South Asia's nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, have a longstanding rivalry, particularly over Kashmir. This paper examines how their recent domestic political developments impact their foreign policy choices and contribute to the risk of nuclear conflict. India's rise in far-right nationalism under Modi and Pakistan's deep-seated military influence are analyzed through relevant frameworks of nuclear proliferation and conflict. The paper argues that Modi's "Akhand Bharat" vision and Pakistan's proxy war strategy fueled by groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed challenge classical deterrence theory. The stability-instability paradox plays out through Pakistan's asymmetric warfare and India's conventional responses. With Modi showing an inclination for forceful reactions, the risk of escalation towards nuclear brinkmanship intensifies. The paper concludes by highlighting the urgent need for de-escalation measures and dialogue to avert a catastrophic nuclear incident in South Asia.

This thesis studies the complex relationships between talin—a critical protein involved in integrin activation and cell adhesion—and derivatives of Cyanidin-3-glucoside chloride (C3G), concentrating on their potential as cancer treatments. Talin plays a critical function in cell motility, invasion, and metastasis through its interaction with integrin β subunits. The focus of our work is to examine the impact of C3G derivatives, namely Cyanidin chloride (CC) and Pelargonidin chloride (PC), on the talin-integrin complex. This complex plays a crucial role in regulating the behavior of cancer cells. We employ advanced biochemical techniques to generate and purify talin proteins and utilize a fluorescence polarization assay to assess the binding affinities and inhibitory effects of these drugs. The research discloses a compound-specific modulation of talin activity in an isoform-specific manner, where CC exhibits a substantial effect on the talin1 isoform (TLN1) while PC demonstrates greater efficacy on the talin2 isoform (TLN2). This emphasis highlights the significance of customizing therapeutic approaches to utilize the unique molecular interactions involved, indicating a direction for the development of more precise and efficient cancer treatments. The findings presented here contribute to a deeper understanding of talin's biological roles and highlight its potential for therapeutic applications. These findings support the need for a targeted approach in the development of innovative medicines to address disorders involving talin interaction.

Everyone knows that the legal drinking age in America is 21, but everyone also knows that anything is legal until you get caught. Across the world, teenagers and young adults consider alcohol an enjoyable weekend stress-reliever, but the long-term impacts of this temporary bliss remain largely undiscussed among younger populations. The neurological damage seen in adolescents that consume excessive amounts of alcohol can cause long-term impairment to a developing brain. Adolescent brain development is a dynamic process of neurological and cognitive changes. Such changes can lead to increased impulsivity contributing to poor decision-making, such as alcohol (over)consumption. Alcohol consumption, in turn, has various effects on the brain including a reduction in brain volume of white and grey matter, neurotransmitter signaling, and memory impairment, all of which can directly affect a teen’s success in both the short and long term.

While infectious viruses have had devastating effects throughout history, recently developed virus-based biotechnologies have the potential to revolutionize treatment of genetic diseases. Specifically, viruses have been vital in the advancement of gene therapy [1]. Gene-based therapy treats diseases by altering the body at the cellular level with the potential to deliver longer-lasting and more personalized impacts than traditional drug-based therapies, making it an appealing route for “achieving permanent correction” [2],[3]. Gene therapy corrects mutated genes that have undergone alterations in their DNA sequence through the delivery of genetic material into cells [4]. A gene mutation occurs when there is a change in a DNA sequence that causes the sequence to be different from what is expected. Gene mutations can be characterized as hereditary or acquired mutations. Hereditary mutations are inherited from parents, while acquired mutations are created at a particular time in a person’s life [5]. A tool known as a vector can act as a vessel for the genetic material to aid the delivery process [4]. Alongside plasmids and nanostructures, viruses can act as a type of viral vector to improve the efficiency of gene therapy [6]. Given the incurable nature of neurodegenerative diseases, which are characterized by the gradual loss of function and death of nerve cells, gene therapy is quickly emerging as a helpful method for improving their management [7]. This article will investigate the efficacy of applying gene-based therapies to the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and the methodology available today.

The intrinsic desire for beauty bleeds into every facet of life, whether in framing one’s identity or defining the status quo. As a concept, beauty remains notoriously difficult to define, yet is ever present in day to day life, especially in relation to pleasing our egos. Beauty’s prominence has been documented since antiquity- dating back to ancient Greece through the notion of Kallos, an ideal to aspire for both physical beauty and moral integrity [1]. Although, at the time there were no scientific discoveries to cement this philosophy into fact, the new millennium has found empirical evidence to support the notion that what embodies beauty is equated to virtue in the mind of the observer. The “Beauty-is-Good” stereotype is a phenomenon in which physically attractive people are assumed to be more socially adept and morally good than others. In Ancient Greece, a woman named Phyrne was on trial for impiety and was exonerated on the basis of her beauty, as it was an indication she was favored by the gods. Beauty for our intensive purposes can be classified into facial attractiveness, audiovisual beauty, and moral goodness [2]. Audiovisual beauty is implicit to the senses, an automatic assessment of incoming stimuli based on aesthetical rules. These evaluations can be either learned, or intrinsic. For instance, humans have an automatic ability to categorize facial features as attractive or unattractive when they are just a few weeks old [2]. Moral goodness utilizes one’s higher order cognition to comprehend socially acceptable behavior. To experience moral beauty, it is necessary for emotion to accompany the judgment. In every person, there is an extremely delicate interplay between our emotions, genetic composition, and judgements that give rise to the experience of beauty, which influences one’s perception of themselves, others, and their environment. Through better understanding of why we experience beauty can a person evaluate their unconscious assumptions and conscious thought processes to redefine beauty for the better.

One of the world’s most powerful psychedelic drugs, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), was never meant to be discovered. Albert Hoffman, commonly known as “the Father of LSD”, unexpectedly came across the drug while working as a research chemist in the 1930s. His job was to repeatedly break down ergot, a fungus that grows parasitically on rye plants, into various types of lysergic acid. During the initial testing of his 25th substance, the soon-to-be famous LSD-25, he noted that the experimental animals became restless, but the substance garnered no special interest. Five years later, Hofmann decided to resynthesize LSD-25. As he completed the final steps of the process, Hofmann suddenly became lost in “an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures of extraordinary plasticity with intense, kaleidoscope-like plays of colors”, most likely due to trace amounts of the substance coming into contact with his fingertips and absorbing through the skin. Fascinated by the experience, Hofmann took more LSD. Unaware of the drug's potency, he orally consumed 0.25 milligrams - five times the recommended dose. As its effects set in, he slipped into a psychedelic nightmare. His vision wavered and distorted as if he was looking into a curved mirror. The room spun in circles around him, and his furniture took on increasingly threatening forms. Hofmann felt for a moment as if he was losing his grip on reality and knocking on the doorstep of insanity, but as the drug’s effects dwindled, he instead found himself enjoying the remarkable sensations - sounds being transformed into vivid optical perceptions, fantastic mental images culminating in kaleidoscopic explosions, and a new world revealing itself to be explored. Hofmann woke up the next day to feelings of well-being and renewed life force flowing through him. He saw the world as if it was newly created, and with that, the mystery of LSD-25 officially began.

Imagine a world where perpetrators of repeated human rights abuses can escape justice and even sabotage the efforts of those who seek to hold them accountable. This is the reality that the International Criminal Court (ICC) faces in its mission to deter and prosecute international crimes. In this paper, I will argue that the ICC is largely ineffective in deterring human rights abuses by leaders abroad, based on descriptive qualitative studies of several cases involving Russia, Afghanistan, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan, and Kenya, where political influence, among other related factors, undermined the court’s authority and legitimacy. My research question is as follows: How effective is the ICC in deterring international human rights abuses by leaders? I hypothesize that the ICC is mostly ineffective in deterring human rights abuses abroad, especially by political leaders, albeit with a few notable exceptions. Utilizing information from primary sources, such as the press comments of relevant politicians and firsthand news articles detailing the events, and secondary sources, such as court documents and journal articles, This paper argues that the ICC is not only circumvented, but frequently undermined by political influence. Renown executives, such as the George Bush administration in the U.S. or William Ruto in Kenya, were able to directly interfere with investigation efforts by witness tampering or manipulating legal loopholes. In these cases, innate vulnerabilities were exposed, showing the ICC can be rendered powerless against human rights abuses. A historical and theoretical study on these cases and the implication of their respective ICC interactions will be the leading basis of my paper.

Background: Challenges with social functioning, which is a hallmark of opioid use disorder (OUD), are a drawback in treatment adherence and maintenance. Yet, little research has explored the underlying mechanisms of this impairment. Impulsivity, a known risk factor for OUD, and corresponding neural alterations may be at the center of this issue. Childhood adversity, which has been linked to both impulsivity and poorer treatment outcomes, could also affect this relationship. This study aims to understand the relationship between impulsivity and social functioning in those recovering from OUD. Differences in the prefrontal cortex will be analyzed, as well as potential moderating effects of childhood trauma. Methods: Participants with (N=16) and without (N=19) social impairment completed a survey (e.g., social functioning, Barrat’s Impulsivity Scale, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and cognitive tasks while undergoing neuroimaging. Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a modern, portable, and low-cost neuroimaging technology, was used to measure prefrontal cortex activity during a behavioral inhibition task (Go/No-Go task). Results: The socially impaired group (n=16) was significantly more impulsive (t(33)= -3.4, p< 0.01) and displayed more depressive symptoms (t(33) = -2.8, p <0.01) than those without social impairment (n=19). Social functioning was negatively correlated with impulsivity (r=-0.7, p<0.001), such that increased impulsivity corresponded to decreased social functioning. Childhood trauma emerged as a moderator of this relationship, but only when controlling for the effects of depression, B=-0.11, p=0.023. Although both groups had comparable Go/No-Go task performance, the socially impaired group displayed greater activation in the dorsolateral (F(1,100.8)=7.89, p<0.01), ventrolateral (F(1,88.8)= 7.33, p<0.01), and ventromedial (F(1,95.6)= 7.56, p<0.01) prefrontal cortex during impulse control. Conclusion: Beyond being more impulsive, individuals with social impairment exhibited differential activation in the prefrontal cortex when controlling responses. Furthermore, the impact of impulsivity on social functioning varies depending on ACEs demonstrating that it must considered in treatment approaches. These findings have implications for addressing social needs and impulsivity of those in recovery, highlighting the importance of a more personalized, integrative, and trauma-informed approach to intervention.

Through a textual analysis of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, this project seeks to better understand and compare the language used by the Supreme Court in the majority and dissenting opinions through a lens of gender and sexuality. To better understand the biases that influence the Supreme Court, this study was conducted through a textual analysis of both the majority and dissenting opinions in Dobbs. The analysis identifies differences in the language used in the majority and dissenting opinions.