Multiple strains of rats and mice are used to evaluate differences in response after exposures to various toxicants at the molecular or cellular levels. However, neuronal toxicity in different strains of species has received much less attention. Therefore, the objective of our research was to compare and characterize fetal mouse micromass culture system using two different strains of mouse—C57BL/6 and A/J—which may be used to screen and prioritize variety of neurodevelopmental toxicants. Our mouse midbrain micromass culture system, a high-density in vitro cultures of primary midbrain cells, is an alternative method to in vivo neurodevelopmental testing because of the ability of cells within the cultures to differentiate in vitro without additional stimulants. Differentiation is purely driven by high cell density. For our 3D in vitro micromass culture system, we isolated the primary midbrain cells from fetus at gestational day 11 (for C57BL/6 mice) or 12 (for A/J mice). The embryos were surgically removed, and midbrain cells of fetal mice were digested into single neuronal cells. These primary in vitro neuronal cells were plated onto plates and cultured up to 22 days in vitro. When morphology was examined throughout 22 days in culture with a 400x phase microscope, cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration were observed for both strains of mice. Proliferation (PCNA, Nestin) and differentiation (B-tubulin, EN1, MAP-2) related protein expression levels were examined using western blot for both C57BL/6 and A/J mouse strains. Dynamics of protein expression levels in western blot indicated that proliferation may be at its highest point between DIV 4-6 while differentiation is between DIV 8-14. If midbrain cells from multiple mouse strains can be harvested at similar neurodevelopmental stages, differences in response due to genetic variability may be studied using our 3D fetal mouse micromass model.

Depression acts as one of the leading mental health diagnostics affecting college-aged students today. But with a societal stigma surrounding mental health and barriers to therapy, it is difficult for students to receive the support that they need to better manage their depressive state. Current literature delves into the causes of depression, and suggests that having a supportive social network is linked to lower levels of depression and anxiety. However, discussion of a highly accessible solution through technology was not found. Trellis is an exploratory project meant to discover whether a mobile application could be effectively used to support students through confronting the stigma of depression among college-aged students. To understand the needs of depressed college-aged students, an anonymous survey was posted on Facebook and Reddit, yielding 639 responses. The survey segmented participants into three groups related to depression and anxiety: those who were clinically diagnosed, those who felt they had symptoms but had not yet sought professional help, and those who are not personally struggling, but know of people who are. Participants were asked questions depending on the group they identified most with. Free response questions involved identifying coping strategies used and identifying what they wished they had to combat the symptoms. Likert scale questions were used to assess general attitudes towards why students hadn’t sought professional help, and the reasons as to why those that had friends exhibiting depressive symptoms did not yet broach the subject with them.

Using ATLAS.ti, a qualitative analysis was conducted to thoroughly vet the answers received. It was discovered that students with depression long for a caring, non-judgmental support group and better education about mental health, as the stigma makes is difficult to seek help.

Trellis is designed to connect those that want to get support, to those that want to give support.

Our Informatics capstone team of four is creating an Android application to help solve our research question: How do we create an efficient mobile platform that will display real-time airport conditions so that patrons of SeaTac International Airport can navigate through the airport in a more timely and hassle-free manner? We have conducted thorough user research in the form of an online survey and several interviews, aiming to understand the greatest frustrations users encounter while at the airport, and how features of our application could help solve these problems. We found that most people were frustrated by the TSA lines and not knowing how long they would have to wait in them. In the online survey, we collected around 150 responses. We used the survey results to help create interview questions, and then interviewed at least 2 people that fell under each persona category: Business Traveler, Recreational Traveler, International Traveler, and a Family Traveler. From this research we decided that our application would focus on three main features: predicting TSA wait times, predicting baggage check lines, and locating restaurants, shops, and amenities. We believe that our user research was very informative in helping us determine what features our application should support to most benefit users in navigating throughout the airport.  

Research has shown that online mindfulness training is an effective means to reduce stress and increase coping among university students. The beGreatful project builds on the findings of this research to create an online platform which students can use to participate in mindful practices. The platform operates around two key components. The first component is an online gratitude journal. This component is designed to encourage mindful thinking by guiding the user through the process of completing a journal entry. Our goal within this component is to help students build the habit of setting aside time to reflect upon their day. This helps foster the habit of positive thinking which can lead to increased resilience. The second component is an analytical feature designed to help users visualize patterns that occur in their journal entries so that they can become more aware of their thought patterns. This feature also reinforces the habit of writing in the journal daily by providing a snapshot of each day and showing the user’s improvement overtime. The online platform will serve as a low cost, accessible tool for college students to maintain a healthy mindset. We are currently in the design phase of the project. We have surveyed approximately 50 students at the University of Washington to gauge initial student interest in the project and have tested our first iteration of prototypes with 10 students. Based on these tests, we are working on our second iteration of prototypes which we will continue to test and improve. We will begin developing the platform next quarter and will have built the first live version of the beGreatful web application by the end of spring quarter.