Religious nationalism is receiving growing attention because of its current influence in democracies, but it manifests itself differently across countries. Previous research has identified socio-historical characteristics that impact the salience of religion as a factor in an individual’s conception of national identity. However, scholars of these studies have mainly used International Social Survey Programme data to analyze European nations. My study uses World Values Survey (WVS) data from 1981 to 2022 to evaluate democracies from a global perspective. I conduct a multilevel analysis to determine the salience of contextual characteristics that prime religion to be used as a vector through which nationalism is mobilized among individuals. Accounting for individual-level factors, I identify which country-level factors influence the relationship between religion and support for nationalism among individuals surveyed. I determine an individual’s support for religious nationalism using the beliefs and groups they express to support in the WVS. I then compare these results to events of national stress to determine if a relationship can be identified. My results suggest that religions favored in church-state relations are more likely to be included in conceptions of national identity. Additionally, affiliates of favored religions are more likely to support nationalism during times of outgroup threat, such as increases in immigration, socio-economic turmoil, and political/cultural shifts. By completing a global analysis of these phenomena, I am able to identify a more comprehensive pattern, something less expansive studies struggle to achieve due to hyper-partisanship debates that can overshadow case studies and regional analyses. Furthermore, by determining which socio-historical characteristics have the greatest impact on conceptions of a religious national identity, I provide a framework to develop a predictive theory on the circumstances under which a religion is not only primed to mobilize nationalist movements, but then comes to be employed to mobilize these movements.

Traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) is a devastating condition that causes sensory and motor dysfunction and permanently impairs normal life. Spasticity is one of the most common complications associated with tSCI that limits independent functional abilities. Spasticity is defined as a velocity-dependent increase in muscle tone, in response to passive movement and it is accompanied by pain and stiffness. Unfortunately, current treatments provide only transient and often incomplete relief of spasticity and individuals often experience long-term adverse effects. Through a collaborative project between three labs, we aim to develop a durable non-invasive electrical stimulation treatment to alleviate spasticity. I participated in preparing the model of spasticity by performing spinal surgeries on the cervical spine of rats. To evaluate spasticity, we studied the loss of Rate-Dependent Depression (RDD) of the H-reflex which is considered the electrophysiological hallmark of spasticity. To do so, I fabricated an electrode nerve cuff that was implanted on the median nerve of the rodent’s forearm to study the H-reflex of the affected muscle in the rat’s forelimb. I then recorded and analyzed the temporal development and change of spasticity. H-reflex results validated the spasticity model by showing RDD reduction in injured rats compared to the uninjured rats. The developed treatment shows promising modulation of the H-reflex and recovery of RDD in injured animals. Additionally, to measure velocity-dependent muscle tone, we developed a robotic device that passively moves the rodent’s forearm at different velocities. Employing this robotic behavioral assessment allows me to objectively assess the effect of stimulation on spasticity in the rodent forelimb. Obtained data reveals the muscle resistance to be three times higher in the injured rodent. This novel therapeutic stimulation protocol could potentially be used for clinical use as a non-invasive therapy, to help patients with spasticity in the hand after suffering from cervical tSCI.

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily affected individuals’ lives, not only through disease transmission but downstream effects such as unemployment and worsening mental health. People living with HIV (PLWH)—as a marginalized and vulnerable population—experience greater mental health risk and life challenges than the general population, which the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated. Studies that investigate PLWH’s wellbeing during the pandemic are few. In this study, I conducted a mixed-methods study in Qingdao, China using interviews and surveys to explore the effects of COVID-19 and associated policies on the wellbeing of PLWH. My overarching aim was to understand personal experiences of wellbeing, mental health, and factors specific to PLWH before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaborating with Qingtong, an NGO working with PLWH in Qingdao, China, I conducted 15-minute semi-structured interviews with a total of 17 HIV+ individuals whose median time had been living with HIV was 6 years (+/- 2.32). I asked questions about life and wellbeing changes due to the pandemic and challenges they faced. I qualitatively coded the interview transcripts, and found three themes, including (1) Social embodiment, support, and stigma of living with HIV, (2) COVID’s physical and mental effects on PLWH, and (3) Medication access changes over the pandemic. Overall, I suggest that mental health issues experienced by PLWH were not caused by their HIV status solely but by systemic factors such as COVID-19 policies and geographic disparities in accessing medication. Therefore, I advocated that the management of PLWH and relative policies need to be further strengthened in order to respond to any future public health emergencies and to ensure the wellbeing of this population.

VirScan, a revolutionary technology based on Phage Immunoprecipitation Sequencing (PhIP-Seq), allows the interrogation of antibody responses to all known human viruses using a small blood volume, providing information on an individual's previous viral exposures. This study aims to provide a comprehensive data quality assessment system for VirScan, which will improve its reliability and interpretability by routinely assessing VirScan data quality at both the sample, assay (N=96 samples in replicate), and sequencing batch levels (N=192 samples in replicate). The study focuses on creating standards and thresholds for data quality at all three levels, considering aspects such as aligned reads, read depth, percent of epitopes discovered, and correlation of sequence counts between replicates. The assay/batch-level analysis provides metrics like the mean, median, standard deviation, and range of mapped reads and correlations for count and peptide detection, evaluating consistency, accuracy, and comparability across assays and batches. Further, these criteria can effectively categorize sample quality into Good, Questionable, and Failed, identifying samples that may need to be repeated or excluded from analysis. These quality calls were all encoded within an R Shiny App, enabling a user-friendly and flexible interpretation of VirScan data. Implementing this systematic quality control strategy will considerably improve the usability of VirScan in research and clinical contexts, allowing for more trustworthy interpretations of an individual's viral exposure history while also contributing to a better knowledge of immune response dynamics.

When creating video games, developers incorporate auditory components like music and sound effects which influence users’ gameplay experience. A game’s music is often designed with respect to the game’s context or plot, containing melodic and harmonic ideas that are continually developed. Existing research in ludomusicology and human-computer interaction have explored the role of music in these games, but few have considered what musical factors are the most easily perceived or most effective for conveying information. My work investigates specific elements of a game’s music, how they are perceived by a user, and how they impact the user’s decision-making. Participants complete a digital maze in which the music progressively adapts in response to their selected path but the adaptation method is not explicitly revealed to the user. Actions that bring a user closer or further to finishing the maze have opposing adaptations, though it is left to the user to observe and interpret these adaptations correctly. The adaptation methods include tempo, dynamic, pitch, and layering or texture. Through analyzing quantitative data tracked during gameplay as well as interviewing with participants about their experience, I seek out which of the aforementioned auditory changes are most easily perceived by and influential to players. I also discuss emotional responses associated with changes in certain auditory factors. Findings from this work may inform the development of software with effective and meaningful auditory elements for users.

Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) can severely limit motor functions of the arms and hands. With very few available and effective therapy options, SCI results in reduced independence and quality of life. Electrical stimulation of the spinal cord is a promising therapeutic method that improves motor function in individuals with a spinal cord injury beyond what can be achieved by spontaneous recovery. However, this improvement has primarily been measured by manually scoring motor-based tasks and it remains unclear how these functional improvements are represented in the control of muscle activity. In this study, we conducted differential, intramuscular electromyography (EMG) recordings in rats while they performed a forelimb reach and grasp task. These recordings targeted the tricep brachii, wrist extensors and digit flexors. Trials highlighted the initial, intermediate, and final stages of an eight-week therapeutic window during which the rats received targeted, activity-dependent spinal stimulation (TADSS). TADSS is based on the principles of spike-timing dependent plasticity to enhance the electrical activity of spared motor pathways. The stimulation protocol delivers intraspinal microstimulation in synchronization with functionally related motor movements. I hypothesized that rats with a unilateral, cervical contusion of the spinal cord receiving TADSS will exhibit changes in EMG patterns throughout therapy with improved muscle strength and coordination of activity across muscles. This would suggest that TADSS can improve the strength of signals traveling through the injured spinal cord to the muscles. Results also measure functional recovery using an objective method rather than subjective behavioral scoring addressing a methodology problem in the field. Future directions will be directed towards differentiating the precise mechanisms of motor improvement as an objective method of recovery analysis.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes physical disability and chronic pain, but there can also be psychological issues like depression and/or anxiety. Clinically, the estimated rates of depression among the SCI population are from 11% to 37%, according to UW Medicine. In rodents, after SCI, both males and females demonstrated anxiety-like behavior, and female mice became more anxious while male rats became more hypersensitive to thermal stimuli. These findings highlight the complexity of the systematic changes after SCI, all of which may impact the quality of life and limit functional recovery. We have found a sex difference in the effectiveness of electrical stimulation in promoting functional recovery after cervical SCI. In our experiment, females show robust functional improvements with activity-dependent spinal stimulation. The current study aims to investigate the role of affective behaviors (depression and anxiety) and pain after SCI on functional recovery in male and female rats. Before injury, all rats will undergo baseline assessments to establish behavioral norms, which involve training and evaluations designed to measure motor ability, emotional state, and sensitivity to various stimulations. Three weeks after SCI, rats will be assessed with the same battery of tests and then start daily treatment of drugs that can modulate emotional states and relieve pain, including a mixed serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, duloxetine (or no drug control), for five weeks. Behavioral assays will be repeated at the end of the treatment period, and tissue will be collected for histological analysis. I will primarily be responsible for conducting and analyzing an assay of anxiety-like behaviors, the open field test, and the assay of depression-like behaviors, the sucrose splash test. We expect to understand better the relationship between affective responses and motor function post-SCI, and the potential therapeutic benefits of antidepressant treatments, and particularly identify sex differences that may limit recovery.

Spasticity is an increase in muscle tone (hypertonus) and abnormal muscle stiffness that impedes functional activity. Oftentimes observed among individuals with chronic neurological conditions such as traumatic brain or spinal cord injury (SCI), spasticity develops as a result of damage to the central nervous system (CNS). This damage disrupts the balance of supraspinal inhibitory and excitatory inputs to the spinal cord, which can lead to the loss of inhibitory inputs and hyperexcitation of the spinal reflex arc. The aim of this project is to develop an electrical stimulation protocol that regulates imbalances of supraspinal input and the spinal reflex in order to potentially alleviate spasticity caused by traumatic neural injury in patients. The hyperexcitation associated with spasticity is measured using the Hoffman-reflex (H-reflex). Previous studies have revealed that electrical stimulation of the rat motor cortex can modulate long-term spinal excitability. In this study, behaving noninjured Long Evans rats are implanted with cortical implants to induce stimulation to the motor cortex, grounding electrodes to filter environmental noise, cuff electrodes to evoke the H-reflex, and EMG electrodes to record the H-reflex response. The H-reflex is assessed by stimulating a cuff electrode surrounding the median nerve and measuring the consequent activity of EMG electrodes that are implanted into the flexor, extensor, and tricep muscles before and after electrical stimulation of the motor cortex. Our preliminary results indicate that different frequencies of cortical stimulation can modulate the H-reflex, suggesting that our novel cortical stimulation protocol may reduce spasticity and promote restoration of motor function. In future studies, I plan to assess the efficacy of cortical stimulation for improving spinal excitability in spastic animals following chronic SCI.