Panel: Genes, Cells & Jaws
Morning Session | Century A
Presenter: Vishesh Khanna, Biology
Mentor: April DeLaurier, Biology
Hdac4 is Required by Early Cranial Neural Crest Cells for the Development of the Zebrafish Palate
Palate deformities are one of the most common congenital birth defects. It is estimated that one in 1000 babies is born with either a cleft lip or a cleft palate. In 2006, single nucleotide polymorphisms in the gene HDAC4 were found to be linked to cleft palate-like defects in humans. In zebrafish, Morpholino-mediated knockdown of hdac4 results in cartilage abnormalities at 6 days post-fertilization, specifically a clefting of the skeletal elements in the roof of the zebrafish mouth. By using fluorescent in situ hybridization, we show that hdac4 knockdown results in the loss of a specific subset of neural crest cells that normally migrate deep to the eye rudiment. Based upon our findings in this animal model, we can propose that human cleft palate resulting from the HDAC4 mutation might ultimately be due to defects in a homologous subset of neural crest cells.
Presenter: Anita Kasina, Biology
Mentor: Rui Galvao, Institute of Molecular Biology
Effects of Tamoxifen on Cell Labeling in the Mouse Brain: A Model for Studying Glioma Formation
Malignant gliomas are an aggressive and incurable form of cancer with thousands of new cases annually, many of which result in death within one year. Previously, we identified Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells (OPCs) as the cell of origin for glioma. We are now examining wild-type (WT) and cancer-prone OPCs on a molecular level to understand the mechanisms by which OPCs form gliomas. Specifically, we are investigating whether brain injury, known to stimulate transient proliferation of WT OPCs, can cause uncontrolled proliferation of mutant OPCs, and ultimately cancer. We inactivated the tumor suppressor genes p53 and NF1 specifically in adult brain OPCs using an OPC-specific gene promoter, NG2, to drive the expression of an inducible form of the DNA recombinase Cre, which is activated by the drug Tamoxifen (TMX). We are currently optimizing TMX delivery to better control the number of mutated cells. We have found that delivering TMX over consecutive days greatly increases the number of mutant OPCs. Mice given 1, 3, 5, and 7 days of TMX had a significant increase in labeling from 1 to 3 and 3 to 5 days but not from 5 to 7 days, indicating 5 days as the ideal maximal dose. We are now quantifying TMX-induced mutagenesis in other brain areas to identify regional differences. Overall, this data provides a solid basis for future experiments using TMX to induce mutations in OPCs, giving us the level of control necessary to understand the differences between WT and mutant OPC proliferation that ultimately cause cancer.
Presenter: Ariel Morrison, Biology
Mentor: Eric Selker, Institute of Molecular Biology
Identification and Study of Genes Involved in DNA Methylation in Fungal Species Neurospora crassa
DNA methylation is an essential feature for proper development in many mammalian and plant species. However it is absent or nonessential in some organisms, including the fungal species Neurospora crassa. I am studying the effects of DNA methylation on Neurospora, with hopes to isolate all known genes involved in the process. Neurospora is sensitive to the drugs Basta and Hygromycin, due to two inactive genes, bar and hph. However, a loss of methylation activates these genes, creating a resistancy to these drugs. By mutagenising samples of Neurospora, I can selectively isolate dim (defective in methylation), mutants by their response to the drugs. Their genome can then be studied and the information gained can be applied to the eukaryote genome.
Panel: Gender, Power and Change
Morning Session | Century D
Presenter: Nicole Snyder, International Studies: Focus on Gender and Power
Mentor: Deborah Baumgold, Political Science
Power and Control in the lives of Female Victims and Perpetrators of Domestic Violence: An Imperial Investigation
The discourse of domestic violence typically defines domestic violence in terms of physical assault. Second, victims are often thought to have a high degree of agency in their victimization. This project critically examines both assumptions using the insights of Steven Lukes’ theory of power. It brings to bear the “testimonial” evidence of ten female victims of domestic violence. It demonstrates that, as experienced by these women, there is more to domestic violence than domestic assault. The design and purpose of domestic violence is to reduce and eventually remove agency and therefore the victim should not be seen as responsible. Rather, victims are survivors of a process that erodes their sense of self, stifles their liberty and obstructs access to rights.
Presenter: Lauren Goss, History
Mentor: Ellen Herman, History
Femininity and Athleticism: Title IX at the University of Oregon
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 addressed the discrimination of students at any educational institution that received federal funding. Intended to focus on unfair admission practices, Title IX is best known for improving the treatment of female intercollegiate athletes. However, the intricacies of reconciling the federal standards of equality presented substantial challenges, and each institution confronted the ideological intersection of femininity and athleticism in various ways. The University of Oregon administration remedied cases of overt discrimination, most notably in facility access, but acute examples persisted. Becky Sisley, the first and only women’s athletic director for the University of Oregon, served as the driving force for changing athletic policies for women athletes. In extensive interviews, former female athletes corroborate this struggle for recognition. Archival evidence shows the University of Oregon administration presented concerns about increased funding for women’s athletics during the 1970’s. However, the Women’s Intercollegiate Association survived on a meager budget and remained autonomous until the Athletic Department combined men’s and women’s athletics in 1977. The merger, and Sisley’s resignation shortly thereafter, hindered any further attempts for reaching true equality. Discrimination against female athletes persists at the University of Oregon and there is just cause to explore gender equality in all aspects of higher education.
Presenter: Alexandra Fus; English, Clark Honors College
Mentor: Jennifer Levin, Clark Honors College
Bridget Jones as the New New Woman: What She Reads and What She Wants; a Postfeminist Literary Criticism
“Chick lit” is not nearly so familiar a term as “chick flick,” but since the phenomenal success of Helen Fielding’s novel, Bridget Jones’s Diary, this popular women’s fiction genre has become the subject of serious debate among even high literary critics. As the ur-text for chick lit, Bridget Jones’s Diary’s protagonist offers a postmodern, postfeminist revision of the New Woman– a cultural and literary female archetype who has been continually re-modified since her emergence at the turn of the nineteenth century. As a symbol for what it means to be modern, liberated, and female, Bridget Jones has been condemned by critics as antifeminist, while writers and fans insist that she personifies empowering possibilities for feminism and popular women’s fiction. Using textual analysis, I argue instead that Bridget Jones’s role as the newest New Woman merits consideration free from either fans’ pride or critics’ prejudice, for its simultaneous rejection and engagement with all the New Women that came before, Bridget Jones’s Diary presents an individualistic reimagining of postmodernist postfeminism. Indeed, Bridget’s alternately anxious and empowering expression of a multiplicity of female identities suggests that women of the twenty-first century have become so modern and liberated that they can now choose not to be contained within any New Woman archetype.
Panel: Foreign Accent & Foreign Policy: An Analytical Perspective
Morning Session | Century E
Presenter: Lauren Dickey, Asian Studies & Chinese
Mentor: Maram Epstein, East Asian Languages and Literatures
Guns for Oil: An Analysis of Contemporary Chinese Weapons Sales to Africa in Exchange for Oil
Beginning in 1949, China has gradually increased the scope of its weapons sales overseas to include 40 countries, 21 of which are located in Africa. With Chinese weapons sales in 2009 reaching 900 million U.S. dollars, the global community cannot help but pay attention to China’s overseas weapons sales model. At the same time, resource-rich African nations have become the center of China’s new geopolitical strategies and starting point for oil development and extraction programs. With decades of cooperative experience in the energy sector, Africa has become an important area through which China is able to further diversify its energy resources. In the process of China’s assistance to help Africa develop an oil market, many other forms of aid and investment were also necessary. The most important form of aid can be best seen through “goods for goods” bartering transactions, especially in the form of Chinese weapons for African oil. My paper examines the realities of weapons-for-oil transactions as well as other Chinese involvement in Africa’s natural resources and domestic economies, illustrating the implications for U.S.-China policy and the international community, in hopes that other researches will pay even closer attention to weapons-for-oil exchanges in the future of Sino-African relations.
Presenter: Lucy Gubbins, Linguistics
Mentor: Kaori Idemaru, East Asian Languages and Literatures
Foreign Accent Production and Perception: An Acoustic Analysis of L2 Japanese
The acquisition of a second language (L2) is wrought with potential difficulties. Not only must a learner establish grammatical competency in order to effectively communicate, but he/she must also adopt the pronunciation of the target language. This often proves to be an insurmountable task: even after acquiring native-like grammatical fluency in a second language, it is extremely difficult to speak without traces of a foreign accent. When native speakers are confronted with non-native speech, a number of acoustic characteristics can lead to the perception of foreign accent, which is what the present study explores. The first experiment investigates the acoustic qualities of vowels (i.e., F1 and F2) and stop consonants produced by native English speakers who are 2nd- and 4th-year learners of Japanese. The second experiment examines native listener judgments of foreign accent and how they compare with the segmental differences found in the production data. Preliminary results from the production experiment show that non-native learners differ significantly from native speakers in their production of the high back vowel /u/, as well as in the duration of voice-onset time before stop consonants. These findings reveal that even after significant exposure to Japanese in the classroom, L2 learners struggle to achieve native-like production of these features, giving language instructors significant insight into specific problem areas native English speakers might encounter when learning Japanese pronunciation.
Panel: Strategies for Support and Recovery
Afternoon Session | Century A
Presenter: Julie Reid, Planning, Public Policy and Management
Mentor: Jessica Greene, Planning, Public Policy and Management
Access to Critical Oncological Support Systems For Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients
A woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer is required to have a team of doctors who work together to carry out the various phases of treatment. It is important to new patients that they trust their doctor, yet women rarely are given the choice about who that doctor will be. Women lack knowledge about local support groups and patient advocates, are confused about who may attend support groups, and unclear about where to go to find answers to basic questions. This is a qualitative study of thirteen breast cancer patients diagnosed within the last seven years in Eugene, Oregon. The study examines the knowledge and accessibility of critical support systems, such as a good doctor-patient relationship, a support group, and a patient advocate. Results suggest that doctor trust and support is more likely to develop when the patient receives a referral from a familiar source. Results also suggest that support groups are important sources of information and comfort for patients that medical professionals could utilize. The role of a patient advocate needs to be further defined and expanded to provide resources for patients seeking ways to fill the gaps of a fragmented medical system in Eugene, Oregon.
Presenter: Eric Pisciotta, Human Physiology
Mentor: Chou Li-Shan, Human Physiology
Center of Pressure Trajectory Differences Between Shod and Barefoot Running
The trajectory of the center of pressure (COP) has been shown to be a valid and reliable tool for assessing foot function. The purposes of this study were to quantify changes in the position of COP relative to the foot during stance, examine changes in the AP and ML excursions of the COP, and to quantify changes in the variability of the COP trajectory between shod and barefoot (BF) running conditions. Utilizing a force plate and an 8-camera motion capture system, the average AP and ML position of the COP trajectory was calculated relative to the heel marker at each instant, for each foot, in a group of ten habitually shod recreational runners. (Mean age 32.4 ± 4) The variability was also calculated and plotted in increments of 10% stance. The COP was located significantly more medially at all time points in the BF condition compared to shod running. The trajectory of the COP during the BF condition was marked by a more medial location under the foot throughout stance, a more anterior position at initial contact, and reduced AP excursion. No significant differences were found in the variability of the COP trajectory or ML excursions. This suggests, apart from the initial contact position, the dynamics of foot roll over are similar between shod and BF conditions. The few COP differences that were observed in this study are similar to COP characteristics that have previously been shown to be related to injury. Therefore future studies should examine how or if these changes may be related to injury risk during BF running.
Presenter: Elizabeth Foster; Dance, Human Physiology
Mentor: Steven Chatfield, Dance
Rehabilitation of Injured Dancers with a Transition Dance Class
Huge demands are placed on the bodies of dancers who often push through pain and injury to continue pursuing their art. Most dancers have to retire by the age of 30 due to injuries and premature physical deterioration. Standard rehabilitation practices are not specific to the needs of injured dancers. This research incorporates physical therapy into a dance class as a transition dance class for injured dancers, allowing the dancers to be able to apply everything they learn in the class directly to dance. It not only retrains dancers in their technique and alignment but it also allows them to continue being artists in a time when they might not be able to otherwise. The class curriculum is designed from the physiological goals of the exercises that an athletic trainer would recommend to the participants. The participants are UofO dancers with persistent low back pain that requires them to modify their dance activity. Upon entering the study they took a survey asking them subjective questions concerning their injuries and when they leave the study they will be asked to complete a post-survey concerning their injuries and their views on the effectiveness of the study. There is a strong focus on refining alignment and dance technique. This research is currently in progress; preliminary results will be ready by May 12th. Human Subjects approval has been acquired and the first cohort is currently being worked with.
Panel: Art & Popular Culture
Afternoon Session | Alsea Room
Presenter: Marissa Ochsner, Music
Mentor: Loren Kajikawa, Music
All the Things It Was: Milton Babbitt and American Popular Culture
The recent death of the composer Milton Babbitt has inspired a number of articles recounting his life and works. These accounts typically present Babbitt as the pinnacle of academic modernism, praising his accomplishments in the realm of theory and “serious” music composition and emphasizing that his music is difficult and complex. Many of these accounts also include, usually as a matter of trivia, the paradoxical fact that Babbitt was an avid jazz fan who grew up listening to and performing popular music. In this paper, I use the writings of Milton Babbitt, Roger Sessions, Joseph Horowitz, Dwight Macdonald, and other contemporary intellectuals to argue that Babbitt’s love of pop tunes is not incongruous with his interest in “serious” music. Babbitt’s advocacy of “serious” music composition is related to several cultural innovations of the early twentieth century, including the rise of the phonograph and radio, which accelerated the shift from song-based music composition in the style of Tin Pan Alley to artist-based music marketing of “stars” like Arturo Toscanini, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. Babbitt’s love of pop tunes from the 20s and 30s and advocacy for “serious” music composition in the 1950s and beyond wasn’t just a funny quirk — it was a reflection of what Babbitt wanted for American music culture: a more active and engaged public with an appreciation for the act of music composition.
Presenter: Hei Ting Wong, Mathematics
Mentor: Mark Levy, Music
Recent Developments in Canto-pop with YouTube – A Case Study of G.E.M. Tang
Cantonese is a dialect of the Southeast region of China. Cantonese popular music (Canto-pop) is music with Cantonese lyrics, but most Canto-pop songs are produced in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong is only a dot on the world map, Canto-pop can be found all over the world because of the migrated population and students who study overseas. With the development of the Internet, new media serves as an important channel in spreading recent as well as older Canto-pop songs all over the world. / G.E.M. Tang is the most successful new singer of Canto-pop in recent years. There are several reasons for her success, including promotion strategies which are different from those used by singers in previous generations. Her YouTube channel is her primary promotion medium. The content of her videos and the interactivity between her and her subscribers are attractive especially to the young generation – the main group of users of the Internet and the predominant audience for popular music. This project aims to investigate recent developments in Canto-pop. Canto-pop has been declining since the millennium due to the semi-withdrawal of the “four heavenly kings,” the four greatest male singers of the 1990’s, and problems of pirating. It is believed that the success of G.E.M. is based on a clearer understanding of the preferences of the current Canto-pop audience. This shows the industry a better way in promotion and music production, which hopefully to draw audience’s attention back to Canto-pop music.
Presenter: Alyssa Gentry, Dance
Mentor: Steven Chatfield, Dance
American Sign Language As a Choreographic Inspiration and Directive for Dance
American Sign Language for ‘journey’ has the dominant hand with the index and middle fingers slightly bent, moving forward from the signer in an ‘s’ shaped pathway. I have created a dance work exploring this concept of ‘journey’ that finds inspiration in the singular source of American Sign Language. ASL and Dance are intricately connected through their use of abstract movement as a means of communication and the strong influence of emotions on movement quality. This piece has been derived from ASL for the formations of the dancers, their pathways in space, their individual and group movement, and their emotional output. To interpret and abstract sign movements to the full body and then to a larger group of dancers was challenging. Using improvisation, I explored the movement of signs like ‘journey,’ a wandering side to side pattern, that could be interpreted in an ‘s’ shaped pathway, a formation of dancers, or a movement contained within the body, like the ribs swaying from side to side. After finding movement, I built a piece where each dancer has a different pathway, coming together at certain moments and then parting, like the comings and goings in life. ASL mimics life, just as art mimics life, and this piece was given focus, opportunity, and a realism through its incorporation, which allows viewers to connect with the piece. Like the sum that is greater than its parts, this piece is more meaningful and cohesive through the incorporation of ASL.
Presenter: Laura Barton, Art History
Mentor: Kate Mondloch, Art History
Interdependent Parts of the Whole: Edward Weston’s 1925 Studio Nudes Art History
Photographer Edward Weston has long been hailed as one of the heroes of modern photography and has been praised for his stunning approach to landscapes, nudes, and still-lifes. This paper examines his treatment of the nude female form and examines the relationship that his photographs establish between the human body and the natural world. Through a series of in-depth visual and formal analyses of his early nudes and still-lifes, this paper shows that Weston un-animated the human body, while animating the vegetables, shells, and landscapes that he photographed. Thus, he created not a vertical hierarchy where humans are placed above the natural world, but instead created a horizontal plane where all natural forms are equalized. This approach differs from most of the pre-existing scholarship on Weston, which has long interpreted his work using either the biographical method or feminist theory, both of which serve primarily to either maintain or reject Weston’s heroic status; this paper attempts instead to explain how the photographs themselves serve to create meaning.