Alcohol withdrawal exists as a significant barrier to care for those who struggle with alcohol use disorder. Furthermore, there is evidence of worsening withdrawal symptoms after repetitive cycles of alcohol use and abstinence. Our preliminary research points to neuroinflammation primarily regulated by microglia, the immune cells in the brain, as a potential causal component in the escalation of recurring alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Previous work in our lab has shown that mice subjected to chronic intermittent exposure (CIE) to ethanol vapor showed elevated markers of neuroinflammation, as evidenced by transcriptome analysis in microglia. We found that the “unfolded protein response (UPR)” was activated; it plays a critical role in the development of neuroinflammation, and the UPR is mediated significantly by the C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) an apoptotic transcription factor. Therefore, we hypothesize that CHOP in microglia is necessary for promoting alcohol withdrawal symptoms. We expect to observe measurable reductions in the withdrawal symptoms experienced by transgenic male and female mice with and without CHOP following CIE exposure. In our pilot study, transgenic male and female mice with and without CHOP were subjected to five weeks of CIE to ethanol vapor and then tested for withdrawal phenotypes. These tests include body temperature, locomotion, marble-burying behavior, novelty suppressed feeding, and sucrose preference. We have also characterized microglia morphology and CHOP expression in pilot mice brains. Having measured changes in these mice's neuroinflammatory mechanisms and subsequent behaviors, our results will determine the efficacy of decreasing CHOP gene expression to ameliorate the kindling effect in alcoholics. Therefore, our work provides a promising direction in tackling the inescapable cycle of worsening alcohol withdrawal that limits the road to recovery for alcoholics.

There is a long and unfortunate history of violence in communities of color at the hands of police. I aim to examine the role of police in the oppression of vulnerable communities, specifically communities of color, and how community alternatives bring equity to the justice system. Community alternatives are programs that divest from or abolish police departments. Divestment is a practice by which funds are redirected away from police towards community-focused departments and programs. Abolition is a practice that involves the full-on breakdown of a police department to replace it with community policing or mental health services. I would advocate for divesting first with abolition as a secondary measure should divestment fail. Some preliminary studies in Denver and Oakland, show a savings of $34 million dollars by removing police from schools. Austin and San Francisco have reallocated funding from police departments into programs like housing and healthcare. These early results are evidence of the efficacy of moving to a reallocation or abolitionist model. To explore this I have examined the history of policing in America, as well as current reports and investigations by civil rights groups and federal agencies to analyze historical and continued oppression by police departments. I have also reviewed abolitionist literature in order to paint the most accurate picture of the more equitable justice system. This research has revealed data from investigations into police departments from cities like Ferguson and Minneapolis that display gross abuses of power against people of color. Abolitionist literature discusses solutions such as the debate surrounding including social workers in the law enforcement process. The majority of the research and literature surrounding abolition is fairly young, so going forward information relevant to the topic will be monitored. Ultimately, the goal of reimagining policing is to ensure safety, security, and equity for all.

Drug addiction and abuse exacerbate many health issues globally. The nucleus accumbens (NAc), a region within the brain, contains dopamine receptor D1 and D2 medium spiny neurons (MSNs) with relevance to addiction-related behaviors. I investigated the effect of D2 MSNs on behavioral economics of cocaine-seeking through chemogenetic activation of Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADD). I used a transgenic line of rats specifically expressing the Cre-recombinase enzyme in D2 MSNs. This enzyme is responsible for selective expression of otherwise-inert viral vectors by reversing its sequence, allowing for neuron-specific genetic manipulation. I bilaterally injected either a Cre-dependent AAV containing the DREADD hM3Dq or a fluorescent marker as control into the NAc of male rats; additionally, I catheterized the rats to allow for cocaine self-administration. Activation of hM3Dq required binding to clozapine-N-oxide (CNO)—the “designer drug”—and because only D2 MSNs expressed this DREADD, they were the only neurons to activate upon administration of CNO. After recovery, rats were trained to press a lever to receive cocaine infusions; and once this self-administration task was learned, the animals were introduced to reinforcement schedules with blocks of trials with differing unit doses of cocaine. Once this phase was learned, the rats were tested in sessions that were preceded either with an injection of saline or CNO, to test how chemogenetic activation of D2 MSNs affects the cocaine demand curve. Based on studies discussing the roles of D2 MSNs, I predict that chemogenetic activation of these neurons will correlate with decreased demand for cocaine concentrations compared to those injected with vehicle or green fluorescent protein alone. This study can produce valuable insight into the role this pathway plays in the development of drug-seeking behavior, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of the system and possible avenues for treating addiction.

Ocean conveyor belt circulation is conceptually foundational in oceanographic education. It is the idea that oceans slowly overturn through the movement of deep water toward the equator and surface water toward the poles. Introductory courses often spend the majority of a semester building the skills required to understand the basics of this theory. Ocean circulation is also typically covered through multiple courses to build upon its complexity through different study lenses. The multi-dimensional concept of ocean circulation is commonly conveyed through 2D diagrams and animations rather than presenting ideas in a 3D space that allows students to form connections between theory and physical space. Students were asked to interact with a 3D printed model that recreates circulation diagrams by connecting cross-sections of oceanographic data to specific locations on the model. Furthermore, students were asked to describe how perturbations to surface conditions could change ocean stratification and how water circulates based on its temperature and salinity. Previous 3D printing experience allowed us to expand students’ experiences while struggling to parse these interdisciplinary oceanographic topics. Here we show that using a physical model in teaching thermohaline circulation enhances the speed and depth at which students understand ocean circulation compared to the traditional 2D approach. Surveys were given to assess students’ understanding of the driving factors behind thermohaline circulation prior to and after interacting with the model. Preliminary results show that students can better connect oceanographic concepts taught in lectures to data and locations essential to ocean circulation after completing exercises that ask them to interact with the model. We anticipate students to exhibit further proficiency in concepts related to ocean circulation after interacting with this model. We also expect to find that students will express a desire to see the utilization of similar models in more of their core oceanography courses.

The nucleus accumbens core (NAc), among other brain regions, plays a key role in drug seeking behavior and relapse, particularly in determining incentive value as cocaine consumption escalates. Neurons in this region have two genetically-distinct output projections which form the direct and indirect pathways, D1 and D2 respectively. My experiment is based on the Incubation of Craving model, in which animals show increased drug seeking after a period of abstinence from self-administered cocaine. The behavioral side of this project seeks to better understand how these two pathways contribute to drug seeking behavior following a period of forced abstinence, and I am also investigating how RNA translation changes in and between the direct and indirect pathways following the escalation of cocaine taking and incubation of craving by forced abstinence. I used a transgenic line of rats expressing the Cre-Recombinase enzyme in the D1 and D2 medium spiny neurons (MSNs) to selectively express and manipulate MSNs in the direct and indirect pathways. I bilaterally injected either DIO-hM4Di RiboTag, DIO-hM3Dq RiboTag or a fluorescent control virus into the NAc, and the rats were catheterized during this time to allow for cocaine self-administration. The rats underwent the Incubation of Craving experiment where they experienced an acquisition and abstinence period. Once the Incubation of Craving was complete, I collected and homogenized the NAc from each subject and performed RNA purification. Then, I performed qPCR and RNA sequencing to investigate, and validate any pathway-specific changes in mRNA expression following these behaviors with the goal to discover new therapeutic targets. My hypothesis is that ribosome-associated mRNA in synaptosomes differs from the cell bodies, with enrichment of RNAs known to be trafficked to dendrites. Additionally, I predict that incubation of craving will induce distinct patterns of RNA changes in neurons of the direct and indirect pathway.

Farmworkers often experience substandard housing conditions, including crowding, temperature and humidity variability, and limited cooling access. We investigated how in-home temperature, humidity, bedroom crowding, and cooling impacted sleep duration among Washington State (WA) farmworkers. We hypothesized that elevated sleep temperatures, humidity, and crowding would be associated with reduced sleep duration. In the summer of 2019, 81 orchard and vineyard workers in Central WA participated in a baseline housing characteristic survey, three successive monthly sleep surveys, and three sleep temperature measurements. We assessed housing quality, our exposure of interest, defined as: housing type, air conditioning (AC) availability, crowding (> 2 adults in bedroom) and sleeping room temperature and humidity measured with Kestrel Drops. Our outcome measure was self-reported sleep hours per night. On average, participants were 42 years of age, male (64%), had 3.4 years of agriculture experience, and slept 6.5 hours per night at 76°F and 50% humidity. 45% lived in single-family homes, 11% in apartments, 28% in barracks, and 16% in mobile homes. Average temperature did not differ between housing types. Maximum temperature was greatest in barracks (average max=83.3°F) and apartments (85.0°F) versus single-family homes (79.7°F) and mobile homes (80.1°F). Relative humidity was highest in barracks (55.5%) versus single-family homes (48.9%), mobile homes (44.9%), and apartments (45.7%). Crowding and access to AC also varied with housing type, with 100% of barracks participants and 14% of mobile home participants reporting overcrowding, and apartment participants (100%) and barracks participants (97%) being the most likely to report AC. Participants in barracks reported less sleep per night than participants in single-family or mobile homes (6 versus 7 hours, respectively). We found variation in farmworker housing conditions and reduced sleep duration in barracks. We recommend future research examining the role of housing and workplace characteristics on worker sleep quality.

This research project will focus on the measurement of the influence of the fibers on the strength of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC), examining both the experimental method used and the theoretical background needed to extract the salient material properties. Here, the primary interest is in the tension strength. The stress-strain relationship of most engineering materials is determined with direct compression and tension tests. However, this method proves to be unsuitable for testing the tension strength of FRC due to various factors. In this research project, we will determine the stress-strain relationship of FRC using a flexural beam test. The beam test is considered more reliable because the load can be controlled better than in the direct tension test, and stress concentrations and eccentricities can more easily be avoided. However, the experimental results must be combined with theory to extract relevant information. In structural analysis and design, it is common practice to begin with a known stress-strain relationship and the dimensions of a beam section and integrate to determine curvature for a sequence of moments. Our approach is the reverse of this process. Using a system of differential equations relating strains, moments, and axial stresses, and with strain measurements from the top and bottom midspans of the beam, we intend to inversely develop the stress-strain relationship of FRC in compression and tension through differentiation of a polynomial regression. We expect results to indicate that fiber-reinforced concrete has a higher residual strength than what is currently accepted and that our testing procedure will yield more accurate and valuable results than traditional tests. These findings could change the way cementitious materials are tested and improve efficiency in the built environment thereby decreasing carbon emissions. This presentation will highlight the steps, challenges, results, and implications of our project.

Although the prevalence of cannabis use among pregnant individuals in the US has increased dramatically over the past decade, limited research is available on the impacts of prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) on infant development. The main psychoactive compound in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has been shown to cross the placenta during pregnancy, suggesting potential impact on fetal development. Previous studies yield contradictory findings, yet many link prenatal cannabis use to postnatal outcomes such as impaired motor development. However, many of these studies were conducted before recreational cannabis use was legalized in many states, and often failed to control for known teratogens such as tobacco and alcohol. To address this gap, pregnant individuals from the greater Seattle area who used cannabis frequently (3-5 days/week) during the first trimester (PCE; n=37) or did not use any (control; n=35) were enrolled into this observational study. Use of cannabis, medications, and other drugs were tracked in real-time via weekly surveys throughout pregnancy. After birth, we assessed infants between 6-9 months of age using the Early Motor Questionnaire (EMQ). Birth information including weight, length, head circumference, and Apgar scores (1/5min) were also obtained for each infant after birth. I will investigate group differences on the EMQ and sample characteristics using independent samples T-tests. I hypothesize that infants with PCE will have poorer motor development compared to control infants. I also hypothesize that infants with PCE will have reduced birth weight, head circumference, and length. Due to increasingly widespread cannabis use, research on the impacts of PCE while controlling for demographic factors and known teratogens remains essential to support pregnant individuals in making informed decisions. Additional research on the relationship between PCE dosage and frequency on infant brain development will further aid in providing this necessary and comprehensive guidance.