Antibiotics Isolated from Soil

Dr. Bewick and I have partnered with the Small World Initiative to transform our Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology lab into an authentic Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE). Our students are isolating bacteria from soil and testing to see if they produce antibiotics. The students haven\u27t finished collecting data yet, so I am submitting this dummy abstract in place of their real abstract. The students are going to vote as a class on April 5 as to who should present at the SAC. We talked to Dr. Bagley earlier in the semester and she said this would be fine. This is a placeholder for the presenters from section 21

Women with early maltreatment experience show increased resting-state functional connectivity in the theory of mind (ToM) network

Background: Experience of childhood maltreatment significantly increases the risk for the development of psychopathology and is associated with impairments in socio-cognitive skills including theory-of-mind (ToM). In turn, neural alterations in ToM processing might then influence future interpersonal interaction and social-emotional understanding. Objective: To assess resting-state activity in the theory-of-mind network in traumatized and non-traumatized persons. Methods: Thirty-five women with a history of childhood maltreatment and 31 unaffected women completed a resting-state scan and a ToM localizer task. The peak coordinates from the localizer were used as the seed regions for the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses (temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus and precuneus). Results: Child abuse was associated with increased RSFC between various ToM regions including the precuneus and the brainstem suggesting altered hierarchical processing in ToM regions. Number of types of abuse was driving the effect for the temporo-parietal junction and the brainstem, while the severity of abuse was linked to increased RSFC between the middle temporal gyrus and the frontal cortex. Post-hoc analyses of brainstem regions indicated the involvement of the serotonergic system (dorsal raphe). Conclusions: The data indicate a lasting impact of childhood maltreatment on the neural networks involved in social information processing that are integral to understanding others' emotional states. Indeed, such altered neural networks may account for some of the interpersonal difficulties victims of childhood maltreatment experience

Early interpersonal trauma reduces temporoparietal junction activity during spontaneous mentalising

Experience of interpersonal trauma and violence alters self-other distinction and mentalising abilities (also known as theory of mind, or ToM), yet little is known about their neural correlates. This fMRI study assessed temporoparietal junction (TPJ) activation, an area strongly implicated in interpersonal processing, during spontaneous mentalising in 35 adult women with histories of childhood physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse (childhood abuse; CA) and 31 women without such experiences (unaffected comparisons; UC). Participants watched movies during which an agent formed true or false beliefs about the location of a ball, while participants always knew the true location of the ball. As hypothesised, right TPJ activation was greater for UCs compared to CAs for false vs true belief conditions. In addition, CAs showed increased functional connectivity relative to UCs between the rTPJ and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Finally, the agent’s belief about the presence of the ball influenced participants’ responses (ToM index), but without group differences. These findings highlight that experiencing early interpersonal trauma can alter brain areas involved in the neural processing of ToM and perspective-taking during adulthood

Do pictures really say more than a thousand words? A network approach to early traumatic experience and empathic responding

Background:Empathy is essential for interpersonal relationships, yet remains difficult to measure. Some evidence suggests that early traumatic experiences leads to alterations in empathic responding. Objective:This study sought to differentiate connections between subtypes of childhood maltreatment, a pictorial test of affective empathy (PET), and self-reported empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index; IRI) by using network analysis approach to investigate the structure of relationships between childhood maltreatment and later empathic responding. Method:301 participants completed the PET, the Early Trauma Inventory Self Report-Short Form (ETISR-SF), the IRI, and questionnaires assessing current mood and perceived stress levels. Results:The PET showed a strong positive association with the IRI subscale empathic concern (EC), after conditioning on all other nodes in the network. EC proved to be a highly central node and was positively related to severity of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), yet not to childhood physical abuse or emotional maltreatment. Pathways between emotional maltreatment and physical abuse and the PET were indirect, passing through self-reported EC and CSA. Conclusions:Our study suggests that CSA more so than other childhood maltreatment experiences is associated with increased self-reported affective empathy, but is not captured directly through a pictorial test of affective empathy

Effects of auditory context on face expression processing: An ERP Investigation

Facial expressions of emotion are a critical source of social information within the environment, but their interpretation is seen to be modulated based on the situational context in which they are presented. Most empirical work examining context on face expression processing have utilized visual cues only, with few studies examining cross-modal effects on face expression processing, despite auditory information being a second critical source of social information within the environment. The present study investigates the effect of positive and negative situational auditory (verbal) information on the identification of happy and angry face expressions. Both behavioural measures, and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs), derived from EEG recordings, were examined. Research has previously demonstrated ERP components elicited by the presentation of faces that are modulated simply by early visual attention (the P1 changes in facial expressions (the N170), emotional valence (the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN)) and the integration of these facets with contextual cues (Late Positive Potential (LPP)). In the present study, congruently paired positive sentences –happy face expressions received a cognitive gain such that reaction times were improved relative to all other conditions. Additionally, accuracy for congruent trials were significantly higher than incongruent trials for both happy and angry faces. Happy expressions elicited marginally enhanced P1, and larger N170 amplitude relative to angry faces. The EPN was more negative for angry relative to happy faces, which continued into the LPP as the counter positive enhancement. There was no interaction between sentence valence and face expression across any indices, potentially reflecting distinct neural networks for processing auditory information, or that the auditory information had been processed much earlier, with no modulation on the visual indices measured in this study

Examining the neural, behavioural, and social responses associated with affective self-referential processing in adults and children.

Information processing biases favouring self- compared to other-referential and positive compared to negative stimuli are theorized to be healthy, adaptive outcomes of well-regulated attention. Within the lab, self-referential information modulates neural encoding of affective trait adjectives and neutral faces as indicated by enhanced event related potential (ERP) amplitudes (i.e., the late positive potential; LPP). Enhanced LPP amplitudes during stimulus encoding in a self- compared to other-relevant context is thought to reflect increased sustained attention following motivationally relevant information, which also supports memory performance for information presented in a self- compared to other-referential context (hereafter the self-referential bias). Similarly, positive compared to negative trait-adjectives are also preferentially attended to (as reflected by enhanced LPP amplitudes) and consequently better remembered (hereafter the positivity-bias), although these findings are mixed. Across the three studies presented in this thesis, I examined how the self-referential and positivity biases modulate the encoding and memory for social information in adults and children, focusing on the LPP waveform and incidental memory performance. I also examined how individual differences in children’s biases are related to temperament and observed conversational styles with unfamiliar peers. In Study 1, I examined how self- compared to other-referential positive and negative cues from social contextual primes (e.g., “She thinks you/he are/is amazing”) modulated adult LPP amplitudes and subjective ratings towards neutral faces. For the first time, I also examined incidental memory for the trait adjectives embedded within the primes, rather than the stimuli which undergo a subjective rating (i.e., the faces), as is done in the majority of past studies. Replicating previous findings, neutral faces following self- compared to other-referential primes were rated as more arousing and elicited stronger feelings (i.e., more positive and more negative). Subjective arousal was also greater for neutral faces following negative relative to positive social primes, particularly when the primes were about oneself rather than someone else. Faces primed by a self-referential social statement also elicited larger LPP amplitudes relative to faces primed by other-referential statements. However, there was no effect of valence, nor an interaction between referential and valence cues on ERPs. These results were interpreted to reflect heightened attention following a self-referential cue regardless of valence. It was therefore unsurprising that memory was improved for trait adjectives that were presented in a self- compared to an other-referential contextual prime. This novel finding was interpreted to reflect prioritized processing of incidentally encoded self-relevant information which does not necessarily undergo a task-related behavioural response. While the self-referential and positivity biases have been explored extensively within adults, it remains unclear how children encode self- compared to other-referential trait adjectives across the LPP. In Study 2, I examined 9–12-year-old children’s LPP responses during the encoding of trait adjectives in a Self-Referential Encoding Task (the SRET), as well as their incidental memory for those trait adjectives. The SRET requires participants to behaviourally endorse or reject positive and negative trait adjectives as they relate to the self (self-referential) or someone else (other-referential). Incidental memory is then tested to determine how referent and valence cues modulate memory performance. Results revealed enhanced LPP amplitudes for trait adjectives presented in a self- compared to an other-referential condition; however, there was no effect of valence, nor an interaction, across the LPP. This is the first study to examine child ERP responses to self- compared to other-referential cues, and these results suggest that 9-12 year old’s encode self-referential cues in a similar pattern across the LPP relative to adults. Interestingly, there was no clear effect of referent or valence cues on children’s memory, with memory performance being dependent on the block order in which referent cues were presented. This pattern across memory is discussed in the framework of different consolidation mechanisms for valence cues depending on whether the information is self- or other-relevant. The final goal of my thesis was to examine whether individual differences in children’s self-referential and positivity biases found in controlled lab settings (i.e., from the SRET) are related to children’s temperament (surgency, effortful control) and in vivo social behaviours. I developed a novel coding scheme to capture indices of the self-referential bias and the positivity-bias based on the content of children’s conversations with an unfamiliar peer. Results revealed that higher effortful control was associated with a larger memory bias for positive relative to negative trait adjectives, supporting the role of control processes in children’s memory performance for positive information. While no other hypothesized associations were supported, this study sets the stage for future work to explore the translational implications of individual differences in self-referential and valence-based biases for social development. The results of these three studies are discussed in terms of how the self-referential and positivity biases influence social development. We now know that the self-referential bias develops early and is expressed similarly across the LPP between adults and 9-12-year-old children. This enhanced attention improves subsequent memory for self-referential information, although memory is influenced by task parameters. I did not find any support for a positivity bias across neural encoding and memory, which questions its reliability and suggests this bias is task dependent. Despite the relative inconsistency of the positivity-bias in memory, children’s Effortful Control was associated with individual differences in one’s positive relative to negative memory performance. Together, these findings suggest that self-referential cues increase sustained attention at encoding which may have implications for social development in general, whereas valence processing modulates attention and behaviour differently depending on the situation in which they are experienced

Leadership, Identity and Performance: The Nature and Effect of ‘Prototypicality’ in Indonesia

What makes a leader worthy of support? The article uses novel survey and experimental data from Indonesia to test the proposition that identity trumps performance for citizens perceptions of their political leaders. The results confirm theories of ‘prototypicality’—leaders that best reflect and represent the identity of the group tend to be more trusted and have a licence to fail. We argue and show that the dimensions of identity that matter most varies and is context specific. In the Indonesian context religious identity is most important. But the data also suggest that this varies across space, time, and follower identity: We show that gender matters, as women are less easily persuaded by prototypicality. We conclude by reflecting on the implications for leaders, politics and support for leadership development

Hyporheic Interactions Increase Zinc Exposure and Effects on Hyalella azteca in Sediments under Flow‐Through Conditions

Groundwater–surface water interactions in the hyporheic transition zone can influence contaminant exposure to benthic macroinvertebrates. In streams, hyporheic flows are subject to varying redox conditions, which influence biogeochemical cycling and metal speciation. Despite these relationships, little is known about how these interactions influence the ecological risk of contaminants. The present study investigated the effects of hyporheic flows and zinc (Zn)‐contaminated sediments on the amphipod Hyalella azteca. Hyporheic flows were manipulated in laboratory streams during 10‐d experiments. Zinc toxicity was evaluated in freshly spiked and aged sediments. Hyporheic flows altered sediment and porewater geochemistry, oxidizing the sediments and causing changes to redox‐sensitive endpoints. Amphipod survival was lowest in the Zn sediment exposures with hyporheic flows. In freshly spiked sediments, porewater Zn drove mortality, whereas in aged sediments simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) in excess of acid volatile sulfides (AVS) normalized by the fraction of organic carbon (fOC) [(SEM‐AVS)/fOC] influenced amphipod responses. The results highlight the important role of hyporheic flows in determining Zn bioavailability to benthic organisms, information that can be important in ecological risk assessments. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2447–2458. © 2019 SETACPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152028/1/etc4554.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152028/2/etc4554_am.pd

Depression, trauma and mentalizing : no influence of depressive symptoms on spontaneous theory of mind in a subclinical sample

Background: Depressive symptoms are associated with impaired social functioning, arguably because of reduced mentalizing abilities. However, findings in persons with depressive symptoms and/or major depressive disorder (MDD) are presently mixed, finding evidence both for and against the hypothesis of reduced mentalizing abilities. Aims: This study investigated spontaneous cognitive mentalizing in 36 age-, sex- and education-matched students with depressive symptoms and 45 comparisons with minimal depressive symptoms. Method: To assess spontaneous mentalizing, we used the implicit theory of mind (ToM) task, which looks specifically at spontaneous computation of false belief. Results: Bayesian analysis did not support the hypothesis of impaired mentalizing; in fact, it suggested that the results were 3.90 times more likely to have occurred under the null hypothesis. Results remained stable when comparing depressed and non-depressed individuals without maltreatment exposure but were inconclusive in the maltreatment-exposed groups. Conclusion: The findings suggest no effect of spontaneous mentalizing in a high-functioning depressed sample. Moreover, the findings also emphasize the need to control for childhood maltreatment experiences in future ToM and social functioning research, as these may constitute subgroups within depressed samples. Tailored therapy for maltreated depression individuals may be beneficial

Amplifying Quiet Voices: Challenges and Opportunities for Participatory Design at an Urban Scale

Many Smart City projects are beginning to consider the role of citizens. However, current methods for engaging urban populations in participatory design activities are somewhat limited. In this paper, we describe an approach taken to empower socially disadvantaged citizens, using a variety of both social and technological tools, in a smart city project. Through analysing the nature of citizens’ concerns and proposed solutions, we explore the benefits of our approach, arguing that engaging citizens can uncover hyper-local concerns that provide a foundation for finding solutions to address citizen concerns. By reflecting on our approach, we identify four key challenges to utilising participatory design at an urban scale; balancing scale with the personal, who has control of the process, who is participating and integrating citizen-led work with local authorities. By addressing these challenges, we will be able to truly engage citizens as collaborators in co-designing their city