Digital Commons Network^™

Technology Specificity And Equitable Access To Pharmaceuticals, Ana Santos Rutschman

Faculty Publications

Current models of production of pharmaceuticals, particularly those dependent on intellectual property (and adjacent) protections, often contribute to the highly asymmetrical and inequitable distribution of resulting outputs. These problems are especially acute when emerging pathogens cause transnational public health crises in which there is concurrent demand for the same medicines in both lower- and higher-income countries, with populations in the Global South getting very limited timely access, if any, to preventatives and life-saving medicines—even when an outbreak disproportionately affects populations in these very countries.

This essay examines an under-theorized and under-explored way to help correct this historical and persisting deficit …

Entorhinal Cortical Delta Oscillations Drive Memory Consolidation, Juhee Haam, Suman Gunin, Leslie Wilson, Sydney Fry, Briana Bernstein, Eric Thomson, Hayden Noblet, Jesse Cushman, Jerrel L. Yakel

Faculty Publications

Long-term memories are formed by creating stable memory representations via memory consolidation, which mainly occurs during sleep following the encoding of labile memories in the hippocampus during waking. The entorhinal cortex (EC) has intricate connections with the hippocampus, but its role in memory consolidation is largely unknown. Using cell-type- and input-specific in vivo neural activity recordings, here we show that the temporoammonic pathway neurons in the EC, which directly innervate the output area of the hippocampus, exhibit potent oscillatory activities during anesthesia and sleep. Using in vivo individual and populational neuronal activity recordings, we demonstrate that a subpopulation of the …

Law And Its Limits: Ethical Issues In Mary Shelly's Frankenstein Or, The Modern Prometheus, David S. Caudill

Faculty Publications

The law and literature movement is frequently associated with the use of literary images of law as a point of reflection upon the ethical obligations of lawyers. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818)—the story of a young scientist whose unorthodox experiments end up creating the famed “monster”—is not, at first glance, a likely candidate for that enterprise. However, Dr. Frankenstein’s ambition and ruthless pursuit of knowledge has become a contemporary image of science out of control and the need for ethical limitations on scientific progress. Consequently, the novel raises currently important issues of regulating science and technology. Given the lawyer’s ethical obligation …

Ready Worker One? High-Res Vr For The Home Office, Anastasia Ruvimova, Felipe Fronchetti, Boden A. Kahn, Luiz Henrique Susin, Zekeya Hurley, Thomas Fritz, Mark Hancock, David Shepherd

Faculty Publications

Many employees prefer to work from home, yet struggle to squeeze their office into an already fully-utilized space. Virtual Reality (VR) seemingly offered a solution with its ability to transform even modest physical spaces into spacious, productive virtual offices, but hardware challenges - such as low resolution - have prevented this from becoming a reality. Now that hardware issues are being overcome, we are able to investigate the suitability of VR for daily work. To do so, we (1) studied the physical space that users typically dedicate to home offices and (2) conducted an exploratory study of users working in …

Regional Variation In The Trophic Ecology Of Wahoo (Acanthocybium Solandri) In The Western Atlantic Ocean, Brendan Gough, Alexandra Prouse, Michael A. Dance, R. J.David Wells, Jay R. Rooker

Faculty Publications

Intrinsic tracers, such as stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, are common dietary markers that accumulate in the muscle tissue of consumers and can be used to determine the dietary sources and trophic positions of consumers. The aim of this study was to assess regional variation in the trophic ecology of wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) using bulk stable isotopes. Muscle biopsies of wahoo were collected from four regions in the western Atlantic Ocean: the eastern Gulf of Mexico, western Gulf of Mexico, Northwest Atlantic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea. Muscle tissue δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values for wahoo ranged …

White Adipose Tissue Heterogeneity In The Single-Cell Era: From Mice And Humans To Cattle, Hunter Ford, Qianglin Liu, Xing Fu, Clarissa Strieder-Barboza

Faculty Publications

Adipose tissue is a major modulator of metabolic function by regulating energy storage and by acting as an endocrine organ through the secretion of adipokines. With the advantage of next-generation sequencing-based single-cell technologies, adipose tissue has been studied at single-cell resolution, thus providing unbiased insight into its molecular composition. Recent single-cell RNA sequencing studies in human and mouse models have dissected the transcriptional cellular heterogeneity of subcutaneous (SAT), visceral (VAT), and intramuscular (IMAT) white adipose tissue depots and revealed unique populations of adipose tissue progenitor cells, mature adipocytes, immune cell, vascular cells, and mesothelial cells that play direct roles on …

A Single-Cell Atlas Of Bovine Skeletal Muscle Reveals Mechanisms Regulating Intramuscular Adipogenesis And Fibrogenesis, Leshan Wang, Peidong Gao, Chaoyang Li, Qianglin Liu, Zeyang Yao, Yuxia Li, Xujia Zhang, Jiangwen Sun, Constantine Simintiras, Matthew Welborn, Kenneth Mcmillin, Stephanie Oprescu, Shihuan Kuang, Xing Fu

Faculty Publications

Background: Intramuscular fat (IMF) and intramuscular connective tissue (IMC) are often seen in human myopathies and are central to beef quality. The mechanisms regulating their accumulation remain poorly understood. Here, we explored the possibility of using beef cattle as a novel model for mechanistic studies of intramuscular adipogenesis and fibrogenesis. Methods: Skeletal muscle single-cell RNAseq was performed on three cattle breeds, including Wagyu (high IMF), Brahman (abundant IMC but scarce IMF), and Wagyu/Brahman cross. Sophisticated bioinformatics analyses, including clustering analysis, gene set enrichment analyses, gene regulatory network construction, RNA velocity, pseudotime analysis, and cell–cell communication analysis, were performed to elucidate …

Chemical Communication In Insects: New Advances In Integrated Pest Management Strategies, Angel Guerrero, Gadi V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sexually Dimorphic Oxytocin Receptor-Expressing (Oxtr) Neurons In The Anteroventral Periventricular Nucleus (Avpv) In The Postpartum Female Mouse Are Involved In Maternal Behavior, Kaustubh Sharma, Armita A. Govar, Bandana Ghimire, Katsuhiko Nishimori, Elizabeth Hammock, Ryoichi Teruyama

Faculty Publications

Maternal care is crucial for the survival and development of offspring. Oxytocin modulates maternal behavior by binding to oxytocin receptors (OXTRs) in various parts of the brain. Previously, we showed that OXTRs are expressed in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) of female, but not male mice. Because the AVPV is involved in the regulation of maternal behavior and oxytocin enhances its induction, this finding leads to the hypothesis that the female specific population of OXTR neurons in the AVPV regulates maternal behavior. To address this hypothesis, OXTR-Venus reporter mice were used to assess if expression levels of OXTR in the …

Pubertal Progression And Its Relationship To Psychological And Behavioral Outcomes Among Adolescent Boys, Meng-Che Tsai, Yu-Chung Lawrence Wang, Hsun-Yu Chan

Faculty Publications

Variations in pubertal timing and tempo have relevance to psychosocial development. Accounting for pubertal timing, tempo, and psychosocial development simultaneously in a model remains challenging. This study aimed to document the typology of pubertal development in a cohort of Taiwanese adolescent boys and then to examine how the associations between psychosocial variables across time vary by the patterns of pubertal development. A group of adolescent boys (n = 1,368) reported pubertal signs and psychosocial variables for 3 years since seventh grade. The growth mixture model revealed three major classes of pubertal transition: average pubertal growth, late-onset with rapid catch-up, and …

Editorial: An Unexpected Event Related To The Aquatic Mammals Of Latin America, Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Learning Experience Design As An Orienting Guide For Practice: Insights From Designing For Expertise, Jason K. Mcdonald, Tyler J. Westerberg

Faculty Publications

In this paper we consider how learning experience design (LXD) improves designers’ capacities to influence learning. We do this by exploring what LXD offers the design of learning environments that help develop learners’ expertise. We discuss how LXD (a) attunes designers to different learning affordances than are emphasized in traditional ID; (b) challenges the universal applicability of common ID techniques; and (c) expands designers’ views of the outcomes for which they can design. These insights suggest that LXD is useful because it refocuses and reframes designers' work around flexible design approaches that are often deemphasized in traditional ID.

Greater Male Variability In Daily Energy Expenditure Develops Through Puberty, Lewis G. Halsey, Vincent Careau, Philip N. Ainslie, Heliodoro Alemán-Mateo, Lene F. Andersen, Liam J. Anderson, Leonore Arab, Issad Baddou, Linda Bandini, Kweku Bedu-Addo, Ellen E. Blaak, Stephane Blanc, Alberto G. Bonomi, Carlijn V.C. Bouten, Pascal Bovet, Soren Brage, Maciej S. Buchowski, Nancy Butte, Stephan G. Camps, Regian Casper, Graeme L. Close, Lisa H. Colbert, Jamie A. Cooper, Richard Cooper, Prasangi Dabare, Sai Krupa Das, Peter S.W. Davies, Sanjoy Deb, Christine Delisle Nyström, William Dietz, Lara R. Dugas, Simon Eaton, Ulf Ekelund

Faculty Publications

There is considerably greater variation in metabolic rates between men than between women, in terms of basal, activity and total (daily) energy expenditure (EE). One possible explanation is that EE is associated with male sexual characteristics (which are known to vary more than other traits) such as musculature and athletic capacity. Such traits might be predicted to be most prominent during periods of adolescence and young adulthood, when sexual behaviour develops and peaks. We tested this hypothesis on a large dataset by comparing the amount of male variation and female variation in total EE, activity EE and basal EE, at …

Appendage Abnormalities In Spiders Induced By An Alternating Temperature Protocol In The Context Of Recent Advances In Molecular Spider Embryology, Teresa Napiorkowska, Julita Templin, Pawel Napiorkowski, Mark A. Townley

Faculty Publications

In the literature there are numerous reports of developmental deformities in arthropods collected in their natural habitat. Since such teratogenically affected individuals are found purely by chance, the causes of their defects are unknown. Numerous potential physical, mechanical, chemical, and biological teratogens have been considered and tested in the laboratory. Thermal shocks, frequently used in teratological research on the spider Eratigena atrica, have led to deformities on both the prosoma and the opisthosoma. In the 2020/2021 breeding season, by applying alternating temperatures (14 °C and 32 °C, changed every 12 h) for the first 10 days of embryonic development, …

Lipid Correction For Carbon Stable Isotope Analysis Of Yellowfin Tuna, Michael A. Dance, Mitchell S. Lovell

Faculty Publications

Carbon stable isotopes (δ¹³C) are widely used in ecological studies to understand diet, food web dynamics, and movements of marine fishes. Still, δ¹³C is influenced by lipid content and often requires chemical extraction or mathematical correction. Here, we developed a species-specific mathematical lipid correction for white muscle tissue of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), a highly migratory finfish of considerable economic and ecological value. Lipid extraction was conducted on yellowfin tuna white muscle tissue (C:N range: 2.96–6.49), and both linear and non-linear lipid correction models for δ¹³C were fitted and assessed. Lipid extraction increased δ …

Effects Of Weevil (Rhynchophorus Palmarum), Teosinte (Dioon Mejiae) And Caesar’S Mushroom (Amanita Caesarea) On The Properties Of Lactobacillus Acidophilus La-K, Ricardo S. Aleman, Dany Avila, Allan Avila, Jhunior Marcia, David Picha, Kayanush Aryana, Ismael Montero-Fernández

Faculty Publications

Weevil (Rhynchophorus palmarum) powder, teosinte (Dioon mejiae) and Caesar’s mushroom (Amanita caesarea) flour have bioactive compounds with significant nutritional applications. This paper aimed to examine the influence of weevil, teosinte, and mushroom powders on the protease activity, acid tolerance, bile tolerance, lysozyme tolerance, and gastric juice resistance ability of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-K. Acid tolerance was determined by adjusting the pH of MRS broth to 2.0 for L. acidophilus incubated under aerobic conditions at 37 °C. Bile tolerance was determined by incorporating 0.3% of oxgall. Protease activity was determined spectrophotometrically at 340 nm. Resistance to 100 mg/L of lysozyme in an …

A Sensitive Strain Sensor Based On Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/Polyaniline/Silicone Rubber Nanocomposite For Human Motion Detection, Seyedmajid Hosseini, Mohsen Norouzi, Jian Xu

Faculty Publications

Strain sensors play a pivotal role in quantifying stress and strain across diverse domains, encompassing engineering, industry, and medicine. Their applicability has recently extended into the realm of wearable electronics, enabling real-time monitoring of body movements. However, conventional strain sensors, while extensively employed, grapple with limitations such as diminished sensitivity, suboptimal tensile strength, and susceptibility to environmental factors. In contrast, polymer-based composite strain sensors have gained prominence for their capability to surmount these challenges. The integration of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as reinforcing agents within the polymer matrix ushers in a transformative era, bolstering mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and thermal stability. …

Analog Analogies: Intel V. Hamidi And The Future Of Trespass To Chattels, Maureen E. Brady, James Y. Stern

Faculty Publications

A symposium on great torts cases of the twenty-first century must include Intel Corp. v. Hamidi, the canonical case about whether unwanted e-mail spam sent to a company’s server could give rise to a trespass to chattels claim. While much has been written about Intel, in this Essay, we argue that Intel is as much of a classic for what it reveals about the old-fashioned tort as it is for its more closely examined ruling on “cybertrespass.” The dueling personal property analogies chosen by the majority and dissenting opinions in Intel reveal basic and fundamental disagreements about what …

Against Silence: Why Doctors Are Obligated To Provide Abortion, Michelle Oberman

Faculty Publications

As a lawyer, I have long been interested in the gap between law and the books and law in practice. In 2008, this curiosity led me to Latin America, where I began studying the impact of the world's most restrictive abortion bans. My first stop was Chile, which at the time banned abortion under all conditions–– there was not even an exception to save women's lives. Raised on the history of what happened when abortion was illegal in the United States prior to Roe v. Wade, I knew asking doctors to share their experiences was one way to gauge the …

Trophic Amplification: A Model Intercomparison Of Climate Driven Changes In Marine Food Webs, Vianney Guibourd De Luzinais, Hubert Du Pontavice, Gabriel Reygondeau, Nicolas Barrier, Julia L. Blanchard, Virginie Bornarel, Matthias Büchner, William W.L. Cheung, Tyler D. Eddy, Jason D. Everett, Jerome Guiet, Cheryl S. Harrison, Olivier Maury, Camilla Novaglio, Colleen M. Petrik, Jeroen Steenbeek, Derek P. Tittensor, Didier Gascuel

Faculty Publications

Marine animal biomass is expected to decrease in the 21st century due to climate driven changes in ocean environmental conditions. Previous studies suggest that the magnitude of the decline in primary production on apex predators could be amplified through the trophodynamics of marine food webs, leading to larger decreases in the biomass of predators relative to the decrease in primary production, a mechanism called trophic amplification. We compared relative changes in producer and consumer biomass or production in the global ocean to assess the extent of trophic amplification. We used simulations from nine marine ecosystem models (MEMs) from the Fisheries …

Longitudinal Assessment Of Cognitive Function In The Appswe/Ps1de9 Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's-Related Beta-Amyloidosis, Paul L. Soto, Michael E. Young, Giuliana M. Dimarco, Brianna George, Tatiana Melnikova, Alena V. Savonenko, Breanna N. Harris

Faculty Publications

Preclinical models of Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related cognitive decline can be useful for developing therapeutics. The current study longitudinally assessed short-term memory, using a delayed matching-to-position (DMTP) task, and attention, using a 3-choice serial reaction time (3CSRT) task, from approximately 18 weeks of age through death or 72 weeks of age in APPswe/PS1dE9 mice, a widely used mouse model of AD-related amyloidosis. Both transgenic (Tg) and non-Tg mice exhibited improvements in DMTP accuracy over time. Breaks in testing reduced DMTP accuracy but accuracy values quickly recovered in both Tg and non-Tg mice. Both Tg and non-Tg mice exhibited high accuracy in …

Quality Of Farmed Shrimp (Penaeus Monodon, Fabricius, 1798 And Macrobrachium Rosenbergii, Deman, 1879) As Affected By Melanosis Inhibiting Compounds, M. Khan, J. A. Lively

Faculty Publications

A problem associated with shrimp is blackspot or melanosis and to prevent blackspot, sulfites have been used for years but come with additional health risks. Newer 4-hexylresorcinol formulations exist that allow sulfite-free shrimp, but effects on the quality of Penaeus monodon Fabricius, 1798, and Macrobrachium rosenbergii, de Man, 1879, beyond melanosis prevention are unknown. Adverse effects on the quality of the shrimp from melanosis prevention treatments would negatively offset the benefits of a sulfite-free product. In order to determine if prevention compounds (sulfite powder or 4-hexylresorcinol based compounds, Everfresh® and Xyrex® Prawnfresh™) affect quality, proximate composition and total plate count …

When Can Local Bird Detection Radars Best Complement Broad-Scale Early-Warning Forecasts Of Risk Potential For Bird–Aircraft Strikes As Part Of An Integrated Approach To Strike Mitigation?, Melanie R. Colón, Ashley M. Long

Faculty Publications

Worldwide, wildlife–aircraft strikes cost more than US$1.2 billion in aircraft damage and downtime and jeopardize the safety of aircrews, passengers, and animals. Radar has long been used to monitor flying animal movements and can be a useful tool for strike mitigation. In the USA, the Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS) is an early-warning system that integrates data from next-generation weather radar (NEXRAD) weather surveillance radars (WSRs) with historic bird occurrence data to quantify avian activity and forecast the relative bird risk within a ~9.3-km radius of military and civilian airfields. Bird detection radars (BDRs) with both horizontal-surveillance and vertical-scanning components …

A High-Quality De Novo Genome Assembly For Clapper Rail (Rallus Crepitans), Elisa C. Elizondo, Brant C. Faircloth, Robb T. Brumfield, Subir B. Shakya, Vincenzo A. Ellis, Carl J. Schmidt, Adrienne I. Kovach, W. Gregory Shriver

Faculty Publications

The clapper rail (Rallus crepitans), of the family Rallidae, is a secretive marsh bird species that is adapted for high salinity habitats. They are very similar in appearance to the closely related king rail (R. elegans), but while king rails are limited primarily to freshwater marshes, clapper rails are highly adapted to tolerate salt marshes. Both species can be found in brackish marshes where they freely hybridize, but the distribution of their respective habitats precludes the formation of a continuous hybrid zone and secondary contact can occur repeatedly. This system, thus, provides unique opportunities to investigate the underlying mechanisms driving …

The Dynamic Nature Of Wrack: An Investigation Into Wrack Movement And Impacts On Coastal Marshes Using Suas, Grayson R. Morgan, Daniel R. Morgan, Cuizhen Wang, Michael E. Hodgson, Steven R. Schill

Faculty Publications

This study investigates the use of small unoccupied aerial systems (sUAS) as a new remote sensing tool to identify and track the spatial distribution of wrack on coastal tidal marsh systems. We used sUAS to map the wrack movement in a Spartina alterniflora-dominated salt marsh monthly for one year including before and after Hurricane Isaias that brought strong winds, rain, and storm surge to the area of interest in August 2020. Flight parameters for each data collection mission were held constant including collection only during low tide. Wrack was visually identified and digitized in a GIS using every mission orthomosaic …

The Water Mills Of The Historic Río Arriba In Northcentral New Mexico, 1598-1975, José A. Rivera Ph.D, Thomas F. Glick Ph.D

Faculty Publications

The water mills of New Mexico played a major role in the agricultural economy of the Río Arriba for centuries following the introduction of wheat from the Old World to the Americas. Wheat, in its ground form as flour, was a staple during the Spanish colonial period. To process raw wheat, local grist mills (molinos) were essential infrastructure as were the aceq uias (ditches) that powered them. Situated near the banks of rivers, the internal components of each mill were driven by the gravity force of water from an acequia, itself diverted from the river. Researchers have documented …

The Emergence Of Convergence, Shana M. Sundstrom, David G. Angeler, Jessica G. Ernakovich, Jorge H. Garcia, Joseph A. Hamm, Orville Huntington, Craig R. Allen

Faculty Publications

Science is increasingly a collaborative pursuit. Although the modern scientific enterprise owes much to individuals working at the core of their field, humanity is increasingly confronted by highly complex problems that require the integration of a variety of disciplinary and methodological expertise. In 2016, the U.S. National Science Foundation launched an initiative prioritizing support for convergence research as a means of “solving vexing research problems, in particular, complex problems focusing on societal needs.” We discuss our understanding of the objectives of convergence research and describe in detail the conditions and processes likely to generate successful convergence research. We use our …

Year-Round Weather Alters Nest-Provisioning Rates In A Migratory Owl, Eliza D. Stein, Stephen R. Midway, Brian D. Linkhart

Faculty Publications

As global temperatures and precipitation become more extreme, habitat specialists are at particular risk of being pushed past their environmental tolerance limits. Flammulated Owls (Psiloscops flammeolus) are small migratory owls that breed in temperate conifer forests of western North America. Their highly specialized nesting and foraging requirements make them indicators of ecosystem health. Using 17 years of nest observations, we investigated how annual weather patterns affected Flammulated Owl nesting and foraging behaviors during the breeding season. We used generalized linear models with a changepoint parameter to evaluate nest provisioning and nestling growth rates in years of extreme temperature and precipitation. …

The Mindful First Amendment, Gary Myers

Faculty Publications

The mindfulness movement has begun to play an expanding role in personal well-being and in society more generally. Although there is an active push for mindfulness in law, its primary focus is on ways in which mindfulness techniques can help lawyers in their personal and professional lives. This article explores the possible contributions of mindfulness to the widely recognized challenges facing freedom of speech and freedom of the press in an era of severe cultural and political polarization.

Evidence For Two Soybean Looper Strains In The United States With Limited Capacity For Cross-Hybridization, Rodney N. Nagoshi, Jeffrey A. Davis, Robert L. Meagher, Fred R. Musser, Graham P. Head, Hector Portillo, Henry Teran

Faculty Publications

The noctuid moth soybean looper (SBL), Chrysodeixis includens (Walker) is an economically important pest of soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in the southeastern United States. It has characteristics that are of particular concern for pest mitigation that include a broad host range, the capacity for annual long-distance flight, and resistance in some populations to important pesticides such as pyrethroids and chitin synthesis inhibitor. The biology of SBL in the United States resembles that of the fellow noctuid fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), a major pest of corn and several other crops. FAW exhibits a population structure in that …