The hollow mask illusion is an optical illusion that appears to trick the general public but not individuals with schizophrenia. It raises the question of whether non-schizophrenic individuals undergoing a false state similar to schizophrenia/psychosis, such as a virtual reality schizophrenia simulation, would have a similar experience. Virtual reality simulations have been shown to produce realistic reactions and induce physiological responses, particularly anxiety and stress. Some research has suggested that anxiety can affect the perception of the hollow mask illusion. This study aimed to investigate the influence of virtual reality simulations of anxiety and schizophrenia on the perception of the hollow mask illusion and physiological stress levels. Participants completed demographic questions and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory before being randomly assigned to one of three virtual reality simulation conditions: a simulation of schizophrenia, anxiety, or a control condition with no stress. Physiological stress measures were recorded during each simulation, and after the assigned condition, participants viewed the hollow-mask illusion. The study aimed to determine whether virtual reality can simulate anxiety and schizophrenia stress, and whether these simulations can impact the perception of optical illusions and physiological stress responses.

In biochemistry, macromolecular binding sites are regions of specificity in interaction with other molecules. The aim of our current research is to investigate anesthetic binding to bovine serum albumin (BSA). The preliminary thought process of our research extends upon the work of Dubois et al. (1992,1993) and Xu et al. (1996) in their 19F-NMR investigations. In adapting from previous literature studies, we have constructed an overarching goal of our model study and initiated an applicable setup for our respective studies using the anesthetic, isoflurane, and the protein, BSA. We aim to create a model system for anesthetic binding in the blood investigated through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) & spectrofluorometry (Johansson, 1997). T₂ (spin-spin relaxation) measurements in NMR and intrinsic protein fluorescence are the selected targeted methods. The work will result in an outline for relevant biophysical and biochemical experiments where NMR and fluorometry methods are emphasized.

Crithidia fasciculata (C. fasciculata) are flagellate parasite that only infect insects, specifically, mosquitos. C. fasciculata utilize regulatory volume decrease (RVD) to respond to changes in the osmolarity of their environment. Ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) spectroscopy allows RVD to be observed by measuring the absorbance of the parasites as they respond to an environment that is hypertonic. To find a reliable procedure for this UV/Vis experiment, different aspects of cell preparation were changed to eliminate as much noise as possible. Once this procedure was established, it was used to test how temperature affects the parasite’s ability to undergo normal regulatory volume decrease. It was found that regulatory volume decrease occurs faster in cells at higher temperatures than lower. These results open the door for further experimentation into the RVD process with a noise reducing procedure and an established baseline for trends in temperature.

In 1950s Los Angeles, Peter Voulkos would spark a ceramic movement that would completely shift the trajectory and status of ceramics. From humble beginnings, Voulkos only set out to make art. What California ceramics would soon find out is Voulkos’ methodology and philosophy around ceramics was anything but ordinary in his desire to contrive energy through never before seen abstract clay forms. The freedom of expression he allowed his students is what made the California Clay Movement take off. Voulkos was able to inspire a whole new generation of ceramic artists that would help him transform ceramics from a utilitarian craft to a true art form. While Voulkos would have to battle ideas around high and low art mediums as well as colleagues who do not understand his work, Voulkos was able to prosper because art has always been a calling for him. With his students, Voulkos made strides in the art world and pushed West Coast art into the art world in a way that demanded the same respect and validity as New York’s prosperous art scene.

The present study investigated whether the perception of a person’s mate value (as assessed by their attractiveness and income level) would be influenced by the traits that their long-term partner possesses, and considered if there were any sex differences in these desired traits across two studies. For the first study (n = 109), the first experimental manipulation entailed pairing an average-looking target with either an attractive or average-looking romantic partner, and the second manipulation entailed holding attractiveness constant while providing a description that their partner had either a high or low income. Results showed that these manipulations had little impact on perceptions of the targets own attractiveness, income level, propensity to cheat on their partner, or how well-matched they thought couples were. For the second study, again both attractiveness and income level of the target were independently manipulated but now participants were asked to select from two choices (an attractive or average-looking person) to decide who was each target’s spouse. Results showed that these manipulations did not greatly influence spouse selection and there were no judgements that aligned with the matching hypothesis. However, target males said to have a high-income were more likely to be paired with an attractive face spouse compared to high-income target females. As well as that, female targets said to have a low-income were more likely to be paired with an attractive face compared to low-income target males. Participants also took a longer time to make their decision when selecting the spouse for male targets than female targets. Whereas many factors can contribute to the perception of an individual’s mate value, the findings from this study suggest that the mate value of one’s romantic partner (as defined by their income or attractiveness) has little impact on that evaluation.

Osmoregulatory mechanisms are particularly important in parasitic protist to enable changing osmotic environments throughout their lifetime. Many parasitic protists possess a contractile vacuole (CV) that functions to expel excess water under hypoosmotic stress. In addition to CVs, protists release small osmolytes including amino acids during regulatory volume decrease under hypotonic conditions (RVD). In our research on Crithidia fasciculata, there is an increase in amino acid (AA) released upon hypoosmotic exposure. Ninhydrin protocol was developed in the study to quantify amount of AA released. Exposure to a hypotonic environment is seen to induce a rapid release of AA to regulate osmotic pressure.

The purpose of this study is to test participants’ empathy in accordance with the Multi-Dimensional Emotional Empathy Scale (Caruso and Mayer, 1998), and the Attitudes Towards Schizophrenia Questionnaire (Hori, Richards, Kawamoto, & Kunugi, 2011) before and after experiencing VR simulations of Schizophrenia, as well as to measure cortisol levels in saliva before and after the simulation. The goal of the simulations is to try to create a sense of ‘walking in the shoes’ of someone experiencing psychosis induced by schizophrenia. The control group will not experience stress-inducing simulations, but instead the same simulation with no sound. The VR aspect of this study will allow participants to experience visual and auditory hallucinations, produced by Janssen Pharmaceutical company and the same videos from Janssen Pharmaceutical but with no sound used as the control. The schizophrenia simulations are hypothesized to induce stress biomarkers, including cortisol and physiological responses. The primary hypothesis is that people exposed to the manipulation condition (psychosis/hallucination scenario) will increase empathy levels compared to individuals exposed to a control condition. In addition, participants who have a higher empathy scale rating before the experiment will see a sharp rise in cortisol levels because they are more likely to understand the emotions of the person going through psychosis and the experience would feel more visceral (compared to individuals lower on the empathy scale). The VR simulations for schizophrenia are thought to extract an empathic response for someone diagnosed with schizophrenia from an individual who has no prior experience with schizophrenia in their daily life. A secondary hypothesis is that individuals given a written prompt featuring an individual experiencing schizophrenia symptoms will see an additive empathy response, one that persists for up to 3 weeks.