Digital Commons Network^™

Experimental Evidence Supportive Of The Quantum Dna Model, F. Matthew Mihelic

Faculty Publications

The DNA molecule can be modeled as a quantum logic processor in which electron spin qubits are held coherently in each nucleotide in a logically and thermodynamically reversible enantiomeric symmetry, and can be coherently conducted along the pi-stacking interactions of aromatic nucleotide bases, while simultaneously being spin-filtered via the helicity of the DNA molecule. Entangled electron pairs can be separated by that spin-filtering, held coherently at biological temperatures in the topologically insulated nucleotide quantum gates, and incorporated into separate DNA strands during DNA replication. Two separate DNA strands that share quantum entangled electrons can be mitotically divided into individual cells, …

Comparison Of Methods Used To Estimate The Global Burden Of Disease Related To Undernutrition And Suboptimal Breastfeeding, Alexander C. Mclain, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Sonja Y. Hess, Ellen G. Piwoz

Faculty Publications

The Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) is an ambitious effort to estimate the disease burden attributable to various risk factors. The results from the GBD are used around the world to monitor the UN established Sustainable Development Goals, set health policies and research strategies, among others. The GBD along with other studies, such as those from the Maternal Child Epidemiology Estimation Group and the Lancet Breastfeeding Series Group, produce estimates of the nutrition-related global burden of disease that exhibit considerable differences. These differences are difficult to reconcile due to the estimation methods, which in recent years have substantially increased …

Metrics For Assessing Overall Performance Of Inland Waterway Ports: A Bayesian Network Based Approach, Niamat Ullah Ibne Hossain, Farjana Nur, Raed Jaradat, Seyedmohsen Hosseini, Mohammad Marufuzzaman, Stephen M. Puryear, Randy K. Buchanan

Faculty Publications

Because ports are considered to be the heart of the maritime transportation system, thereby assessing port performance is necessary for a nation’s development and economic success. This study proposes a novel metric, namely, “port performance index (PPI)”, to determine the overall performance and utilization of inland waterway ports based on six criteria, port facility, port availability, port economics, port service, port connectivity, and port environment. Unlike existing literature, which mainly ranks ports based on quantitative factors, this study utilizes a Bayesian Network (BN) model that focuses on both quantitative and qualitative factors to rank a port. The …

Assessing Natural And Mechanical Dune Performance In A Post-Hurricane Environment, Jean T. Ellis, Mayra Alejandra Roman-Rivera

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to document the geomorphic evolution of a mechanical dune over approximately one year following its installation and compare it to the recovery of a natural dune following the impact of Hurricane Matthew (2016). During the study period, the dunes’ integrity was tested by wave and wind events, including king tides, and a second hurricane (Irma, 2017), at the end of the study period. Prior to the impact of the second hurricane, the volumetric increase of the mechanical and natural dune was 32% and 75%, respectively, suggesting that scraping alone is not the optimal protection …

Longitudinal Homogenization Of The Microbiome Between Both Occupants And The Built Environment In A Cohort Of United States Air Force Cadets, Anukriti Sharma, Miles Richardson, Lauren Cralle, Christopher E. Stamper, Juan P. Maestre, Kelly A. Stearns-Yoder, Teodor T. Postolache, Katherine L. Bates, Kerry A. Kinney, Lisa A. Brenner, Christopher A. Lowry, Jack A. Gilbert, Andrew J. Hoisington

Faculty Publications

The microbiome of the built environment has important implications for human health and wellbeing; however, bidirectional exchange of microbes between occupants and surfaces can be confounded by lifestyle, architecture, and external environmental exposures. Here, we present a longitudinal study of United States Air Force Academy cadets (n = 34), which have substantial homogeneity in lifestyle, diet, and age, all factors that influence the human microbiome. We characterized bacterial communities associated with (1) skin and gut samples from roommate pairs, (2) four built environment sample locations inside the pairs’ dormitory rooms, (3) four built environment sample locations within shared spaces …

Intrinsic Coating Morphology Modulates Acute Drug Transfer In Drug-Coated Balloon Therapy, Gary H. Chang, Dara A. Azar, Chimera Lyle, Vipul C. Chitalia, Tarek Shazly, Vijaya B. Kolachalama

Faculty Publications

The hallmark of drug-coated balloon (DCB) therapy for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease is that it allows for reopening of the narrowed lumen and local drug delivery without the need for a permanent indwelling metal implant such as a stent. Current DCB designs rely on transferring drugs such as paclitaxel to the arterial vessel using a variety of biocompatible excipients coated on the balloons. Inherent procedural challenges, along with limited understanding of the interactions between the coating and the artery, interactions between the coating and the balloon as well as site-specific differences, have led to DCB designs with poor …

Perspective: Challenges In Use Of Adolescent Anthropometry For Understanding The Burden Of Malnutrition, Alison Tumilowicz, Ty Beal, Lynnette M. Neufeld, Edward A. Frongillo Jr.

Faculty Publications

Improving nutritional status during adolescence is an opportunity to improve the lives of this generation and the next. Estimating the burden of malnutrition at a population level is fundamental to targeting interventions and measuring progress over time, and for adolescents, we usually depend on survey data and the 2007 WHO Growth Reference to do so. There is substantial risk of misguided conclusions regarding adolescent prevalence estimates, however, when underlying methodological limitations of the indicators and reference are not adequately considered. We use national prevalence estimates among girls and young women 10-22 y of age from the 2014 State of Food …

Prevalence And Risk Factors Of Postpartum Depression Within One Year After Birth In Urban Slums Of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Rashidul Azad, Rukhshan Fahmi, Sadichhya Shrestha, Hemraj Joshi, Mehedi Hasan, Abdullah Nurus Salam Khan, Mohiuddin Ahsanul Kabir Chowdhury, Shams El Arifeen, Sk Masum Billah

Faculty Publications

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious pubic health concern and known to have the adverse effects on mother’s perinatal wellbeing; and child’s physical and cognitive development. There were limited literatures on PPD in Bangladesh, especially in urban slum context. The aim of this study was to assess the burden and risk factors of PPD among the urban slum women. A cross-sectional study was conducted between November-December 2017 in three urban slums on 376 women within first 12 months of postpartum. A validated Bangla version of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used to measure the depression status. Respondent’s socio-economic characteristics and …

Tetrahydrocannabinol Reduces Hapten-Driven Mast Cell Accumulation And Persistent Tactile Sensitivity In Mouse Model Of Allergen-Provoked Localized Vulvodynia, Beebie Boo, Rohit Kamath, Erica Arriaga-Gomez, Jasmine Landry, Elizabeth Emanuel, Sookyong Joo, Marietta Sald Montivero, Tijana Martinov, Brian T. Fife, Devavani Chatterjea

Faculty Publications

Vulvodynia is a remarkably prevalent chronic pain condition of unknown etiology. An increase in numbers of vulvar mast cells often accompanies a clinical diagnosis of vulvodynia and a history of allergies amplifies the risk of developing this condition. We previously showed that repeated exposures to oxazolone dissolved in ethanol on the labiar skin of mice led to persistent genital sensitivity to pressure and a sustained increase in labiar mast cells. Here we sensitized female mice to the hapten dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) dissolved in saline on their flanks, and subsequently challenged them with the same hapten or saline vehicle alone for ten …

Ethnic-Racial Socialization In Early Childhood: The Implications Of Color-Consciousness And Colorblindness For Prejudice Development, Flora Farago, Kimberly Leah Davidson, Christy M. Byrd

Faculty Publications

This chapter outlines how early childhood teachers can bring children into conversations surrounding race and racism by drawing on literature on how parents of color discuss these topics. Although educators’ practices surrounding race and racism remain largely unexplored, decades of developmental psychological research indicate that parents of color engage in ethnic-racial socialization practices that are beneficial for children (Hughes et al., 2006). The established dimensions of parental ethnic-racial socialization include (1) cultural socialization, or teaching children about their ethnic heritage and instilling ethnic pride; (2) preparation for bias, or teaching children about racism and preparing them to face discrimination; (3) …

The Modeling Assessment Of World Vision’S Water, Sanitation, And Hygiene Program In Southern Africa Countries, Malawi, Mozambique, And Zambia: Analyses Using Lives Saved Tool, Chulwoo Park, Armen Martirosyan, Seble Frehywot, Erin Jones, Ashley Labat, Yvonne Tam, Emmanuel Opong

Faculty Publications

Background: Since 2010, the humanitarian aid organization World Vision has implemented a community-based water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) program in 76 area development programs (ADPs) for a total target population of 2,831,535 in three Southern Africa countries: Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia.

Methods: This study was conducted using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) to analyze the isolated impact of World Vision WASH interventions on child morbidity and mortality during the four-year implementation period from 2010 to 2014. The combined effects of WASH interventions – improved water source, home water connection, improved sanitation, handwashing with soap, hygienic disposal of children’s stools – …

An Objective Procedure For Delineating The Circumpolar Vortex, Nazla Bushra, Robert V. Rohli

Faculty Publications

The broad-scale, steering atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere, represented by the tropospheric circumpolar vortex (CPV), is an important driver of environmental processes. The area and circularity of the CPV are analyzed hereby delineating the leading edge of the CPV at the steepest 500-hPa geopotential height gradient globally. The daily CPV area and circularity were aggregated to monthly averages for contrast with measurements identified in previous research for the overlapping period of record (1979-2001). Accuracy of representation of the CPV is assessed through correlations to air-sea teleconnections known to be associated with broad-scale, extratropical steering circulation. Correlation to monthly teleconnection …

Spatial Variations In Chlorophyll A, C, N, And P In A Louisiana Estuary From 1994 To 2016, R. Eugene Turner, Erick M. Swenson, Charles S. Milan, James M. Lee

Faculty Publications

Intense sampling of an estuary can reveal relative spatial changes that are significant irrespective of whether or not the estuary is eutrophic, micro- or meso-tidal, disturbed, or restored. This waterscape' perspective is analogous to a landscape perspective. We collected monthly water samples in the Barataria Basin watershed from 1994 to 2016 at 37 stations along a 129km transect from 1km offshore to a freshwater stream. The average Chlorophyll a (Chl) concentration from 267 trips was supported from both nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria in a freshwater lake and partially from nutrients in seaward sources. Estuarine salinity was correlated with the discharge of the …

Do Aquatic Macrophytes Limit The Invasion Potential Of Exotic Species In Pantanal Grasslands?, Francielli Bao, Tracy Elsey-Quirk, Marco Antonio De Assis, Evaldo Benedito De Souza, Arnildo Pott

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

No Right To Counsel, No Access Without: The Poor Child's Unconstitutional Catch-22, Lisa V. Martin

Faculty Publications

In the midst of the push for universal access to counsel in civil cases and the increasing proportion of litigants who represent themselves, a critical barrier to access to justice for children has been overlooked. Federal courts have created a catch-22 for child litigants. Children cannot bring claims themselves, so parents must bring the claims on their behalf. Federal courts refuse to allow parents to pursue these claims pro se, stating that parents cannot provide adequate legal representation. Yet, there is no right to counsel in civil cases, and these same courts typically conclude the children’s cases do not warrant …

Bar Bytes: Phishing Update - A Whale Of A Tale, Aaron Glenn

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Have Academic Libraries Overcome The Gender Wage Gap? An Analysis Of Gender Pay Inequality, Quinn Galbraith, Adam Callister, Heather Kelley

Faculty Publications

This report draws upon two data sets to examine the gender wage gap among member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The first data set consists of 35 years of salary survey data collected by ARL and is used to provide trend data on the gender wage gap from 1980 to 2014 as well as present an in-depth look at the wage gap in 2014. After controlling for variables such as years of experience, position, and type of library in the 2014 ARL Salary Survey data, results revealed that women on average made approximately 2 percent less than …

Forward: Some Puzzles Of State Standing, Tara Leigh Grove

Faculty Publications

When should states have standing? In recent years, there has been an explosion in literature on that question.1 Yet, even today, there seem to be as many questions as answers. In this Foreword to the Notre Dame Law Review’s 2019 Federal Courts, Practice, and Procedure Symposium on state standing, I discuss a few such puzzles. First, should states have “special” standing when they sue the federal government—that is, greater access to federal court than private parties? Second, and conversely, should states have at least “equal” access to federal court, or should they face more barriers than private parties? These questions …

Qualified Immunity And Constitutional Structure, Katherine Mims Crocker

Faculty Publications

A range of scholars has subjected qualified immunity to a wave of criticism— and for good reasons. But the Supreme Court continues to apply the doctrine in ever more aggressive ways. By advancing two claims, this Article seeks to make some sense of this conflict and to suggest some thoughts toward a resolution.

First, while the Court has offered and scholars have rejected several rationales for the doctrine, layering in an account grounded in structural constitutional concerns provides a historically richer and analytically thicker understanding of the current qualified-immunity regime. For suits against federal officials, qualified immunity acts as a …

An Ensemble Of Lipoxygenase Structures Reveals Novel Conformations Of The Fe Coordination Sphere, Svetlana Pakhomova, William E. Boeglin, David B. Neau, Sue G. Bartlett, Alan R. Brash, Marcia E. Newcomer

Faculty Publications

© 2019 The Protein Society The regio- and stereo-specific oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids is catalyzed by lipoxygenases (LOX); both Fe and Mn forms of the enzyme have been described. Structural elements of the Fe and Mn coordination spheres and the helical catalytic domain in which the metal center resides are highly conserved. However, animal, plant, and microbial LOX each have distinct features. We report five crystal structures of a LOX from the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum. This LOX displays a novel amino terminal extension that provides a wrapping domain for dimerization. Moreover, this extension appears to interfere with …

Patchy Fires Promote Regeneration Of Longleaf Pine (Pinus Palustris Mill.) In Pine Savannas, Kevin M. Robertson, William J. Platt, Charles E. Faires

Faculty Publications

© 2019 by the authors. Research Highlights: Spatial patterns of fire spread and severity influence survival of juvenile pines in longleaf pine savannas. Small areas that do not burn during frequent fires facilitate formation of patches of even-aged longleaf pine juveniles. These regeneration patches are especially associated with inner portions of openings (gaps) and where canopy trees have died in recent decades. Patterns of prescribed fire can thus have an important influence on stand dynamics of the dominant tree in pine savannas. Background and Objectives: Savannas are characterized by bottlenecks to tree regeneration. In pine savannas, longleaf pine is noted …

The Effect Of Acrylate Functionality On Frontal Polymerization Velocity And Temperature, Samuel Bynum, Michael Tullier, Catherine Morejon-Garcia, Jesse Guidry, Emma Runnoe, John A. Pojman

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Frontal polymerization is a method of converting monomer(s) to polymer via a localized reaction zone that propagates from the coupling of thermal diffusion with the Arrhenius kinetics of an exothermic reaction. Several factors affect front velocity and temperature with the role of monomer functionality being of particular interest in this study. Polymerizing a di and triacrylate of equal molecular weight per acrylate revealed that as the proportion of triacrylate was increased the velocity and temperature increased. This is attributed to increased crosslinking and autoacceleration. Comparing several different acrylate monomers, both neat and diluted with dimethyl …

Comparative Efficacies Of Next-Generation Insecticides Against Yellow Stem Borer And Their Effects On Natural Enemies In Rice Ecosystem, Muhammad Matiar Rahaman, Michael Joseph Stout

Faculty Publications

© 2019 China National Rice Research Institute The efficacies of some next-generation insecticides against the rice yellow stem borer (YSB), Scirpophaga incertulas (Walk.), and their compatibilities with natural enemies were investigated during 2014 and 2015. Three newer insecticides, chlorantraniliprole 0.4% G, dinotefuran 20% SG, and methoxyfenozide 24% SC, and two commonly used insecticides, carbufuran 5 G and quinalphos 25 EC, were evaluated in the field for their efficacies against YSB and their non-target effects on natural enemies. Application of chlorantraniliprole 0.4% G at 10.96 kg/hm2 resulted in the greatest reduction in YSB infestation (deadhearts and whiteheads)and greatest increase of yield …

Access Before Evidence And The Price Of The Fda's New Drug Authorities, Erika Lietzan

Faculty Publications

Sometimes drug innovation seems to happen in reverse. Patients enjoy a treatment for years even though the treatment has not been approved by the FDA or proven safe and effective to the FDA's standards. (Sometimes this happens because the FDA has declined to take enforcement action.) The agency encourages companies to perform the work necessary to satisfy the United States "gold standard" for new drug approval, however, by promising exclusivity in the marketplace. When a company does this work, at considerable expense, the results are predictable. The new drug is expensive, and patients and payers (and sometimes policymakers) are outraged. …

Frozen Pre-Embryo Practice In Missouri, Mary M. Beck, L. "Joanna" Beck Wilkinson

Faculty Publications

McQueen v. Gadberry was an Eastern District dissolution dispute over frozen pre-implantation embryos formed from McQueen’s eggs and Gadberry’s sperm. The St. Louis County trial court found the pre-embryos to be marital property of a special character and awarded them jointly to each of the former spouses. The appellate court affirmed. McQueen is an important decision because the finding that embryos are marital property was an issue of first impression that affects many Missouri families. Infertility is a common problem, couples frequently utilize assisted reproductive technologies (ART) to form families, and the extra frozen pre-implantation embryos (hereinafter pre-embryos) have fueled …

Fermi-Gbm Grbs With Characteristics Similar To Grb 170817a, A. Von Kienlin, P. Veres, O. J. Roberts, R. Hamburg, E. Bissaldi, M. S. Briggs, E. Burns, A. Goldstein, D. Kocevski, R. D. Preece, C. A. Wilson-Hodge, C. M. Hui, B. Mailyan, C. Malacaria

Faculty Publications

We present a search for gamma-ray bursts in the Fermi-GBM 10 yr catalog that show similar characteristics to GRB 170817A, the first electromagnetic counterpart to a GRB identified as a binary neutron star (BNS) merger via gravitational wave observations. Our search is focused on a nonthermal pulse, followed by a thermal component, as observed for GRB 170817A. We employ search methods based on the measured catalog parameters and Bayesian Block analysis. Our multipronged approach, which includes examination of the localization and spectral properties of the thermal component, yields a total of 13 candidates, including GRB 170817A and the previously reported …

First Measurement Of The Hubble Constant From A Dark Standard Siren Using The Dark Energy Survey Galaxies And The Ligo/Virgo Binary-Black-Hole Merger Gw170814, M. Soares-Santos, A. Palmese, W. Hartley, J. Annis, J. Garcia-Bellido, O. Lahav, Z. Doctor, M. Fishbach, D. E. Holz, H. Lin, M. E.S. Pereira, A. Garcia, K. Herner, R. Kessler, H. V. Peiris, M. Sako, S. Allam, D. Brout, A. Carnero Rosell, H. Y. Chen, C. Conselice, J. Derose, J. Devicente, H. T. Diehl, M. S.S. Gill, J. Gschwend, I. Sevilla-Noarbe, D. L. Tucker, R. Wechsler, E. Berger, P. S. Cowperthwaite, B. D. Metzger, P. K.G. Williams

Faculty Publications

We present a multi-messenger measurement of the Hubble constant H 0 using the binary-black-hole merger GW170814 as a standard siren, combined with a photometric redshift catalog from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The luminosity distance is obtained from the gravitational wave signal detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) on 2017 August 14, and the redshift information is provided by the DES Year 3 data. Black hole mergers such as GW170814 are expected to lack bright electromagnetic emission to uniquely identify their host galaxies and build an object-by-object Hubble diagram. However, they are suitable for a statistical …

Molecular Packing Control Enables Excellent Performance And Mechanical Property Of Blade-Cast All-Polymer Solar Cells, Baojun Lin, Lin Zhang, Heng Zhao, Xianbin Xu, Ke Zhou, Song Zhang, Lu Guo, Baobing Fan, Lei Zhang, Hongping Yan, Xiaodan Gu, Lei Ying, Fei Huang, Yong Cao, Wei Ma

Faculty Publications

All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) are the most promising power generators for flexible and portable devices due to excellent morphology stability and outstanding mechanical property. Previous work indicates high crystallinity is beneficial to device performance but detrimental to mechanical property, therefore identifying the optimized ratio between crystalline and amorphous domains becomes important. In this work, we demonstrated highly efficient and mechanically robust all-PSCs by blade-coating technology in ambient environment based on PTzBI:N2200 system. By controlling the aggregation in solution state and ultrafast film formation process, a weakly ordered molecular packing morphology as well as small phase separation is obtained, which leads …

Arabinosyl Deacetylase Modulates The Arabinoxylan Acetylation Profile And Secondary Wall Formation, Lanjun Zhang, Chengxu Gao, Frederic Mentink-Vigier, Lu Tang, Dongmei Zhang, Shaogan Wang, Shaoxue Cao, Zuopeng Xu, Xiangling Liu, Tuo Wang, Yihua Zhou, Baocai Zhang

Faculty Publications

© 2019 ASPB. Acetylation, a prevalent modification of cell-wall polymers, is a tightly controlled regulatory process that orchestrates plant growth and environmental adaptation. However, due to limited characterization of the enzymes involved, it is unclear how plants establish and dynamically regulate the acetylation pattern in response to growth requirements. In this study, we identified a rice (Oryza sativa) GDSL esterase that deacetylates the side chain of the major rice hemicellulose, arabinoxylan. Acetyl esterases involved in arabinoxylan modification were screened using enzymatic assays combined with mass spectrometry analysis. One candidate, DEACETYLASE ON ARABINOSYL SIDECHAIN OF XYLAN1 (DARX1), is specific for arabinosyl …

Expression Of Tachykinin3 And Related Reproductive Markers In The Brain Of The African Cichlid Fish Astatotilapia Burtoni, Julie M. Butler, Karen P. Maruska

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Neurokinin B, encoded by the tachykinin3 gene, plays a crucial role in regulating reproduction in mammals via KNDy neurons and interaction with GnRH. Previous work in teleost fishes has focused on hypothalamic tac3 expression for its role in reproduction, but detailed studies on extra-hypothalamic tac3 expression are limited. Here, we identified two tac3 genes in the social African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, only one of which produces a functional protein containing the signature tachykinin motif. In situ hybridization for tac3a mRNA identified cell populations throughout the brain. Numerous tac3a cells lie in several thalamic and …