Digital Commons Network^™

Transitioning From A Research Protocol To A Scalable Applied Pathway For Xenopus Laevis Sperm Cryopreservation At A National Stock Center: The Effect Of Cryoprotectants, Lucía Arregui, Jack C. Koch, Terrence R. Tiersch

Faculty Publications

Sperm cryopreservation is a critical tool for safeguarding and managing valuable genetic resources. Protocols for cryopreservation of Xenopus laevis sperm were available but lacking sperm quality evaluation and scalability and the outcomes were inconsistent. The goal of this study was to begin developing a center-level cryopreservation pathway for this species by integrating French straws as containers that would facilitate germplasm repository development. The objectives were to analyze the effect of: (1) three sperm concentrations (33, 50, and 100 × 106 sperm/mL) on post-thaw fertilization, (2) three final concentrations (2.5%, 5%, and 10%) of dimethyl sulfoxide, methanol, and dimethylformamide (DMFA) on …

Song And Genetic Divergence Within A Subspecies Of White-Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia Leucophrys Nuttalli), Amy Rongyan Luo, Sara Lipshutz, Jennifer Phillips, Robb T. Brumfield, Elizabeth Perrault Derryberry

Faculty Publications

Animal culture evolves alongside genomes, and the two modes of inheritance-culture and genes-interact in myriad ways. For example, stable geographic variation in culture can act as a reproductive barrier, thereby facilitating genetic divergence between "cultural populations."White-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) are a well-established model species for bird song learning and cultural evolution, as they have distinct, geographically discrete, and culturally transmitted song types (i.e., song dialects). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that divergence between culturally transmitted songs drives genetic divergence within Nuttall's white-crowned sparrows (Z. l. nuttalli). In accordance with sexual selection theory, we hypothesized that cultural divergence between …

The Roles Of Perceived Safety Climate And Innovativeness In The Performance Of Sport And Recreation Organizations, Minjung Kim, Han Soo Kim, Brent D. Oja, Jasamine Hill, Claire Zvosec, Paul Yuseung Doh

Faculty Publications

The recent COVID-19 pandemic created an unpredictable environment regarding the safety operations of sport and recreation organizations. This study was designed to examine how safety climate and organizational innovativeness could promote preferred organizational behavior outcomes in college campus sport and recreation centers. A total of 227 sport and recreation employees were recruited through the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association. With the collected data, we employed structural equation modeling to assess the research hypotheses. The results indicated that safety climate and innovativeness positively influenced job engagement, therefore leading to enhanced safety compliance and employee innovativeness, which ultimately resulted in higher …

The Sequential Direct And Indirect Effects Of Mountain Uplift, Climatic Niche, And Floral Trait Evolution On Diversification Dynamics In An Andean Plant Clade, Agnes S. Dellinger, Laura Lagomarsino, Fabián Michelangeli, Stefan Dullinger, Stacey D. Smith

Faculty Publications

Why and how organismal lineages radiate is commonly studied through either assessing abiotic factors (biogeography, geomorphological processes, and climate) or biotic factors (traits and interactions). Despite increasing awareness that both abiotic and biotic processes may have important joint effects on diversification dynamics, few attempts have been made to quantify the relative importance and timing of these factors, and their potentially interlinked direct and indirect effects, on lineage diversification. We here combine assessments of historical biogeography, geomorphology, climatic niche, vegetative, and floral trait evolution to test whether these factors jointly, or in isolation, explain diversification dynamics of a Neotropical plant clade …

Constitutional Rights And Remedial Consistency, Katherine Mims Crocker

Faculty Publications

When the Supreme Court declined definitively to block Texas’s S.B. 8, which effectively eliminated pre-enforcement federal remedies for what was then a plainly unconstitutional restriction on abortion rights, a prominent criticism was that the majority would have never tolerated the similar treatment of preferred legal protections—like gun rights. This refrain reemerged when California enacted a copycat regime for firearms regulation. This theme sounds in the deep-rooted idea that judge-made law should adhere to generality and neutrality values requiring doctrines to derive justification from controlling a meaningful class of cases ascertained by objective legal criteria.

This Article is about consistency, and …

Judges Should Be Discerning Consensus, Not Evaluating Scientific Expertise, David S. Caudill, Harry Collins, Robert Evans

Faculty Publications

One of the most constructive critiques of the Daubert admissibility regime is Professor Edward Cheng’s recent proposal for a new Consensus Rule in the Federal Rules of Evidence. Rejecting the notion that judges and juries have the capacity to evaluate scientific expertise, Cheng’s proposal would eliminate Daubert hearings—and judicial gatekeeping concerning expert testimony—and require judges and juries, in their verdicts, to follow consensus in the relevant scientific community. Significantly, Cheng argues that judges and juries would have an easier time identifying consensus than they have in deciding between experts who disagree.

We find Cheng’s emphasis on consensus compelling, and …

Peritextual Elements In Chinese Nonfiction Picturebooks, Sunah Chung, Jongsun Wee, Sohyun Meacham

Faculty Publications

The present work is a comparison of the peritext typology found across various nonfiction picturebooks focusing on Chinese people, including Chinese Americans. Nineteen nonfiction books were chosen following selection methods described in previous literature. Books were individually analysed to see which of five categories they fit under, and insider/outsider status for each author and illustrator was recorded as well. All five types were found in the surveyed Chinese nonfiction picturebooks; however, none of the books encouraged readers to take action for social change. We also found slight variation in peritext usage between the insiders and outsiders for authors and illustrators. …

Deterministic Global 3d Fractal Cloud Model For Synthetic Scene Generation, Aaron M. Schinder, Shannon R. Young, Bryan J. Steward, Michael L. Dexter, Andrew Kondrath, Stephen Hinton, Ricardo Davila

Faculty Publications

This paper describes the creation of a fast, deterministic, 3D fractal cloud renderer for the AFIT Sensor and Scene Emulation Tool (ASSET). The renderer generates 3D clouds by ray marching through a volume and sampling the level-set of a fractal function. The fractal function is distorted by a displacement map, which is generated using horizontal wind data from a Global Forecast System (GFS) weather file. The vertical windspeed and relative humidity are used to mask the creation of clouds to match realistic large-scale weather patterns over the Earth. Small-scale detail is provided by the fractal functions which are tuned to …

The Employment Of Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion Of The Aorta In Deployed Settings, Branson D. Taheri, Andrew D. Fisher, Ian F. Eisenhauer, Michael D. April, Julie A. Rizzo, Sundeep S. Guliani, Kathleen M. Flarity, Michael Cripps, Vikhyat S. Bebarta, Max V. Wohlauer, Steven G. Schauer

Faculty Publications

Excerpt: We identified 17 cases of REBOA placed in combat settings from 2017 to 2019. The majority of these were placed in the operating room (76%) and in civilian patients (70%).

Can Listeners Differentiate Varieties Using Prosodic Information? Lect Identification In A Persona-Matching Task, Nicole Holliday, Rachel Steindel Burdin, Paul Reed

Faculty Publications

Sociolinguists and lay people have long been interested in the mechanisms by which dialect and speaker identification occur. The current study aims to test whether realizational differences found in production studies are salient factors in identification of different lects, as well as to examine differences between groups in identification. In this study, listeners were instructed to match clips containing H* and L+H* pitch accents with specific personae who represented speakers of five lects of interest (African American English, Jewish English, Appalachian English, Southern English, and Midwestern English). Listeners from different groups (Appalachian, African American, Jewish, and those who were not …

Investigating Turbulence Distribution In The Lower Atmosphere Using Time-Lapse Imagery From A Camera Bank, Benjamin C. Wilson, Santasri R. Bose-Pillai, Jack E. Mccrae, Steven T. Fiorino, Robert P. Freeman, Laura R. Slabaugh

Faculty Publications

The atmosphere’s surface layer (first 50–100 m above the ground) is extremely dynamic and is influenced by surface radiative properties, roughness, and atmospheric stability. Understanding the distribution of turbulence in the surface layer is critical to many applications, such as directed energy and free space optical communications. Several measurement campaigns in the past have relied on weather balloons or sonic detection and ranging (SODAR) to measure turbulence up to the atmospheric boundary layer. However, these campaigns had limited measurements near the surface. We have developed a time-lapse imaging technique to profile atmospheric turbulence from turbulence-induced differential motion or tilts between …

Can Listeners Differentiate Varieties Using Prosodic Information? Lect Identification In A Persona-Matching Task, Nicole Holliday, Rachel Steindel Burdin, Paul Reed

Faculty Publications

Sociolinguists and lay people have long been interested in the mechanisms by which dialect and speaker identification occur. The current study aims to test whether realizational differences found in production studies are salient factors in identification of different lects, as well as to examine differences between groups in identification. In this study, listeners were instructed to match clips containing H* and L+H* pitch accents with specific personae who represented speakers of five lects of interest (African American English, Jewish English, Appalachian English, Southern English, and Midwestern English). Listeners from different groups (Appalachian, African American, Jewish, and those who were not …

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Analysis Of Tourmaline: Protocols, Procedures, And Predicaments, Nancy J. Mcmillan, Barbara L. Dutrow

Faculty Publications

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an appropriate choice of analytical tool for analysis of complex minerals because it is rapid, requires little sample preparation, and acquires major and trace element compositional information on all naturally occurring elements at concentrations above their intrinsic levels of detection for the specific analyte material. Tourmaline, a complex borosilicate mineral supergroup, was chosen as a test mineral due to the complexity of its major and minor element composition. Four analytical issues were investigated during project development: (1) the spacing between analytical laser shots to avoid analysis of the recast from previous laser ablations, (2) the …

Bibleonlinelearner: Learning In The 21st Century, Oliver Glanz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Identifying Multilevel Predictors Of Behavioral Outcomes Like Park Use: A Comparison Of Conditional And Marginal Modeling Approaches, Marilyn E. Wende, S. Morgan Hughey, Alexander C. Mclain, Shirelle Hallum, J. Aaron Hipp, Jasper Schipperijn, Ellen W. Stowe, Andrew T. Kaczynski Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study compared marginal and conditional modeling approaches for identifying individual, park and neighborhood park use predictors. Data were derived from the ParkIndex study, which occurred in 128 block groups in Brooklyn (New York), Seattle (Washington), Raleigh (North Carolina), and Greenville (South Carolina). Survey respondents (n = 320) indicated parks within one half-mile of their block group used within the past month. Parks (n = 263) were audited using the Community Park Audit Tool. Measures were collected at the individual (park visitation, physical activity, sociodemographic characteristics), park (distance, quality, size), and block group (park count, population density, age structure, racial …

Discovery Of A Variable Energy-Dependent X-Ray Polarization In The Accreting Neutron Star Gx 5−1, Sergio Fabiani, Fiamma Capitanio, Rosario Iaria, Juri Poutanen, Andrea Gnarini, Francesco Ursini, Ruben Farinelli, Anna Bobrikova, James F. Steiner, Jiri Svoboda, Alessio Anitra, Maria C. Baglio, Francesco Carotenuto, Melania Del Santo, Carlo Ferrigno, Fraser Lewis, David M. Russell, Thomas D. Russell, Jakob Van Den Eijnden, Massimo Cocchi, Alessandro Di Marco, Fabio La Monaca, Kuan Liu, John Rankin, Martin C. Weisskopf

Faculty Publications

We report on the coordinated observations of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (NS-LMXB) GX 5−1 in X-rays (IXPE, NICER, NuSTAR, and INTEGRAL), optical (REM and LCO), near-infrared (REM), mid-infrared (VLT VISIR), and radio (ATCA). This Z-source was observed by IXPE twice in March–April 2023 (Obs. 1 and 2). In the radio band the source was detected, but only upper limits to the linear polarization were obtained at a 3σ level of 6.1% at 5.5 GHz and 5.9% at 9 GHz in Obs. 1 and 12.5% at 5.5 GHz and 20% at 9 GHz in Obs. 2. The mid-IR, near-IR, …

Discovery Of A Variable Energy-Dependent X-Ray Polarization In The Accreting Neutron Star Gx 5−1, Sergio Fabiani, Fiamma Capitanio, Rosario Iaria, Juri Poutanen, Andrea Gnarini, Francesco Ursini, Ruben Farinelli, Anna Bobrikova, James F. Steiner, Jiri Svoboda, Alessio Anitra, Maria C. Baglio, Francesco Carotenuto, Melania Del Santo, Carlo Ferrigno, Fraser Lewis, David M. Russell, Thomas D. Russell, Jakob Van Den Eijnden, Massimo Cocchi, Alessandro Di Marco, Fabio La Monaca, Kuan Liu, John Rankin, Martin C. Weisskopf, Fei Xie, Stefano Bianchi, Luciano Burderi, Tiziana Di Salvo, Elise Egron, Giulia Illiano, Philip Kaaret, Giorgio Matt, Romana Mikušincová, Fabio Muleri, Alessandro Papitto, Ivan Agudo, Lucio A. Antonelli, Matteo Bachetti, Luca Baldini, Wayne H. Baumgartner, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Raffaella Bonino, Alessandro Brez, Niccolo Bucciantini, Simone Castellano, Elisabetta Cavazzuti, Chien-Ting Chen, Stefano Ciprini, Enrico Costa, Alessandra De Rosa, Ettore Del Monte, Laura Di Gesu, Niccolo Di Lalla, Immacolata Donnarumma, Victor Doroshenko, Michal Dovciak, Steven R. Ehlert, Teruaki Enoto, Yuri Evangelista, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Javier A. Garcia, Shuichi Gunji, Kiyoshi Hayashida, Jeremy Heyl, Wataru Iwakiri, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Vladimir Karas, Fabian Kislat, Takao Kitaguchi, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, Henric Krawczynski, Luca Latronico, Ioannis Liodakis, Simone Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Frédéric Marin, Andrea Marinucci, Alan P. Marscher, Herman L. Marshall, Francesco Massaro, Francesco Massaro, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Michela Negro, Chi-Yung Ng, Stephen L. O'Dell, Nicola Omodei, Chiara Oppedisano, George G. Pavlov, Abel L. Peirson, Matteo Perri, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Pierre-Olivier Petrucci, Maura Pilia, Andrea Possenti, Simonetta Puccetti, Brian D. Ramsey, Ajay Ratheesh, Oliver J. Roberts, Roger W. Romani, Carmelo Sgrò, Patrick Slane, Paolo Soffitta, Gloria Spandre, Douglas A. Swartz, Toru Tamagawa, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Roberto Taverna, Yuzuru Tawara, Allyn F. Tennant, Nicholas E. Thomas, Francesco Tombesi, Alessio Trois, Sergey S. Tsygankov, Roberto Turolla, Jacco Vink, Kinwah Wu, Silvia Zane

Faculty Publications

We report on the coordinated observations of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (NS-LMXB) GX 5−1 in X-rays (IXPE, NICER, NuSTAR, and INTEGRAL), optical (REM and LCO), near-infrared (REM), mid-infrared (VLT VISIR), and radio (ATCA). This Z-source was observed by IXPE twice in March–April 2023 (Obs. 1 and 2). In the radio band the source was detected, but only upper limits to the linear polarization were obtained at a 3σ level of 6.1% at 5.5 GHz and 5.9% at 9 GHz in Obs. 1 and 12.5% at 5.5 GHz and 20% at 9 GHz in Obs. 2. The mid-IR, near-IR, …

From Pumps And Pipes To Data And Discovery: Unifying A New Division, Jeremy Myntti, Megan Mcmillan

Faculty Publications

A reorganization of the Brigham Young University Library in 2020 brought many changes to the library, including the formation of the Metadata and Information Technology (MIT) Division. This new division needed to define a vision for itself, encourage a sense of unity among its employees, and foster collaboration among those employees. This article details how the MIT Division created a Data and Discovery initiative based on the Pumps and Pipes collaboration model, a model which brings seemingly unrelated industries together to discover solutions to their respective challenges by exploring “their neighbor’s toolbox” (Pumps and Pipes, n.d., “What We Do”). Here …

If Accountability Is Everything, Maybe It’S Nothing, Melvin J. Dubnick

Faculty Publications

This document discusses the evolving conceptualization and scholarly debates surrounding accountability and planning in governance studies.

Probing The Electrode-Electrolyte Interface Of Sodium/Glyme-Based Battery Electrolytes, Dodangodage Ishara Senadheera, Orlando Carrillo-Bohorquez, Ernest O. Nachaki, Ryan Jorn, Daniel G. Kuroda, Revati Kumar

Faculty Publications

Sodium-ion batteries (NIBs) are promising systems for large-scale energy storage solutions; yet, further enhancements are required for their commercial viability. Improving the electrochemical performance of NIBs goes beyond the chemical description of the electrolyte and electrode materials as it requires a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms that govern the interface between electrodes and electrolytes. In particular, the decomposition reactions occurring at these interfaces lead to the formation of surface films. Previous work has revealed that the solvation structure of cations in the electrolyte has a significant influence on the formation and properties of these surface films. Here, an experimentally …

Lithium Ion Speciation In Cyclic Solvents: Impact Of Anion Charge Delocalization And Solvent Polarizability, Ernest O. Nachaki, Daniel G. Kuroda

Faculty Publications

The increasing demand for lithium batteries has triggered the search for safer and more efficient electrolytes. Insights into the atomistic description of electrolytes are critical for relating microscopic and macroscopic (physicochemical) properties. Previous studies have shown that the type of lithium salt and solvent used in the electrolyte influences its performance by dictating the speciation of the ionic components in the system. Here, we investigate the molecular origins of ion association in lithium-based electrolytes as a function of anion charge delocalization and solvent chemical identity. To this end, a family of cyano-based lithium salts in organic solvents, having a cyclic …

Identifying A Group Of Factors Predicting Cognitive Impairment Among Older Adults, Longgang Zhao, Yuan Wang, Eric Mishio Bawa, Zichun Meng, Jingkai Wei, Sarah Newman-Norlund, Tushar Trivedi, Hatice Hasturk, Roger Newman-Norlund, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D., Anwar T. Nerchant

Faculty Publications

Background

Cognitive impairment has multiple risk factors spanning several domains, but few studies have evaluated risk factor clusters. We aimed to identify naturally occurring clusters of risk factors of poor cognition among middle-aged and older adults and evaluate associations between measures of cognition and these risk factor clusters.

Methods

We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (training dataset, n = 4074) and the NHANES 2011–2014 (validation dataset, n = 2510). Risk factors were selected based on the literature. We used both traditional logistic models and support vector machine methods to construct a composite score …

Gut Microbial Dysbiosis Differs In Two Distinct Cachectic Tumor-Bearing Models Consuming The Same Diet, Lauri O. Byerley, Brittany Lorenzen, Hsiao Man Chang, William G. Hartman, Michael J. Keenan, Ryan Page, Meng Luo, Scot E. Dowd, Christopher M. Taylor

Faculty Publications

The impact of cancer cachexia on the colonic microbiota is poorly characterized. This study assessed the effect of two cachectic-producing tumor types on the gut microbiota to determine if a similar dysbiosis could be found. In addition, it was determined if a diet containing an immunonutrient-rich food (walnuts) known to promote the growth of probiotic bacteria in the colon could alter the dysbiosis and slow cachexia. Male Fisher 344 rats were randomly assigned to a semi-purified diet with or without walnuts. Then, within each diet group, rats were further assigned randomly to a treatment group: tumor-bearing ad libitum fed (TB), …

Improved Tensor Current Limit From B 8 Β Decay Including New Recoil-Order Calculations, B. Longfellow, A. T. Gallant, G. H. Sargsyan, M. T. Burkey, T. Y. Hirsh, G. Savard, N. D. Scielzo, L. Varriano, M. Brodeur, D. P. Burdette, J. A. Clark, D. Lascar, K. D. Launey, P. Mueller, D. Ray, K. S. Sharma, A. A. Valverde, G. L. Wilson, X. L. Yan

Faculty Publications

A precision measurement of the β+ decay of B8 was performed using the Beta-decay Paul Trap to determine the β-ν angular correlation coefficient aβν. The experimental results were combined with new ab initio symmetry-adapted no-core shell-model calculations to yield the second-most precise measurement from Gamow-Teller decays, aβν=-0.3345±0.0019stat±0.0021syst. This value agrees with the standard model value of -1/3 and improves uncertainties in B8 by nearly a factor of 2. By combining results from B8 and Li8, a tight limit on tensor current coupling to right-handed neutrinos was obtained. A recent global evaluation of all other precision β decay studies suggested a …

Modernizing The Medical Malpractice Standard Of Care, Philip G. Peters Jr.

Faculty Publications

The standard of care for health care providers proposed by section 5 of the Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Medical Malpractice marks a fundamental shift in the American Law Institute's position on professional tort liability. According to both conventional wisdom and prior Restatement provisions, the standard of care for physicians is determined by their customary practices. Professionals alone are given the unique privilege to set their own legal standard of care. However, the proposed section 5 departs from this position. Instead, reasonable care for health care providers is defined as conduct "regarded as competent" by medical peers. Customary practices …

"I Am Become Death, The Destroyer Of Worlds": Applying Strict Liability To Artificial Intelligence As An Abnormally Dangerous Activity, Renee Henson

Faculty Publications

Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools have produced a myriad of injuries, up to and including death. This burgeoning technology has caused scholars to ask questions, such as, How do we create a legal framework for AI? Because AI creators have acknowledged that even they do not know the capacities of their technology for good or bad outcomes, this Article argues that an existing framework, strict liability, is an appropriate fit for harms arising from this new technology because a party need not prove negligence to prevail. Strict liability was uniquely developed to handle those activities that are “abnormally dangerous.” An abnormally …

Ceratocystis Fimbriata Alters Root System Architecture And Causes Symptom Development Only In Detached Storage Roots In Bayou Belle And Beauregard Sweet Potato, Arthur Q. Villordon, Catherine D. Derobertis, Christopher A. Clark

Faculty Publications

Little is known about how the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) root system responds to Ceratocystis fimbriata in the growth substrate. Understanding whether the fungus affects the root system before harvest of storage roots (SR) could guide timing of management efforts. Cuttings of cultivars Bayou Belle and Beauregard, both previously considered susceptible to black rot, were in unamended or infested sand. At the onset of SR formation, effects on first- and second-order lateral root (LR) length and number among and within treatments, cultivars and replicate experiments were recorded. First-order LR length in inoculated Bayou Belle plants was 31% greater than in …

Illumina 16s Rrna Gene Sequencing Dataset Of Bacterial Communities Of Soil Associated With Ironwood Trees (Casuarina Equisetifolia) In Guam, Tao Jin, Robert L. Schlub, Claudia Husseneder

Faculty Publications

Ironwood trees, which are of great importance for the economy and environment of tropical areas, were first discovered to suffer from a slow progressive dieback in Guam in 2002, later referred to as ironwood tree decline (IWTD). A variety of biotic factors have been shown to be associated with IWTD, including putative bacterial pathogens Ralstonia solanacearum and Klebsiella species (K. variicola and K. oxytoca), the fungus Ganoderma australe, and termites. Due to the soilborne nature of these pathogens, soil microbiomes have been suggested to be a significant factor influencing tree health. In this project, we sequenced the microbiome in the …

Callous–Unemotional Traits And Emotion Perception Accuracy And Bias In Youths, Enrica Ciucci, Andrea Baroncelli, Carolina Facci, Stefania Righi, Paul J. Frick

Faculty Publications

This study investigated the associations among conduct problems, callous–unemotional (CU) traits, and indices of emotion recognition accuracy and emotion recognition bias obtained from human faces. Impairments in emotion recognition were considered within broader, impaired emotional and social functioning. The sample consisted of 293 middle-school students (51.19% girls; M age = 12.97 years, SD = 0.88 years). In general, CU traits were associated with less accuracy in recognizing emotions, especially fearful and angry faces, and such deficits in emotional recognition were not associated with conduct problems independent of CU traits. These results support the importance of studying potential deficits in the …

Preferential Hydrologic States And Tipping Characteristics Of Global Surface Soil Moisture, Vinit Sehgal, Binayak P. Mohanty

Faculty Publications

A dynamic transition in soil hydrologic states through meteorological variability and terrestrial feedback governs soil-vegetation-climate (SVC) interactions, constrained by critical soil moisture (SM) thresholds. However, observational and scaling constraints limit critical SM threshold estimation at the remote-sensing (RS) footprint scale. Using global surface SM (θRS) from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, we characterize the seasonal preferential hydrologic states of θRS and derive three tipping characteristics to estimate the intensity (Mean Tipping Depth, (Formula presented.)), frequency (Tipping Count, η), and duration (Mean Tipped Time, (Formula presented.)) of the excursion of θRS from wet- to dry-average conditions. The preferential state …