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Lower perceived stress among physically active elite private university students with higher levels of gratitude
No full textElite private universities have high stress levels, particularly for underrepresented populations. While physical activity and gratitude can both reduce stress, independent effects from gratitude and interaction effects between physical activity and gratitude on stress are insufficiently explored. Our study investigated these effects among undergraduates at elite private universities. Undergraduates (n = 145) completed an online survey in Fall 2022. Moderate-high physical activity levels were reported by 96.19% of the sample. No significant interaction effect between physical activity and gratitude was seen nor a significant main effect of physical activity on perceived stress. A significant main effect of gratitude on perceived stress [F (2, 99) = 16.732, < .001, ω2 = .253] was found with higher perceived stress among participants with low compared to moderate (p = .001) or high gratitude (p < .001). Gratitude exerted an independent, significant effect on perceived stress among elite university undergraduates and could be used as an additional healthy coping mechanism along with physical activity to combat stress
Phototaxis is a satiety-dependent behavioral sequence in Hydra vulgaris
No full textUnderstanding how internal states such as satiety are connected to animal behavior is a fundamental question in neuroscience. Hydra vulgaris, a freshwater cnidarian with only 12 neuronal cell types, serves as a tractable model system for studying state-dependent behaviors. We found that starved hydras consistently move towards light, while fed hydras do not. By modeling this behavior as a set of three sequences of head orientation, jump distance and jump rate, we demonstrate that the satiety state only affects the rate of the animal jumping to a new position, while the orientation and jump distance are unaffected. These findings yield insights into how internal states in a simple organism, Hydra, affect specific elements of a behavior, and offer general principles for studying the relationship between state-dependent behaviors and their underlying molecular mechanisms
Post-Encoding Music Effects on Mnemonic Discrimination
No full textMusic effectively induces emotional arousal. Emotional arousal releases stress hormones that are important for the emotional modulation of memory and modulate hippocampal activity. To reduce interference across memories, the hippocampus performs pattern separation, a neural computation that processes experiences with overlapping features as unique memories. However, how music-induced emotional arousal impacts this computation is unknown. Using an individual differences approach, we examined music-induced emotional arousal during post-encoding of a mnemonic discrimination task. We found that more drastic changes in post-encoding music-induced emotional arousal resulted in gist versus detail trade-offs in memory, with improved general memory but impaired detail memory. However, moderate arousal changes corresponded to improved detailed memory, but impaired general memory, suggesting differential levels of optimal change in arousal target specific facets of episodic memory. This study has important implications in developing more personalized music-related interventions for those with memory and mood impairments
The rise of borophene
No full textBorophene stands out uniquely among Xenes with its metallic character, Dirac nature, exceptional electron mobility, thermal conductivity, and Young’s moduli—surpassing graphene. Invented in 2015, various methods, including atomic layer deposition, molecular beam epitaxy, and chemical vapor deposition, have successfully been demonstrated to realize substrate-supported crystal growth. Top-down approaches like micromechanical, sonochemical, solvothermal and modified hummer’s techniques have also been employed. Thanks to its high electronic mobility, borophene serves as an active material for ultrafast sensing of light, gases, molecules, and strain. Its metallic behaviour, electrochemical activity, and anti-corrosive nature make it ideal for applications in energy storage and catalysis. It has been proven effective as an electrocatalyst for HER, OER, water splitting, CO2 reduction, and NH3 reduction reactions. Beyond this, borophene has found utility in bioimaging, biosensing, and various biomedical applications. A special emphasis will be given on the borophene nanoarchitectonics i.e. doped borophene and borophene-based hybrids with other 2D materials and nanoparticles and the theoretical understanding of these emerging materials systems to gain more insights on their electronic structure and properties, aiming to manipulate borophene for tailored applications
Beta activity in human anterior cingulate cortex mediates reward biases
Get PDFThe rewards that we get from our choices and actions can have a major influence on our future behavior. Understanding how reward biasing of behavior is implemented in the brain is important for many reasons, including the fact that diminution in reward biasing is a hallmark of clinical depression. We hypothesized that reward biasing is mediated by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a cortical hub region associated with the integration of reward and executive control and with the etiology of depression. To test this hypothesis, we recorded neural activity during a biased judgment task in patients undergoing intracranial monitoring for either epilepsy or major depressive disorder. We found that beta (12–30 Hz) oscillations in the ACC predicted both associated reward and the size of the choice bias, and also tracked reward receipt, thereby predicting bias on future trials. We found reduced magnitude of bias in depressed patients, in whom the beta-specific effects were correspondingly reduced. Our findings suggest that ACC beta oscillations may orchestrate the learning of reward information to guide adaptive choice, and, more broadly, suggest a potential biomarker for anhedonia and point to future development of interventions to enhance reward impact for therapeutic benefit
Investigating Adaptive Emotion Regulation as a Function of Context and Strategy
No full textEMBARGO NOTE: This item is embargoed until 2025-08-01Emotion regulation is important for well-being. Recent work has begun investigating adaptive emotion regulation as a function of situation and strategy factors, where individuals vary in emotion regulation strategy use and efficacy. My first aim was to assess how emotion regulation success varies in naturalistic contexts. Study 1 found that the strategy reinterpretation differentially impacted affect based on perceived stress. There is also a need for experimental work that employs strategic training based on the interplay between situation and strategy factors, so my second aim was to deliver emotion regulation training in such adaptive matching patterns in young adults via implementation intentions training. Study 2 supported findings from Study 1 and implementation success positively predicted affect. Study 2 was not powered to investigate any unique effects of training content. The studies discussed here offer insight into how the interaction between emotion regulation and situational contexts can impact well-being
Celts, Saxons, and Milesians: Orientalized Nationalism in Young Irelander Ballads
No full textIn resistance to the British Empire, the nineteenth-century political group known as Young Ireland promoted a bold Irish nationalism in their journal, The Nation, and ballad collection, The Spirit of the Nation. These ballads, intended to rejuvenate Irish musical culture, involved long-standing Orientalist pseudo-histories that traced Irish ancestry to eastern civilizations, namely the Phoenicians and Milesians. In opposition to British utilitarianism and white-on-white racism, these imagined identities helped articulate Young Ireland’s racial politics, as they interpolated a novel kind of nationalism into Irish traditional music. However, an examination of Young Ireland’s musical practices—their approach to setting traditional airs using recycled Jacobite poetic genres—reveals a friction in racial politics involving ideas of Orientalism, uplift, and Anglicization. These conclusions expand the current understandings of Orientalism in Irish music and lead to a deeper understanding of the complexities of Orientalism in Irish culture and history
Voting Intention and Election Concerns in Advance of the 2024 U.S. General Election
No full textAhead of the 2024 U.S. general election in November, the Kinder Institute surveyed eligible Houston and Harris County voters about their intention to vote. This study also looks at voters' concerns about the election that may impact their intention to vote
Measurements and modeling of passive nonlinear thermal devices: diodes and regulators
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the thermal science of three nonlinear thermal devices: the jumping droplet thermal diode (JDTD), the heterojunction diode, and the oscillating heat pipe (OHP). I use experiments and modeling to gain insight into physical mechanisms and characteristics that underpin thermal nonlinearities required for thermal rectification and regulation. Furthermore, in contrast to existing research that has primarily focused on understanding and improving the steady-state performance of thermal diodes and regulators, my work also considers the durability and transient performance of passive nonlinear thermal devices. I begin by discussing my work developing superhydrophobic aluminum surfaces with improved robustness against steam degradation. Using these surfaces in a JDTD, I parametrically study steady-state thermal rectification and demonstrate half-wave thermal rectification in response to an alternating current (ac) thermal input. Then, building on insight gained from half-wave thermal rectification experiments, I present our work studying the time-periodic thermal response of a heterojunction diode. Using analytical perturbation methods supported by finite element modeling, I show that a direct current (dc) heat flux emerges in response to an ac thermal input, and that this dc response may differ depending on which side the ac input is applied. The emergence of additional harmonics (e.g., dc heat flow) from a single harmonic input (i.e., sinusoidal temperature input) for nonlinear heat conduction in heterojunction diodes agrees with our half-wave thermal rectification measurements with the JDTD and could be useful for transient applications such as thermal energy storage. Lastly, I discuss my strain gauge and temperature measurements of an oscillating heat pipe (OHP). By correlating the strain frequency response with thermal resistance measurements as function of heat flow, I delineate the transition between operating regimes characterized by intermittent and stable fluid oscillations, which is responsible for strong nonlinearity and thermal regulatory behavior in OHPs. Overall, my research motivates to the need to conduct more nonlinear thermal device- and circuit-level research that complements steady-state demonstrations, such as transient thermal measurements and modeling and durability characterization
Monitoring Water Level of a Surficial Aquifer Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing and Ballistic Surface Waves
No full textGroundwater resources play an increasingly crucial role in providing the water required to sustain the environment. However, our understanding of the state of surficial aquifers and their spatiotemporal dynamics remains poor. In this study, we demonstrate how Rayleigh wave velocity variation can be used as a direct indicator of changes in the water level of a surficial aquifer in a discontinuous permafrost environment. Distributed acoustic sensing data, collected on a trenched fiber-optic cable in Fairbanks, AK, was processed using the multichannel analysis of surface waves approach to obtain temporal velocity variations. A semi-permanent surface orbital vibrator was utilized to provide a repeatable source of energy for monitoring. To understand the observed velocity perturbations, we developed a rock physics model (RPM) representing the aquifer with the underlying permafrost and accounting for physical processes associated with water level change. Our analyses demonstrated a strong correlation between precipitation-driven head variation and seismic velocity changes at all recorded frequencies. The proposed model accurately predicted a recorded 3% velocity increase for each 0.5 m of head drop and indicated that the pore pressure effect accounted for approximately 75% of the observed phase velocity change. Surface wave inversion and sensitivity analysis suggested that the high velocity contrast in the permafrost table shifts the surface wave sensitivity toward the first 3 m of soil where hydrological forcing occurs. This case study demonstrates how surface wave analysis combined with an RPM can be used for quantitative interpretation of the acoustic response of surficial aquifers