Determining seagrassess community structure using the Braun – Blanquet technique in the intertidal zones of Islas de Gigantes, Philippines

The seagrass ecosystem which is considered the most productive ecosystem occurs in tropical and subtropical shallow marine waters where it supports diverse flora and fauna. Seagrasses of Islas de Gigantes, Carles, Iloilo were assessed to  determine species diversity, abundance, canopy height and percentage cover. Braun – Blanquet technique was used where 3 transects were laid in each station in three barangays of Islas de Gigantes, namely: Barangay Asluman, Barangay Granada and Barangay Gabi. A total of 7 species were found, Thalassia hemprichii, Cymodocea rotundata, Cymodocea serrulata, Halodule pinifolia, Halodule uninervis, Enhalus acoroides and Syringodium isoetifolium. Using the Shannon Diversity Index, the seagrass bed in Gabi was the most diverse with a value of 2.8. Sorenson's coefficient (CC) was used to compute the species similarity attributes indicating that the three communities have many similarities to each other in terms of species diversity and environmental parameters that affect seagrass ecosystems. Syringodium isoetifolium had recorded the highest number of shoots (475 shoots/m2) in Granada. The percentage cover of seagrasses varied across the sampling sites ranging from 55% - 67.50%, with a mean value of 62.50%. However, E. acoroides had the tallest canopy height recorded that  ranged from 12.33 – 24.83 cm

Cortical Thickness Is Related to Variability in Heritage Bilingual Language Proficiency

Research suggests that bilingual experience is associated with gray matter changes, such that initial language gains are associated with expansion and language expertise is associated with renormalization. Previous studies on language proficiency development primarily focused on between-subjects, quasiexperimental comparisons of monolinguals and bilinguals. This study proposes a new paradigm to examine language expertise and cortical thickness within heritage bilinguals

Monitoring calcium activity in the blood brain barrier using GCaMP6 in Drosophila melanogaster

The blood brain barrier (bbb) is a cellular layer that encapsulates the brain and regulates interaction between certain molecules and neural circuits. Our lab has previously shown that modulation of the bbb affects behavior in the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. The bbb in Drosophila is useful to study because of its similarities with that of vertebrates. Knowledge of the fundamental biochemical processes in the bbb ultimately allows for better understanding of neurological disorder from bbb abnormalities, such as epilepsy. Calcium ions (Ca2+) are important messengers used in cellular signaling. Uncovering the role of calcium activity in the bbb helps elucidate the biochemical relationship between the bbb and neurons in the brain. We used the Gal4-UAS genetic system to express the Ca2+ indicator GCaMP6 in the bbb of Drosophila. GCaMP6 allows for live imaging of Ca2+ signaling by emitting green fluorescence under 470nm wavelength light when Ca2+ binds to calcium-modulated protein. In preparation for imaging, a live fly was placed in a pipette tip and coated with wax to restrict movement. While submerged in phosphate-buffer solution, an incision was made on the cuticle of the head to expose the bbb. The pipette apparatus was then placed on a slide and the bbb was recorded with confocal microscopy using a Leica SP8. In the future, we will utilize software that quantifies the visual fluorescence we recorded and graph it over time. We expect to see oscillations in fluorescence from our understanding of the signaling events in the bbb that utilize Ca2+.Honors CollegeBiology and Biochemistry, Department o

Two prototype genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators

Calcium ions are important chemical signals for cells. They are especially vital for the function of neurons, which rely on calcium ions to relay messages to subsequent neurons. Visualization of this process allows one to elucidate nervous system function by directly observing the communication of neurons. Thus, the neuroscience community constantly seeks high-performance tools that allow for the visualization of calcium ions. In response to this demand, we developed and analyzed two prototype calcium ion biosensors that can be genetically encoded into model organisms. These novel calcium ion indicators utilize near-infrared fluorescent proteins (NIR FPs), which are beneficial because they rely on low energy light. NIR FP-based biosensors require less harmful conditions for model organisms during imaging and offer deeper tissue penetration compared to other calcium ion biosensors. To construct these calcium ion indicators, we inserted the genes of NIR FPs miRFP720 and miRFP670 into the calmodulin gene, a calcium ion binding domain. Using a vector, E. coli was transformed with this DNA to synthesize the indicator proteins. Finally, the proteins were extracted from the bacteria and analyzed using a fluorescence assay. This project was completed with contributions from Yusuke Nasu and Robert Campbell from the University of Tokyo.Biology and Biochemistry, Department ofHonors Colleg

The influence of phonetic experience on perceptual flexibility and auditory plasticity in bilinguals

The goal of this dissertation was a) to investigate how phonetic experience in two languages influences the perception of novel speech sounds and b) reveal the underlying neural mechanisms involved in novel speech learning. Adult English monolinguals (n = 20) and early Spanish-English bilinguals (n = 24) participated in four consecutive sessions of phonetic discrimination training (same vs. different) while listening to Hungarian non-words that contained the novel speech phonemes /ø/, /ø:/, /u:/, /u/, /o:/, /y/, /y:/, /o/. Participants completed two fMRI sessions, one before training and the other after training. The in-scanner task consisted of passively listening to the novel speech stimuli with which participants trained outside the scanner. The behavioral results indicated that monolinguals and bilinguals both learned after training, and discrimination of novel speech did not differ between groups. Nonetheless, the neural processes engaged by monolinguals and bilinguals differed after training (left anterior cingulate gyrus in monolinguals and bilateral parietal regions in bilinguals). A separate post-hoc regression analysis examined how participants’ overall discrimination performance predicted brain activity before and after training. Here it was found that better perceivers were more likely to recruit sensory-perceptual areas (bilateral superior temporal gyrus and cerebellar vermis), whereas worse perceivers were more likely to recruit higher-order cognitive areas after training (right postcentral gyrus, superior parietal lobule, and left supramarginal gyrus). These findings suggest that growing up in bilingual phonetic environments does not facilitate novel speech learning. Instead, the ability to discriminate novel speech appears to originate from individual enhanced perceptual abilities present prior to training.Psychology, Department o

Is blood thicker than water? An analysis on the involvement of non-family members in family-owned firms listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange

Family firms dominate a substantial portion of businesses worldwide. While there have been several dimensions used to explore the behavior of family firms, family involvement has been argued to overpower family ownership in its ability to influence firm performance. Despite existing literature on family involvement and firm performance, prior studies have been limited to the CEO position as a means to measure involvement. With this, the paper aims to investigate the influence of a non-family CEO and Chairman on the performance of publicly listed firms in the Philippines from 2008 to 2019 using the following metrics: Return on Assets, Return on Equity, and Tobin’s Q. With an unbalanced panel data set, the researchers aim to measure non-family involvement and firm performance using the two-step Blundell-Bond System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique to address possible issues of endogeneity. We find that non-family involvement is only significant when using Tobin’s Q as a measure of performance. With ROE as a measure, we find family ownership to be statistically significant with limited negative effects. Moreover, board duality, firm size, and tangibility were found to be significant depending on the performance measure used. Our results suggest that the impact of non-family involvement on firm performance is inconsistent