“ … ii Abstract Geisel,Gregory Weight and Wages: The Effect of Changing BMI Over … WEIGHT AND WAGES: THE EFFECT OF CHANGING BMI OVER TIME by Gregory Geisel * * * * * * * * * * Submitted in Partial … ”
Abstract
Obesity in the United States has been growing at an alarming rate, driving up health care costs and also promoting a worsening wage penalty for overweight workers. This study explores the determinants of the wage penalty borne by overweight individuals. To investigate this phenomenon individual BMI history was obtained from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for 1986-1999. Upon examination of the cross-sectional data from 1986, there was a wage penalty observed for males who were underweight and for females who were overweight. The analysis of panel data from 1986 and 1999 however showed that it is not the BMI in 1986, but rather the change in BMI between 1986 and 1999 that is associated with a wage penalty. Among males, a wage penalty exists for those displayed an increase or decrease in BMI from normal weight compared to those who stayed normal weight. Among females, a wage penalty was seen for all who showed an increase in BMI. These results suggest that the overweight/normal weight wage gap is driven in part by a non-causal explanation rather than a causal explanation such as BMI. For example, individuals with increasing BMI may have lower self-esteem leading to less ambition to climb to higher paying jobs in the work force.
“ … DETERMINE LIPID RAFT RESIDENCY By Gregory R. Geisel * * * * * * * * * * … of Biochemistry UNION … ii ABSTRACT Geisel,GREGORY . Quantification of hFSHR Signaling to … ”
Abstract
Human follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH) is a gonadotropin responsible for regulating reproductive systems by stimulation of Sertoli cells in males and granulosa cells in females. The hFSH receptor (hFSHR) is a seven transmembrane receptor that belongs to the G protein coupled receptor family. The receptor is functionally connected to a G protein on the inside of the cell. Once FSH activates its receptor, a cascade of signaling begins, resulting in the activation of adenylyl cyclase, which increases the intracellular levels of cAMP. In addition, hFSHR stimulation also activates the p44/42 MAP kinase. The spike in cAMP activates the enzyme protein kinase A (PKA), which triggers a series of downstream effectors resulting in follicular stimulation and gametogenesis.Previous work in the Cohen Lab has shown that hFSHR is located in cholesterol-rich, detergent-resistant microdomains known as lipid rafts. In an HEK293 cell line stably expressing hFSHR, disruption of lipid rafts by the cholesterol chelator methyl beta-cyclodextrin (MCD) interferes with PKA activation. Current research is focused on the relevance of hFSHR lipid raft residency in the human granulosa cell line hGrC1; focusing in particular on the activation of signal transduction pathways by hFSHR. The goal was to develop an enzyme-based, quantitative, non-radioactive assay for cAMP stimulation that could be used to study the effects of lipid raft disruption by M?CD on hFSHR signaling in hGrC1 cells. The galactosidase assay showed quantitative dose-dependent responses to hFSH, which indicated that it should be useful for testing M?CD to further determine lipid raft dependence of hFSHR signaling. Studying the regulation of signaling by hFSHR provides more insight into the receptor function and potentially represents new approaches to contraception or treatment of infertility.
