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An RNA thermometer is a secondary structure of noncoding RNA that can regulate gene expression at the translational level through temperature changes, within the 5’ untranslated regions (UTRs). RNA thermometers enable the bacteria to respond quickly to heat and cold shock conditions through conformational changes. We used a pipeline called Robo-Therm which was developed in our lab, we discovered one novel RNA thermometer upstream of  σ⁷⁰ in bacteria genomes Mediterraneibacter gnavus and Bacteroides pectinophilus, as well as  bacteriophage Caudoviricetes. These are all  found in the human gut microbiome. RNA polymerase σ⁷⁰ is an essential component of the RNA polymerase enzyme, crucial for directing the enzyme to specific promoters and starting transcription. The FourU RNA thermometer's function was examined upstream of the σ⁷⁰ gene in Escherichia coli and the validation of the thermometer was performed using various laboratory techniques.

RNA thermometers are a temperature-sensitive non-coding RNA molecule that regulate gene expression through either heat shock or cold shock response. RNA thermometers are temperature sensitive, at cold temperatures the ribosome binding (RBS) site is trapped and translation of mRNA is turned off. Upon heat induction, the RBS is available and translation is on. The Rose DEAD/DEAH box helicase gene has a potential RNA thermometer in the 5’ untranslated region (5’-UTR). The ROSE DEAD/DEAH box helicase contributes to innate immune signaling and remodels misfolded RNA structures. The purpose of this study is to test the predicted RNA thermometer upstream of the Rose DEAD/DEAH box helicase gene to see if more protein can be produced upon heat induction, changing the gene expression. To observe these effects, we designed a specific thermometer sequence, performed PCR tests, Hifi assembly cloning, and Beta-galactosidase assays. Beta-galactosidase assays suggest that successful results will show increased enzymatic activity, proving that there is more beta-galactosidase present due to temperature. The more beta-galactosidase present will prove that the RNA thermometer is working with heat change. Results suggest possible thermometer activity in response to heat induction. Future experiments include re-performing Beta-gal assay and creating mutations.

A 3.96-meter lake sediment core was extracted from Black Lake, Callender, CA, to reconstruct past environmental conditions in the Dune Lakes region, San Luis Obispo County, CA. The lake's age remains uncertain, speculated to have formed between 15,000 to 5,000 years ago. The coring campaign, initiated in Fall 2022 by the CLU PEARL lab group and US Fish and Wildlife Service, has yielded core BL1 from the lake center, using a modified Livingstone square-rod piston corer. This core, retrieved from a floating anchored platform in 2.4 meters of water, is divided into five zones based on shifts in key proxies (macroscopic charcoal, magnetic susceptibility, organic matter) over time. Zone 5's basal sediments indicate high organic content (30-60%) and low magnetic susceptibility, suggesting stable high lake productivity with minimal eolian erosion. Zones 3/4 show peaks in magnetic susceptibility and a decrease in organic matter, likely due to allochthonous sand deposition from surrounding dunes. Zone 2 reflects quiescent conditions with increased carbon sequestration. The abundance of charcoal decreases in uppermost sediments (Zone 1), possibly indicating a post-1850 CE decline in native burning due to Missionization, pandemics, and fire suppression policies. Further analysis (14C dating, charcoal, pollen) is required to assess the impacts of Chumash land use practices versus climate change during the Pre-colonial period.

Understanding gene expression and its regulation is crucial for unraveling the complexities of biological processes in organisms. The genome of Drosophila melanogaster has been the target of a multitude of transgenesis experiments since transformation via transgenes became available. 
The white+ (w+) transgene has commonly served as a reporter due to its ability to facilitate the identification of transformed organisms. In a genetic background in which individuals exhibit a white-eye phenotype (white-), the expression of the w+ transgene allows for the quick identification of transformed organisms, which display a red pigment phenotype in the eye. Interestingly, the expression of the transgene is variable in transformed flies, with expression patterns being affected by genomic location, epigenetic status, and regulation by genes in the area of insertion. Our transgene of interest, deemed Swoosh (SW), is expressed along the dorsal-ventral midline (the equator) an important developmental signaling center of the Drosophila eye.
Our objective is to isolate and determine the precise genomic coordinates of the SW, w+ transgene and its flanking DNA, to understand its potential interaction with a developmentally important gene indicated by SW's equatorial expression. Using an inverse-PCR approach, we will isolate genomic sequences that flank the SW insertion, and then use bioinformatics to identify possible genes that might dictate the SW transgene expression in the equatorial region. 
This work aims to further elucidate the nature of epigenetic control, molecular mechanisms of development, and gene expression modification in genetically engineered organisms. 

The assessment and management of suicidal behavior is an important part of clinical training for mental health counselors. Clinicians are trained in a variety of methods for managing suicidal behavior such as safety planning. Individual clinics have unique procedures for the management of suicide including how to document the presence of suicidal behavior and what interventions to deliver. Despite the importance of such efforts, little research has been done to examine how clinics document the management of suicidal behavior (Gamarra et al., 2015). Such information is important as failure to comply with procedures can 1) decrease the quality of client care and 2) increase clinic liability. The current study used archival data from two community counseling centers to examine how clinicians respond to the presence of suicidal behavior as endorsed by clients' completion of a weekly quality assurance outcome measure. We will conduct exploratory analyses to examine how the results might vary by trainee characteristics (e.g. training program). Results will be discussed in the context of the importance of clinic policies and training to improve fidelity of methods of suicide management in community counseling centers.

In the 2019-2020, 63% of farmworkers in the United States were born in Mexico and 30% in the United States. Guest and undocumented workers are often seen as "perfect immigrants," which tend to be characterized by low-wage, deportable and easily replaceable. Farmworkers are economically disadvantaged in the U.S. but also experience discrimination based on their background. Therefore, the current study seeks to understand how the perceptions of Mexican farmworkers are impacted by their primary language and education level. This study aims to see if participants from different backgrounds will create automatic stereotypes and assumptions of Mexican farmworkers. Participants recruited through a crowdsourcing platform, Prolific, will be presented with one of the four vignettes that details a farmworker from Mexican descent who varies between their primary language (Spanish or an indigenous language, Mixteco) and education level (6th grade or GED). Participants will then be asked a series of questions about what they may think about the farmworker, such as citizenship, income, English proficiency, understanding, etc. Participants will also be asked to complete a scale of emotional reactions/ feelings and likability towards farmworkers. It is hypothesized that the participants will have stereotypical/negative perceptions of Mexican farmworkers, towards those who speak Spanish or Mixteco as their primary language with an education level up to the 6th grade compared to those with a GED.

All organisms have to respond to heat stress, RNA thermometers enable bacteria to respond quickly to heat stress through changes in RNA structure. FourU thermometers, a particular class of RNA thermometers, are best known for their ability to form a hairpin structure with four consecutive uracil nucleotides across from the Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence to prevent ribosomal access at low temperatures but melt at high temperatures to allow translation. The thermometer discovered exists in front of a tetracycline resistance gene (tetR) in the intestinal bacteria Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri. The tetR gene is a gene that encodes repressor proteins that play a key role in tetracycline resistance in bacteria. The tetR gene is a part of the Tet-R family of transcriptional regulators, which play an important role in antimicrobial resistance, as regulators of antibiotic efflux pumps. The aim of this study was to validate the tetR thermometer using various biological laboratory techniques, highlighted in this poster. 

The Thomas fire of 2017 burned 281,893 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The subsequent winter rains of 2018 resulted in the occurrence of numerous mass wasting events which emanate from streams that descend from the Santa Ynez mountains to the coastline. The Carpinteria Salt Marsh is a rare sedimentary archive of past environmental changes, including wildfires, storm events, droughts, floods, etc. High energy deposits, such as sand layers, have been identified in core samples extracted from the marsh.The origins of these deposits have been speculated to be from one of two sources: 1) marine sands washed over the marsh from ocean storms; and 2) sediments of terrestrial origin deposited on the marsh as flood deposits during winter precipitation events. Our hypothesis is that some of these high energy deposits originate from mass wasting events following large wildfires such as the Thomas fire. The research reported here provides a high-resolution record of macroscopic charcoal analysis with the goal of identifying the historic period fire gap from 20th century fire suppression and any discrete wildfire deposit horizons that can be associated with known historical wildfire events. We identify five distinct ecological zones in the 1.6m core. Two significant declines in macroscopic charcoal at 94cm and 64cm may represent the post 1850 fire gap identified elsewhere in California (Fig 1). Future work will focus on establishing chronology by using radiocarbon dating and analysis of sediments from a longer core (2.4 meters) collected on June 9, 2023. 

The current study seeks to find how the perceptions and decisions made by mock jurors are influenced by the gender identity and race/ethnicity of the victim of a sexual assault. The purpose is to find if sexual assault victims will be perceived negatively based on their race/ethnicity and gender identity and if the perpetrator will be found less culpable as a result of that.  Participants will be selected from a crowdsourcing online platform and presented with one of sixteen vignettes that details a stranger rape with the victim varying in gender (female/male/transgender female/transgender male) and race/ethnicity (Black/Hispanic/Indigenous/Arab). Participants will then be asked about their choice of verdict and sentencing of the defendant, perceptions of the victim, emotional reactions towards the victim, and the level of blame that could be attributed to the victim. It is hypothesized that the victims who are Black and transgender female and transgender male will receive the most negative perceptions by participants when compared to the other victims. The results found from this study will be able to illustrate that everyone should have the equal right to justice and are all victims regardless of how they look.  Therefore, this could provide a basis for training jurors on implicit bias to reduce inequities in decision-making and perceptions during a trial.

The natural world is a plane of existence as ever changing as it is admired, such as with the Dune Lakes of San Luis Obispo County, which have been known to serve as a biodiversity hotspot in Southern California since before the natives arrived on the continent. It is from this location that an 8 meter core of compacted sediment was extracted for the purpose of creating a paleo ecological archive that apparently has not been attempted here before. One that can shed light on important events, such as the 2018-2022 fire season which holds 7 of the top 10 most destructive wildfires in American history. Finding such details will include proxy records, which can account for a multitude of mediums, such as charcoal and organics that are relative to the conditions in which they were placed and, in turn, can be used to construct trends throughout the cycle. Once sectioned and processed, each layer is recorded for its proxies and mapped out backwards to correlate with time. Ideally speaking, such fixtures can be matched with events like the fire seasons through the logistical cause and effect, as well as indicate if Southern California showed any deviation from normal growth or fire patterns during the medieval warming period. This study as reference material will enable a more well grounded background on the ecological history and implications so that human development can be guided in a direction aware of the consequences and in pursuit of sustainability with nature.

Ribonucleic acid thermometers are RNA sequences that are temperature sensitive and help regulate gene expression. Typically, RNA thermometers undergo a confirmational change upon heat stress, resulting in an upregulation of a gene downstread of the thermometer sequence. The TetR-family of transcriptional regulators (TFTRs) are a large family of signal transduction proteins that are implicated in the regulation of many processes, including cell division and the stress response in cells. In this study, we used a FourU RNA thermometer to analyze the effect ithas on gene expression with the TetR family transcriptional regulator C-terminal domain-containing protein. We used PCR, HIFI assembly, Beta-galactosidase assay, and cloning to undergo this experiment. Preliminary results indicate and increase in expression in response to heat induction. This is presumably due to the zipper-like melting of a motif containing the ribosome binding site (RBS). Overall, this helps us with further development of antibiotic resistance through gene regulation.

Research in the fitness industry shows that exercise is vital to maintaining health and quality of life (Jin & Harvey, 2021).However, despite increases in longevity, older adults may still experience implicit ageism, especially from individuals in early adulthood (Chopik & Giasson, 2017). Knowledge of implicit ageism could provide ways to address and modify ageist beliefs (Bodner, 2009). Therefore, this study will examine age differences in implicit ageism between younger and older adults. In addition, the effects of contextual priming (i.e., positive/negative images of older adults) will also be examined. It is hypothesized that 1) contextual priming will have an effect on implicit ageism, 2) there will be age differences between younger and older adults, and 3) there will be an interaction effect between contextual priming and age on implicit ageism. A sample of 207 individuals (N=167 younger and N=40 older adults) were randomly assigned to one of four contextual priming conditions: 1) positive-male, 2) positive-female, 3) negative-male, 4) negative-female and then completed an online survey via Qualtrics on implicit ageism (Fraboni et al., 1990), followed by open-ended questions about how individuals are portrayed in late adulthood, and lastly, demographic information. Analyses show that younger adults showed higher levels of implicit ageism (M=2.15, SD=0.25) towards individuals in late adulthood compared to older adults (M=1.96, SD=0.23), t(205)=4.19 , p<.001, d=.74, medium to large effect.

Abstract:Objective: Investigation of fundamental movement skills (FMS) and physical fitnessdifferences among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White elementary school children.Materials and Methods: This study included 194 children aged between 4 and 11 inkindergarten, 2 nd, and 5 th grades. For evaluable participants, t-tests were used to testpotential differences in fitness or fundamental movement skills. Results: There weresignificant group differences across the participants in age, height, Body Mass Index(BMI), BMI percentile, arm circumference, and waist circumference. In addition, therewere significant differences between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White in catch, run,dodge, punt, and two-hand strike (p’s <0.05). Lastly, there were significant differencesbetween Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White in pull-up, push-up, and sit-up (p’s <0.05).Conclusion: Our study shows Hispanic children have lower fundamental movement skillsand physical fitness compared to their Non-Hispanic White peers. As poor fundamentmovement skills and physical fitness at such a young age, may lead to adverseimplications for their physical fitness and health in adulthood. Future studies should focuson increasing fitness, and FMS in Hispanic elementary school children.