Session SIX

Christina Klas, University of New Mexico. Interventions for Conservation and Efficiency in Household Water Consumption. Household water consumption in arid regions is a growing concern for city water utilities and governments, spurring interest in strategies to make usage more efficient. I consolidated data investigating the impact of conservation interventions to determine the most cost-effective and efficient method. Interventions can be categorized as mandates, nudges, education, or incentives. I focused on the latter two: education and incentives. The education program is a workshop conducted by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority encouraging consumer education on irrigation and urban vegetation. The incentive is a rebate for low-flow appliances like toilets, showerheads, washing machines, and for xeriscape. This metanalysis indicates that the workshop has varied success depending on the level of usage and drought conditions but is overall successful in promoting efficient water consumption for two months following attendance. The rebate study determined that while all measured interventions have a negative effect on water demand, the most cost-effective method is the installation of low-flow showerheads, and that producing the greatest reduction in demand is a low-flow toilet. 

Sidney Crowley, University of New Mexico. Co-authors Madeline Hwang, Mason Briggs, Benjamin Gibson, Christopher Wertz, Adam Woods, John Phillips, Andrew Mayer, Michelle Cox, Vincent Clark. Anatomical Predictors of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Effects on Memory Improvement. Introduction: Cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases lead to significant personal and financial costs. The MEMORI Study (NCT05077826) tested the use of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation, to accelerate learning and reduce effects of dementia. One question is whether individual differences in treatment can be predicted by the anatomical measures such as white matter (WM), gray matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) ratios to whole brain volume (BV). Dementia has been found to be associated with reduced GM, WM and increased CSF in prior studies.

Objectives: Given that the volume of GM, WM, and CSF can affect the conductivity of tDCS, we sought to examine the relationship between these anatomical volumes and efficacy of tDCS for treating memory loss in early stages of dementia.  Methods: Brain anatomy was assessed using MRI (Siemens Prisma 3T). Participants received sham (0.1 mA) or active (2.0 mA) tES while performing the PRETXT discovery learning task (Gibson et al. 2020). Relationships between anatomical measures and learning were analyzed after training.

Results: In the active group, WM and GM to BV ratios were positively associated with learning scores (r=0.53 and r=0.56, p <0.05). In the sham group, these associations were not significant (r=-0.05 and r=-0.13, with both p >0.05). CSF was not significantly correlated with learning scores. (r=-0.21 and r=-0.26, both p >0.05).

Conclusions: Benefits of tES vary due to anatomical differences. Neuroimaging can help predict the outcome of neuromodulation-based treatments of neurodegenerative disease by assessing the anatomical differences of individual patients.

Lourdes Cazares, University of New Mexico. Effects of developmental ethanol exposure on the cerebro-cerebellum. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is found in children who have been exposed to alcohol during pregnancy. Alcohol can significantly impact the cerebellum, which is known for controlling motor and cognitive behavior. Deficits in executive function are documented in both animal models and humans with cerebellar damage, including damage caused by fetal alcohol exposure, leading to disruptions in planning, problem-solving, set-shifting, response inhibition, and working memory. The regions that mediate executive function include the cerebellar cortex (e.g., lobule VI, Crus I) and deep cerebellar nuclei. This study will test the hypothesis that binge-like ethanol exposure during the mouse-equivalent to the third trimester of human pregnancy will cause loss of neurons in lobules VI, Crus I, and deep cerebellar nuclei.  This developmental period occurs postnatally in rodents (i.e., during the first week of life).  Mice will be subcutaneously injected with saline or ethanol (3 g/kg) at postnatal day 6 and left undisturbed until adulthood.  Immunohistochemical techniques will be used to determine neuronal densities in tissue sections (prepared with a cryostat) from these brain regions.  We expect to observe a reduction in the numbers of Purkinje neurons and granule cells in lobules VI and Crus I of the cerebellar cortex and deep nuclei neurons. The findings of the proposed studies will shed new light on the effect of developmental ethanol exposure on cerebro-cerebellar circuits. 

Chris Baca, University of New Mexico. Transcending Human: An Ethnographic Analysis of the Sociocultural and Socioeconomic Impact of the Integration of LLMs. This research paper explores the profound socioeconomic and sociocultural impacts of Large Language Models (LLMs), particularly in fostering a transhumanist culture. As LLMs, such as OpenAI’s GPT series, continue to advance, they are reshaping industries, altering job markets, and transforming human creativity and communication. Grounded in a sociocultural and anthropological perspective, this study investigates how LLMs influence human behavior, social structures, and cultural norms. By reviewing literature on LLMs and transhumanism, the paper highlights the dual potential of these technologies: while LLMs present remarkable opportunities for enhancing human capabilities and streamlining tasks across various sectors, they also pose risks such as reinforcing social biases, exacerbating economic inequalities, and displacing human labor.

The paper employs a thematic review of primary and secondary sources, along with qualitative interviews, to analyze the job market disruptions, economic inequality, and sociocultural shifts driven by LLMs. It also delves into how LLMs redefine human creativity and identity, blurring the boundaries between human and machine-generated outputs. The rise of transhumanism, advocating for human enhancement through technology, is examined through the lens of anthropological adaptation to technological change.

This study concludes that while LLMs are agents of cultural transformation, careful consideration of their ethical implications and a focus on inclusive development are critical. An ethnographic approach is recommended to further understand the impact of LLMs on diverse communities and to ensure that these technologies are deployed equitably, fostering opportunities while mitigating risks.