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Interactions Between Adolescent Alcohol Consumption, Corticosterone, and Later Stress Sensitivity
Get PDFAdolescence is characterized by many socio-emotional and neurobiological changes that often coincide with increased amounts of stress and the onset of alcohol use. Stress has been known to modulate alcohol intake, although the literature regarding this directionality is mixed. Both alcohol and stress can have lasting impacts on HPA axis activation (alterations in stress reactivity) and neuroimmune function (microglial sensitization). It has yet to be evaluated how concurrent ethanol and stress (recapitulated through oral corticosterone (CORT) administration) modulates alcohol intake and impacts later stress sensitivity and microglial sensitization. It was hypothesized that chronic concurrent ethanol and CORT drinking would (1) alter ethanol intake, such that the higher concentrations of CORT would increase ethanol intake the most; (2) blunt HPA axis activation in response to restraint; and (3) sensitize microglia in the PVN. A single bottle chronic intermittent ethanol and CORT drinking paradigm was performed with adolescent female Sprague-Dawley rats to determine the modulation of ethanol intake by concurrent ethanol and CORT drinking. Following the paradigm and a brief period of abstinence, a 30-minute restraint challenge was administered to all rats, followed by rapid collection of blood plasma to evaluate peak CORT levels for stress reactivity. Lastly, RT-PCR was used to detect differential expression of microglial-associated genes in the PVN to investigate microglial sensitization. The study revealed that the addition of 25 μg/mL CORT to 10% EtOH increases total ethanol intake. There were no changes in plasma CORT levels following restraint or microglial-associated gene expression (e.g., IL1-β & IL-6) in the PVN, displaying that no physiological changes occurred from the concurrent ethanol and CORT drinking paradigm. The results of this study implicate that low-level, intermittent HPA axis activation can increase adolescent susceptibility for alcohol use but does not impact physiological function
Open Repository @ Binghamton Monthly Additions and Top Downloads - July 2024
Get PDFNewly added work in the Open Repository @ Binghamton (ORB) from 7/1/2024-7/31/2024. Top downloads from same time frame
Rising cases of drug-induced pulmonary fibrosis: Analysis of the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database, 2000–2022
Get PDFPurpose Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a severe, progressive disease, which may be caused by exposure to certain medications. Methods We queried the U.S. FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from 2000 to 2022, using the search terms “pulmonary fibrosis” and “idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis” and excluded reports with patients under the age of 18 years, and patients with unknown sex or age. Reports were sorted by generic drug names, counted, and plotted over time using a best-fit trendline based on an exponential function. Results From 2000 to 2022, there were 24 095 935 adverse drug events reported in FAERS, of which 17 520 (0.07%) were reported as PF. After excluding reports containing patients with unknown age (5255, 30%), sex (122, 0.7%), and age below 18 years old (155, 0.9%), our study included 11 988 reports. The mean age of the study sample was 66.5 ± 13.1 years, and 6248 patients (52.1%) were male. Plotting the 11 988 reports by year revealed an exponential best fit line (R2 = 0.88) with a positive slope over time. The top five drug classes associated with PF were disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs, 39.4%), antineoplastic agents (26.4%), cardiovascular agents (12.6%), corticosteroids (4.6%), and immunosuppressive agents (4.0%). Conclusion A 23-year analysis of the FAERS database revealed exponentially increasing adverse event reports of PF. Significant annual increases in reporting of PF suspected with DMARDs and antineoplastic agents were identified. Our study highlights important trends, which should be used to guide PF research related to drugs of potential importance
College Students’ Perception of Autistic Adults Using Word Association Frequency Analyses
Get PDFAutistic college students may be negatively impacted by peer stigma due to a lack of knowledge and limited understanding of Autism (Kuzminski et al., 2019). Research on autism stigma has revealed that non-autistic peers of all ages make ‘thin-slice judgments’ about autistic individuals resulting in reduced intentions to pursue social interaction (Sasson et al., 2017). Improving understanding of how non-autistic students perceive their autistic peers may be useful to inform future efforts to educate non-autistic students and reduce stigma. The aim of this study was to assess non-autistic students’ perception of their autistic peers by using NVivo software to analyze word associations used to describe autism. A total of 822 words were collected from participants. The most used adjectives to describe autism were smart (N=76), awkward (N=28), and sensitive (N=27). The results indicate that common stereotypes associated with autism concern primarily social and cognitive abilities.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2024/1000/thumbnail.jp
An Essay Towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language: The Rise and Fall of Languages
Get PDFLanguage changes over time. Philosopher John Wilkins developed a language that was intended to be “universal”. But why? In 1668, a time in which the Lingua Franca was gradually transitioning from Latin to French, Wilkins wrote An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language. In this essay, Wilkins proposes a language that he intended would be used by scholars all across Europe as a result of the fear that Latin would no longer suffice as the language of scholars. However, his language did not become prominent whatsoever. This research will analyze Wilkins’ language to discover why his language failed and the complications with it that resulted in its failure. Examining his language and other languages, this project can find what causes languages to grow, change, as well as fall and fail. However, not all is lost in Wilkins’ language as his standard unit became the basis of the Metric System.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2024/1024/thumbnail.jp
How Federal Law Assess Animal Pain: The Case of Lab Animals
Get PDFUS federal and state laws distinguish lab animals from companion animals, livestock, zoo animals, and wild animals. As a result, similar forms of suffering and abuse are treated as legally different depending on the species and its relation to humans, despite the fact that all mammals feel pain similarly (and evidence suggests birds and fish do as well). This research examines one aspect of this uneven legal patchwork by reviewing legal statutes and rulings from laboratory animal abuse cases. In the 1980s, significant changes were made to the Animal Welfare Act, the key federal law regulating lab animals, and this project seeks to understand how courts have taken account of the suffering of laboratory animals since these reforms. Additionally, this research explores how other legal statutes on animal testing compare with the Animal Welfare Act, to understand how their recognition of animal suffering corresponds or differs.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2024/1037/thumbnail.jp
Doodling on the Word of God: Marks of Use in a 1589 Breeches Bible
Get PDFThe practice of annotating and writing in books has been around since humans first decided to write and the 1589 Breeches Bible in Special Collections is rich with annotations and marks of use from its past owners. This Bible can be used as a window to look into the lives of these people from hundreds of years ago allowing us to better understand their lives, ideas, and philosophies. Using the signatures of past owners, this research attempts to uncover the origins of the book and the identities of the owners and annotators of this book. This project also examined the origins of a multitude of philosophical phrases that appear throughout the Bible. This Bible serves as a prime example of the historical willingness to write on all books (including the Bible), and how marks of use can be used to examine historical people and philosophical ideas.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2024/1061/thumbnail.jp
How Sympathy Lost its Luster: A Linguistic and Cultural Review
Get PDFSince the mid-20th century, the term, “empathy” has gained widespread usage and applause as a cultural virtue. In recent decades, its usage has even surpassed sympathy, which has been in English for centuries longer. While sympathy was once praised as a source of social harmony, it is increasingly associated with attitudes of pity and condensation. Whereas sympathy currently involves feeling for the sufferer, empathy requires putting yourself in the shoes of another. It is clear sympathy has undergone a semantic shift, the linguistic term for when a word takes on additional meanings over time. But how and when did this happen? This research tracks the evolution of the cultural meanings of sympathy throughout the past century by examining its usage in dictionaries, literature, and psychological writings. In particular, it is examined how the connotation of sympathy has shifted from positive to negative.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2024/1069/thumbnail.jp
Buffalo Snowfall
Get PDFThis research project investigates the relationship between climate change and snowfall patterns in Buffalo, New York, focusing on the frequency, duration, and intensity of snowfall events. The study also explores the potential impacts of these changing weather patterns on the cultural fabric of Buffalo and its local ski industry. The research aims to address gaps in understanding how climate change is affecting snowfall dynamics and its broader implications for society and the environment. Through meteorological data analysis and literature review, it was observed that rising global temperatures are contributing to more intense and frequent snowstorms in the region. By identifying trends and impacts, this study aims to contribute valuable insights for adaptive strategies and policy decisions to address the challenges posed by climate change on regional climates and societal well-being.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2024/1074/thumbnail.jp
Negative Income Tax: An Answer to Public Sector Inefficiency in Developing Countries
Get PDFPublic assistance programs are increasingly prevalent in developing countries, though some are not as impactful as they might be due to program inefficiencies. These inefficiencies often stem from the high administrative costs of bureaucratic government institutions as well as from high targeting errors in directing benefits to eligible recipients. This research considers a negative income tax (NIT)––which reverses the tax flow to pay filers below a certain income threshold––as a solution to these inefficiencies that would allow governments to allocate valuable resources to those who need them most. This analysis delves into the causes of public sector inefficiency in developing countries, using Argentina as a case study. Based on Argentinian government budget data, this research estimates the funds that could be saved by transforming various in-kind public benefits into an NIT and discusses the considerable benefits, and several drawbacks, of this possible reform.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2024/1078/thumbnail.jp