ABSTRACTS
2019 National McNair Scholars Conference at UCLA
Researcher: Kristian, Bolaños-Ibarra
Presentation Title: Expression of DDX3X RNA and Protein in Human Development
Research Focus: Neurology; Genetics; Intellectual Deficits
School: University of California, Berkeley in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco
DDX3X is an X-linked ATP-dependent DEAD-box RNA Helicase consisting of 662 amino acids. It is located at Xp11.14, found to be ubiquitously expressed in all cells, and is a multifunctional protein associated with RNA metabolism and regulatory processes in transcription and translation. Recently confirmed by Whole Exome Sequencing, de novo mutations in the DDX3X gene are found to cause abnormal cortical development leading to intellectual deficits (ID) which could account for 1-3% of all unexplained ID in females. To better understand the consequence of de novo DDX3X mutations in cortical development, here we present a developmental model of DDX3X RNA and protein expression in neurons differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells. We focus on two cellular models: one derived from an unaffected maternal control, and the second derived from a severely affected daughter with an R326C de novo mutation in DDX3X. Through quantitative Western Blot and quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) we measured gene and protein expression of DDX3X at three periods over 21 days. We have determined that DDX3X gene expression is consistent in levels for both the control and the mutant throughout development.
However, we have also determined that wild-type DDX3X protein expression decreases with development, but remains unchanging in the mutant. These results suggest that there may be post-transcriptional regulation of DDX3X in development, which could be disrupted by mutations. Further studies to elucidate the differential protein expression in the mutant should be carried out to better understand this aberration and possible link to ID.
Researcher: Michael Cerda-Jara
Presentation Title: Still Marked? Criminal Record, Education, and Employment in the Era of Mass Incarceration
Research Focus: Employment prospects for college-educated men with criminal records in the “college-educated” labor market
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Research on system-impacted people primarily focuses on the school-to-prison pipeline. This research study examines the prison-to-school pipeline and seeks to understand the role of higher education in employment prospects for men with criminal records. Formerly incarcerated people are encouraged to pursue higher education, but does it pay off? I conducted an experimental audit study of job callbacks for men with criminal records and bachelor’s degrees. This study compared job callbacks for college-educated men with and without a criminal record (N=400) and found no difference. Furthermore, studies prior have shown that job applicants with low-level arrest and conviction histories tend to be limited to the secondary labor market. To probe whether male formerly incarcerated college graduates are able to escape the secondary labor market, this study also investigates the job search experiences and strategies employed by formerly incarcerated men who have a bachelor’s degree using semi-structured, in-depth interviews. These interviews reveal that college-educated men with a conviction history initially tend to overshare background information and subsequently learn to omit this information to increase their chances of an interview. However, once applicants have been given a tentative job offer, they undergo a background check. This is significant because, in contrast to the secondary labor market, background checks are performed more often in the “college-educated” labor market. This limits the options of college-educated applicants with a conviction to continue to pursue an even higher education, strategically avoid jobs that openly advertise the use of background checks, or settle for low-skill, low-paying jobs.
Researcher: Mariajose Corona-Rojas
Presentation Title: Mujeres Educadas: “I Can and I Will” Persistence in Post-Graduate Attainment
Research Focus: Sociology in Education
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Popular discourses around “grit” in educational research frame the possibility of academic achievement and success for poor, smart kids as attainable through hard work. These discourses often shape the pedagogies utilized to engage underrepresented students of color and have structured the aspirations of these students within higher education throughout generations.
However, research has shown that even when students of color from working-class backgrounds do exactly what society has demanded them — to work harder — they are still slipping through the cracks when it comes to attaining postgraduate degrees. Yosso (2009) states failure is often cosigned from the overreliance of research that focuses on underachievers in the Latinx community. Deficit approaches take the positions that a) students of color enter school without normative cultural knowledge and skills and b) parents neither value nor support their child’s education. Guided by Gofen’s (2009) framework of family capital in connection to Gerrard’s (2014) learning ethic, this study uncovered how three first-generation, Latina students from a working-class background interpreted their parents’ and family’s educational aspirations as valuable and transferable forms of support. Through qualitative interviews this study found that these Latinas in an institution of higher education drew on the funds of knowledge of their own communities as well as support networks to overcome structural barriers and achieve academic success. As such I argue that family cultural capital coupled with a learning ethic model allowed the Latinas in my research to overcome institutional barriers designed to exclude the knowledge production and cultural practices of Latinx families.
Researcher: Isla Covarrubias
Presentation Title: Domingo Siete: Deviant Latinas Reconstructing Their Lives
Research Focus: Latina Student Single Mothers transferring from a 2-year Community College to a 4-year institution.
School: University of California, Berkeley
At a young age, Latinas are indoctrinated with a sense of family responsibility and loyalty, especially within the contours of patriarchal ideological framings constructed through marianismo and machismo. Often, Latina mothers play multiple roles in their families including taking care of their children while caring for grandparents and parents. These familial obligations are major factors to disproportionate percentage of Latinas in higher education. Through qualitative interviews and an auto-testimonio of my experiences as a Latina mother in higher education, this study examines multiple stigmas-challenges my hermanas academicas (academic sisters) encounter as they transfer from a 2-year-community-college to a 4-year-institution. Current research on Latinas in higher education explores the role Latinas play within families and schooling outcomes.
However, more research needs to address experiences, social barriers, and social networks Latina single mothers engage when navigating such institutions. Therefore, this project provides an insight of how Latinas Students Single Mothers(LSSM) deal with dehumanization and neglect of their needs as academic mothers. My methodological testimonio approach allowed six self-identified LSSM research participants to construct their own narratives. The qualitative interviews explored questions around community college experiences, family demands, and adaptation to 4-year institutions.
Findings reveal intersectional forms of oppression Latina single mothers face as a result of historical gender roles created through ideologies of marianismo and machismo, as well as structural academic obstacles they encountered. Nonetheless, I argue that these Latinas showed the power of their knowledge and resilience when they pushed through setbacks. Henceforth, the spanish prover “Domingo Siete” depicts the shame in Latinx families when becoming pregnant out of wedlock.
Researcher: Kristina Echevarria
Presentation title: A Generation in Uprising? How Dystopian Literature Impacts Young Adults
Presentation Type: Oral
Research focus: Social Welfare, Literature, Dystopia Studies
School: University of California, Berkeley
Dystopias have been common in fictional literature for centuries but particularly sparked popularity within the realm of young adult literature during the post-9/11 era. Due to the rising popularity of the highly political, socio-cultural, and ominous nature of Dystopian literature, I seek to understand the social influence this genre has on marginalized youth between 12 and 18 years old. Through a series of interviews conducted with young women of color in California, I investigate how reading and engaging with Dystopian literature affects the perceptions, sense of realities, and aspirations of low-income female youth of color in modern American society.
Furthermore, I investigate how Dystopian literature plays a role in engaging young women in today’s cultural and political revolutions, influencing their sense of personal agency and providing an outlet for imagining their possible futurities. Dystopian fiction often emphasizes catastrophic realities, many of which starkly parallel the lives of marginalized young women. Because of this, I anticipate that there will be a direct correlation between this type of literature and young women’s perceptions, aspirations, and sense of realities. This, I hypothesize, will be an inverse relationship between the themes of dystopias and what these young women imagine for their futures, leading to a more hopeful and resilient outlook. This work is situated within the fields of sociology, education, literature, and American studies, as it highlights a substantial interrelationship between the media, Dystopian literature, and literature’s social influence.
Researcher: Jade Fong
Presentation Title: I’ll Be Dammed: Effects of the Declining Chinook Salmon Population on the Winnemem Wintu Tribe Along the Sacramento River
Research Focus: Cultural preservation, indigenous rights, environmental conservation, indigenous resources, displacement
School: University of California, Berkeley
The Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), also known as “King Salmon”, are an endangered species according to the U.S. government. Current literature primarily focuses on the causes of its endangered status and possible solutions but fail to acknowledge the social and cultural consequence of salmon depletion on Native American tribes. This study explores how the Winnenem Wintu tribe residing along the Sacramento River rely on salmon for cultural, spiritual, and economic purposes. I analyze how dam operations contribute to dwindling salmon life in addition to examining historical and cultural ramifications for the construction and operation of the Shasta Dam on the Winnemem Wintu through land rights and displacement. The creation of Shasta Dam destroyed 90% of the Winnemem Wintu’s land. Beneath Shasta Lake lies sacred ancestral burial sites. However, the National Parks Reservation website does not mention the tribe in the “History of Shasta Lake” section. Winnemem Wintu is not a federally recognized tribe, giving them less political clout. The Trump Administration is fast-tracking the rise of the Shasta Dam by eighteen and a half feet, threatening to destroy fifty sacred sites and inundate more salmon. In using both oral history and scientific methodology, this study acknowledges the needs of underrepresented native communities and works toward repopulation methodologies utilized by indigenous representatives in order to save the Chinook salmon.
Researcher: Sydney Garcia
Presentation Title: Joy, Well-being, and Familism among Latinx Farmworkers
Research Focus: Positive Psychology, Emotion, Immigration
School: UC Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral
Whereas most psychological research with Latinx immigrants has focused on negative attributes (e.g.: acculturative stress and health problems), this study takes the approach of positive psychology to examine the emotional strength of joy. Joy has been overlooked in the literature, likely due to how it is often conflated with happiness. However, a recent study (with a college population) has demonstrated that joy is a distinct emotion that is important to subjective well-being (Watkins et al., 2018). To replicate these findings with an adult population, the present study focuses on farmworkers in California’s Central Valley, most of whom are Latinx immigrants. Self-report survey data reveals that dispositional joy is strongly correlated with subjective well-being. Through multiple regression analysis, familism and strength of ethnic group identification are explored as moderating variables. Results are discussed in the context of Latinx collectivism and intergroup contact theory.
Researcher: Valeria Garcia
Presentation Title: A Format for Arithmetic Circuits
Research Focus: Computer Science
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral
Data streaming algorithms have become ideal for high-speed monitoring applications such as analyzing big data, e.g., Twitter charting the most trended tweets over a set period of time. One of the main benefits of streaming algorithms is that they provide a way to use finite memory to process data. Many streaming algorithms can be modeled by arithmetic circuits; however, there is no standardized, machine readable format for these arithmetic circuits. I propose a new format that extends AIGER, a format that describes logical circuits by multi- rooted And-Inverter Graphs (AIGs), to model arithmetic circuits with a small amount of new syntax and a python reference library for manipulating this extension. This extension allows the use of real values and other numerical operators such as sum, difference, min, max, and average.
Researcher: Victoria Marie Glynn
Presentation Title: Genetically-engineering reduced pathogen susceptibility in rice and wheat
Research Focus: Plant pathology, genetic engineering, molecular biology
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral presentation
The fungal taxa Magnaporthe spp. and bacterial taxa Xanthomonas spp. place global food security at risk, as they destroy approximately 40% and 30% of global rice and wheat yields respectively. In rice, knocking down two susceptibility genes sg1 and sg2 significantly reduces susceptibility to Magnaporthe oryzae. Additionally, loss-of-function mutations in sg2 also decrease rice’s susceptibility towards Xanthomonas oryzae. We need to explore the role of sg1 and sg2 in wheat and understand if sg1 also impacts bacterial infections like sg2, given the global importance of wheat as a crop cultivar. To do so, we grew rice and wheat lines that had sg1 and sg2 knocked-out using RNA interference (RNAi) or CRISPR-Cas9. After inoculating plants with Magnaporthe spp. and Xanthomonas spp., we calculated colony forming units from leaf tissue over fourteen days. Preliminary plant pathogen challenges suggest that the knock-out rice and wheat lines had a similar susceptibility to Xanthomonas spp., but a lower susceptibility to Magnaporthe spp., as compared to wild-type plants. We expect sg1 and sg2 expression to be mostly concentrated in leaf tissue, seen via the localization of dsRED. In expanding upon past work on sg1 and sg2, we can begin to identify homologous genes in various cereal crops that potentially confer broad-spectrum and durable resistance against diverse pathogens. The localization of gene expression allows us to discuss how effector-triggered and PAMP-triggered immunity is modulated through gene knock-outs. Further work should uncover the biosynthetic pathways in leaf tissue involved in sg1 and sg2 gene expression.
Researcher: Jorge Alberto Güitrón
Presentation Title: “The Evolving Spirit: Queer Inclusion in U.S. Latinx Christian Theology and Pastoral Care”
Presentation Type: Oral
Research Focus: Homosexuality, Queer Latinidad, Religiosity, Spirituality, Theology, Christianity
School: University of California, Berkeley
Within the last decade, there has been data that illustrates a positive shift for inclusion and acceptance towards homosexuality in the Latino Christian community. However, there has been minimal research that focuses on how pastoral practices can engage with theology to transform and institutionalize the relationship between queerness, Latinidad, and Christianity. Although some research has followed the religious life trajectories of Christian-raised Latinx queer persons, there is a lack of studies on how queer inclusive religious education and practice can impact those trajectories. As such, this study will place participant observations from three ministry services and community conversations conducted to view the relationship between pastoral practices of care, support, and inclusivity and their impact on a transcultural understanding of a more inclusive US/Latino Christianity in Oakland, California. This study uses the pastoral care relationship introduced by David Kundtz to specifically examine how queer inclusive pastoral care and theology could pose as a remedial option for reconciliation between faith and identity. This comparative analysis found that queer Latinxs are creating and participating in holistic spaces to exist and belong, as responses to inclusive pastoral care teachings that are uniquely being formed for queer Latinx Christians, their families, and the greater Latino Christian community.
Researcher: Violet Henderson
Presentation Title: What Are the Health Effects of Illegal Dumping of Trash
On the Citizens of Oakland, California
Research Focus: Illegal Dumped Trash on the Street of Oakland, California
Institution: University of California at Berkeley College of Natural Resources
Over the past seven years, three major events have been intersecting in Oakland, California. First, the homeless population has exploded onto the city streets, creating shantytowns under freeway overpasses and onto vacant lots. Second, the amount of trash on the streets has increased, and the types of trash have evolved from basic litter to household furnishings, electronic waste, building materials, in addition to toxic soils being dumped on vacant residential lots and streets within mostly low-income communities of color. Third, the San Francisco Bay Area has experienced an economic uptick with the emergence of tech companies that have attracted pools of employees who earn six-plus figure salaries and have the means of renting and purchasing residential and commercial properties in the city. As new developments spring up in neighborhoods that were once labeled as undesirable due to what is called “Smart Growth”, the people most affected by the building boom are faced with displacement and horrific piles of trash all over the city.
What about the sheltered residents of Oakland who have to walk or drive by the homeless people and piles of trash on a daily basis? I argue that viewing the degradation and disparity daily has a cumulative effect on the human body. In researching how illegal dumping affects the health of people in Oakland, I conducted interviews with thirteen residents who shared how they feel about the trash, who is responsible for it, and what city government should or could do to eliminate this social-ecological problem.
Researcher: Clara Jimenez
Presentation Title: “Transforming Melancholia: Depression and Female Coping in Morrison’s Beloved and Jones’ Corregidora”
Research Focus: Humanities/English Literature
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Within works of contemporary African American literature, topics such as mental health and transgenerational trauma play a critical role. This is especially true in pieces of women- authored African American fiction that center female characters. While this literature offers complex narratives, mainstream literary scholarship has yet to examine these themes at length. The research that does exist tends to overlook the multifaceted psyches that female African American characters embody.
Drawing upon Psychoanalysis and Postcolonial literary theory, this project centers Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Gayl Jones’ Corregidora. I examine how Denver, a main character in Beloved, and Ursa, the protagonist in Corregidora, embody symptoms of chronic depression and develop coping mechanisms throughout their narratives. I argue that these texts are significant in their unique portrayals of African American daughters who suffer from trauma passed down through their matrilineal ancestry. Each character’s depression manifests differently. A socially- isolated Denver develops a complicated relationship with mothering, at times adopting the role of mother and later yearning for her own maternal figure. Meanwhile, Ursa seeks out creative expression—Blues singing—as a means to release the painful history her family has preserved orally for generations. In analyzing these characters, I seek to establish an in-depth understanding of how Morrison and Jones depict realistic mental health issues that impact African American women. Additionally, I also engage questions of reproduction and memory, investigating how these concepts emerge in both works and what they signify in the larger context of daughters learning to survive deeply-rooted familial trauma.
Researcher: Daniel Lix
Presentation Title: Healthcare or Policing? Differing institutional experiences among substance & alcohol using university students
Research Focus: Responses to university student substance & alcohol-use
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
This study focuses on institutional responses to university students’ substance & alcohol-use. The first objective is to understand if whether substance & alcohol-related police-enforcement of university students occurs selectively according to race; the second objective is to understand if whether substance & alcohol-related university health-services are known, and thus accessed, also according to race. This study draws from previous research studies that document racially-selective substance & alcohol-related police-enforcement, inequitable accessibility of substance & alcohol-related institutional services, and also relatively high rates of substance & alcohol-use at colleges and universities. Using online questionnaires, the current-student population of a particular University of California institution is asked about their alcohol & substance-use, if they had been policed for related-reasons, and whether they were aware of and have actually accessed university-provided services for substance & alcohol use; other specifying (e.g. location of police interaction, responding agency, etc.) and demographic questions (for categorization of various student populations) were also asked. The data from these questions allows us to; (1) compare and contrast the rates of substance & alcohol use with and against the rates of policing, and (2) compare and contrast the rates of university-healthcare access for particular and various student populations. Doing so allows us to understand whether particular populations are more likely to be policed for their use while other students are more likely to know of and seek out university-health services. Based on existing research concerning the differences in kind and degree of policing based on race, this study expects to find differing experiences among students according to their race.
Researcher: Genesis L. Mazariegos
Presentation Title: Guatemalan Migrants: Invisibility, Displacement, and Perceptions of Identity
Presentation Type: Oral
Research Focus: Guatemala, Migration
School: University of California, Berkeley
Despite the growing number of Central American migrants in the United States, we still know very little about them. Often, the literature has grouped Central American countries (and people) together, ignoring the distinct differences in culture, language, and identity. This paper aims to showcase the diversity of culture and identity in Central America by focusing on the diversity found in Guatemala specifically, in order to change the common notion that Central Americans are a homogeneous people.
More pressing, however, is the fact that many Central American migrants, unlike their Mexican counterparts, are often viewed as peripheral members of the Latinx community. This invisibility has led to lack of resources, lack of Central American spaces, and displacement. Using semi- structured interviews and autoethnographic work, this paper acknowledges the historical legacy of invisibility that many Guatemalans and other Central Americans face in the U.S. and explores Guatemalan identity through the lenses of migration and transnationalism in order to understand how Guatemalan migrants in the United States perceive their identity. This piece will try to answer the question of who can claim Guatemalan identity and how perceptions of visibility or invisibility affect people’s notions and sentiments towards their identities.
Researcher: Martín D. J. Mercado
Presentation Title: Beyoncé at the Border?: An Historical Analysis of ‘Coachella’/Coachella Valley from 1999-2019
Research Focus: History, Race and Ethnicity, Geography
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
The term ‘Coachella’ has earned a particular ring in the popular consciousness as the “desert festival cornucopia.” Referring specifically to the three-day, two-weekend event known as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, ‘Coachella’ takes place annually in the Southern California desert city of Indio. What began as a fringe alternative rock concert in 1999 has evolved into a global phenomenon of pop culture and consumption drawing from various music and art genres the spectrum over. Increasing artist lineup diversity, a visual marketing campaign emphasizing inclusion, and politically-charged performances have branded ‘Coachella’ a space of liberalism and diversity in certain respects (peaking in 2018 when Beyoncé performed in HBCU-style). And yet, different iterations of a racialized economy throughout the twentieth- century have furnished gross socioeconomic disparities in the region. Today, industries in agriculture, construction, retail, and hospitality (i.e. leisure) have maintained this spatialization between the East and West Coachella Valleys – the former a majority poor, brown, farm- working community; the latter a white, wealthy LA-backyard resort destination. This paper explores the relationship between the massive-reaching festival and the local region, paying particular attention to the festival as a project of the West Coachella Valley’s leisure economy in the East Coachella Valley. I engage questions of political economy, race, space, immigration, and multiculturalism to make sense of the ironies inherent in having a multicultural festival “mecca” located in a segregated desert borderland. In using both a historical and contemporary analysis, I highlight what is included and left out in the story of ‘Coachella.’
The central melanocortin system plays a vital role in obesity. In particular AgRP neurons, a component of the system, play a critical role in feeding and body weight regulation. However, the downstream components of this circuit are not well defined. Recently, our lab identified the Ankyrin repeat and SOCs Box containing protein 4 (ASB4) as a potential downstream target of AgRP. To further study the role of ASB4, we generated mice with germline deletion of ASB4.
We previously found that ASB4-/- mice gained more weight during normal aging on a low-fat low-cholesterol (LFLC) diet, but paradoxically gained less weight on a high-fat and high- cholesterol (HFHC) diet compared to their control littermates. This led me to further investigate which component of the diets has an effect on the differential weight gain of the ASB4-/- mice. To determine if cholesterol played a role, I challenged ASB4+/+ and ASB4-/- mice first with the HFLC and then with a matching diet differing only in cholesterol content (HFHC, 1% cholesterol). I found that ASB4-/- mice gained the same amount of weight on HFLC, but gained less weight on HFHC compared with the control mice due to the reduction of fat mass. These results suggest that dietary cholesterol interacts with ASB4 to modulate weight gain. I’m currently investigating the differential expression of ASB4 in the brain of mice fed LFLC or HFHC. Previous GWAS link ASB4 locus with human obesity and my study might shed light on the function and regulation of ASB4 in this process.
Researcher: Daniel Moreno
Presentation Title: Los Angeles Educational Reactions to the 1992 Rebellion Presentation Type: Oral
Research Focus: Education Politics
School: University of California, Berkeley
Over the past several years the political landscape of Los Angeles’s public education has been shifting. Neoliberal education reform efforts in gaining bipartisan support have come to dominate the landscape. Researchers have been critical of the charter school movement for positioning itself as the solution to disrupt the status quo in education. Many studies have found how these neoliberal sites actually maintain and reproduce educational inequalities. Although these frameworks are useful, they are ahistorical and speak of power as a top-down force in complete control over people. Using the enclosure framework, this article will challenge that notion and historicize the politics of education as a complicated site of ideological contestation. Using historical content and discourse analysis, this paper finds that community radical resistance from the 1992 Los Angeles Rebellion was the catalyst that catapulted Los Angeles neoliberal education reform efforts supported by formal and informal social actors across the city, state, and nation. This article argues that these 1990s Los Angeles education reforms were implemented not to bring equality but to directly undermine community resistance and radical transformative demands in order to protect and bring forward new capitalist interest.
Researcher: Maria Nguyen
Presentation Title: Determining the trigger of anti-phage island excision in Vibrio cholerae
Research Focus: Microbiology
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of the diarrheal disease cholera, is antagonized by predatory bacteriophages in environmental reservoirs and during infection in humans. V. cholerae has evolved to block one specific bacteriophage, called ICP1, using a conserved mobile genetic element referred to as PLE (phage-inducible chromosomal island-like element). Upon ICP1 infection, the PLE excises from the chromosome, replicates to a high copy number, and blocks phage infection through an unknown mechanism. Five distinct PLEs have been identified in epidemic V. cholerae isolates and all respond to ICP1 infection by excising and replicating, and all inhibit ICP1. Previous studies show PLE 1 responds specifically to ICP1 infection through a direct interaction between the PLE 1-encoded integrase and a phage encoded protein (PexA) acts as a recombination directionality factor (RDF) to catalyze PLE 1 excision. However, PexA is not necessary or sufficient to trigger PLE 2 excision, indicating the PLE 2 integrase has evolved to recognize a unique factor. We constructed and screened PLE 2 operon knockouts for defects in excision following ICP1 infection and found the PLE 2-encoded integrase is the only PLE- encoded factor is necessary for PLE 2 excision during ICP1 infection. In addition, miniPLE2 excises from the V. cholerae chromosome, demonstrating the integrase is both necessary and sufficient for excision and the RDF for the PLE 2 integrase is not PLE encoded. Studying the interactions between V. cholerae PLE and ICP1 helps to uncover strategies bacteria use to protect against bacteriophages and will contribute to understanding of their coevolution.
Researcher: Mariana, Olivo
Presentation Title: Effect of Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation on Latino Students’ Academic Success
Research Focus: Education; Motivation; Latinos; Psychology
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral Abstract
Latinos outperform subsequent generations of Latino students academically; this phenomenon is explained as one of motivation. Current literature suggests autonomy supportive-parenting is associated with higher motivation (Bronstein et al., 2005) and higher motivation is a significant predictor of a higher GPA (Prospero et al., 2012). Is this still true in a military institution promoted as a “self-esteem generator” that helps at-risk students and targets communities in order to “Americanize the immigrant” (Bartlett et al., 1998, 125)? This qualitative and quantitative study examines the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on the academic success of Latino middle school students in a military institution. This study aims to expand on the literature that excludes the Latino experience and their family’s effect on their academic results. By using the self-determination theory and the expectancy-value theory, this study will expand on the literature about Latino’s motivation and expectations which determines their choices, performance, and persistence. Through semi-structured interviews of Latino 7th-8th grade students and their parents, the anticipated findings of this research demonstrate that Latino parents implement traditional authoritative parenting with external control which supports children in following their dream careers. Through surveys using the Academic Motivation Scale and Hope Scale, it’s determined that Latino students have higher extrinsic and intrinsic motivation compared to their peers yet their GPA is lower than the class average. This study is part of a growing body of research to understand the Latino identity and the extra barriers we face when it comes to succeeding in higher education.
Researcher: Eugene, Pang
Presentation Title: Characterizing the growth and lysis pathway of Sinorhizobium meliloti when grown in Tryptic Soy Broth
Research Focus: Microbiology and Synthetic Biology
School: University of California, Berkeley
Understanding S. meliloti’s stress response to high levels of nutrients will provide better insight into the symbiotic relationship between S. meliloti and leguminous plants. Highly nutritious medium, Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB), induces S. meliloti to dramatically deform in shape and lyse after 72 hours. Both the optical density and number of viable cells/ml decrease during the lysis phase. To identify genes involved in the lysis pathway, a S. meliloti random barcode-transposon mutant (RB-Tnseq) library was grown in TSB and the permissive medium, LB, for 72 hours, and surviving cells were harvested and characterized by high-throughput sequencing of barcodes.
Unexpectedly, we found that strains harboring transposon insertions in genes for DNA recombination and repair (recA, recFOR, and ruvABC) survived better in TSB than in LB. In contrast, when the RB-Tnseq library was grown in an array of ~100 different medium and stress conditions excluding TSB, the recombination mutants had negative fitness scores. The data suggests that mutants impaired DNA repair are at a fitness advantage in TSB. In addition, we discovered that the SMc00786 operon, encoding a dipeptide transport system, is also potentially involved in the growth and apoptosis pathway. Since amino acids are plentiful in TSB, we tested the effects of free amino acids upon S. meliloti’s growth and morphology. Two amino acids, lysine and arginine, induced cell death with similar effects on morphology. By investigating this apoptotic pathway further, we can better understand the conditions required for productive symbiosis between S. meliloti and leguminous plants.
Researcher: Adriana Belen Preciado
Presentation Title: “Digital Platforms and Labor Relations: Perceptions of Employer-Employee Relations as an Uber Driver”
Research Focus: Labor, Digital Geographies, Spatial Platforms
School: University of California Berkeley
Within the last decade digital platforms have grown to become an integral part of modern-day life: whether you’re ordering food or trying to find love “there’s an app for that.” However, despite our reliance on these platforms, little research focuses on how digital platforms, or apps, are transforming relationships of the labor force and companies. Although some research has been done on worker mischaracterization and entrepreneurial prospects, there’s lack of studies on the role digital platforms play in transforming labor relations. As such, this study presents a robust analysis on how we understand platform capitalism’s effects on the relationships between driving companies and the drivers. This paper uses Uber’s labor policies and drivers’ responses to these policies to examine the experiences of Uber drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Specifically, through an examination of UberPeoples.net, a community forum designed by and for Uber workers. I reviewed three months of material that dealt with driver’s experiences and compared that to Uber’s portrayal of drivers. The conversations were broken down into three main themes; company politics, finances, and working conditions. These conversations tended to counter the company’s portrayal of relationships towards drivers. This comparative analysis found that these disconnections are making it difficult for drivers to unionize and allow for increased opportunities of worker exploitation and subjugation. Interestingly, some drivers also expressed that they don’t oppose lack of connection to the company. Instead drivers expressed enthusiasm of having benefits associated with traditional employment but favored freedoms of being their “own boss.”
Researcher: Evelyn Jetzarely Sandoval
Presentation Title: Functional Analysis of DLG1 During Tissue Homeostasis and Regeneration in Adult Mouse Incisors
Research Focus: Cell development and regeneration, Stem cell Biology
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral
Discs large homolog 1 (DLG1) is a molecular scaffolding protein that is a member of Membrane Associated Guanylate Kinases (MAGUKs) superfamily. As a scaffolding protein, DLG1 maintains the organization of protein complexes to ensure normal tissue development, cellular adhesion and signal transduction at the sites of cell-cell contact. However, the role of DLG1 in stem cell biology remains unclear. Here, we use the continuously growing adult mouse incisor as a model system to understand the function of DLG1 in regulating adult stem cell-based dental tissue homeostasis and regeneration. In the mouse incisor, the sustainable turnover of cells is fueled by proliferating epithelial and mesenchymal stem cells located at the proximal end of the adult incisors in a region known as the labial cervical loop (laCL). Through epithelial deletion of DLG1 using the CreER/loxP system, we have found that loss of DLG1 function disrupts cell proliferation. Analysis of immunofluorescence staining also revealed that DLG1 is required for optimal survival and maintenance of ameloblasts. Based on our data, DLG1 plays an important role in maintaining the function of dental progenitor cells, as well as dental tissue mineralization. These findings provide deeper insights into the advancement of tooth development, homeostasis and repair. Such findings will lay out the framework for future use of stem cells in bioengineering human teeth.
Evelyn Jetzarely Sandoval1,2, Tingsheng Yu Drennon2 and Ophir D. Klein2, (1)University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, (2)University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Researcher: Stacey Swain-Campos
Presentation Title: Residential and Economic Resilience in San Francisco’s Excelsior District: How the Excelsior Has Resisted Displacement, 2000 – present
Research Focus: Urban Studies
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral
Gentrification is an increasingly global phenomenon that is reconfiguring residential and investment patterns in urban centers. San Francisco epitomizes this phenomenon, with both academic studies and popular representations like The Last Black Man in San Francisco conveying the displacement that vulnerable communities have faced. The acceleration of displacement during the past two decades makes the outlier case of the Excelsior district in southeast San Francisco even more remarkable. The Excelsior, significantly composed of immigrant, working class families, appears not to have suffered from the same degree of redevelopment and social upheaval as the nearby Mission district. This case study explores the question of what factors underlie the Excelsior’s greater residential stability. I analyze census data to track changes in residential patterns and property values from 2000-2017 (the latest available data year) in the Excelsior, the Mission, and San Francisco as a whole to identify divergences. I conduct a local media analysis to examine attitudes towards the Excelsior and create ethnographic photos and maps to survey the Excelsior’s district-level amenities. This case study has three aims: to examine district-level factors that affect gentrification; to challenge existing theories of gentrification to explain what is happening in the Excelsior; and to explore residential resiliency factors within potentially vulnerable neighborhoods. Rather than provide a post hoc explanation for gentrification, this study seeks to identify socioeconomic factors that enable resistance against displacement and to contribute to policy discussions of how to sustainably support these factors to enhance the residential stability of working-class communities of color.
Researcher: Mary Tan
Presentation Title: Detain, Deprive, Deport: The Origins and Consequences of Criminal Deportation
Research Focus: Public Policy, Law, and Political Economy
School: University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Type: Oral
Criminal and immigration law in the United States have become inextricably linked, creating a mechanism of de facto deportation for noncitizens with a record of conviction. The development of “crimmigration law” effectively institutionalized the practices of detaining nonviolent foreign nationals and depriving them of constitutional rights. Existing literature describes the co- evolution of mass incarceration and mass deportation. This article examines how the convergence of these two phenomena produces the modern-day criminal deportation apparatus. I provide an overview of U.S. Supreme Court cases and policies that contribute to the idea of the criminal alien. By analyzing time series data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), I hypothesize a strong relationship between the rate of criminal deportation and the fluctuation of macroeconomic variables within the nation.
Federal agencies report that the priority of immigration enforcement is to identify and penalize individuals who transgress the law. However, the criminal propensities of the foreign-born population are no greater than those of the native-born population. Previous studies reveal no correlation between criminal-based removals and changes in regional crime rates. Under the pretense of public safety, the immigration industrial complex emerged to form public and private sector stakes in linking migration to criminality. I elaborate on the political economy of immigration by identifying political and economic incentives to create exclusionary policies.
Key Words: criminal deportation, “crimmigration law,” immigration industrial complex
Researcher: E’Niyah Wilson
Presentation Title: “From the Soil Where the Rappers Be Gettin’ they Lingo From”: Interrogating the Relationship Between Bay Area Hip Hop and Changing Urban Geographies
Research Focus: African American Studies, Urban Geographies, and Ethnomusicology
School: University of California, Berkeley
Sonic theory notes that sounds can be ascribed to regional memory and nostalgia, which can build community and consciousness in a place like Oakland, California. The purpose of this study is to help people understand more about how communication and language is created in Black culture, starting in the “hood”. The particular “hoods” I will be focusing on are in Oakland, CA. Furthermore, the cultural aspects of understanding musical forms under a West African influence can further shed light onto contemporary diasporic culture. My purpose is to get members of unique residencies to understand the origins of where their music comes from, how the creation of music is intimately interconnected with cultural production, both from a figurative sense and the inception of language arts–dialects. I posit that music is highly connected to geographic locations and bears much significance to the creation of inter-communal communication. This study analyzes and questions the existence of a collective memory and consciousness learned within “hoods” of demographically Black cities. This city–formerly known as a chocolate city—is primary in my research because of its historical significance and deep connection to Black culture. They can therefore be categorized as “Black neighborhoods”. I delve into the significance a chocolate city has on geographical and spatial racialization, as well as cultural aesthetic. Further, I contemplate the existence and tangialitty of musical migration through space and time, and its deeper connection to the Black people of Oakland. Popular musical forms, phrasing, and lyrics have given regions in the Bay Area signifiers as to whom or what they represent. I examine my research from the perspective that music is a timeline and paints a particular picture of eras and a city’s inhabitants.