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Effect Of Thermal Stress Across Development In Drosophila Melanogaster, Andrew Karl Stoloff

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Animal development is a complex process that requires successful completion of multiple steps at different developmental stages to produce adult organs and systems. Environmental stress experienced during crucial developmental stages could therefore disrupt the proper functioning and survival of individuals as adults long after the stressor has passed. Early embryonic stages may be particularly susceptible to long-lasting effects because cellular mechanisms of stress resistance are relatively underdeveloped. In chronically cold or hot environments, such stress may impose significant natural selection on early embryonic developmental systems to improve developmental resilience in the face of temperature extremes.

In this study, I tested …

Theory Of Mind Differences Between Children With And Without Autism Spectrum Disorder Following Social Story Intervention, Sindhu Donepudi

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social interaction and social communication (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). At the core of the social impairment is a likely deficit in the Theory of Mind (ToM). This study uses ToM measures to assess emotion recognition and desire-based emotions pre- and post-intervention in neurotypical and ASD children between the ages of 8 and 12 following nine weeks of social-cognitive intervention (i.e., individualized Social Stories). Results showed that neurotypical children have greater emotion recognition and understanding of desire-based emotion than children with ASD, and that children with ASD exhibit variable improvements in …

A Quality Improvement Study Of The Implimentation Of The Vermont Newborn Plan Of Safe Care Among Nursing Staff At Vermont Hospitals, Annik Buley

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

PURPOSE: The purpose of this quality improvement needs assessment was to evaluate the implementation of the Vermont Newborn Plan of Safe Care (VNPSC) since its introduction 17 months ago. These plans were created in response to federal mandates to create plans that address the needs of infants affected by substance exposure during pregnancy. A secondary goal of the study was to identify areas for improvement of its implementation by nursing staff.

METHODS: This study was conducted using a mixed-methods, cross sectional survey design. Data collection took place over a 3-week period and included 12 Vermont hospitals. Analysis was completed using …

Parental Tobacco Use: Impact On Child Emotion Identification Ability, Allison R. Giroux

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Although the physical effects of tobacco on an individual are well-known, the impacts that smoking has on social skills of family members are less understood. The ability for children to identify emotions is crucial for normal social functioning, and the impact of parental tobacco use during child development of this skill is not known. The proposed research compares parent-reported tobacco use to child emotion identification ability (EIA). Information regarding parental tobacco use history was gathered from a structured diagnostic interview of DSM-IV symptoms called the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Child EIA was assessed using a paradigm called Emotional Faces, which …

American Food Aid: Disruption And Development In Haiti, Kaitlyn Vitez

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

In this senior thesis, the state of American foreign aid in the form of food aid is evaluated for its effectiveness, as well as its impacts on the Haitian state, people, and food system. A historical context is offered to map changes to Haitian food production and foreign intervention into the Haitian food market and agricultural sector. From this research, I detail the decision making processes in food aid distribution, and gain insight into the US government’s own evaluations into the work it has done to alleviate global food insecurity. The discussion of Haiti's future also talks about common global …

The Role Of Plxna1 In Visual System Development Of Danio Rerio, Sarah Light

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Plexin (PLXN) receptors, and their ligands, semaphorins (SEMAs), traditionally mediate axon growth in the visual system by facilitating actin cytoskeletal rearrangements and initiating growth cone collapse through intracellular signaling mechanisms. A proposed novel mechanism for the development of the early eye involves the interaction of SEMA6A and PLXNA2 to direct migration and proliferation of retinal precursor cells (Ebert et al., 2014). However, this model is not fully explained by previous data; we propose that a related PLXNA family member, PLXNA1a, also plays a role in these processes. This research uses in situ hybridization and antisense morpholino gene knockdown to identify …