Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a chronic illness categorized by the dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and affected individuals can experience fatigue, headaches, heart palpitations, dysregulation of blood pressure, and chest pain, among other symptoms. The ANS is tightly regulated by the internal 24-hour biological clock known widely as the circadian rhythm and is generated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the brain. The circadian rhythm regulates the function of every cell in the body, including those of the cardiac system. The current study was conducted to determine if determine if alterations in circadian cycles would affect cardiac function in a zebrafish model. Fish were housed in light-isolated boxes equipped with lights and timers and were subjected to a 4-day acclimation period. The control fish maintained the standard light/dark cycle of 14 hours light/10 hours dark for 7 days. Experimental fish were subject to two protocols: 18h/10h light/dark cycle and 19h/5h light/dark cycle for 7 days following acclimation. Electrocardiogram (ECG) testing of zebrafish hearts was performed under anesthesia. The findings indicate that altered light cycles showed an increase in duration of the T wave, QRS complex and the P wave. 

Nanoplastic accumulation in the environment has dramatically increased in recent years due to plastic production and improper disposal. Plastics have been detected in human organs, blood, and stool. Previous research has shown that nanoplastics that enter the food chain can be found in the digestive tissue of fish and can affect the overall health of the fish (Kim et al., 2022). Further research has shown that these plastics can also penetrate the blood-brain barrier of fish and cause behavioral abnormalities (Mattson, 2017). Few studies have fully explored the neurotoxic effects of plastic nanoparticles on the zebrafish brain. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and 4C4 are two proteins expressed in the brain that are commonly associated with neuroinflammation. In this study, we fed polystyrene-enriched brine shrimp (Artemia) to adult zebrafish for a period of 14 days. On day 15, the telencephalon of the zebrafish brain was removed and homogenized. The neural tissue was biochemically analyzed to discover the effect of plastic on the neuroinflammatory processes. It was expected that introducing nano-plastics into the brain would cause an increase in pro-inflammatory cellular processes, potentially causing damage to the brain. It was discovered that the introduction of nanoplastics did not cause GFAP to increase, while the results indicated an increase in 4C4. 

Alzheimer's disease is an increasing global health concern as aging populations continue to expand. Epigenetic mechanisms, specifically DNA methylation, have recently shown evidence of being crucial in the development of this neurodegenerative disorder. This paper examines the potential role of DNA methylation in Alzheimer's disease by analyzing its impact on genes associated with the disease and comparing them to two types of genes through CG and GC base pair data. While a significant difference was observed in the overall CG and GC data, no significant differences in methylation patterns were observed between the three gene categories. Though the data did not reach statistical significance, a trend was observed, suggesting that the small sample size might have limited the ability to detect differences. These findings demonstrate the need for further investigation into the potential epigenetic causes of Alzheimer's disease so a greater understanding of its etiology can be utilized. 

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of childhood cancer. Leukemia is a type of cancer that involves the bone marrow and blood. This research study examined prominent genes in the disease. Two groups of genes, tumor suppressor and cell differentiation, were compared using statistical analysis to compare their binding potential and epigenetic potential. It is most likely that I failed to detect significant differences either because these genes’ function in the disease etiology is not strongly contexed to changes in expression, or that the magnitude of the differences were too slight to be detected with these methods. Childhood cancer is the number one cause of disease in children in the United States yet receives only 4% of funding per year. This lack of funding could potentially close the door on discovering new, safer treatments for children. 

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations have calculated the effects of animal agriculture and factory farming to be responsible for generating 14.5-16.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions as well as using 70% of all agricultural land to sustain itself. Plant-based diets such as veganism and vegetarianism have been on the rise as many seek to find diets that mitigate the animal suffering and environmental impact for which animal agriculture is responsible. With the rise of these diets, it is important to understand the cognitive effects adhering to such diets can have on the body and mind, as well as potential risks. Previous studies have shown that adherence to a more plant-based diet can mitigate cholesterol risks, reduce risk for developing dementia related diseases, and increase cognitive performance. The current study aimed to see if there were indeed relationships between the degree of plant-based diet and related health and cognitive outcomes. An online hybrid cross sectional study was conducted with Georgia Southern undergraduate students (N = 224) through Qualtrics and PsyToolkit. The participants took part in the Stroop Task as well as the Deary- Liewald Simple Reaction Time Task to gain insight into their processing speeds as well as their reaction time speeds, respectively. The participants then answered questions related to their diet as well as a cognitive flexibility self-report measure and several health measures. Results found that reports of high cholesterol were significantly greater for those with a lower degree of plant-based diet. Results for other predictions were largely inconclusive, therefore not supporting the hypotheses and would need further study and experimentation to identify causality.

Humans constantly express emotions both consciously and unconsciously; these emotions are constantly being perceived by those around us. The ability to understand nonverbal expressions and body language is key for successful social interactions in private and professional life. This research assessed 174 students on their ability to perceive emotions from nonverbal cues in faces and postures. The first hypothesis stated there would be a difference in the ability to perceive nonverbal language based on the gender of the viewer was partially supported. I found that women made fewer mistakes than men when observing sets of facial stimuli. A non-significant difference was found between the errors of men and women regarding postural stimuli. The second hypothesis tested whether there was a difference in how individuals perceive the facial emotions of those with different skin tones as compared to that of their own. It was found that participants with a lighter skin tone had higher rates of accuracy than participants with medium or dark skin tones, and that participants were least accurate at recognizing emotions from medium skin tone stimuli. The final hypothesis predicted there would be a difference in how business, psychology, and STEM majors perceived nonverbal cues based on body posture and facial expression, which was partially supported. I found the most significant differences across majors were in the African American faces subset. All of the tested factors had varying levels of significance, and further research should be done to investigate how these factors may affect emotion recognition.