Abstracts partnership and become a co-obligate symbiont. Recently, a study suggested that Wolbachia, a ubiquitous heritable symbiont of arthropods, was a co-obligate symbiont in the banana aphid Pentalonia. In a small sample the authors found that all individual aphids were infected – a requirement for obligate status and unusual for Wolbachia, and that Buchnera had lost the ability to make Riboflavin while Wolbachia retained the missing components RibD and RibH. However, we screened diverse Pentalonia populations across the Pacific and found Wolbachia was not fixed (83% infected). Given its facultative status, we are conducted several assays reconsidering whether Wolbachia is genuinely a co-obligate partner. Early results indicate that in our non-fixed populations, Buchnera has indeed lost RibD & RibH, while Wolbachia retains them, which suggests that other compensatory mechanisms are operating.
It is hypothesized that individuals with decreased connectivity of the MCLS and NA will report consuming alcohol at a higher frequency than those with higher connectivity. These findings may contribute to and extend the understanding of the link between alcohol and impulsivity in a yet unstudied population of emerging adults from rural communities. Microaggression in the Eye of the Beholder: Perceiver Characteristics in the Detection of Microaggressions in the Workplace Soundarya Kanthimathinathan, CURO Research Assistant Dr. Brian Hoffman, Psychology, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Microaggressions are typically conceptualized as subjective and perceptual phenomena, defined as subtle verbal or behavioral discrimination based on the receiver’s personal identity. Although much research has examined the impact of microaggressions on important work outcomes, scant attention has been paid to the characteristics of the perceiver of macroaggressions. To the extent microaggressions are believed to be subjective and perceptual phenomena, this study proposes that characteristics of the perceiver influence the likelihood that microaggressions will be perceived, specifically the perception of microaggressions by minority employees. Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, data will be collected on the perceptions of microaggressions by minority employees working full time. Individual characteristics of the perceiver including personality, group identity, and familiarity with the microaggression paradigm will be examined as predictors of the perception of microaggressions. The association between perceiver characteristics and perceptions of microaggressions will be examined to shed light on the factors that contribute to the study of microaggressions. These findings will have important implications for the on-going debate as to how to address a subjective phenomenon such as microaggressions and thus, will provide insight for organizations seeking to reduce the harmful influence of microaggressions on employee outcomes through interventions or training.
Altered Neural Activity in the MCLS and NA linked to Alcohol Consumption Aparna Kanjhlia, CURO Research Assistant Dr. Lawrence Sweet, Psychology, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Alcohol use among adolescents and young adults has a significant impact on public health in the United States. Impulsivity has been linked with vulnerability to alcohol use and altered connectivity of the neural reward system. Several brain areas, such as the mesocorticolimbic reward system (MCLS) and nucleus accumbens (NA) have been associated with impulsive decision making. The present study aims to investigate whether neural activity in the MCLS and NA at rest is associated with risky alcohol related decisions through an analysis of functional connectivity. Nine healthy young adult participants from the rural southern United States participated in a functional MRI resting state scan using a 3T scanner as a part of a larger study conducted by the UGA Clinical Neuroscience (CNS) Laboratory. Alcohol use and associated behaviors were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). Impulsivity was measured using the Monetary Choice Task (MCQ), a measure of delay discounting. Neuroimaging analyses will be conducted using Analysis of Functional Neuroimaging (AFNI) software and correlation and regression analyses will be conducted in SPSS. 129