Chronic consumption of alcohol can lead to pancreatitis, which can predispose to pancreatic cancer. Because combinations of histone modifications have been implicated in pancreatic tumorigenesis, our goal is to find histone modifications in pancreatic acinar cell nuclei following by ethanol abuse. As an animal model of alcoholism, alcohol preferring (P) rats and alcohol non-preferring rats (NP) were used. Histones were extracted from rat pancreatic nuclear fractions using 0.4 N sulfuric acid and dialysis. Histone modifications were studied by Western-blotting analysis using the following antibodies: anti-trimethyl-histone H3 at Lys9 (H3K9me3), anti-dimethyl-histone H3 at Lys9, anti-phospho-histone H3 at Ser10, anti-acetyl-histone H3 atLys14, anti-histone H3, anti-acetyl-histone H4, anti-histone H4. We found that alcohol abuse caused a decrease in the phosphorylation of histone H3. This result was observed in pancreatic tumor specimens.Further studies are needed to determine the extentto which both modifications are related and which gene expression is affected.

Increasingly, preclinical studies on the expression, mechanisms, and treatment of pain have been aimed at improving understanding of pain-related interference with behavior. Positively reinforced operant behaviors are sensitive to depression by physiologically relevant pain stimuli. Most studies using operant conditioning procedures to examine pain-related depression of behavior have used fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement. The primary dependent variable in these studies is the rate of behavior. In contrast, the primary dependent variable in studies using progressive-ratio schedules of reinforcement is breakpoint. Breakpoint is defined as the total number of reinforcers earned, and is thought to be related to the subject's motivation to obtain the reinforcer. This study examined effects of pain and analgesic manipulations on behavior maintained under fixed-ratio and progressive-ratio schedules of behavior. Intraperitoneal injection of dilute lactic acid was more potent at depressing behavior under the fixed-ratio schedule compared to the progressive-ratio schedule. Ketoprofen was equipotent at blocking pain-related depression of behavior maintained under both schedules. These findings support the validity of operant procedures astools to examine candidateanalgesics for the treatment of pain-related depression of behavior. Moreover, the use of diverse schedules of reinforcement may yield important scientific information on the mechanisms underlying pain-related interference with behavior.

Consequences of pain include stimulation of some behaviors (e.g. reflexive withdrawal from stimuli), and depression of others (e.g. exercise, and work). Pain depressed behaviors are among the primary diagnostic and treatment concerns for physicians, but preclinical research has often explored pain stimulated behaviors. This discrepancy between basic research and clinical application may be one obstacle to the development of new pain treatments. In the present study, we modeled pain-related depression of behavior by observing nesting behavior in male ICR mice. Nest building is an innate mouse behavior that is reduced when the mouse is exposed to a pain stimulus. Pain-related depression of nesting is blocked by the clinically effective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) ketoprofen. This project examines effects of monoamine uptake inhibitors with varying selectivity for serotonin (5HT), norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) on pain-related depression of nesting. Citalopram (5HT-selective), nisoxetine (NE-selective), milnacipran (mixed action, 5HT/NE-selective), and bupropion (DA-selective) were evaluated for their ability to block pain-related depression of nesting. Results show that the monoamine uptake inhibitors lacking significant dopamine had no effect on pain-depressed nesting. This finding is consistent with previous work suggesting that dopamine may be a key neurochemical target in the treatment of pain-related depression of behavior. Funding Source: Department of Psychological Sciences

Songbirds are a group of perching birds from the order, Passeriformesthat possess a uniquely developed syrinx allowing for production of distinctive songs.Research suggests that songbird vocalizations can be influenced by their environment. The objective of this experiment is to test whether traffic noise can alter songbird vocalizations in comparison to songbirds in naturallyless noisy settings, i.e. parks, forests and marshes.Recordings were taken at Pendleton King Park, Brick Pond Park, University Village trail,Phinizy Swampand near the Interstate20. The recordings of both the low-noise natural andhigh-noise interstatesettings were then analyzed using the software Songscope® .We evaluated song interval and frequency and compared experimental groups using a Student's paired T-test.

Approximately 85% of Americans aged 18-29 have smartphones. Many people report that they get agitated when their phones are not immediately accessible.1,2Researchers studying the links between phone use and academic performance have focused on their disruptive nature (e.g., texting). No research has examined the effects of withholding phones during testing on test performance. The objective of this study was to assess whether withholding phones during testing affected students state anxiety, skin conductance (SC), and test scores. State anxiety is situationally determined, transitory, and associated with autonomic nervous system activation. SC (sweat gland secretions) is an index of sympathetic nervous system activation. We expected higher levels of self-reported state anxiety, higher levels of SC, and lower test performance among students who had their phones withheld compared with students who kept their phones. Eighty-six students participated. There were three conditions: phones withheld but kept in the same room as testing condition (n= 31), phones withheld but sequestered in a different room (n= 28), and control where students were not separated from their phones (n= 27). One-way MANOVA revealed no differences between the groups in state anxiety, SC or test scores. Data did reveal interesting trends we would like to discuss.

Epilepsy is an interesting neurological disorder that exists at the crossroads of biology and spirituality. This research examined the transmission of Greek theories of epilepsy from the ninth to the thirteenth century Persian medicine and compared it to the understanding of epilepsy in modern medicine. The influence of Galenic medicine on the clinical understanding of epilepsy in medieval Persian medicine (800-1400) is evident in Ibn Sina's (aka Avicenna) medical manuscripts. Given the complex technological advancements from 13th century to 21st century, substantial progression in the understanding of epilepsy from Avicennian period to modern era was expected to find. However, modern medicine is yet to crack the full codes of this "sacred" disease. Tracing the scientific history of epilepsy reveals that today's identified etiology, symptomatology, and treatments for epilepsy, which hugely benefited from the technological advancements in diagnostic means, are extensions to the medieval understanding of epilepsy. This paper is a comparative study of epilepsy in Galenic, medieval Persian and modern medicine. On a broad scale, this research serves as an example on how ideas connect people through time.

Forty percent of deaths from heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, and stroke are preventable. Altering compromising health behavior would significantly reduce premature death; thus, investigating variables associated with health behavior is important. We examined whether health locus of control (HLOC), hypochondriasis (Hs), and social introversion (Si) would predict perceived physical fitness (PPF) and health behavior (e.g., tobacco use). HLOC is the extent to which people believe that their health is controlled by internal or external factors. Individuals who score high on scales of Hs tend to be preoccupied with their health whereas those who score high on Si tend to be shy and submissive. Participants were 108 undergraduate students. Separate hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted with PPF and health behavior as the dependent variables. Factors of HLOC were entered at stage one of the analyses. Hs and Si were entered at stage two. HLOC did not predict PPF. However, introducing the Hs and Si variables explained 20% of the variation in PPF (p = .001). Likewise, HLOC did not predict health behavior but adding Hs and Si explained 14% of the variation in health behavior (p = .01). Higher Hs and Si were related to lower PPF and health behavior.

Approximately 85% of Americans aged 18-29 have smartphones. Many people report that they get agitated when their phones are not immediately accessible.Researchers studying the links between phone use and academic performance have focused on their disruptive nature (e.g., texting). No research has examined the effects of withholding phones during testing on test performance. The objective of this study was to assess whether withholding phones during testing affected students state anxiety, skin conductance (SC), and test scores. State anxiety is situationally determined, transitory, and associated with autonomic nervous system activation. SC (sweat gland secretions) is an index of sympathetic nervous system activation. We expected higher levels of self-reported state anxiety, higher levels of SC, and lower test performance among students who had their phones withheld compared with students who kept their phones. Eighty-six students participated. There were three conditions: phones withheld but kept in the same room as testing condition (n= 31), phones withheld but sequestered in a different room (n= 28), and control where students were not separated from their phones (n= 27). One-way MANOVA revealed no differences between the groups in state anxiety, SC or test scores. Data did reveal interesting trends we would like to discuss.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the type of piano music played affects participants’ anxiety levels during a mildly stressful event in an academic setting. For this experiment, relaxing piano music is compared with energizing piano music to investigate which music type has the greatest effect on decreasing symptoms of state anxiety. These two conditions will be compared to a control group of no music. My hypotheses are: 1) Those in the music conditions will have lower anxiety scores at the end of the experiment than those in the control condition; 2) Those in the music conditions will have a smaller increase in pre-post state anxiety scores than those in the control condition, 3) There will an interaction between trait anxiety and music condition on state anxiety scores so that those who are high in trait anxiety and in the control condition will have the highest post-test state anxiety scores; and 4) There will be negative associations between the post-state anxiety scores and participants’ perceptions of how helpful the music was, and how frequently they listen to music when stressed. I do not expect significant differences between the two music conditions on any of the dependent measures.

Depression is one of the leading causes of premature death, and one of the highest burdens of overall disability. Depression rates are around 13% in primary care settings. Depressive episodes are still underdiagnosed and undertreated. Factors that contribute to this include lack of detailed knowledge, lack of confidence in treatments among others. Thus, addressing these gaps would improve patients care. Moreover, bipolar depression can be difficult to distinguish from unipolar; and requires a different treatment. Improving education of students in these areas would improve care for patients. Aims are as follows: 1) assess students’ level of confidence and knowledge in diagnosing and treating depression, and any barriers to gaps in knowledge, 2) assess students’ knowledge in differential diagnosis of depression and any barriers to gaps in knowledge. We are assessing these by an online survey on website used by Medical College of Georgia for student questionnaires, sent to all third-year medical students after internal medicine rotation. The survey is sent through academic affairs office. This will provide valuable knowledge in improving our education and curriculum for the new generation of physicians.