CRP Protein Levels Help Determine Depression Treatment
Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 When diagnosed with depression, patients are often left to trial and error with anti-depressant drugs. Incompatible prescriptions along the search can lead to potential issues with side effects, which can be ineffective as well as costly. A study led by Madhukar Trivedi, M.D. assessed a patient’s level of C-reactive protein (CRP) and related it to selection of antidepressant drugs escitalopram, a … Continue reading CRP Protein Levels Help Determine Depression Treatment
Efficacy of Quetiapine Monotherapy in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Ericka Berman Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating illness affecting approximately 7.8% of people in the U.S. over the course of their lifetime. As of now, two medications are approved in the U.S. to treat PTSD, but both treatments have limited success. Characteristics of the antipsychotic medication quetiapine suggest it may be helpful in treating PTSD symptoms of re-experiencing trauma and hyperarousal. Dr. Gerardo … Continue reading Efficacy of Quetiapine Monotherapy in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Algorithm Defeats Pro Poker Players
Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 Artificial Intelligence (AI) has improved significantly in recent years in games involving perfect information. This means all players are aware of all the elements in the current state of a game. The next milestone for AI is creating an algorithm that can defeat humans at games with imperfect information, a game where players can be uncertain of certain game elements. An … Continue reading Algorithm Defeats Pro Poker Players
Inferring Perspective Versus Getting Perspective
Ericka Berman Two strategies used to study mental-state inference are theorization, inference through behavior, and simulation, self-projection, but effectiveness varies based on biases in people’s intuitions. Haotian Zhou Ph.D. et al. of Shanghai Tech University predicted the bias in favor of theorization because people assume behavior is reflective of the mind. In the first experiment, twelve “experiencers” viewed emotional pictures. Experiencers reported their feelings ranging … Continue reading Inferring Perspective Versus Getting Perspective
Interspecies Pancreas Transplant
Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 Currently in the United States, 76,000 patients are deprived of potentially life-saving organ transplants. The supply of donated organs relies heavily on the number of recently deceased individuals, limiting the supply’s availability. Dr. Yomoyuki Yamaguchi and his team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of Tokyo are exploring more sustainable methods of generating functional tissues and organs to help … Continue reading Interspecies Pancreas Transplant
Creating Birds of Similar Feathers: Leveraging Similarity to Improve Teacher-Student Relationships and Academic Achievement
Ericka Berman Having thriving student-teacher relationships (TSR) is important in academic success. In studying the improvement of TSR, schooling, positive youth development, and social motivation are of great interest to researchers. Dr. Hunter Gehlbach and his team of researchers carried out this study using a sample of 315 ninth graders and 25 teachers from a high school in the southwestern United States. Students were assessed … Continue reading Creating Birds of Similar Feathers: Leveraging Similarity to Improve Teacher-Student Relationships and Academic Achievement
April Student Researcher of the Month: Ioana Soaita
This past month, one of our cabinet members, Benjamin Kerner, had the opportunity to sit down with Ioana Soaita, a senior student researcher in the Biomedical Engineering Department under Dr. Rubenstein. B: So now how did you get into research and what inspired you to do so? I: So I was really interested in doing diabetes work and was looking into either learning more about … Continue reading April Student Researcher of the Month: Ioana Soaita
Improved Functionality of Grafted Eyes on Blind Tadpoles
Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 The major flaw faced by research in tissue regeneration is proper development of a nervous system as well as its functionality in the new host. Researchers led by Douglas J. Blackiston, Ph.D from Tufts University attempted to improve communication between a graft and the central nervous system of a host. The researchers used the tadpoles of Xenopus laevis to observe the … Continue reading Improved Functionality of Grafted Eyes on Blind Tadpoles
Norepinephrine Transporter in Major Depressive Disorder: A PET Study
Ericka Berman Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating illness characterized by low mood and loss of interest in activities. In MDD, the neurotransmitter norepinephrine is believed to be dysregulated, contributing to the depressive symptoms. The goal of this study was to test norepinephrine transporter availability in patients with MDD in attempt to identify potential associations with clinical symptoms. Previous studies have looked at the … Continue reading Norepinephrine Transporter in Major Depressive Disorder: A PET Study
Data Storage on DNA
Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 Scientists have explored the concept of data storage in DNA, one of the most fundamental biological molecules to living things. According to the Shannon information capacity, a nucleotide can ideally contain 2 bits of data. However, DNA does not currently have this capacity due to difficulties and errors associated with high GC content and areas with long runs of the same … Continue reading Data Storage on DNA
Motivations to Use Tinder
By Megan Y. Tan ’19 With at least 10 million active users a day, Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps. It is easy to set up, by connecting it to Facebook, and easy to use, by just swiping left when presented with an undesirable profile, and swiping right when presented with a desirable profile. Although it is such a popular app, not … Continue reading Motivations to Use Tinder
Four-Year-Old Children and Their Ability to Understand Others
By Rideeta Raquib ’19 One of the key components of human cognition is understanding mental states of others and recognize that people around the world may have differing perspectives. This concept, referred to as the theory of mind, plays an important role in human communication and cooperation. Children initially pass false belief tests at the age of three or four years old. These tests … Continue reading Four-Year-Old Children and Their Ability to Understand Others
