Modern linguistic theory has held that language is arbitrary; that is, there is no connection between the physical form (spelling or pronunciation) of a word and its meaning. However, recent work has used distributional semantic vector representations of words to verify non-arbitrary form-meaning pairings (called phonesthemes) in English that were proposed in past psycholinguistics literature. One notable phonestheme is the prefix "gl-", which occurs at the beginning of several English words relating to light or vision (e.g. "glow", "glint", "glisten"). In this work, we use sparse regression to quantify this non-arbitrariness by extracting phonesthemes from word vectors. We also conduct human subject studies with a cloze-style task with non-English words containing phonesthemes, in order to verify that candidate phonesthemes have psychological reality in the lexicon of native speakers. In addition, we explore phonesthemes of other languages and across languages through multilingual word vectors. Uncovering the true extent of non-arbitrariness in human languages is important for furthering understanding of language comprehension and production, as well as advancing pre-existing linguistic theory.

An estimated 18 billion dollars’ worth of product is stolen from retail stores each year across the nation, according to the Annual Retail Theft Survey. To date, little research has explored how retail stores and police departments work together to stop retail theft in metropolitan areas. This research examines why and how patterns of shoplifting and retail theft have changed in Downtown Seattle between 2010 and 2015. My study looks at reporting trends by comparing public police data on shoplifting with data from select stores in the retail core of Seattle. Spatio-temporal analysis indicates an increase in the reporting of theft and shoplifting from 2010 to 2015. This study engages with both the police department and the store loss prevention teams to understand the dynamics in reporting trends. Changes in loss prevention policies in stores may reflect recent changes in the reporting of theft by police. Factors contributing to the increase in Seattle shoplifting are discussed alongside the reporting practices for the crime. The findings contrast the police and retail manager’s conceptions of loss prevention strategies and the most beneficial level of police involvement. The results of this research will assist future policy changes for retail stores. Ideally, police departments can also use this research to adjust patrols in areas to prevent future shoplifting crime. More generally, this research contributes to the broader field of geospatial intelligence and crime monitoring, by emphasizing strategies of cooperation.

Boxing has been labeled as a “poverty sport” - a sport that, if successful, allows its competitors to become socially mobile. This study explores the stigma about boxing by asking: Is youth boxing affected by boxing being thought of as a poverty sport? My research studies the youth boxing community to understand how they are recognized by society, how they think they are perceived by mass media, and how this affects who participates in boxing. There is plenty of literature on boxing culture, but there is a gap specifically regarding its youth competitors. This study applied archival research, observational research, and qualitative interviews. The archival research analyzed boxing history, patterns, and media to establish the demographics and societal awareness of the sport. The observational research focused on gyms' geographic location and the facilities used by these athletes. Using qualitative interviews, I examined how boxers see themselves and how they think society sees them. I interviewed various types of people to gain a better understanding of how both boxers and non-boxers perceive the sport as those who are familiar and unfamiliar with it, respectively. I interviewed competitive youth boxers aged 8-18 years old and their guardians, competitive youth non-boxing athletes (e.g. soccer, basketball) aged 8-18 years old and their guardians, coaches of both youth boxing and non-boxing athletes, and supporters of youth boxing (e.g. referees, judges, audience members) from sports competitions and facilities in the King County area. The relative invisibility of youth boxing programs may be due to their low funding, little outreach, or restricted hours of operation, but this research revealed how the stereotype that boxing is explicitly for the poor has created the identities of youth boxers.

Previous research has found associations between alcohol consumption and male perpetration of sexual assault. About 50% of male adolescent and college age perpetrators report they were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. Additionally, research suggests that young adults who perceive same-sex peers as engaging in alcohol-related sexual behavior report elevated rates of risky alcohol-related sexual behavior. However, little is known about whether alcohol-related perpetration is associated with having favorable views toward the prototypes (i.e. images of the type of person who engages in a risk behavior) of alcohol-related sexual behavior. This study investigates whether favorable prototypes will have a positive association with participant’s identification as a perpetrator. We hypothesized that having more favorable prototypes, and feeling more similar to, typical males who engage in sexual behavior after drinking would be positively associated with perpetration. To test this, we utilized a data set comprised of a national sample of young males (n=463) ages 18-20 that completed a one-time online survey about health and risk behaviors. Participants were asked to report the number of times in the last 12 months they forced or attempted to force sexual contact on an individual who was too drunk or out of it to stop what was happening. Participants also reported on a 6 point scale how much the following words: "smart", "popular", "mature", "careless", "attractive", and "risky", describe their image of a typical male their age who has sex after 4/5 or more drinks. They rated how similar they are and how often they think about this typical male. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine the association of prototype favorability and alcohol-related sexual assault perpetration. Results from this study may provide insight about alcohol-related perpetration, which in turn could shape interventions.

Increased intracranial pressure (ICP) is a major cause of secondary neuronal injury after both traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury. Prompt recognition and intervention of increased ICP has been associated with improved neurologic outcomes. Pupillary changes may be an indicator of increased intracranial pressure. However, previous research has shown that the accuracy of assessing pupils with a source of light and the human eye is not a consistently reliable method. Previous studies have reinforced the lack of reliability of this method by showing poor interrater reliability between clinicians. Critical care application of a device referred to as a pupillometer allows objective assessment of pupillary response. There is some consideration that this noninvasive technology does not only quantify pupillary measurement but some pupillometer parameters may be predictive of increased intracranial pressure. Therefore, a hypothesis that automated pupillometry is predictive of increased ICP is warranted. Prospective and retrospective pupillometer data will be collected. Data collection includes: 1) quantitative measurement from the pupillometer and ICP monitoring; 2) qualitative and quantitative data from computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reports interpreted by radiologists; and 3) documentation of Therapeutic Intensity Level (TIL) by the critical care nurse as available. We hypothesize that there will be an association between the pupillometer parameters and the other clinical indicators of increased ICP. If confirmed, these findings will provide support for greater clinical application of the pupillometer in the critically ill adult patient with potential or actual increased ICP.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine how concentrations of tocopheryl acetate are affected in Vitamin E skin moisturizing oils by exposure to air and light. This commonly known synthetic form of Vitamin E is used in skincare products that claim to enhance protection against ultraviolet rays, promote skin healing, and make skin firmer and stronger. Vitamin E degrades by photo-oxidation, and is highly susceptible to this degradation immediately upon exposure to air and light. After exposure, the Vitamin E concentration in skin care products; therefore, every time a bottle of oil containing Vitamin E is opened or put into a clear container, it immediately starts to lose the amount of the potentially beneficial antioxidant within it. Reverse-Phase High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to evaluate polar solutes, and Vitamin E in standard solutions, to validate our testing method upon completion of a calibration curve. Comparative skin care samples with Vitamin E (one exposed to only air, one exposed to only light, one exposed to both air and light, and one remaining inside the bottle) were then tested using Reverse Phase HPLC, and the results indicated that the original hypothesis was valid.

Chronic pain is a widespread health concern affecting over 100 million Americans nationwide and interfering with all aspects of a person’s quality of life. The Chronic Pain Self-Management Program (CPSMP) is a self-management training model involving a six-week long workshop designed for adults with chronic pain conditions to gain the knowledge and skills to manage chronic pain. The CPSMP has been adapted from Stanford’s well-researched Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) which was found to improve many areas of participants’ health status, health care utilization, self-efficacy and self-management behaviors for chronic diseases. However, little to no evidence exists on the program effects for people with chronic pain conditions, leaving the question as to whether CPSMP workshops effectively enable participants to better manage their own health and improve their overall quality of life. The purpose of this study is to assess how effective CPSMP workshops are at improving participants’ self-efficacy in managing their pain and overall health status. This study reports on the results of six CPSMP workshops held between October 2015- March 2017 that were offered through Harborview Medical Center (HMC) in partnership with African American Reach and Teach Health (AARTH). Participants in these courses completed pre and post surveys including questions from the PROMIS Scale v1.2 – Global Health, UW Pain Tracker, PHQ-4, and the Perceived Confidence Scale (PCS) to evaluate the experience of pain of each participant, the extent to which their pain limits their daily activities, usage of pharmaceutical pain management methods, and overall usage of medical care before and after their participation in the HMC CPSMP workshops. If the results of this study reveal positive improvements in participants’ confidence in their ability to manage their chronic pain conditions, further research may be done to identify the sustainability and long term outcomes of CPSMP programs.

Sea surface temperatures that far exceeded the average occurred off the western coast of North America in the winters of 2013 and 2014. The uniqueness of this event has caused scientists and journalists to endow it with a name, the “Blob”. While recent research has determined some of the short term effects of the Blob, including extreme weather across the continent, reduction in fisheries, and a net source of CO₂ to the atmosphere, very little has been proposed on the long term effects. Here, we determine the effects on the formation of North Pacific Eastern Subtropical Mode Water (ESTMW), a body of water that acts as long term storage of heat and CO₂. Historical averages of the effective subduction rate, the rate at which water moves into the mode water; potential vorticity, an indication of the volume of water being subducted; and mode water properties, such as salinity and temperature, are determined from global datasets and compared to those properties in the years affected by the Blob. Yearly values are determined through interpolation between Argo floats, the network of autonomous profiling sensors. A decrease in subduction rate and a significant change in potential vorticity, salinity, and temperature, would mean that this anomaly could have reduced the ability of ESTMW to act as a long term storage of both heat and CO₂. The Blob, and similar future anomalies, could act as a positive feedback on climate change at a global scale.

This study provides an economic and cultural comparison between Shanghai and Tokyo as global cities. Shanghai aims to be a city as influential as Tokyo, a city that has been the center of Asia for decades. Yet, is it possible? What are the disparities between the two cities economically, politically and culturally? This research is comprised of two parts. First, archival research is used to describe and contrast the historical development of Tokyo and Shanghai. Second, I compare the economic and cultural development of the two cities over the last two to three decades. Reviewing the literature on global cities and global city rankings, helps me establish a deeper understanding of the global cities hypothesis, which has also been critiqued. Following the global cities literature, I compare metrics of 1) advanced producer services production, 2) economy, 3) international transportation of people and goods, and 4) political and cultural influence. These are the key evaluation criteria based on the global cities hypothesis. Findings indicate that most of the economic indicators for Shanghai show a significant increase over the past three decades, while those of Tokyo have mainly stabilized. The economic disparities between the two cities has significantly decreased. However, Tokyo shows much stronger global influence through cultural communication and political position, in which Shanghai performs unexceptionally. There has been a lack of research and literature in the application of global cities theory in Asian cities. This study provides urban geographers and other social scientists with a comprehensive comparison between the two major Asian cities on economics, culture, and politics, which examines the credibility of the heavily critiqued global cities theory in a broader global community.

This study explores the contemporary state of immigration to the French Polynesian island of Tahiti and its influences on the indigenous people and the environment. Environmental issues are very important for Tahitians, for whom the land – te fenua – is a symbol of life and a source of pride. After reviewing historical and current immigration policies to the island, I found that Tahitians, being isolated and relatively homogeneous, are far more welcoming to tourists than they ever have been to settlers. Immigration to the island of Tahiti is strictly controlled to preserve resources and the indigenous ways of life. I conducted a 3 week survey, in both French and English, to understand the current sentiments of the indigenous population with regards to new immigrants and their impact on the environment. Survey was done online and it targeted only people living in Tahiti, 18 years of age and older using snowball and convenience sample collection methods. Survey responses, through a relatively small sample, still reveal complex perceptions on the part of the locals towards immigrants, people of different beliefs, religions, and races, as well as the connection between immigrants and the environment and the economy. Overall, this study emphasizes the ways humans are connected to each other and the environment, and how such connection might impact an environmentally fragile place. The results could be a platform for recognizing the impact immigration has on land and people, but also be a step closer to finding a balance between the old and the new.

We know that climate sensitivity can vary within species, but the factors that influence which climatic variables influence population dynamics remain unclear. In this study, I assess whether macroclimate influences the climate sensitivity of four high elevation conifer species: Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis), mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), Alaska yellow cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis), and sub-alpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). I also investigate if climate sensitivity of tree communities Mt. Rainier is changing over time. To address these questions, I analyzed tree core data from three high elevation sites at Mt. Rainier National Park. Each site is located in a distinctly different climatic zone on the mountain. I compared standardized tree growth to climate variables (mean growing-season temperature, total growing-season precipitation, annual snowpack, climate moisture deficit, etc.) using linear mixed effect models and “treeclim”, a tree ring analysis program in R. With these methods, I determine how influential climate variables differ by location, by species and over time. Gaining more insight into which climate variables have the greatest influence on growth in different areas will allow us to better predict how specific plant populations will react to ongoing climate change. Moreover, studying tree communities at high elevations is particularly important, since behavior at treeline will determine whether a species’ range expands, contracts or shifts, which in turn has implications for both that species and other species. For example, conifer range expansion on Mt. Rainier could positively increase carbon sequestration (by increasing woody cover in the park) while negatively encroaching on the alpine wildflower meadows, a major attraction for tourists. Widespread range contractions could potentially reduce the ability of those forests to sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Thus, with better predictions of tree shifts, we can make more informed management decisions for ecotourism and conservation.

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is the most common rheumatologic disorder found in children, affecting millions worldwide. It has no known cause, prevention, or cure, and can lead to debilitating destruction of the joints. In adult Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), previous research suggests a connection between RA and oral bacteria that cause inflammatory diseases. Specifically, Porphyromonas gingivalis, found in patients with periodontitis, expresses an enzyme that modifies the amino acid arginine to citrulline, which the immune system recognizes as foreign, reacting to produce anti--citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs), which attack otherwise healthy proteins in the body. Therefore, we hypothesize that in JIA, the unique bacterial colonies of the mouth induce a chronic ACPA production that leads to arthritis. We use enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to assay patient plasma for ACPAs with 6 peptides. We have tested plasma from 79 patients with JIA, 56 children recruited from dental clinic, and 29 healthy children for antibodies to citrullinated filaggrin, a known autoantigen in RA. Compared to healthy controls, JIA patients had a significant increase in anti-citrullinated filaggrin antibodies (relative levels 0.88 vs. 0.45, p=0.001 by t-test). Anti-filaggrin antibodies were elevated in patients with oligoarticular JIA, (mean 0.62, p=0.0012) and extended-oligoarticular JIA, (mean 0.88, p=0.007), but not polyarticular JIA (mean 0.49, p=0.47). In addition, there is a higher prevalence of bleeding on probing (BOP, an indicator of gingival inflammation) in JIA, with an average BOP score of more than two times that of children from dental clinic (p=0.008). Our next step is to see if there are any specific microbes associated with higher BOP scores and ACPA levels. If we find that oral pathogens are associated with inflammatory disease, prevention can be designed to eliminate plaque-associated pathogens through various dental hygiene practices.

With increasing temperatures and altered precipitation patterns over the past several decades, montane environments are undergoing rapid anthropogenic changes. Climate controlled treelines are moving up in elevation worldwide, with dramatic consequences for alpine ecosystems, however little is known about the local drivers of variation that influence the rate of tree line change, like small-scale topography. We conducted a repeat photography study to assess the rate of tree encroachment into the subalpine meadows of Mt. Rainier National Park in various local landforms (coves, ridges, and slopes) as well as quantify the rate of treeline change over the 20th and early 21st century. We did this by aligning historical and repeat oblique photographs in a Geographic Information System and manually delineating tree encroachment within the subalpine zone. We also verified our results by comparing them to per-pixel classifications of aerial imagery collected in 1951 and 2013. Tree encroachment has occurred in all sites on Mt. Rainier National Park over the last century. Oblique photographs showed an approximately thirty percent increase in tree cover from the 1930s to 2016. Local topography did have a significant influence on the amount of tree encroachment. Small-scale topographic ridges were predicted to show the greatest amount of tree encroachment. Our results contradict this prediction, showing that sloped sites have the greatest increase in trees, followed by ridges, then topographic depressions (coves). Analyses of aerial photos are ongoing, but are expected to show  similar results. Per-pixel classifications or aerial images will help us more easily distinguish changes in the various environments at Mt. Rainier, as well as correlate them to environmental drivers like snow duration. This study helps fill an important gap in knowledge about how topography is related to tree line change as well as raises further questions about what management practices can be implemented.

Aggressive cancers are resistant to apoptosis, and stem-like cancer cells might be responsible for re-growth of cancerous tumors. This inspires the search for compounds that could aid in the destruction of cancer cells with stem-like properties. Drosophila germ line stem cells under radiative or chemo-toxic stress are protected by a molecular signal from apoptotic daughter cells via the TIE receptor. Thwarting this protective signal by the introduction of a small molecule may lead to the discovery of compounds that can be effective against stem-like cancer cells. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) diversity set of 1,596 small molecules is screened, in vivo, to find compounds that can induce apoptosis in the germ-line stem cells of Drosophila melanogaster. We tested several compounds from the NCI diversity set on 0-5 day-old fruit flies to get an understanding of the effects of the compounds on stem cells. Multiple compounds, including Camptothecin and Maytansinol, have been found that can induce apoptosis in both the male and female germ-line stem cells. Future investigations will uncover the mechanism of action and efficacy against stem-like cancer cells. After determining which compounds work effectively to target stem cells, this knowledge will be applied to understanding the mechanism responsible for resistance to cell death by stem cells and potentially some cancer cells, which could lead to more effective cancer-eradicating drugs.

Plant phenology studies have shown that flowers are blooming earlier now than they did several decades ago. These shifts in bloom time are attributed to warming temperatures, earlier snowmelt, and other climatic factors related to temperature. One underutilized data source for phenology studies is herbarium specimens, which are plants that are collected, often during bloom, and preserved for the purpose of studying species traits and distributions. Since collection date and location is recorded, herbarium specimens can be used to study the relationship between climate change and long-term shifts in the timing of phenological stages such as flowering and fruiting. My goals for this study were to determine 1) What is the relationship between changes in climate over the past century and changes in bloom time? and 2) Do shifts in the timing of phenological stages in herbarium specimens match shifts reported by field studies? My study species is glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum), a subalpine plant native to the Pacific Northwest that is known from field studies to be sensitive to climate change because it blooms immediately after snowmelt. Specimen data from Pacific Northwest herbaria was accessed using the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria’s database. When not listed, phenological stages were classified using specimen images and geographic coordinates were determined using GEOLocate and descriptions of specimen collection locations. Historical climate information was gathered by entering specimen geographic coordinates and elevations into ClimateWNA, a spatial climate model. I hypothesized that warmer spring temperatures and less snowfall would result in earlier bloom times. I also expected that my results would support shifts in bloom times reported by field studies. My findings contribute to the collective understanding of the historical effects of climate change, which assists predictions and management strategies concerning the future effects of climate change on plant species and communities.

The link between climate and range distributions is a key area of study for ecologists interested in predicting how species will respond to anthropogenic climate change. However, most studies only focus on abiotic factors (like climate), and ignore biotic determinants of species performance. In this study, I seek to understand how competition influences the success of a common conifer species in the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, I ask whether interspecific responses to competition lead to a predictable competitive hierarchy across different locations or whether competitive hierarchies vary. To address this question, tree cores from six focal conifer species, Abies amabilis, Tsuga heterophylla, Tsuga mertensiana, Thuja plicata, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Callitropsis nootkatensis were collected from 18 stands of varying elevation and climatic conditions within Mt. Rainier National Park, with 20 individual trees cored per species and stand. Annual tree growth was used as a proxy for performance as growth is known to be sensitive to competition and results can be extrapolated to overall population performance. The competitive neighborhood of each cored tree was determined by identifying all individuals within a 10-meter radius by species, and quantifying the distance of competitors to focal individuals as well as their size. Growth rates for each individual tree within the stand were compared to the sum of the basal area of neighbors around that tree, using analysis of variance to determine the relationship between the two variables. These relationships were then compared across species to see which species were competitively superior, and then compared across stands to determine whether competitive hierarchies varied. The importance of this study is to identify which species are more sensitive to competition which would expand our knowledge on the biotic factors that may limit their ability to shift their range.

As our planet warms, it becomes increasingly important to study the impacts on biotic systems’ structure and function.  While there is consensus amongst the scientific community that changing climate will affect species’ ranges and distributions, there is a dearth of data on the intricacies of how such changes specifically alter the interactions among species. Notably, few studies simultaneously consider the effects of climate and competition on (current/existing) species performance, which is particularly important for generating a body of knowledge that relates climate change to shifts in species distributions.  This study seeks to investigate how competitive interactions vary across climate gradients for several conifer species common in the PNW and abundant in Mt. Rainier Park. Specifically, I am examining whether neighborhood effects on annual tree growth vary across elevational and climatic gradients. To accomplish this, tree cores were collected from Abies amabilis, Tsuga heterophylla, Tsuga mertensiana, Thuja plicata, Psuedosuga menziesii, and Callitropsis nootkatensis at 18 stands in Mt. Rainier Park, covering a large range of elevation (and thus climate). Additionally, the neighborhood of all cored trees, including the distance between cored trees and their neighbors, the species identity and diameter of neighbors was collected. Core samples were cross-dated by stand to ensure proper assignment of year of growth to each tree ring, and subsequently core and neighborhood data were analyzed using statistical models (multiple regressions) to extract relationship between competition, growth rates, elevational and climate variables. This is an ongoing project, whose growing body of data will be useful in predicting the way climate shifts may affect competition and thus growth of tree species in the PNW.

With concern about global warming rising, assessing how increases in temperature impact plant performance is crucial in understanding how plant communities may alter. Genetic diversity, local adaptation to climate, and gene flow may interact with the direct effects of climate to determine how plants fare in a warmer world (e.g. through range shifts and shifts in phenology), but these interactions are poorly understood. Studying local adaptation is crucial for predicting how local populations will fare with warming, as a high degree of local adaptation may cause populations at the range center to be negatively influenced by warming. Conversely, populations in newly climatically unsuitable habitats may be able to cope with warming by adaption. This study measures how the climate of different elevations affects population growth of the high-elevation plant mountain monkeyflower, Mimulus tilingii, at Mt. Rainier National Park. Utilizing data from the past two years, we will parameterize matrix population models to explore how climate influences fitness and population growth rates of different populations, thereby assessing how local adaptation contributes to population dynamics (and potentially, the impacts of climate change). Matrix models will also allow us to determine how local adaptation affects particular life stages, which climatic factors drive local adaptation, and how genetic diversity promotes local adaptation. Previous results show that plants growing in different environments (high vs. low elevation) did not significantly differ in reproductive success whereas different genotypes (crossed between 2 elevations vs. 1 elevation) did, suggesting genetic diversity is an important primary driver of fitness. We predict that vital rates will be greater for populations grown in their native range (high elevation) with genotypes matched to their environment (within 1 elevation). Through these analyses, our understanding of population response due to warming will help us make better ecological inferences of what to expect in the future.

A seed’s successful growth into a seedling depends on it finding a suitable site for germination. This may be limited by the parent’s ability to distribute seeds over a large area (dispersal), or by the seed’s ability to grow in given environmental conditions (microsite characteristics). This study attempts to answer the question: how is tree germination limited by dispersal and by the soil moisture of germination sites? A forest in a 25.6 hectare plot located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest is the subject of this study. This forest is dominated by Tsuga heterophylla and Pseudotsuga menziesii, but also includes Thuja plicata, Abies amabilis, and Acer macrophyllum. Past surveys on trees, seeds, and seedlings within the plot have been conducted since 2014. Specifically, the species, size, and location of all trees are known. Forty paired seed traps and seedling quadrats throughout the plot provide data on seed and seedling densities by species, as well as soil moisture readings. The role of dispersal in germination success will be assessed by comparing the number of germinants within each seedling quadrat to the abundance of nearby parent trees. Soil moisture’s role will be determined by comparing germination rates (calculated by seedling densities divided by seed densities) to soil moisture in seedling quadrats. Results will be separated for each species. The species composition of these communities may prove to be determined largely by differences in dispersal and moisture requirements between species. For example: we expect to find a high dispersal capacity for Tsuga heterophylla, which would explain its dominance in the stand. We also predict that most species will fail to germinate in areas of low moisture. This might suggest serious implications for how these trees will respond to the warmer and drier conditions expected to accompany anthropogenic climate change in the Pacific Northwest.

The Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) was built on Tacoma’s Commencement Bay-Nearshore Tideflats, a hazardous Superfund site containing arsenic, lead and other contaminates. A Superfund site is any land in the United States that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a priority for cleanup because it poses grave risks to human health and/or the environment. While the area was only cleaned up to heavy industrial standards, the NWDC today is one of the largest immigration prisons in the country holding up to 1,575 people at any given time. Some people are held for many months or years, separated from their families and their lives, subjected to ill treatment, and forced to live on a Superfund site. How and why are immigrants fighting to stay in the US housed in an area that is not zoned for human housing? This study is a site genealogy using archival research, looking at environmental impact statements from the EPA, city land use permits, and other documents as well as in-depth interviews to map how this site came into being. Using critical race theory and abolition ecology, this paper explains how state actors subjected people of color to harm, in particular through their exclusion of the public comment and non-resident classification. It examines the planning and expansion of this facility, as well as the implications that neither state agencies nor community advocates can examine site conditions. Rather than signal a lack of a problem, this means that it is structurally impossible to know the depth of the problem. Study findings can inform advocacy work in how stakeholder communities are constituted and what role they can play in planning processes.

Atypical sensory behaviors have only recently been included as an explicit symptom of DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), despite a considerable history of anecdotal evidence. As a result, sensory behaviors are not well characterized in ASD research. In the current study, we aim to fill a gap in the literature by specifically investigating auditory processing in 143 children with ASD and/or a likely gene disrupting mutation (LGDM) associated with ASD. Participants’ parents completed the Sensory Profile Caregiver Questionnaire about their child and psychiatric symptoms were assessed via a comprehensive evaluation with a licensed clinical psychologist. We hypothesized that responses on the Sensory Profile would reflect either hypo- or hyper-sensitivity to auditory stimuli. We predicted that extreme hypo- or hyper-auditory responses would reflect separate deficits, rather than a continuum of auditory sensitivity. We also predicted that we would see unique auditory response profiles associated with LGDMs in particular gene groups. Our results will be discussed with regard to current theories and information about sensory abnormalities in children with ASD. The results and findings from this study could be used to help lay a foundation regarding sensory markers and auditory processing deficiencies in children with ASD, a topic that is fairly new and has not been thoroughly investigated.

The Black Lives Matter movement is arguably the most popular social movement of the twenty first century. Black Lives Matter protests and rallies have occurred in almost every major city in America. Scholars from all disciplines have examined the movement on the national and global scale. However, very few academics dare to explore Black Lives Matter operating on the local scale and if it works towards community development. In the small, previously segregated and historically black neighborhood the Central District, Seattle, Black Lives Matter shapes into a movement against gentrification at the intersection of 23rd and Union. Swallowed by aggressive development and rising property taxes, the Central District utilizes Black Lives Matter to combat racial displacement brought on by gentrification. My research investigates if the Black Lives Matter movement informs politics on race and gentrification on 23rd and Union, Central District. The research structures a theoretical framework around new urban social movement theory, critical race theory, gentrification, and growth machines and regimes to understand if Black Lives Matter works to combat white supremacy rooted in the built environment. My study goes beyond understanding systems of power through qualitative methodologies. Local residents are not simply framed as victims of the local white elite but as members of a community resisting displacement. Semi-structured interviews served as a platform for local residents to reshape the geographic imagination of the Central District. In addition, a cognitive mapping project reflects Central District residents’ sense of territoriality and preserves local knowledge. Shifts in residential population are measured using Markov Chains and displayed at the block and block group levels. My research fills gaps within the discipline of geography by intersecting race, gentrification and social movements.

As student-workers, peer-tutors often have multiple responsibilities in and outside their immediate line of work. During tutoring sessions, tutors frequently engage in emotionally strenuous challenges, one of which being the act of appropriating their outer displays of emotion to fit perceived notions of normative display rules, despite their conflicting inner emotions. This results in a stress called emotional labor (Hochschild, 1983). Although emotional labor has been shown to frequently be associated with negative job outcomes in other professions, little research has been done examining the prevalence of it in tutor roles. To investigate the extent to which tutors experience emotional labor, and the possible avenues of managing stress, student-tutors at a campus tutoring center were issued a two-part, mixed-methods survey. The first half consisted of Mann’s Emotional Requirement Inventory and Tutor Emotional Labor Scale to quantify the level of experienced emotional labor. Quantitative levels of emotional labor will be averaged and compared with published norms. Preliminary results suggest that most tutors hold implicit assumptions of obligatory positive display rules and subsequently act upon them. The second half asked tutors to qualitatively share their experience regarding their most recent emotionally laborious session and what strategies, if any, they employed to regulate the stress. Preliminary results suggest that emotional labor can be amplified from additional conflicts in and outside a tutoring session. Further analysis of qualitative results will provide means to propose various strategies in regulating stress. Combined with the pilot data, this research suggests that 1) emotional labor is a significant factor to consider in related peer-educator roles, and 2) strategies for regulating stress may include social sharing and expressive writing. Additionally, this study’s purpose is to investigate the benefits of utilizing mixed-methods in measuring replicable quantitative data and in-depth qualitative data to set a precedent for future research.

Seed masting occurs when seed production of a species is annually variable across large geographic regions, where years of extremely high seed production across individuals in a population is followed by one or more years of extremely low seed production. It occurs across large geographic regions and can occur within and amongst species. However, the drivers of masting and the implications of masting are often poorly known. Here, we use a long-term and spatially extensive data set of conifer seed production to A) test whether seed viability estimates are consistent with pollination efficiency (increased pollination success in high seed production years) driving masting; and B) explore the implications of masting for nitrogen dynamics. We found strong support for seed masting in six focal conifer species in Mt. Rainier national park from 7 years of data (2009-2015) collected from 18 locations. To further explore masting, we tested whether pollination efficiency is the driver of seed masting in Tsuga heterophylla, by testing whether seed viability (seed quality) is higher in mast years (using 4 years of data from 7 stands – which includes 2 mast years). Results indicate a higher proportion of filled seeds in mast years (i.e. higher viability), providing tentative support for pollination efficiency as the underlying cause of seed masting in these focal species. Germination tests of seeds in growth chambers will provide additional information. To determine the consequences of masting for nitrogen dynamics we measured the nitrogen content in seeds and leaf litter (across mast and non-mast years), and used these estimates to estimate total nitrogen content of leaf litter and seeds (i.e. nitrogen cycling). Understanding the mechanisms behind masting is important, as masting can control tree population demography, and influences ecosystem dynamics.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is one of the complicated chronic autoimmune diseases that can involve many different organs including liver, kidney and skin. There is evidence that proliferation and apoptosis (cell death) of autoreactive T lymphocytes are defective in SLE, sustaining the inflammatory response. One specific protein that may contribute to T cell dysregulation is CD30. The main goal of my project is to study the expression of CD30 on T cells from SLE patients, specifically Lupus Nephritis (LN) patients. CD30 is expressed on activated memory T cells and it regulates communication between T and B cells along with initiation of apoptosis. Previous studies suggest that there is elevated soluble CD30 in LN patients. There is an FDA approved drug that causes apoptosis by targeting CD30 expressing cells, which is used to treat lymphoma patients. The drug Brentuximab Vedotin could potentially replace chemotherapy for those who cannot tolerate its toxicity and used as a primary treatment. Results of this study provide principle data to support the approach of therapeutically targeting chronic T cell activation in SLE via CD30. I hypothesize that the LN patients with more severe disease will have higher numbers of CD30 expressing cells depending on their diagnosed classes. Patient samples are stained and evaluated by immunofluorescence. The expression of CD30 was correlated to disease status at the time biopsies or urine samples collection. We expect that the higher classes such as III and IV are more likely to have higher number of CD30 positive cells compared to classes I and II as well as non LN patients. Therefore, I compared the frequency of CD30 expressing cells in SLE patients to those without SLE and those with different classes of LN. This research has great implications for SLE patients and could replace previously expensive and highly toxic treatments.

Necroptosis is a lytic and immunogenic form of programmed cell death (PCD), characterized by pro-inflammatory cytokine production and the release of intracellular molecules, including cell-associated antigens. In the context of tumor immunology, tumor cell death is a necessary step in causing the release of tumor antigens, allowing for antigen-specific tumor recognition by the immune system. However, how distinct forms of PCD within tumor cells could differentially instruct immune recognition of tumor-associated antigens remains poorly understood. Our research question addresses how the immune system responds to cancer cell death, and will help determine whether necroptosis can promote tumor immunity. We propose that induction of necroptosis within tumor cells could promote anti-tumor immune responses by releasing tumor antigens accompanied by pro-inflammatory signals, resulting in potent immune recognition of cancerous cells. To study the immune responses to cell death in tumors, we have modeled the effects of various cancer cell death programs using flank tumors implanted in B6/J mice. Using flank tumors engineered to express versions of various pro-death signaling proteins that can be activated, we show that induction of necroptosis within the tumor microenvironment leads to robust tumor control. Measuring serum cytokine levels, in addition to analyzing the identity and activation status of immune cells isolated from the tumor tissue following treatment, will yield critical insights towards the immune cell subsets and signaling axes responsible for the observed response to necroptosis. These experiments provide us with a comprehensive understanding of whether cell death in a solid tumor has a therapeutic benefit as well as the underlying mechanism of the immune response to dying cells within a solid tumor. Considering the pro-inflammatory nature of necroptosis, it represents a promising therapeutic target in the context of cancer immunology.

Studies have shown that alcohol consequences are associated with alcohol-related sexual consequences. Studies on young adults have found that alcohol use is linked to risky sexual behavior , and alcohol-related sexual consequences are common. Women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently than men, and literature has found gender differences in alcohol consequences. However, gender differences in alcohol-related sexual consequences and the association between alcohol consequences and alcohol-related sexual consequences have been understudied. The current study will examine (1) gender differences on subscales of alcohol consequences and alcohol-related sexual consequences and (2) associations among alcohol consequences and alcohol-related sexual consequences by gender. We hypothesize that women will exhibit higher scores than men on the subscales of academic/occupational consequences, blackout drinking, impaired control, risk behaviors, and self-care. Additionally, we hypothesize that women will exhibit higher scores than men on the subscales of disregard of personal boundaries, neglect to use birth control, and sex with someone they just met. The current study used baseline data from an intervention study focusing on drinking and sexual behavior among a national sample of young adults (N = 402), who completed an online survey. Participants reported if they experienced alcohol consequences (21 items), such as “While drinking, I have said or done embarrassing things.” Additionally, participants reported if they experienced alcohol-related sexual consequences (41 items), such as “I had digital sex I later regretted.” Regression analyses for count outcomes were conducted to test gender differences in alcohol consequences and alcohol-related sexual consequences, controlling for alcohol use and sexual behavior. Spearman correlations were also conducted. Results will provide a better understanding of the relation between alcohol and alcohol-related sexual consequences and help shape interventions for reducing behavioral risks.

Previous research has found that alcohol consumption among young adults is linked to an increased likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors, including unprotected sex. When examining the likelihood of safe sex practices, additional research has found that having sex at a younger age (<14) is associated with a lower likelihood of using contraception. However, there is a gap in the literature around how number of sexual partners plays into this relationship. The current study aimed to investigate the association between age of first sex and number of lifetime sexual partners with condom use after alcohol consumption. We hypothesized age at first sexual experience would be positively correlated with condom use during penile-vaginal, anal, and oral sex while under the influence of alcohol in the past three months. Additionally, we hypothesized that the number of lifetime sexual partners would be negatively correlated with condom use in the past three months after alcohol consumption. To test these hypotheses, the present study (n = 1002) used data from a national sample of young adults, ages 18-20, who completed a one-time online survey. Participants were asked age at first penile-vaginal, anal, and oral sex as well as their number of lifetime sexual partners. Additionally, participants were asked number of times they had sex in the past three months after consuming alcohol and of those times, how often they used a condom. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between first age of sexual encounter and likelihood of using a condom, as well as number of lifetime partners and the likelihood of using a condom, both after consuming alcohol. Results from this study may help us understand how previous sexual experience is related to the likelihood of practicing safe sex after alcohol consumption.

An object's color is composed of three dimensions: hue, brightness, and saturation. According to Opponent Process Theory, hue is determined by two opposed chromatic color mechanisms (red versus green, and blue versus yellow). The red-green and blue-yellow balances of an object are determined by the activity of the three retinal cone-photoreceptors: S-, M-, and L-cones which have peak activations at short, medium, and long wavelengths of light. S- and L-cones are responsible for the perception of red and oppose M-cones which signal green, and M- and L-cones the perception of yellow and oppose S-cones which signal blue. Previous research has shown how achieving a red-green balance can be influenced by various brightness effects. This current study demonstrates how these same stimuli are influenced by manipulating saturation. We displayed a variety of colored stimuli that varied in their saturation and red-green balance. Saturation was manipulated by the experimenter by adding blue phosphor to a colored stimulus composed primarily of red and green phosphor on a CRT monitor in order to create 6 different experimental conditions. Participants were asked to set a colored stimulus on the screen to a red-green balance by varying the amount of red and green phosphor with a keyboard, with the blue phosphor levels being held constant. Results show that as more S-cone activating blue phosphor was added to the stimulus participants adjusted the stimulus more toward the direction of M-cone activation (green). This is the predicted direction of Opponent Process Theory since L- and S-cone activity add together to signal redness. We conclude that as you reduce the saturation of a red-green balanced stimulus by adding blue, the stimulus will appear redder. Psychophysical researh like this can help guide ideas to design safety signs, materials for people working in low-light environments, or other real-world physiological investigations.

The hippocampus, a brain area traditionally thought to play a key role in memory consolidation, has been shown to be involved in encoding contextual information during reward-motivated decision-making tasks. Projections to and from the hippocampus connect it with structures known to be involved in decision-making behavior and encoding cost/benefit values, making it well situated to contribute to the circuitry processing choice selection. Inactivation of hippocampal areas in rats have been shown to increase variability of choice preference between large rewards with an associated delay, and small rewards received immediately. To elucidate the role of the hippocampus in encoding economic factors of rewards, we recorded from place cells in a hippocampal subregion known to be necessary for spatial coding of salient objects and events, called CA1, during a delay-discounting maze-based task. The task was designed on an elevated T-maze to have three blocks during each daily recording session. During each block the rat chooses several times between a large reward (4 sugar pellets) with a long delay specific to that block (10, 20, or 40 seconds) and a small reward (1 sugar pellet) with a short delay of 3 seconds across all blocks. The rats were familiarized with the delays at the beginning of each block by undergoing 5 forced trials on each side. Behavior measured over 10 free choice trials then completed the block. As expected, preference for the large reward was maximal during 10-second blocks and declined as the delay increased. Preliminary analysis of place fields shows remapping between different delay conditions indicating spatial encoding of reward costs by hippocampus. Remapping was also observed between free and forced trials. These results imply that the place field representation of maze areas reflects contextual spatial information that includes the expected cost of rewards.

Macrophages are specialized cells of the immune system that direct the pro-inflammatory response and its resolution. Matrix Metalloproteinase 28 (MMP28) is an extracellular matrix proteinase expressed in alveolar macrophages during lung inflammation and is involved in macrophage recruitment and polarization. Our aim was to explore the regulation of Mmp28 expression in macrophages. We hypothesized that LPS (lipopolysaccharide, a component of bacterial cell membranes which simulates bacterial infection) stimulation would increase Mmp28 expression via a TLR4-dependent (Toll-Like Receptor 4) pathway involving Type I Interferon (IFN) signaling. We also hypothesized that Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly(I:C), a synthetic form of double-stranded RNA which simulates viral infection) would increase Mmp28 by a TLR3-dependent pathway. To test these hypotheses, we generated bone-marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) from wild-type mice. We exposed these cells to purified recombinant IFNα/β (two forms of IFN involved in antiviral responses), LPS, Poly(I:C), or control media; 4-6 h after treatment, we isolated RNA from the BMDM, synthesized cDNA, and used qPCR to measure mRNA levels of several inflammatory genes. We also included BMDMs from knockout mice for several proteins thought to be part of the Mmp28 regulatory pathway. We confirmed that LPS and Poly(I:C) increased Mmp28 expression in BMDM. By comparing knockout mice for two adaptor molecules shared by TLR4, we found that LPS-stimulated Mmp28 expression was retained in MyD88-/- but decreased in TRIF-/- macrophages. Since both poly(I:C) and the TRIF-dependent response to LPS induce a type I IFN response, we tested if Mmp28 expression was dependent on type I IFN by using IFNAR-/- (IFN Receptor) macrophages. We found that both TLR4 and TLR3 ligands require IFNAR for Mmp28 expression. These data link type I IFN responses to regulation of MMP28 and development of experimental COPD and emphysema models of lung disease, and further our understanding of how MMP28 may regulate macrophage responses.