Mixed-species enclosures in zoos involves housing animals of different species together as a form of social enrichment to promote positive welfare. Usually, the goal of any kind of enrichment is to allow animals to display natural behaviors that might not otherwise be displayed or observed in a zoo setting. Social enrichment in apes has not been well studied despite the fact that sociality is key to positive ape welfare. Additional benefits of mixed-species enclosures include maximizing space use and encouraging visitor education. In order to gain a better understanding of how a mixed-species enclosure affects animal welfare, I observed the behavior of four orangutans (Pongo abelii) and three siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus) housed together at the San Diego Zoo. The two species interact and are usually tolerant of one another in a wild setting. I hypothesized that mixed-species interactions would have a positive impact on welfare. A measure of the welfare value of inanimate enrichment objects is the amount of time an animal spends engaging with that object. If mixed-species enclosures are a form of social enrichment, I anticipate that mixed-species interactions will occur as or more frequently than interactions with other enrichment objects. Indicators of negative welfare in apes was measured and includes excessive self-grooming, regurgitation, and rocking back and forth. I collected data by observing live webcam footage of the apes for twenty-one, thirty-minute sessions and using a check sheet to record behaviors indicative of negative welfare, mixed-species interactions, interactions with other forms of enrichment, and within-species interactions. Preliminary results show that there is a higher percentage of mixed-species play than solitary object play in this group with no indicators of negative ape welfare. Social enrichment using mixed-species environments could be a useful tool for some animals to encourage continuous enrichment.

 Millions abroad and at home have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The worldwide case total surpasses 110 million with a brutal death toll of 0.5 million in the US alone (nearly 2.5 million worldwide). Comprehensive characterization of SARS-CoV-2 and its impact on patient immune systems remains under-analyzed but is critically needed for the development of COVID-19 therapies. Our study presents an integrated analysis of patient clinical measurements, immune cells and plasma multi-omics of 139 COVID-19 patients. This cohort represents the entire spectrum of disease severity (as quantified via WHO) with longitudinal blood draws collected during the first week of infection following clinical diagnosis. We identify a major immunological shift between patients of mild and moderate disease, at which point elevated inflammatory signaling is accompanied by the loss of specific metabolite classes and processes. These metabolites include amino acids and lipids that may be indicative of nutrient depletion. This stressed plasma environment found in patients with moderate or severe disease is accompanied by the onset of multiple uncanonical immune cell phenotypes. These phenotypes include proliferative-exhaustive T cells, cytotoxic CD4+ T cells and dysfunctional monocytes; the presence of these unusual subtypes are amplified by increasing disease severity. Further, we condensed over 120,000 immunological features into a single axis to capture the ways in which different immune cell classes coordinate with each other in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. This immune-response axis independently aligns with the major plasma composition changes, clinical metrics (including blood clotting), and with the sharp transition between mild and moderate COVID-19 patients. Our study offers deep immunophenotyping of COVID-19 patients that, through integration of multi-omic analyses, suggests that moderate disease may provide the most effective setting for therapeutic intervention.

Memory and decision-making systems must effectively interact in order to make informed decisions. Two important structures in these systems are the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC).The mPFC has an important role in executive decision functions such as implementing task rules and strategies, while the dHPC is essential for episodic memory. Spatial working memory (SWM) tasks are commonly used to test decision-making in rodents. Evidence from past studies involving inactivations of mPFC and/or dHPC, as well as electrophysiological evidence, suggests these two structures interact during SWM tasks in dynamic and task-dependent ways. Furthermore, while there exists no direct anatomical projection between mPFC and dHPC, anatomical studies suggest the nucleus reunions (RE) may serve as an important intermediary structure between these structures. Inactivating RE also impairs SWM task performance, suggesting that RE is a crucial node for relevant information transfer between the mPFC and dHPC. To explore this hypothesis, the current study will investigate the effects of optogenetic RE inactivation during different task epochs (delay, choice, return) in a SWM task called the spatial delayed alternation task. This paradigm will allow us to separate the epoch-specific role of the RE in this circuit by analyzing differences in choice accuracy and a deliberative behavior known as vicarious-trial-and-error (VTE) while also observing changes in neural coherence between these structures. Behaviorally, we expect RE inactivation will result in a decrease in VTE occurrence regardless of epoch, while we expect RE inactivation only during the choice epoch to impair choice accuracy. From analyzing neural activity between mPFC and dHPC we expect to observe decreases in theta coherence between the mPFC and dHPC following RE inactivation, specifically at the choice epoch. Results from this study will help clarify the role of RE in mediating communication between the mPFC and dHPC.

Sufficient drug adherence is crucial to the success of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Antiretroviral drug concentrations—an indicator of adherence—are rapidly and inexpensively measured with the recently developed REverSe TRanscrIptase Chain Termination (RESTRICT) assay, making RESTRICT a prime candidate for use in low-resource settings. Integration of RESTRICT into point-of-care format relies on a mathematical model that requires basic programming knowledge, and recurring manual interaction with several software programs. In this work, I move the model to a single user-friendly platform for ease of collaboration, and introduce an error minimization function to improve accuracy of model parameter selection. The updated model is a better predictor of RESTRICT’s behavior on the molecular scale, reducing the need for expensive laboratory work and routine data visualization tasks. This work contributes to HIV treatment research by expediting incorporation of RESTRICT into an accessible diagnostic device.

Chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis (CNO) is an autoinflammatory bone disease associated with persistent bone pain, destruction and pathological fractures. While physical findings and laboratory tests are used in monitoring CNO disease activity, these methods are not yet reliable. Laboratory tests for N-terminal telopeptide (NTx) in the urine and C-terminal telopeptide (CTx) in the serum can be used to measure bone resorption that results from the breakdown of affected bones in CNO. These tests can serve as a useful monitoring marker in CNO patients taking bisphosphonates because these medications work by inhibiting osteoclasts that cause the degradation of bone. We aimed to assess the dynamic change of urinary NTx and serum CTx in children with CNO during and after treatment with bisphosphonates to determine if there is a correlation with disease activity. After IRB approval, we obtained consent from participating patients and families . Blood and urine samples, MRI scans, and clinical data including Physician Global Assessment (PGA) were collected during clinical visits at Seattle Children’s Hospital. We analyzed collected data using descriptive statistics and performed a correlative analysis. Based on our small cohort, we confirmed an initial decrease of NTx and CTx during bisphosphonate treatment in patients with improved PGA scores. After treatment, disease flare among these patients was not clearly correlated with the subsequent increase of these two markers; however, a well-controlled large-scale study is warranted for further confirmation. Results of this study have the potential to improve the efficiency of disease monitoring methods for pediatric CNO.

Nationwide, many states are starting to provide training in evidence-based treatments for psychological disorders to clinicians from mental health organizations. In Washington state, many clinicians participate in a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy training (CBT+) each year, which employs a common elements approach to address multiple psychological disorders common in children. However, there has been limited research on clinicians’ underlying reasons for participating in these trainings. Thus, this study examines main motivations behind why clinicians participate in CBT+, along with whether or not differences in motivation exist amongst clinicians with varying levels of familiarities with CBT prior to training. In this study, surveys were distributed to CBT+ participants (N = 197) to self-report on a 5-point Likert scale their levels of agreement with each reason for participating in CBT+: organizational requirement, interest in learning/refreshing CBT skills, helping clients, and professional development.The participants also self-reported on their frequencies of using CBT prior to training, with answers ranging from “almost always” to “never”. For understanding clinicians’ motivations in general, I employed descriptive statistics. For evaluating potential differences in motivation amongst clinicians, I used four two-way ANOVAs, a statistical test employed to analyze differences amongst means, with post-hoc Tukey tests to compare the level of agreement for each reason for participation amongst clinicians with high frequency (n = 62), moderate frequency (n = 78) , and low frequency (n = 57) of using CBT. Ultimately, understanding clinicians’ motivations for participating in the CBT+ can help researchers tailor advertisements and refine features of training programs.These adaptations may engage clinicians in more effective ways by indicating how trainings can help them attain their specific goals. Future directions of research can investigate whether specific adaptations in response to clinicians’ motivations can enhance learning outcomes and feelings of satisfaction of clinicians.