Semantic ambiguity arises in language when a word or sentence can take on multiple meanings. The resolution process can not only greatly inform theories of language processing, but can also provide novel insights into human general cognitive abilities. There is evidence for basal ganglia (BG) involvement in semantic ambiguity resolution from a breadth of neuroimaging research and clinical populations. The current project focuses on bilingualism, which creates the higher cognitive demand of selecting, shifting, and inhibition information that is co-activated in two language systems. Our study tested 73 proficient bilinguals using a self-paced reading task that contained a lexical ambiguity manipulation. A probabilistic learning task was used as an index of BG functioning. We anticipate that bilinguals with a more balanced use of their two languages train their BG due to frequently managing interference between multiple languages, in comparison to bilinguals who have an imbalanced use of their languages. This should result in a better performance in resolving semantic ambiguities that arise due to low frequency word meanings. Specifically, we expect this better performance to result in smaller increases in reading speed, which reflect interference, for sentences containing low frequency word meanings, relative to control trials. Better understanding of the role of the BG in semantic ambiguity resolution in various bilingual populations will provide novel insights into the neurocognitive bases of human language processing and executive functioning. We see this as an exciting foundation for studies looking into bilingualism as a form of executive function training.

My proposed research examines how sexual racism is experienced by LGBTQ+ community members in the greater Seattle Area who use Tinder and Grindr and other mobile dating apps. Sexual racism can be defined as a specific form of racial prejudice enacted in the context of sex or romance. My primary research investigates a series of in-person interviews that qualitatively analyze and articulate the various experiences of Black individuals, as well as focus groups to help to understand different and diverse manifestations of sexual racism. I use information/narratives from the in-person, and one-on-one interviews to analyze the experiences and compile them into a data set that can be closely looked at for trends and overlapping experiences. My research analyzing the effects of the experience of sexual racism as shown through mobile dating apps helps readers understand one form of inequity in our modern digital society that often goes unspoken. In addition, my research helps to identify how microaggressions work by the microagressor’s dismissing their racialized/sexualized comments as simply an issue of personal preference. While my primary research focuses on sexual racism in local communities, my secondary research draws on literatures that examine sexual racism both nationally and internationally. By working closely with a variety of people in the local community as well as drawing on research from other scholars focusing on the ideas of white privilege, constructed racism, and intersectionality, this research helps me speak up for Black LGBTQ+ individuals who are often marginalized by sexual racism.

My research topic is on Black student-athletes’ classroom experience at predominantly White institutions. As a Black student-athlete myself, I have been in classes where not only am I the only Black student, but the only Black student-athlete. The research shows that Black students are primarily affected by their perceived ability to succeed in college by the lack of Black representation in amongst their peers and professors, in the classroom. In my thesis, I build upon aspects of UCLA scholar, Tyrone Howard’s view of the critical race theory. In particular, I explore the idea that rather than race being biologically grounded and natural, it is socially constructed and functions as a means to maintain the interests of the White population. My thesis argues that Predominantly White Institutions set the “lay of the land” in terms of what is socially acceptable and deemed okay, and which often excludes Black student-athletes. The methods I use are surveys, individual interviews, and a focus group,  with an equal number of of Black men and women study participants. This qualitative data will show that Black student-athletes’ experience in the classroom at predominantly White institutions is directly related to whether they grew up being around White individuals.

Hybrid landscapes are the colonial, regulated plots of land (like reservations), that Native peoples have adapted to ultimately create new senses of Indian self-hood, through their ability to survive and thrive, despite the colonial process that displaces them to those regulated lands. The vanishing Indian narrative is one example of the colonial violence enacted through those regulated spaces as Western institutions and discourses confine Native peoples to notions of the past and primitivity, to ultimately claim that they have vanished in the wake of modernity. And while Western museums have helped perpetuate the vanishing Indian narrative, tribal museums have combated this harmful narrative. Museums, as institutions that present knowledge to the general public, are sites that can present counter-narratives and tribal communities can use these spaces to present proper representations of themselves. One such tribal museum is the site of my research project. The Suquamish Museum is located on the Port Madison Indian Reservation and opened in 1983. This research is interested in how this museum has made, and continues to make, a difference for the Suquamish community and particularly analyzes the Museum’s relationship to the reservation. Over several months I have spent time in the Museum and researched the Museum’s history through its grants, reports, programs, and exhibits. I argue that, as an institution that has continued to adapt to the community’s needs, the Suquamish Museum has facilitated the construction and continued development of the reservation as a hybrid landscape through owned representation as a means of confronting the vanishing Indian narrative, thus perpetuating Native agency and sovereignty. This research is important because looking at the Suquamish tribe as its own entity, with their own representations, addresses the colonial violence that treats all Indigenous peoples as homogenous, unadaptable peoples from the “past,” ultimately highlighting their agency as place-makers.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized as an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually the ability to perform simple everyday tasks. Despite many decades of research focus on AD, the cause and mechanistic understanding of the progression remains enigmatic. Identification of amyloid beta plaques and hyperphosphorylated Tau in post-mortem analysis of brain biopsy is viewed as definitive for diagnosis of AD. Dr. Su-in Lee’s lab has developed a machine learning method that integrates brain tissue pathology metrics with gene expression analysis from the same patient samples. Their analysis identifies genes and pathways that are statistically-associated with the concordance of pathological AD phenotypes. Working with researchers in the Kaeberlein lab, we are using the nematode C. elegans to directly test the impact that these genes have on the progression of human tau-induced neuronal dysfunction and death. The Kaeberlein lab previously identified a subset of genes in complex I of the electron transport chain (ETC) that are highly correlated with human amyloid beta-induced paralysis. We are now extending that work by examining the relationship of these ETC genes in the lifespan and healthspan of human Tau-model nematodes. Our preliminary results suggest that reduction of Complex I activity increases the lifespan of human tau-models nematodes. We are conducting further studies to determine the replicability of these findings as well as disrupting ETC function with RNAi from other genes. Through directly testing nematode orthologs of human genes that are statistically-associated with AD neuropathology we will generate a better understanding of the cellular mechanisms that influence normative aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

In recent years, researchers have dedicated much effort to overcoming the ~250 nm spatial resolution limit of light in order to reveal biological details that have been obscured by diffraction. A new form of super-resolution microscopy called expansion microscopy (ExM) relies on physically expanding a fixed specimen in a swellable hydrogel polymer and offers a simple, inexpensive approach to achieving ~70 nm resolution with conventional confocal microscopy. A critical and understudied step in this process is the homogenization of the embedded sample by proteolytic enzymes, enabling artifact-free expansion. However, in large and complex samples like Drosophila, enzymatic digestion is time-consuming and sensitive to experimental parameters such as fixation, hydrogel composition, and tissue type. To overcome the limitations of enzymatic digestion, I have explored parameter space for rapid peptide cleavage using air-tight stainless-steel vessels to achieve high temperatures and pressures not typically accessible in the lab. Additionally, a small-molecule digestion agent, dimethoxyiodobenzene, was tested in order to provide site-specific peptide cleavage and enhance tissue homogenization. The modified digestion process was first validated using standard immunofluorescent microtubules in cell culture. Next, Drosophila tissue was treated using thermal digestion to confirm the applicability of this technique in robust, difficult-to-expand tissues. This improved ExM protocol holds the potential to increase sample throughput, reduce expansion-related sample distortions, and extend ExM to be applicable to a wide range of previously incompatible tissues types, enabling pathologists to better analyze and assess diseases in human tissues.

Wireless power transfer has many applications, from powering biomedical implants to wireless sensors. For more practical use, however, several challenges must be overcome, such as a lack of efficiency and power leakage to other nearby electronics. These issues become especially difficult to tackle with a moving receiver. To combat these problems, an array of magnetically coupled coils was designed. Previous work has shown the capabilities of this system when one coil of the array is supplied with power. In this work, I explore the possible benefits of having two coils in the array driven with power instead, studying the interaction between the different coils. By adjusting parameters such as the phase relationship between the two transmitters’ signals, we aim to optimize power delivery to specific targets and simultaneously minimize leakage to other areas. I tested different configurations of the system in a series of experiments and analyzed measured data to determine which setup is most favorable. Afterwards, I evaluated the efficiency of the configuration compared to the previous single-transmitter case. This provides better insight into how the coils in the array magnetically interact with one another, which will inform future design decisions. It can also eventually lead to better solutions for delivering high power to selected targets within a given space. This can create flexible, efficient, and safe wirelessly charged electronic implants for a variety of biomedical applications, enabling further research in the field and the development of novel solutions.

I present a baseline assessment of the plant family Melastomataceae along an elevational gradient of the Llanganates-Sangay ecological corridor in central Ecuador. Conservation efforts within this corridor aim to preserve the high levels of diversity and endemism present in the region. Melastomataceae, as the third most diverse plant family in Ecuador, contributes valuable biodiversity, biomass, and ecological services to the ecosystems of this corridor. On Cerro Mayordomo (max elevation: 3,383 m), 300 m transects were established at four different elevations, and six 5x5 m plots were assessed along each transect (600 m² assessed total). All melastome species encountered in plots were grouped and counted based on morphological characteristics. My findings reveal a positive correlation of melastome diversity and abundance with elevation up to 2,500 meters. At 3,000 meters, species diversity decreases sharply, but total abundance remains high. Jaccard, Sorenson, and Morisita-Horn similarity indices indicate dramatic changes in melastome community composition over even slight differences in elevation. Eighteen species of flowering melastomes belonging to four genera were found, revealing a subset of the family's astounding diversity in this region. The results of my study will be used to inform future conservation efforts and ecological studies in this incredibly unique and important Andean corridor.

Bacteria inhabit a world filled with threats, including antagonism from other species throughout different environmental conditions. One mechanism microbes employ as protection from these hazards is the type VI secretion system (T6SS) - a system bacteria utilize to inject toxic proteins into neighboring cells, leading to cell death. The H1-T6SS of Pseudomonas aeruginosa comprises 7 pairs of toxins and cognate immunity proteins (which prevent self-intoxication). I hypothesized that each of these toxins could be maximally effective against specific kinds of competing bacteria, however the function of many effector proteins is unknown. My research focuses on characterizing the protein Tse7, encoded by the gene PA0099, and elucidating its potential role in species-specific antagonism. To begin, I identified its key functional amino acids and the gene encoding its immunity protein. I designed and created mutant strains with several genes adjacent to PA0099 deleted and co-cultured these with wild-type Pseudomonas aeruginosa to identify any mutants with a loss in competitive fitness. This lead to the discovery that the gene PA0100 encodes the cognate immunity protein. To determine key functional residues, I identified potential candidates using conserved motifs in the toxin’s amino acid sequence. By creating mutants of these residues and analyzing their change in competitive fitness compared to wild type, I recognized histidine 230 as the residue vital for Tse7 function. Going forward, I will attempt to determine whether Tse7 improves fitness of P. aeruginosa against any specific families of bacteria, indicating the toxin targets that particular bacteria. Almost one-third of Gram-negative bacteria have T6SSs. These systems largely dictate the ability of bacterial species to compete with one another, dramatically affecting bacterial community structure and the landscape of human infections. Therefore, this deepened understanding of its function could further our knowledge of and ability to manipulate bacterial interactions’ impact on environmental and human health.

 As the number of American students who identify as mixed race or biracial continues to grow, the American education system still has yet to make the necessary changes that are responsive to the needs of this shifting demographic. While identifying students on their own terms is important for all students, for mixed-race students, the questions and potential disconnect between racial labelling and how one defines themselves is fundamental. This study examines the roles biracial categorization plays in today’s classrooms through lived experiences as remembered by college students. Many classrooms still struggle to incorporate the achievements of minorities, and, in some cases, the mixed identity of a historical figure is overlooked entirely. The inability to see themselves in the curriculum may be causing mixed-race students to feel invisible in the classroom and disconnected from their education (Joseph-Salisbury, 2017). Drawing on findings from survey results, focus groups, and individual interviews, this research project contributes to studies focusing on the schooling experiences of mixed-race students. Maria Root (1996) and Kristen Renn’s (2003) models of biracial categorization are used as a framework for the study, as the project re-assesses the inclusivity and adequacy of the biracial categories introduced. In the classroom, seemingly small interactions and events may be forcing students to choose one aspect of their identity, rather than celebrating both. Focusing on how the classroom setting impacts identity has the potential to make the classroom a more inclusive space that is responsive to the myriad of ways biracial students may or may not choose to identify.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities. Although this disease has been a major research focus since the 1980s the pathologic mechanisms are still not understood, and therapeutic interventions have been ineffective. The most definitive method for classifying AD is through identifying accumulations of toxic proteins amyloid-beta and tau proteins in post-mortem brain tissue. Dr. Su-in Lee’s lab has developed a machine learning method that integrates the pathological tau phenotypes with gene expression levels in the same brain tissue. This analysis highlights the genes with expression level changes that correlate with the pathological protein aggregation phenotypes. For this proposal I will directly test the impact of these candidate genes on cellular pathologies resulting from aggregating human tau protein with a new C. elegans AD model in which human tau is expressed in the worm’s muscle. This tau expression will likely result in premature paralysis because previous nematode AD models with human amyloid-beta have shown this phenotype. The results of my genetic screening will lead to a better understanding of the human genes that are dysregulated in human AD brains and provide a basis for genetically-dissecting the pathways that influence the mechanisms of tau toxicity.

This project showcases how the works of organizations and individuals have advanced the efforts to achieve justice for the crimes against humanity committed throughout 20th century Latin America. By conducting in-depth research on how organizations have advanced cases of disappeared persons through forensic anthropology and criminal prosecution, we answer the question of how specific organizations and individuals have revolutionized the fields of forensic anthropology and human rights in the pursuit for justice. Our research investigates newspaper articles, court cases, and other media resources to identify how forensic evidence has been used to hold human rights abusers accountable. We also compare the human rights crises in Latin America to other global human rights crises to identify similarities between their initiation and subsequent movements for justice. We expect to find similarities in the cases of forced disappearances in Latin America and gain detailed information on how different methods of justice have been pursued across the region. Our research will be culminated on a central website that depicts the background, development, and ongoing movements of Latin America’s human rights history. By presenting this information in an accessible form, we hope to increase the public's knowledge of forensics and human rights, and to explain the value of these fields in attaining justice in Latin America and ultimately around the world.

Modification of biomolecules is responsible for the regulation of cellular activities in all organisms. A type of enzyme, named ADP-ribosyltransferase (ART), plays a crucial role in such modifications by transferring one or multiple ADP-ribose moieties onto its target molecules. Some bacterial ART proteins are toxins that serve as virulence factors that enable pathogens to disrupt host cell functions during persistent infection. However, it was unclear if ARTs play roles in interbacterial interactions. Here, I report the discovery of the first interbacterial ART toxin encoded by a Serratia proteamaculans strain, a commensal bacterium isolated from plant root. Growth competition assays showed that the toxin is capable of conferring a higher fitness for S. proteamaculans. Subsequent analysis by microscope revealed that target bacterial cells became elongated, leading up to cell lysis. Together, my results offered new insights into the complex question of how bacteria compete against each other. The finding expanded our knowledge of the diverse roles of ART proteins and their cellular activities.

In the era of new technologies, the functions of mobile apps cover all aspects of our lives. Social networking apps expand our social and business groups, as well as increase job and entertainment opportunities dramatically. Other types of apps, such as travel and buying & selling apps, enable people to get both tangible and intangible products without leaving home. The fast development of mobile apps, however, made it difficult for elders over 65 to understand and learn, and the physical condition of elders presents barriers to operating new technologies. Overall, the lack of accessible design on mobile apps has caused elders to not have the equal opportunity to obtain information and enjoy the same conveniences as other age groups; and new technologies have gradually made the older generation feel abandoned. In the past six months, I conducted a competitive analysis of the current situation of using mobile apps by the elderly to gain a broad view on the user experience of mobile apps for elders. I designed and distributed a questionnaire survey among members of the Yakima Serious Table Tennis Club to understand the barriers they encountered when using various types of mobile apps. I interviewed two retirees from different fields of employment and cultural backgrounds about their views on the usability of different kinds of mobile apps. Ultimately, referring to my collected data and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1, I analyzed possible changes that could be made by some popular apps to improve the accessibility for elders. I created interface templates of an accessible mobile social media for elders using Adobe Experience Design; then I edited it to a final version while doing usability tests on the templates. The conclusions from this research could be used to help design applications that are suitable for more age groups, and to ultimately make society more inclusive by letting elders have equal opportunity to enjoy new technologies.

Microbial toxins are a molecular weapon involved in pathogenesis, immune evasion, and bacterial competition. A prime example of such microbial toolkits are polymorphic toxin systems, which consist of multi-domain proteins and are widespread in all major bacterial lineages. A polymorphic toxin system called MuF has been newly identified and is the first to be discovered in temperate phages and their bacterial hosts. Though it is highly abundant in the human gut microbiome, its biological role has not been defined. To better understand the toxin system, our team is studying a model species Enterococcus faecalis, a commensal bacterium encoding a two-domain MuF toxin protein on one of its phages, consisting of an N-terminal MuF domain and a C-terminal toxin domain. The toxin domain is predicted to be an ADP-ribosyltransferase (ART), which post-translationally attaches ADP-ribose moieties to its target molecules and can profoundly impair cell processes, leading up to cell death. Using genetic approaches to generate phages with malfunctional ART activity, I have found that the mutations change phage infectivity and the morphology of the plaques formed (clear zones in a cell layer formed due to lysis by phage). Moreover, heterologous expression of the toxin domain in E. faecalis results in cell aggregation. From this, I hypothesize that the MuF toxin is delivered by phages to help infection and ensure phage DNA incorporation into host genomes. To further dissect the mechanism by which the MuF toxin system operates, our team is currently developing a fluorescent protein reporter system to investigate and track the detailed process of phage infection. In addition, by applying X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy, I aim to uncover structural information on the toxin, which may lend insight into the mechanism of MuF toxicity and its larger role in the human microbiome.

Secondary nucleotide messengers are used by all domains of life to sense and respond to the changes in their environment. In bacteria these secondary nucleotide messengers play a role in regulating several signaling pathways such as cell wall homeostasis, motility, and the expression of virulence genes. The nucleotide cyclic di- 3, 5’ adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP) was recently added to the list of secondary nucleotides. C-di-AMP is found in many bacteria such as S. aureus, S. pneumoniae, B. subtilis, and L. monocytogenes (Lm). C-di-AMP has been best characterized in Lm, a well-studied intracellular pathogen. Lm has adapted to survive and replicate in the host cell cytosol by evading host cell defenses through use of key virulence factors. In Lm, synthesis of c-di-AMP is catalyzed by the diadenylate cyclase dacA and degradation is coordinated by the phosphodiesterases, pdeA and pgpH. Studies using Lm mutants that lack both pdeA and pgpH contain abnormal c-di-AMP levels that cause growth and virulence defects of about four logs compared to wild type Lm. This highlights the importance of c-di-AMP regulation for bacterial virulence and growth, but we still know very little about c-di-AMP regulation and toxicity. Our goal is to further understand the toxicity of high levels of c-di-AMP during bacterial infection. We aim to create a transposon library in the double phosphodiesterase KO (ΔΔ Pde) background to identify suppressor mutations. Previous approaches to analyzing suppressor mutations in the ΔΔ Pde strain has not been thorough or cannot be utilized in vivo. Therefore, we have created an amenable phosphodiesterase mutant that knocks out the phosphodiesterases in Lm (pdeA and pgpH) to grow in vivo successfully to investigate c-di-AMP regulation. Understanding the regulation of c-di-AMP could result in targets for novel treatments against Lm and allow for ways to investigate regulation methods of c-di-AMP in other organisms.

From November 2015 through March 2016, the Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX) was conducted on the Olympic Peninsula to study the evolution of wintertime clouds and precipitation in frontal systems passing over this coastal mountain range and to validate satellite-derived precipitation measurements from the U.S.-Japan Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. While most OLYMPEX research has focused on precipitation processes on the windward (usually southwest) side of the Olympic Mountains, this study uniquely examines the leeward (usually northeast) side of the mountains where there is climatological rain shadow (i.e. a minimum in precipitation relative to the windward side). The vertical structure of the frontal systems over the northern Olympic Mountains is examined using data from a radar managed by Environment and Climate Change Canada on Vancouver Island (EC-XBAND), including intensity inferred from radar reflectivity. Using environmental data from North American Regional Reanalysis on the windward side of the mountains, this study classifies the leeside radar data based on upstream large-scale conditions. The cloud and precipitation structure on the leeward and windward sides of the mountains are compared utilizing the Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar in the Quinault River Valley, and the EC-XBAND radar. Cloud and precipitation particles measured by in situ aircraft over the windward and high terrain illuminate situations when particles are lofted over the mountains to the leeward side, reducing the rain shadow. These findings will inform local studies of snowpack and water supply in the Olympic Peninsula as many reservoirs there depend on precipitation that occurs on the leeward side. Outside of the Pacific Northwest, these findings can be applied to other midlatitude coastal mountain ranges on the west side of continents around the world.

The Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that performance is optimal when physiological arousal is moderate. Prior research has shown that arousal induced by listening to music will affect task performance on a cognitive task. The goal of this study was to test whether different music tempos would affect arousal levels and performance on a cognitive task. We recruited 16 UW undergraduates and exposed them to different tempos of the same song while performing a math test. We tested their accuracy, completion time, and recorded their heart rate. Results suggest that accuracy was higher under moderate music tempo than slow but there was no difference between moderate and fast. Interestingly enough there was no difference in completion time or physiological arousal. Although we failed to establish an effect of arousal and completion time the fact that participants did better on accuracy when music tempo was moderate is in line with what we predicted. Music tempo could still be influential to performance and future research can be done to understand these effects by operationalizing performance differently. Future directions about ways to improve the study will be discussed especially whether music/music tempo affect people subjective arousal and physical arousal differently.

Hydra vulgaris are some of the simplest animals with neurons and have only two thin, near transparent layers of tissue: myo-endodermal and myo-ectodermal layers. Each cell in the animal can be examined simultaneously due to their small size, simple body pattern, and stereotypical (regular and defined) behaviors. This makes Hydra great animals for examining simple signal transmission pathways from which the complex pathways in vertebrates derive. Cells in the ectoderm and endoderm use calcium signaling to coordinate contractions and cause the animal to move, but how this mechanism of cell-to-cell calcium signaling functions is not well understood. Invertebrate gap junctions, intercellular proteins that cells use to send signals to adjacent cells, are coded from the innexin gene family. It has been found that the genome of Hydra magnipapillata has fourteen predicted innexin genes. Recent data suggests some of these innexins are expressed in the ectoderm, specifically innexins 1,4,5, and 13. I hypothesize these proteins are necessary for the animal to perform coordinated contractions. To determine the role of these proteins, I used shRNA techniques to knockdown innexin expression. After examining wild type Hydra, I examined an existing line of transgenic Hydra which express GCaMP in ectodermal cells to identify when cells use calcium to signal other cells. In these animals, signals can be viewed as a wave of fluorescence passing across the ectoderm. I knocked down the genes by electroporating shRNA molecules into adult animals who express GCaMP, and will image these animals’ behavior. There should be quantifiable differences in the fluorescent waves, as I postulate that some cells will be excluded from these waves if an innexin is knocked down, and analyzing these differences should clarify the role of innexins in gap junction signaling.

Previous research has established extracellular vesicle (EV) signaling as a ubiquitous cell-signaling modality used by all cells. In this modality RNA, peptide, and protein signals are packaged together in small vesicles and directed to specific downstream cell targets. In addition to being necessary for healthy physiology, EVs can also contribute to pathological processes such as neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease through carrying toxic proteins tau, Aβ and β-synuclein between cell types. Recent research in the Kaeberlein and Mendenhall labs has shown that when human tau is specifically expressed in neurons of C. elegans, there is a significant increase in HSP90 chaperone and proteostatic stress reporter expression in the intestine. I hypothesize that the induced human tau neuron-to intestine stress signal is conveyed by the extracellular vesicles. To determine the signal pathway, extracellular vesicle signaling was disrupted specifically in neurons of a transgenic nematode line with neuron-specific human tau and fluorescent intestinal proteostatic stress reporter (daf-21::GFP). RAL-1 is a small GTPase that has been shown to be necessary for EV signaling in the C. elegans hypodermis and intestine. Therefore, RAL-1 function is disrupted though knocking down neuron-specific expression with either a double-stranded RNA ral-1 construct or a dominant-negative form of RAL-1 The degree of daf-21p::GFP expression was compared between the reporter lines and those with disrupted ral-1 function. Many studies utilizing C. elegans have shown that neurons send cellular stress signals to other tissues which strongly affect lifespan, metabolism, and proteostatic stress. Therefore, the results from my experiments contribute to determining whether EV-signaling carries neuronal stress-signals induced by human tau and establish a methodology for using C. elegans as a model for studying this important signaling pathway.