Digital Commons Network^™

Abundance Of The Species Clostridium Butyricum In The Gut Microbiota Contributes To Differences In Obesity Phenotype In Outbred Sprague-Dawley Cd Rats, Diana N. Obanda, Claudia Husseneder, Anne M. Raggio, Ryan Page, Brian Marx, Rhett W. Stout, Justin Guice, Diana Coulon, Michael J. Keenan

Faculty Publications

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Objectives: Gut microbiota profiles contribute to differences in obesity phenotype. We examined the abundance of the species Clostridium butyricum in relation to obesity phenotype. Methods: In outbred Sprague -Dawley rats we examined effects of dietary fat, resistant starch (RS), and a microbiota transplant on obesity phenotype. Using targeted qPCR, we examined the abundance of total gut bacteria and C. butyricum in relation to the propensity of obesity prone and obesity resistant rats to accumulate abdominal fat. Results: Before inclusion of dietary RS, obesity resistant (OR) rats had higher amounts of total bacteria, and C. butyricum compared …

Abundance Of The Species Clostridium Butyricum In The Gut Microbiota Contributes To Differences In Obesity Phenotype In Outbred Sprague-Dawley Cd Rats, Diana N. Obanda, Claudia Husseneder, Anne M. Raggio, Ryan Page, Brian Marx, Rhett W. Stout, Justin Guice, Diana Coulon, Michael J. Keenan

Faculty Publications

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Objectives: Gut microbiota profiles contribute to differences in obesity phenotype. We examined the abundance of the species Clostridium butyricum in relation to obesity phenotype. Methods: In outbred Sprague -Dawley rats we examined effects of dietary fat, resistant starch (RS), and a microbiota transplant on obesity phenotype. Using targeted qPCR, we examined the abundance of total gut bacteria and C. butyricum in relation to the propensity of obesity prone and obesity resistant rats to accumulate abdominal fat. Results: Before inclusion of dietary RS, obesity resistant (OR) rats had higher amounts of total bacteria, and C. butyricum compared …

The Anti-Hiv Drug Nelfinavir Mesylate (Viracept) Is A Potent Inhibitor Of Cell Fusion Caused By The Sarscov-2 Spike (S) Glycoprotein Warranting Further Evaluation As An Antiviral Against Covid-19 Infections, Farhana Musarrat, Vladimir Chouljenko, Achyut Dahal, Rafiq Nabi, Tamara Chouljenko, Seetharama D. Jois, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS CoV-2) is the causative agent of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Coronaviruses enter cells via fusion of the viral envelope with the plasma membrane and/or via fusion of the viral envelope with endosomal membranes after virion endocytosis. The spike (S) glycoprotein is a major determinant of virus infectivity. Herein, we show that the transient expression of the SARS CoV-2 S glycoprotein in Vero cells caused extensive cell fusion (formation of syncytia) in comparison to limited cell fusion caused by the SARS S glycoprotein. Both S glycoproteins were detected intracellularly …

All-Atomic Molecular Dynamic Studies Of Human And Drosophila Cdk8: Insights Into Their Kinase Domains, The Lxxll Motifs, And Drug Binding Site, Wu Xu, Xiao-Jun Xie, Ali K. Faust, Mengmeng Liu, Xiao Li, Feng Chen, Ashlin A. Naquin, Avery C. Walton, Peter W. Kishbaugh, Jun-Yuan Ji

Faculty Publications

Cyclin-dependent kinase 8 (CDK8) and its regulatory partner Cyclin C (CycC) play conserved roles in modulating RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-dependent gene expression. To understand the structure and function relations of CDK8, we analyzed the structures of human and Drosophila CDK8 proteins using molecular dynamics simulations, combined with functional analyses in Drosophila. Specifically, we evaluated the structural differences between hCDK8 and dCDK8 to predict the effects of the LXXLL motif mutation (AQKAA), the P154L mutations, and drug binding on local structures of the CDK8 proteins. First, we have observed that both the LXXLL motif and the kinase activity of CDK8 …

Dietary Methionine Restriction Signals To The Brain Through Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 To Regulate Energy Balance And Remodeling Of Adipose Tissue, Laura A. Forney, Han Fang, Landon C. Sims, Kirsten P. Stone, Leighann Y. Vincik, Alicia M. Vick, Amanda N. Gibson, David H. Burk, Thomas W. Gettys

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Obesity Society. Objective: Restricting dietary methionine to 0.17% in mice increases energy expenditure (EE), reduces fat deposition, and improves metabolic health by increasing hepatic fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). The goal of this study was to compare each of these responses in mice with the coreceptor for FGF21 deleted in either adipose tissue or the brain. Methods: Methionine-restriction (MR) diets were fed to age-matched cohorts of mice with the coreceptor for FGF21 deleted in either adipose tissue or the brain. The physiological and transcriptional responses to MR were compared in the respective cohorts. Results: Tissue-specific deletion of …

Two More Plumbers Look At The Leak: Purchasing An Annuity In An Institutionalized Spouse's Ira That Is Irrevocably Payable To The Community Spouse May Work For Medicaid Purposes But Runs A Risk Of Adverse Tax Treatment, David M. English, Ron M. Landsman

Faculty Publications

A recent article in NAELA ]ournal addressed the problem of how to maximize Medicaid benefits and minimize the tax burden for an institutionalized spouse who has a substantial individual retirement account (IRA) in a state where the account is not exempt. The primary problem is that most strategies require that the IRA be cashed out, triggering income tax liability for the entire withdrawal for that tax year. Once the IRA is cashed out, the proceeds can be spent down in any number of ways; one option is for the community spouse to purchase a Medicaid qualified annuity (MQA). The proposed …

Covid-19 And Its Impact On America's Retirement System, David M. English

Faculty Publications

There is a long-standing debate over whether America's retirement system is in crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has resolved the debate. Perhaps the system was merely challenged prior to March 2020, but it is certainly in crisis now. The pandemic has negatively impacted all four of the principal pillars of retirement: Social Security, employer-sponsored retirement programs, earnings from part-time work, and the worker's own savings. This short article will discuss the impact of the pandemic on the retirement system and discuss possible ways to restore the system to health or at least ameliorate the damage.

African American Emerging Adult Perspectives On Unintended Pregnancy And Meeting Their Needs With Mobile Technology: Mixed Methods Qualitative Study, Lucy Annang Ingram, Crystal Stafford, Quentin Mccollum, Mckenzie Isreal

Faculty Publications

Background: In the United States, a disproportionate number of unintended pregnancies occur among African Americans, particularly those in their later teenage years and early 20s. Mobile technology is becoming more ubiquitous as a method for health promotion; however, relatively little research has been done with this population to determine their perspectives about unintended pregnancy, the potential of successfully using mobile technology to prevent unintended pregnancy, and the content of such programs.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to obtain the perspectives of African American emerging adults about unintended pregnancy and the use of mobile technology to reduce unintended pregnancy …

A Baker's Dozen Of Top Antimicrobial Stewardship Intervention Publications In 2019, Kayla R. Stover, Elias B. Chahine, David Cluck, Sarah Green, Daniel B. Chastain, Darrell Childress, Carmen Faulkner-Fennell, Katherine Lusardi, Edoabasi U. Mcgee, Michelle Turner, P Brandon Bookstaver, Christopher M. Bland

Faculty Publications

Staying current on literature related to antimicrobial stewardship can be challenging given the ever-increasing number of published articles. The Southeastern Research Group Endeavor (SERGE-45) identified antimicrobial stewardship-related peer-reviewed literature that detailed an actionable intervention for 2019. The top 13 publications were selected using a modified Delphi technique. These manuscripts were reviewed to highlight the actionable intervention used by antimicrobial stewardship programs to provide key stewardship literature for teaching and training and to identify potential intervention opportunities within one's institution.

Glycyrrhetinic Acid And Its Derivatives As Potential Alternative Medicine To Relieve Symptoms In Nonhospitalized Covid-19 Patients, Hong Ding, Wenjun Deng, Lingling Ding, Xiaoqun Ye, Shanye Yin, Weishan Huang

Faculty Publications

SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious, and infection by this virus results in COVID-19, manifesting predominantly symptoms in the lower respiratory system. Detection of viral genomic materials by RT-PCR is the gold standard for diagnosis. Suspected COVID-19 patients who had a documented history of exposure and exhibited symptoms, but did not have positive PCR test results, were generally self-quarantined with prescriptions aiming to help attenuate their symptoms. These prescriptions are however neither specific nor highly effective for COVID-19 treatment. Given the rapidly growing pandemic and the overwhelmed medical system, the number of self-quarantined patients is increasing. There is an urgent need of …

Third-Variable Effect Analysis With Multilevel Additive Models, Qingzhao Yu, Bin Li

Faculty Publications

Third-variable effect refers to the effect transmitted by third-variables that intervene in the relationship between an exposure and a response variable. Third-variable effect analysis has been broadly studied in many fields. However, it remains a challenge for researchers to differentiate indirect effect of individual factor from multiple third-variables, especially when the involving variables are of hierarchical structure. Yu et al. (2014) defined third-variable effects that were consistent for all different types of response (categorical or continuous), exposure, or third-variables. With these definitions, multiple third-variables can be considered simultaneously, and the indirect effects carried by individual third-variables can be separated from …

Assessment Of Surface Hydrological Connectivity In An Ungauged Multi-Lake System With A Combined Approach Using Geostatistics And Spaceborne Sar Observations, Yueqing Chen, Lili Wu, Guangxin Zhang, Y. Jun Xu, Zhiqiang Tan, Sijia Qiao

Faculty Publications

Connectivity metrics for surface water are important for predicting floods and droughts, and improving water management for human use and ecological integrity at the landscape scale. The integrated use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) observations and geostatistics approach can be useful for developing and quantifying these metrics and their changes, including geostatistical connectivity function (GCF), maximum distance of connection (MDC), surface water extent (SWE), and connection frequency. In this study, we conducted a geostatistical analysis based on 52 wet and dry binary state (i.e., water and non-water) rasters derived from Sentinel-1 A/B GRD products acquired from 2015 to 2019 for …

Exploring New And Modified Rejection-Type Thresholds Using Cricket Snack Crackers, Ryan Ardoin, Ross Romero, Brian Marx, Witoon Prinyawiwatkul

Faculty Publications

Recently, sensory threshold concepts have been expanded to include affective perceptions of foods and beverages, especially measures of product rejection; however, each threshold interpretation depends largely on the methodology employed. By substituting cricket powder for whole-wheat flour in snack crackers (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%), we proposed modifications to two existing threshold methodologies: a modified consumer rejection threshold (M-CRT) using a 2-alternative choice (2-AC) preference test with “no preference” option; and a modified hedonic rejection threshold (M-HRT) based on less-than-neutral hedonic scores according to a one-sample t-test. We also proposed two new concepts: a rejection tolerance threshold (RTT) and …

Low-Income Energy Affordability In An Era Of U.S. Energy Abundance, Marilyn A. Brown, Anmol Soni, Melissa V. Lapsa, Katie Southworth, Matt Cox

Faculty Publications

In an era of U.S. energy abundance, the persistently high energy bills paid by low-income households is troubling. After decades of weatherization and bill-payment programs, low-income households still spend a higher percent of their income on electricity and gas bills than any other income group. Their energy burden is not declining, and it remains persistently high in particular geographies such as the South, rural America, and minority communities. As public agencies and utilities attempt to transition to a sustainable energy future, many of the programs that promote energy efficiency, rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and home batteries are largely inaccessible to …

Sensor-Measured Physical Activity Is Associated With Decreased Cardiovascular Disease Risk In African Americans, John A. Bernhart Ph.D., Mph, Ches, Gabrielle M. Turner-Mcgrievy Ph.D., Rd, Sarah Eustis, Mary J. Wilson Phd, Mph, Brent Hutto Msph, Sara Wilcox Phd, Edward A. Frongillo Jr. Ph.D., E. Angela Murphy

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Few studies have examined relationships between sensor-measured physical activity (PA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among African Americans. This study described relationships between PA and CVD risk in NEW Soul study participants. Methods: Participants completed a dual X-ray absorptiometry scan and measures of blood pressure, waist and hip circumference, height, and weight. Actigraph GTM accelerometers measured moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). We assessed relationships between minutes/day of MVPA and total body fat percent, total lean body mass, total fat mass, total bone mass, total fat distribution, body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and waist-to-hip ratio, …

National Nutrition Strategies That Focus On Maternal, Infant, And Young Child Nutrition In Southeast Asia Do Not Consistently Align With Regional And International Recommendations, Tuan T. Nguyen, Ashley Darnell, Amy Weissman, Jennifer Cashin, Mellissa Withers, Roger Mathisen, Karin Lapping, Timothy D. Mastro, Edward A. Frongillo Jr.

Faculty Publications

We examined the consistency of national nutrition strategies and action plans (NNS) focusing on maternal, infant, and young child nutrition in Southeast Asia with regional and international recommendations. Between July and December 2017, we identified and extracted information on context, objectives, interventions, indicators, strategies, and coordination mechanisms from the most recent NNS in nine Southeast Asian countries. All NNS described context, objectives, and the following interventions: antenatal care, micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy, breastfeeding promotion, improved complementary feeding, nutrition in emergencies, and food fortification or dietary diversity. Micronutrient supplementation for young children was included in eight NNS; breastfeeding promotion during pregnancy …

Immoral Trademarks After Brunetti, Ned Snow

Faculty Publications

For more than a century, marks that were vulgar, profane, and obscene could not receive trademark protection. In 2019, however, the Supreme Court in Iancu v. Brunetti invalidated the statutory provision that had prevented such marks from receiving protection—the bars to “immoral” and “scandalous” marks. Those bars violated the First Amendment because they enabled the government to judge whether ideas in marks were inappropriate. Similarly, two years prior to Brunetti, the Court in Matal v. Tam struck down a bar to marks that could “disparage” others. The Court reasoned that to disparage is to offend, and the ability to offend …

Measuring The Resilience Of Criminogenic Ecosystems To Global Disruption: A Case-Study Of Covid-19 In China, Hervé Borrion, Justin Kurland, Nick Tilley, Peng Chen

Faculty Publications

Copyright: © 2020 Borrion et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This paper uses resilience as a lens through which to analyse disasters and other major threats to patterns of criminal behaviour. A set of indicators and mathematical models are introduced that aim to quantitatively describe changes in crime levels in comparison to what could otherwise be expected, and what might be expected by way of adaptation and subsequent resumption of …

Early Breastfeeding Practices Contribute To Exclusive Breastfeeding In Bangladesh, Vietnam And Ethiopia, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Sunny S. Kim, Lan Mai Tran, Purnima Menon, Edward A. Frongillo Jr.

Faculty Publications

Limited evidence exists on the complex relationship among interventions, early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF), prelacteal feeding and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). We examined whether early breastfeeding practices are associated with EBF and how much improving EIBF and non-prelacteal feeding contributes to increased prevalence of EBF. Survey data were collected in 2010 and 2014 as part of impact evaluations of Alive & Thrive (A&T) interventions to improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Ethiopia. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine effects of interventions and early breastfeeding practices on EBF. Structural equation modelling quantified the direct …

Distorted Drug Patents, Erika Lietzan

Faculty Publications

Drug patents are distorted. Unlike most other inventors, drug inventors must complete years of testing to the government’s specifications and seek government approval to commercialize their inventions. All the while, the patent term runs. When a drug inventor finally launches a medicine that embodies the invention, only a fraction of the patent life remains. And yet, conventional wisdom holds — and empirical studies show — that patent life is essential to innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, perhaps more so than any other inventive industry. Congress tried to do something about this in 1984, authorizing the Patent and Trademark Office to …

Antitrust Regulation And The Federal-State Balance: Restoring The Original Design, Alan J. Meese

Faculty Publications

The U.S. Constitution divides authority over commerce between states and the national government. Passed in 1890, the Sherman Act (“the Act”) reflects this allocation of power, reaching only those harmful agreements that are “in restraint of... commerce among the several States.” This Article contends that the Supreme Court erred when it radically altered the balance between state and national power over trade restraints in 1948, abruptly abandoning decades of precedent recognizing exclusive state authority over most intrastate restraints. This revised construction of the Act contravened the statute’s apparent meaning, unduly expanded the reach of federal antitrust regulation, and undermined the …

Mormon Women Connected Suffrage Directly To Joseph Smith’S First Vision And The Restoration Of The Gospel: Reflections From The 1920 Relief Society Magazine, Ahsley Anderson Webb, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

On a cold Thursday in early February 1920, newly enfranchised women from across the nation huddled together in Chicago for a seven-day-long Golden Jubilee. The anticipated passage of the Nineteenth Amendment needed only three more states for ratification, which occurred a few months later. At the same time, women in Utah reflected back half a century to February 12, 1870, when Utah Territory granted women the right to vote. Female Utahns rejoiced with their sisters throughout the United States who anticipated the fruition of universal suffrage. Susa Young Gates, who attended the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association Convention in Chicago, …

Individual Performance And Taking On Firm-Specific Roles: The Case Of Business School Associate Deans, Jeff Dyer, David Kryscynski, Christopher Law, Shad Morris

Faculty Publications

The firm-specific human capital dilemma suggests that firms generally want employees to make firm-specific investments but that employees prefer not to make them. We suggest that individual performance may moderate this dilemma such that the dilemma increases as individual performance increases – i.e. firms may prefer high performers in firm-specific roles while high performers may resist these roles more than their lower performing counterparts. We examine our extended firm-specific human capital theory in a context where the classic firm-specific human capital dilemma likely exists: business academia. Using a unique dataset of 4,164 business school professors from 39 of the top …

Is The Multicultural Congregation A Myth?, Willie Edward Hucks Ii

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Embracing God’S Heart For Immigrants And Refugees, S. Joseph Kidder, Boubakar Sanou

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 And The Black Death: Nutrition, Frailty, Inequity, And Mortality, Katherine D. Van Schaik, Sharon Dewitte

Faculty Publications

Introduction: COVID-19 has challenged governments, healthcare systems, and individuals, drawing attention to the limits of modern technology and the extent of social inequity. Such challenges have directed attention to historical epidemics as repositories of data that could contribute to effective public health strategies and prognostic modeling. In light of the well-established correlation between frailty and mortality from COVID-19, this paper investigates the relationship between frailty, inequity, and mortality in the setting of the Black Death of 1346 – 1353, in order to identify trends over time in populations at the greatest risk of mortality during pandemics.

Methods: A comparative review …

177Lu-Labeled Eu-Doped Mesoporous Sio2Nanoparticles As A Theranostic Radiopharmaceutical For Colorectal Cancer, Rodrigo Da Silva Viana, Luciana Amaral De Mescana Costa, Ashlyn C. Harmon, Manoel Adrião Gomes Filho, Eduardo H.L. Falcão, Maria G.H. Vicente, Severino A. Junior, J. Michael Mathis

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. Colorectal cancer is one of the most significant types of cancer, ranking second in the world's mortality cases. As colorectal cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage of disease progression, effective treatments are necessary. Therefore, radiotherapy has become a fundamental approach in the treatment of colorectal cancer, especially those based on the use of 177Lu. A potential approach to meet this challenge is the use of nanotechnology through the development of radionuclide-based nanomaterials. In this work, we investigated a SiO2-derived class of nanomaterials formed by the insertion of the coordination complex, based on …

Low Aflatoxin Levels In Aspergillus Flavus-Resistant Maize Are Correlated With Increased Corn Earworm Damage And Enhanced Seed Fumonisin, Subbaiah Chalivendra, Fangneng Huang, Mark Busman, W. Paul Williams, Jong Hyun Ham

Faculty Publications

Preharvest mycotoxin contamination of field-grown crops is influenced not only by the host genotype, but also by inoculum load, insect pressure and their confounding interactions with seasonal weather. In two different field trials, we observed a preference in the natural infestation of corn earworm (CEW; Helicoverpa zea Boddie) to specific maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes and investigated this observation. The field trials involved four maize lines with contrasting levels of resistance to Aspergillus flavus. The resistant lines had 7 to 14-fold greater infested ears than the susceptible lines. Seed aflatoxin B1 (AF) levels, in mock- and A. flavus-inoculated ears were …

Targeted Engagement Of The Action Selection Network During Task-Oriented Arm Training After Stroke, Jill Campbell Stewart Pt,Phd, Kaci Handlery, Jessica F. Baird, Erika L. Blanck, Geetanjali Pathak, Stacy L. Fritz

Faculty Publications

Action selection (AS), or selection of an action from a set of alternatives, is an important movement preparation process that engages a frontal-parietal network. The addition of AS demands to arm training after stroke could be used to engage this motor planning process and the neural network that supports it. The purpose of this case series is to describe the feasibility and outcomes associated with task-oriented arm training aimed at engaging the AS behavioral process and the related neural network in three individuals with chronic stroke. Three participants with mild to moderate motor deficits completed 13 to 15 sessions of …

No Mow May Lawns Have Higher Pollinator Richness And Abundances: An Engaged Community Provides Floral Resources For Pollinators, Relena R. Ribbons, Israel Del Toro

Faculty Publications

No Mow May is a community science initiative popularized in recent years that encourages property owners to limit their lawn mowing practices during the month of May. The goal of No Mow May is to provide early season foraging resources for pollinators that emerge in the spring, especially in urban landscapes when few floral resources are available. We worked with the city council of Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. to allow No Mow May to take place in May 2020. Four hundred and thirty-five property owners registered for No Mow May in Appleton. We measured floral and bee richness and abundance in …