Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that often results in deficits in communication, social skills, and emotion regulation. Additional concerns include disruptions to the sleep wake cycle that results from circadian rhythm dysfunction. 40% of individuals with ASD also have clinically significant anxiety, which tends to exacerbate pre-existing behavioral issues and social deficits. Previous studies suggest an association between increased sleep dysfunction and increased issues with anxiety in typically developing (TD) adults, and have insinuated a possible bidirectional relationship between the two. This study aims to look at the relationship between sleep quality and anxiety in adults with and without ASD. 89 adults (ASD=39) from a longitudinal five-site NIH-funded study on sex differences in autism were included. Participants completed the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ), a measure of the amount of sleep, based on sleep-wake times, and the Screen for Adult/Child Anxiety Related Disorders for a measure of generalized anxiety. Analysis will include (1) independent sample t-tests to examine group differences in anxiety and sleep duration and (2) correlations between sleep duration (MCTQ) and generalized anxiety subscore from the SCAARED measure for the group with ASD and the typically developing group. I hypothesize that individuals with ASD compared to TD will demonstrate higher anxiety scores and worse sleep quality. I also hypothesize that there will be a correlation between higher anxiety scores and shorter sleep duration. Additionally we will explore sex differences in anxiety and sleep. If sleep quality is related to anxiety, this might support the increased use of sleep behavioral interventions to improve mental health in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by difficulties in social communication skills, and repetitive restricted behaviors. ASD has been associated with alexithymia, or difficulties processing one’s and/or own emotions. Prior research suggests, individuals with alexithymia are at increased risk of developing disordered eating patterns, particularly if they are male (Shank, 2019; Larsen, 2006). Disordered eating tends to be associated with other psychopathology and possible to be comorbid with ASD. Individuals with ASD are also at increased risk of developing disordered eating (Huke, 2013), however it is unknown if the relationship between alexithymia and disordered eating is also found in autistic individuals. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate sex differences in alexithymia and disordered eating patterns in individuals with and without ASD. 108 adults (ASD n=58, Male n=35) were included; all participants had an IQ ≥70. Alexithymia was measured using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale which is a 20-item instrument describing feelings, identifying feelings, and externally oriented thinking. Scores ≥61 indicate alexithymia . Eating behavior was measured using the Adult Behavior Eating Questionnaire which is a 35-item instrument involving 8 subscales including hunger, food responsiveness, emotional overeating, enjoyment of food, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating, food fussiness, and slowness in eating. We expect to see a correlation between alexithymia and eating behavior in the autistic group, similar to what has been previously found in non-autistic groups. We also hypothesize that this correlation will be present for autistic males but not autistic females. This study will contribute to better understanding if alexithymia and eating behavior patterns are found in individuals with ASD, and whether or not sex mediates this relationship. If this relationship were true, this may affect how interventions for ASD are administered and label alexithymia as a risk factor for disordered eating.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communicative impairments and sensory sensitivities. Additionally, the physical and social changes that occur with puberty may be a turbulent time for adolescents. Earlier pubertal timing has been correlated with higher internalizing mental health symptoms for neurotypical girls with earlier onset of menarche in females being tied with higher rates of depression that persists into adulthood. This study investigates the relation between pubertal timing and internalizing mental health problems for autistic and non-autistic female adolescents in a longitudinal study. 23 female ASD participants (ages 8 to 17) and 42 female neurotypical participants (ages 8 to 17) from a NIH-funded project investigating sex and gender differences in individuals with autism are included. Participant data was collected at a second timepoint, 3 to 8 years later. Data on pubertal development was collected using the Pubertal Development Scale, a parent or self-report measure of physical development. Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Child Behavior Check List, a parent-report behavioral checklist of mental health symptoms at the first time point, and a self-report version of the CBCL at the second time point. First, we examine pubertal timing variation by calculating residuals of a pubertal maturation by time regression plot. Second, we will investigate the relationship between puberty timing and depression and anxiety using a correlation test. To further analyze this relationship between pubertal timing predicting future depression and anxiety, we will run a multiple regression test. I predict that the relationship between pubertal timing and depression and anxiety will be greater for autistic girls than for neurotypical girls. This study’s data can add a neurodiverse perspective on how pubertal timing impacts mental health in females and could provide evidence for the need of interventions and additional support to adolescent females with ASD.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) refer to neurodevelopmental difficulties in communication and social interaction. It is thought that 94% of autistic adults have used camouflaging behaviors at some point in their lives, meaning that they have developed certain behaviors to blend in the social world and to “hide” their autistic differences. Camouflaging behaviors include: masking - hiding the autistic features; compensation - practicing certain behaviors to compensate for certain social shortcomings; and assimilation - trying to fit in so they are not singled out (Hull et al., 2018). We are interested in the relationship between camouflaging behaviors and social communication in individuals with and without autism. Data from 85 participants (42 ASD, 48 females) ranging from 15 to 23 years old from the NIH funded study on sex and differences in autism were included in the analysis. Autism diagnosis was confirmed via standardized tests and all participants had an IQ of 70 or higher. Participants completed the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q), a 25-item questionnaire that tests the degree of using camouflaging strategies, and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, a parental interview that informs the diagnosis of intellectual and developmental disabilities. We predict significantly higher camouflaging behaviors and lower socialization skills in the autistic group compared to the non-autistic group. We predict a positive correlation between CAT-Q scores and Vineland socialization scores in the autistic group, since by resembling their peers will make their parents report better social skills. We also predict that the correlation between masking and social skills will be higher in females than males in both groups, as females are found to have higher social motivations (Cook, Ogden, & Winstone, 2018). Camouflaging may prevent others from recognizing the symptoms of autism and fail to get diagnosis. Therefore, it is important to detect camouflaging behaviors so autistic children get timely treatments.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and interactions, and repetitive behaviors or interests. Children with ASD are more likely to show food selectivity than neurotypical (NT) children, and their restricted food consumption may be associated with nutritional deficiencies. Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that can have long term health-related consequences. Understanding behavior surrounding eating habits is paramount to developing treatments that are effective for children with autism. In youth without autism, self-compassion impacts eating behaviors. Higher self-compassion is causally linked to lower eating pathology. This study aims to extend this work to examine whether self-compassion influences eating behaviors in adolescents with ASD. Participants included children with ASD (n = 37) and children with NT development (n = 52) between the ages of 13 - 17 years. Parents of participants completed the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire, and participants completed the Self-Compassion Inventory for Youth survey. We compared emotional overeating and emotional under eating to the self-compassionate coping scale and self-punitive coping scale. Given the stereotyped and repetitive behaviors of adolescents with ASD, we expect a similar relationship between self-compassion and eating behavior seen in studies with neurotypical individuals, to also exist within an ASD group. Specifically, we hypothesize: (1) a positive correlation between emotional overeating and self-punitive coping, (2) a positive correlation between emotional under eating and self-punitive coping, (3) a negative correlation between emotional overeating and the self-compassionate coping scale, and (4) a negative correlation between emotional under eating and the self-compassionate coping scale. This study will offer more insight into the role of self-compassion and eating behavior of ASD adolescents. If the hypothesized correlations exist within the ASD and NT groups, we can look for similar risk factors of disordered eating behavior within ASD adolescents.

Phase separation in phospholipid membranes occurs in living systems like yeast vacuole membranes and consists of domains enriched in specific lipid components. Phase separated domains coalesce and merge together into a singular phase as membranes are heated above the phase transition temperature, T_mix. The phase transition temperature depends on the lipid composition of a membrane. In the lab, it is useful to produce simple, model membranes to isolate phenomena like phase separation from the complexity of biological systems. Emulsion phase transfer is one such technique used to generate giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) by using a centrifuge to drive emulsion droplets coated in lipids through a lipid-oil solution and water interface. However, there are several specific challenges for emulsion phase transfer that require optimization: drying the lipids down with nitrogen gas into a lipid film, the time sensitive creation and layering of the lipid-oil emulsion, and finding the optimal centrifugation parameters. Here, we optimize emulsion phase transfer in three ways: 1) evenly coating lipids films via swirling, 2) creating the emulsion and depositing it as quickly as possible, and 3) tuning centrifugation to maximize vescile formation and minimize vesicle aggregation. Further, we measure the phase transition temperature for GUVs made of a ternary lipid mixture consisting of DPPC (16:0 PC), DOPC (18:1 PC), and Cholesterol in a 1:1:3 ratio. To visualize membrane phase separation, a fluorescent lipid that partitions preferentially to only one phase was added to lipid mixtures used to prepare GUVs. Due to the crucial role of cholesterol in membrane phase behavior, the phase transition temperature of GUVs generated through this technique will vary from those produced by other techniques due to poor cholesterol incorporation.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences in social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive behaviors (APA 2013). Per Kanne and Mazurek (2011), 56% of 1380 children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD engaged in some form of aggression towards family, teachers, or peers. Aggressive behaviors can prevent youth with ASD from being able to engage in learning opportunities and community events. An important factor in decreasing rates and severity of aggression is through the identification of social and environmental factors that may impact the stability of aggressive behaviors. The aim of this study is to look at factors that may impact the stability of aggressive behaviors in a longitudinal sample of autistic and non-autistic youth. 44 participants (22 ASD) aged 8 to 18 years, from the NIH funded longitudinal study on sex differences in autism were included in the analysis. Aggression was measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a parental report measure on problem behaviors, which includes items related to self aggression (self injurious behaviors) and other-aggression (aggression towards peers and adults). Data was collected at baseline and 3 to 8 years later. We expect low IQ and younger age will be related to higher aggressive scores on CBCL at baseline. We predict that youth with greater social improvement between timepoints and use of psychotropic medication will have lower levels of aggression over time. Identification of factors that impact changes in aggression over time can aid in implementing interventions to aggression and improve quality of life.

A keystone bacterium involved in the pathogenesis of chronic periodontitis, commonly known as gum disease, is Porphyromonas gingivalis. This pathogen produces multiple structures on the surface of its cells categorized as virulence factors, including lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and outer membrane vesicles (OMV). Lipopolysaccharides are anchored to the outer membrane of P. gingivalis by Lipid A structures. Previous studies in our lab have found that the abundance and cargo selection of OMVs released from the cell’s surface can be modulated by the structure of Lipid A on P. gingivalis. The virulence factors investigated assist P. gingivalis in the colonization of the host at a cellular level – such as the formation of biofilm, or aggregated bacteria on a surface. OMVs released from the cell's surface operate as a delivery system for the various structures found on the outer membrane of the bacterial cell. We hypothesize that the biofilm density and morphology formed by P. gingivalis are influenced by the changes in OMV abundance and content derived from the modulations in the Lipid A structure. To test this, we utilize biofilm assays, where live cultures from various strains with differing Lipid A structures can grow and aggregate on a glass coverslip for 48-72 hours. Morphology differences are revealed from the analysis of the biofilms and pixel intensity is quantified and compared among strains. Various assays are used to compare the activity and concentrations of protein and lipid cargoes within the OMVs to understand how they are connected to biofilm morphology. The biofilms formed by P. gingivalis contribute to its pathogenesis, therefore it is important to understand the impact that secreted outer membrane vesicles have on its structure and integrity.

Clearance of wound infections can be hindered by a bacterial biofilm; a complex extracellular matrix (EM) secreted by adherent bacteria that allows them to evade the host immune system and obviate antibiotics. A novel, synthetic peptide—known as an anti-α-sheet inhibitor—can disrupt biofilm stability by inhibiting the formation of amyloid fibrils, which contribute to the biofilm EM. This project aims to design and characterize alginate porous scaffolds that elute these synthetic peptides, for use as anti-biofilm wound dressings. The physical properties and peptide release kinetics of the scaffolds will be optimized for clinical applications, supported by in vitro efficacy studies with live bacteria. This project draws upon past work from the Bryers Research Group on engineering infection immunity and tissue scaffolds, in which biofilms are prevalent. Results of this project will provide an alternative approach to biofilm prevention, thus reducing the burden of biofilm-related infection complications.

The goal of the SQRLab is to develop technologies for a fully fault tolerant quantum computer capable of processing 10,000 qubits of information. One necessary component is a Paul Trap, consisting of two pairs of blades delivering both direct current (DC) and radio frequency (rf) alternating signals in order to trap and stabilize a string of ions. In order for the modes of the quantum states of these ions to be stable, the stability of power delivery to the device is crucial. Given these design specifications a rf resonator circuit is necessary. The goal of my project is to design, simulate, build, and test a low-loss rf resonator to deliver rf signals to the ion Paul Trap efficiently and stably. Using a toroid shape, I experiment with the material of the wiring and the method of winding the toroid to find a wiring scheme that creates the least loss in delivering power to the experiment. The material used in the wire and dielectric material inside the coil directly affects the efficiency of translating signals. It is desirable that this resonator generates a voltage gain at a specified power level, has impedance matching of the coil with the driving circuit, and contains a method of monitoring this voltage. Thus far, I have measured the voltage gain generated by the coil and the quality factor of the coil (the quality of the resonator frequency as it interacts with the rest of the circuit). I have also designed a capacitive “pickup” to sample the voltage level of the delivered rf power. I will produce noise figures to stabilize the trap power to a set-point voltage level. This research contributes to SQRL’s objective of designing useful scalable quantum systems to simulate nature and perform complex algorithms not permitted by classical computers.

Trapped ions are proving to be a promising realization of quantum computation; computation is performed with an ion — such as 40Ca+ — contained by an electric potential and irradiated with laser beams of multiple wavelengths for ion cooling and qubit state control. Advantages to other implementations include repeatability and efficiency in state preparation, gate operation, and state readout. However, a number of ions are required for useful operation, and larger systems introduce complexity and possibility for error, which necessitates modular and scalable trap geometries fabricated using common methods pioneered by the semiconductor industry. Two-dimensional surface traps can suffer from low trapping depth, low efficiency, and higher ion motion, complicating high-fidelity operation. We explore alternative geometries, such as traps with multiple surfaces, and elucidate acceptable misalignment or non-ideal geometries. Our method exploits a multipole expansion of electric potentials produced through COMSOL; we expect to use the resulting multipole coefficients, trap depth, and trap frequency to inform fabrication tolerances and parameters such as electrode spacing, size, or shape. Through proper fabrication and optimal design informed by this work, traps with high depth, high efficiency, and low ion motion can aid the push for modular trapped-ion quantum computing.

Refugee resettlement job training programs do not necessarily offer positive long-term economic outcomes. I have discovered a gap in peer-reviewed articles about the flaws within the existing resettlement employment services. The problem is that there are two types of employable refugees with distinct needs: (1) Refugees who already have professional credentials who need their credentials officially recognized so they may continue their chosen profession and (2) Refugees who need professional development that will connect them to sustainable paid employment. I have performed a systematic literature review that focuses on factors that contribute to the economic stability of the adult refugee population during their resettlement period in the United States. The selection criteria materials have been retrieved from the University of Washington Library Search and Web of Science including search terms related to refugee resettlement services that focus on the refugee population in the United States with referenced English language peer-reviewed scholarly articles published within the last five years. The overall findings show that refugees are to acquire basic job skills within the first six months of their resettlement as they are provided funding and housing during this short window of time. My research reveals that established programs only offer short-term solutions thus the significance of this problem is that the current system focuses refugees on survival employment with low paying jobs that do not necessarily match their qualifications. Refugees who are highly skilled and overqualified face insurmountable obstacles for credential recognition in the United States and are grossly underemployed, unable to sustain a livable wage. The implications of this have prevented both sets of refugees from reaching sustainable economic equity and have generational impacts on the livelihood of refugees in the country.

Diaryliodonium salts have recently been shown to facilitate metal-free mechanoredox free radical polymerizations. Prior literature reports focus on the role of diaryliodoniums as photoinitiators; these salts have well established fragmentation mechanisms and kinetic profiles. However, their use in mechanochemistry has not been extensively investigated. Mechanochemistry is an emerging field of chemistry that uses force as a stimulus for chemical reactions. Compared to traditional stimuli such as light, heat, and electricity, mechanical force avoids the use of transitional metal additives and often has a lesser environmental impact. This report looks to explore functionalized (e.g., electron-rich versus electron-deficient) diaryliodoniums and to determine the impact of reactivity in a mechanoredox polymerization setting. Herein we synthesized a library of salts of diverse electronic structures and tested them within an established mechanoredox ball mill system. We report data on their initiation based on radical trapping as well as changes in polymers molecular weight. The hypothesis is that salts with functionalities that withdraw electron density such as alkyl halogens or cyano groups will initiate faster than salts with electron donating functionalities due to their lower reduction potential as demonstrated in literature. Exploration of these functionalized salts will provide kinetic insight and open new avenues of synthesizing commodity polymers. This is particularly applicable in 3D printing, where having control over the rate of initiation could be used to tune downstream physical properties.

Edentulism, or the loss of all natural teeth, is a condition typically resulting from dental caries and periodontal disease, described as the ultimate manifestation of oral health disease burden. Edentulism has significant effects on masticatory function, such as chewing, swallowing, and speaking, as well as mental health and overall quality of life. Food insecurity has been associated with adverse oral health outcomes. However, this relationship has been insufficiently studied among low-income older adults, who are disproportionately impacted by oral health disparities and more likely to be edentulous. We hypothesized that food insecurity would be associated with increased prevalence of edentulism among low-income older adults in Washington state. To test this hypothesis, we collected data at seven community-based sites across Washington, including the Multi-Service Center in Federal Way and the Pike Market Senior Center. We administered a survey containing a 10-item measure of food insecurity to 218 participants aged 50 years or older. We also conducted dental screenings that involved examination of the mouth, gums, and individual teeth. 45% of participants (n=98) had marginal, low, or very low food security. 7.8% of participants (n=17) had zero teeth. We utilized logistic regression models to examine the association between food security and edentulism. Our preliminary analysis indicates that older adults with low or very low food security had 2.44 times the odds of being edentulous compared to those with high food security, after adjusting for age, sex, and race. Further analysis can help inform the development of feasible and effective interventions to address oral health inequities among low-income older adults.

With increasing temperatures and changing ocean conditions, it is important to measure the effects felt on both a species specific and ecosystem level, to better understand the consequences of this change. To investigate this issue specifically off of the Northeast US Atlantic Coast, I worked collaboratively with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, using both bottom temperature and sea surface temperature as oceanographic variables to examine whether the changes observed have influenced fish consumption over time across seventeen prominent fish species. We calculated average annual fish consumption per species from 1993-2018, where I then compared this to both sea surface temperature and bottom temperature using generalized additive models. Additionally, we plotted the above variables independently using generalized linear models and linear models to analyze their respective trends. I also created a sea surface temperature model to compare the extreme temperature changes the ecosystem was experiencing. Overall, increasing trends in both sea surface temperature and bottom temperature were detected, and within species’ consumption trends, four species showed significant increases in consumption (buckler dory (Zenopsis conchifer), fourspot flounder (Hippoglossina oblonga), longhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus), striped searobin (Prionotus evolans)) whereas two indicated significant decreases in consumption (Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata)). When compared to sea surface and bottom temperature, three species' consumption rates were found to be significantly influenced by these variables (longhorn sculpin, thorny skate, spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias)). Given these results, it is likely that the adaptability of species and their respective mobility will influence the degree of impact by changing ocean conditions, constituting both winners and losers in this changing time period. Therefore, we recommend further analysis to better understand how various related biological factors influenced by climate change will be impacted in the future to develop a more thorough understanding of the consequences of this change.

The purpose of this study is to establish biomarker assays for physiological stress linked to arsenic exposure and microbiome perturbation in freshwater snails. The ASARCO smelter in Tacoma, Washington polluted soil and water around Puget Sound with arsenic for nearly 100 years. Previous studies have shown that environmental pollutants can alter the gut microbiome and modulate host-microbe interactions in mice. However, little work has been done to understand how chronic exposure to environmental pollutants can impact the microbiota or physiology of primary consumers in aquatic ecosystems. To address this gap in knowledge, we are studying Chinese Mystery Snails (CMS) collected from three lakes in the Puget Sound region: Lake Killarney (20 ppm As), Steel Lake (2 ppm As), and Pine Lake (trace As). We hypothesized that snails exposed to higher concentrations of As are subject to greater levels of physiological stress than those with lower levels of exposure, and that this physiological stress is impacted by the microbiota of snails living in each environment. We measured relative levels of HSP70 expression in snail gut tissues to determine usefulness as a biomarker in our study. We also used inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy to determine the amount of arsenic in the tissues of CMS harvested from each lake. Next, we are isolating DNA from snail guts, water, sediment, and plants from each lake. The purified DNA will be subjected to 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, allowing us to determine the relative abundances of bacterial taxa in each environmental compartment and the overlap between the snail gut vs local environment. Our future research will focus on validating additional stress induced biomarkers, while assessing microbiome alteration linked to the biomarker(s). This work will lay the foundation to future studies focused on understanding the links between arsenic exposure, chronic physiological stress, and microbiome composition.

All somatic cells, from heart cells to immune cells, have the same genetic code. Understanding the regulatory processes that allow the same DNA sequence to code for vastly different gene expression patterns is a longstanding goal of biomedical research. To study the regulation of gene expression we examine chromatin accessibility, a measure of the areas of DNA accessible to transcriptional machinery. It’s hypothesized that variation in these accessible regions across different cell states and types enables combinations of Transcription Factors (TFs) to bind and regulate gene expression. This project builds upon the AI-TAC neural network model which predicts chromatin accessibility as measured by ATAC-seq peaks in 81 mouse immune cell types. The trained AI-TAC model was used to identify sequence patterns within regulatory regions that predict cellular differentiation. TFs function through protein-protein interactions with other bound TFs. My recent work found that AI-TAC is unable to sufficiently learn nonlinear TF interactions. I hypothesize that a model trained with higher granularity data to predict base-pair resolution chromatin accessibility will learn the non-linear interactions between TFs encoded in genomic DNA more effectively. I present a model named bpAITAC with a new architecture that predicts base-pair resolution raw ATAC-seq reads. This model will allow us to identify TF interactions important for regulating accessibility. These findings will help us better understand immune cell differentiation. Future iterations of this model will be trained on human immune cell data, and will be able to identify rare disease-associated gene variants from patient DNA sequences. This will allow us to develop personalized therapeutics to address the disease-related effects of an individual’s genetic variations.

The process of learning new words is a significant developmental task where children learn through social interactions with others. However, children with neurodevelopmental differences such as autism spectrum disorder are known to have distinct manners of social engagement. The current study examines one potential factor that might relate to how easily autistic children learn new words, and how success in that manner of social interaction predicts future vocabulary development. Participants (N = 29) were drawn from a larger study of 2- to 11-year-olds with autism with a focus on language and development. In that sample, nonverbal IQ scores ranged from 34 to 133 (M = 98.29; SD = 21.48) and receptive vocabulary standard scores ranged from 20 to 138 (M = 91.41; SD = 29.02). In a laboratory task, an examiner presented several novel objects with novel labels (i.e., nonwords) to the child. Dyadic coding of the child's verbal interactions with the examiner during exposure to the nonwords was completed for recordings of those sessions. Coding procedures included marking instances of vocalizations and overlapping speech. Overlapping speech was divided into three categories: overlapping speech during the prompt teaching the nonword- "Look it's a... It's a great...," overlapping speech during the nonword- "heypaum," and overlapping speech at any other point. Overlapping speech is of particular relevance as the instances might indicate uncoordinated turn-taking and moments where the child may be unable to completely process and learn from their social partner's input. In the current sample, 14 of 29 participants had at least one instance of overlapping speech during the nonword. We hypothesize that coordinated turn-taking supports vocabulary development, such that fewer instances of overlapping speech will be associated with learning more nonwords. This research on children's vocabulary development can guide understanding and optimizing of teaching strategies to support language learning.