Digital Commons Network^™

Relationship Quality And Oxytocin: Influence Of Stable And Modifiable Aspects Of Relationships, Wendy C. Birmingham, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Kathleen C. Light

Faculty Publications

Prior studies report that couples with higher relationship quality show higher oxytocin (OT) levels, yet other studies report those with higher distress have increased OT. This study investigated these competing predictions in the context of a support enhancement intervention among 34 young married couples (N = 68). Preintervention marital quality (Dyadic Adjustment Scale) was examined for associations with plasma and salivary OT levels 4 weeks apart and for changes between these time points within the intervention group. High relationship quality, not distress, was associated with higher OT in both saliva and plasma at both time points. No significant interaction …

William H. Ashley's Newly Discovered 1826 Fur Trade Journal, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

Fur trade historians have longed for more documentation to answer questions relating to the for trade in 1826. That year marked William Ashley's last foray (and Robert Campbell's inaugural venture) into the Rockies. Fortunately, a missing piece of that puzzle has now been found in the form of an 1826 diary and rendezvous business record that provides some answers while simultaneously raising a few additional questions. The full diary, reproduced with transcription, follows this article.

A Developmental Perspective For Promoting Theory Of Mind, Lee Robinson

Faculty Publications

Social neuroscience research has resulted in changing views of the theory of mind (ToM) construct. Theory of mind is no longer viewed as a unitary construct, but rather as a multidimensional construct comprising cognitive and affective ToM and interpersonal and intrapersonal ToM, each of which has differing neurophysiological/neuroanatomical foundations and behavioral manifestations. Clinicians working with persons with social communication/pragmatic communication disorders should consider evaluating these dimensions of ToM and the cognitive, social–emotional, and language components underlying them. Then they might use this information to develop a ToM profile for each client so they are better able to implement specific intervention …

A Silence That Wants To Be Heard: Suburban Korean American Students In Dialogue With Invisibility, Dawan Coombs, Hye-Young Park, Bob Fecho

Faculty Publications

Korean American students experience invisibility and silence as their culture and presence remain outwardly invisible in the mainstream culture of US high schools. This is further exacerbated by the silent response of the dominant population of the school towards these issues. Yet, to an extent, Korean American students find a sense of comfort within that invisibility; less visibility allows more silence and thus more privacy. This qualitative in-depth interview study focuses on developing understandings of Korean American students’ perceptions and negotiations of education in suburban American schools, specifically through the perceptions of two Korean American female students. When viewed through …

Ar Trebui Femeile Să Fie Hirotonite Ca Pastori? Considerații Asupra Vechiului Testament - Partea A Ii-A, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

This second part of a four-part study is a tentative answer derived from the account of Genesis chapter 3 to discover what constitutes God’s provisions for the relationship between men and women after the Fall. In the modern discussion over whether women should be ordained as pastors, the foundational passage for both those who affirm and those who oppose women’s ordination is Genesis 1–3. In the first part of the study, we have dealt with the biblical material of Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Those who affirm women’s ordination find in the Genesis creation accounts a statement of full equality …

What's Money Got To Do With It?: Public Interest Lawyering And Profit, Kathryn A. Sabbeth

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Injunctions In Sovereign Debt Litigation, W. Mark C. Weidemaier, Anna Gelpern

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Peg3 Mutational Effects On Reproduction And Placenta-Specific Gene Families, Joomyeong Kim, Wesley D. Frey, Hongzhi He, Hana Kim, Muhammad B. Ekram, Arundhati Bakshi, Mohammad Faisal, Bambarendage P.U. Perera, An Ye, Ryoichi Teruyama

Faculty Publications

Peg3 (paternally expressed gene 3) is an imprinted gene encoding a DNA-binding protein. This gene plays important roles in controlling fetal growth rates and nurturing behaviors. In the current study, a new mutant mouse model has been generated to further characterize the functions of this DNA-binding protein. Besides known phenotypes, this new mutant model also revealed potential roles of Peg3 in mammalian reproduction. Female heterozygotes produce a much smaller number of mature oocytes than the wild-type littermates, resulting in reduced litter sizes. According to genome-wide expression analyses, several placenta-specific gene families are de-repressed in the brain of Peg3 heterozygous embryos, …

Factors Influencing Survival Of White-Tailed Deer Fawns In Coastal South Carolina, J. Clint Mccoy, Stephen S. Ditchkoff, Joshua B. Raglin, Bret A. Collier, Charles Ruth

Faculty Publications

The social and environmental pressures exerted on white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in the southeastern United States are dynamic. Understanding factors that contribute to neonatal white-tailed deer mortality is vital to population management. To determine survival rates and causes of mortality, we captured and radio-monitored neonate white-tailed deer in the coastal plain of South Carolina. Using date of birth, mass, sex, age, and year as predictor variables, we created a candidate set of survival models to evaluate which factors influenced daily survival rates. We captured and monitored 210 fawns and recorded 68 total mortalities (32.3%). We recorded few mortalities in 2006 …

Measuring Changes In Tactile Sensitivity In The Hind Paw Of Mice Using An Electronic Von Frey Apparatus, Tijana Martinov, Madison Mack, Akilah Sykes, Devavani Chatterjea

Faculty Publications

Measuring inflammation-induced changes in thresholds of hind paw withdrawal from mechanical pressure is a useful technique to assess changes in pain perception in rodents. Withdrawal thresholds can be measured first at baseline and then following drug, venom, injury, allergen, or otherwise evoked inflammation by applying an accurate force on very specific areas of the skin. An electronic von Frey apparatus allows precise assessment of mouse hind paw withdrawal thresholds that are not limited by the available filament sizes in contrast to classical von Frey measurements. The ease and rapidity of measurements allow for incorporation of assessment of tactile sensitivity outcomes …

Model Combustion-Generated Particulate Matter Containing Persistent Free Radicals Redox Cycle To Produce Reactive Oxygen Species, Matthew A. Kelley, Valeria Y. Hebert, Taylor M. Thibeaux, Mackenzie A. Orchard, Farhana Hasan, Stephania A. Cormier, Paul T. Thevenot, Slawomir M. Lomnicki, Kurt J. Varner, Barry Dellinger, Brian M. Latimer, Tammy R. Dugas

Faculty Publications

Particulate matter (PM) is emitted during thermal decomposition of waste. During this process, aromatic compounds chemisorb to the surface of metal-oxide-containing PM, forming a surface-stabilized environmentally persistent free radical (EPFR). We hypothesized that EPFR-containing PM redox cycle to produce ROS and that this redox cycle is maintained in biological environments. To test our hypothesis, we incubated model EPFRs with the fluorescent probe dihydrorhodamine (DHR). Marked increases in DHR fluorescence were observed. Using a more specific assay, hydroxyl radicals ( •OH) were also detected, and their level was further increased by cotreatment with thiols or ascorbic acid (AA), known components of …

Unrecognized Coral Species Diversity Masks Differences In Functional Ecology, Jennifer N. Boulay, Michael E. Hellberg, Jorge Cortés, Iliana B. Baums

Faculty Publications

Porites corals are foundation species on Pacific reefs but a confused taxonomy hinders understanding of their ecosystem function and responses to climate change. Here, we show that what has been considered a single species in the eastern tropical Pacific, Porites lobata, includes a morphologically similar yet ecologically distinct species, Porites evermanni. While P. lobata reproduces mainly sexually, P. evermanni dominates in areas where triggerfish prey on bioeroding mussels living within the coral skeleton, thereby generating asexual coral fragments. These fragments proliferate in marginal habitat not colonized by P. lobata. The two Porites species also show a differential bleaching response despite …

Decay Of Interspecific Avian Flock Networks Along A Disturbance Gradient In Amazonia, Karl Mokross, Thomas B. Ryder, Marina Corrêa Côrtes, Jared D. Wolfe, Philip C. Stouffer

Faculty Publications

Our understanding of how anthropogenic habitat change shapes species interactions is in its infancy. This is in large part because analytical approaches such as network theory have only recently been applied to characterize complex community dynamics. Network models are a powerful tool for quantifying how ecological interactions are affected by habitat modification because they provide metrics that quantify community structure and function. Here, we examine how large-scale habitat alteration has affected ecological interactions among mixed-species flocking birds in Amazonian rainforest. These flocks provide a model system for investigating how habitat heterogeneity influences non-trophic interactions and the subsequent social structure of …

Introduction To Special Collection On Geology, Tectonics And Hydrocarbon Systems Of Se Asia, Peter D. Clift, Zhen Sun

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Social Regulation Of Male Reproductive Plasticity In An African Cichlid Fish, Karen P. Maruska, Russell D. Fernald

Faculty Publications

Social interactions with the outcome of a position in a dominance hierarchy can have profound effects on reproductive behavior and physiology, requiring animals to integrate environmental information with their internal physiological state; but how is salient information from the animal's dynamic social environment transformed into adaptive behavioral, physiological, and molecular-level changes? The African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, is ideally suited to understand socially controlled reproductive plasticity because activity of the male reproductive (brainpituitary gonad) axis is tightly linked to social status. Males form hierarchies in which a small percentage of brightly colored dominant individuals have an active reproductive axis, defend …

Evaluation Of Hand-Held Meters For Determination Of Hemolymph Lactate And Protein Concentrations In Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus Clarkii, Christopher P. Bonvillain, D. Allen Rutherford, William E. Kelso, Christopher C. Green

Faculty Publications

We evaluated the accuracy of an Accutrend® lactate meter and a Reichert® Vet 360 temperature compensated refractometer for determining red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) hemolymph lactate and protein concentrations, with results compared to measurements obtained from spectrophotometric analyses. Results from the lactate meter (R2 = 0.926) and refractometer (R2 = 0.830) both demonstrated strong relationships with spectrophotometer measurements, indicating that these instruments provide rapid, reliable, and economical methods for determining crayfish hemolymph lactate and protein concentrations. Both meters can provide on-site information to commercial crayfish farmers and processors to assess crayfish health and stress levels, and can also …

Phylogeny, Diversity, And Biogeography Of Southeast Asian Spiny Rats (Maxomys), Anang S. Achmadi, Jacob A. Esselstyn, Kevin C. Rowe, Ibnu Maryanto, M. T. Abdullah

Faculty Publications

Knowledge of the diversity and relationships of species in many groups of plants and animals in Southeast Asia is severely limited, preventing an integrative understanding of evolutionary and ecological processes in island archipelagos. We generated a 3-locus DNA sequence data set to estimate phylogenetic relationships among species and populations of Maxomys, a genus of rodents endemic to Southeast Asia. Our inclusion of Crunomys as a potential outgroup supported the monophyly of Crunomys, but the genus was deeply nested within Maxomys. Because of the relatively ancient divergences (mean uncorrected p-distances up to 0.15 in cytochrome-b sequences) among species of Maxomys and …

Patients’ Attitudes Towards Patient Involvement In Safety Interventions: Results Of Two Exploratory Studies, Rachel Davis, Nick Sevdalis, Anna Pinto, Ara Darzi, Charles A. Vincent

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: In recent years, patient-focused interventions have been introduced aimed at increasing patient involvement in safety-related behaviours. However, patients' attitudes towards these interventions and comfort in participating in the recommended behaviours remain largely unexplored. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate patients' attitudes towards a video and leaflet aimed at encouraging patient involvement in safety-related behaviours. DESIGN: Two exploratory studies employing a within-subjects mixed-methods design. SETTING: Six hospital wards on an inner-city London teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Medical and surgical inpatients: 80 patients in study 1 (mean age 55; 69% men) and 80 patients in study 2 (mean age 52; 60% men). INTERVENTION: Patients watched …

The Resilience Of Property, Lynda L. Butler

Faculty Publications

Resilience is essential to the ability of property to face transforming social and environmental change. For centuries, property has responded to such change through a dialectical process that identifies emerging disciplinary perspectives and debates conflicting values and norms. This dialectic promotes the resilience of property, allowing it to adapt to changing conditions and needs. Today the mainstream economic theory dominating common law property is progressively being intertwined with constitutionally protected property, undermining its long-term resilience. The coupling of the economic vision of ordinary property with constitutional property embeds the assumptions, choices, and values of the economic theory into both realms …

Hierarchically Variable Deference To Agency Interpretations, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl

Faculty Publications

When courts review agency action, they typically accord agency decisions a degree of deference. As many courts and commentators have recognized, the law in this area is complicated because it features numerous standards of review, including several distinct regimes for evaluating agencies’ legal interpretations. There is, however, at least one important respect in which uniformity rather than variety prevails: the applicable standards of review do not vary depending on which court is reviewing the agency. Whichever standard governs a particular case—Chevron, Skidmore, or something else—all courts in the judicial hierarchy are supposed to apply that same standard.

This Article proposes …

Evaluating Flexibility In International Patent Law, Sarah R. Wasserman Rajec

Faculty Publications

Global patent law has raced toward harmonization over the past decades. Countries with vastly different industries, values, and levels of development now offer robust patent rights with similar contours through membership in the World Trade Organization and consequent adoption of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS”). However, patent law is still far from harmonized among countries or static within countries. Jurisdictions tailor their patent laws to accommodate differences between industries, unforeseen inefficiencies, and diverse views of the costs and benefits associated with offering patent rights to stimulate innovation. Prior scholarly work consists of either doctrinal analyses …

Eternal Recurrence In A Neo-Kantian Context, Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

In this essay, I argue that someone who adopted a falsificationism of the sort that I have attributed to Nietzsche would be attracted to the doctrine of eternal recurrence. For Nietzsche, to think the becoming revealed through the senses means falsifying it through being. But the eternal recurrence offers the possibility of thinking becoming without falsification. I then argue that someone who held Nietzsche’s falsificationism would see in human agency a conflict between being and becoming similar to that in empirical judgment. In the light of this conflict only the eternal recurrence would offer the possibility of truly affirming life. …

Knockdown Of Selenocysteine-Specific Elongation Factor In Amblyomma Maculatum Alters The Pathogen Burden Of Rickettsia Parkeri With Epigenetic Control By The Sin3 Histone Deacetylase Corepressor Complex, Steven W. Adamson, Rebecca E. Browning, Khemraj Budachetri, José M.C. Ribeiro, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Selenocysteine is the 21st naturally-occurring amino acid. Selenoproteins have diverse functions and many remain uncharacterized, but they are typically associated with antioxidant activity. The incorporation of selenocysteine into the nascent polypeptide chain recodes the TGA stop codon and this process depends upon a number of essential factors including the selenocysteine elongation factor (SEF). The transcriptional expression of SEF did not change significantly in tick midguts throughout the blood meal, but decreased in salivary glands to 20% at the end of the fast feeding phase. Since selenoprotein translation requires this specialized elongation factor, we targeted this gene for knockdown by RNAi …

Impact Of Obesity-Related Genes In Spanish Population, Fernando Martínez-García, María L. Mansego, Gemma Rojo-Martínez, Griselda De Marco-Solar, Sonsoles Morcillo, Federico Soriguer, Josep Redón, Monica Pineda Alonso, Juan C. Martín-Escudero, Richard S. Cooper, Felipe J. Chaves

Faculty Publications

Background: The objective was to investigate the association between BMI and single nucleotide polymorphisms previously identified of obesity-related genes in two Spanish populations. Forty SNPs in 23 obesity-related genes were evaluated in a rural population characterized by a high prevalence of obesity (869 subjects, mean age 46 yr, 62% women, 36% obese) and in an urban population (1425 subjects, mean age 54 yr, 50% women, 19% obese). Genotyping was assessed by using SNPlex and PLINK for the association analysis.Results: Polymorphisms of the FTO were significantly associated with BMI, in the rural population (beta 0.87, p-value <0.001). None of the other SNPs showed significant association after Bonferroni correction in the two populations or in the pooled analysis. A weighted genetic risk score (wGRS) was constructed using the risk alleles of the Tag-SNPs with a positive Beta parameter in both populations. From the first to the fifth quintile of the score, the BMI increased 0.45 kg/m2 in Hortega and 2.0 kg/m2 in Pizarra. Overall, the obesity predictive value was low (less than 1%).Conclusion: The risk associated with polymorphisms is low and the overall effect on BMI or obesity prediction is minimal. A weighted genetic risk score based on genes mainly acting through central nervous system mechanisms was associated with BMI but it yields minimal clinical prediction for the obesity risk in the general population. © 2013 Martínez-García et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Acoustic Droplet Vaporization In Biology And Medicine, Chung-Yin Lin, William G. Pitt

Faculty Publications

This paper reviews the literature regarding the use of acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) in clinical applications of imaging, embolic therapy, and therapeutic delivery. ADV is a physical process in which the pressure waves of ultrasound induce a phase transition that causes superheated liquid nanodroplets to form gas bubbles. The bubbles provide ultrasonic imaging contrast and other functions. ADV of perfluoropentane was used extensively in imaging for preclinical trials in the 1990s, but its use declined rapidly with the advent of other imaging agents. In the last decade, ADV was proposed and explored for embolic occlusion therapy, drug delivery, aberration correction, …

Amp-Activated Protein Kinase Α1 But Not Α2 Catalytic Subunit Potentiates Myogenin Expression And Myogenesis, Xing Fu, Jun Xing Zhao, Mei Jun Zhu, Marc Foretz, Benoit Viollet, Mike V. Dodson, Min Du

Faculty Publications

The link between AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and myogenesis remains poorly defined. AMPK has two catalytic αsubunits, α1 and α2. We postulated that AMPK promotes myogenesis in an isoform-specific manner. Primary myoblasts wereprepared from AMPK knockout (KO) mice and AMPK conditional KO mice, and knockout of the α1 but not the α2 subunit resultedin downregulation of myogenin and reduced myogenesis. Myogenin expression and myogenesis were nearly abolished inthe absence of both AMPKα1 and AMPKα2, while enhanced AMPK activity promoted myogenesis and myotube formation. TheAMPKα1-specific effect on myogenesis was likely due to the dominant expression of α1 in myoblasts. These results …

Immigration And Recruitment In An Urban White-Winged Dove Breeding Colony, Bret A. Collier, Shelly R. Kremer, Corey D. Mason, John Stone, Kirby W. Calhoun, Markus J. Peterson

Faculty Publications

Dove population management necessitates estimates of vital rates for use in mechanistic models used to evaluate and predict population responses to environmental variation and/or alternative harvest scenarios. Estimating recruitment (number of juveniles per adult) is complicated because a compendium of factors drives production in doves. Whitewinged doves Zenaida asiatica exhibit a fairly unique breeding strategy wherein they commonly return to the same breeding area and reproduce in large breeding aggregations (i.e., colonies). We used an open-population capture-recapture model to estimate annual immigration and in situ recruitment of white-winged doves breeding in an urban colony during 2009 and 2010. We captured …

Mutational Analysis Of The Rotavirus Nsp4 Enterotoxic Domain That Binds To Caveolin-1, Judith M. Ball, Megan E. Schroeder, Cecelia V. Williams, Friedhelm Schroeder, Rebecca D. Parr

Faculty Publications

Background: Rotavirus (RV) nonstructural protein 4 (NSP4) is the first described viral enterotoxin, which induces early secretory diarrhea in neonatal rodents. Our previous data show a direct interaction between RV NSP4 and the structural protein of caveolae, caveolin-1 (cav-1), in yeast and mammalian cells. The binding site of cav-1 mapped to the NSP4 amphipathic helix, and led us to examine which helical face was responsible for the interaction.

Methods: A panel of NSP4 mutants were prepared and tested for binding to cav-1 by yeast two hybrid and direct binding assays. The charged residues of the NSP4 amphipathic helix were changed …

Genseq: An Updated Nomenclature And Ranking For Genetic Sequences From Type And Non-Type Sources, Prosanta Chakrabarty, Melanie Warren, Lawrence M. Page, Carole C. Baldwin

Faculty Publications

An improved and expanded nomenclature for genetic sequences is introduced that corresponds with a ranking of the reliability of the taxonomic identification of the source specimens. This nomenclature is an advancement of the "Genetypes" naming system, which some have been reluctant to adopt because of the use of the "type" suffix in the terminology. In the new nomenclature, genetic sequences are labeled "genseq," followed by a reliability ranking (e.g., 1 if the sequence is from a primary type), followed by the name of the genes from which the sequences were derived (e.g., genseq-1 16S, COI). The numbered suffix provides an …

Microbes In Nature Are Limited By Carbon And Energy: The Starving-Survival Lifestyle In Soil And Consequences For Estimating Microbial Rates, John E. Hobbie, Erik A. Hobbie

Faculty Publications

Understanding microbial transformations in soils is important for predicting future carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. This review questions some methods of assessing one key microbial process, the uptake of labile organic compounds. First, soil microbes have a starving-survival life style of dormancy, arrested activity, and low activity. Yet they are very abundant and remain poised to completely take up all substrates that become available. As a result, dilution assays with the addition of labeled substrates cannot be used. When labeled substrates are transformed into 14CO2, the first part of the biphasic release follows metabolic rules and is not affected by …