Diplas Katie Duval Birk Evavold Yining Feng Cameron Frostbaum Hannah Fuller Sam Galloway Ameya Gangal Julia Gensheimer Alessandra Granzotti Lindsay Guyette Junyi Han Davis Husk Daniel Jacobs Elliot Ji Colin Jiang

Title of Presentation Conspecific Odour Recognition in Socially Monogamous Prairie Voles Effects of Aerobic Exercise Training on Executive Function in Older Adults A Genotype-Based Analysis of Mouse Acoustic Startle Latency in a Jackson Lab Cohort Analyzing Factors Behind Changing Ideologies of Childhood in Nineteenth Century Britain, As Examined Through Social Activism and Propaganda Pieces for Child Labor and Juvenile Delinquency Reform Monkey Embryonic Stem Cell Culture on Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts Feeder Starting Up to Get In: Founders, Entrepreneurs, and the College Admissions Experience Gender Differences in Speech Production: Effects of Articulatory Flexibility on the Acoustic Structure of Speech The interaction of lighting environment and chronotype on interpretations of facial expressions Control of leaf patterning via polycomb-mediated auxin responses in Solanum lycopersicum Oxidation of Human Galectin-1 for Structural Determination Impact of Immigration on the Well-being of U.S. Natives Microtheatre: A Study and Practice of a New Millennial Theater Atticus Finch: The Paper Trail that Reveals How Harper Lee’s Protagonist was Created Welwyn Garden City: A Green Solution to Interwar Housing Overexpression of the Neurogenic Gene NeuroG2 in the PeriInfarct Region to Reduce Glial Scar and Support Transplanted iPS Cell-Derived Cells After Neonatal Stroke in Rats Glucocorticoids are required for the CD8+ T cell response to PD-1 blockade In-Hospital CABG Mortality by Gender and Race/Ethnicity: What Does the Evidence Show: 1998 - 2015 Bipolar Disorder: The Mother-Child Connection, Early Detection, and Early Intervention The Post System in Qing Dynasty The Missing Israelite Story: Re-Writing the Intellectual Origins of Secularism and Why It Matters How Attention Affects Our Perception of Faces, Objects, and Scenes Measuring Informal Power of Chinese Political Leaders with Text Mining Machine Learning Approaches to Cancer Treatment

Mehvish Khan Michael Kim Hannah Knoettner Yaw Kumi-Ansu Sarah Lee Qiulun Li Olivia Lofton Catherine MacGregor Aditi Majoe Mia Morrell Abhinav Nair Perry Onaka Teresa Pan Tae Jin Park Eli Patt Tyler Pham Smrithi Ramachandran Samaresh Rao Giveth Scarlett Rocha Marissa Russell Yusuf Salam Evan Scope Crafts Yemaj Sheik John Shuster Emily Silverman Kyla Smith

The Determinants of Terrorist Financing Interpreting modalities of friendship: How does one employ a philosophy of friendship?

Clustering Mutual Funds Identification and Categorization of Toll-like receptors in Danaus plexippus The Fourteenth Amendment: A Study on Contemporary Cases Fitness trade-offs associated with the drug resistance in Candida Albicans An Analysis of Security Sales during the 1910s through the 1930s Yehudi Menuhin as Musician, Yogi, and Humanitarian Outlier Flakes in Handaxe Production Soft Particle Clogging in 2D Hoppers Genetic variants causal for differential expression of estrogen receptor Îą in a polymorphic species Investigating the Kinetics of Template-Assisted Protein SelfAssembly Do Juvenile Zebra Finches Learn Best the Song They Prefer to Hear?

Synthesis and Spectroscopic Characterization of a PhotoCORM for Time Resolved Inhibition Studies of Hydrogenases Searching for identity in the human brain: the anterior temporal lobe, not the fusiform face area, is the neural source of the behavioral face inversion effect MOLECULAR REGULATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL CALCIUM TRANSPORT Examining Differences in Fall History, Perception of Fall Risk, and Fall Risk Indicators between Urban White and Non-White Community Dwelling Adults Psychoanalysis in Argentina: An Ethnographic Project to Determine Mental Health Outcomes Altered expression and regulation of ion channels may contribute to development of membrane hyper-excitability in cortical FMR1 KO neurons The Role of Attention in the Perceptual Learning of Variation in Foreign-Accented Speech Axon regeneration after peripheral nerve injury in the asparagine endopeptidase (δ secretase) knockout mouse.

Large-Batch Optimization in Deep Neural Networks Securities and Exchange Commission: On Competition and Capital Formation Rashi's Influence on the Wycliffite Translation of the Psalms The Role of the IL-7 Pathway in Costimulation Independent Transplant Rejection Amblyopia

Camille Steger Craig Supcoff Jessica Tall Stephen Tan Tarushi Tanaya Jonathan Tao Ngozi Ugboh Zihuan Wang Helen Wang Grace Xu Isabelle Young Austin Yu Yu Zhang Jianrong Zhou Caleb Ziems

Developing Objective Markers for Neuromodulation of Mood Institutional Diffusion of Constitutional Courts in Germany and South Korea Trace elements, nitrogen, phosphorus impact both quantity and quality of algae growth.

Stem Cell Factor to Facilitate Proliferation of iPSC-NPCs In Vitro Cortical Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Levels as a Biomarker for Post-Stroke Motor Recovery Plato and the "Second Best" Society Influence of age and gender on well-being perception in Baringo, Kenya Interactions between nonmucoid and mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa do not impact wzz2 expression The Complexities of Taiwanese Cultural Identity Seen Through Modern Dance Effects of Glutamine Starvation on Acute Myeloid Leukemia The Role of LCMT-1 Gene in Hematopoiesis Impact of an Accelerated Discharge Pathway on Early Outcomes and Recovery Following Posterior Spinal Fusion for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Prospective Comparative Study Identification and functional characterization of CBX7 variant gene Inhibitor of Differentiation (ID) Expression in Hypoxia Models of Pulmonary Hypertension Future-Oriented Language as a Predictor of Social Network Structure

Presenter: Danial Arslan Title: Conspecific Odour Recognition in Socially Monogamous Prairie Voles Authors: Danial Arslan, Emory University; Yong Jun Kwon, Emory University; Larry J. Young, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine; Robert C. Liu, PhD, Emory University.

Prairie voles (microtus ochrogaster) are a socially monogamous species, within which a male and female form a life-long selective pair bond. This partner preference is developed during a short period of cohabitation between the two for 24-48 hours. A selective preference for a partner over a stranger, tested in a laboratory partner preference test, presumably depends on recognizing multisensory cues from the partner. Here, we investigate whether olfactory cues alone are sufficient to recognize the partner in pair bonded males. To test this, we first housed female voles alone for 3 days before collecting their soiled beddings for the odour sample. Then, each female was cohabitated with a male for 24-48 hours to establish a bond. After cohabitation, the male was placed in a three-chamber cage, where bedding samples from the partner or stranger were placed on either side of the cage. We measured sniffing time and time spent in partner or stranger chamber as markers of partner preference. Our preliminary results (n=14) show that males spend a significant more time sniffing stranger's bedding over partner's. They also spend more time on the stranger side of the chamber over the partner side. For the male voles to spend more time investigating the novel stranger bedding, they must recognize their partner’s odour. These results support the hypothesis that olfactory cues alone are sufficient for mate recognize in pair bonded voles. Future studies will investigate which other sensory modality is sufficient for the partner recognition within pair bonded voles in absence of actual partner exposure.

Presenter: Lily-Michelle Arthur Title: Effects of Aerobic Exercise Training on Executive Function in Older Adults Authors: Arthur LM, Krishnamurthy, VK, Krishnamurthy, LC, Crosson B, Nocera JR, McGregor KM As life expectancy continues to rise, the incidence of aging-related cognitive dysfunction increases at a commensurate rate. By 2050, there are projected to be 90 million elderly adults (65+ years) in the United States, which is double the current population in this age cohort. Aging has long been associated with declines in higher order cognitive abilities known collectively as executive function. This decline in cognitive abilities in older adults affects many behavioral aspects including difficulty in comprehending complicated instructions, remembering selected items and finding words during speech. This is particularly true for physically inactive or sedentary adults, who currently represent 60-70% of the elderly population. Importantly, strong evidence now exists that shows that increases in physical activity in older adults improves cognitive abilities such as executive function (Colcombe et al., 2006; Nocera et al., 2015; 2017).

That is, by engaging in a regular aerobic exercise regimen, older adults can slow or even reverse cognitive decline (McGregor et al., 2018). The current work presents data from previously sedentary healthy older adults who entered a 12-week intervention that consisted of either aerobic training or a balance control condition. We hypothesized that older adults who completed the aerobic exercise regimen would improve on measures of executive function related to language. Of the 33 participants in the current study, 17 were randomized to an aerobic “spin cycling� exercise program and 16 were randomized into a balance control condition. We assessed

aerobic capacity using a submaximal cycling assessment (YMCA protocol) prior to and after the 12-week interventions. At each assessment participants also completed neurocognitive batteries with a focus on executive function.

Presenter: Betsy Benitez Title: A Genotype-Based Analysis of Mouse Acoustic Startle Latency in a Jackson Lab Cohort Authors: Betsy Benitez; Nicholas Massa, MPH; Vivek Kumar, PhD; Erica Duncan, MD The acoustic startle response is an unconscious muscular reflex to a sudden, loud noise. This response is mediated by a simple three-synapse neuronal circuit located in the brainstem, and is influenced by intensity of stimulus, interval between stimuli, and ongoing motor behavior (Koch, 1999). Latency of the acoustic startle response is the time required to respond to a startle auditory stimulus starting from the time of presentation and provides an index of neural processing speed. Latency has proven to be important in studies of neuropsychiatric diseases, including schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is found in 1% of the population, and is highly heritable (Karayiorgou et al., 1997). Latency is highly heritable, up to 90% (Hasenkamp et al., 2010), indicating that latency itself is highly genetically determined. The study of the genetic determinants of latency may be a potential inroad into genetically based vulnerability to psychosis. We used a mouse model provided by the Jackson Laboratory to assess how different mouse knockout models affects latency of the acoustic startle response in order to gain a greater understanding of the genetics of schizophrenia.

Presenter: Drew Bryant Title: Analyzing Factors Behind Changing Ideologies of Childhood in Nineteenth Century Britain, As Examined Through Social Activism and Propaganda Pieces for Child Labor and Juvenile Delinquency Reform Authors: Dr. Chira That juveniles should be both legally protected and be subjected to distinct criminal justice rules has been a commonplace assumption in modern Western society. However, this notion has not always existed. Key to understanding changing ideologies about childhood can be found in nineteenth-century British legal reforms which were designed to provide children with more rights. In response to social changes wrought by industrialization, the British Parliament introduced child protection laws to protect juveniles from overexploitation and penal laws that emphasized the reform rather than the punishment of juvenile criminals. This research project demonstrates how arguments in favor of stricter child labor laws were mostly motivated by fears surrounding nineteenth-century social changes. Panic arose that excessive labor generated depravity, by exposing children to working environments replete with vice, while also leaving no time for education or religious practices. Child labor and penal laws in nineteenth-century Britain suggests that children were the subject through which social reformers started to blame social conditioning, rather than individuals, for crime.

Presenter: Coco Cao Title: Monkey Embryonic Stem Cell Culture on Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts Feeder

Authors: Ke (Coco) Cao, Undergraduate Student, Emory University; Sujittra Khampang, Graduate Student, Emory University; Anthony W.S. Chan, DVM, PhD, Emory University Huntington’s disease (HD) is a genetic disorder caused by the mutations on Huntingtin (HTT) gene. The mutated HTT gene is characterized by Trinucleotide repeat (TNR) of nucleotides CAG. After the mutated HTT gene is transcribed, the incorrect components and folding of HTT protein would aggregate and cause signs and symptoms of HD. The onset age of HD is highly correlated with the length of TNR, for which, the TNR occurs largely during spermatogenesis.

The main purpose of the research is to develop sperm cell specific fluorescent reporters (FACs) expressed in monkey embryonic stem cells (ESC). Currently, the undifferentiated monkey ESCs cell line can be maintained on the Mitomycin C inactivated mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells. The future direction of the project is to digest the ESC colonies into single cell while inserting FACs gene into single-celled ESC. Then, different sperm cell stages will be derived from the monkey embryonic stem cell (ESC) so that the specific sperm cell stage can be more efficiently isolated and investigated using non-human primate model.

Presenter: Priyanka Desai Title: Starting Up to Get In: Founders, Entrepreneurs, and the College Admissions Experience Authors: Wesley Longhofer, Priyanka Desai, Unshu Biyani Using data collected from 22,137 Common Application submissions from applicants to Emory University, this project seeks to gain insights into those high school students that identify themselves as a “founder.” More specifically, the study focuses on founders of nonprofit or social enterprise organizations. By analyzing this data alongside literature written about entrepreneurship, higher education, and sociology, the study will contextualize findings from the data within the trends that are changing the college admissions process, like a higher bar for potential applicants. Preliminary results seem to suggest that just under 10% of high school students identify themselves as founders of organizations. This study will identify the characteristics – both demographic and interest-based – of these founders and examine what happens to their organizations once they matriculate to college.

Presenter: Juliana Dieterich Boff Title: Gender Differences in Speech Production: Effects of Articulatory Flexibility on the Acoustic Structure of Speech Authors: Juliana Dieterich Boff, Emory University Speech production is characterized by a considerable amount of individual and group variation.

The current study investigated pronunciation differences between male and female speakers, as well as how a lexical characteristic such as word frequency affected productions. I hypothesized that males and females would differ in the production of speech due to articulatory flexibility, or how distinctively the acoustic-phonetic properties of each utterance were produced. In this study, the effects of speaker gender (male, female) and word frequency (high, low) on fundamental frequency (F0), word and vowel duration, and by-vowel and by-speaker vowel dispersion were examined. Female speakers were hypothesized to show greater articulatory flexibility and to

change their productions more as a function of word frequency than males. Although measures of vowel dispersion did not differ significantly as a function of speaker gender or word frequency, there were significant effects of both word frequency and gender on duration measures. Both vowel and word durations were longer for low frequency words, but females varied their vowel duration more as a function of word frequency than did males. These differences in duration might be related to articulatory effort, and indicative of articulation flexibility. These differences could be one way in which individuals “perform� their gender in social communication. Future research should consider expanding on the idea that these differences in pronunciation are meant to perform gender and include a perceptual analysis of speech to observe any effects of gender and articulatory flexibility on intelligibility.

Presenter: Evangelia Diplas Title: The interaction of lighting environment and chronotype on interpretations of facial expressions Authors: Evangelia Diplas, Paul E. Moon, M.A., Hillary R. Rodman, PhD, Emory University Abstract not available.

Presenter: Katie Duval Title: Control of leaf patterning via polycomb-mediated auxin responses in Solanum lycopersicum Authors: Duval, Katie, Deal, Roger Compound leaf development is an important model for plant organ patterning. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) leaves require an impeccably orchestrated patterning of auxin sensitivity throughout the leaf margin to generate the compound leaf phenotype. The protein ENTIRE (E) inhibits auxin response and e mutant leaves are no longer compound, indicating that E is necessary for complex leaf development. Through a mutant screen, an auxin response mediator gene, crawling elephant (CREL), was found to suppress the entire phenotype. The CREL protein is a homolog of the Arabidopsis VRN-5 gene which recruits the polycomb silencing complex to specific target genes to repress their transcription. Here we perform chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (ChIP-seq) and find that plants lacking the CREL protein show loss of the polycomb silencing mark, H3K27me3, from many genes, including some related to leaf development and auxin signaling. Transcript levels of these putative CREL target genes were found to increase in crel, consistent with a loss of H3K27me3 and transcriptional silencing. Further understanding the role of CREL will help elucidate the impacts this protein on auxin signaling and the implications of polycomb silencing in leaf development and physiology.

Presenter: Birk Evavold Title: Oxidation of Human Galectin-1 for Structural Determination Authors: Birk Evavold, Emory University; Connie Arthur, PhD, Emory University; Sean Stowell, MD PhD, Emory University

Galectin-1 (Gal-1) is a protein that binds beta-galactoside carbohydrates with high affinity in its reduced state. This binding is found to regulate immune responses. However, Gal-1 readily oxidizes through the formation of a single intramolecular disulfide bond between cysteine residues 16 and 88 which results in an inability to bind carbohydrates. Though the crystal structure for reduced Gal-1 is known, little structural analysis has been performed on the oxidized form. While Gal-1 frequently precipitates out of solution when oxidized, developing and optimizing a method to uniformly oxidize Gal-1 while limiting oligomerization is key to eventual structural determination. By chemically oxidizing the protein followed by immediate protection through cysteine alkylation, oligomers can be prevented. Once the protein is oxidized, structural determination will be primarily elucidated through protein crystallography. We hypothesize that the resulting crystal structure will suggest a significant change in the structure of Gal-1 as the protein oxidizes while confirming Gal-1's binding domain obstruction. The oxidation of Gal-1 may suggest new roles beyond its highly-studied carbohydrate binding function. Further investigation may also suggest that Gal-1's redox potential acts as a chemical switch to modulate immune responses and initiate a cascade following oxidation.

Presenter: Yining Feng Title: Impact of Immigration on the Well-being of U.S. Natives Authors: Yining Feng, Jeong-Ho Kim Previous economic research has shown various economic and public health benefits of immigration policies such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. As an international student, I want to investigate the economic and health outcomes of immigration on the wellbeing of U.S. natives in order to better understand the necessity of immigration policies of DACA and DREAM Act. My original research with a concentration on the impact of immigration on the well-being of U.S. natives in terms of labor market competition and subjective well-being is devised to investigate how the spatial concentration of immigrants affects the life satisfaction of U.S. natives. The individual-level data on life satisfaction would be gathered from Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (GHWBI) poll and the data on immigrant population distribution would be collected from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Data Hub. On the other hand, the data on the U.S. population distribution across different age groups would be gathered from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Database. This study intends to examine the effect of immigration directly on the welfare of natives through constructing a linear regression model and plots of subjective well-being (SWB) against the regional statistics of MPI data. In addition, I intend to extract data on local unemployment rates, GDP, as well as the measure of life satisfaction by the Likert scale on ease of living, happiness, loneliness, and interest in life across all U.S. states.

Presenter: Cameron Frostbaum Title: Microtheatre: A Study and Practice of a New Millennial Theater Authors: Cameron Frostbaum, Emory University

Microtheatre is a form of theater originating in Spain, categorized by its intimate short plays performed for small audiences in flexible spaces and informal performance formats. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) reported in 2015 that time, cost, and accessibility are the three greatest obstacles preventing Americans from engaging with the performing arts. This project responds to these three barriers by exploring Microtheatre as an emerging theater practice that has particular relevance with younger audiences. Microtheatre’s effectiveness has been tested by producing two Microtheatre events, Microtheatre Emory, on the Emory University campus. Through the combined efforts of the student theater community at Emory University, these events engaged students and the greater Emory community. The practice of producing and visiting the only Microtheatre in the United States, Microtheater Miami, illuminates the uniting and energizing effect this theater format can contribute to the next generation of spectators.

Presenter: Hannah Fuller Title: Atticus Finch: The Paper Trail that Reveals How Harper Lee’s Protagonist was Created Authors: Hannah Fuller; Dr. Joseph Crespino In an upcoming biography of Atticus Finch, the protagonist of Harper Lee’s "To Kill a Mockingbird", Dr. Joseph Crespino seeks to view the Jim Crow south through the lens of this influential character. Dr. Crespino tells Atticus’s story by identifying the character’s origins, highlighting his traits in both of Lee’s books, reviewing his film adaptation, and assessing his legacy. The book is supported by numerous secondary resources for historical background and primary sources ranging from newspaper articles to personal correspondences of Harper Lee also helped tell the story of Atticus. Some of these sources have never been viewed by scholars before and are critical to the book. To ensure that these sources were being interpreted correctly and in turn the assertions based on the sources were founded on reliable information, each citation was compared to the original text. These references are organized in footnotes throughout the book and in a bibliography.

Presenter: Sam Galloway Title: Welwyn Garden City: A Green Solution to Interwar Housing Authors: Sam Galloway, Emory University; Christina Crawford, PhD, Emory University My research relates to the work of Charles Palmer, a prominent real estate developer in Atlanta during the 1930s and onward. Palmer, through various trips overseas to Europe, became fascinated with the urban slum, and saw a way to copy slum clearance techniques in Europe and apply them to housing projects in Atlanta. My research focuses on one of the sites Palmer visited during his travels, a new town just north of London called Welwyn Garden City. Welwyn was considered a viable solution for city dwellers looking to escape the squalid slum conditions of London at the time. I decided to focus on Welwyn Garden City for my research because Palmer collected substantial documentation on the development when he visited England in the 1930s.

While Palmer visited other housing sites in England during his trip, he paid particular attention to Welwyn and the philosophy about alternatives to inner city living. During my research I collected information from the Charles Palmer Papers in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Library. These primary sources became the foundation for my argument that Palmer’s observations from Welwyn Garden City influenced his work on the

Techwood and University Homes in Atlanta, the first federally funded public housing developments in the United States.

Presenter: Ameya Gangal Title: Overexpression of the Neurogenic Gene NeuroG2 in the Peri-Infarct Region to Reduce Glial Scar and Support Transplanted iPS Cell-Derived Cells After Neonatal Stroke in Rats Authors: Ameya Gangal, Zachory Zheng Wei, Michael Qize Jiang, Xiaohuan Gu, Chao Qu, Yuhualei Pan, Shan Ping Yu, Ling Wei Neonatal and perinatal stroke lead to neurologic disorders that affect 1/4000 infants across the world. We showed in rodent models that neonatal/perinatal stroke had a long-term morbidity.

Reaction of astroglia within the ischemic brain and the subsequent formation of glial scar outlining peri-infarct regions could reduce the injury but may limit brain repairs and inhibit regular neuronal development. This study hypothesized that (1) a reduction of the glial scar by converting reactive astroglia to neuron (via viral expression of NGN2) would allow for repairing activities near or across the scar to show beneficial effects; (2) intracranially-transplanted stem cells and the viral therapy would replace neuronal loss and show synergistic benefits in the treatment of neonatal/perinatal stroke. Methods: Neonatal P7 rats were subjected to a focal ischemia in the right sensorimotor cortex. Viral delivery and cell transplantation were performed respectively at 7 and 10 days after stroke. Immunohistochemistry of GFAP (astroglial marker), NeuN (neuronal marker), Glut-1 (endothelial marker), and BrdU were analyzed in the periinfarct regions. Adhesive removal test and rotarod test were used to analyze the sensorimotor deficit and recovery. Tail suspension test was used to analyze post-stroke depressive symptoms.

Results: We performed cell count of GFAP stained cells in the peri-infarct regions at 21 days after stroke. In the scar region NGN2 viral therapy alone and NGN2 with cellular therapy group showed reductions in GFAP cell counts. The combination therapy with cell transplantation exhibited significantly more Glut-1+/BrdU+ colabeled cells (P-value=0.0412). These colabeled cells marked proliferating vessels, which were in higher cell count compared to viral therapy or cell therapy alone. In the depressive behavior test, NGN2 viral therapy alone showed no significant efficacy (P-value=0.0982). On the other hand, cell transplantation or viral therapy combined with cellular therapy significantly attenuated depressive behavior (P-value=0.0454).

Discussion: The findings holistically showed that the reduction of glial scar by NGN2 expression in peri-infarct regions increased angiogenesis and potentially helped transplantation therapeutic effects and the combination therapy might show synergistic benefits for treatment of neonatal/ perinatal stroke.

Presenter: Julia Gensheimer Title: Glucocorticoids are required for the CD8+ T cell response to PD-1 blockade Authors: William H. Hudson, PhD; Rafi Ahmed, PhD Abstract not available.

Presenter: Alessandra Granzotti Title: In-Hospital CABG Mortality by Gender and Race/Ethnicity: What Does the Evidence Show: 1998 - 2015 Authors: Edmund R. Becker, Ph.D., Emory University, Alessandra Granzotti, Emory University Between 1998 and 2015, the national coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) in-hospital mortality rate fell nearly 45% to just 2.2 percent of CABG in-patients. By almost any standards, this large decline in the nation’s in-hospital mortality for CABG inpatients has been extraordinary. Yet, no studies have detailed these remarkable trends in in-hospital CABG mortality, over this time period, with the emphasis of the research being on CABG gender and racial/ethnicity disparities in in-hospital mortality. Our research seeks to fill this research gap with 18 years of national data and a sample of nearly 4.2 million CABG inpatients, distinguishing gender and six categories of race/ethnicity, to evaluate three broad questions related to in-hospital mortality: 1. What is the 18-year national trend in CABG surgeries, lengthof-stay, mortality, and type of discharge? 2. Over time, what have been in-hospital mortality trends by gender and race-ethnicity and how have they changed? 3. After controlling for patient characteristics, risk factors and socioeconomic characteristics of the hospital setting and environment, using logistic regression, what is the current extent of in-hospital mortality differences among CABG inpatients by gender and race-ethnicity?

Presenter: Lindsay Guyette Title: Bipolar Disorder: The Mother-Child Connection, Early Detection, and Early Intervention Authors: Lindsay Guyette Abstract not available.

Presenter: Junyi Han Title: The Post System in Qing Dynasty Authors: Junyi Han Abstract not available.

Presenter: Davis Husk Title: The Missing Israelite Story: Re-Writing the Intellectual Origins of Secularism and Why It Matters Authors: Davis Husk, Student Research Fellow to Professor Benjamin Hertzberg, Ph.D. When we think of secularism, we define it as the realm of activity that is meant to be separate from the realm of religion. There are two main arguments about the origins of the intellectual

history of secularism. One, that secularism originates in a mode of thought stemming from theology or two, that secularism stems directly from a political history. However, these two arguments alone are insufficient. Through a detailed analysis of a wide range of prominent texts in political theory, we dissect the arguments and place them into one of these two categories. In addition, we took note of texts that do not fit in either argument. We have found evidence that supports our claim. The majority of the scholarly commentary does in fact fit within these two overarching arguments with slight nuance and variation. This project’s goal is twofold: to confirm this hunch of the existing academic literature, to then propose a new, older theory relating to Judaism and exilic thought.

Presenter: Daniel Jacobs Title: How Attention Affects Our Perception of Faces, Objects, and Scenes Authors: Daniel Jacobs, Andrew Persichetti, and Dr. Daniel Dilks, PhD The ability to recognize, focus on, and interact with surroundings without spending needless resources is crucial for survival. How we focus our attention on any given stimulus may result in a misappropriation of neural resources, thus leading to a lapse in necessary cognition. Previous neuroimaging studies have identified three streams of processing in the brain with respect to three different categories of stimuli: scenes, objects, and faces. The cortical regions involved in human visual scene processing include the parahippocampal place area (PPA), retrosplenial complex (RSC), and the occipital place area (OPA). The cortical regions involved in human visual face processing include the fusiform face area (FFA), occipital face area (OFA), and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) The primary cortical region involved in human object processing is the lateral occipital cortex (LOC) which includes the lateral occipital (LO) and the posterior fusiform (pFs). In the proposed research, I plan to directly test how different systems of cortical processing are affected by the degree of attention to unique stimuli. Does attention have a direct impact on how our brains recognize and process identical stimuli?

Presenter: Elliot Ji Title: Measuring Informal Power of Chinese Political Leaders with Text Mining Authors: Elliot Shuwei Ji, Emory University This study uses textual analysis to investigate the rapidly shifting political environment in China after the 19th National People’s Congress (NPC). The study attempts to understand how CCP documents could serve as an indicator of the power status of the political leader by looking at word pattern and keyword usage in these documents. I will look at every President since the founding of the PRC in 1949, from Mao Zedong to the incumbent Xi Jinping. I suspect that not all Presidents in China enjoy the same amount of political influence, both on the party and the country as they have a diverse political background and in-party support by the time they are “elected”. Documents such as the NPC public report, meeting transcripts, reports published by the Xinhua Agency and amendments to the Party Platform and Constitution that are made after each NPC will be included in the study’s corpus. Special attention will be given to the amendments to the party platform and Constitution that are approved right after the NPC concludes as they most likely reflect the change in power dynamics in the standing committee after a major in-party reshuffle. The goal of the study is to discover what are the key phrases, if

any, that would indicate the President being at the pinnacle of his rule or losing political influence. The study results may be particularly useful for future studies that take interest in the leadership in autocracies, the formation of single-party dictatorship and autocratic collective governance.

Presenter: Colin Jiang Title: Machine Learning Approaches to Cancer Treatment Authors: Joyce Ho, PhD, University of Texas at Austin Machine learning is a field of computer science that studies how to give computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. It is synonymous with the trending phrase big data, where we use extremely large sets of data to build a model for predictions/decisions. We use machine learning in this research in an attempt to improve cancer treatment. For cancer treatment, knowledge of genetic alterations in the cancer can help determine a treatment plan.

But once sequenced, a cancer tumor can have thousands of genetic mutations, with some possibly contributing to cancer growth, and others not. Determining which has to be interpreted manually. Our research involves building machine learning models to automate this process of classifying genetic mutations.

Presenter: Mehvish Khan Title: The Determinants of Terrorist Financing Authors: Dr. Shawn Ramirez, Assistant Professor, Emory University; Cole Margol, Student, Emory University; Mehvish Khan, Student, Emory University “Since financing is critical to terrorist organizations, one question is whether we can stop terrorism by stopping financing. Yet, thus far, there exists no theory of how terrorist financing works: an understanding that takes us from what we know about financing to its consequences for violence and counterterrorism. To build a theory, we present a formal model that unifies the resources for financing, the effort terrorists put into acquiring financing, the violence they produce, and the efforts states put into stopping them. The model shows how these relate and provides two key results. First, violence is enabled by factors that make financing efficient.

Thus, states can stop terrorism by attacking sources of financial efficiency. Second, counterterrorism can curb violence by targeting a group’s dominant source of financing – despite that group’s ability to switch – because added pressure forces a group to increase its organizational resilience while relying on a less efficient source of financing. We show support using case studies of terrorist financing, decisions to switch, and responses to counterterrorism.”

Presenter: Michael Kim Title: Interpreting modalities of friendship: How does one employ a philosophy of friendship?

Authors: Michael Kim, Emory University; John Lysaker, PhD, Emory University Abstract not available.

Presenter: Hannah Knoettner Title: Clustering Mutual Funds Authors: Hannah Knoettner; John Kim, PhD, Emory University Abstract not available.

Presenter: Yaw Kumi-Ansu Title: Identification and Categorization of Toll-like receptors in Danaus plexippus Authors: Yaw Kumi-Ansu, Wen-Hao Tan, Jacobus de Roode PhD., and Nicole M. Gerardo PhD., Emory University Innate immunity is the primary intrinsic immune defense in invertebrates, whereas vertebrates are equipped with both innate and acquired immunity. In this project, we sought to identify and categorize Toll-like receptor (TLR) genes from the Toll pathway (one of the canonical immune pathways in Insecta) in the genome of Danaus plexippus. This was based on phylogenetic relationship and sequence similarity to publicly available genomic information in other genomesequenced insect systems. We hypothesized that that these factors would correspond to identity and function of the TLRs in D. plexippus. We obtained TLR sequences from six invertebrate species and humans and aligned them in ClustalX after which we created a phylogenetic tree using the Neighbour Joining method in MEGA. Based on pattern of phylogeny/clustering, we selected specific TLR sequences from certain species to be used in our BLAST query from which the top three matches were selected based on E-value. Phylogenetic analysis after the addition of D. plexippus sequences to the previous set of genes showed close congruence in the (pattern of) clustering of the different TLR’s. TLRs were generally in three groups based on clustering in the phylogenetic tree. Tolls 6, 7, 10 and 11 showed very strong patterns of clustering across species while Tolls 1 and 2 had ambiguous clustering. In the future, we hope to improve upon phylogenetic analysis by increasing the number of closely related species used and carry on this information to further characterize the identified TLRs based on infection studies and degree of selection across populations.

Presenter: Sarah Lee Title: The Fourteenth Amendment: A Study on Contemporary Cases Authors: Sarah Lee, Undergraduate, Emory University; Barbara Bennett Woodhouse, JD, Emory University The Equal Protections Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, one of the three post-Civil War amendments, has seen a range of significant court cases since ratification. The Warren Court ruled in the seminal Brown v. Board of Education that racial school segregation was unconstitutional. Since then, the Equal Protections Clause has been expanded to include numerous protected classes besides race. This research uses a variety of multidisciplinary

resources from different perspectives in order to examine contemporary issues related to inequality and the Fourteenth Amendment. I have examined two currently undecided court cases, Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which is centered on the rights of same-sex couples, and Gill v. Whitford, which is concerned with partisan gerrymandering. My research on these cases has involved gathering associated court documents, as well as analyses of and external material related to these cases and organizing them into informational memos for Professor Woodhouse’s law seminar course, Equality and the Fourteenth Amendment. Regarding Gill v. Whitford, I specifically found sources that discuss potential mathematical and computational methods for identifying gerrymandering, and I tracked the history of court cases related to gerrymandering. I have also assisted Professor Woodhouse in footnoting her article, “Every Child’s Right to a Fair Start,” by finding sources related to both the legal and the socio-scientific background for children’s rights Presenter: Qiulun Li Title: Fitness trade-offs associated with the drug resistance in Candida Albicans Authors: Li, QL, Hickman, MA, Elmostafa, RB & Thomas C. Candida Albicans are able to adapt to stressful environment quickly. When exposed to antifungal drugs such as Fluconazole, both resistant strains and sensitive strains to antifungal drugs were observed. This project focuses on whether the adaptation to antifungal drugs is associated with reduced fitness in distinct environments in the absence of antifungal drugs. 24 strains of C. Albicans were tested, among which 12 are sensitive and 12 are resistant. First, a control environment was set where C. Albicans grew at normal lab temperature – 30 °C, at natural pH of YPD, and at YPD liquid with normal sugar concentration. Then, strains were exposed to 3 sets of stressful environments – extreme temperatures, extreme pH, and low concentration of glucose and sucrose substitution for glucose. Each set of experiments was repeated twice, and reproduction rates of strains were recorded. After the experiment, sensitive strains were found to have significantly higher reproduction rate than resistant strains in 3 sets of stressful environments. It is possible that there are fitness trade-offs associated with antifungal drug resistance in C. Albicans. The results show the fitness limiting environments for resistant C. Albicans and may inspire new treatment for fungal infection after C. Albicans adapted to antifungal drugs

Presenter: Olivia Lofton Title: An Analysis of Security Sales during the 1910s through the 1930s Authors: Olivia Lofton, Emory University Abstract not available.

Presenter: Catherine MacGregor Title: Yehudi Menuhin as Musician, Yogi, and Humanitarian Authors: Dr. Kristin Wendland, Catherine MacGregor

This study investigates how the American-born concert violinist Yehudi Menuhin integrated the disciplines of music and yoga to control his body and mind in performance, shape a groundbreaking violin pedagogy, and exert a powerful force for good in the world as a humanitarian. We aim to show that the practice of yoga was much more than stretching and breathing exercises to Menuhin – it was a lifestyle that transformed all aspects of his life. By using Menuhin’s own writings and recordings, we look at how yoga influenced his playing, teaching, and world-view. We aim to show how his yoga practice can serve as a model to benefit other violinists and musicians. We gather evidence from historical and archival documents, interviews with professional violinists in the community, and analysis of Menuhin’s recordings to show how the violinist synthesized a music-yoga discipline, and how younger generations of musicians can learn from the intersection of these two fields.

Presenter: Aditi Majoe Title: Outlier Flakes in Handaxe Production Authors: Aditi Majoe, Emory University; Dietrich Stout, PhD, Emory University; Justin Pargeter, PhD, Emory University Handaxes are teardrop-shaped stone tools archetypal of the Acheulean industry, which dates to less than 2 million years ago. Handaxe production requires the removal of long, thin, and wide flakes in order to shape a nodule. Historically, stone tool (lithic) analysts have focused on the modal tendencies and normative patterns in lithic assemblages to draw conclusions about stonetool making strategies. The ‘outlier’ flakes require considerable skill to make and they may have been overlooked in past studies that drew on modal inferences from larger samples. This study focuses on experimental outlier flakes made by novice knappers who received a series of 10-hour training sessions in handaxe production over several months. After each training session, participants were asked to make a handaxe from a flint nodule and all related debris were kept for analysis. We studied outlier flake production and its relationship to handaxe production and the incremental acquisition of knapper skill using these experimental materials. We focused on determining the frequency of outlier flakes produced in each assessment’s flake assemblage. We expected to find that frequency of outlier flakes increases with training hours. Some individuals were more successful at making handaxes than others and so some knappers’ flake patterns were more consistent with my hypothesis than others. These findings highlight the importance of outlier flakes for successful handaxe production and the role of individual variation in knapping skill acquisition. The results have important implications for how archaeologists consider variability and outlier flakes in archaeological assemblages related to handaxe production Presenter: Mia Morrell Title: Soft Particle Clogging in 2D Hoppers Authors: Mia Morrell, Haoran Wang, Eric R. Weeks We study the outflow of soft, low-friction, hydrogel beads from a quasi-2D hopper, examining the probability of clog formation as a function of hopper exit width. Clogging occurs when an arch forms at the hopper exit. Under conditions of low gravity, the largest arches we find contain four particles. By tilting the hopper chamber, we vary the force of gravity driving the flowing bead system. We find that clogging of soft beads requires the hopper exit to be only slightly

larger than the bead diameter, and increasing the force driving the beads towards the exit results in a decreased probability of clogging, holding exit width constant. We also investigate the effects of vibration of the entire hopper system and the effects of increased bead friction upon clogging probability.

Presenter: Abhinav Nair Title: Genetic variants causal for differential expression of estrogen receptor Îą in a polymorphic species Authors: Abhinav Nair, Jennifer Merritt, MA, Donna Maney, PhD; Emory University In the white throated sparrow, a chromosomal rearrangement on chromosome 2 (ZAL2/ZAL2m) segregates with plumage and social behavior. The white striped (WS) morph is heterozygous for this rearrangement (ZAL2/ZAL2m), while the tan striped (TS) morph is homozygous (ZAL2/ZAL2). The chromosomal inversion of ZAL2 and ZAL2m prevents recombination and thus causes differentiation of the genes within it. The variation along this rearrangement makes this bird an excellent model for the study of the evolution of behavior because of differences in behavior between the TS and WS morphs. Compared to the TS morph, the WS morph engages in more territorial aggression and less parental behavior. These behaviors are estrogen-dependent, and one of the genes inside the rearrangement, ESR1, codes for an estrogen receptor. This gene is expressed differentially in the brains of the two morphs, suggesting that the differences in behavior might be explained by expression of this gene. The aim of this study is to identify the variation within the ESR1 promoters that may affect expression. To address this question, we first inserted the ESR1 promoter upstream of a reporter gene in a plasmid. We then used PCR and blunt-end ligation to systematically delete portions of the ESR1 promoter. This approach will allow us to determine which segment of the promoter contains the genetic variation that drives variation in expression. Because the expression of ESR1 predicts behavior, understanding how genetic variation influences the expression of this gene will contribute to our understanding of how estrogen-dependent behavior may evolve.

Presenter: Perry Onaka Title: Investigating the Kinetics of Template-Assisted Protein Self-Assembly Authors: David G. Lynn, Ming-Chien Hsieh, Perry Onaka Amyloids are protein aggregates implicated in more than 50 protein misfolding diseases and their unique properties have recently been applied to functional materials design. Most notable is the use of the amyloid assembly process to template chemical ligation of peptide oligomers into monodisperse and potentially sequence selective polymers (2017 Chen et al.) To further extend this technology, simulations of the critical factors of this self-replication mechanism have been explored computationally. Using kinetic Monte Carlo methods, we simulated the growth process of a single template strand using stochastic probabilities for each reaction step, including template binding and dissociation, condensation on the template, and fiber growth. By adjusting the kinetic parameters, the rate-limiting step, either monomer binding or chemical ligation, is determined. When the system runs out of monomer, small amounts of free dimers coexist with

the template, suggesting that additional reactions or template modifications may be required to move the kinetic process forward. Chen, C.; Tan, J; Hsieh, M-C; Pan, T.; Goodwin, J.T.; Mehta, A.K.; Grover, M.A.; and Lynn, D.G. 2017 Design of Multi-Phase Dynamic Chemical Networks, Nature Chem, DOI: 10.1038/NCHEM.2737.

Presenter: Teresa Pan Title: Do Juvenile Zebra Finches Learn Best the Song They Prefer to Hear?

Authors: Teresa Pan, Emory University; Carlos A. Rodriguez-Saltos, M.A., Emory University; Donna L. Maney, PhD., Emory University Song learning in songbirds has been used as a model for understanding language acquisition in humans. Past experiments have shown that zebra finches prefer to imitate the songs of their fathers. The extent to which the preference for the fathers’ songs predicts the final songs of the juveniles still remains unclear. In this study, we tested whether the strength of attraction to a tutor song during song learning predicted how well the juveniles imitated that song. Each juvenile zebra finch had the choice of hearing a song from its father or another adult bird. The playback of the song was triggered by the pressing of an assigned key. The ratio of the juveniles pressing one key to the other measured at different time points during the song learning period indicated its song preference. Final songs of each juvenile were recorded at 85 days of age. We calculated the acoustic similarity between each tutor song and the song of the juvenile. Then, we tested whether the similarity score for a tutor song correlated with preference at any given time point.

We predicted that there would be a positive correlation for at least one time point, which would imply that zebra finches display a preference for learning the songs they prefer to hear.

Presenter: Tae Jin Park Title: Synthesis and Spectroscopic Characterization of a PhotoCORM for Time Resolved Inhibition Studies of Hydrogenases Authors: Tae Jin Park, Gregory E. Vansuch, and R. Brian Dyer, Department of Chemistry, Emory University Hydrogenases catalyze the reversible reaction of proton reduction, 2H+ + 2e- ÂŤ H2. [NiFe] hydrogenases contain an active site, (CN)2(CO)FeII(m-Cys)2Ni(Cys), that is buried ~30Ă… inside the protein. Hydrophobic gas channels transport H2 to and from the interior of the protein.

However, these channels also transport inhibitors such as carbon monoxide (CO). Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanism of active site inhibition, especially in designing catalysts that are used for biofuel and solar energy production. While CO inhibition has been studied under steady state conditions, it has not been observed directly under time resolved conditions. A photo-caged carbon monoxide releasing molecule (PhotoCORM), tris(pyrazolyl)methane (tpm) manganese tricarbonyl complex, is being investigated as the source of CO by selectively

releasing CO upon illumination. By using myoglobin as a control system, we have seen that CO is released and binds to the myoglobin iron porphyrin site under illumination conditions.

However, interaction with degradation products of the PhotoCORM must be investigated to understand how these may affect inhibition studies.

Presenter: Eli Patt Title: Searching for identity in the human brain: the anterior temporal lobe, not the fusiform face area, is the neural source of the behavioral face inversion effect Authors: Andrew Persichetti, Eli Patt, Daniel Dilks The face inversion effect (FIE)– i.e., increased difficulty when identifying faces that are upside down relative to when they are upright – is the most well-known evidence that faces are a special category of visual stimuli (there is no ‘inversion effect’ for other categories of visual stimuli). In addition to this distinct cognitive signature for face processing, several neuroimaging studies have found that there are regions of cortex that are specialized for recognizing faces. Two of these face-selective regions are the fusiform face area (FFA) and the anterior temporal lobe (ATL). A prior fMRI study claimed they found evidence that the FFA is the neural correlate of the FIE. However, this claim must be interpreted with caution because the authors reported that the behavioral task they used was more difficult during the inverted face trials than the upright face trials. Thus, it is not clear whether the FFA is the neural correlate of the FIE, as the authors claim, or, rather, if the pattern of responses found in the FFA were simply due to differences in task difficulty between the inverted and upright trials. Here, we use fMRI and a similar inversion task to the one used in the aforementioned study, but match task difficulty. In doing so, we demonstrate that the FFA is not the neural correlate of the FIE, but rather the ATL is responsible for this well-known phenomenon. Furthermore, we argue that the FIE in the ATL is consistent with its hypothesized role in person identification.

Presenter: Tyler Pham Title: Molecular Regulation of Mitochondrial Calcium Transport Authors: Tyler Pham and Jennifer Q. Kwong The Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter (MCU) Complex (uniporter) is a Ca2+ transporter responsible for Ca2+ uptake into the mitochondrial matrix. Mitochondrial Ca2+ has the dual function of both stimulating metabolism and initiating cellular death pathways. Research has shown that uniporter Ca2+ uptake depends on the MCU subunit of the transporter that forms a Ca2+ conducting pore. However, it has been proposed that this Ca2+ conducting pore also encompasses additional MCUb subunits that hetero-oligomerize with MCU resulting in the suppression of Ca2+ uptake. Our experiments focus on the MCUb subunit because of its similarity in both sequence and structure to MCU but possibly lacks Ca2+ binding capacity. We hypothesize that the differences in the amino acid sequence in a critical domain present in both proteins results in the differences of functionality. Using cell lines expressing mutated variants of MCU and MCUb, compared to normal versions of MCU and MCUb, we have measured Ca2+ uptake kinetics for each mutated cell line with the goal of identifying the specific portions of the

MCUb protein responsible for its functionality. Ultimately, these experiments will aid us in better understanding the uniporter complex regulation.

Presenter: Smrithi Ramachandran Title: Examining Differences in Fall History, Perception of Fall Risk, and Fall Risk Indicators between Urban White and Non-White Community Dwelling Adults Authors: Smrithi Ramachandran, Emory University, Allison Bay, Emory University, Madeleine Hackney, PhD, Emory University, Research Health Scientist, Rehab R&D Center Atlanta VA Medical Center Older adults of racial and ethnic minorities are historically underrepresented in scientific research (Larson et.al, 2009). As such, little is known about the differences in fall history, fall risk, and perception of fall risk, between white and nonwhite older persons. Other research has explored demographic differences including race in transitionally frail older adults with relation to fear of falling (Kressig et. al, 2001), but little is known about community-dwelling older adults. Further, interactive group wellness programs may influence these factors. This project will examine differences between white and non-white participants in fall risk perception, fall risk indicators, and fall history. We will assess these outcomes at baseline and after an 8-week health and wellness seminar, DREAMS. Greater understanding of perception of fall risk, risk indicators and history will contribute to enhanced treatments and preventative measures.

Presenter: Samaresh Rao Title: Psychoanalysis in Argentina: An Ethnographic Project to Determine Mental Health Outcomes Authors: Samaresh Rao, Xochitl Marsilli-Vargas Psychoanalysis is the study of the union between the conscious and unconscious elements in the mind to treat mental disorders. Sigmund Freud is considered to be the father of this field of science; he launched one of his seminal works with The Interpretation of Dreams in 1899 that outlined the how dreams represent this link between the conscious and unconscious minds. My project investigates the practice of psychoanalysis specifically in Argentina. Due to having the largest proportion of psychoanalysts in the population worldwide, Argentina has been referred to as “the country of the couch�. I wanted to answer two questions with my research: (1) Why has Argentina become the capital of psychoanalysis? (2) What does the strong presence of psychoanalysis in Argentina reveal about mental health outcomes? Listening to a variety of recorded fieldwork (college psychoanalytic lectures, interviews, and multi-family sessions) done by my research mentor, Dr. Xochitl Marsilli-Vargas, I was able to evaluate the practice of psychoanalysis within the context of Argentina. Common themes discussed (especially in multifamily sessions) were problems between parents and children, individual identity and personal stigma. From this work, I was able to conclude that mental health has been prioritized so much in Argentina that it has been accepted as a hegemonic discourse that permeates throughout the entire society.

Presenter: Giveth Scarlett Rocha

Title: Altered expression and regulation of ion channels may contribute to development of membrane hyper-excitability in cortical FMR1 KO neurons Authors: Giveth Scarlett Rocha, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; Pernille Buelow, Emory University School of Medicine; Peter Wenner, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and most widespread single gene cause of autism. A large proportion of these patients also suffer from seizures, sensory hypersensitivity and sleep disturbances - symptoms that emerge during childhood and persist through adulthood. FXS occurs in about 1 in 7000 females and 1 in 4000 males and is caused by a trinucleotide repeat expansion in the Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 (FMR1) gene, leading to its inactivation and consequent loss of its protein product Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP). FMRP is known to regulate ion channels both on the level of protein expression and protein function, and loss of FMRP in FXS has been associated with altered levels and functions of various ion channels. This altered ion channel constellation has previously been reported to contribute to cortical hyper-excitability in the FXS mouse model, the FMR1 KO mouse. We have found that cortical FMR1 KO neurons express a different set of ion channel proteins when they fire their first action potential. We observed an increased afterhyperpolarization (AHP) in young FMR1 KO cortical neurons, which is indicative of an increase in the fast potassium current. Surprisingly, this altered expression of potassium channels did not influence excitability levels, as we did not measure any differences in a variety of membrane excitability parameters. We then tested whether this alteration in potassium channel constellation impacts FMR1 KO neurons ability to modify their excitability levels in response to chronic reductions in network activity. Interestingly, we observed increased plasticity in FMR1 KO neurons. The current investigation focuses on exploring if ion channels are regulated differently in the KO by analyzing their action potential parameters. This could lead to novel insights on how ion channels are regulated in FXS and how that may contribute to symptoms related to cortical hyper-excitability.

Presenter: Marissa Russell Title: The Role of Attention in the Perceptual Learning of Variation in Foreign-Accented Speech Authors: Marissa L. Russell, Emory University; Christina Y. Tzeng, Ph.D., Emory University; Lynne C. Nygaard, Ph.D., Emory University This study explores the role of attention in the perceptual learning of variation in spoken language. In particular, we examined to what extent explicit attention needs to be directed to linguistically relevant parts of the speech stream (e.g., words, sentences vs. talker's voice) for listeners to understand foreign-accented speech. During an exposure phase, native adult speakers of American English heard English sentences produced by native Spanish talkers. Across conditions, listeners' attention was shifted to different surface characteristics of the speech stream (through a talker identification task and amplitude judgment task), or away from the speech stream entirely (through a concurrent visual task). At test, listeners transcribed novel English sentences produced by unfamiliar Spanish-accented talkers. Test performance was similar across exposure conditions, suggesting that attention does not need to be directed explicitly to linguistically relevant aspects of the speech stream to disambiguate between talker-specific and

accent-general variation in foreign-accented speech. This may indicate that listeners encode a wide range of acoustic properties associated with the spoken signal, consistent with episodic models of speech perception. Further, these findings suggest that perceptual processing and skill acquisition may be facilitated by learning strategies beyond the typical practice-focused mode of instruction.

Presenter: Yusuf Salam Title: Axon regeneration after peripheral nerve injury in the asparagine endopeptidase (δ secretase) knockout mouse.

Authors: Yusuf Salam, Emory College of Arts & Sciences; Olivia Mistretta, Emory University Department of Cellular Biology; Arthur English PhD, Emory University Department of Cellular Biology Injuries to the peripheral nervous system (PNIs) are common but, in most cases, these do not heal, resulting in some form of permanent disability. There is currently no non-surgical treatment applied to human PNIs. Recovery from a PNI requires successful regeneration of damaged axons and reinnervation of their targets in the periphery. At a cellular level, the process of elongation involves addition of elements of the axonal cytoskeleton, mainly microtubules, to the distal ends of the neurites. The microtubule-associated protein, Tau, promotes the formation and stabilization of microtubules in growing axons. Asparagine endopeptidase (AEP) is an enzyme that cleaves Tau and destroys its microtubule stabilizing function. We hypothesized that inhibiting/eliminating AEP activity would result in cytoskeletal stabilization in regenerating axons, leading to improved overall regeneration. Sciatic nerves were cut and immediately repaired in AEP Knock Out mice. Four weeks later regeneration of cut axons and reinnervation of muscles was evaluated via fluorescent retrograde tracers in the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles. Motor neurons whose axons had regenerated and reinnervated these muscles would then be marked in the spinal cord and quantified. If the treatment proves effective, then we could potentially have a non-surgical treatment for PNIs in the near future.

Presenter: Evan Scope Crafts Title: Large-Batch Optimization in Deep Neural Networks Authors: Evan Scope Crafts, Dr. Lars Ruthotto Over the last ten years, a form of artificial intelligence called deep neural networks have become increasingly prevalent due to their ability to find patterns in large amounts of data. The way deep neural networks are designed involves parameters, called weights, which are optimized so that the network can make accurate predictions. While deep neural networks are widely used for a number of applications, often with successful results, there is still a lack of understanding about the best way to optimize the weights so that they are optimized quickly but are still as accurate as possible. The current most prevalent optimization methods, variations of a procedure called stochastic gradient decent, fail to utilize a computer’s processing power efficiently while still yielding accurate weights. There have been improvements to these methods year after year, but there is still a lot of work to be done. This research project works to improve the speed and accuracy with which the weights can be optimized for any deep neural network. The project also

investigates how different designs of deep neural networks can affect the performance of the optimization method.

Presenter: Yemaj Sheik Title: Securities and Exchange Commission: On Competition and Capital Formation Authors: Yemaj Sheik The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is required by statute to “protect investors, promote competition, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.” However, the SEC is lacking precision in their definition of competition and capital formation since both were never defined. This lack of clarity causes some of their policies to bring about undesired results. Their confusion with regard to the definition competition is found with them blurring the line between competition and competitiveness, two related but different terms. By unintentionally making or not making policies in order to support competitiveness they hurt competition as opposed to promoting competition. With capital formation, the SEC has a narrow view of the term and as a result neglect different elements of capital formation. In this analysis of the SEC practices, I looked at different resources in the field of economics in order to further understand the distinction between competitiveness and competition. Then we looked at statements by the SEC and policies by SEC to compare their use of these terms and the discrepancies between their use and how these terms are understood in the field of economics.

Our findings show that the lack of competition policies in order to protect competitiveness leads markets to become or staying highly concentrated, a marker of less competition. Also, the confused understanding of capital formation held by the SEC hinders them from making appropriate capital formation policy. Based on our findings the SEC should reevaluate their policies and solidify their understanding of competition and capital formation in order for them to fulfill their role in the national economy of the United States.

Presenter: John Shuster Title: Rashi's Influence on the Wycliffite Translation of the Psalms Authors: Dr. James Morey Rashi headed a yeshiva in Troyes and is known as the greatest medieval Jewish exegete. He often engaged in polemics against Christian interpretations, but his yeshiva also interchanged scholarship with the Christian abbeys of Paris. Nicholas of Lyra stands out in his acceptance of Jewish interpretations, especially Rashi’s. His systematic treatment of the Bible and his embracing of the literal sense ("peshat" in Jewish methodology, "sensus literalis" in Lyra’s words) of the text created an interest in translation. The Wycliffite translations, named after John Wycliffe, use Nicholas of Lyra’s scholarship as one of their main interpretive sources. In fact, thirty-three of the seventy-seven marginal comments in Wycliffe’s translation of the Psalms are appended with citations of Nicholas of Lyra (“Lire here”). Many of these marginalia contain strong Jewish influences. Both Nicholas of Lyra and John Wycliffe’s works became strong influences on the Reformation. Wycliffe influenced Jan Hus’s theology to minister to the populace in their vernacular. Meanwhile, as the saying goes, “Si Lyra non lyrasset, Lutherus non saltasset” (“Had Lyra not played his lyre, Luther would not have danced”).

Presenter: Emily Silverman Title: The Role of the IL-7 Pathway in Costimulation Independent Transplant Rejection Authors: Emily Silverman, Emory University; Cindy Breeden, Emory University; Ying Dong, PhD, Emory University; Andrew B. Adams, MD, PhD, Emory University Following organ transplantation, life-long immunosuppression is required to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. Traditional immunosuppression has targeted pathways involved in not only the host’s immune response to the transplanted tissue but other important cellular pathways as well, resulting in unwanted side effects. Recently, a new class of immunosuppression has been developed which targets costimulation, a T cell specific signaling pathway critical for T cell activation. While treatment with costimulation blockade has been shown to improve outcomes in transplant patients compared to traditional immunosuppression in many instances, clinical trials show a subset of patients demonstrate costimulation independent rejection. After examination of alternative signaling pathways that may be involved in T cell activation in the absence of traditional costimulatory signals, we hypothesize that IL-7/IL-7 Receptor (CD127) signaling may support costimulation independent rejection given the pathway’s fundamental role in lymphocyte development, T cell homeostasis, and memory. In this study, we are interested in defining the requirement of CD127 signaling in costimulation independent rejection and determining the efficacy and safety of an anti-CD127 antibody. By utilizing a murine skin allograft mouse model, we will explore the role of CD127 signaling in order to delineate expression kinetics of CD127 during costimulation independent rejection and to measure the impact of combined anti-CD127 + Costimulation Blockade (CoB) on allograft survival. If we are able to show that blocking IL-7 signaling successfully prevents acute allograft rejection, we may be able to implement antiCD127 treatment alongside an approved costimulation blockade, belatacept, to further improve immunosuppression therapy.

Presenter: Kyla Smith Title: Amblyopia Authors: Carolyn Drews-Botsch, PhD Abstract not available.

Presenter: Camille Steger Title: Developing Objective Markers for Neuromodulation of Mood Authors: Camille M. Steger, Sahar Harati, Jon T. Willie PhD MD, Helen Mayberg MD, Kelly Bijanki PhD, Emory University.

We explore two objective biomarkers that are related to the neuromodulation of mood in the context of subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation (SCC DBS). The first is an affective bias task which seeks to quantify emotional bias, a phenomenon commonly observed in patients with depression. The second is an analysis of facial motor dynamics used use to measure the extent to which patients engage in social and empathetic behavior during the task. We found that facial dynamics vary both with phases of the task, analogous with theories of facial feedback, and with stimulation, which implies facial expressivity can be used as a biomarker for SCC DBS. These

findings have significant implications for tracking responses to deep brain stimulation and for objectively quantifying responses to treatment in mood disorders.

Presenter: Craig Supcoff Title: Institutional Diffusion of Constitutional Courts in Germany and South Korea Authors: Craig Supcoff, Emory University The focus of my research is proving the institutional diffusion of the Constitutional Court of Germany to South Korea. I also used a model created by Georg Vanberg as a template to do a comparative analysis of the complexity of court cases in each country. My analysis looks at how public awareness and transparency impacts decisions that the court makes in each country.

Institutional diffusion more broadly means the spreading of an institution from one country to another. In my research I argue that this process took place from Germany to South Korea when the Korean Court was established in 1987. With the basis of institutional diffusion established, I used Vanberg’s model to see how the dynamic between the court, the public, and the legislature works in comparison to the German case. Using one of Vanberg’s key indicators in complexity, I was able to see that like with the German Court, court decisions involving less complex policy areas were more likely to increase transparency with the public. Going forward, I would like to look at the other indicators that Vanberg uses, which are oral arguments and conflicts in briefs, to do further analysis. This would help to get a more complete sense if public support influences Court decisions in the same way in Korea that it does in Germany. I also could potentially apply this model to other countries that use constitutional review, like the US, to see if public support works in a similar dynamic in relation to the Court and legislature.

Presenter: Jessica Tall Title: Trace elements, nitrogen, phosphorus impact both quantity and quality of algae growth.

Authors: Jessica Tall; Dave Civitello, PhD, Emory University; Rachel Hartman, Emory University Schistosomiasis is a disease contracted through snails who are a vector in transmitting the worm Schistosoma mansoni. If the vector, snails, in this case, are healthy and big then they are more able to transmit this disease. As a result of the snails consuming algae if we can test which water conditions best promote algae snails eat then we can gain insight into which water conditions would promote this disease. Various elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and other trace elements can impact algal growth. Having tanks with various conditions such as a presence or lack of the elements discussed we can observe how this effects the quantity (chlorophyll levels and biomass) or algae. In addition, placing snails in the tanks and contrasting their size before and after feeding will display the quality of the algae grown. A higher quality of algae is assumed to be more favored. Thus, getting information about the quality and quantity will aid us in learning more about the transmission of this disease.

Presenter: Stephen Tan Title: Stem Cell Factor to Facilitate Proliferation of iPSC-NPCs In Vitro

Authors: Stephen Tan, Zachory Wei, PhD, Shan Ping Yu, MD/PhD, & Ling Wei, MD, Emory University Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, and currently no treatment exists for the regeneration of damaged brain tissue afterwards. One area of intense research is cell-based regenerative therapy, which utilizes stem cells in attempt to repair neurovascular structures and promote functional recovery. However, improving the survival rates of transplanted stem cells remains a challenge. The aim of this project is to investigate if the cytokine stem cell factor (SCF) can augment the proliferation of induced pluripotent stem cell derived neuroblast (iPSCNPC) survival using an in vitro model. We cultured and differentiated iPSC-NPCs and incubated them with different concentrations of SCF (0.1, 1.0, 10 ng/mL, and vehicle) for 24 hours. We simultaneously incubated the cells with BrdU to label actively proliferating cells. Cells were then stained for markers nestin and doublecortin to ascertain NPC identity, and the percentage of BrdU expressing cells was used to assess proliferation rates across treatment groups. Our results suggest that SCF increases the proliferation rate of iPSC-NPCs. Future directions will be to investigate the effects of SCF on iPSC-NPC proliferation in vivo, and the survival and migration of iPSC-NPCs in the context of an ischemic insult (stroke) in live animals for further translational value.

Presenter: Tarushi Tanaya Title: Cortical Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Levels as a Biomarker for Post-Stroke Motor Recovery Authors: Tarushi Tanaya, Emory University; Lisa C. Krishnamurthy, PhD, Georgia State University; Erin M. King, Emory University; Michael R. Borich, DPT, PhD, Emory University The identification of informative neurobiological biomarkers in stroke is necessary to understand the nature of abnormal brain activity which underlies persistent motor impairment. Previous studies show that decreases in post-lesional gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, concentrations are correlated with plasticity between motor areas and to improvements in motor execution (Stagg et al., 2014). Our main objective is to compare altered contralesional and ipsilesional GABA and investigate its relationship with cortical anatomy and motor impairment. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was performed in fourteen participants with chronic ischemic stroke to characterize GABA concentrations in the primary motor cortex (M1) bilaterally. LCModel was used estimate GABA:Creatine (Cr) ratios from the MRS data collected. Seven participants met minimal criteria for Cr peak widths (Cr>20) and GABA level and Cramer Rao lower bounds (GABA>1, SD>15). We confirmed that significantly lower (p-value=.033) GABA:Cr ratios were observed in the ipsilesional M1 (mean: .341, SD: .096) versus contralesional M1(mean: .592, SD: .237). Findings are consistent

with previous studies where ipsilesional M1 had lower GABA:Cr ratios in participants with stroke compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, contralesional GABA:Cr ratios here were consistent with ratios reported in healthy controls (Bilcher et al., 2015). We speculate that lower GABA levels are due to damage to cortical gray matter tissue and contribute to lasting motor impairment. Additional analyses in this participant sample will evaluate associations between GABA:Cr ratios, cortical anatomy, and motor impairment.

Presenter: Jonathan Tao Title: Plato and the "Second Best" Society Authors: Jonathan Tao, Dr. Patterson Over 2400 years ago, ancient philosophers were already re-imagining society. Among these thinkers was Plato, one of the most influential figures in Western history and thought. His ideas impacted countless scholars, from his famous student Aristotle and the great Renaissance minds to 19th Century political theorists and leaders. Indeed, Plato’s works continues to influence scholars today. Under the guidance of Dr. Patterson, a historian specializing in Greek history, I analyzed Plato’s “Second Best” society through the aspects of slavery, medicine, and religion. In doing so, I’ve discovered many insights into the Greek philosopher’s theories on proper governing and state management. Plato argued that religion should play an integral role in maintaining order. Slavery, though still practiced, would have certain alterations. Medicine would be standardized and share a resemblance to the legal system. In addition, I also compared and contrasted Plato’s ideas with those of fascism and Marxist communism—to explore Plato’s influence on Benito Mussolini and Karl Marx, two big admirers of the Greek thinker, and to determine if Plato should be considered as the forefather to their controversial and historychanging government systems.

Presenter: Ngozi Ugboh Title: Influence of age and gender on well-being perception in Baringo, Kenya Authors: Ngozi Ugboh, Emory University; Peter Little, PhD, Emory University In this rapidly changing world, it is important that we advance with the times in order to survive.

The population of Baringo, Kenya are heavily dependent on the land, their community members, and remittances from outside sources. There is a progressing shift from dependency on traditional rituals and pastoralism to self-reliance and education of family members, which has improved the lives of people living in this region. Through focus groups divided into four categories according to age and gender, I address these questions: Does age and gender influence the people’s perception of well-being? What aspects of life is each gender and age group more concerned with than the others? Over the span of 10 years, the assets of all socioeconomic classes in the regions have increased. This includes material assets, such as improved houses and irrigated land, non-material assets, such as higher education levels and acquisition of jobs. The elderly men highlighted aspects of socioeconomic well-being, such as agricultural and infrastructural improvement. The elderly women were more concerned with the safety and education of their children. The young men acknowledged more technological advancements, such as cellular phones, and the need for improved political leadership. The young women were concerned about disease and agricultural improvement. By knowing firsthand what people in this

poor region of an African country need and are concerned about, it better enables those who are willing to make a positive difference in their lives. It provides an empirical basis for potential community projects and other initiatives.

Presenter: Zihuan Wang Title: Interactions between nonmucoid and mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa do not impact wzz2 expression Authors: Zihuan (Rita) Wang, Ashley R. Cross, Joanna B. Goldberg, PhD, Emory University Abstract not available.

Presenter: Helen Wang Title: The Complexities of Taiwanese Cultural Identity Seen Through Modern Dance Authors: Helen Wang, Lori Teague Culture, though significantly influenced by ongoing politics, continues to reflect its peoples’ heritage, history and environment. Much of Taiwan’s modern history has been shaped by interactions with various countries. For example, Taiwan experienced Japanese occupation from 1895 to 1945 and developed a strong relationship with the U.S. in the 20th century. During Japanese colonization, social changes like liberation of foot wrapping and emphasis on physical education catalyzed the development of professional concert dance among Han Taiwanese. As a Han Taiwanese, I am interested in how Taiwanese cultural identity evolved from the postcolonial era into the millennial reflecting the dance styles of three iconic Taiwanese modern dance choreographers. Specifically, I analyzed at least three pieces made by each of the three choreographers to establish a framework of their styles— first generation-post colonial era (late 1940s to 1970s), second generation-Martial Laws (1970s to 2000), and the third generationbeginning of Democracy (2000 and forward). Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) was used as a means of decoding and describing the vocabulary, the use of space, and the qualitative dynamics of each choreographer’s style. The styles of choreographers are the responses to political and/or social changes during choreographers’ formative years and in terms reflect some of the values of Taiwanese culture such as the emphasis on relationships. The complexities of Taiwanese cultural identity seen through modern dance are exemplified by its fluidity and the continuing quest of defining Taiwanese national and cultural character.

Presenter: Grace Xu Title: Effects of Glutamine Starvation on Acute Myeloid Leukemia Authors: Grace Xu, Undergraduate, Emory University; Xiongjian Rao, PhD, Emory University; Cheng-Kui Qu, MD/PhD, Emory University Leukemia remains the seventh-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and is one of the most common forms of childhood cancer. Prior studies have demonstrated that leukemia cells utilize an excess of nutrients, namely glucose and amino acids, to fuel their uncontrolled development. Therefore, the present study examines how the starvation of

glutamine impacts the AMPK proliferation pathway of acute myeloid leukemia cells. The methods involved culturing the MV4-11 line of leukemic cells in growth medium containing varying concentrations of glutamine (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mM). Protein extracts from each of the conditions were then analyzed with Western Blots to determine the relative levels of expression, which indicated a strong correlation between glutamine deprivation and inactivity of p-AKT and p-S6. The cells were then analyzed using flow cytometry to pinpoint the phases of cell cycle arrest resulting from glutamine starvation. This assay served to quantify the correlation between glutamine and rates of apoptosis, as the percentage of cells arrested at G1 grown in full medium and Gln- medium increased from 67.0% to 80.6% respectively. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that the deprivation of glutamine plays a central role in the rates of leukemia cell death. Through the identification of the key factors involved in the proliferation of leukemia, novel therapeutic agents may be developed to more precisely target its signaling pathways, thereby enhancing patient prognoses.

Presenter: Isabelle Young Title: The Role of LCMT-1 Gene in Hematopoiesis Authors: Isabelle Young, Mengtong Hu, Icho Lu, Danielle Moron, Yeeun Lee, Madi Ference, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; David C. Pallas, Ph.D., Emory University School of Medicine Abstract not available.

Presenter: Austin Yu Title: Impact of an Accelerated Discharge Pathway on Early Outcomes and Recovery Following Posterior Spinal Fusion for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Prospective Comparative Study Authors: Austin Yu-Emory SOM, Robert Bruce Jr MD-SOM/CHOA, Patricia Bush EdDSOM, Heather Guerreso MPH-CHOA, Hilary Harris BS-SOM, Joshua Murphy MDCHOA, Michael Schmitz MD-CHOA, Firoz Miyanji MD-British Columbia Children's Hospital, Nicholas Fletcher MD-SOM/CHOA The Spinal Outcomes Program analyzes the safety, quality, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of a post-operative protocol designed to accelerate discharge (AD) for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis patients following posterior spinal fusion (PSF) surgery. Utilizing a prospective analysis on patients treated from eleven children’s orthopedics in three practices will allow for an effective evaluation on the protocol’s economic impact as well as patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction will be defined by the surveys on patient surveys and family quality of life.

Implementation of the protocol found insignificant change in complications and quality of life as well as a reduction in hospital stay.

Presenter: Yu Zhang Title: Identification and functional characterization of CBX7 variant gene Authors: Yu (Kiraney) Zhang, Kyuwon Cho, Young-sup Yoon.

Abstract not available.

Presenter: Jianrong Zhou Title: Inhibitor of Differentiation (ID) Expression in Hypoxia Models of Pulmonary Hypertension Authors: Jianrong Zhou, Brandy E. Wade, Jingru Zhao, C. Michael Hart, Roy L. Sutliff Hypertension (PH) is a condition of high blood pressure in pulmonary arteries. PH can be caused by increased proliferation of the endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscles cells, which are the major components of vascular walls. When the oxygen level is low (hypoxia), the increased cell growth blocks the arteries, causing blood pressure to rise. This study examines possible proteins that would inhibit the cell proliferation through the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), an important regulator of protein stability, to mitigate the high blood pressure. The 14-3-3 eta protein would bind to a growth factor called Gremlin in normoxia. The binding would increase the ID protein in the cells and inhibit cell proliferation. We hypothesize that the binding of 14-33 eta and Gremlin would be blocked by ubiquitin under hypoxia, which would cause ID protein to increase and promote cell proliferation. We utilize Real-Time PCR to monitor the cell proliferation pattern.

Presenter: Caleb Ziems Title: Future-Oriented Language as a Predictor of Social Network Structure Authors: Caleb Ziems & Phillip Wolff, PhD, Emory University When individuals are rejected from social groups, they tend to focus more on the present than on the future (Twenge, Catanese, & Baumeister 2003). This finding suggests a correlation between social structure and the way people think about time. Forward-thinking people are expected to occupy more central positions in their social networks. To test this hypothesis, social networks were recovered from 333 Twitter users and built from their immediate, two-way friendships.

Each user’s network centrality was computed using the Python library NetworkX. Their temporal orientation was then determined by past and future references in their tweets. These references were identified by a pattern-matching procedure developed by Copely and Wolff (2017). As predicted, users who were more centrally located among their friends tended to talk more about the future (r=0.16, p=0.025). Implications for decision-making and leadership will be discussed.