Obesity genes: so close and yet so far...

Little is known about genetic variants that predispose individuals toward leanness or fatness. This minireview highlights recent advances in the study of human populations, animal models and synergistic efforts as described by De Luca and colleagues in BMC Genetics, which are beginning to harvest low-hanging fruit in the search for obesity genes

EFFECTS OF CONFRONTATION SELF-EFFICACY AND PERCEIVED CONFRONTATION OUTCOMES ON PREJUDICE CONFRONTATION IN AN ONLINE CHAT ROOM

poster abstractPrevious research has shown that prejudice confrontation, defined as expressing verbal or nonverbal disapproval of another’s discriminatory actions, is effective at reducing bias (Czopp, Monteith, & Mark, 2006). The goal of the present study was to determine whether confrontation self-efficacy (CSE) and perceived confrontation outcomes promote or discourage prejudice confrontation. Participants (P=110) were led to believe they would be working with a fellow participant in an online chat session reviewing articles about IUPUI’s response (positive, negative, or neutral) to protests of discrimination by the Black Student Union. During the chat session, the computer-generated partner made a prejudiced comment about the BSU. As part of a supposed separate study, participants were asked to rate themselves on how prepared they felt to respond to a prejudiced comment (CSE). We hypothesized that participants who are low in CSE will be less likely to confront, regardless of the perceived outcome and participants high in CSE should vary as a function of perceived outcome with increased confrontation in the positive. Preliminary data analysis indicates that individuals who were high in CSE were almost twice as likely to actually confront the other participant than were those who rated themselves lower in CSE. Thus far, results do not vary by perceived outcome. This may suggest that perceived outcome has no effect on a person’s decision to confront prejudice, or, alternatively, the perceived outcomes may have to suggest greater difference to have an effect

GREEN HOUSING IN CENTRAL INDIANA: THE OBSTACLES OF AWARENESS—CHANGES TO SUSTAIN THE FUTURE

poster abstractFormer Vice President Dick Cheney once said that “conservation may be a sign of personal virtue,” but it is not a basis for “sound, comprehensive” policy. My research on “green” housing initiatives and policies in the United States leads to a different conclusion. Without changes to housing policy, green housing cannot become mainstream. Nevertheless, those policy changes likely depend on personal changes in Americans’ ethical visions of the good life and cultural ideas about the built environment. Since the 2006 launch of the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) system of certifying buildings as “green,” there have been only 69 LEED certified projects in Indiana. Indiana is ranked 26/50 for number of LEED buildings in the country by state, and Indianapolis is ranked 32/50 by city. Furthermore, the state of Indiana has only one policy concerning LEED buildings, and all Indiana cities combined have only four policies. Compared to nearby states, Indiana is far behind. Based on a case study of Michael Reynolds (the creator of Earthships), an interview with a local Earthship builder/owner, and an analysis of LEED certification standards and city, state, and federal building codes, I address the policy, cultural, and ethical obstacles to building more green housing in central Indiana. My research suggests that overcoming personal obstacles is the first step, as the individualistic nature of American society, the focus on economic gain and comfort, our ideals of “the good life,” and the scary nature of change, all prevent central Indiana from adopting and promoting “greener” building techniques. By changing the ways in which Americans think about their cultural and ethical existence, we can become more optimistic when considering policy and code changes

The Grimm Fairy Tales: An Analysis of Family and Society

poster abstractThe original Grimm Brothers' fairy tales aim to teach important morals about life, just like the Disney versions that we grew up with. However, these stories also show very common themes about the structures of family and society as a whole. To analyze how these themes are portrayed throughout the Grimm tales, I read the German versions of the fairy tales of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel. In my honors project on these stories, I deduced that there is an emphasis on family structures and society's yearning for social mobility. These issues are mainly explained through the exaggerated portrayal of beauty, violence, poverty and wealth. Each story supports a common theme for family structure. The mothers, step mothers and women in general are often greedy and willing to do heinous things to achieve wealth and beauty. The fathers, although they mean well for their family, are very weak and submissive and thus make mistakes that often have grave consequences. As a result of the conflicts from the parental figures, the children are always the ones who suffer. Although they must encounter dangerous and chaotic situations, they are always successful in either saving themselves or being rescued by a prince. Many stories begin with starvation and poverty and progress to a successful ending of wealth and a higher social standing - usually as a result of marriage

The interaction between physical activity and obesity gene variants in association with BMI: Does the obesogenic environment matter?

Little is known about how obesity susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) interact with moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in relation to BMI during adolescence, once obesogenic neighborhood factors are accounted for. In race stratified models, including European (EA; N=4977), African (AA; N=1726), and Hispanic Americans (HA; N=1270) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (1996; ages 12-21), we assessed the evidence for a SNP × MVPA interaction with BMI-for-age Z score, once accounting for obesogenic neighborhood factors including physical activity amenities, transportation and recreation infrastructure, poverty and crime. Eight SNP × MVPA interactions with suggestive significance (p<0.10; three in each EA, and AA, two in HA) were observed showing attenuation on BMI-for-age Z score in adolescents with ≥ 5 versus < 5 bouts/week MVPA, except for rs10146997 (near NRXN3). Findings were robust to the inclusion of neighborhood-level variables as covariates. These findings suggest that any attenuation from MVPA on a genetic susceptibility to obesity during adolescence is likely not operating through obesogenic neighborhood factors

Deciphering the Emerging Complexities of Molecular Mechanisms at GWAS Loci

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified thousands of loci associated with hundreds of complex diseases and traits, and progress is being made toward elucidating the causal variants and genes underlying these associations. Functional characterization of mechanisms at GWAS loci is a multi-faceted challenge. Challenges include linkage disequilibrium and allelic heterogeneity at each locus, the noncoding nature of most loci, and the time and cost needed for experimentally evaluating the potential mechanistic contributions of genes and variants. As GWAS sample sizes increase, more loci are identified, and the complexities of individual loci emerge. Loci can consist of multiple association signals, each of which can reflect the influence of multiple variants, inseparable by association analyses. Each signal within a locus can influence the same or different target genes. Experimental studies of genes and variants can differ on the basis of cell type, cellular environment, or other context-specific variables. In this review, we describe the complexity of mechanisms at GWAS loci—including multiple signals, multiple variants, and/or multiple genes—and the implications these complexities hold for experimental study design and interpretation of GWAS mechanisms

Functional genomics and assays of regulatory activity detect mechanisms at loci for lipid traits and coronary artery disease

Many genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified signals located in non-coding regions, and an increasing number of functional genomics annotations of regulatory elements and assays of regulatory activity have been used to investigate mechanisms. Genome-wide datasets that characterize chromatin structure help detect potential regulatory elements. Assays to experimentally assess candidate variants include transcriptional reporter assays, and recently, massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs). Additionally, the effect of candidate regulatory elements and variants on gene expression and function can be evaluated using genomic editing with the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. We highlight some recent studies that employed these strategies to identify variant effects and elucidate molecular and/or biological mechanisms at GWAS loci for lipid traits and coronary artery disease

BMI loci and longitudinal BMI from adolescence to young adulthood in an ethnically diverse cohort

The association of obesity susceptibility variants with change in body mass index (BMI) across the life course is not well understood

Modifier genes for disorders of thrombosis and hemostasis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72106/1/j.1538-7836.2009.03362.x.pd