Induction Of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Retinal Stem Cells In Vitro Using Transient Overexpression Of Messenger Rna For Blimp, Onecut1 And Otx2,
2016
Dominican University of California
Induction Of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Retinal Stem Cells In Vitro Using Transient Overexpression Of Messenger Rna For Blimp, Onecut1 And Otx2, Helen Cifuentes
Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects
No abstract available
The Proteolysis Of Apolipoprotein E In Alzheimer's Disease,
2016
Boise State University
The Proteolysis Of Apolipoprotein E In Alzheimer's Disease, Julia Love
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Harboring the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) allele is the greatest genetic risk factor associated with late-onset (sporadic) Alzheimer’s disease (AD), however the mechanism by which apoE4 contributes to the pathology of AD is unknown. The proteolysis of apoE4 has been suggested to contribute to AD pathology due to a possible toxic gain, or loss of function. In order to determine if apoE4 is being cleaved, we designed and characterized a site-directed cleavage antibody directed at position D151 of full length human apoE4. The antibody (nApoECFp17) detected a predicted ~17 kDa fragment following incubation with the proteases Type-1 collagenase, and …
Characterization Of Pro-Inflammatory And Anti-Inflammatory Microglia In The Anterior Cingulate Cortex In Autism Spectrum Disorder,
2016
East Tennessee State University
Characterization Of Pro-Inflammatory And Anti-Inflammatory Microglia In The Anterior Cingulate Cortex In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Aubrey N. Sciara
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with functional abnormalities of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain area that mediates social behavior. Given evidence of a role of inflammation in ASD, markers of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory microglia were studied using postmortem ACC tissues from ASD and age-matched typically developed control donors. Gene expression levels of pro-inflammatory (CD68, HLA-DRA, IL1B, NOS2, PTGS2) and anti-inflammatory (ARG1, IGF1, MRC1, PPARG) microglial genes were measured using quantitative real-time PCR. Additionally, brain sections were immunohistochemically stained for a microglial marker. Expression levels of IGF1 were modestly higher, while the expression of …
The Impact Of Cortical State On Neural Coding And Behavior,
2016
The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston
The Impact Of Cortical State On Neural Coding And Behavior, Charles Beaman
Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)
The brain is never truly silent – up to 80% of its energy budget is expended during ongoing activity in the absence of sensory input. Previous research has shown that sensory neurons are not exclusively influenced by external stimuli but rather reflect interactions between sensory inputs and the ongoing activity of the brain. Yet, whether fluctuations in the state of cortical networks influence sensory coding in neural circuits and the behavior of the animal are unknown. To shed light on this issue, we conducted multi-unit electrophysiology experiments in visual areas V1 and V4 of behaving monkeys. First, we studied the …
Tnf Signaling During Tissue Damage-Induced Nociceptive Sensitization In Drosophila,
2016
The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston
Tnf Signaling During Tissue Damage-Induced Nociceptive Sensitization In Drosophila, Juyeon Jo
Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling is required for inflammatory nociceptive sensitization in both Drosophila and vertebrates. In Drosophila larval model of nociceptive sensitization, UV irradiation in results in epidermal apoptosis and thermal allodynia. TNF/Eiger is produced from dying epidermal cells and acts its receptor in nociceptive sensory neurons to induce thermal allodynia. Inhibition of TNF signaling results in attenuation of nociceptive sensitization whereas epidermal apoptosis still occurs in the absence of TNF. Major gaps in this model are the precise relationship between apoptotic cell death and production of TNF/Eiger, downstream signaling mediators for TNFR/Wengen, and target genes that alter nociceptive …
The Combined Effects Of Leptin And Coenzyme Q10 In Ameliorating Obesity- Induced Infertility In Female Rats,
2016
East Tennessee State University
The Combined Effects Of Leptin And Coenzyme Q10 In Ameliorating Obesity- Induced Infertility In Female Rats, Adekunle Adedeji
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Infertility is one of the major problems of obesity. Studies have shown that administration of leptin reversed obesity-induced infertility in rats and mice. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an antioxidant and also supplies the energy needed for ovulation and embryo development. We hypothesized that leptin when combined with CoQ10 could greatly improve obesity-induced infertility. The results showed a significant decrease in food intake, body weight, and the regular estrous cycle was restored after treatment with leptin+CoQ10. There was a significant increase (p10 significantly (p10 can improve fertility in obese infertile female rats. This study could …
An Investigation Of Short-Term Plasticity In Human Motor Cortex,
2016
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
An Investigation Of Short-Term Plasticity In Human Motor Cortex, Matthew Alan Gannon
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) produces a transient magnetic field that activates underlying cortical tissue by eliciting an electrical discharge of the neurons in the targeted area. Repetitive TMS (rTMS) uses patterns of repetitive TMS pulses and has been reliably shown to produce changes in the state of cortical excitability outlasting the time of stimulation. One such protocol that has demonstrated states of increased excitability is intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS). This method applies high-frequency bursts (50Hz) of pulses every 200 ms in trains of ten bursts. The effects of and differences between rTMS protocols have been investigated since gaining popularity …
Recognition Training For Faces Across Age Gaps,
2016
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Recognition Training For Faces Across Age Gaps, William Blake Erickson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Face recognition is a problem that has theoretical and applied value. However, the fact of facial aging is rarely addressed in research and unmentioned in the major theories of face recognition. Facial aging also has ramifications for missing persons and fugitive cases, confounding attempts by law enforcement to recover these people whose last known images are years or decades out of date. This dissertation reports three studies aimed at measuring baseline age-gap recognition ability and testing various training regimens designed to increase accuracy rates for this unique kind of recognition task.
Exploring The Relationship Between Behaviour And Neurochemistry In The Polyphenic Spider, Anelosimus Studiosus (Araneae: Theridiidae),
2016
East Tennessee State University
Exploring The Relationship Between Behaviour And Neurochemistry In The Polyphenic Spider, Anelosimus Studiosus (Araneae: Theridiidae), Jennifer B. Price
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The importance of social behaviour is evident in human society, but there are both costs and benefits associated with cooperation and sociality throughout the animal kingdom. At what point do the benefits outweigh the costs, and when do selective pressures favour sociality and colonization over solitude and independence? To investigate these questions, we have focused on an anomalous species of spider, Anelosimus studiosus, also known now as the northern social spider. Throughout its broad range, A. studiosus is solitary and aggressive, but recently, colonies of cooperative and social individuals have been observed at northern latitudes. This leads to two …
Cephalopods Are Best Candidates For Invertebrate Consciousness,
2016
Psychology, University of Lethbridge
Cephalopods Are Best Candidates For Invertebrate Consciousness, Jennifer A. Mather, Claudio Carere
Animal Sentience
Insects might have been the first invertebrates to evolve sentience, but cephalopods were the first invertebrates to gain scientific recognition for it.
Caterpillars, Consciousness And The Origins Of Mind,
2016
University of British Columbia
Caterpillars, Consciousness And The Origins Of Mind, Arthur S. Reber
Animal Sentience
A novel framework for the origins of consciousness and mind, the Cellular Basis of Consciousness (CBC), is presented. The model is based on a simple, perhaps radical axiom: subjectivity is an inherent feature of particular kinds of organic form. Experiential states, including those denoted as "mind" and "consciousness," are present in the most primitive species. The model has several conceptual and empirical virtues, among them: (a) it (re)solves the problem of how minds are created by brains ─ also known as the "Hard Problem" (Chalmers 1995) ─ by revealing that the apparent difficulty results from a category error, (b) it …
Why Animals Are Persons,
2016
University College London
Why Animals Are Persons, Tony Cheng
Animal Sentience
Rowlands’s case for attributing personhood to lower animals is ultimately convincing, but along the way he fails to highlight several distinctions that are crucial for his argument: Personhood vs. personal identity; the first person vs. its mental episodes; and pre-reflective awareness in general vs. one specific case of it.
Individual Differences In Response Of Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex Predict Daily Social Behavior,
2016
Dartmouth College
Individual Differences In Response Of Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex Predict Daily Social Behavior, Katherine E. Powers, Robert S. Chavez, Todd F. Heatherton
Dartmouth Scholarship
The capacity to accurately infer the thoughts and intentions of other people is critical for effective social interaction, and neural activity in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) has long been linked with the extent to which people engage in mental state attribution. In this study, we combined functional neuroimaging and experience sampling methodologies to test the predictive value of this neural response for daily social behaviors. We found that individuals who displayed greater activity in dmPFC when viewing social scenes spent more time around other people on a daily basis. These findings suggest a specific role for the neural mechanisms that …
Are Animals Persons?,
2016
University of Miami
Are Animals Persons?, Mark Rowlands
Animal Sentience
It is orthodox to suppose that very few, if any, nonhuman animals are persons. The category “person” is restricted to self-aware creatures: humans (above a certain age) and possibly some of the great apes and cetaceans. I argue that this orthodoxy should be rejected, because it rests on a mistaken conception of the kind of self-awareness relevant to personhood. Replacing this with a sense of self-awareness that is relevant requires us to accept that personhood is much more widely distributed through the animal kingdom.
A Face Versus Non-Face Context Influences Amygdala Responses To Masked Fearful Eye Whites,
2016
Dartmouth College
A Face Versus Non-Face Context Influences Amygdala Responses To Masked Fearful Eye Whites, M. Justin Kim, Kimberly M. Solomon, Maital Neta, F. Caroline Davis, Jonathan A. Oler, Emily C. Mazzulla, Paul J. Whalen
Dartmouth Scholarship
The structure of the mask stimulus is crucial in backward masking studies and we recently demonstrated such an effect when masking faces. Specifically, we showed that activity of the amygdala is increased to fearful facial expressions masked with neutral faces and decreased to fearful expressions masked with a pattern mask—but critically both masked conditions discriminated fearful expressions from happy expressions. Given this finding, we sought to test whether masked fearful eye whites would produce a similar profile of amygdala response in a face vs non-face context. During functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning sessions, 30 participants viewed fearful or happy eye …
Insects Have The Capacity For Subjective Experience,
2016
Macquarie University, Australia
Insects Have The Capacity For Subjective Experience, Colin Klein, Andrew B. Barron
Animal Sentience
To what degree are non-human animals conscious? We propose that the most meaningful way to approach this question is from the perspective of functional neurobiology. Here we focus on subjective experience, which is a basic awareness of the world without further reflection on that awareness. This is considered the most basic form of consciousness. Tellingly, this capacity is supported by the integrated midbrain and basal ganglia structures, which are among the oldest and most highly conserved brain systems in vertebrates. A reasonable inference is that the capacity for subjective experience is both widespread and evolutionarily old within the vertebrate lineage. …
Cross-Species Mind-Reading,
2016
Université du Québec à Montréal & University of Southampton
Cross-Species Mind-Reading, Stevan Harnad
Animal Sentience
We can never be sure anyone else is sentient. But we can be sure enough in the case of other people, nonhuman primates, mammals, birds, fish, lower vertebrates and invertebrates as to make scepticism academic and otiose (not to mention monumentally cruel). The only genuinely uncertain kinds of cases are jellyfish, microbes and plants. The rest is not about whether but what they are feeling.
My Orgasms Cannot Be Traded Off Against Others’ Agony,
2016
Université du Québec à Montréal & University of Southampton
My Orgasms Cannot Be Traded Off Against Others’ Agony, Stevan Harnad
Animal Sentience
Only I can calculate my own welfare as net pleasure minus pain. No one else can do that calculation for me – nor for a population, and especially not averaging across some individuals’ pleasure and other individuals’ pain. Pain and pleasure are incommensurable and only pain matters morally. To maximize welfare is to minimize pain.
In Praise Of Fishes: Précis Of What A Fish Knows (Balcombe 2016),
2016
Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy
In Praise Of Fishes: Précis Of What A Fish Knows (Balcombe 2016), Jonathan Balcombe
Animal Sentience
Our relationship to fishes in the modern era is deeply problematic. We kill and consume more of them than any other group of vertebrates. At the same time, advances in our knowledge of fishes and their capabilities are gaining speed. Fish species diversity exceeds that of all other vertebrates combined, with a wide range of sensory adaptations, some of them (e.g., geomagnetism, water pressure and movement detection, and communication via electricity) alien to our own sensory experience. The evidence for pain in fishes (despite persistent detractors) is strongly supported by anatomical, physiological and behavioral studies. It is likely that fishes …
Sentience As Moral Consideration And Disvalue In Nature,
2016
Animal Ethics
Sentience As Moral Consideration And Disvalue In Nature, Daniel Dorado
Animal Sentience
In recent work Ng assumes that it is good to engage in activities aimed at promoting ecosystem conservation. The only way Ng can derive this from the axiology he assumes (the view that wellbeing is the only intrinsically valuable or disvaluable thing) would be to assume that ecosystem conservation would benefit the individuals involved. This can be so as long as value prevails over disvalue in the target environments. Ng seems to assume this is indeed the case, but he does not explain why, and it is a claim that goes against the conclusions he has argued for previously (Ng …
