Digital Commons Network^™

Total Nitrogen Inflow And Outflow From A Large River Swamp Basin To The Gulf Of Mexico, Y. Jun Xu

Faculty Publications

River corridor wetland restoration and freshwater diversion from the lower Mississippi River are being considered as two major options to reduce nitrogen input to the Gulf of Mexico. However, it is largely uncertain how much nitrogen can actually be retained from the overflowing waters by these wetland systems. This study quantified the nitrogen inflow and outflow for the largest distributary basin of the Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya River Swamp basin. The goal of the study was to seek answers to three critical questions: (a) Does the Atchafalaya River Swamp remove a significant amount of nitrogen from the overflowing water, or …

Steeplechase Barriers Affect Women Less Than Men, Tyler D. Bushnell, Iain Hunter

Faculty Publications

Women began contesting the 3000 m steeplechase during the 1990’s using barriers of different dimensions than men. Whenever a new event is introduced for women, consideration should be taken as to whether different technique or training methods should be utilized. This study investigated three aspects of hurdling technique: 1) Differences in the ratio of the landing step to the penultimate step between men and women around each non-water jump steeplechase barrier, 2) differences in step lengths between the four non-water jump barriers, and 3) changes in the step lengths around the barrier throughout the race. The step lengths around the …

Growth, Feeding And Reproduction Of The Catfish Eremophilus Mutisii (Pisces : Trichomycteridae), From Artificial Reservoirs In Colombia, Gabriel Pinilla, Maritza Abril, Esperanza González

Faculty Publications

The catfish, Eremophilus mutisii, was cultured under different densities in artificial rainfall reservoirs at Caldas, Boyaca, Colombia. At capture, the average total length of the animals was 10 cm and the weight ranged between 9 and 10 g. These fish were in initial stages of sexual development. After a year in the reservoirs, they had increased in length and weight as follows (densities in parentheses): 5.22 cm and 27.23 g (0.5 individuals/m(2))); 1.98 cm and 8.79 g (1 individual/m(2)), and 2.45 cm and 0.82 g (2 individuals/m(2)). They were at the early stages of sexual maturity, and their condition …

Toxic And Contaminant Concerns Generated By Hurricane Katrina, Danny D. Reible, Charles N. Haas, John H. Pardue, William J. Walsh

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Association Of Physical Activity With Hormone Receptor Status: The Shanghai Breast Cancer Study, Swann Arp Adams, Charles E. Matthews, James R. Hébert, Charity G. Moore, Joan E. Cunningham, Xiou-Oi Shu, Jeanette Fulton, Yutang Gao, Wei Zheng

Faculty Publications

Evidence exists that breast tumors differing by estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status may be phenotypically distinct diseases resulting from dissimilar etiologic processes. Few studies have attempted to examine the association of physical activity with breast cancer subtype. Such research may prove instructive into the biological mechanisms of activity. Consequently, this investigation was designed to assess the relationship between physical activity and hormone receptor-defined breast cancers in a population of Asian women in which the distribution of receptor types differed from traditional Western populations. Participants, ages 25 to 64 years, were recruited into this population-based, case-control study of …

Giving Intellectual Property, Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Jeffrey A. Maine

Faculty Publications

The interdisciplinarity of intellectual property and taxation poses many challenges to the disparate existing norms in each field of law. This Article identifies and critiques the current tax regime governing the giving of intellectual property as a manifestation of the failure to understand the principles and policies underlying intellectual property and the firm. It proposes an incentives-based system that would encourage firms to extricate part of their repository of residual rights by surrendering their monopolistic ownership of intellectual property for the benefit of charitable organizations and, in turn, the development and growth of society.

Evaluated Community Fire Safety Interventions In The United States: A Review Of Current Literature, Van M. Ta Park, S. Frattaroli, G. Bergen, A. C. Gielen

Faculty Publications

The purpose of the study was to assess the state of fire prevention research, provide an updated synthesis of evaluated fire prevention programs, and discuss the role of fire fighters and data systems in prevention efforts. The review included all evaluations of U.S. based fire prevention interventions published between January 1998 and September 2004 and any earlier articles about U.S. fire prevention interventions not included in two prior review articles. We retrieved information from each identified study including evaluation findings, involvement of fire service personnel and use of existing data systems. We identified twelve articles: seven reported on smoke alarm …

Induction Of Socs-3 Is Insufficient To Confer Irs-1 Protein Degradation In 3t3-L1 Adipocytes, Fang He, Jacqueline M. Stephens

Faculty Publications

Insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 is a key protein in insulin signaling. Several studies have shown that the expression of IRS-1 can be modulated by protein degradation via the proteasome and the degradation of IRS-1 can be related to insulin-resistant states. The degradation of IRS-1 has been shown to be induced by SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 via the ubiquitin pathway. The goal of our study was to determine if the induction of SOCS-3 correlated with increased IRS-1 degradation in cultured 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Interestingly, our studies have shown that there is little correlation between the induction in SOCS-3 expression and the degradation of …

Recently Integrated Alu Retrotransposons Are Essentially Neutral Residents Of The Human Genome, Richard Cordaux, Jungnam Lee, Liv Dinoso, Mark A. Batzer

Faculty Publications

Alu elements represent the largest family of human mobile elements in copy number. A controversial issue with implications for both Alu biology and human genome evolution is whether selective pressures are affecting Alu elements on a large scale. To address this issue, we analyzed the genomic distribution of the three youngest known human Alu subfamilies (Ya5a2, Ya8 and Yb9) in conjunction with their insertion polymorphism status in the human population, since selection can only act on polymorphic elements. Our results indicate that: (i) polymorphic and fixed recently integrated Alu elements are found in genomic regions whose GC contents are statistically …

Estimating The Retrotransposition Rate Of Human Alu Elements, Richard Cordaux, Dale J. Hedges, Scott W. Herke, Mark A. Batzer

Faculty Publications

Mobile elements such as Alu repeats have substantially altered the architecture of the human genome, and de novo mobile element insertions sometimes cause genetic disorders. Previous estimates for the retrotransposition rate (RR) of Alu elements in humans of one new insertion every ∼100-125 births were developed prior to the sequencing of the human and chimpanzee genomes. Here, we used two independent methods (based on the new genomic data and on disease-causing de novo Alu insertions) to generate refined Alu RR estimates in humans. Both methods consistently yielded RR on the order of one new Alu insertion every ∼20 births, despite …

Birth Of A Chimeric Primate Gene By Capture Of The Transposase Gene From A Mobile Element, Richard Cordaux, Swalpa Udit, Mark A. Batzer, Cédric Feschotte

Faculty Publications

The emergence of new genes and functions is of central importance to the evolution of species. The contribution of various types of duplications to genetic innovation has been extensively investigated. Less understood is the creation of new genes by recycling of coding material from selfish mobile genetic elements. To investigate this process, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of SETMAR, a new primate chimeric gene resulting from fusion of a SET histone methyltransferase gene to the transposase gene of a mobile element. We show that the transposase gene was recruited as part of SETMAR 40-58 million years ago, after the insertion …

Patterns Of Smoking Behavior Among Physicians In Yerevan, Armenia, Ray M. Merrill, Gordan B. Lindsay, Paul C. Perrin

Faculty Publications

Physicians can play an important role in smoking prevention and control. This study will identify smoking prevalence among physicians in Yerevan, Armenia. It will also explore how the smoking behaviors of physicians, their perceived ability to influence patient smoking behavior, and their knowledge about health outcomes related to smoking influence their interaction with patients. Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered, anonymous survey was conducted in July, 2004, among 12 healthcare facilities in Yerevan. Analyses are based on responses from 240 physicians, representing a 70% response rate. Results: The percentage of current smokers was significantly higher in men than women (48.5% vs. 12.8% …

Modulation Of The Axial Water Hydrogen-Bonding Properties By Chemical Modification Of The Substrate In Resting State, Substrate-Bound Heme Oxygenase From Neisseria Meningitidis; Coupling To The Distal H-Bond Network Via Ordered Water Molecules, Li Hua Ma, Yangzhong Liu, Xuhong Zhang, Tadashi Yoshida, Kevin C. Langry, Kevin M. Smith, Gerd N. La Mar

Faculty Publications

The hydrogen bonding of ligated water in ferric, high-spin, resting-state substrate complexes of heme oxygenase from Neisseria meningitidis has been systematically perturbed by variable electron-withdrawing substituents on the hemin periphery. The pattern of 1H NMR-detected dipolar shifts due to the paramagnetic anisotropy is strongly conserved among the four complexes, with the magnitude of dipolar shifts or anisotropy increasing in the order of substituent formyl < vinyl < methyl. The magnetic anisotropy is axial and oriented by the axial Fe-His23 bond, and while individual anisotropies have uncertainties of ∼5%, the relative values of Δχ (and the zero-field splitting constant, D ∝ Δχax) are defined to 1%. The unique changes in the axial field strength implied by the variable zero-field splitting are in accord with expectations for the axial water serving as a stronger H-bond donor in the order of hemin substituents formyl > vinyl > methyl. These results establish the axial anisotropy (and D) as a sensitive probe of the H-bonding properties of a ligated water in resting-state, substrate complexes of heme oxygenase. Correction of observed labile proton chemical shifts …

Aha/Acc Guidelines For Secondary Prevention For Patients With Coronary And Other Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease: 2006 Update, Sidney C. Smith Jr., Jerilyn Allen, Steven N. Blair, Robert O. Bonow, Lawrence M. Brass, Gregg C. Fonarow, Scott M. Grundy, Loren Hiratzka, Daniel Jones, Harlan M. Krumholz, Lori Mosca, Richard C. Pasternak, Thomas A. Pearson, Marc A. Pfeffer, Kathryn A. Taubert

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Keeping An Eye On Privacy Issues With Geospatial Data [4], Andrew Curtis, Jacqueline W. Mills, Michael Leitner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Shoot-Specific Expression Of Γ-Glutamylcysteine Synthetase Directs The Long-Distance Transport Of Thiol-Peptides To Roots Conferring Tolerance To Mercury And Arsenic, Yujing Li, Om Parkash Dankher, Laura Carreira, Aaron P. Smith, Richard B. Meagher

Faculty Publications

Thiol-peptides synthesized as intermediates in phytochelatin (PC) biosynthesis confer cellular tolerance to toxic elements like arsenic, mercury and cadmium, but little is known about their long-distance transport between plant organs. A modified bacterial γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (ECS) gene, S1pt::ECS, was expressed in the shoots of the ECS-deficient, heavy-metal-sensitive cad2-1 mutant of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). S1pt::ECS directed strong ECS protein expression in the shoots, but no ECS was detected in the roots of transgenic plant lines. The S1pt::ECS gene restored full mercury tolerance and partial cadmium tolerance to the mutant and enhanced arsenate tolerance significantly beyond wild-type levels. After arsenic treatment, the …

Comparing The Direct And Community-Mediated Effects Of Disturbance On Plant Population Dynamics: Flooding, Herbivory And Mimulus Guttatus, Bret D. Elderd, Dan F. Doak

Faculty Publications

Competition, trophic interactions and abiotic disturbances play important roles in governing plant population dynamics, yet few studies have addressed their relative contributions or interacting effects. We used Life Table Response Experiment (LTRE) analysis, coupled with stochastic analyses, to examine how a major abiotic disturbance, flooding, influences the fitness and population growth of a common riparian plant, Mimulus guttatus, and how this effect compares and interacts with that exerted by herbivory. We also extended LTRE analysis to include nested factors, which enabled us to examine differences across experimental sites. These spatial contributions to changes in population growth rate, λ, were compared …

Portrayal Of Disabilities In Caldecott Books, Tina Taylor, Mary Anne Prater, Jennifer Jenson

Faculty Publications

The authors read all of the books that received Caldecott Medal and Honor status awarded between 1938 and 2005 and found that 11 included a character with a disability. For each book, they analyzed characterizations of those with disabilities and generated tips for using the book to teach about disabilities. They argue that accurate portrayals of characters with disabilities, particularly the types of disabilities encountered most frequently by young children, are needed in award-winning picture books.

Resisting Deep Capture: The Commercial Speech Doctrine And Junk-Food Advertising To Children, David Yosifon

Faculty Publications

The present Article is more precisely dedicated to analyzing, from a critical realist perspective, the wisdom and constitutional viability of one possible policy response to the obesity crisis: a ban on junk-food advertising to children.

This Article seeks not only to show that an effective junk-food advertising ban could pass constitutional scrutiny, but also to demonstrate, through the rigor of a constitutional analysis, the wisdom of such an approach to this substantial social problem. Simultaneously, my purpose is to show, in the context of a difficult First Amendment question, that the critical realist approach to legal theory is capable of …

Mechanisms Imposing The Vbeta Bias Of V14a Natural Killer T Cells And Consequences For Microbial Glycolipid Recognition, Paul B. Savage, Dasten G. Wei, Shane A. Curran, Luc Teyton, Albert Bendelac

Faculty Publications

Mouse and human natural killer T (NKT) cells recognize a restricted set of glycosphingolipids presented by CD1d molecules, including self iGb3 and microbial alpha-glycuronosylceramides. The importance of the canonical Valpha 14-Jalpha18 TCR alphachain for antigen recognition by NKT cells is well recognized, but the mechanisms underlying the Vbeta8, Vbeta7, and Vbeta2 bias in mouse have not been explored. To study the influences of thymic selection and the constraints of pairing with Valpha 14-Jalpha 18, we have created a population of mature T cells expressing Valpha 14-Jalpha 18 TCRalpha chain in CD1d-deficient mice and studied its recognition properties in vitro and …

Mental Health, Religious Belief, And "The Terrifying Question", Loren D. Marks

Faculty Publications

In the recent Tim Burton film Big Fish, Albert Finney's yarn-spinning character comments that wild parrots in the Congo will discuss most anything: politics, fashion, literature … but not religion. “Why not religion?” his son queries. “Because it's rude!” snaps the father, “you never know who you might offend.”

Extensive Individual Variation In L1 Retrotransposition Capability Contributes To Human Genetic Diversity, Maria Del Carmen Seleme, Melissa R. Vetter, Richard Cordaux, Laurel Bastone, Mark A. Batzer, Haig H. Kazazian

Faculty Publications

Despite being scarce in the human genome, active L1 retrotrans-posons continue to play a significant role in its evolution. Because of their recent expansion, many L1s are not fixed in humans, and, when present, their mobilization potential can vary among individuals. Previously, we showed that the great majority of retrotransposition events in humans are caused by highly active, or hot. L1s. Here, in four populations of diverse geographic origins (160 haploid genomes), we investigated the degree of sequence poly-morphism of three hot L1s and the extent of individual variation in mobilization capability of their allelic variants. For each locus, we …

Antagonisms, Mutualisms And Commensalisms Affect Outbreak Dynamics Of The Southern Pine Beetle, Richard W. Hofstetter, James T. Cronin, Kier D. Klepzig, John C. Moser, Matthew P. Ayres

Faculty Publications

Feedback from community interactions involving mutualisms are a rarely explored mechanism for generating complex population dynamics. We examined the effects of two linked mutualisms on the population dynamics of a beetle that exhibits outbreak dynamics. One mutualism involves an obligate association between the bark beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis and two mycangial fungi. The second mutualism involves Tarsonemus mites that are phoretic on D. frontalis ("commensal"), and a blue-staining fungus, Ophiostoma minus. The presence of O. minus reduces beetle larval survival ("antagonistic") by outcompeting beetle-mutualistic fungi within trees yet supports mite populations by acting as a nutritional mutualist. These linked interactions potentially …

Dbrip: A Highly Integrated Database Of Retrotransposon Insertion Polymorphisms In Humans, Jianxin Wang, Lei Song, Deepak Grover, Sami Azrak, Mark A. Batzer, Ping Liang

Faculty Publications

Retrotransposons constitute over 40% of the human genome and play important roles in the evolution of the genome. Since certain types of retrotransposons, particularly members of the Alu, L1, and SVA families, are still active, their recent and ongoing propagation generates a unique and important class of human genomic diversity/polymorphism (for the presence and absence of an insertion) with some elements known to cause genetic diseases. So far, over 2,300, 500, and 80 Alu, L1, and SVA insertions, respectively, have been reported to be polymorphic and many more are yet to be discovered. We present here the Database of Retrotransposon …

The Impact Of Data Quality On The Identification Of Complex Disease Genes: Experience From The Family Blood Pressure Program, Yen Pei Christy Chang, James Dae Ok Kim, Karen Schwander, Dabeeru C. Rao, Mike B. Miller, Alan B. Weder, Richard S. Cooper, Nicholas J. Schork, Michael A. Province, Alanna C. Morrison, Sharon L.R. Kardia, Thomas Quertermous, Aravinda Chakravarti

Faculty Publications

The application of genome-wide linkage scans to uncover susceptibility loci for complex diseases offers great promise for the risk assessment, treatment, and understanding of these diseases. However, for most published studies, linkage signals are typically modest and vary considerably from one study to another. The multicenter Family Blood Pressure Program has analyzed genome-wide linkage scans of over 12 000 individuals. Based on this experience, we developed a protocol for large linkage studies that reduces two sources of data error: pedigree structure and marker genotyping errors. We then used the linkage signals, before and after data cleaning, to illustrate the impact …

The Delphi "Bankruptcy": The Continuation Of Class War By Other Means, Stephen F. Diamond

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Peptide Yy And Proglucagon Mrna Expression Patterns And Regulation In The Gut, Jun Zhou, Maren Hegsted, Kathleen L. Mccutcheon, Michael J. Keenan, Aochun Xi, Anne M. Raggio, Roy J. Martin

Faculty Publications

Objective: Peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide-1 are important in the control of energy homeostasis and are both secreted from the gut in response to ingested nutrients. However, more studies are needed on nutrient regulation of their gene expression patterns in specific areas of the gut. This study detailed PYY and proglucagon (the gene that encodes glucagon-like peptide-1) gene expression patterns and regulation in the gut. We further examined the regulation of PYY and proglucagon mRNA by a diet containing fermentation- resistant starch (in vivo) and butyrate (in vitro). Research Methods and Procedures: Quantitative real time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction …

Regional Ocean Governance: The Perils Of Multiple-Use Management And The Promise Of Agency Diversity, Josh Eagle

Faculty Publications

Two high-level committees - the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission - have recently issued reports expressing grave concerns about the condition of America's oceans. In these reports, the commissions suggest that institutional flaws underlie current problems. Specifically, the commissions' views are that state and federal agencies with marine jurisdiction lack the mechanisms, and the incentives, to coordinate their management activities. Accordingly, both commissions recommend the creation of regional ocean governance bodies. Although the commissions' designs differ, their goal is the same: management that operates on a larger scale and incorporates more ocean interests. This article …

The Prohibition Hangover: Why We Are Still Feeling The Effects Of Prohibition, Marcia A. Yablon-Zug

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Antiestrogens Inhibit Xenoestrogen-Induced Brain Aromatase Activity But Do Not Prevent Xenoestrogen-Induced Feminization In Japanese Medaka (Oryzias Latipes), Adam J. Kuhl, Marius Brouwer

Faculty Publications

In fish, exposure to estrogen or estrogen-mimicking chemicals (xenoestrogeus)during a critical period of development can irreversibly invert sex differentiation. In medaka, a male-to-female reversal upon exposure to a xenoestrogen is accompanied by an increase in brain aromatase expression and activity. However, whether this increase is the direct cause of sex reversal is unknown. In this study we further examined the role brain aromatase plays in genesis of developmental abnormalities in response to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Further, the effects of a mixture of apparent antagonistic environmentally relevant EDCs on development were examined to determine if their combined actions could lessen each …