Digital Commons Network^™

Causes And Characteristics Of Electrical Resistivity Variability In Shallow (<4 M) Soils In Taylor Valley, East Antarctica, W. S. Gutterman, P. T. Doran, R. A. Virginia, J. E. Barrett, K. F. Myers, S. M. Tulaczyk, N. T. Foley, J. A. Mikucki, H. A. Dugan, D. J. Grombacher, T. S. Bording, E. Auken

Faculty Publications

Airborne electromagnetic surveys collected in December 2011 and November 2018 and three soil sampling transects were used to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of shallow (< 4 m) soil properties in lower Taylor Valley (TV), East Antarctica. Soil resistivities from 2011 to 2018 ranged from ∼33 Ωm to ∼3,500 Ωm with 200 Ωm assigned as an upper boundary for brine-saturated sediments. Elevations below ∼50 m above sea level (masl) typically exhibit the lowest resistivities with resistivity increasing at high elevations on steeper slopes. Soil water content was empirically estimated from electrical resistivities using Archie's Law and range from ∼< 1% to ∼68% by volume. An increase in silt- and clay-sized particles at low elevations increases soil porosity but decreases hydraulic conductivity, promoting greater residence times of soil water at low elevations near Lake Fryxell. Soil resistivity variability between 2011 and 2018 shows soils at different stages of soil freeze-thaw cycles, which are caused predominantly by solar warming of soils as opposed to air temperature. This study furthers the understanding of the hydrogeologic structure of the shallow subsurface in TV and identifies locations of soils that are potentially prone to greater rates of thaw and resulting ecosystem homogenization of soil properties from projected increases in hydrological connectivity across the region over the coming decades.

Envirome-Wide Associations Enhance Multi-Year Genome-Based Prediction Of Historical Wheat Breeding Data, Germano Costa-Neto, Leonardo Crespo-Herrera, Nick Fradgley, Keith Gardner, Alison R. Bentley, Susanne Dreisigacker, Roberto Fritsche-Neto, Osval A. Montesinos-López, Jose Crossa

Faculty Publications

Linking high-throughput environmental data (enviromics) to genomic prediction (GP) is a cost-effective strategy for increasing selection intensity under genotype-by-environment interactions (G × E). This study developed a data-driven approach based on Environment–Phenotype Association (EPA) aimed at recycling important G × E information from historical breeding data. EPA was developed in two applications: (1) scanning a secondary source of genetic variation, weighted from the shared reaction-norms of past-evaluated genotypes and (2) pinpointing weights of the similarity among trial-sites (locations), given the historical impact of each envirotyping data variable for a given site. These results were then used as a dimensionality reduction …

Discovery Of Novel Bioactive Tanshinones And Carnosol Analogues Against Breast Cancer, Miguel A. González-Cardenete, Natalia González-Zapata, Lucinda Boyd, Fatima Rivas

Faculty Publications

The abietane diterpenoids ferruginol (1), tanshinone IIA (3), and carnosol (4) are well-known for their interesting pharmacological properties, including antitumor, similar to other natural and semisynthetic abietanes. In this study, a pair of semisynthetic C18-functionalized analogues of 3 and 4 were prepared from the commercially available (+)-dehydroabietylamine or readily obtained methyl dehydroabietate. Semisynthetic ferruginol (1) and some selected analogues, together with the synthesized analogues, were tested in vitro for the inhibition of proliferation in four breast cancer cell lines, SUM149, MDA-MB231, T47D, and MCF07. As a result, several tested abietane analogues decreased cell proliferation and enhanced cell death, with IC50 …

Inactivation Of The Ul37 Deamidase Enhances Virus Replication And Spread Of The Hsv-1(Vc2) Oncolytic Vaccine Strain And Secretion Of Gm-Csf, Carolyn M. Clark, Nithya Jambunathan, Therese M.A. Collantes, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

The HSV-1 (VC2) live-attenuated vaccine strain was engineered with specific deletions in the amino termini of glycoprotein K (gK) and membrane protein UL20, rendering the virus unable to enter neurons and establish latency. VC2 replicates efficiently in epithelial cell culture but produces lower viral titers and smaller viral plaques than its parental HSV-1 (F) wild-type virus. VC2 is an effective live-attenuated vaccine against HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections in mice and guinea pigs and an anti-tumor immunotherapeutic and oncolytic virus against melanoma and breast cancer in mouse models. Previously, we reported that the gK/UL20 complex interacts with the UL37 tegument protein, …

Soil Organic Matter Diagenetic State Informs Boreal Forest Ecosystem Feedbacks To Climate Change, Allison N. Myers-Pigg, Karl Kaiser, Ronald Benner, Susan E. Ziegler

Faculty Publications

The fate of soil organic carbon (SOC) in boreal forests is dependent on the integrative ecosystem response to climate change. For example, boreal forest productivity is often nitrogen (N) limited, and climate warming can enhance N cycling and primary productivity. However, the net effect of this feedback on the SOC reservoir and its longevity with climate change remain unclear due to difficulty in detecting small differences between large and variable carbon (C) fluxes needed to determine net changes in soil reservoirs. The diagenetic state of SOC – resulting from the physicochemical and biological transformations that alter the original biomolecular composition …

A Simple Micromilled Microfluidic Impedance Cytometer With Vertical Parallel Electrodes For Cell Viability Analysis, Jason Eades, Julianne F. Audiffred, Micah Fincher, Jin Woo Choi, Steven A. Soper, William Todd Monroe

Faculty Publications

Microfluidic impedance cytometry has been demonstrated as an effective platform for single cell analysis, taking advantage of microfabricated features and dielectric cell sensing methods. In this study, we present a simple microfluidic device to improve the sensitivity, accuracy, and throughput of single suspension cell viability analysis using vertical sidewall electrodes fabricated by a widely accessible negative manufacturing method. A microchannel milled through a 75 µm platinum wire, which was embedded into poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA), created a pair of parallel vertical sidewall platinum electrodes. Jurkat cells were interrogated in a custom low-conductivity buffer (1.2 ± 0.04 mS/cm) to reduce current leakage and …

Is A Genetic Diathesis For Poor Nutrition Becoming More Crucial Due To The Uniformity Of Covid Social Stress?, M. Catherine Desoto

Faculty Publications

The important role of nutrition in proper neural functioning and mental health has seen wider acceptance, but is still sadly under recognized given the existent body of research. This Special Issue was designed to unite authoritative information on this topic in one volume. This editorial provides an overview of the issue, and suggests that the combination of social isolation, lack of exercise, and remaining indoors that overtook industrialized societies during 2020 are specific factors expected to change the Gene × Environment interactions for anxiety and depression. Importantly, the recent environmental changes may make biological diatheses for nutritional deficiencies even more …

Steering Particles Via Micro-Actuation Of Chemical Gradients Using Model Predictive Control, Mark N. Mcdonald, Cameron K. Peterson, Douglas R. Tree

Faculty Publications

Biological systems rely on chemical gradients to direct motion through both chemotaxis and signaling, but synthetic approaches for doing the same are still relatively naïve. Consequently, we present a novel method for using chemical gradients to manipulate the position and velocity of colloidal particles in a microfluidic device. Specifically, we show that a set of spatially localized chemical reactions that are sufficiently controllable can be used to steer colloidal particles via diffusiophoresis along an arbitrary trajectory. To accomplish this, we develop a control method for steering colloidal particles with chemical gradients using nonlinear model predictive control with a model based …

Design And Characterization Of An Aerosol Test Chamber For Emergency Response Patient Contamination Control Simulation And Research, Megan L. Steele, Emily M. Spatz, George P. Lemmer, Jacob M. Denney, Casey Cooper, Jeremy M. Slagley, Robert M. Eninger

Faculty Publications

Contaminated or infected patients present a risk of cross-contamination for emergency responders, attending medical personnel and medical facilities as they enter a treatment facility. The controlled conditions of an aerosol test chamber are required to examine factors of contamination, decontamination, and cross-contamination. This study presents the design, construction, and a method for characterizing an aerosol test chamber for a full-sized manikin on a standard North Atlantic Treaty Organization litter. The methodology combined air velocity measurements, aerosol particle counts and size distributions, and computational fluid dynamics modeling to describe the chamber’s performance in three dimensions. This detailed characterization facilitates future experimental …

Origami-Based Design Of Conceal-And-Reveal Systems, Bryce P. Defigueiredo, Kyler A. Tolman, Spencer P. Magleby, Nathan A. Pehrson, Erica Crampton, Larry L. Howell

Faculty Publications

This work introduces a type of motion termed “conceal-and-reveal” which is characterized by a state that protects a payload, a state that exposes the payload, and coupled motions between these two states. As techniques for thick, rigid origami-based engineering designs are being developed, origami is becoming increasingly more

attractive as inspiration for complex systems. This paper proposes a process for designing origami-based conceal- and-reveal systems, which can be generalized to design similar thick, rigid origami-based systems. The process

is demonstrated through the development of three conceal-and-reveal systems that present a luxury product to the consumer. The three designs also confirm …

Editorial: Emerging Research Organisms In Regenerative Biology, Stefano Tiozzo, Igor Schneider

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Soil Microbial Legacies Influence Freeze–Thaw Responses Of Soil, Melissa A. Pastore, Aimee T. Classen, Marie E. English, Serita D. Frey, Melissa A. Knorr, Karin Rand, E. Carol Adair

Faculty Publications

Warmer winters with less snowfall are increasing the frequency of soil freeze–thaw cycles across temperate regions. Soil microbial responses to freeze–thaw cycles vary and some of this variation may be explained by microbial conditioning to prior winter conditions, yet such linkages remain largely unexplored. We investigated how differences in temperature history influenced microbial community composition and activity in response to freeze–thaw cycles.

We collected soil microbial communities that developed under colder (high elevation) and warmer (low elevation) temperature regimes in spruce-fir forests, then added each of these soil microbial communities to a sterile bulk-soil in a laboratory microcosm experiment. The …

Accomplishments And Challenges Of The Research On Antillean Manatee: A Bibliometric Analysis, Delma Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez, Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske, Leslie Cabrias, Natalia Garcés-Cuartas, Gloria Katerin Arévalo-González, João Carlos Gomes Borges, Miriam Marmontel

Faculty Publications

The Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) is an endangered subspecies of the West Indian manatee inhabiting countries of South America, Meso America and the Caribbean. Basic and applied research is necessary to inform management plans for the effective recovery of this subspecies. The purpose of this study was to systematically review literature regarding Antillean manatees, without restriction of the research topic. Article selection and screening process are described. Our final database consisted of 456 publications, of which peer-reviewed literature (articles, reviews, and notes in research journals) represent the most important type (63.4%), followed by BSc, MSc, and PhD theses (28.1%). …

Seeing In The Dark: A Review Of The Use Of Side-Scan Sonar To Detect And Study Manatees, With An Emphasis On Latin America, Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske, León David Olivera-Gómez

Faculty Publications

Manatees are aquatic mammals that live in a variety of environments. Many of those shallow water environments have murky water, making detection using traditional visual surveys very challenging. Side-scan sonar was first proposed as a tool to detect and study manatees in these complicated habitats in 2005. Here, we summarize the use of this tool from 2005 to 2022 by searching the available literature. Our literature search revealed that this tool is being widely used in more than 20 locations and over 15 countries. All three manatee species are being studied with side-scan sonar. It is most useful in murky …

Ancient Pathogens Provide A Window Into Health And Well-Being, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Mercy Y. Akinyi, Sharon Dewitte, Anne C. Stone

Faculty Publications

This perspective draws on the record of ancient pathogen genomes and microbiomes illuminating patterns of infectious disease over the course of the Holocene in order to address the following question. How did major changes in living circumstances involving the transition to and intensification of farming alter pathogens and their distributions? Answers to this question via ancient DNA research provide a rapidly expanding picture of pathogen evolution and in concert with archaeological and historical data, give a temporal and behavioral context for heath in the past that is relevant for challenges facing the world today, including the rise of novel pathogens.

Microplastics In Mainstem Mississippi River Fishes, Ahmed K. Gad, Kerrin Toner, Mark C. Benfield, Stephen R. Midway

Faculty Publications

Microplastics are ubiquitous in Earth’s ecosystems and many efforts have begun to understand their distributions. Large rivers, like the Mississippi River, provide a unique system in which to look at large-scale patterns of microplastic distribution. In this study, we sampled four species of widely-distributed fishes from five sites along the mainstem Mississippi River, from Minnesota to Louisiana, United States. Microplastics were found in all fish species and at all sites; however, microplastics increased in occurrence in the Lower Mississippi River. Fragments were the most common morphologies and polypropylene was the most common polymer detected. We also examined the hypothesis that …

Editorial: Abiotic Stress: Molecular Genetics And Genomics, Volume Ii, Rohini Garg, Prasanta K. Subudhi, Rajeev K. Varshney, Mukesh Jain

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Dual Targeting Of Mtor/Il-17a And Autophagy By Fisetin Alleviates Psoriasis-Like Skin Inflammation, Tithi Roy, Sergette Banang-Mbeumi, Samuel T. Boateng, Emmanuelle M. Ruiz, Roxane Cherille N. Chamcheu, Lin Kang, Judy A. King, Anthony L. Walker, Bolni Marius Nagalo, Konstantin G. Kousoulas, Stephane Esnault, Shile Huang, Jean Christopher Chamcheu

Faculty Publications

Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory skin disorder characterized by epidermal hyperplasia and aberrant immune response. In addition to aberrant cytokine production, psoriasis is associated with activation of the Akt/mTOR pathway. mTOR/S6K1 regulates T-lymphocyte activation and migration, keratinocytes proliferation and is upregulated in psoriatic lesions. Several drugs that target Th1/Th17 cytokines or their receptors have been approved for treating psoriasis in humans with variable results necessitating improved therapies. Fisetin, a natural dietary polyphenol with anti-oxidant and anti-proliferative properties, covalently binds mTOR/S6K1. The effects of fisetin on psoriasis and its underlying mechanisms have not been clearly defined. Here, we evaluated the …

Antibody-Dependent Enhancement Activity Of A Plant-Made Vaccine Against West Nile Virus, Haiyan Sun, Dhiraj Acharya, Amber M. Paul, Huafang Lai, Junyun He, Fengwei Bai, Qiang Chen

Faculty Publications

West Nile virus (WNV) causes annual outbreaks globally and is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in Unite States. In the absence of licensed therapeutics, there is an urgent need to develop effective and safe human vaccines against WNV. One of the major safety concerns for WNV vaccine development is the risk of increasing infection by related flaviviruses in vaccinated subjects via antibody-dependent enhancement of infection (ADE). Herein, we report the development of a plant-based vaccine candidate that provides protective immunity against a lethal WNV challenge mice, while minimizes the risk of ADE for infection by Zika (ZIKV) and dengue …

Externalities,Scarcity And Abundance, Brett M. Frischmann, Giovanni B. Ramello

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Do externalities work and matter differently in a world of scarcity vs. a world of abundance? In this article, we critically examine the economic phenomena of externalities. The concept of externality, an important idea in economics and law, is useful in exploring the complex and dynamic relationships between resource supply and human flourishing within various sociotechnical systems.

Methods: First, we define the basic concept and explain why it is fundamental to economic analysis of complex social environments Second, we briefly survey the intellectual history of externalities with the goal of tying together a few different strands of economic theory …

Sexual Dimorphism In Corallite Size And Modularity Of A Broadcast Spawning Coral, Porites Lobata, Ricardo M. Pedraza-Pohlenz, Eduardo F. Balart, J. J.Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica, Alma Paola Rodríguez-Troncoso, Michael E. Hellberg, Orión Norzagaray-López, Rafael A. Cabral-Tena, Amílcar Leví Cupul-Magaña, David A. Paz-García

Faculty Publications

Differences in selective pressures and the energetic cost of gametes in gonochoristic corals should vary with the sex of the colony, which may lead to sexual dimorphism. Coral colonies are composed of subunits (corallites) that create a complex morphological architecture. If corallite features are distinct between sexes, then the degree of coordinated change among these subunits may also vary (phenotypic modularity). This study tested for sexual dimorphism in the corallites of the reef-building coral Porites lobata, a gonochoric broadcast spawner, and compared this with previously demonstrated sexual dimorphism in its congener P. panamensis, a gonochoric brooder. Corallite area in P. …

Framing Esports’ Jedi Issues: A Case Study In Media Irresponsibility, David Painter, Brittani Sahm

Faculty Publications

Purpose: This investigation analyzes Asian, European, and North American coverage of esports’ justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) issues as a case study of media organizations’ communications on these topics.

Design/methodology/approach: This quantitative content analysis describes coverage of esports’ race, gender, age, and social class issues to draw inferences about media organizations’ abilities to meet their social responsibilities when reporting on organizational JEDI issues.

Findings: There were significant differences across continents; however, most stories only mentioned gender and age, seldom noting esports’ race or social class issues.

Research limitations/implications: Although all stories analyzed were published in English, the findings extend …

Flood Risk Assessment For Residences At The Neighborhood Scale By Owner/Occupant Type And First-Floor Height, Ayat Al Assi, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Carol J. Friedland, Md Adilur Rahim, Robert V. Rohli

Faculty Publications

Evaluating flood risk is an essential component of understanding and increasing community resilience. A robust approach for quantifying flood risk in terms of average annual loss (AAL) in dollars across multiple homes is needed to provide valuable information for stakeholder decision-making. This research develops a computational framework to evaluate AAL at the neighborhood level by owner/occupant type (i.e., homeowner, landlord, and tenant) for increasing first-floor height (FFH). The AAL values were calculated here by numerically integrating loss-exceedance probability distributions to represent economic annual flood risk to the building, contents, and use. A simple case study for a census block in …

Skinks Of Oceania, New Guinea, And Eastern Wallacea: An Underexplored Biodiversity Hotspot, Alex Slavenko, Allen Allison, Christopher C. Austin, Aaron M. Bauer, Rafe M. Brown, Robert N. Fisher, Ivan Ineich, Bulisa Iova, Benjamin R. Karin, Fred Kraus, Sven Mecke, Shai Meiri, Clare Morrison, Paul M. Oliver, Mark O. Shea, Jonathan Q. Richmond, Glenn M. Shea, Oliver J.S. Tallowin, David G. Chapple

Faculty Publications

Context. Skinks comprise the dominant component of the terrestrial vertebrate fauna in Oceania, New Guinea, and Eastern Wallacea (ONGEW). However, knowledge of their diversity is incomplete, and their conservation needs are poorly understood. Aims. To explore the diversity and threat status of the skinks of ONGEW and identify knowledge gaps and conservation needs. Methods. We compiled a list of all skink species occurring in the region and their threat categories designated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We used available genetic sequences deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information's GenBank to generate a phylogeny of the region’s …

Engineering At-Home Dilution And Filtration Methods To Enable Paper-Based Colorimetric Biosensing In Human Blood With Cell-Free Protein Synthesis, Tyler J. Free, Ryan W. Tucker, Katelyn M. Simonson, Sydney A. Smith, Caleb M. Lindgren, William G. Pitt, Bradley C. Bundy

Faculty Publications

Diagnostic blood tests can guide the administration of healthcare to save and improve lives. Most clinical biosensing blood tests require a trained technician and specialized equipment to process samples and interpret results, which greatly limits test accessibility. Colorimetric paper-based diagnostics have an equipment-free readout, but raw blood obscures a colorimetric response which has motivated diverse efforts to develop blood sample processing techniques. This work uses inexpensive readily-available materials to engineer user-friendly dilution and filtration methods for blood sample collection and processing to enable a proof-of-concept colorimetric biosensor that is responsive to glutamine in 50 µL blood drop samples in less …

Using Cyanobacteria And Other Phytoplankton To Assess Trophic Conditions: A Qpcr-Based, Multi-Year Study In Twelve Large Rivers Across The United States, Chiqian Zhang, Kyle D. Mcintosh, Nathan Sienkiewicz, Erin A. Stelzer, Jennifer L. Graham, Jingrang Lu

Faculty Publications

Phytoplankton is the essential primary producer in fresh surface water ecosystems. However, excessive phytoplankton growth due to eutrophication significantly threatens ecologic, economic, and public health. Therefore, phytoplankton identification and quantification are essential to understanding the productivity and health of freshwater ecosystems, as well as the impacts of phytoplankton overgrowth (such as cyanobacterial blooms) on public health. Microscopy is the gold standard for phytoplankton assessment but is time-consuming, has low throughput, and requires rich experience in phytoplankton morphology. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is accurate and straightforward with high throughput. In addition, qPCR does not require expertise in phytoplankton morphology. Therefore, …

Speech Regulation And Tobacco Harm Reduction, Jonathan Adler, Jacob James Rich

Faculty Publications

Regulation of commercial speech is a major component of federal regulation of tobacco products. Since adoption of federal tobacco legislation, the Food and Drug Administration has asserted regulatory authority over ENDS and other vaping products as “tobacco products,” subjecting them to the same regulatory regime as traditional tobacco products even though such projects appear to pose less of a threat to public health. Such regulation, and the restriction on truthful speech in particular, may be having negative consequences for public health. Barring producers from informing consumers about the relative risks of vaping products and their potential to reduce smoking eliminates …

Dissolved Organic Carbon Dynamics And Fluxes In Mississippi-Atchafalaya Deltaic System Impacted By An Extreme Flood Event And Hurricanes: A Multi-Satellite Approach Using Sentinel-2/3 And Landsat-8/9 Data, Bingqing Liu, Eurico J. D’Sa, Francesca Messina, Melissa M. Baustian, Kanchan Maiti, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Wei Huang, Ioannis Y. Georgiou

Faculty Publications

Transport of riverine and wetland-derived dissolved organic carbon (DOC) spanning tidal wetlands, estuaries, and continental shelf waters functionally connects terrestrial and aquatic carbon reservoirs, yet the magnitude and ecological significance of this variable and its spatiotemporal linkage remains uncertain for coastal deltaic regions, such as Mississippi River Delta Plain, which includes Mississippi (MR) and Atchafalaya (AR) rivers and estuaries with vast expanses of wetlands and coastal forests. We examined DOC dynamics and fluxes in this large river-dominated wetland-estuarine system for the period between 2019 and 2021 that included an extreme river flood event in 2019, two major hurricanes (Barry in …

Floodsafehome: Evaluating Financial Benefits And Savings Of Freeboard For Improved Decision-Making In Flood Risk Mitigation, Carol J. Friedland, Yong Cheol Lee, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Jiyoung Lee, Shifat P. Mithila, Robert V. Rohli, Md Adilur Rahim, Ehab Gnan, Monica Teets Farris

Faculty Publications

Freeboard—elevation of a structure above the base flood elevation (BFE)—is a critical component in mitigating or avoiding flood losses. However, the unrevealed benefits and savings of freeboard installation have prevented communities from adopting this approach. To improve decision-making for residents, prospective residents, and other stakeholders in flood-vulnerable communities and enhance flood risk mitigation strategies, this study presents the methodology underlying a new webtool, FloodSafeHome, that estimates comprehensively the economic benefits and savings of freeboard installation for new construction of residential buildings. Specifically, the proposed evaluation framework has been designed to calculate monthly savings for individual buildings by assessing freeboard cost, …

The Impact Of Marginalization On Relations With Law Enforcement And The Criminal Justice System, Angelo Kevin Brown

Faculty Publications

This chapter provides an overview of how critical race theory (CRT) has provided an important context for the racial disparities in the criminal justice system. CRT has promoted teaching the history of the criminal justice system in the United States of America (USA) and abroad from a racial perceptive. CRT scholars emphasize race because of how race and racism have shaped and impacted our society and institutions. CRT has been used to understand issues from police violence, sentencing disparities, school-to-prison pipeline, prison abolitionism, and much more. The CRT framework is especially important when it comes to understanding the disparities and …