Athletic Training Programs (ATPs) are rigorous and demanding, sometimes effecting athletic training students’ (ATS) quality of life. Use of unhealthy coping further decreases life quality. Understanding ATS coping strategies during elevated stress periods helps with determining healthy, safe coping strategies. This information can help ATP educators structure program content and clinical rotations. To gather this information, this study examines ATS mood state changes and coping while completing an ATP. 17 undergraduate ATS participated in this study. The Profile of Mood States (POMS) is a 65-item questionnaire, measuring mood states on a 5-level scale: not at all, a little, moderately, quite a bit, and extremely. POMS scores 6 mood states: tension-anxiety, depression-dejection, anger-hostility, fatigue-inertia, confusion-bewilderment, and vigor-activity. The Brief COPE questionnaire consists of 28 questions on stress coping strategies. This measures on a 4-point scale, one signifying the practice never occurs, and 4 showing the student uses the strategy often. COPE illustrates stress management through: self-distraction, active coping, denial, substance use, emotional support, instrumental support, behavioral disengagement, venting, positive reframing, planning, humor, acceptance, religion, or self-blame. Questionnaires were completed in September, October, December, and February. Mean POMS scores reflect increased tension-anxiety, depression-dejection, anger-hostility, fatigue-inertia, confusion-bewilderment and total mood disturbance mid-semester. Throughout the semester, vigor-activity decreased. Mean COPE scores show acceptance, planning, positive reframing, emotional support, active coping and self-distraction strategies to manage stress. Substance abuse, self-blame, venting, and denial strategies were rare. Being an ATS is stressful due to long hours, clinical rotations, classes, and limited personal time. Our results suggest throughout the semester anger, depression and fatigue replaces vigor. This affects ATS personally and their professional care of patients. ATS in this study demonstrate various coping strategies such as emotional support and self-distraction to manage stressors. If applied, these findings could improve ATS lives and help them handle program stressors.

There is an ongoing dichotomy in society between the autonomous rights of the individual and the collective rights of the people. Contained within this conflict is the topic of eugenics, defined as the improvement of a population via controlled reproduction in order to propagate desired heritable characteristics. In today's society, the idea may seem abhorrent and out of favor, but the pro-eugenics argument held sway in the United States in the early 1900's. This presentation will review the history and ethical justifications of the early eugenics movement, and examine its implications today. This becomes significant when considering the current political landscape as socialist movements arguably become more prevalent. Are we straying back toward the ideals that promoted such a mentality?

Sporadic mutations in methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) cause Rett Syndrome a severe, neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by loss of motor and language skills, unusual stereotyped movements, autistic features, anxiety, and aggression. Duplication of the MeCP2 gene in males results in mental retardation, autistic behaviors, stereotyped hand movements and anxiety-related behaviors. The population prevalence of MeCP2 mutations is unknown. In addition, the mechanism by which mutations in the MeCP2 protein, MeCP2 protein levels, or whether neuronal or glial MeCP2 expression changes cause disease phenotypes is unclear.

Astrocytes are a type of glia found throughout the brain. Astrocytes provide neurons with nutrients, guide their development, and maintain signaling conditions at synapses. Because interactions between glia and neurons are essential for many critical brain functions, we proposed that MeCP2 activity in astroctyes causes gene expression changes that alter the function of neighboring neurons. Using the UAS-Gal4 binary expression system we can express wildtype and mutant human MeCP2 (hMeCP2) protein in Drosophila astrocytes. We demonstrated that wildtype hMeCP2 causes sleep and aggression behavioral changes. Using MeCP2 antibody labeling, we can visualize MeCP2 expression in specific neurons and glial cells in the adult brain.

High levels of MeCP2 expression were expected in astrocytes throughout the brain. Instead, expression was reduced and restricted to the subesophageal ganglion (SOG) region. The reduction was present in brains expressing the wildtype and mutant MeCP2R106W allele, but not the MeCP2Δ166 allele. The MeCP2Δ166 allele lacks the N-terminus and methyl-binding domain. We utilized qPCR on transcripts of whole brains expressing different hMeCP2 forms. Wildtype MeCP2 mRNA was present in brains exhibiting reduced expression indicating that reduced MeCP2 protein expression is not due to a transcription defect. A mechanism that regulates MeCP2 expression would be clinically relevant to MeCP2 disorders. My results may be extrapolated to human beings via conserved cellular mechanisms.

The exotic parasite Myxobolus cerebralis, better known as whirling disease, can be lethal to certain fish species and remains a threat to salmonid populations in the United States. The parasite has had especially detrimental effects on populations in the genus Oncorhynchus (i.e. rainbow trout and westslope cutthroat trout) in some watersheds of western and central Montana, such as the Madison River and Rock Creek. Following the 1995 detection of M. cerebralis in the Blackfoot River, monitoring sites were established to measure its extent and severity in the river. Over the last two decades, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has sampled the fish community in many of the same streams. Using these data we evaluated salmonid community trends in 11 streams with records of either low or high whirling disease infection levels. High infection levels have been demonstrated to have population level impacts. Previous to infection, in the late 1980s, Oncorhynchus species were dominant throughout the river, but over this time period brown trout (Salmo trutta) have become more abundant. To evaluate the potential role of whirling disease as a driver of fish community shifts in tributaries, we examined changes in community composition in streams with low to no infection levels versus high infection levels. We predicted that whirling disease resistant species such as brown trout would be the dominant species in tributaries with higher infection levels and that susceptible species (Oncorhynchus spp.) would remain the dominant species in tributaries with low infection levels. In our study, salmonid community composition changes did not appear to be strongly driven by whirling disease. Other biotic or abiotic factors are likely the primary drivers of community composition in these tributaries.

City planning continuously struggles to keep up with factors like population growth, changing demographics, a volatile economy and new technology. In an urban environment, problems are difficult to predict, and only become evident after the plans are in place. Facing constant challenges, planners must constantly play catch up. Due to arduous bureaucratic processes and constant demands—both public and private— and an oftentimes-unaware public, the discipline of city planning can become outdated and isolated from the very people it serves.

Today, social media is emerging as a resource for planners, allowing them to think about cities in an entirely new way. Thanks to the real-time, individualized data it creates, planners can use social media to update, create and modify current plans like never before.

This project analyzes social media’s effect on city planning and urban design. By analyzing publicly accessible social media applications like Austin TX’s SNAPPatx and Melbourne, Australia’s FutureMelbourne, along with academically developed tools such as Carnegie Mellon’s Livehoods, this report created a comprehensive picture of social media’s reach into planning. Additionally, this report analyzes the ethical considerations of social media on a broader scale. Online ethics are hard to define. Since social media primarily resides online, examining the ethical limitations and issues surrounding social media is critical.

By comparing a planning project’s initial intention to its actual result, this report assesses its success. For example, the SNAPPatx app allows residents to update other residents on events in Austin like accidents or delays. These data can then be used to find hotspots of these events, and new plans can be created proactively. Using new tools to examine the before and after of these situations shows that social media is in fact a viable resource for planners today and into the future.