Life Sciences Commons^™

Genomic Contributors To Individual Differences In Reward-Related Neural Activity, Lindsay Jane Michalski

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aberrant reward-related behavior, including impulsive and risk-taking behaviors, is a common feature of externalizing psychopathology (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and substance-use disorders). Through imaging studies, these behaviors have been linked to dysregulated reactivity within a diffuse reward-related corticostriatal neural network, including the striatum, frontal regions (namely orbital, ventromedial, and dorsolateral cortices), the insula, and the hippocampus. Because variability in risk-taking behavior and related psychopathology is moderately-to-largely heritable (i.e., with estimates ranging from 40 – 80%), a genetically-informed approach is well-positioned to provide valuable insight into the etiology of reward-related neural and behavioral phenotypes that characterize externalizing …

Structural And Tissue-Level Adaptations Of Lumbar Intervertebral Discs In Humans With Inducible Low Back Pain Symptoms, Christian Isaiah Weber

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Low back pain (LBP) is a devastating musculoskeletal ailment that impacts majority of the global population. Up to 95% of cases are considered nonspecific where the origin is unclear. Although there is a diagnosis with these cases, there lacks specificity that would help individuals with treatment and pain management. Imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are primarily utilized in the diagnosis of LBP as it illuminates internal structures of the spine. One important structure clearly identified with MRI is the intervertebral disc (IVD) that is susceptible to injury and disease. Further, diagnostic imaging is performed lying down where …

Aging Of The Reproductive System And Of Germline Stem Cells In Caenorhabditis, Zuzana Kocsisova

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

C. elegans hermaphrodites display dramatic age-related decline of reproduction early in life while somatic functions are still robust. To understand why the germline fails so early, we analyzed the assembly line of oocyte production that generates fertilized eggs in mated hermaphrodites with sufficient sperm. Aging germlines displayed both sporadic and population-wide changes. A small fraction of aging animals displayed endomitotic oocytes in the germline and other defects. By contrast, all animals displayed age-related decreases in germline size and function. As early as day 3 of adulthood, animals displayed fewer stem cells and a slower cell cycle, which combine to substantially …

Isolating Item And Subject Contributions To The Subsequent Memory Effect, Jihyun Cha

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The subsequent memory effect (SME) refers to the greater brain activation during encoding of subsequently recognized items compared to subsequently forgotten items. Previous literature regarding SME has been primarily focused on identifying the role of specific regions during encoding or factors that potentially modulate the phenomenon. The current dissertation examines the degree to which this phenomenon can be explained by item selection effects; that is, the tendency of some items to be inherently more memorable than others. To estimate the potential contribution of items to SME, I provided participants a fixed set of items during encoding, which allowed me to …

Universe Of Things: A Human Presentation Of Food-For-Thought., Madeline Halpern

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

I present this statement under three loose categories: People, Objects and their Environment. I consider People as human, Objects as art objects, domestic objects, and food, and Environment as the shared space of the former groups. Food directs this statement as I present each concept and creative process as a metaphorical dish. Material exploration carried me from a direct practice of reorienting acrylic paint and questioning object functionality through personified sculptures into theoretical thesis work in which I use interpersonal relations and the idea of consumption to translate tactile, gustatory and olfactory sensations into digital film. In this meal I …

Coupled Correlates Of Attention And Consciousness, Ravi Varkki Chacko

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Introduction: Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) have been shown to restore lost motor function that occurs in stroke using electrophysiological signals. However, little evidence exists for the use of BCIs to restore non-motor stroke deficits, such as the attention deficits seen in hemineglect. Attention is a cognitive function that selects objects or ideas for further neural processing, presumably to facilitate optimal behavior. Developing BCIs for attention is different from developing motor BCIs because attention networks in the brain are more distributed and associative than motor networks. For example, hemineglect patients have reduced levels of arousal, which exacerbates their attentional deficits. More …

Mechanics Of Phenotypic Aging Trajectories In C. Elegans And Humans, William Zhang

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Overall, my dissertation integrates longitudinal measurements of physiology to investigate the aging process. In the first half, I examine the surprising and largely unexplained degree of variation in lifespan within even homogeneous populations. I sought to understand how physiological aging differs between long- and short-lived individuals within a population of genetically identical C. elegans reared in a homogeneous environment. Using a novel culture apparatus, I longitudinally monitored aspects of aging physiology across a large population of isolated individuals. Aggregating several measures into an overall estimate of senescence, I find that long- and short-lived individuals start adulthood on an equal physiological …

A Formative Assessment Of The Vulnerability Context Of Three Indigenous Communities In Rural Ecuador For Improved Intervention Design, Ivy Blackmore

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nearly 20 % of the current world population are small-scale producers living in rural areas who rely on agriculture and related activities to support their families (IFAD, 2016; World Bank, 2008). Despite the almost 76 billion USD of official development assistance committed to agriculture improvement projects and associated activities over the past decade, many of the intended beneficiaries remain poor and struggle to meet their basic needs. The lack of success in addressing rural poverty highlights the need for quality research focused on understanding what type of intervention/s could help rural communities sustainably improve their livelihood security.

The goal of …

Its Skin Is My Skin, Bryan Page

Graduate School of Art Theses

This text examines the complexity of attempting to empathize with bodies that are vastly othered from my own. This broad yet nuanced subject crosses epistemological boundaries and complicates the dualities between both the mind and body, and between the corporeal and the virtual. My desire to better understand the conditions of another’s experience originates from a painful traumatic loss which caused me to feel isolated and incomplete. In response to this suffering, I long to emotionally connect with other beings and create artwork that attempts to bridge the qualia of individual experience.

I am interested in the capacity (or lack …