Electrical propulsion is becoming an increasingly popular method of spacecraft and satellite propulsion, as it is much more efficient than rockets for vessels outside of the atmosphere. The various methods classified under electrical propulsion all work on the same principal: a material (usually solid or gas fuel) is energized to an ionic plasma state so it will react to an electric charge or magnetic field. These charged particles are then expelled by the field to create thrust. This is advantageous in that it requires significantly less fuel mass than a rocket, and draws its energy from electrical power, which can be produced onboard. In a High-Power Helicon (HPH) system, this is accomplished by ionizing a gas, such as argon, krypton, or xenon, and moving it through a series of coaxial solenoid magnets. The purpose of the HPH Cluster Experiment is to move away from standard single thruster testing and observe the effects of interacting HPH thrusters. This focuses on determining the effectiveness of shared components, such as power supplies and magnets, between the otherwise separate thrusters. The experiment itself consists of testing various thruster angles, magnetic orientations, and magnetic field strengths, for optimization of the shared systems. We hypothesize that by sharing downstream magnets, known as magnetic nozzles, the separate plasma streams will be able to converge into one larger beam. This reduces the necessary system mass and required power for the thruster, but should not significantly reduce the generated thrust. Our first stage of testing has been to compare right and left helical antennas, which are theoretically identical but have different performance experimentally. The final cluster design will serve as a proof of concept for the creation of larger, space-ready propulsion systems, which will be able to operate on deep space missions more efficiently than conventional propulsion methods.

Pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a rare and aggressive cancer that arises from skeletal muscle precursors in muscle and connective tissues. The molecular mechanisms underlying RMS progression, relapse and metastasis remain poorly characterized. CD82, a novel metastasis suppressor gene, has been shown to decrease tumor progression in a subset of human cancer types when expressed. Recently, two scientific publications investigated the role of CD82 in cellular differentiation and proliferation in muscle precursor cells. Uezumi et. al (2016) claimed that loss of CD82 results in premature differentiation and a depletion of muscle precursor cells. In contrast, Alexander et. Al (2016) discovered opposing results in which loss of CD82 in fetal muscle cells impairs the capacity of myogenic precursor cells to differentiate into mature muscle cells. In RMS, tumor cells keep on proliferating and have lost the capacity to differentiate into mature muscle cells. The role of CD82 in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation in RMS is unknown. In order to investigate the function of CD82 in differentiation of RMS, I used the CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering system to target the gene in RMS cell lines. To characterize the knockout phenotype, I performed various cell-based assays to characterize the effects of CD82 gene knockout on the cellular phenotypes in tumor cell differentiation, proliferation, and self-renewal. Investigating the role of CD82 in regulating cellular differentiation and proliferation in RMS would provide important insight into the pathogenesis of cancer.

As a response to the NASA Cubesat initiative, students of the Advanced Propulsion Lab at the University of Washington’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences initiated development of the 3U Cubesat to produce the first 3U CubeSat to feature a pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) and a reflect array communications system by March 2018. 3U Cubesats are microsatellites made of 3 cubes stacked vertically on top of each other with each cube measuring 100 by 100 by 113.5 mm. This is a systems-engineering project requiring interdisciplinary research among various fields and technical backgrounds. As part of the program, the structures team specializes in designing the structural components of the Cubesat using computer aided design (CAD) software such as SolidWorks as well as testing the vibrational and thermal resistances of the chassis using engineering analysis software such as ANSYS. To ensure mission viability, the structures team is also responsible for developing the hinges and a release mechanism for the solar panel deployment and actuation system. Finally, the structures team is responsible for developing a thermal model of the entire assembly as well as conducting vibration tests on the shake table. The current results produced includes a complete CAD model of the 3U Cubesat chassis with all its components, a prototype of the release mechanism and the hinges, and results received from preliminary thermal models and structural analysis. Multiple models of the 3U Cubesat components were improvised repeatedly and their respective numerical estimations have been used in multiple presentations. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the survivability of the chassis throughout its projected lifetime using the selected truss design while ensuring compatibility with volatile propulsion systems such as the PPT.

When constructing supersonic rockets, builders must pay close attention to their design and construction methods to ensure that the rocket is capable of withstanding the dramatic pressure changes associated with breaking the sound barrier. This phenomenon is well understood and modeled by aeronautical engineers; however, it can be helpful to understand how pressure impacts individual rocket components for particular builds. Amateur rocket construction at the University of Washington consists of five key components relevant to all rockets — a nose cone, payload section, coupler, motor section, and fins. Our team constructed a single stage, three-inch rocket capable of flying above thirty thousand feet and speeds well in excess of Mach one, to better understand how each of these components experiences stress. A network of five pressure sensors is employed to study the change in pressure in the nose cone, on the fins, inside and outside the payload section, and between the coupler and motor compartment. Upon launch and recovery of our rocket, we calibrated an Arduino, an open-source electronic prototyping platform, to pass a constant voltage to a piezoelectric sensor, which gathers and analyze the high-resolution stress data. We then carefully model the dynamics of stress on each component throughout the flight and determine exactly how strong each particular part must be to achieve successful flight. The findings of this project can serve to improve future engineering of amateur university rockets as a more specialized understanding of stress on rocket components. This can be used to optimize materials and design to improve rocket performance while maintaining a safe level of durability. Perhaps more importantly, this project compares the stress experienced by student-built rockets to verified research to check for congruency in the predicted levels of stress used in simulating rocket performance prior to construction.

Previous research indicates that the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) in reinforcement sensitivity theory plays an important role in substance use. Research on the future self illustrates that clarity of future self can influence a person’s attitudes toward marijuana usage. This study examines the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity theory (BAS and Behavioral Inhibition System [BIS]) and marijuana use, as well as determine whether this relationship is mediated by the future self (self-concept/self-esteem). The recruitment of participants is ongoing, and for now 43 undergraduate students (mean age=21, 74% females, 35% White) participated in this study. Of the 43 participants 13 had ever used marijuana. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, marijuana use survey, Sensitivity to Reward and Sensitivity to Punishment Questionnaire; and Implicit Association Task (IAT) and semantic differential questionnaire for assessing implicit and explicit sense of future self related to marijuana use. For analysis, participants were classified into ever-used marijuana and never-used marijuana groups. ANOVA revealed significant differences between groups in BAS (F[1, 41]=5.577, p<.05), and in explicit attitudes (F[1, 41]=5.518, p<.05), but not in IAT (F[1, 41]=0.078, ns). Sobel test resulted in a significant direct effect between BAS and marijuana use (coefficient=0.180, p<.05), but not indirect effect mediated by implicit sense of future self related to marijuana use (product of coefficient=-0.006, ns). The findings of the research conducted so far indicates that there is a need to use preventative strategies that target BAS. Furthermore, attitudes of the future can precede behaviors, therefore a future self attitude that is sensation-seeking, can ultimately lead to the sensation-seeking behavior. While the Sobel test has not indicated significance for the mediation by the implicit sense of future self, preventative strategies should target the future self by addressing desirable attributes due to individuals’ desire to have such attributes for their future self.

Although increasing utilization of outreach clinics has increased accessibility to subspecialty care for pediatric patients, the availability of pediatric urologic imaging in local settings has not been previously described. We undertook this study to describe the availability of common radiographic tests ordered by pediatric urologists, and to determine if availability disparities exist between urban and rural locations. We identified 88 freestanding hospitals in Washington and contacted via phone survey asking whether they offered flat plate abdominal X-rays (AXR), renal-bladder ultrasounds (RBUS), voiding cystourethrograms (VCUG), MAG-3 renal scans, and nuclear cystograms (NC) to pediatric patients.74 institutions (84.1%) completed the survey; 17 (23.0%) were rural (population <2500), and 25 (33.8%) were in urban areas (population >50,000). 73 (98.6%) institutions offered AXRs, 68 (91.9%) offered RBUSs, 44 (59.5%) offered VCUGs, 26 (35.1%) offered MAG-3s, and 15 (20.3%) offered NCs to children. The availability of AXRs (100% versus 96%, p=0.88) and RBUSs (70.6% versus 96%, p=0.15) was similar in rural and urban settings, while VCUGs (11.8% vs 72%, p=0.001), MAG-3s (5.9% vs. 60%, p=0.006), and NCs (0% vs 44%, p=0.017) were more commonly available in urban settings. Rural hospitals were less likely to employ in-person radiologists (35.3% vs 96%, p<0.0001) or offer sedation (6.3% vs 36%, p=0.01) during testing, but were equally likely to offer child life (0% vs 20%, p=0.28) and to have age restrictions on the tests offered (17.6% vs 40%, p=0.50). Fellowship-trained pediatric radiologists were employed exclusively in urban settings (16% vs 0%, p=0.39).Our findings portrayed that rural Washington state hospitals have less access to radiographic tests and are promoted by broad radiographic procedures that are not specialized to the individual pediatric patient. These results bring forth a future set of criteria for each Washington state hospital in how they treat pediatric patients with more inclusive treatment plans.

Play is considered central to early childhood development, and has been an activity fascinating to me personally as a childcare provider of many years. Seminal scholars Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky still inform much of the current understanding and practice of play as a process, or tool, aiding the linear progression toward adulthood. Yet, my own experiences in returning to academia later in life have unexpectedly ushered me into exploring the intricacies and implications of play as an adult learner, and in cultivating a framework for play that is less linear, and more holistic. My interdisciplinary research began in the 2016 Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities, and proposes four interconnected components of play (mindfulness, cues of resonance, vitality, and metastability), reframing play as a capacity of attending to possibility, rather than an activity or behavior of childhood. My current research expands upon my assertions of play, designing and implementing a qualitative pilot study exploring if these elements of play are present during interactions of play, and how they manifest in contexts of adult-child interaction. Situating my understanding of play in the scholarly literature of both Early Childhood Development and Anthropological perspectives grounds my theory and expands my assertions to stretch beyond a singular approach. Through observation of adult-child interactions in existing video footage I seek to test the veracity of play as a mindset, and analyze interpersonal contexts play happens within. The broader implications of my assertions of play may offer the reframing of playfulness as an important tool for adults as facilitators, and proponents of play, across childhood learning environments. While play itself is a highly studied activity, I challenge theoretical perceptions of play in the hopes of better supporting playful minds across the early years of human development.

DNA replication is the process by which genetic information is duplicated and passed from cell to cell. The process of DNA replication occurs with the assistance of various enzymes, including DNA polymerases, which synthesize new DNA molecules using template DNA and deoxyribonucleotides (dNTPs). Faithful DNA replication is vital for population survival and protected by exonuclease domains on the major DNA polymerases, which proofread replication errors. A secondary error-correction pathway known as mismatch repair (MMR) also scans the genome for replication errors. Defects in proofreading and MMR lead to "mutator phenotypes" marked by elevated mutation rates and increased cellular mutation burden.  In microbial populations, mutators spontaneously emerge and can increase adaptation to new environments by fueling genetic diversity. However, at extreme mutation rates, the accumulation of harmful mutations can also drive extinction of mutators.  Some mutator cells survive this "error-induced extinction" (EEX) by acquiring antimutator mutations that suppress the mutator phenotype. We have identified Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains that suppress elevated mutation rates through a screen for mutants that survive EEX. Using these eex mutant strains, we are currently mapping the genetic changes responsible for the antimutator phenotypes. Changes in mutation rates in haploid spores derived from these eex suppressor strains are being tracked to identify antimutator segregants, which are then being subjected to whole genome sequencing. As mutator phenotypes are important drivers in cancer, our analyses may reveal novel pathways that influence cancer evolution.

The world’s reliance on plastic is a contemporary dependence as its malleable function, low production cost, and increasing abundance has been universally favored over all other products. Created with the intention of short-term and one-time use, the global production of plastic reached 299 million tonnes in 2013, with 10-20 million tonnes ending up in the oceans annually. This study explores the contribution of microplastics to the marine environment from river systems, and quantifies the microplastic load within the stream as it passes from rural to urban environments. Microplastics are separated into two categories based on how they are formed; primary and secondary. Primary microplastics are manufactured, generally as resin pellets, which are melted down to form anything from shampoo bottles to water bottles. Secondary microplastics form from the breakdown of macroplastics after extended exposure to UV radiation and/or weathering. The sampled river is fed by a remote, glacially fed lake in the Cascadia Mountain Range, flowing into the upper Skykomish River, the Snohomish River, and eventually to the Puget Sound. Samples were collected by towing a 335 µ mesh manta trawl and analyzed, after a wet peroxide oxidation and density separation, to quantify the concentration of microplastics present in the stream. From the samples processed thus far, and the data from another study conducted on the same river system, a correlation has been found between the amount of plastics in the stream and the populations of the towns the stream passes through. This correlation implies that the growing quantity of microplastics within the stream, as it flows from rural to urban environments, is supplied through anthropogenic influences. Following this study, microplastic pollution can no longer be thought of as a coastal and marine issue, but rather a problem that starts much further inland. 

Plastic pollution in the marine environment is an increasing concern leading to the need for more studies. Microplastics (0.3-5 mm in size) are the most concerning because they cannot be easily spotted, last the longest, and are easily ingested by marine organisms and make their way through the food chain. These microplastics are generated by many industries from cosmetics to laundry, to traffic erosion of tires. This study examines the distribution of microplastics found on Seattle beaches and on beaches to the north and south of the city. I collected sediment from three 1 m² quadrants on each beach of my 10 sample sites using the Beach Sampling Protocol from the Port Townsend Marine Science Center to ensure comparison of data with other studies. Samples were taken directly below the wrack line left by the previous high tide. In the lab, after a subsample was weighed out, density separation and wet peroxide oxidation were performed, in addition to other standardized analyzes. My results show the levels of microplastics and changes in concentration of microplastics found in sediments close to Seattle and at greater distance on the beaches. As the beaches erode, these microplastics are transported into Puget Sound and the larger Pacific Ocean. It is important that marine plastics are studied so that preventative measures can be put in place to limit microplastic pollution, in addition to having a baseline study for future research. 

Viziometrics is an image search engine and classifier created by researchers at the University of Washington eScience Institute. Its purpose is to further the communication of scientific results through increased access to visual information as well as study the relationship the use of visual information and between scientific impact. Currently the search and classification are performed on 8 million images from PubMed Central, a major research database for scholarly works in the life sciences and biomedical fields. As a part of continuous efforts to improve the Viziometrics platform, we are working on a feature that automatically identifies a ‘central figure’ in a scientific publication. We have defined the central figure as either the visualization that encapsulates key aspects of a scientific publication, or that which best represents the research findings. In order to improve the underlying central figure search algorithm we are conducting a study that answers the question: which image, if any, do authors themselves identify as a “central figure” within a given publication? The research presented here is based on a survey of authors, whose email contacts can be found in the PubMed database. Based on the survey data, we are looking for common features characterizing papers for which authors were able to find ‘central figures’, as well as those for which authors could not make a decision. We are using this data to increase the accuracy of the Viziometrics algorithm. As more data sets are added to the Viziometrics platform, we hope to encourage scientists to find new ways to collaborate and communicate across disciplines.

Academic publications in medicine share important clinical information and increase name recognition and name branding. This study was done to evaluate disparities in numbers and types of publications for women in the field of urology. Work is ongoing but to date, 9 issues from 2001 from the Journal of Urology were looked at. Articles were reviewed and type of paper was listed, along with the first and last author from each, and authors’ gender. A total of 817 papers were looked at including papers involving clinical research, lab/science research, case reports, editorials, review articles, and letters to editors. There were a total of 1492 authors (as some papers only had one author), in which there were a total of 63 female authors listed as the first author and 39 female authors as the last given author, giving a total of 102 female authors. There were 6 papers in which both the first and last primary authors were female. In all, this gives 6.84% of papers written by a primary author who is female and all remaining papers written by men. To date, research has shown that men are more likely to author primary research in high impact journals then women, which represents an opportunity in post graduate medical training programs.

It is an open question how similar second-language processing is to native-language processing. One way to measure language processing is through the use of scalp-recorded electroencephalography (EEG). Event-related potentials (ERPs) are specific patterns found in EEG recordings. The P600 is an ERP characterized by a brief increase in voltage 600 ms after a stimulus with an syntactic anomaly like *“He is read his book,” allowing measurement of whether a subject recognizes an error. Learners show native-like P600s quite early, after about 80 hours of classroom instruction. In native speakers, morphologically complex verbs elicit a larger P600 when ungrammatical than monomorphemic verbs. A morphologically complex verb is one made of more than one morpheme, like “eat-ing.” For example *“The sheep should eating,” elicits a larger response than *“The sheep were eat.” Native speakers of Mandarin, unexposed to any other language before age five, will be recruited through the Psychology Subject Pool. They will be presented with English stimuli adapted from a list of 120 sentences in a full 2x2 cross of grammaticality and complexity. Each participant will see one version of each sentence, plus an additional 60 grammatical filler sentences. By averaging across like trials, variance due to possible lexical effects is removed and the effects of grammaticality and complexity are isolated. Presumably, native speakers use the optimal processing strategy, indicated by P600 variability. If learners show variance, it will indicate that their language processing is more native-like. If they don’t, it will indicate that learners at the ability tested do not have access to fully native-like processing. Therefore, I hypothesize that, of the non-native speakers showing P600 responses to verb violations, only the most advanced will show variation, indicating adoption of the optimal processing strategy. Findings will help us understand how new languages are learned, and possibly offer pedagogical suggestions.

Stressed cells may be able to avoid elimination but continue to respond to compensatory growth signals and accumulate, resulting in tumor formation. This ability to avoid cell elimination processes, such as apoptosis, is one of the hallmarks of cancer. The Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) mediates cellular stress responses by inducing apoptosis of stressed cells and promoting compensatory cell proliferation. Using immunohistochemistry and the GAL4-UAS targeted gene expression system, we are able to distinguish intestinal stem cells (ISCs) from enteroblasts, enterocytes, and other intestinal cells through a confocal microscope. We found that activation of JNK in fruit fly intestinal stem cells (ISCs) induced temporary over-proliferation. On the other hand, persistent activation of JNK resulted in elimination of the ISCs. Strikingly, we discovered that ISCs with constitutive activation of JNK 'extrude' out from the epithelial layer of fly intestines. Our findings suggest that cell extrusion may be a mechanism for JNK-mediated tumor suppression, preventing the accumulation of cancerous cells. Alternatively, cell extrusion may be involved in metastasis, enabling cancerous cells to spread to other parts of the body. We aim to further investigate the molecular mechanisms and gene expression underlying cell extrusion in various genotypic backgrounds, which may be helpful to understand how cancerous cells evade cell elimination and undergo metastasis. 

A large body of research has examined the association between disadvantage and crime in neighborhoods, usually finding a strong positive association between neighborhood disadvantage and crime. Neighborhood disadvantage is associated to crime via a variety of pathways, including, but not limited to, reduced educational opportunities and reduced collective efficacy (i.e., the ability of residents to control or influence the behavior of other individuals and groups in the neighborhood). However, research that links neighborhood disadvantage to crime has not examined the effects of clustering, better understood as grouping, of neighborhoods on the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and crime. In metropolitan areas, predominantly minority-occupied, disadvantaged neighborhoods are often grouped together into specific areas. In other words, poor neighborhoods are adjacent to other poor neighborhoods compounding the disadvantage that inhabitants of these neighborhoods face. This is important to understand because it means that segregation of neighborhoods may be helping to drive high crime rates within neighborhoods. I extend this body of research by considering the role of clustering in the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and crime. I use data from the National Neighborhood Crime Study, which includes tract, city, and metropolitan level variables to analyze crime and spatial inequality. The poverty and spatial proximity data is provided by the Neighborhood Change Database, which includes tract level data for impoverished neighborhoods as well as longitude and latitude of said neighborhoods. I use these two data sets to analyze the effects of neighborhood clustering through various data analyses. Preliminary data analyses show a statistically positive relationship between spatial proximity and number of murders. From this, it is expected that spatial proximity will also have a statistically positive relationship with overall crime.

Aging is characterized by time-dependent deterioration of cellular functions and increased risk for disease and death. The onset of age-related diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, and other neurological disorders decrease the healthspan of humans. Healthspan is defined as the period of life without infirmity. My research focuses on understanding the basic biology of aging and determinants of healthspan within the emerging interdisciplinary field of geroscience. I use the model system Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a unicellular fungus, to study aging at the cellular level. To analyze cellular aging, I focus on replicative lifespan (RLS), which quantifies the number of daughter cells produced by individual mother cells before they reach replicative senescence and cease to divide. Our replicative lifespan team is composed of a group of undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral scientists at the University of Washington who use light microscopy and manual micromanipulation to quantify the RLS of hundreds of yeast mother cells each week. There are four important steps to analyze RLS in yeast: assay setup, incubation to outgrow cells, dissection of daughter cells from mother cells, and quantification of the number of daughter cells produced prior to replicative senescence. Using the replicative lifespan assay, I investigate genetic, environmental, and pharmacological treatments to determine their impact on cellular aging. Research produced by our RLS dissection team has led to a better understanding of evolutionarily-conserved factors that modulate aging, as well as potential treatments for certain human mitochondrial diseases.

Post-surgical endophthalmitis is a serious vision-threatening inflammation following any ocular procedure. Detection of endophthalmitis with culture has been traditionally used; however, endophthalmitis caused by viruses are overlooked. In a 1995 Endophthalmitis Vitrectomy Study by RK Forster, 33% of patient samples were culture negative. This represents a significant portion of patients who could have had endophthalmitis due to viruses. Using alternative techniques, we can characterize viral pathogens found in post-surgical endophthalmitis with qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). qPCR quantifies the number of viral DNA strands whereas PCR indicates presence or absence of the viral DNA. This allows doctors to treat more patients which would have been previously thought to not have endophthalmitis. Patients diagnosed with endophthalmitis following intraocular procedures were recruited from Wills Eye Hospital and University of Washington from Sept 1st , 2014 to Dec 31st , 2015. All patients underwent vitreous or aqueous tap. The specimens were sent for microbial culture. Following DNA extraction, qPCR for Torque Teno Virus (TTV), Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCV), and actin were performed in all samples. qPCR results were verified via PCR and gel electrophoresis. A total of 29 samples were collected (12 culture-positive [41.38%], 17 culture-negative [58.62%]). Overall, 18 (62.07%) samples were positive for TTV and 15 (51.72%) for MCV. The presence of TTV or MCV was not associated with culture positivity by Fisher’s exact test. Viral DNA sequences are unexpectedly common in endophthalmitis. The role of these viruses in this disease process remains unclear.

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. 

Aging can be defined as the time-related deterioration of physiological functions that are essential to the fertility and survival of a living organism. In the Kaeberlein Lab, we study how cells change with age and how these changes contribute to age-associated diseases in order to help people live healthier lives. The eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) is used as a model for cellular aging. Due to its conservation of cellular functions through evolution, modeling aging using yeast can provide insights into how mammalian cells age. Through replicative lifespan (RLS) analysis, we are able to determine the effects of interventions on aging by measuring the number of divisions that a single yeast cell goes through before it stops dividing. We are testing various nutraceuticals in order to identify novel pharmacological interventions that increase lifespan. In a screen of twenty nutraceuticals, we found that Pterocarpus marsupium (PME) extract significantly extended lifespan. P. marsupium is a deciduous tree native to the Indian regions. It is well-known to Ayurvedic medicine thanks to its purported curative and lenitive properties. The flowers are said to be effective in lowering fever; its heartwood may possess purifying and detoxifying effects; its wood is used to treat chest and body pain as well as indigestion. Additional studies will test whether the RLS-extending effects of PME can be attributed to pterostilbene, a compound found in PME that is structurally related to resveratrol. We tested concentrations of pterostilbene ranging from 1-50 µM to identify its effect on replicative lifespan. These studies will allow for further development of PME and pterostilbene for use as an intervention to promote healthy longevity.