Many research studies have shown that bilingual speakers tend to swear in their first language because it creates more emotional resonance than their second or third language. It is also found that swear words in people’s first language contain more emotional weight. Because of this, bilinguals can use second language swear words without violating first language norms. This research examines whether swearing in a second language helps bilingual speakers overcome sociocultural restrictions on swearing in their first language. Bilingual Taiwanese who are fluent in both Mandarin and English were recruited into the study. They were asked to read a combative conversation containing swear words in both Mandarin and English, and then, were interviewed about the emotional impact in reading and swearing in these two languages. In the interviews, participants reported having stronger emotional feelings in hearing first language swear words than second language; however, in the reading experiment, participants reported that their emotional response was similar for both prompts. The interview data confirmed the findings of previous quantitative analysis while adding rich detail about the decision of selecting different language swear words in various situations.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a rare and rapidly progressive cancer of the blood which emerges when the bone marrow overproduces malignant white blood cell precursors that crowd out normal production of the normal red and white blood cells and platelets. This leads to a weakened immune system and risk of infection and bleeding. Within the bone marrow microenvironment, AML cells interact with and adhere to extracellular matrix proteins and stromal cells. Adhesion of leukemic cells to proteins in the bone marrow confers resistance to chemotherapy drugs through a process known as cell adhesion mediated drug resistance (CAM-DR). We used an assay that includes a plate coated with proteins found in the bone marrow microenvironment to reveal what combinations of the proteins vitronectin, laminin, collagen I and collagen IV confer the greatest resistance to the chemotherapy drug cytosine- arabinoside (araC). Preliminary results show that a combination of collagen I and vitronectin promoted cell proliferation, and a combination of vitronectin and collagen IV supported the highest cell survival 24 hours after the addition of the potent anti-leukemia chemotherapy drug, araC. To further investigate this interaction three dimensional gels enriched in these proteins have been engineered so that AML cell growth can be observed in a better surrogate for the tumor microenvironment than the two dimensional cultures previously used. Knowledge of which matrix proteins CAM-DR operates in AML will improve the high throughput screening assay to identify patient specific drug sensitivity and drug resistance to chemotherapeutic agents currently utilized in a precision medicine trial to personalize choice of treatment for relapsed patients with AML.

The Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida), Washington's only native oyster, was brought to near extinction during the last century due to overharvesting and habitat destruction. Populations have failed to recover naturally leading to a need for active restoration. O. lurida provide ecosystem services including filtering water, providing habitat and food, and increasing the overall diversity of the ecosystem. In order to restore the Olympia oyster to healthy population numbers in Puget Sound, WA, spatial patterns and population connectivity of O. lurida veliger larvae need to be studied to provide efficient and targeted restoration for the species. It can be difficult to determine larval transport patterns due to high larval mortality, small size, difficult identification, and long potential dispersal distances. By following methods of Carson et al. 2010, using trace elemental fingerprinting, it is possible to trace veliger larvae back to predicted natal populations. This is achieved by comparing the chemical signatures of settlers, veligers and brooded larvae using analysis by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). During the 10-12 day brooding period, trace metals from larval bay of origin are embedded into the natal shell during early life, leaving a record of past locations in the shell. Analyzing samples collected at natural and restored sites of O. lurida in Puget Sound, WA allow us to compare site and spatial variability. These results will shed light on the dispersal and larval behavior of O. lurida which could inform restoration of native shellfish to create a network of self-sustaining sub-populations.

Heart failure (HF) is a serious medical epidemic, and the number of those suffering from end-stage, advanced HF continues to rise along with the use of long-term left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) as treatment. Despite improvements in LVAD technology and clinical management, patient response remains significantly heterogeneous with variable predicted outcomes based on measurement of traditional biomarkers. Soluble suppression of tumorigenicity-2 (sST2) is upregulated in HF due to myocyte stretching and fibrosis during disease progression; this protein, as a novel biomarker, may provide insight into pathophysiologic changes that occur following LVAD implantation and potentially help predict patient response. More comprehensive patient selection would reduce the use of unfavorable and expensive surgery, saving money, and lives of those suffering from HF. Thus, we aim to quantify changing levels of plasma sST2 in adult patients who have undergone LVAD implantation. Plasma samples were collected from 100 individuals prior to surgical implantation of a LVAD and at 1-, 3-, and 6-months post-operatively. Levels of sST2 will be measured in all available plasma samples using commercially-available quantitative sandwich monoclonal ELISA kits (Critical Diagnostics, San Diego, CA). Data will be analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and modeled using growth modeling approaches, as appropriate. We anticipate that plasma sST2 levels will significantly decrease from pre-LVAD to 6-months post-LVAD in this cohort of patients. Moreover, we anticipate discovering differing trajectories of sST2 change that will help differentiate who will do better or worse following LVAD implantation. Our findings may support use of sST2 as a clinically relevant biomarker in HF patients following LVAD implantation. Incorporating sST2 into the model of response to LVAD implantation could lead to improved outcome prediction to LVAD implantation.

Restoration of threatened marine invertebrate species necessitates information on cryptic life history stages, including the distribution and abundance of the crucial larval stage. The larval stage is the most mobile stage of development, and information on their location and migratory tendencies gives insight into whether or not a restored population will be able to persist after initial aid from humans. Traditionally, larval samples have been quantified through visual identification methods that rely on knowledge of shell morphology. More recently there has been a shift to using molecular methods including DNA extraction and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to quantify and identify larvae. QPCR is a time efficient and cost effective way to identify species by specific DNA code, which is copied thousands of times and quantified using fluorescent markers. The results, when placed against known standard samples, can describe the abundance of specific larvae in environmental samples. Limited studies have successfully used qPCR with environmental samples due to potential inhibitors within the sample that can influence amplification. In this study, two methods of DNA extraction were tested on native Olympia oysters for qPCR using environmental samples from Puget Sound. Of the two methods, one was a more expensive DNA extraction and isolation kit while the other was a cheaper, modified DNA extraction method using proteinase-K that did not include DNA isolation. Results indicate issues with inhibition in the proteinase-K modified method that could potentially be due to high sediment collected in the samples. The DNA extraction and isolation kit was proven to work, but at a cost 3 times the amount of the modified proteinase-K method. A fast, accurate method of processing environmental samples such as qPCR is a crucial step for successful restoration efforts of marine invertebrates, but cost must also be taken into account moving forward.

The Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) is the only native oyster along the west coast of the U.S. and has been commercially extinct in Puget Sound since the 1940s. Olympia oysters are a beneficial part of the ecosystem by increasing intertidal species diversity through construction of oyster reefs that provide filtration, habitat, and food. Within the last two decades, they have been the subject of restoration efforts in Washington State. It is important to track the oyster in its larval planktonic stage to aid in restoration of the species because, during this stage, bivalves may travel vast distances of coastline as veliger larvae. To better understand larval transport, plankton samples were collected from two bays in Western Washington during the summer of 2015, Fidalgo Bay to the north, and Dyes Inlet in central Puget Sound. Plankton samples were collected weekly for 5 weeks during ebb and flood tides from two different depths in the water column, one meter from the surface and 0.25m from the bottom of the bay at both locations. O. lurida larval abundance in plankton samples were hand counted and identified using microscopy. The results indicate a high larval abundance in the ebb tide at Fidalgo bay between June 23 and June 30. In Dyes Inlet there is an abundance peak of larvae in the ebb and flood tide on July 9 and larvae were found in both surface and bottom samples at each site. Looking at the densities of oyster larvae in two bays and different tidal conditions can suggest where larvae are dispersing within their natal bays.

It has been well documented in the literature that many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display abnormalities in sensory processing, which is often displayed through hyper- or hyposensitivity to sensory stimuli. Auditory processing difficulties in particular are shown to be the most common. However, there is limited research into the association between abnormal auditory processing with other factors like language and cognitive ability. This study aims to further examine auditory processing difficulties in children with ASD by first looking at the auditory items on the Short Sensory Profile (SSP), a 38-item caregiver questionnaire measuring sensory reactivity. While the SSP is a measure often used in studies to quantify sensory behaviors and has commonly shown atypical behaviors within the Auditory Filtering domain in children with ASD, it should be noted that additional auditory items are also present within other SSP domains. This study examines all of the items on the SSP that have to do with auditory processing, and scores will be compared between two groups: children (nine to ten years old) with ASD and children with other developmental disorders within the same age range. This study also investigates the relationship between SSP auditory scores with receptive and expressive language scores from the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Expressive Vocabulary Test, as well as cognitive scores from the Differential Ability Scales. Data analysis is ongoing, and it is hoped that the results will help to increase conversation around this topic and the need for further research into the functional impact of sensory processing difficulties in children with ASD. 

The Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida, benefits the ecosystem for the health of marine environments. Olympia oysters provide natural filtration and restore complex nearshore habitats. Along the estuarine habitats of Washington State, native oyster populations have been declining. Invertebrates reproduce by producing thousands of larvae to ensure survival of a few. Most larvae will not survive due to natural causes such as predation or advection, or human causes such as poor water quality or ocean acidification. The larval stage is the most mobile form of development, and it determines whether they settle away from where they were reproduced or remain in the same area. Larval identification allows for the study of larval behavior and provides data for environmental organizations as to whether restored populations self-sustain or export new offpsring. In this study, we collected samples from Fidalgo Bay, WA from eight stations: five intertidal and three subtidal including three replicates of each sample. Larval samples have been quantified by microscopy and visual identification to describe spatial and temporal distribution of O. lurida larvae. Although the results are pending, data is being collected to find out if larvae will be found in intertidal sites near suitable substrate for adult settlement and adult populations. Results will also indicate if their narrow band as adults is due to their settling everywhere and then die when they get bigger, or if they settle only in their narrow band. If successful, restored populations of Ostrea lurida will attract fish, invertebrates and other marine organisms throughout Fidalgo Bay and therefore prevent these species from going extinct.