Poster Session

2,7-Disubstituted cycloheptanones 2 were prepared via a one-pot procedure from the imine (R = cyclohexyl) and hydrazone (R = NMe₂) of cycloheptanone that involves sequential deprotonation, alkylation, deprotonation, alkylation and hydrolysis. Many of the dialkylation products underwent successful ring-closing metathesis (RCM) under infinite dilution conditions. We have also examined the dialkylation of the N,N-dimethylhydrazones of cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone, and determined the equilibrium trans/cis ratios of 2,5-disubstituted cyclopentanones, 2,6-disubstituted cyclohexanones and 2,7-disubstituted cycloheptanones.

The United States’ impact on the world economy is no secret. With one of the largest economies in the world, it is logical to assume that economic decisions, like monetary policy formation, made in the United States have effects on other countries’ economies. The question is by precisely what means do U.S. economic decisions affect other economies, and what is the magnitude of those effects. Furthermore, what, if any, role does the receiving country’s exchange rate regime play in the transmission of such monetary policy decisions?

This paper constructs a vector autoregressive (VAR) model to analyze the interactions of U.S. monetary policy and domestic deposit interest rates, inflation rates, and GDP of Ecuador to test how U.S. monetary policy is transmitted to Ecuador. The VAR is estimated twice, once over the entire time period of 1992-2016 and once over the time period of 2000-2016 when Ecuador became fully dollarized. The coefficients of the estimated equations are analyzed, Granger Causality tests are conducted, and Impulse Response Functions are modeled. No transmission is found via GDP, but some evidence of transmission via the interest rate is shown. No difference is found in transmission based on time parameterization. Suggestions are made for future changes to the model.

Botryosphaeria dothidea is an opportunistic pathogen found in some of the cavitated branches of the chaparral vegetation in the Santa Monica Mountains. In this study, we focused on investigating the presence of Botryosphaeria dothidea in Ceanothus spinosus located on Pepperdine University’s campus. We wanted to test this hypothesis because we had observed a large amount of dieback in the Ceanothus spinosus population and wanted to identify a possible contributor. Because of the large number of cavitated branches in the Ceanothus spinosus we tested, we hypothesized that they contained fungus. To test this, we took twenty samples of twenty different Ceanothus spinosus, isolated the fungus from the xylem of each sample, and incubated the samples in petri dishes for one week. After fungal growth was complete, we found that only 30% of our samples showed evidence of fungus that could be tentatively identified as B. dothidea. To discover whether or not the fungus present was Botryosphaeria dothidea, we extracted a small amount of DNA from five of the samples showing fungal growth. Of those five samples, we chose the three with the highest concentration of DNA in the sample and sequenced them in order to find out if the fungus infecting the Ceanothus spinosus was Botryosphaeria dothidea. Our results confirmed the fungus was Botryosphaeria dothidea.

We tested the hypothesis that an opportunistic endophytic fungus, Botryosphaeria dothidea, that frequently infects and causes dieback in species of chaparral shrubs in the Santa Monica Mountains during drought events, may spread to grape vineyards in the Santa Monica Mountains. Recently a dominant chaparral species in coastal exposures of the Santa Monica Mountains, Malosma laurina, has undergone extensive dieback in low elevation, dry sites, in response to historic drought in California, but less dieback in high elevation moist sites. M. laurina frequently grows adjacent grape vineyards. Thus we hypothesized that fungal isolates from a low elevation, dry vineyard would have higher incidence of B. dothidea, than a high elevation, moist vineyard. We tested this hypothesis by isolating the fungus from twelve samples at each location. Greater than 75% of the samples produced fungal growth on potato dextrose agar. We found two cultures from the low elevation vineyard and one from the high elevation vineyard, to have colony morphology similar to B. dothidea. We isolated DNA from each culture and used genetic markers of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), elongation factor 1α (EF1), and beta tubulin 2 (BT2) to identify the fungus. None of these three samples were B. dothidea. However all three samples are considered close relatives of B. dothidea and the sample at the low elevation dry site was Diplodia seriata, an anamorph of Botryosphaeria obtusa. We interpret this to mean that Botryosphaeria dothidea has not jumped from native chaparral species to grape vineyards, at least at the two sites examined in the Santa Monica Mountains. One possibility is that the standard irrigation of grape vineyards in the Santa Monica Mountains has maintained their ability to ward off Botryosphaeria infestation during historic drought in California whereas this has not been the case for non-irrigated Malosma laurina.

Amphibian declines have been a major focus of the scientific community for nearly three decades. Many studies describe the leading causes of amphibian decline related to disease, with chytridiomycosis as the most notable example. However, little is known about behavioral conspecific interactions among ill or stressed amphibians, particularly neotropical species. Previous observational research on poison frogs determined that stressed Dendrobates auratus flip onto their backs in a reaction that is similar to fainting in other species. In this study, we examine conspecific interactions of green-and-black poison frogs (D. auratus) with “healthy” and “sick” model frogs, in order to determine a difference in interaction time between an upright healthy D. auratus model and an inverted sick D. auratus model. Our data show that there is no difference between the interaction time and physical touch of live D. auratus frogs with upright or inverted model frogs (P > 0.05 for both). These data suggest that D. auratus frogs may not discriminate between healthy or ill conspecifics, even though they may recognize physical conspecific cues that signal illness. Thus, deadly diseases like chytridiomycosis that spread through water and direct contact with infected individuals, will continue to kill off native amphibian species that are beneficial for species diversity and community stability in nature.

The effect of physical stress signals on conspecific interactions in green-and-black poison frogs (Dendrobates auratus)

The mechanism for the ring-opening polymerization of lactide and ε-caprolactone is presented here with an aluminum-centered catalyst featuring a tridentate ligand and two alkoxide initiating ligands. In each homopolymerization, the addition of electron-withdrawing groups on the tridentate ligand lowers the activation energy of the reaction by increasing the electrophilicity of the central Aluminum. We further investigated the polymerizations by comparing the energy difference between copolymerization and homopolymerization following the initial ring opening as well as the potential for dual polymer chains from the insertion of both initiating ligand. Single chain polymerization is favored in every case, due to lower bond strength between the initial polymer and the Al center compared to strength of the bond between the Al center and the additional initiating ligand. This helps to explain the narrow polydispersity observed experimentally. Without the presence of EWG on the tridentate ligand, homopolymerization is favored for both polycaprolactone and polylactide. The addition of EWG, however, results in potential energy surfaces that favor the addition of lactide and single chain polymerization, regardless of the initial coordinated polymer.

In this paper, I examine the value of Aristotle’s “great-souled man” and the narrative structure of Plutarch’s Life of Alexander as political and philosophical exempla designed to lead men to virtue on a large scale. The confusing, apparently contradictory nature of Aristotle’s virtue “greatness of soul” must be read in the context of the Ethics as a deeply political work. Likewise, Plutarch’s description of Alexander the Great demands examination from a narrative, as well as historical, perspective. Despite their differences in emphasis and method, Aristotle and Plutarch produce writings characterized the same end––each work unites ethics and politics to create a model of demonstrative virtue fit to lead a city to moral goodness.

Study abroad participation is growing more common among college students in the U.S. but research on its effect on personal growth constructs such as confidence is limited. This study focused on the relationship between students who studied abroad and their perceived self-confidence and confident behavior compared to students who did not have a study abroad experience. Participants included 81 undergraduates, 48 who did not participate in a study abroad program (No Study Abroad) and 33 who did participate in a study abroad program (Study Abroad). Participants were assessed on levels of perceived self-confidence and confident behavior with the Personal Evaluation Inventory (PEI) and the Confident Behavior Scale (CBS), respectively. The Study Abroad (SA) and No Study Abroad (NSA) groups were compared on their total PEI and CBS scores as well as on the Speaking and Social subscales of the PEI, but no significant differences were found. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Schinus molle is a relatively new invasive species in chaparral shrub communities of the Santa Monica Mountains, and has only recently been observed to displace native species of shrubs, such as Malosma laurina. To investigate the probably cause of S. molle’s invasiveness and mechanisms of competitive displacement of M. laurina, we compared their water status, photosynthetic rates, electron transport rates, and stomatal conductance to water vapor diffusion during the unusually dry fall of 2016. We used a Scholander-Hammel pressure chamber to measure water status and a field portably gas-exchange system to measure light and dark reaction components of photosynthesis, concurrent with stomatal conductance (LI-6400XT). We hypothesized that S. molle would physiologically outperform M. laurina, under natural field conditions, indicated by higher photosynthetic rates, electron transport rates, and stomatal conductance rates as well as a less negative water potentials (higher water status). We found that there was no significant difference between dry S. molle and dry M. laurina regarding photosynthetic rates; however the stomatal conductance of S. molle was significantly lower than M. laurina, indicating higher water use efficiency (greater carbon gain for the amount of water lost). The electron transport rate (ETR) was significantly higher for S. molle than M. laurina, suggesting more efficient conversion of light energy to chemical energy in the light reaction of photosynthesis. These results suggest that S. molle has a physiological advantage over M. laurina in greater efficiency in water use as well as greater efficiency in radiant energy conversion. Both of these factors may contribute to S. molle’s ability to aggressively outcompete M. laurina, especially during periods of extreme drought. Invasiveness and competitive exclusion of native species by S. mollemay be enhanced by a gradual increase in a hotter and drier climate in California.

Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides(TMD’s) are atomically thin semi-conductors that are considered quasi 2D materials due to their large aspect ratio. Atomically thin crystals exhibit different physical properties than their bulk counterparts due to quantum confinement effects. This has given rise to an increased interest in thin layer materials over the last decade. In this work, the effect of Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM) on thin layer MoS₂ and MoSe₂ is explored. Raman spectroscopy measurements show a broadening of the Raman peaks after exposure to the SEM’s electron beam. This broadening is indicative of crystal defects caused by the interaction between the electron beam and the TMD crystals. Different accelerating voltages are investigated in order to see the magnitude of their effects on the crystal structure. We theorize that these defects will cause an adverse effect in the electrical properties of stacked TMD’s.

Medicinal plants have historically been a valuable source of new drugs, and Southern California possesses a rich collection of native plants which have been used as medicines by native people groups for thousands of years. Angiogenesis is the biological process of new blood-vessel growth from endothelial cells. It is an essential part of the wound-healing process, and increased angiogenesis has also been implicated in the growth of some types of cancerous tumors. In this study, extracts of the Southern Californian native plants Red shanks (Adenostoma sparsifolium) and the alkaloid extract of Jimson weed (Datura wrightii) were tested for their angiogenic effects in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using a cell proliferation assay, nitric oxide production assay, and qRT-PCR. Treatment of HUVECs with extracts from Red shanks and Jimson weed increased proliferation at concentrations of 10 ng/μL and 1 ng/μL, but no changes in nitric oxide production were measured for any treatment. Changes in expression of the genes vegfr2 and mmp9 were measured by qRT-PCR and suggested that proliferation may be induced by these plant extracts through factors that bypass normal nitric oxide-mediated proliferative signals.

Québec’s struggle for independence has come to define its identity and political agendas. To the Québécois, the quote “Je me souviens,” reflecting the Québécois nationalist discourse (cf. Heller & Labrie, 2004) entails a past in which an anglophone minority marginalized the francophone majority, limiting their political, social, cultural, and even linguistic rights (Oakes & Warren, 2009). Québécois political parties, including the Bloc Québécois (BQ), the Parti Québécois (PQ), and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), continue to invoke elements of this discourse through their media communications to frame their perspectives on the modern Québécois identity (Oakes & Warren, 2009), political ideologies (van Dijk, 2002), and platforms (Parmelee & Bichard, 2012), including Twitter, a micro-blogging tool for mass communication (Zappavigna, 2013).

We formed a corpus of these parties’ Twitter feeds from just before the January 2017 mosque attacks in Québec City until one month after the attacks. We performed a political discourse analysis (van Dijk, 1997) on the tweets, using the program MaxQDA. Our analysis will focus on the following questions:

1. How do the PQ, the BQ, and the CAQ express their political identities and purposes through tweets?

1. Which political ideologies are represented in these parties’ tweets; what are points of convergence and divergence among them?

Initial findings suggest that all three parties invoke symbolic elements of the Québécois identity in their tweets, identifying the Québécois as victims of the Canadian federal government’s aggression. The majority of the BQ’s and PQ’s tweets advocate for Québec’s political independence on both the federal and the international stage, while the CAQ focuses on Québec’s domestic issues. Each party also portrays itself as the protector of the interests of other minoritized populations. Thus, while the parties’ tweets maintain historicity with traditional nationalist discourse, they also indicate a new discourse valorizing diversity and globalization.

Summary

This poster presents a political discourse analysis of 3 Québécois political parties’ tweets, focusing on the parties’ expression of political and cultural identity. While each party maintains historicity, identifying the Québécois as victims of the Canadian federal government; the tweets also indicate a new discourse valorizing diversity and globalization.

Slopes is an interactive environment for exploring graphical solutions to ordinary differential equations available for the iPhone and iPad. Slopes consists of five activities, each which contains preloaded examples and the ability to enter your own equations and systems. “Slopefields” and “Phase Planes” both plot vector fields and solutions corresponding to multiple initial conditions. “Systems” dynamically solves systems of up to nine equations. “Waves” solves second-order constant coefficient equations animates the corresponding spring-mass system or RLC circuit. “Methods” constructs numerical approximations of a single ordinary differential equation using Euler’s method as well as Second and Fourth Order Runge-Kutta methods. Slopes is a playground for ODEs. You can use it for homework, in-class activities or a new research project.

The purpose of my work with the Pepperdine production of Euripides’ Medea was not only to prepare and produce a modern piece of Greek theatre but also to personally investigate the role of a dramaturg. Dramaturgy incorporates the intersection of theatre, history, and literature into onstage productions. Production dramaturgs aim to understand the play and the world surrounding it, then establish connections between the text, the cast and crew, and the audience. As the dramaturg for Medea, I was a part of the entire process of this production from early research to performances. Some of the work I did included textual analysis, translation comparison, research concerning social roles in ancient Greece, utilizing Greek theatrical practices for modern audiences, and preparing a dramaturgy packet for the actors. Through this process, I learned how a dramaturg functions in a production environment and prepared myself for future dramaturgical work.

Transcribing and Editing the Selected Works of Robert Fleming Through Sibelius Music Software

The relationship between past sports participation in high school and current levels of general self-efficacy, goal orientation, and college GPA were examined among 149 college undergraduates. Participants were recruited from both MTurk and a local university and completed an online survey, which included a demographic questionnaire, the General Self-Efficacy scale, the Goal Orientation Instrument, and a sports participation questionnaire. Significant positive correlations were found between past sports participation and current levels of general self-efficacy, learning goal orientation, and prove performance goal orientation. No significant relationships were observed for college GPA. The current study is the first to evaluate the relationship between participation in sports during high school and current levels of self-efficacy, goal orientation, and academic performance in college students. Future directions for research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to further understand and explore the motivations behind college students’ misuse of stimulants in an academic setting, in order to develop means to combat its growing popularity. We hypothesized that students would be more likely to misuse stimulants if 1) they perceive SM to be safe, 2) they perceive SM to be ethical, 3) they are more extrinsically motivated in an academic setting, 4) they perceive their academic environments to be competitive, and 5) they perceive SM to be normative.

Participants (n = 172) were undergraduate students at a small, Christian, liberal arts university in Southern California. Participants were recruited from an online research participation management system that included students enrolled in a foundational psychology course. The online survey was anonymous and took approximately 15 minutes to complete. The survey questionnaires were administered online in the following order: The Demographic Form, the Academic Motivation Scale, the Perceived Campus Competitiveness scale, the Stimulant Use Questionnaire, the Modified Perception of Prescription Misuse Among Peers scale, the Perception of Safety of Stimulants scale, the Perceptions of Adderall Ethicality scale, and the Validity Question.

Descriptive statistics evaluated attitudes and perceptions of SM safety, commonality, and ethicality. Only 43.6% of participants viewed alcohol to be safer than SM. While only 10.5% of participants reported lifetime SM, 61.6% of students perceived less than half, about half, or more than half of students to misuse stimulants during finals week. Finally, only 35.4% of students actually viewed SM as academic dishonesty.

Within natural products research, alkaloids remain a promising source of new medicinal compounds due to their extensive biological activities. Thus, exploring the alkaloid constituents of unstudied plants has great potential for the discovery medicinally relevant compounds. Among these unstudied plants are Lupinus albifronsand Tecoma capensis, both flowering shrubs that are cultivated as ornamental plants in Southern California. There are no existing reports describing the alkaloid constituents of T. capensis or L. albifrons. Plant material from each species was extracted with methanol and an alkaloid fraction was generated from each plant using acid-base extractions. These crude alkaloid extracts were further fractionated using a combination of flash chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. Isolated compounds were characterized using LCMS and 1H-, 13C-, HSQC, HMBC and TOCSY-NMR, leading to the identification of anagyrine as the primary alkaloid from L. albifrons. The identification of this compound confirms the similarity of the alkaloid profile of L. albifrons to other species in this genus.

A homothety surface is constructed by gluing the sides of polygons in the plane by homotheties—compositions of scalings and translations. Homothety surfaces generalize translation surfaces, which have been well-studied for several decades. We examine long-term behaviors of periodic and non-periodic linear trajectories on a one-parameter family of genus-2 homothety surfaces and compare these trajectories with those on the square torus.

This study examined the use of the term fake news on Twitter, as well as how the term was used in relation to political party and news source. The following study examined the first 1,500 chronological tweets (N = 1,500) related to fake news in the day after the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. The tweets were coded for 100 different key words, hashtags, references and atmospheric references related to fake news. The codes were used to determine the origin of tweets about fake news, the context of the tweets about fake news, and where those tweets landed on the American political spectrum. This study found that 62% of links in the sample of tweets for this study originated from explicitly right-leaning sources. The accusation of a source being fake news was overwhelmingly directed at either mainstream or left-leaning fake news sources (67% of the time). Additionally, 77.4% of tweets mentioning left wing parties also referred to them as fake as opposed to 46.0% of right wing parties. Most of the hashtags were coded to be anti-Trump than pro-Trump, but in relation to political party, there were more antiliberal tweets than anti-conservative. In regard to the sample of tweets in this study, there presents a disconnect between pro-conservative and pro-Trump suggesting the split between Trump and the GOP was evident on Twitter.

In my initial research, my focus was the study of the formal qualities of portraiture. I found that there was much to be learned technically. I engaged with the study of color theory, facial proportions, the means of rendering different facial features, and the methods for blending skin tone colors. I drew upon the lessons I learned from my grandfather, Sebastian Capella, who also painted in the Impressionistic style with emphasis on the rendering of the human form. While working through the basics of how to paint portraits, I came to an impasse, realizing I had yet to uncover how to capture the likeness of the individual; their personality, what makes them unique and distinct as human beings. In my process I wanted to learn how to not only capture the form of my subject, but to go further and capture their essence.

From then on, I began to look past the familiarity of the human figure, and engage more deeply with personality and soul of the individual. I strove to tell a story of who an individual is, has been, and is becoming through a physical representation of their countenance. In telling the story of another, I unraveled truth behind my own journey. My goal was for the physical representation of each subject to not represent just how they look, but rather to represent who they are as individuals. I am fascinated by what makes people who they are and how individuals are the sum of all of their experiences. I am passionate about human connection and bettering the world through everyday interactions.

This study attempted to examine whether a person’s level of risk-taking behavior would impact initial levels of attraction depending on perceptions of similarity in intelligence to a person of the opposite sex. Participants were randomly assigned to receive one of three intelligence profiles (e.g., high, medium, low) of a fellow opposite-sex college student and asked to rate their level of attractiveness. The effects of intelligence level were examined by level of risk-taking on attractiveness scores. A convenience sample of 217 heterosexual and cisgender undergraduates from a private Christian liberal arts university in California were included in this research. Results showed that risk-taking behavior significantly predicted views of attraction. More specifically, there were significant mean differences between high and low risk-takers on how attractive they rated the student depending on his/her perceived intelligence level. Explanations connected to how these findings relate to perceptions of similarity are discussed. Results from this study provide new insights toward the relationship between risk-taking behavior and human attraction and helps further understanding of social choice in regard to relationships.

Most frogs are nocturnal, but dart frogs (Dendrobatidae) are diurnal and lack scales or hair that would protect them from UVB rays. Previous studies have demonstrated that adult dart frogs avoid UVB light. The purpose of this experiment was to test whether dart frog larvae would avoid UVB light when compared to local nocturnal treefrog larvae. For the experiment we used tadpoles of Dendrobates azureus and Pseudacris regilla. The tadpoles were put in tubs with a submerged shelter and exposed to 3 lighting conditions: UVB, no light and visible light. The tadpoles were exposed to only one lighting condition each trial. They were exposed to these conditions for 6 hours and observations were taken every half hour to note if tadpoles were under the shelter or out in the open. The results demonstrated that both species of tadpoles did not appear to increase shelter use when exposed to no light or visible light. However, for the UVB condition dart frog tadpoles used shelter significantly more than P. regilla tadpoles. In conclusion this experiment demonstrates that dart frog tadpoles are appear more sensitive to UVB than local treefrog tadpoles.

The newly defined construct of medical maximizing-minimizing (MMM) measures differences in healthcare orientations among the general population. Various psychological distinctions in terms of behaviors and cognitions between these groups are unknown. This study focused on the social cognitive theory (SCT) variables of self-efficacy, outcome expectations and self-regulation as important contributors to the medical maximizing-minimizing construct. In addition, this study concentrates on two important health-protective behaviors: physical activity and diet, which are believed to be related to medical maximizing-minimizing via SCT. Participants included 165 individuals recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk currently living in the United Sates and who self-reported as having no diagnosed serious physical or mental illness. Results indicated a significant association between MMM and healthcare outcome expectations (HOE), while other SCT variables like healthcare self-efficacy (HSE) trended towards significance. Together HOE and HSE accounted from 16% of variance in MMM. Other results were inconclusive, but point to possible subtypes within the MMM construct and a great need for qualitative research.

The dissolution of copper metal in nitric acid, a centuries-old reaction with striking visual appeal, provides a complex gaseous mixture displaying the rich chemistry of nitrogen. We present here a project for the physical/atmospheric chemistry laboratory that utilizes ro-vibrational (FTIR) spectroscopy to investigate the IR-active, nitrogen-containing gases generated by the historic “Ira Remsen” reaction. Effective integrated absorption cross-sections derived from quantitative spectral databases (EPA, PNNL) were employed to determine yields of the gaseous products. These include the atmospherically-relevant gases NO2 (and N2O4), NO, N2O, cis- and trans-HONO, HNO3 and ClNO, arising from chloride contamination. It was demonstrated that NO2 and NO are the dominant gas-phase products using concentrated and dilute nitric acid, respectively, and that N2O is likely formed via the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of NO2. The experiment provides a familiar context through which to introduce (a) ro-vibrational spectroscopy of several spectroscopic classes of molecules, (b) the quantification of gases in mixtures, and (c) gases involved in tropospheric smog chemistry.

Between the years 541-546, Victor of Capua commissioned a Latin transcription of the New Testament, which would come to be known as Codex Fuldensis (now housed in Fulda, Germany, as Cod. Bon. 1). Oddly, the Gospels are reproduced in harmonized form and this manuscript proves to be the oldest surviving translation of Tatian’s Diatessaron, a gospel harmony from the second century. Unfortunately the text has been “vulgatized” to read like Jerome’s Latin Vulgate, which erases distinct second-century readings. Our research focuses on the transcription and translation of the Capitula, or table of contents, which consist of 182 chapter headings. Our findings not only offer the first English translation of this work, but a study of how the Capitula differ from the text of the harmony. The Capitula contain “Old Latin” readings that predate Jerome’s Vulgate, and therefore may provide clues as to how Tatian’s second-century harmony was first translated into Latin from either Greek or Syriac.

During exercise, the neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) binds to arterial adrenergic receptors to cause vasoconstriction, yet arteries and arterioles constrict less to sympathetic stimulation in contracting compared to resting skeletal muscle (sympatholysis). Previous evidence indicates that nitric oxide (NO) can be sympatholytic, but the mechanism is unknown. We hypothesized that NO causes sympatholysis in rat soleus muscle feed arteries, that NO is released from vascular endothelial cells by increased shear stress, and that NO acts through a guanylyl cyclase intracellular signaling pathway. Soleus feed arteries (n = 12 per group) were isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats and cannulated on two glass micropipettes for in vitro videomicroscopy. We measured the constriction response to the adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (PE; 10^-9 M to 10^-4 M, 0.5 log increments) in the presence of varying levels of the nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP; 0 nM, 0.1 nM and 100 nM), shear stress (0 dy/cm², 25 dy/cm², and 135 dy/cm²), and SNP + ODQ (0.1 nM), an inhibitor of guanylyl cyclase. SNP reduced constriction to PE in a dose-dependent manner (maximum constriction 77.3 % vs. 70.7 % and 56.7 %), indicating that NO interferes with sympathetic constriction. ODQ restored PE-induced constriction (PE alone 77.5%; with SNP 67.6%; with SNP + ODQ 83.5%), indicating that NO causes sympatholysis through a guanylyl cyclase signaling pathway. However, shear stress did not reduce constriction to PE (67.6 % vs. 68.1 %, and 67.6 %), indicating that increased shear stress during exercise is not the source of the NO causing sympatholysis. We conclude that nitric oxide acting through guanylyl cyclase causes sympatholysis, but the source of the nitric oxide during exercise is not shear stress-induced endothelial cell activation.

With growing awareness of diversity and inclusion, it is paramount that institutions of higher education create environments where students are prepared to navigate an increasingly diverse world. Pepperdine University is one of the first faith-based institutions to assess how it is faring in regards to campus climate and student preparedness. In 2013, an institutional assessment employed new approaches to assess Pepperdine’s success in addressing diversity by using case studies to measure cultural self-awareness, cultural diversity, empathy, social responsibility, understanding systems, and faith for undergraduate and graduate students. Results from these studies indicated that overall scores were lower than expected, where highest scores were within “the cultural diversity and empathy dimensions, and the lowest on the faith and social responsibility dimensions" (Bortman, 2016). Focus groups were conducted with students to better understand why some scores were low. Following Smith's (2015) framework, additional themes of formal curriculum, informal curriculum, formal dialogue, informal dialogue, lack of cultural competence, institutional climate, intergroup relations, Christian values, socioeconomic status, and inclusion vs. segregation revealed that Pepperdine has made distinguishable efforts to address issues of diversity and inclusion. However, barriers to diversity and inclusivity from student perspectives still remain. The use of the case studies with student focus groups at Pepperdine demonstrates significant steps toward an assessment methodology other faith-based and general higher education institutions can model. A future longitudinal study could bring more information to light on whether Pepperdine is preparing its students with the cultural competence needed to navigate a multicultural and increasingly interconnected world.

Bortman, L.E. & Zane, J. I. (2016). Diversity at Pepperdine University, Part III: Students’ understanding of diversity. Research Brief.

Smith, D. G. (2015). Diversity’s Promise for Higher Education: Making it Work (2nd ed.). Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.