Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that impacts millions of people and costs billions of dollars annually, with both estimates increasing as our aging population grows. Women are diagnosed with AD at a 2:1 higher rate than men, although the biological drivers of this difference remain elusive. Previous studies have demonstrated that changes to the function of microglia – the brain’s immune cells – observed during AD may be driving disease progression. Furthermore, microglia morphology is related to its function. Thus, we seek to characterize differences in microglia morphology between men and women with and without AD. We hypothesize that microglia from women have, on average, a more disease-associated morphology than those of men, and that differences are exacerbated in individuals with AD. We obtained tissue from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of 48 individuals who donated their brains to AD research at UW. We conducted immunohistochemistry (IHC) to stain for microglia markers (IBA1) and two markers of AD pathology (AT8 to stain for phosphorylated Tau and a pan-amyloid β stain). I imaged the samples on a Leica SP8 confocal microscope at multiple depths, which allowed us to compose a 3D rendering of the tissue through an image analysis software called IMARIS. Using IMARIS, I quantitatively measured key aspects of each microglia, such as volume and branching details. Using the data from 12-20 microglia per person, we used multiple regression to test for differences between men and women in both healthy and AD cohorts. We anticipate there are differences in the various measurements of microglial morphology between men and women with AD, which may partially explain the discrepancy in AD rates between sexes. This research is important to better understand the role of sex in AD pathology and help contextualize molecular differences observed in the larger project to which it belongs.

Controlled and untethered Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) near 1 gram offer transformative potential in applications like disaster response, inventory inspection, and precision agriculture, offering reduced costs and minimal hazards compared to larger drones. However, MAVs of this size face significant challenges in achieving both flight stability and maneuverability, particularly due to difficulties in generating sufficient lift and controlling multiple degrees of freedom mid-flight. While recent advancements have addressed various aspects of untethered flight, there has yet to be a MAV near 1 g that has also demonstrated stable hover and autonomous navigation. We introduce Coin-copter, a dual-rotor helicopter designed to overcome these limitations. We present three Coin-copter sizes, ranging from 0.8 g, to 1.1 g, and 1.8 g that leverage a foldable flybar-propeller mechanism for achieving passive stability and a feedback-controlled tail motor for yaw-axis control. Our prototypes achieve free-flight stabilization with payload capacities of up to 0.3 g, 2 g, and 5 g respectively, and evaluate the operational efficiency of each design to determine the optimal Coin-copter size for maximizing duty cycled flight time under practical energy harvesting scenarios.

Developing solutions to address social risk factors (SRF) in low- and middle- income countries (LMIC) can be difficult as many SRFs are a result of lacking financial support. SRFs are adverse living conditions that may impact the physical or mental well-being of an individual or community. Addressing SRFs in LMICs can increase implementation of evidence-based practices aimed at improving mental health outcomes. In this study, we focused on who is involved in proposed solutions that address SRFs and what specific roles those individuals undertake. Understanding what persons and roles are involved in a solution can help organize and facilitate action. We conducted a secondary inductive thematic analysis on qualitative data from a parent NIMH-funded study which aimed to develop strategies to address SRFs alongside a culturally adapted form of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) for children who experienced parental death in Western Kenya. In the parent study, clinical supervisors conducted a workshop and training for TF-CBT lay-counselors to co-develop strategies to address SRFs. Most suggested strategies supported economic empowerment and a worksheet was designed to aid implementation of the strategies. This study uses data from worksheets filled out at 10 different schools in which lay-counselors designed economic empowerment strategies. The primary solutions included poultry rearing, vegetable gardening, and tree nurseries. Preliminary results show that most solutions tend to require school administration, teachers, children, for whom the solutions are for, and their guardians. Administrative roles tended to supply land required for solutions, teachers and guardians mostly supplied resources, while children were tasked with implementation of the solutions. Knowing who executes what roles can help inform what resources, skills, or knowledge a person can contribute to a solution, which may facilitate transferability between solutions. This can help researchers and communities individualize strategies to address SRFs where certain persons may be unavailable.