Digital Commons Network^™

Costs Of Higher Education And Inequality, Michael Sattinger

Campus Conversations in Standish

Dr. Sattinger joins the University Libraries for a conversation about the connections between increasing costs of higher education, the rise in the college wage premium, and inequality.

Organ Donation And Religion: An Annotated Bibliography, Rukhsana Ahmed, Zeba Tasci

Communication Faculty Scholarship

This brief annotated bibliography presents a synopsis of select literature on the topic ‘Organ Donation and Religion’ published between 1993 and 2017. The purpose is to review existing research from authoritative sources and to determine the beliefs of the general public versus those of religious experts on the topic. Searched databases include Scholars Portal, PubMed, Google Scholar, and the University of Ottawa Library databases on the ProQuest platform. Although there are several studies which discuss in broad terms the influence of religion on the beliefs and attitudes toward organ donation, few studies explore the beliefs and practices of Muslims in …

Trends In State Medicaid Programs' Eligibility, Enrollment Rules And Benefits, Ashley Fox, Wenhui Feng, Jennifer Zeitlin, Elizabeth Howell

Public Administration and Policy Faculty Scholarship

Recent literature has focused on the impact of the differential state adoption of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. This DataWatch article highlights additional Medicaid policy dimensions where state-level trends in generosity have varied, including eligibility, benefits, and administrative burden, both before and after implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Catching Killers With Consumer Genetic Information, Angela Hackstadt

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

In April 2018, Joseph James D'Angelo was arrested as a suspect in the Golden State Killer case. DNA evidence collected at a 1980 crime scene finally shed light on the murderer's identity in early 2018 when investigators turned to GEDMatch, a service that allows users to upload and share DNA data obtained from consumer genetic tests. Consumer genetic testing, DNA collection, and familial DNA searching all raise ethical and privacy concerns. If investigators are using genetic genealogy to solve cold cases, where does that leave consumers?

University At Albany Stars Report, University At Albany, State University Of New York

STARS reports

Gold Rating: STARS Version 2.1

The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS®) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to gauge relative progress toward sustainability. STARS was developed by AASHE with broad participation from the higher education community.

STARS is designed to:

• Provide a framework for understanding sustainability in all sectors of higher education.

• Enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

• Create incentives for continual improvement toward sustainability.

• Facilitate information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and …

Fgf2-Dependent Mesenchyme And Laminin-111 Are Niche Factors In Salivary Gland Organoids, Zeinab F. Hosseini, Deirdre A. Nelson, Nicholas Moskwa, Lauren M. Sfakis, James Castracane, Melinda Larsen

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Epithelial progenitor cells are dependent upon a complex 3D niche to promote their proliferation and differentiation during development, which can be recapitulated in organoids. The specific requirements of the niche remain unclear for many cell types, including the proacinar cells that give rise to secretory acinar epithelial cells that produce saliva. Here, using ex vivo cultures of E16 primary mouse submandibular salivary gland epithelial cell clusters, we investigated the requirement for mesenchymal cells and other factors in producing salivary organoids in culture. Native E16 salivary mesenchyme, but not NIH3T3 cells or mesenchymal cell conditioned medium, supported robust protein expression of …

How Single-Payer Stacks Up: Evaluating Different Models Of Universal Health Coverage On Cost, Access And Quality,, Ashley Fox, Roland Poirier

Public Administration and Policy Faculty Scholarship

Described as “universal prepayment,” the national health insurance (or single-payer) model of universal health coverage is increasingly promoted by international actors as a means of raising revenue for health care and improving social risk protection in low- and middle-income countries. Likewise, in the United States, the recent failed efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have renewed debate about where to go next with health reform and arguably opened the door for a singlepayer, Medicare-for-All plan, an alternative once considered politically infeasible. Policy debates about single-payer or national health insurance in the United States and abroad have relied …

Culturally And Linguistically-Adapted School Systems: A Study Of Promising Practices In Odds-Beating Elementary Schools, Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Karen Gregory, Fang Yu

Educational Policy & Leadership Faculty Scholarship

This multiple case study investigated characteristics of six elementary schools in New York State with statistically significant better performance outcomes among their English language learner (ELL) students. Through documentary evidence, classroom observations, and interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, a system-wide approach to adaptations that benefit ELL students was identified. These adaptations were evident in: (a) school cultures that embrace ideals of equity of opportunity and celebrate diversity; (b) school climates that evoke a sense of safety and welcome; and (c) processes and practices that support advocacy for ELLs and their families. While the schools shared these common characteristics, educators …

Lim Kinase Regulation Of Cytoskeletal Dynamics Is Required For Salivary Gland Branching Morphogenesis, Shayoni Ray, Joseph A. Fanti, Diego P. Macedo, Melinda Larsen

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Coordinated actin microfilament and microtubule dynamics is required for salivary gland development, although the mechanisms by which they contribute to branching morphogenesis are not defined. Because LIM kinase (LIMK) regulates both actin and microtubule organization, we investigated the role of LIMK signaling in mouse embryonic submandibular salivary glands using ex vivo organ cultures. Both LIMK 1 and 2 were necessary for branching morphogenesis and functioned to promote epithelial early- and late-stage cleft progression through regulation of both microfilaments and microtubules. LIMK-dependent regulation of these cytoskeletal systems was required to control focal adhesion protein– dependent fibronectin assembly and integrin β1 activation, …

Microfluidic Platform For The Elastic Characterization Of Mouse Submandibular Glands By Atomic Force Microscopy, Aaron P. Mosier, Sarah B. Peters, Melinda Larsen, Nathaniel C. Cady

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

The ability to characterize the microscale mechanical properties of biological materials has the potential for great utility in the field of tissue engineering. The development and morphogenesis of mammalian tissues are known to be guided in part by mechanical stimuli received from the local environment, and tissues frequently develop to match the physical characteristics (i.e., elasticity) of their environment. Quantification of these material properties at the microscale may provide valuable information to guide researchers. Presented here is a microfluidic platform for the non-destructive ex vivo microscale mechanical characterization of mammalian tissue samples by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The device was …

No Grist For Mill On Natural Kinds, P.D. Magnus

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

According to the standard narrative, natural kind is a technical notion that was introduced by John Stuart Mill in the 1840s and the recent craze for natural kinds, launched by Putnam and Kripke, is a continuation of that tradition. I argue that the standard narrative is mistaken. The Millian tradition of kinds was not particularly influential in the 20th century, and the Putnam-Kripke revolution did not clearly engage with even the remnants that were left of it. The presently active tradition of natural kinds is less than half a century old. Recognizing this might help us better appreciate both Mill …

Multiscale Feature Analysis Of Salivary Gland Branching Morphogenesis, Melinda Larsen, William P. Daley, Shayoni Ray, Cemal Cagatay Bilgin, Banu Baydil, Bulent Yener

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Pattern formation in developing tissues involves dynamic spatio-temporal changes in cellular organization and subsequent evolution of functional adult structures. Branching morphogenesis is a developmental mechanism by which patterns are generated in many developing organs, which is controlled by underlying molecular pathways. Understanding the relationship between molecular signaling, cellular behavior and resulting morphological change requires quantification and categorization of the cellular behavior. In this study, tissue-level and cellular changes in developing salivary gland in response to disruption of ROCK-mediated signaling by are modeled by building cell-graphs to compute mathematical features capturing structural properties at multiple scales. These features were used to …

Spanish In Contact With Arabic, Lotfi Sayahi

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

Spanish and Arabic have been in contact for long periods and in different regions. While this is largely due to the geographical proximity of the Iberian Peninsula to western North Africa, a set of historical, political and social developments helped bring both languages into close contact. Of remarkable significance was the presence of Arabic in Iberia from 711 to 1492 and, at least, for several more decades after the Reconquista was completed. This fact, as is often mentioned, led to heavy lexical borrowing from Arabic into Spanish and other Ibero-Romance languages. Also important was the introduction of Spanish into North …

Reduced Migration, Altered Matrix And Enhanced Tgfβ1 Signaling Are Signatures Of Mouse Keratinocytes Lacking Sdc1, Mary Ann Stepp, Yueyuan Liu, Sonali Pal-Ghosh, Rosalyn A. Jurjus, Gauri Tadvalka, Adith Sekaran, Kristen Losicco, Li Jiang, Melinda Larsen, Luowei Li, Stuart H. Yuspa

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

We have reported previously that syndecan-1 (Sdc1)-null mice show delayed re-epithelialization after skin and corneal wounding. Here, we show that primary keratinocytes obtained from Sdc1-null mice and grown for 3-5 days in culture are more proliferative, more adherent and migrate more slowly than wt keratinocytes. However, the migration rates of Sdc1-null keratinocytes can be restored to wild-type levels by replating Sdc1-null keratinocytes onto tissue culture plates coated with fibronectin and collagen I, laminin (LN)-332 or onto the matrices produced by wild-type cells. Migration rates can also be restored by treating Sdc1-null keratinocytes with antibodies …

Cell And Fibronectin Dynamics During Branching Morphogenesis, Melinda Larsen

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Branching morphogenesis is a dynamic developmental process shared by many organs, but the mechanisms that reorganize cells during branching morphogenesis are not well understood. We hypothesized that extensive cell rearrangements are involved, and investigated cell migration using two-color confocal time-lapse microscopy to image cell and extracellular-matrix dynamics in developing salivary glands. We labeled submandibular salivary gland (SMG) epithelial cells with green fluorescent protein and matrix with fluorescent fibronectin. Surprisingly, we observed substantial, rapid and relatively random migration of individual epithelial cells during branching morphogenesis. We predicted that cell migration would decrease after formation of acini and, indeed, found that rapid …

Consonantal Variation Of Spanish In Northern Morocco, Ruth Scipione, Lotfi Sayahi

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

In former Spanish Morocco, many educated speakers are able to draw upon various phonological systems such as French, Moroccan Arabic, and Modern Standard Arabic in order to pronounce Spanish sounds. However, although the speakers of this study are highly proficient in Spanish, there are still some segmental features that set them apart from a native Spanish speaker. These features include the failure to produce the fricative allophones of bilabial, dental, and velar stops the failure to distinguish between the simple and multiple vibrant trill, and difficulties in producing the palatal nasal. While the Spanish of these Northern Moroccans seems to …

Bombs, Ballots, And Nationalism: Vieques And The Politics Of Colonialism, Pedro Caban

Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.