The human gut microbiome is a complex community of microorganisms. These microbes play an important role in host health by contributing essential compounds and acting as a barrier against pathogens. However, these communities and associated functions can be impacted by factors like disease and diet. In particular, microbial fermentation of dietary components like polysaccharides, proteins, and fats that reach the gut are being examined to better understand how these biopolymers are utilized and affect community structure. Thus, evaluating the accuracy of methods used to quantify specific macromolecules is crucial to gaining a precise understanding of how gut microbes hydrolyze those substrates. This study presents findings on the accuracy of the Megazyme RS kit (Rapid) modified for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) readings and the DC Protein Assay when performed on samples from complex gut media with potato starch treatments and bovine serum albumin (BSA) treatments. Overall, our data indicates that the megazyme RS kit needs further modification to detect expected starch content with the HPLC and that the DC Protein Assay is not suitable for specific protein analysis.

The United States’ War on Drugs declared in 1971 by President Richard Nixon and revamped by President Reagan in the 1980s has been an objectively failed initiative with origins based in racism and oppression. After exploring the repercussions of this endeavor for societies and individuals around the world, global researchers and policymakers have declared that the policies and institutions created to fight the battle have left devastation in their wake. Despite high economic and social costs, missed opportunities in public health and criminal justice sectors, and increasing limits on our personal freedoms, all the measures taken to eradicate drug abuse and trafficking have been unsuccessful. Not only that, but militarized police tactics, mass incarceration, and harsh penalties that stifle opportunities for rehabilitation, growth, and change disproportionately harm poor and minority communities. <br/>Because reform in U.S. drug policy is badly needed, the goals of America’s longest war need to be reevaluated, implications of the initiative reexamined, and alternative strategies reconsidered. Solutions must be propagated from a diverse spectrum of contributors and holistic understanding through scientific research, empirical evidence, innovation, public health, social wellbeing, and measurable outcomes. But before we can know where we should be headed, we need to appreciate how we got to where we are. This preliminary expository investigation will explore and outline the history of drug use and prohibition in the United States before the War on Drugs was officially declared. Through an examination of the different patterns of substance use, evolving civil tolerance of users, racially-charged anti-drug misinformation/propaganda campaigns, and increasingly restrictive drug control policies, a foundation for developing solutions and strengths-based strategies for drug reform will emerge.

I conducted a literature review of articles pertaining to the history and treatment of rats. After outlining all of the relevant connections, I argue that as a result of people's conceptions about rats, rats do not receive the same respect and protections afforded other animals, such as cats and dogs, in the laboratory and beyond. I present both negative and positive conceptions about rats and the realities of these conceptions. Finally, I talk about the changes that need to take place in laboratory research, why animals are still used in research today, and the alternatives that exist to animal models.

Urban encroachment into traditional snake territories has long been underway; likely increasing snake sightings in urban neighborhoods. With increasing overlap, I ask if the perceptions of snakes are actually influencing urban residents to say that snakes are a significant problem in their neighborhood today? I was interested in finding out whether or not there would be a positive correlation between the perception of snakes being a problem within a neighborhood and the actual number of sightings recorded. To address this, I used survey responses from 2017 regarding the risk perception of snakes from twelve neighborhoods within Maricopa County. These responses were then compared to the number of snake sightings within those same neighborhoods over a span of ten years using community science data from iNaturalist. The average results of the people who took the survey perceived that snakes were not a problem in their neighborhood. It was also found that in the outlying areas closer to natural snake habitat (desert preserves), a positive correlation between a higher survey response and a higher number of snake sightings could be seen. Overall, the conclusion of the data revealed that the perceptions of residents did not align with the actual number of snake sightings.

The following is a review of the literature on Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) as a potential treatment for US service members with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). EAP is a relatively new and undeclared psychotherapeutic technique that presents limitless opportunities for holistic growth in patients who have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who have not achieved an improvement in their quality of life as a result of other conventional treatments. Due to its heterogenous nature, PTSD directly dismantles the brain’s reward circuitry pathway, altering the individual’s capacity for emotional resolution. For US veterans suffering from PTSD who have not received palpable improvements through traditional talk therapies, EAP is a treatment for emotional vulnerability and communal reintegration when used in conjunction with techniques of attachment theory and cognitive-behavioral theory. Previous studies show an uptick in interpersonal trust and an alleviation of maladaptive defensive mechanisms set in place by the individual to protect the psyche. Research is indicative of an alleviation in overall symptomatology with an emphasis in the rehearsal of therapeutic strategies within interpersonal relationships to rehabilitate social engagement and cognition. Due to the lack of foundational acceptance of EAP thus far as a treatment for PTSD, it is challenging to ascertain a marginalized understanding of the holistic effects of EAP on PTSD as a stand alone psychotherapeutic treatment.

Many women are subject to role conflict. Between participating in their jobs and social expectations about duties as a mother, they might experience considerable stress trying to fulfill both those demanding roles. Data was analyzed from 182,617 women in 38 low- and middle-income countries from MICS surveys, using linear regression to examine how a number of children and working status interact to predict life satisfaction and happiness. Having more children was almost always associated with lower life satisfaction and happiness. The only exception was that among women who worked, more children to a point was associated with greater life satisfaction. Notably, work had different associations with emotional well-being depending on how it was measured. Having a job was generally associated with lower happiness, but greater life satisfaction. There is little evidence of an interaction between work and children indicating role conflict. Indeed, for life satisfaction, working seems to counteract the negative effect of having more children. Determining how large the effect of having both children and jobs are in women's lives can help determine the burden placed on women today and how that burden can be alleviated.

When a sports performance is at its peak, it is akin to a musical performance in the sense that each player seems to perform their part effortlessly, creating a rhythmic flow of counterparts all moving as one. Rhythm and timing are vital elements in sports like basketball in which syncopated passing and shooting appear to facilitate accuracy. This study tests if shooting baskets “in rhythm,” as measured by the catch-to-release time, reliably enhances shooting accuracy. It then tests if an “in rhythm” timing is commonly detected and agreed upon by observers, and if observer timing ratings are related to shooting accuracy. Experiment 1 tests the shooting accuracy of two amateur basketball players after different delays between catching a pass and shooting the ball. Shots were taken from the three-point line (180 shots). All shots were recorded and analyzed for accuracy as a function of delay time, and the recordings were used to select stimuli varying in timing intervals for observers to view in Experiment 2. In Experiment 2, 24 observers each reviewed 17 video clips of the shots to test visual judgment of shooting-in-rhythm. The delay times ranged from 0.3 to 3.2 seconds, with a goal of having some of the shots taken too fast, some close to in rhythm, and some too slow. Observers rated if each shot occurs too fast, in rhythm slightly fast, in rhythm slightly slow, or too slow. In Experiment 1, shooters exhibited a significant cubic fit with better shooting performance in the middle of the timing distribution (1.2 sec optimal delay) between catching a pass and shooting. In Experiment, 2 observers reliably judged shots to be in rhythm centered at 1.1 ± 0.2 seconds, which matched the delay that leads to optimal performance for the shooters found in Experiment 1. The pattern of findings confirms and validates that there is a common “in rhythm” catch-to-shoot delay time of a little over 1 second that both optimizes shooter accuracy and is reliably recognized by observers.