{"title":"Beyond My Name: Ethiopians and Ethiopian Americans Confronting Identity, Language, Culture, and Education","authors":"Yeabsera Kebede","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2022.1809","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2022.1809","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124174925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ethnic Studies as a Vehicle of Empowerment: Students of Color and Their Educational Journey","authors":"Briana Anguiano","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2021.1705","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2021.1705","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123710054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
After Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA, 2012) was rescinded by the Trump Administration in 2017, many students were left in “limbo legality” (Gonzalez 2012) This study addresses the question, “What are the experiences of undocumented students regarding their academic motivation toward graduation now that DACA has been rescinded at San José State University (SJSU)?” Grounded in a Chicana Feminist Epistemology approach, the methodology of testimonio is used to capture the experiences of the author alongside an undocumented graduate student. Findings suggest that college campuses should incorporate faculty knowledgeable in policies that affect undocumented students, Undocumented Ally trainings in college campuses, and campus support groups specifically for undocumented students.
{"title":"Testimonio: The Experiences of an Undocumented Student in California Post-DACA Rescindment","authors":"I. Rangel","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2021.1706","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2021.1706","url":null,"abstract":"After Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA, 2012) was rescinded by the Trump Administration in 2017, many students were left in “limbo legality” (Gonzalez 2012) This study addresses the question, “What are the experiences of undocumented students regarding their academic motivation toward graduation now that DACA has been rescinded at San José State University (SJSU)?” Grounded in a Chicana Feminist Epistemology approach, the methodology of testimonio is used to capture the experiences of the author alongside an undocumented graduate student. Findings suggest that college campuses should incorporate faculty knowledgeable in policies that affect undocumented students, Undocumented Ally trainings in college campuses, and campus support groups specifically for undocumented students.","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"160 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124489559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Quasi-Experimental Study of the Impact of Virtual Service-Learning on College Students’ Development of Compassion and Motivation for Service","authors":"Alma Sanchez","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2021.1704","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2021.1704","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115076109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study examines how teachers respond to children’s noncompliance in early care settings. This structured observational study will focus on the moment to moment interactions occurring within the preschool classroom between both the child and teacher. It is predicted that (1) teacher’s direct bids to children will promote greater instances of child compliance than indirect bids, and (2) teachers’ responsive language will promote greater instances of child compliance than restrictive language. The results of this study will contribute to existing knowledge about the nature of teacher child interactions in the early care settings.
{"title":"Understanding Child Noncompliance in the Early Care Setting","authors":"Melody Mann","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2020.1608","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2020.1608","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines how teachers respond to children’s noncompliance in early care settings. This structured observational study will focus on the moment to moment interactions occurring within the preschool classroom between both the child and teacher. It is predicted that (1) teacher’s direct bids to children will promote greater instances of child compliance than indirect bids, and (2) teachers’ responsive language will promote greater instances of child compliance than restrictive language. The results of this study will contribute to existing knowledge about the nature of teacher child interactions in the early care settings.","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125584423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Operant behavioral economics is a field that analyzes human decision making by combining concepts of behavioral psychology and consumer demand theory. A relatively new and effective method of collecting data in behavioral economics is the hypothetical purchase task (HPT), which reveals consumers’ demand for a commodity as price increases by asking participants to respond to hypothetical situations rather than having them work for and consume the commodity. Henley, Reed, Kaplan, and Reed (2016) extended the HPT to create a novel task (the Hypothetical Work Task; HWT) to assess workers’ demand for payment under increasing conditions of work effort. Their study demonstrated the potential for HWTs in organizational behavior management (OBM), but researchers noted three main limitations: (a) their use of college students as participants, (b) the type of work task, which involved passing out flyers on a college campus, and (c) relatively small sample sizes for group comparisons. In the current study, we replicated one of Henley et al.’s experiments while addressing these limitations. First, we assessed the HWT in working adults rather than college students. Second, we used a work task that is more representative of some workplaces (i.e., making sales calls). Third, we used larger sample sizes to increase statistical power. We asked participants to rate how likely they were to make a certain number of sales phone calls (0 = will not make the phone calls to 100 = will definitely make the phone calls) to earn $15 at the end of an hour of work. The number of calls to earn the $15 was systematically increased from 1 to 150. Compared to those with no sales experience, participants with sales experience showed higher levels of demand in the face of increasing prices (i.e., more inelastic demand). Our study did not replicate the findings of Henley et al. but did extend the HWT to a new population of participants and a different work task.
{"title":"Behavioral Economic Analysis of Demand for Hypothetical Work Performance: A Partial Replication","authors":"H. Khan","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2020.1607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2020.1607","url":null,"abstract":"Operant behavioral economics is a field that analyzes human decision making by combining concepts of behavioral psychology and consumer demand theory. A relatively new and effective method of collecting data in behavioral economics is the hypothetical purchase task (HPT), which reveals consumers’ demand for a commodity as price increases by asking participants to respond to hypothetical situations rather than having them work for and consume the commodity. Henley, Reed, Kaplan, and Reed (2016) extended the HPT to create a novel task (the Hypothetical Work Task; HWT) to assess workers’ demand for payment under increasing conditions of work effort. Their study demonstrated the potential for HWTs in organizational behavior management (OBM), but researchers noted three main limitations: (a) their use of college students as participants, (b) the type of work task, which involved passing out flyers on a college campus, and (c) relatively small sample sizes for group comparisons. In the current study, we replicated one of Henley et al.’s experiments while addressing these limitations. First, we assessed the HWT in working adults rather than college students. Second, we used a work task that is more representative of some workplaces (i.e., making sales calls). Third, we used larger sample sizes to increase statistical power. We asked participants to rate how likely they were to make a certain number of sales phone calls (0 = will not make the phone calls to 100 = will definitely make the phone calls) to earn $15 at the end of an hour of work. The number of calls to earn the $15 was systematically increased from 1 to 150. Compared to those with no sales experience, participants with sales experience showed higher levels of demand in the face of increasing prices (i.e., more inelastic demand). Our study did not replicate the findings of Henley et al. but did extend the HWT to a new population of participants and a different work task.","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134217041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This research examines masculinity in the Latinx community within the U.S. Much of the theory behind masculinity involves discussing toxic masculinity and machismo. To do this, I look at film, poetry, and literature to discuss how toxic masculinity affects Queer Latinxs. Although this research focuses on fictional characters and the analysis of fictional works, these characters’ stories do not fall far from current LGBTQ+ Latinxs who may be experiencing the same issues. I examine La Mission , Mosquita y Mari , Gun Hill Road , “I am Joaquin,” “La Loca de la Raza Cosmica,” Rain God , and What Night Brings . These pieces work well with one another to show how gay Latino men, Latina lesbian women, and transgender Latina women are affected by toxic masculinity, internalized homophobia and transphobia. With this research I hope to show how the way we construct masculinity as a society, should be reconfigured to something more positive; I also hope to eliminate homophobia and transphobia, as well as violence and hate crimes towards the LGBTQ+ community.
这项研究考察了美国拉丁裔社区的男子气概。男子气概背后的大部分理论都涉及讨论有毒的男子气概和大男子主义。为了做到这一点,我看了电影、诗歌和文学来讨论有毒的男子气概是如何影响拉丁裔同性恋的。虽然本研究侧重于虚构人物和虚构作品的分析,但这些人物的故事与当前LGBTQ+拉丁裔人的故事相差无几,他们可能正经历着同样的问题。我研究了《使命》、《玛丽的蚊子》、《Gun Hill Road》、《我是华金》、《宇宙之城》、《雨神》和《夜带来了什么》。这些作品相互配合得很好,展示了拉丁裔男同性恋者、拉丁裔女同性恋者和变性拉丁裔女性是如何受到有毒的男性气质、内化的同性恋恐惧症和变性恐惧症的影响的。通过这项研究,我希望展示我们如何构建男性气概作为一个社会,应该重新配置为更积极的东西;我也希望消除对同性恋和跨性别的恐惧,以及对LGBTQ+群体的暴力和仇恨犯罪。
{"title":"Toxic Masculinity: An Outcome of Colonialism and its Effects on the Latinx/Chicanx LGBTQ+ Community","authors":"Monica Martinez","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2019.1506","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2019.1506","url":null,"abstract":"This research examines masculinity in the Latinx community within the U.S. Much of the theory behind masculinity involves discussing toxic masculinity and machismo. To do this, I look at film, poetry, and literature to discuss how toxic masculinity affects Queer Latinxs. Although this research focuses on fictional characters and the analysis of fictional works, these characters’ stories do not fall far from current LGBTQ+ Latinxs who may be experiencing the same issues. I examine La Mission , Mosquita y Mari , Gun Hill Road , “I am Joaquin,” “La Loca de la Raza Cosmica,” Rain God , and What Night Brings . These pieces work well with one another to show how gay Latino men, Latina lesbian women, and transgender Latina women are affected by toxic masculinity, internalized homophobia and transphobia. With this research I hope to show how the way we construct masculinity as a society, should be reconfigured to something more positive; I also hope to eliminate homophobia and transphobia, as well as violence and hate crimes towards the LGBTQ+ community.","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128950205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The advancement of the urban air mobility concept is heavily dependent on the public acceptance of the aircraft vehicles used for air taxis. The importance of the perception of noise by humans is crucial to the passing of legislation and proposals working to implement the new transport system. The investigation into how the noise perception can be reduced is vital to the success of the personal air travel industry. The air taxi design has been geared towards the rotorcraft models. Therefore, the investigation into the rotor blade designs is necessary because, similar to helicopters, the main component in noise generation is the rotors and its blades. The blade-vortex interaction creates noise which humans perceive as the most annoying and disruptive type of noise produced by rotorcraft. The blade-vortex interaction noise is due to the interaction between the advancing blade and the vortexes generated by the tips of the previous rotor blade. This study looks into the effect of tip twist on rotor blades. Understanding how twist in a blade will affect thrust production and noise production will aid in the progress of developing the acceptance of the urban air mobility movement. This investigation is carried out through the use of high-fidelity rotorcraft modeling software developed by Continuum Dynamics Incorporated called the Comprehensive Hierarchical Aeromechanics Rotorcraft Model (CHARM) coupled with the aeroacoustic processing package PSU-WOPWOP to produce sound data files at the wake of the rotor blades. The noise reducing parameter under investigation is the tip twist of the rotor blades. Particularly, interest is on how this change affects the frequency of sound pressure levels. The reduction of this type of noise will aid in determining the design of efficient and safe air taxis that will utilize a system of smaller porting stations as drop off zones, similar, only in concept, to those ride-sharing services.
{"title":"Investigation into the Effects of Blade Tip Twist on Noise Reduction for a NACA 0012 Rotor Blade","authors":"Uyen T. Sou","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2019.1511","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2019.1511","url":null,"abstract":"The advancement of the urban air mobility concept is heavily dependent on the public acceptance of the aircraft vehicles used for air taxis. The importance of the perception of noise by humans is crucial to the passing of legislation and proposals working to implement the new transport system. The investigation into how the noise perception can be reduced is vital to the success of the personal air travel industry. The air taxi design has been geared towards the rotorcraft models. Therefore, the investigation into the rotor blade designs is necessary because, similar to helicopters, the main component in noise generation is the rotors and its blades. The blade-vortex interaction creates noise which humans perceive as the most annoying and disruptive type of noise produced by rotorcraft. The blade-vortex interaction noise is due to the interaction between the advancing blade and the vortexes generated by the tips of the previous rotor blade. This study looks into the effect of tip twist on rotor blades. Understanding how twist in a blade will affect thrust production and noise production will aid in the progress of developing the acceptance of the urban air mobility movement. This investigation is carried out through the use of high-fidelity rotorcraft modeling software developed by Continuum Dynamics Incorporated called the Comprehensive Hierarchical Aeromechanics Rotorcraft Model (CHARM) coupled with the aeroacoustic processing package PSU-WOPWOP to produce sound data files at the wake of the rotor blades. The noise reducing parameter under investigation is the tip twist of the rotor blades. Particularly, interest is on how this change affects the frequency of sound pressure levels. The reduction of this type of noise will aid in determining the design of efficient and safe air taxis that will utilize a system of smaller porting stations as drop off zones, similar, only in concept, to those ride-sharing services.","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"68 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128855228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The role of genes in morphological development is well understood for a variety of model organisms, but there remains a gap in our understanding of how genetics mediate behavior. Are there master genes that regulate behavior? Answering this question will lead to a better understanding of the development and function of the central nervous system, eventually allowing us to map out the pathways that regulate specific behaviors. We are using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism and the male courtship ritual as the behavior of interest to study the relationships between genes, neural development, and behavior. Trapped in endoderm 1 (Tre1), a gene encoding an orphan G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), is required for normal courtship behavior in fruit flies, but how this receptor regulates behavior is not yet understood. Here, we characterize the signaling cascade downstream of Tre1 by testing mutations in the Drosophila G-proteins for courtship defects similar to those seen in Tre1. Our results demonstrate that Gαi is a candidate downstream effector for Tre1, while also implicating Gγ30A in courtship behavior. Future goals include completing the characterization of the G-protein mutations and conducting experiments to explore the complex interaction between Gprotein signaling and courtship initiation. 2 McNair Research Journal SJSU, Vol. 15 [2019], Art. 8 https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/mcnair/vol15/iss1/8 79 INTRODUCTION Genes are responsible for the development of the central nervous system (CNS), which, in turn, mediates behavior. Many of the genetic pathways underlying morphological development in animals have been identified and well-characterized. In contrast, there is still much to be understood about how a gene or genes specify behavior (Demir and Dickson 2005). Elucidating the roles of genes with regard to particular behaviors has the potential to be a powerful set of tools to map out the molecular pathways that direct the wiring of the CNS. Courtship behavior is observable and well characterized in Drosophila melanogaster, making it a practical model for the purposes of this study. In addition, the behavior is innate – it is “hard wired” into the brain. Only males perform the courtship ritual – and they are able to perform it even if they have been socially isolated since “birth.” The courtship ritual is a stereotyped set of six distinct steps that must be executed correctly, and in the proper order, to ensure reproductive success (Baker et al. 2001). Because innate behaviors such as this do not have to be learned, they are ideal models for the study of how genes pattern the nervous system to elicit specific behavioral responses. We seek to expand our knowledge on this particular trait as it is so evolutionarily favored it is programmed into the Drosophila nervous system. We previously demonstrated that the gene Trapped in endoderm-1 (Tre1) is required for normal courtship behavior in fruit flies. Specifically, male flies in which Tre1-
对于各种模式生物,基因在形态发育中的作用已经得到了很好的理解,但我们对遗传如何介导行为的理解仍然存在差距。是否存在控制行为的主要基因?回答这个问题将使我们更好地理解中枢神经系统的发育和功能,最终使我们能够绘制出调节特定行为的途径。我们以黑腹果蝇为模型生物,以雄性求偶仪式为研究对象,研究基因、神经发育和行为之间的关系。困在内胚层1 (Tre1)中的基因编码孤g蛋白偶联受体(GPCR),是果蝇正常求偶行为所必需的,但这种受体如何调节行为尚不清楚。在这里,我们通过测试果蝇g蛋白中与Tre1相似的求偶缺陷的突变来表征Tre1下游的信号级联。我们的研究结果表明,Gαi是Tre1的候选下游效应物,同时也暗示了Gγ30A在求爱行为中的作用。未来的目标包括完成g蛋白突变的表征,并进行实验来探索g蛋白信号传导与求爱起始之间的复杂相互作用。2 McNair Research Journal SJSU, Vol. 15 [2019], Art. 8 https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/mcnair/vol15/iss1/8 79 INTRODUCTION基因负责中枢神经系统(central nervous system, CNS)的发育,进而调节行为。动物形态发育的许多遗传途径已经被确定并得到了很好的表征。相比之下,关于一个或多个基因是如何决定行为的,仍有很多有待了解的地方(Demir and Dickson 2005)。阐明基因在特定行为方面的作用,有可能成为一套强有力的工具,用于绘制指导中枢神经系统布线的分子途径。求偶行为在黑腹果蝇中是可观察到的,并且具有很好的特征,使其成为本研究目的的实用模型。此外,这种行为是天生的——它是“硬连线”到大脑中的。只有雄性会进行求偶仪式——即使它们从“出生”起就被社会隔离,它们也能做到这一点。求偶仪式是一套固定的六个不同步骤,必须正确执行,并以适当的顺序,以确保繁殖成功(Baker et al. 2001)。因为像这样的先天行为不需要学习,所以它们是研究基因如何塑造神经系统以引发特定行为反应的理想模型。我们试图扩大我们对这一特殊特征的了解,因为它在进化中如此受欢迎,它被编程为果蝇的神经系统。我们之前已经证明,果蝇正常的求偶行为需要被困在内胚层1 (Tre1)中的基因。具体来说,表达Tre1的细胞沉默或Tre1功能突变缺失的雄性果蝇比野生型雄性果蝇更快地开始求爱(Luu et al. 2016)。Tre1编码孤儿g蛋白偶联受体(GPCR)。在这项工作中,我们旨在鉴定Tre1下游g蛋白信号级联的组成部分。为了实现这一目标,我们测试了突变破坏异源三聚体g蛋白亚基的求爱起始缺陷。在这里,我们发现Gαi和Gγ30A都参与了求偶开始,这些基因可能揭示了g蛋白信号在这种行为编程中的复杂作用。
{"title":"Gαi and GƔ30A act downstream of Tre1 in Drosophila courtship","authors":"E. Mu","doi":"10.31979/mrj.2019.1508","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31979/mrj.2019.1508","url":null,"abstract":"The role of genes in morphological development is well understood for a variety of model organisms, but there remains a gap in our understanding of how genetics mediate behavior. Are there master genes that regulate behavior? Answering this question will lead to a better understanding of the development and function of the central nervous system, eventually allowing us to map out the pathways that regulate specific behaviors. We are using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism and the male courtship ritual as the behavior of interest to study the relationships between genes, neural development, and behavior. Trapped in endoderm 1 (Tre1), a gene encoding an orphan G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), is required for normal courtship behavior in fruit flies, but how this receptor regulates behavior is not yet understood. Here, we characterize the signaling cascade downstream of Tre1 by testing mutations in the Drosophila G-proteins for courtship defects similar to those seen in Tre1. Our results demonstrate that Gαi is a candidate downstream effector for Tre1, while also implicating Gγ30A in courtship behavior. Future goals include completing the characterization of the G-protein mutations and conducting experiments to explore the complex interaction between Gprotein signaling and courtship initiation. 2 McNair Research Journal SJSU, Vol. 15 [2019], Art. 8 https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/mcnair/vol15/iss1/8 79 INTRODUCTION Genes are responsible for the development of the central nervous system (CNS), which, in turn, mediates behavior. Many of the genetic pathways underlying morphological development in animals have been identified and well-characterized. In contrast, there is still much to be understood about how a gene or genes specify behavior (Demir and Dickson 2005). Elucidating the roles of genes with regard to particular behaviors has the potential to be a powerful set of tools to map out the molecular pathways that direct the wiring of the CNS. Courtship behavior is observable and well characterized in Drosophila melanogaster, making it a practical model for the purposes of this study. In addition, the behavior is innate – it is “hard wired” into the brain. Only males perform the courtship ritual – and they are able to perform it even if they have been socially isolated since “birth.” The courtship ritual is a stereotyped set of six distinct steps that must be executed correctly, and in the proper order, to ensure reproductive success (Baker et al. 2001). Because innate behaviors such as this do not have to be learned, they are ideal models for the study of how genes pattern the nervous system to elicit specific behavioral responses. We seek to expand our knowledge on this particular trait as it is so evolutionarily favored it is programmed into the Drosophila nervous system. We previously demonstrated that the gene Trapped in endoderm-1 (Tre1) is required for normal courtship behavior in fruit flies. Specifically, male flies in which Tre1-","PeriodicalId":150197,"journal":{"name":"McNair Research Journal SJSU","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130960091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}