Interactions between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and complex diseases have been an important topic throughout epidemiological studies. Previous genome-wide-association studies have mostly focused on gene variables at a single locus, but did not obtain strong evidence for SNPs with complex diseases such as cancer. In our project, we performed a focused candidate gene study to test the interaction of multiple SNPs with the risk of different types of cancer. Using the R package algstat, developed by Kahle, Garcia-Puente, and Yoshida, we developed an algorithm which can test for independence between several variables and the disease. We applied our methods to the study of gene-gene interaction on cancer data obtained from the European case-control study Gen-Air. Previously pairs of SNPs were tested for independence versus certain cancers in this study, but it was not computationally feasible to test triplets of SNPs with the methods available. The algorithm developed was significantly faster so we were able to test for independence of SNP triplets and found strong evidence to reject independence of many triplet combinations of SNPs with the disease, suggesting correlation between having a certain combination of SNPs and risk of certain cancers. These results can be used for further testing of associations of these SNP combinations and certain cancers. Outside of the study of SNP-cancer association, this algorithm can be easily adjusted to perform other studies using arbitrary log-linear statistical models.

Though the post-colonial mainstream American diet has changed over time, what seems to remain constant is the emphasis of a protein source (typically meat) at every meal. New trends have emerged which advocate for deviances from this dominant paradigm, such as veganism, a diet that exludes meat, eggs, dairy, and any product or by-product of non-human animals. Some scholars such as ecofeminist and animal rights author/advocate Carol J. Adams have set out to demonstrate how societal expectations of gender roles have shaped the dominant discourse surrounding our diets and those who choose to opt out of these dominant food ways. But no one has yet addressed how the alignment of masculinity with meat is addressed in male-dominated sports, and how the current infiltration of the vegan diet into these realms may be changing the way we look at meat vs. plant-based diets. I seek to investigate what happens when the epitome of muscle and masculinity, male bodybuilders, adopt what is sometimes referred to as a “feminine” vegan diet. I also seek to explore whether marketing or demonstrations of one’s ability to build muscle on a vegan diet help to change people’s perspective of vegans as “weak” or “feminine”, or if these carnophallogocentric ideals rather promote and prolong the ideology of necessity of meat in the diet. Through analysis of mainstream media representation of veganism, online resopnses to well-known bodybuiders "gone vegan", and critical readings of current pro-vegan advocacy works, I seek to discover if it is truly possible to adopt a vegan diet while separating oneself ftom a dominant post-colonial dietary paradigm. I expect to find that gender and diet are intricately linked, and that until our society addresses the underlying ideology which places femininity on a hierarchy below masculinity, veganism will continue to be viewed as feminine, and therefore inferior. 

Contentious debates among Natives and non-Natives concerning the fate of wild horses on Yakama tribal lands in Washington State have waxed and waned for more than a century. Beginning at the turn of the twentieth century, the Yakima Indian Agency welcomed non-Indian sheep and cattle ranchers onto Yakama tribal lands against Native wishes, taxing rangelands, and resulting in widespread overgrazing. By the 1920s, agency concerns for the economic stability of non-Indian ranchers facilitated a need to gain access to communal tribal grazing lands that served to sustain Yakama horses. Because of this, agency officials orchestrated systematic assaults on Yakama horse herds, citing horses as the primary culprits of overgrazing and land degradation. However, Yakamas showed little interest in removing their horses at the behest of non-Native officials, and instead vehemently opposed settler encroachment on communal grazing lands. Through an interrogation of archival sources, conducting interviews, and reviewing scholarly sources across disciplines, I argue that Yakamas and non-Natives used wild horses as a terrain of struggle, whereby asserting competing claims to Indigenous lands and resources. Thus, examining wild horses as a tool of Indigenous resistance during the early twentieth century provides a useful lens for understanding the many forms of Native opposition to colonial hegemony, while simultaneously calling attention to the multiplicity of problematic and archaic tropes employed by non-Natives in an effort to provide justification for divesting Native communities of meaningful lands and resources.
 

The principle objective of this research is to contribute to a critical body of work by recent scholars who have challenged the popular understanding and the perceived differences of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Minister Malcolm X. Scholarship has not yet adequately compared and contrasted the political messages and insights that each leader presented in the final years of his life. This research engages with Malcolm X’s and MLK’s later works, which were critical for understanding new developments in their political messages and strategies. In order to comprehend the final years of both leaders, this paper will use a close reading of primary and secondary sources to provide a comparative analysis of their work. Also, the paper seeks to explore the commonalities and divergent strategies that MLK and Malcolm X used in their final messages and suggests ways that these messages are still relevant to US society.

One of the leading causes of depression is stress, and yet not enough is known about the exact mechanism by which stress alters depression. Of the four opioid receptor systems (mu, delta, kappa, and opioid receptor like-1), the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) is what my research focuses on. KOR is activated by its endogenous ligand, dynorphin. This is responsible for promoting analgesia, and depression-like phenotypes such as swim-stress immobility. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a protein kinase involved in regulation of functions such as cell growth, and metabolism. When dysregulated, it may lead to obesity, depression or cancer. Both mTOR and KOR have been shown to independently regulate stress-induced depression. However, there are no studies which tie these two ideas together. One possible link could be the stimulation of p38 MAPK kinase. Stimulation of KOR causes G-protein coupled receptor kinase (GRK)-dependent activation of the p38. Additionally, it is known that p38 causes the inhibition of TSC2, promoting phosphorylation of mTOR. Based on our results, activation of KOR with U50,488 causes an increase in phosphorylation in mTOR in vitro. However, this is also present in negative control cells not expressing KOR, which could indicate that U50,488 also has an off-target effect on a non-KOR mediated pathway. A similar treatment on mice decreases phosphorylation of mTOR after 28 hours in the brain, indicating that after a stressful event, mTOR activation is transient and acute. Furthermore, decreased mTOR phosphorylation after 28 hours in the brain was found to be blocked in GRK3 knockout mice. This implies that decreased mTOR phosphorylation after 28 hours with U50,488, requires the GRK gene. Further experiments, including behavioral testing, will be needed to investigate a deeper relationship between KOR and mTOR. With further research, these studies may lead to developing novel anti-depressants, revolutionizing depression treatment.