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  The Size Effect Hypothesis, Market Volatility and S&P 500 Sector Stock Returns: An Empirical Study, 2018-2022

  Breanne Greene, Mary Tully

  The size effect hypothesis states that small cap portfolios will outperform large cap portfolios over extended periods of time. In this study, because of the increased market volatility in recent years, we argue the hypothesis should be reversed i.e., portfolios of less risky large cap stocks will outperform more risky portfolios of small cap stocks. To prove or disprove our argument, we construct large and small cap portfolios across 8 S&P 500 sectors and compare their returns over the 5 year period 2018-2023. The 8 S&P 500 sectors are: (1) consumer staples, (2) consumer discretionary, (3) health care, (4) industrials, (5) information technology (6) real estate (7) communications and (8) financials.

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  The Size Effect Hypothesis, Market Volatility and S&P 500 Sector Stock Returns: An Empirical Study, 2018-2022

  Breanne Greene, Mary Tully

  The size effect hypothesis states that small cap portfolios will outperform large cap portfolios over extended periods of time. In this study, because of the increased market volatility in recent years, we argue the hypothesis should be reversed i.e., portfolios of less risky large cap stocks will outperform more risky portfolios of small cap stocks. To prove or disprove our argument, we construct large and small cap portfolios across 8 S&P 500 sectors and compare their returns over the 5 year period 2018-2022. The 8 S&P 500 sectors are: (1) consumer staples, (2), consumer discretionary, (3) health care, (4) industrials, (5) information technology, (6) real estate, (7) communications, and (8) financials.

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  The Stitt Scholars Program: Experiential Learning as a Tool for Transdisciplinary Deep Collaboration

  Abigail Swensen, George Meinert, Hong Anh Chu, Loring Leitzel, Tanner Hamilton, Melissa Oei, Ryan Grant, Gwendolyn Meiring, Christian Reynolds, Rachel Balaj, Harley Beaulieu, Gavin Mchale, Liam Schroeder, Joan Considine

  Entrepreneurs and startup companies typically have needs but sometimes lack the resources to execute them promptly. This could delay a product or service launch, leading to a missed opportunity to gain market share. Some of the needs are beyond their expertise and may require transdisciplinary teams to help them reach the next level. To help the startup companies and entrepreneurs in Dayton, the Stitt Scholars Program was instituted to provide opportunities for transdisciplinary teams to work with entrepreneurs and startup companies to provide value while learning about innovation and entrepreneurship. This session presents the framework of the program and analyzes the feedback from the major stakeholders. Student teams will present about some of the projects they have worked on during the 2022/23 academic year. During the academic year, the students in the program maintain their regular course load and put in 10 hours of work each week. They work on projects for and with entrepreneurs at the HUB (powered by the PNC Bank). The students are paid from the program’s fund donated by Jim and Carol Stitt. During the 2021/22 academic year, the students’ work helped to secure financial support from the PNC Bank to support minority-owned businesses in the greater west Dayton area. The program’s success also led to a donation of $100,000 to the program. Generally, the students have enhanced their communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Most students indicated that the program helps them critically review problems and communicate effectively in transdisciplinary teams. Additionally, the clients expressed satisfaction with the students’ work ethics and the quality of project deliverables.

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  The Theory Behind the Cape: The Ethics of DC Comics' Superman in Relation to Nietzsche's Moral Super-man

  Mary Newman

  For this project, the main question I set out to answer was is the DC Comic character Superman an accurate representation of Nietzsche’s Super-man theory? In his work Thus Spoke Zarathustra which was published in four volumes throughout the 1880s, Nietzsche explored the idea of a moral exemplar who would rise above other moral theories and create a new, superior set of morals for all humans. Nietzsche titled this moral exemplar the Übermensch, or Super-man. Beyond the name relation, it felt appropriate to analyze Superman’s ethics because Superman is a popular public figure that is often seen as a force of good with a strong moral compass, a seemingly perfect candidate to rise above humans and lead them to better morals as Nietzsche’s moral exemplar does. Superman’s dual identity as both a human, Clark Kent, and superhero also allows for a unique comparison between what ethics he has an ordinary citizen versus as a superhero. I argue that while Superman does meet some of Nietzsche’s criteria for the moral exemplar, such as Superman having an ethical advancement beyond Clark Kent, he does not meet all of them because Superman does not wish for all of humanity to adopt his ethics. Superman also differs from Nietzsche’s Super-man in that he never developed his ethical code with the intention to lead humanity into a new moral era, so while Superman may advance past typical human ethics, he does so with the intention of him being an exception not a leader which does not align with Nietzsche’s Super-man.

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  The Transition to a Renewable Energy Electric Grid in the Caribbean Island Nation of Antigua and Barbuda

  Patrick Hoody

  Most nations in the Caribbean rely largely on fossil fuels, specifically diesel, for power generation. The dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda does not differ in any manner from this, relying for 93% of its electricity on diesel generated electricity. Although small island states are responsible for only a vanishingly small amount of historical greenhouse gas emissions, as climate change continues to increase in severity, it is important for all nations to address the root of the issue by decreasing their carbon footprints. Fossil fuel prices have also been rising for some time, and there is little chance that this trend will stop. It will be beneficial to nations such as Antigua and Barbuda to transition to renewable energy to decrease electricity prices and help the fight against climate change. Nations in the Caribbean heavily favor renewables that rely on solar energy because of the daily sunshine all year long. The renewable energy technologies that are most economical and favorable to the region include wind energy and both solar photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP). This latter technology has rarely been considered for the region but could represent an important option. A model was developed to determine how much of certain technologies would be needed if the energy sector were to be redesigned and to be reliant on renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. This new system will also require energy storage such as utility-scale batteries and thermal storage used with CSP. Different combinations of technologies can accomplish this, but finding the best for each nation is the main purpose of this model.

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  The Values of Modern Eugenics

  James Leftwich

  The Values of Modern Eugenics In this project I will compare the values that influenced the eugenics movement of the early 1900s and the current movement to eradicate certain syndromes. I examine the work of Charles Davenport who was extremely influential in the Eugenics movement in the US. He was motivated by the goals of bettering humanity to create a super-race, solving social problems such as prostitution, alcoholism, criminality, and eliminating mental and bodily illnesses. He believed he could achieve them by means of forced sterilization, to prevent undesirable traits from being passed on to the next generation, and antiimmigration laws, to prevent immigration of people deemed inferior. These goals and the means for achieving them were based on the value of the superior Nordic European type of people, the ideal of an able body and mind, and a productive and efficient society. I compare the case of eugenics with the current movements to eradicate phenotypes that my lead to mental or bodily illnesses. I examine a famous program from Iceland that uses pre-natal screening technologies to help expecting mothers to test their fetuses for the Down syndrome and then decide whether to abort them. The program has nearly eradicated babies with the Down syndrome. This program is not mandatory. Supporters of the program argue that it makes the lives of the parents easier and helps to eliminate the financial burden on parents, especially those who cannot afford the extra care needed. I show that the values that underlie this program are trying to decrease the perceived burden these illnesses pose on society. I conclude by showing that the current programs to eradicate undesired syndromes assume values that are like the eugenics movement, but are dissimilar due to being voluntary, yet social expectations incentivize participation in them.

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  The Vulnerable Dark Triad and Empathy: Two Moderated-Mediation Models

  Elizabeth Bond

  The vulnerable dark triad (VDT) is a group of maladaptive personality styles consisting of vulnerable narcissism, secondary psychopathy, and borderline personality disorder, which has been found to be associated with empathic deficits. Past research has investigated a wide range of factors that may contribute to these deficits, such as alexithymia (the inability to identify or describe one’s own emotions), an invalidating childhood environment, negative mood state, anxiety, and self-compassion. However, a cohesive model linking these factors together has not yet been developed and investigated. The current study tested two moderated-mediation models with the goal of further understanding the association between the VDT and empathic deficits. In the first model, we hypothesized that alexithymia would mediate the relationship between the VDT and empathy (HY1), and that invalidating childhood environment would moderate the path from the VDT to alexithymia (HY2). In the second model, we hypothesized that negative mood states and state anxiety would mediate the relationship between the VDT and empathy (HY3), and that state self-compassion would moderate the path from the VDT to negative mood states and state anxiety. These models were tested using a college student sample of 236 participants who completed a collection of self-report measures online. Results partially supported Hypothesis 1, as alexithymia was found to mediate the relationship between both BPD tendencies and vulnerable narcissism, and affective empathy. The results of remaining mediation and moderated-mediation analyses did not support Hypotheses 2, 3, or 4.

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  The Wedding at Cana

  Sarah West, Kristeena Bright, Liana Yara

  Students in the CMM 357 Religious Rhetoric course were given the choice to choose a statue, building, space/place on campus that is marked as a religious text/artifact or propose a new object of visual rhetoric in order to analyze using the rhetorical theories from class. Thier analyses employ a variety of rhetorical theories and concepts discussed in class during the semester. Each group collaborated to answer the question: how does this artifact/text rhetorically communicate and construct religious identity at UD?

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  Think Fast Before You Jump

  Caleb Hoch, Gretchen Obergefell

  We will explore fire safety techniques for multistory buildings. In order to problem solve we will incorporate the physics topics of impulse and momentum. Students will have to explore the mathematical inverse relationship between force and time. Students will explore the safety of families when escaping a burning building. Students will have to design a device that can decrease the force or increase the impact time. This device must be able to support the fall of a family of two adults and two children from the average height of a two story window. This will help students connect the physics concept of impulse to real-world situations and help others.

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  Tilt Angle Optimization for Bifacial Solar in an Array for Every County of the United States

  Sidhanth Venkatasubramaniam, Sabin Satheesh

  In the 21st century, governments worldwide are striving to become more reliant on renewable energy technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, address climate change, and decrease their carbon footprint. Photovoltaic (PV) technology is gaining more attention, despite PV panels consuming significant land resources, while expanding populations require more land for agriculture. In this research, we focus on bifacial solar panels, as they generate relatively high power per square area, reducing the payback period. Bifacial panels can convert the irradiances falling on both the front and back surfaces into electricity. Although there are many studies in the field of tilt optimization and types of PV panels used, there is a lack of research focusing on a bifacial panel array. Our primary objective is to develop a model of bifacial panels to predict the power generated, and our secondary objective is to use that model to find the optimum tilt for every county in the United States and explore the effects of climate, temperature, and latitude. To calculate the ideal tilt angle for various locations across the country, we used a combination of modeling and simulation techniques in Python, including a Python optimization tool. Our findings indicate that the ideal tilt angle for bifacial solar panels in an array varies considerably depending on the location. Our data can be used to optimize the setup and operation of bifacial solar panels in the US, resulting in more cost-effective and efficient energy production.

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  Tree-ring analysis of larch dynamics following stand replacing fire in the Siberian arctic

  Anna Pallone

  Larix cajanderi (Mayr; Cajander larch) is the northernmost occurring tree in the world and is an important species in northeastern Siberia, a region that has experienced rapid rates of warming due to climate change. In many areas of the geographic distribution of this species, it overlays carbon rich permafrost, and the dynamics of this species can influence carbon release in these rapidly changing ecosystems, thus understanding establishment dynamics in this species has strong implications for forest ecology. Forest dynamics in stands of L. cajanderi are thought to be driven by regeneration in high light and optimal soil conditions that are created following stand-replacing fires. Here we used tree-ring analysis to document long-term establishment and growth dynamics in L. cajanderi. Tree core samples were collected in 2019 from 44 L. cajanderi trees located along the northern portion of the Kolyma River (69.5477°N 161.3641°E) south of where the river enters the Arctic Ocean. Samples were surfaced and images were created, then analyzed to collect tree growth measurements. We assessed stand dynamics and were specifically interested in using patterns of establishment and growth to infer stand conditions necessary for regeneration and canopy accession. The oldest stem in the site initiated in 1797 and we found evidence of sporadic establishment punctuated with a pulse of trees initiating ca. 1930. Nearly all trees in our collection exhibited rapid early growth indicating establishment in high-light conditions; however, older stems in the stand demonstrated some evidence of suppression and release during canopy development. Overall, these data suggest the potential for complex linkages between forest regeneration, establishment, and canopy formation. Future work is needed to link these patterns to disturbance processes including fire and to develop recommendations for forest management in the under-studied L. cajanderi forests of the Siberian Arctic.

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  Type and Timing of Traumatic Experiences: Influence on Distress Tolerance

  Lucas Marinack

  Background: Traumatic experiences are linked to a multitude of negative outcomes with many potential mediators. Distress tolerance (DT), has emerged to be strongly associated with a plethora of trauma-related outcomes. DT is defined as one’s perceived or actual ability to withstand negative internal states such as feeling frustrated or worried (Berenz et al., 2017). DT can be measured both subjectively and behaviorally. Specifics of traumatic experiences such as the nature or type of the traumatic event (Berenz et al., 2017), one’s age at the time of the trauma exposure (Dunn et al., 2018), and the relationship to your perpetrator if applicable (Gamache Martin et al., 2016) may be related to DT. This study will analyze: 1) The effect of type and timing of a traumatic event on DT 2) Among victims of interpersonal violence, if the relationship to the perpetrator affects DT. 3) If findings are consistent for subjective and behavioral DT measures. Methods: Participants in this study were recruited using multiple participant recruitment methods. Undergraduate students and a community sample were recruited to participate via the SONA system and ResearchMatch respectively. Participants completed the secured electronic survey materials online along with providing demographic information. Participants completed a questionnaire asking about past traumatic experiences including the type of event(s), age at the time of event(s), and relationship to the perpetrator of violence where applicable. Participants also completed the Distress Tolerance Scale, and the Mirror Tracing Persistence Task to assess subjective and behavioral DT respectively Significance: Despite the link between trauma and many negative outcomes via DT, there is a stark paucity in the literature on what generally influences DT, and even less regarding traumatic experiences’ influence on DT. Understanding how this transdiagnostic mechanism is developed and maintained may give us additional insight into how traumatic experiences lead to negative outcomes.

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  Un-bee-lievable Ways Location Impacts Pollinators: Identifying Key Geographical Features That Promote Insect Pollinator Activity at Existing Agricultural Sites in an Urban Environment.

  Samantha Urquidez

  Background/Questions/Methods:On a global level, urbanization is increasing exponentially. As urban centers expand, agricultural areas are broken up and oftentimes overlap with urban and peri-urban areas. With urban agriculture becoming more prevalent, there is concern regarding the impact on insect pollinator biodiversity and abundance in these urban environments. There is currently little research looking at the classification of agriculture within urban and peri-urban areas as well as the land use surrounding these areas and how these factors impact pollinator activity. In the area surrounding Dayton, Ohio, 15 agricultural sites will be classified based on surrounding population density and land use. Using ArcGIS, data from the National Land Cover Database 2019, and the most up-to-date Census block group data for the counties of Miami, Montgomery, and Greene. Agricultural sites will be classified into urban, peri-urban, and rural based on population density, and the land use surrounding each site will be calculated into percentages based on developed areas, pollinator habitat, and water. Biological data will also be collected at each of these sites to estimate pollinator activity in the form of timed observations, pan traps, and passive netting. Each of these classifications will help us understand how geographical features impact insect pollinators in an urban agricultural setting. Results: The results suggest land use rather than population density shows a larger impact on pollinator activity at agricultural sites. Areas, where the surrounding area provided stable resources such as habitat and water, showed higher pollinator abundance than areas surrounded by developed urban areas with limited resources. Having water in the surrounding area of the agricultural sites also resulted in higher pollinator activity than in areas without a stable water resource. It is important to know what geographical factors impact pollinator activity levels so they can be considered when suggesting sites for future urban agriculture endeavors.

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  Understanding Cryptocurrency Price via Contextual Information

  Rupal Dubey

  In today's economic market, the determination to purchase or trade cryptocurrency is an exciting challenge encountered by day traders. The prices of cryptocurrencies depend on technical progress, internal contest, market intimidation, financial problems, safety issues, political elements, etc. Therefore, their increased volatility guides the great possibility of high profit if intelligent inventing methods are taken. Unfortunately, compared to conventional financial projections like stock market predictions, cryptocurrencies are relatively challenging to predict because they lack indexes. In the past, the research community only considered cryptocurrencies for predicting crypto prices. A systematic publications review procedure is used to identify relevant peer-reviewed journal articles from the past twenty years, evaluate and categorize studies with identical strategies and contexts, and then resemble the reflections in each class to specify common findings, unique findings, constraints, and areas that need further investigation. This will provide artificial intelligence and finance researchers with guidance for future research into using ML techniques to predict stock market index importance and trends. In this work, I am taking other stocks, i.e., Gasoline, Oil, Gold, Silver, and all Big IT firms, along with the ten cryptocurrencies, into our consideration for predicting the crypto prices.I am building a model which will give insight to the investors and traders not only in the cryptocurrency market but in others contextual market also. I have introduced a few new methods in building the machine learning model for the forecasting of cryptocurrency. This model can incorporate other stocks, i.e., Gasoline, Oil, Gold, Silver, and all Big IT firms' stocks.

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  Understanding the Barrier to Integrating Empathy Education into Pre-Medical Curriculum

  Angela Galluzzo

  The overwhelming consensus in healthcare research over the past two decades supports that healthcare providers demonstrating empathy is an integral component of quality of care and health outcomes (Reiss). The benefits of empathy in patient-provider relationships range from stronger immune responses from patients to a lowered burden on the healthcare system to fewer malpractice lawsuits against providers (Reiss). Even with this research suggesting that providers should be empathetic in patient interactions, there are barriers to implementation. The barrier that my research will focus on is time–specifically how time constraints throughout professional schooling prevent a broad education that would teach providers how to best demonstrate empathy to patients. My work focuses on a literature review to understand why empathy should be studied as the marker for success in patient-provider relationships and how empathy competency is being taught and subsequently measured in clinical practice. I, then, investigate time as the inescapable barrier to empathy education. With this foundational knowledge, I propose a recommendation that focuses on integrating empathy education, focusing on empathy as an attainable, measurable skill, into the pre-medical curriculum at universities.

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  University Libraries Dean's Showcase Exhibiting Excellence: A New Special Collection in University Archives

  Sara Wolf, Elena Bellisario

  Professor Suki Kwon from the Department of Art and Design, and students Sara Wolf and Elena Bellisario are engaged in an independent study of a new special collection held in University Archives. An artist’s book is a medium of artistic expression that uses the form or function of “book” as inspiration. It is the artistic initiative seen in the illustration, choice of materials, creation process, layout and design that makes it an art object. The University Libraries acquired the collection this summer and since then Suki has been working with Sara and Elena to create a catalog of the books and to plan for an exhibit that will be held in the Rose Gallery.

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  University Libraries Dean’s Showcase Exhibiting Excellence: Juggling for Mary: Vocation, Gifts, and Performing for Our Lady (Clown of God)

  Kendall Kiss, Mary Horvath, Brynne Kessler

  Students from several disciplines became involved with the Marian Library’s 2022 Christmas exhibit, Juggling for Mary: Vocation, Gifts, and Performing for Our Lady. Centered on a medieval story about a humble juggler in a monastery who struggles to find an appropriate Christmas gift to present to the Virgin Mary, the tale has been adapted and retold through operas, movies, and in contemporary times, many children’s stories. The students in Professor Mary-Kate Sableski and Jennifer Adams course, Foundations of Literacy through Literature, engaged in several experiential learning activities connected to the exhibit. They examined versions of the story from different time periods to explore how the language, morals, and illustrations of children’s literature has evolved. They performed read-alouds in the exhibit space for visiting school groups, selecting books to connect to diverse audiences. Finally, they created a StoryWalk, combining literacy and physical activity, with panels of Tomie dePaola’s Clown of God and activity prompts displayed across campus.

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  University Libraries Dean's Showcase Exhibiting Excellence: Juggling for Mary: Vocation, Gifts, and Performing for Our Lady (Simple Gifts)

  Logan Groff

  Students from several disciplines became involved with the Marian Library’s 2022 Christmas exhibit, Juggling for Mary: Vocation, Gifts, and Performing for Our Lady. Centered on a medieval story about a humble juggler in a monastery who struggles to find an appropriate Christmas gift to present to the Virgin Mary, the tale has been adapted and retold through operas, movies, and in contemporary times, many children’s stories. Inspired by the theme of gifts, Professor Jerome Yorke directed a new play, titled “Simple Gifts,” which was actually a pop-up performance in the Rose Gallery exhibit space for two nights in November. A cast and crew of UD students interacted with the audience in a performance that included everything from popcorn to puppetry.

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  University Libraries Dean's Showcase Exhibiting Excellence: Rituals of Healing: Body, Mind, Spirit

  Joseph Giagrande, Kevin Brun, Madelaine Sprinkle, Kaden Riggins

  This exhibit Rituals of Healing: Body, Mind, Spirit is a collaboration between assistant professor of English, Liz Hutter, and the University Libraries. This project is the result of over two years of planning that began after Professor Hutter brought her research writing seminar class to the Marian Library in the spring of 2020. Students explored primary source artifacts connected to aspects of health and healing right before students at UD were sent home due to the coronavirus pandemic.While practicing writing as a model of inquiry and discovery, students from Hutter’s first year writing seminar course in Fall 2022 curated this selection of artifacts and wrote narratives to explore what individuals or groups believe about religion, medical expertise, and healing of the body, mind and spirit.

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  University Students' Perceptions of Non-Native Speaking Teachers of English: A Step Towards Social Justice

  Alaa Bader

  English is the global language taught throughout the world by native speakers; however, it is also increasingly taught by multilingual teachers for whom English is not their first language. Problems can arise in TESOL classrooms when students question an international instructor’s qualifications; some evenly prefer native-speaking English teachers despite the knowledge and expertise of their international TESOL instructors. TESOL teachers also encounter other kinds of bias related to their race, ethnicity, or different religious practices. These forms of prejudice can be overtly expressed in the classroom but can also be evidenced in teaching evaluations. Such experiences can lead an instructor to question whether their pedagogies are out of alignment, or if the source of students' negative perceptions might create an overwhelming and unhealthy environment. Therefore, it is worth knowing whether the attitudes or behaviors students display in a non-native English teacher's class seem to be particularly inflected with potential connections with racism, and how teachers might reduce student bias of American English speakers and the “native” identity as a marker of professional excellence. The author collected data from her personal vignettes and Students Evaluation of Teachers (SET) of her two composition classes in the 2021 Fall semester. The data were examined using an autoethnographic methodology, and they demonstrate the existence of both explicit and implicit bias toward the teacher. The project concludes with some recommendations for ways to offer support and resources to TESOL faculty in higher education.

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  Unveil

  Kurtis Neiman

  This project shines a light on internal struggles that many of us deal with daily, yet are rarely acknowledged. On the surface people present the best version of themselves, for work, for family, for friends. Many of us have to find moments alone to process and understand our experiences. This project creates space for people and encourages normalizing sharing your struggles with others. The images are backlit with a pulsing light - acting as a metaphor that illustrates how struggles come and go from the forefront to the background unnoticeable but always lingering. The exhibition's dark lighting creates a vulnerable space for these struggles and invites viewers to reflect on their own experiences within the images. My goal for this project is to invite people to normalize talking about their struggles so everyone can get the help they deserve. NO ONE IS ALONE!

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  Use sensors, measure temperature and humidity, collect sensor data, and visualize and analyze data on IoT platforms

  Haolin Liu

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  Using a Drosophila melanogaster Model to Study the Effects of Nanoparticle Ingestion on Survival and Development

  Brandon Clark; other authors: Arushi Rai, Soubantika Palchoudahry, Madhuri Kango-Singh

  Nanoparticles are tiny (in the range of 5–100 nm) particles composed of inorganic (e.g., metals, oxide compounds, carbon-based nanotubes) and/or organic substances. They hold potential as small, biologically-compatible particles to which drugs and other chemicals could be attached. The eukaryotic model organism Drosophila melanogaster (aka the fruit fly) has a genome that is over 60% homologous to that of humans, with about 75% of human disease-causing genes having homologs in flies. With a brief generation time of only 12 days and high female fecundity (about 100 eggs per day), D. melanogaster is a convenient model to study development in the context of genetics and also effects of chemical exposure/toxicity on development. We are using this model organism to test nanoparticles and their biological effects on different stages of life and survival. For this study, gold (Au), iron oxide (Fe2O3), zinc oxide (ZnO), and poly-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA) were selected for testing in Canton-S fruit flies. Nanoparticle concentrations of 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg were fed to first instar larvae by layering the nano-materials on the fly food to test for any toxic effects or changes in survival following ingestion or prolonged exposure in comparison to control flies. At all concentrations, there was no significant effect on the survival of nanoparticle-fed larvae in comparison to the control (non-fed larvae). In the future, we will use a food dye to mark nanomaterials, and use immunohistochemistry and confocal imaging in the third instar larva stage to analyze the effects of nanoparticle exposure on several tissues, including the intestinal gut, salivary glands, and the fat body. We will also study whether larvae fed nanoparticles show developmental delays in comparison to control flies. Overall, this system provides a platform for testing toxicity in a simple whole-organism model system.

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  Using the Five-Choice Serial Reaction Time Test (5CSRTT) to Assess the Behavioral Impact of Chronic SERCA Activation in Mice

  Ben Klocke, Hayden Ott

  Calcium (Ca2+) is a critical ionic messenger implicated in a wide variety of cellular processes including gene transcription, muscle contraction, and neurotransmitter release. A Ca2+-handling player of particular interest is the sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA), an intracellular regulator of Ca2+ homeostasis that functions by sequestering Ca2+ into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Indeed, previous research has implicated dysfunction of SERCA regulation as a contributor to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and neurodevelopmental disorders including Autism-spectrum disorder (ASD). In the current study, we sought to investigate how chronic pharmacological activation of SERCA may affect executive functioning in mice. Mice of both sexes were chronically administered the small allosteric SERCA activator CDN1163 and were then subjected to behavioral testing by use of the five-choice serial reaction time test (5CSRTT), a learned task that can be used to assess behaviors including attention and impulsivity. The results of this study contribute to our ongoing investigations into the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms implicating SERCA in the underlying mechanisms of complex neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders.

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  Using Transgenic Mouse Models to Dissect a Novel Calcium Signaling Pathway in the Mouse Brain

  Ben Klocke

  Calcium (Ca2+) ions comprise a critical second messenger involved in a constellation of cellular processes, including cell proliferation and death, metabolism, and gene expression. Naturally, neuronal Ca2+ signaling is vital in processes such as long-term potentiation (LTP) and synaptic transmission, among others. A critical key component of the neuronal Ca2+ handling toolkit is the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase 2 (SERCA) pump. Further, dysfunction of SERCA2 has been implicated in many brain pathologies. Interestingly, our group has identified a regulator of SERCA2 being expressed in the mouse thalamus; global genetic ablation of this gene (GKO) in mice results in an ADHD-like behavioral phenotype. Our lab has recently developed a novel Cre-LoxP conditional knockout mouse model (cKO) to assess the effects of this Ca2+-handling player in the brain. Behavioral analysis of cKO mice showed that they exhibit locomotor hyperactivity and altered sleep architecture. Further, testing in the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), a behavioral paradigm used to assess attentional capacity and impulsivity, showed that cKO mice exhibit impulsivity. Altogether, these findings strongly support a novel role for this Ca2+-handling player in the regulation of brain function and behavioral processes.