Digital Commons Network^™

Village Elections And The Rise Of Capitalist Entrepreneurs, Yusheng Yao

Faculty Publications

This study examines a series of four direct elections and their impact in an industrialized Chinese northern village. It finds that direct elections empowered villagers and the new economic elite to remove the old, entrenched and corrupt leadership. However, the few capitalist entrepreneurs who dominated elections and the new leadership neither abided by the rules for political competition nor tried to govern democratically. On the other hand, villagers did not feel empowered to participate in the governing process or to make officials accountable. They either became politically apathetic or hoped for a return of a benevolent authoritarian leader. This study …

Three Routes To Modulate The Pore Size Of The Mscl Channel/Nanovalve, Li Min Yang, Robin Wray, Juandell Parker, Danyell Wilson, Randolph S. Duran, Paul Blount

Faculty Publications

MscL is a bacterial mechanosensitive channel that protects cells from lysis upon acute decrease in external osmotic environment. It is one of the best characterized mechanosensors known, thus serving as a paradigm of how such molecules sense and respond to stimuli. In addition, the fact that it can be genetically modified, expressed, isolated, and manipulated has led to its proposed use as a triggered nanovalve for various functions including sensors within microelectronic array chips, as well as vesicular-based targeted drug release. X-ray crystallography reveals a homopentameric complex with each subunit containing two transmembrane α-helices (TM1 and TM2) and a single …

Particle Transport Over Rough Hillslope Surfaces By Dry Ravel: Experiments And Simulations With Implications For Nonlocal Sediment Flux, Emmanuel Gabet, Morgan Mendoza

Faculty Publications

Past studies of hillslope evolution have typically assumed that soil creep processes are governed by a linear relationship between local hillslope angle and transport distance. The assumption of “linear diffusion” has fallen out of favor because, when coupled with an expression of mass continuity, it yields unrealistic hillslope profiles. As a consequence, a better understanding of the mechanics of sediment transport is needed. Here we report results from a series of flume experiments performed to investigate sediment transport by dry ravel, a common soil creep process in arid and semiarid environments. We find that, at gentle slopes, transport distances follow …

Inactivation Of Androgen-Induced Regulator Ard1 Inhibits Androgen Receptor Acetylation And Prostate Tumorigenesis, Zehua Wang, Zemin Wang, Jianhui Guo, Yingchun Li, Jasmin H. Bavarva, Chiping Qian, M. Christiane Brahimi-Horn, Deyong Tan, Wanguo Liu

Faculty Publications

Androgen signaling through androgen receptor (AR) is critical for prostate tumorigenesis. Given that AR-mediated gene regulation is enhanced by AR coregulators, inactivation of those coregulators is emerging as a promising therapy for prostate cancer (PCa). Here, weshowthat the N-acetyltransferase arrest-defect 1 protein (ARD1) functions as a unique AR regulator in PCa cells. ARD1 is up-regulated in human PCa cell lines and primary tumor biopsies. The expression of ARD1 was augmented by treatment with synthetic androgen (R1881) unless AR is deficient or is inhibited by AR-specific siRNA or androgen inhibitor bicalutamide (Casodex). Depletion of ARD1 by shRNA suppressed PCa cell proliferation, …

Of Frightened Horses And Autonomous Vehicles: Tort Law And Its Assimilation Of Innovations, Kyle Graham

Faculty Publications

This symposium contribution considers five recurring themes in the application of tort law to new technologies. First, the initial batch of cases presented to courts may be atypical of later lawsuits that implicate the innovation, yet relate rules with surprising persistence. Second, these cases may be identified, and resolved, by reference to analogies that rely on similarities in form, and which do not wear well over time. Third, it may be difficult to isolate the unreasonable risks generated by an innovation from the benefits it is perceived to offer. Fourth, potential claims by early adopters of the technology may be …

An Agenda Of Praxis For Young Adult Librarianship, Anthony Bernier

Faculty Publications

All research seeks to impact the world. Library and Information Science (LIS) desires it no less than the “hard” sciences. So I am gratified to see JRYLA promoting young adult (YA) research, and appreciate YALSA Research Committee’s efforts in articulating a list of research needs. The new National Research Agenda represents a welcome, if qualified, addition to YALSA’s portfolio of service.

Search For The Rare Radiative Decay W→Πγ In Pp̄ Collisions At √S=1.96tev, T. Aaltonen, B. Alvarez González, S. Amerio, D. Amidei, A. Anastassov, A. Annovi, J. Antos, G. Apollinari, J. A. Appel, A. Apresyan, T. Arisawa, A. Artikov, J. Asaadi, W. Ashmanskas, B. Auerbach, A. Aurisano, F. Azfar, W. Badgett, A. Barbaro-Galtieri, V. E. Barnes, B. A. Barnett, P. Barria, P. Bartos, M. Bauce, G. Bauer, F. Bedeschi, D. Beecher, S. Behari

Faculty Publications

We present a search for the rare radiative decay W ±→ π ±γ using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.3fb -1 of proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF experiment at Fermilab. As no statistically significant signal is observed, we set a 95%-confidence-level upper limit on the relative branching fraction Γ(W ±→π ±γ)/Γ(W ±→e ±ν) at 6.4×10 -5, a factor of 10 improvement over the previous limit. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Ethylene's Role In Phosphate Starvation Signaling: More Than Just A Root Growth Regulator, Vinay K. Nagarajan, Aaron P. Smith

Faculty Publications

Phosphate (Pi) is a common limiter of plant growth due to its low availability in most soils. Plants have evolved elaborate mechanisms for sensing Pi deficiency and for initiating adaptive responses to low Pi conditions. Pi signaling pathways are modulated by both local and long-distance, or systemic, sensing mechanisms. Local sensing of low Pi initiates major root developmental changes aimed at enhancing Pi acquisition, whereas systemic sensing governs pathways that modulate expression of numerous genes encoding factors involved in Pi transport and distribution. The gaseous phytohormone ethylene has been shown to play an integral role in regulating local, root developmental …

The Impact Of A 3-Year After-School Obesity Prevention Program In Elementary School Children, Zenong Yin, Justin B. Moore, Maribeth H. Johnson, Marlo M. Vernon, Bernard Gutin

Faculty Publications

Background: Children tend to be sedentary during the after-school hours, and this has deleterious effects on their health. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of a 3-year after-school physical activity (PA) program, without restriction of dietary energy intake, on percent body fat (%BF), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and cardiometabolic markers in children.

Methods: A cluster randomization design was employed. A total of 574 3^rd grade children from 18 elementary schools in the south-eastern United States participated. The intervention consisted of 80 minutes of age-appropriate moderate-to-vigorous PA each school day. The main outcomes of interest were …

Addressing The Clumsiness Loophole In A Leggett-Garg Test Of Macrorealism, Mark M. Wilde, Ari Mizel

Faculty Publications

The rise of quantum information theory has lent new relevance to experimental tests for non-classicality, particularly in controversial cases such as adiabatic quantum computing superconducting circuits. The Leggett-Garg inequality is a "Bell inequality in time" designed to indicate whether a single quantum system behaves in a macrorealistic fashion. Unfortunately, a violation of the inequality can only show that the system is either (i) non-macrorealistic or (ii) macrorealistic but subjected to a measurement technique that happens to disturb the system. The "clumsiness" loophole (ii) provides reliable refuge for the stubborn macrorealist, who can invoke it to brand recent experimental and theoretical …

Differences In Folate-Protein Interactions Result In Differing Inhibition Of Native Rat Liver And Recombinant Glycine N-Methyltransferase By 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate, Zigmund Luka, Svetlana Pakhomova, Lioudmila V. Loukachevitch, Marcia E. Newcomer, Conrad Wagner

Faculty Publications

Glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) is a key regulatory enzyme in methyl group metabolism. In mammalian liver it reduces S-adenosylmethionine levels by using it to methylate glycine, producing N-methylglycine (sarcosine) and S-adenosylhomocysteine. GNMT is inhibited by binding two molecules of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (mono- or polyglutamate forms) per tetramer of the active enzyme. Inhibition is sensitive to the status of the N-terminal valine of GNMT and to polyglutamation of the folate inhibitor. It is inhibited by pentaglutamate form more efficiently compared to monoglutamate form. The native rat liver GNMT contains an acetylated N-terminal valine and is inhibited much more efficiently compared to the recombinant …

Synthesis, Characterisation, And Preliminary In Vitro Studies Of Vanadium(Iv) Complexes With A Schiff Base And Thiosemicarbazones As Mixed Ligands, Nerissa A. Lewis, Fange Liu, Luke Seymour, Anthony Magnusen, Travis R. Erves, Jessa Faye Arca, Floyd A. Beckford, Ramaiyer Venkatraman, Antonio González-Sarrías, Frank R. Fronczek, Don G. Vanderveer, Navindra P. Seeram, Aimin Liu, William L. Jarrett, Alvin A. Holder

Faculty Publications

[VO(sal‐L‐tryp)(H₂O)] (1, sal‐L‐tryp = N‐salicylidene‐L‐tryptophanate) was used as a precursor to produce the new complexes [VO(sal‐L‐tryp)(MeATSC)]·1.5C₂H₅OH [2, MeATSC = 9‐Anthraldehyde‐N(4)‐methylthiosemicarbazone], [VO(sal‐L‐tryp)(N‐ethhymethohcarbthio)]·H₂O [3, N‐ethhymethohcarbthio = (E)‐N‐ethyl‐2‐(4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxybenzylidene)hydrazinecarbothioamide] and [VO(sal‐L‐tryp)(acetylethTSC)]·C₂H₅OH {4, acetylethTSC = (E)‐N‐ethyl‐2‐[1‐(thiazol‐2‐yl)ethylidene]hydrazinecarbothioamide} by reaction with the respective thiosemicarbazone. The chemical and structural properties of these ligands and complexes were characterised by elemental analysis, ESI‐MS, FTIR, UV/Vis, ESR and ¹H and …

Effect Of Different Doses Of Aerobic Exercise On Total White Blood Cell (Wbc) And Wbc Subfraction Number In Postmenopausal Women: Results From Drew, Neil M. Johannsen, Damon L. Swift, William D. Johnson, Vishwa D. Dixit, Conrad P. Earnest, Steven N. Blair, Timothy S. Church

Faculty Publications

Background: Elevated total white blood cell (WBC) count is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and death. Aerobic exercise is associated with lower total WBC, neutrophil, and monocyte counts. However, no studies have evaluated the effect of the amount of aerobic exercise (dose) on total WBC and WBC subfraction counts.

Purpose: To examine the effects of 3 different doses of aerobic exercise on changes in total WBC and WBC subfraction counts and independent effects of changes in fitness, adiposity, makers of inflammation (IL-6, TNF-α, C-reactive protein), fasting glucose metabolism, and adiponectin.

Methods: Data from 390 sedentary, overweight/obese …

Human Rights, Emergencies, And The Rule Of Law, Evan J. Criddle, Evan Fox-Decent

Faculty Publications

This article illuminates the normative basis for international law’s regulation of public emergencies by arguing that human rights are best conceived as norms arising from a fiduciary relationship between states (or state-like actors) and persons subject to their power. States bear a fiduciary duty to guarantee subjects’ secure and equal freedom, a duty that flows from their institutional assumption of sovereign powers. The fiduciary theory disarms Carl Schmitt’s critique of constitutionalism by explaining how emergency powers can be reconciled with the rule of law.

The Killing Of Osama Bin Laden & Anwar Al-Aulaqi: Uncharted Legal Territory, Beth Van Schaack

Faculty Publications

The killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011 and Anwar al-Aulaqi in Yemen in September 2011 both raise the question of when the killing of an identified individual posing a threat to a nation-state is lawful. Although it has not yet been forced to publicly defend either killing in any great detail, the Obama Administration has insisted on the legality of both operations by deploying an amalgam of legal and rhetorical arguments that explicitly or implicitly invoke multiple bodies of law. Indeed, the legality of such targeted operations can be evaluated along a number of dimensions under …

Tunable Size And Spectral Properties Of Fluorescent Nanogumbos In Modified Sodium Deoxycholate Hydrogels, Susmita Das, Sergio L. De Rooy, Atiya N. Jordan, Lin Chandler, Ioan I. Negulescu, Bilal El-Zahab, Isiah M. Warner

Faculty Publications

Microstructures of sodium deoxycholate hydrogels were altered considerably in the presence of variable tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (TRIS) concentrations. These observations were confirmed by use of X-ray diffraction, polarized optical microscopy, rheology, and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. Our studies reveal enhanced gel crystallinity and rigidity with increasing TRIS concentrations. The tunable hydrogel microstructures obtained under various conditions have been successfully utilized as templates to synthesize cyanine-based fluorescent nanoGUMBOS (nanoparticles from a group of uniform materials based on organic salts). A systematic variation in size (70-200 nm), with relatively low polydispersity and tunable spectral properties of [HMT][AOT] nanoGUMBOS, was achieved by use of these …

Leading With Llama: Emerging Leaders 2011, Deana Greenfield, Melissa Brisbin, Melissa Cardenas-Dow, Janine Golden, Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada, Tinamarie Vella

Faculty Publications

This article details the work of the American Library Association's Library Leadership and Management Association 2011 Emerging Leader project

Business Practices And Procedures Regarding Smartphone Security, S. Ann Wilson, Michael York, Courtney Short

Faculty Publications

Smartphones are having a transformational effect on the way that users access, use, and store information. Smartphones have essentially blurred the line of what is considered a phone, becoming the pinnacle multi-tasking devices of today’s world. Current smartphones have their own dedicated operating system, Bluetooth capabilities, GPS, WiFi, constant network connection, PC connectivity, and are internet enabled, leading them to have similar security risks as that of a computer. Businesses are now worrying about the information employees are storing on these devices and want to find new ways to protect it (Schiller, 2011). Smartphone capabilities used for business application will …

Comparing Methods For Detecting Child Exploitation Content Online, Bryce Westlake, Martin Bouchard, Richard Frank

Faculty Publications

The sexual exploitation of children online is seen as a global issue and has been addressed by both governments and private organizations. Efforts thus far have focused primarily on the use of image hash value databases to find content. However, recently researchers have begun to use keywords as a way to detect child exploitation content. Within the current study we explore both of these methodologies. Using a custom designed web-crawler, we create three networks using the hash value method, keywords method, and a hybrid method combining the first two. Results first show that the three million images found in our …

Advertising Budget And Sales Paths Under The Dynamics Of The Student Work Control Problem And Regularity Requirements, Aharon Hibshoosh

Faculty Publications

Consider a firm promoting a product in a fast expanding industry by using advertising as its single promotional tool. The firm's objective is to minimize the overall cost of advertising necessary for reaching certain target sales of the product by the end of a given planning period. We adopt the Student Work Control problem (SWC) framework for modeling this marketing context, in general, and the advertising-sales response function, in particular. We compare the SWC's optimal control budgeting principle with the solutions of equally effective, alternative advertising budgeting principles, which require strong regularity conditions on the path of either the advertising …

A New Destination For “The Flying Bus”? The Implications Of Orlando-Rican Migration For Luis Rafael Sánchez’S “La Guagua Aérea”, Gabriel Ignacio Barreneche, Jane Lombardi, Héctor Ramos-Flores

Faculty Publications

Puerto Rican author Luis Rafael Sánchez’s “La guagua aérea” explores the duality, hybridity, and fluidity of US-Puerto Rican identity through the frequent travel of migrants between New York City (the traditional destination city for Puerto Rican migrants) and the island. In recent years, however, the “flying bus” has adopted a new number one destination: Central Florida. The Orlando metropolitan area has surpassed New York as the primary locus of Puerto Rican migration on the US mainland. Given that migrants on the “flying bus” have a new primary destination and now tend to remain settled in Central Florida versus returning to …

A Study Of Visual Puffery In Fragrance Advertising: Is The Message Sent Stronger Than The Actual Scent?, Mark Toncar, Marc Fetscherin

Faculty Publications

Purpose - This paper investigates visual exaggerations of fragrance advertisements by comparing subjects’ expectations resulting from print ads to their subsequent product evaluations. It then considers whether the actual scents fall short, meet or exceed these expectations.

Design/methodology/approach - By means of a semiotic analysis we capture the corresponding literary attributes of the ads to develop adjective pairs describing the meaning of the ads. Interviews are conducted to assess the meaning that consumers draw from the fragrance ads and we supplement these findings by performing a blind olfactory product evaluation of the fragrances. Paired sample t-tests are used to compare …

Digital Reading, Ziming Liu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Is It Time For Wider Acceptance Of E-Textbooks? An Examination Of Student Reactions To E-Textbooks, Ziming Liu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Design Optimization Of Transistors Used For Neural Recording, E J. Basham, David W. Parent

Faculty Publications

Neurons cultured directly over open-gate field-effect transistors result in a hybrid device, the neuron-FET. Neuron-FET amplifier circuits reported in the literature employ the neuron-FET transducer as a current-mode device in conjunction with a transimpedance amplifier. In this configuration, the transducer does not provide any signal gain, and characterization of the transducer out of the amplification circuit is required. Furthermore, the circuit requires a complex biasing scheme that must be retuned to compensate for drift. Here we present an alternative strategy based on the design approach to optimize a single-stage common-source amplifier design. The design approach facilitates in circuit characterization of …

Identification Of Influential Social Networkers, Magdalini Eirinaki, S. P. Singh Monga, S. Sundaram

Faculty Publications

Online social networking is deeply interleaved in today's lifestyle. People come together and build communities to share thoughts, offer suggestions, exchange information, ideas, and opinions. Moreover, social networks often serve as platforms for information dissemination and product placement or promotion through viral marketing. The success rate in this type of marketing could be increased by targeting specific individuals, called 'influential users', having the largest possible reach within an online community. In this paper, we present a method aiming at identifying the influential users within an online social networking application. We introduce ProfileRank, a metric that uses popularity and activity characteristics …

Exploratory Study On Explanations And Theories Of How Telecentres And Other Community-Based E-Inclusion Actors Operate And Have An Impact On Digital And Social Inclusion Policy Goals, M. Garrido, A. Sey, Tabitha B. Hart, L. Santana

Faculty Publications

This report includes the results of the research project ‘Exploratory study on explanations and theories of how Telecentres and other community-based e-Inclusion actors operate and have an impact on digital and social inclusion policy goals’. This study was commissioned by IPTS to feed into a forthcoming 2-year research project: Measuring the impact of eInclusion actors on Digital Literacy, Skills and Inclusion goals (MIREIA). The literature review presented in this report was designed to capture the theories and explanations represented in the existing body of research in order to: provide a comprehensive and multidisciplinary landscape on theories and analytical frameworks; analyze …

Marked Woman (1937) And The Dialectics Of Art Deco In The Classical Gangster Genre, Drew Todd

Faculty Publications

In this article, I analyse the function of Art Deco designs in the 1930s gangster genre and, in particular, Warner Brothers' Marked Woman (Bacon, 1937). Like many gangster films of the period, it associates high-style Art Deco with excess and the criminal underworld. My findings, however, reveal a tension between the film's moralist stance and its visual excess. Compelling visual signifiers of leisure, style and social mobility, the modern designs are free to circumvent the film's critical message and reinforce American capitalist ideologies. My analyses underscore Art Deco as an emblematic style of commercial modernity. Marked Woman and other gangster …

A Comparative Study Of Prospective Natural Gas For Vehicle (Ngv) Buyers' Behavior Intention In Thailand, Howard W. Combs, N. Likitsuwannakool, S. Chaipoopirutana

Faculty Publications

This study examines the prospects of how Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) could gain more popularity, and more consumers, throughout Thailand. A survey of 500 potential consumers, comprising l00 respondents in each of the five separate regions, identified relevant geographic locations, demographic factors and their impact on behavior intention. The results of the study suggest that consumer’s behavioral intentions toward NGV are affected by factors pertaining to social influences and NGV attributes. Each group contains several sub-variables and is used in verifying its individual impact on consumer’s behavioral intention, while the differences in vehicle factors did not strongly affect the behavior …

Kenya Vs. The Icc Prosecutor, Charles Chernor Jalloh

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.