Digital Commons Network^™

Behavioral Paradigm For The Evaluation Of Stimulation-Evoked Somatosensory Perception Thresholds In Rats, Jeffrey R. Capadona

Faculty Scholarship

Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) of the somatosensory cortex via penetrating microelectrode arrays (MEAs) can evoke cutaneous and proprioceptive sensations for restoration of perception in individuals with spinal cord injuries. However, ICMS current amplitudes needed to evoke these sensory percepts tend to change over time following implantation. Animal models have been used to investigate the mechanisms by which these changes occur and aid in the development of new engineering strategies to mitigate such changes. Non-human primates are commonly the animal of choice for investigating ICMS, but ethical concerns exist regarding their use. Rodents are a preferred animal model due to their availability, …

Treatment Of Trauma Using Horse Assisted Education In Poland, Kathleen J. Farkas, Jaroslaw Richard Romaniuk

Faculty Scholarship

Trauma-informed care requires a sound therapeutic relationship to address trauma symptoms. People with trauma symptoms often cannot use their communication skills or do not possess the emotional stability to talk with others, and many drop out of treatment. Horse Assisted Education employs a partnership of horse and humans which leads to engagement and participation in experiential and narrative trauma treatment leading to sustained change and recovery. This paper illustrates a model of Horse Assisted Education in Poland, its application in the treatment of trauma symptoms. Three case studies are used to discuss the ways in which the human-animal partnerships foster …

Using The Hands To Learn About The Brain: Testing Action-Based Instruction In Brain Anatomy, Fey Parrill

Faculty Scholarship

Brain anatomy is typically taught using static images. We asked participants to use their own hands to represent the brain and perform gestures during learning. We measured learning via a pretest/postest design. We compared five video trainings in which participants heard similar audio and repeated terminology aloud. Conditions were: (1) Image: Participants saw images of a physical model of the brain. (2) Physical model: Participants saw hands pointing to the physical model. (3) Physical model + action: Participants performed actions on the physical model. (4) Hand model: Participants saw images of hands being used to represent the brain. (5) Hand …

A Novel Approach To Legacy Donations With Long-Term Benefits Supported By Numerical Illustrations, Daniel Solow, Robin Symes

Faculty Scholarship

Philanthropic donors face challenges in matching the causes to which they donate, the time horizon—and thus impact—of their donations, and the charitable vehicles they choose for making contributions. Wealthier donors may elect to create their own foundations and customize their charitable support. Less wealthy donors have limited choices: they may contribute to a nonprofit's current operations or to existing nonprofit endowments. We present a novel approach for making charitable donations, blending aspects of each of these strategies. Our approach has potential long-term financial benefits, allows donors to control their charitable donations in a convenient and easy-to-implement manner, can be established …

Understanding The Rhodopsin Worldview Through Atomic Force Microscopy (Afm): Structure, Stability, And Activity Studies, Subhadip Senapati, Paul S. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Rhodopsin is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) present in the rod outer segment (ROS) of photoreceptor cells that initiates the phototransduction cascade required for scotopic vision. Due to the remarkable advancements in technological tools, the chemistry of rhodopsin has begun to unravel especially over the past few decades, but mostly at the ensemble scale. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a tool capable of providing critical information from a single-molecule point of view. In this regard, to bolster our understanding of rhodopsin at the nanoscale level, AFM-based imaging, force spectroscopy, and nano-indentation techniques were employed on ROS disc membranes containing rhodopsin, …

Inhibition Of Wnt/Β‐Catenin Pathway Overcomes Therapeutic Resistance To Abiraterone In Castration‐Resistant Prostate Cancer, Ibrahim M. Atawia, Prem P. Kushwaha, Shiv Verma, Spencer Lin, Eswar Shankar, Sanjay Gupta

Faculty Scholarship

Abiraterone acetate has been clinically approved for the treatment of patients with advanced‐stage prostate cancer. It reduces testosterone production by blocking the enzyme cytochrome P450 17 alpha‐hydroxylase. Despite improved survival outcomes with abiraterone, almost all patients develop therapeutic resistance and disease recurrence, progressing to a more aggressive and lethal phenotype. Bioinformatics analyses predicted activation of canonical Wnt/β‐catenin and involvement of stem cell plasticity in abiraterone‐resistant prostate cancer. Increased expression of androgen receptor (AR) and β‐catenin and their crosstalk causes activation of AR target genes and regulatory networks for which overcoming acquired resistance remains a major challenge. Here we show that …

Evaluation Of A Photodynamic Therapy Agent Using A Canine Prostate Cancer Model, Dong Luo, Xinning Wang, Gopalakrishnan Ramamurthy, Ethan Walker, Lifang Zhang, Aditi Shirke, Naraen G. Naidu, Clemens Burda, Lee Ponsky, James Basilion

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Male dogs can develop spontaneous prostate cancer, which is similar physiologically to human disease. Recently, Tweedle and coworkers have developed an orthotopic canine prostate model allowing implanted tumors and therapeutic agents to be tested in a more translational large animal model. We used the canine model to evaluate prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted gold nanoparticles as a theranostic approach for fluorescence (FL) imaging and photodynamic therapy (PDT) of early stage prostate cancer.

Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide Monoclonal Antibodies Prevent And Treat Obesity In Wild-Type And Hyperphagic Mice, M Michael Wolfe, Michael O. Boylan

Faculty Scholarship

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) monoclonal antibody (mAb) will promote weight loss in wild-type mice and to determine effects of this mAb in preventing weight gain in ob/ob mice. Methods: Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or GIP mAb was injected intraperitoneally to wild-type mice fed a 60% high-fat diet (HFD). After 12 weeks, mice that received PBS were divided into two groups and were fed a 37% HFD for 5 weeks; one group received PBS, and one group received GIP mAb. In a separate study, PBS or GIP mAb was injected intraperitoneally to ob/ob mice …

Bura Ura, Kendu Waiyo (Rain Falls, Water Rises): The Tyranny Of Water Insecurity And An Agenda For Abolition In Kodi (Sumba Island, Indonesia), Cynthia Twyford Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

This article explores the dynamic links between transformations in freshwater ecosystems and social changes in the Kodi region of Sumba (Indonesia). Insights into the politics surrounding changing hydrosocial systems are generated by using a feminist anthropology approach together with critical development studies and intersectionality theory. In aligning with fellow feminists whose advocacy sometimes takes the form of scholarship, I lay out a five-prong strategy for collecting empirical evidence from persons who are vulnerable when hydrological systems change and offer eight principles for future development interventions. The argument related to the five-prong toolkit is that by conducting intensive, extensive, opportunistic, and …

Fabrication Methods And Chronic In Vivo Validation Of Mechanically Adaptive Microfluidic Intracortical Devices, Youjoung Kim, Natalie N. Mueller, William E. Schwartzman, Danielle Sarno, Reagan Wynder, George F. Hoeferlin, Kaela Gisser, Jeffrey R. Capadona, Allison E. Hess-Dunning

Faculty Scholarship

Intracortical neural probes are both a powerful tool in basic neuroscience studies of brain function and a critical component of brain computer interfaces (BCIs) designed to restore function to paralyzed patients. Intracortical neural probes can be used both to detect neural activity at single unit resolution and to stimulate small populations of neurons with high resolution. Unfortunately, intracortical neural probes tend to fail at chronic timepoints in large part due to the neuroinflammatory response that follows implantation and persistent dwelling in the cortex. Many promising approaches are under development to circumvent the inflammatory response, including the development of less inflammatory …

Integrating Ai-Generative Tools In Web Design Education: Enhancing Student Aesthetic And Creative Copy Capabilities Using Image And Text-Based Ai Generators, Jason Lively, James Hutson, Elizabeth Melick

Faculty Scholarship

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to disrupt all levels of education. The recent advances in the generative capabilities of new chatbots, AI art generators, and large language models have upended the art and design development pipeline. At the same time, the focus has remained on the nature of creativity and the role of humans in the creative process, prompting calls to ban AI art, bring lawsuits over copyright infringement, and demand universal watermarks to identify AI-generative content. Regardless of the outcome of such litigation, AI has already radically altered the workflow for artists and designers. This case study aims to …

Grid Governance In The Energy-Trilemma Era: Remedying The Democracy Deficit, Daniel E. Walters, Andrew N. Kleit

Faculty Scholarship

Transforming the electric power grid is central to any viable scenario for addressing global climate change, but the process and politics of this transformation are complex. The desire to transform the grid creates an “energy trilemma” involving often conflicting desires for reliability, cost, and decarbonization; and, at least in the short run, it is difficult to avoid making tradeoffs between these different goals. It is somewhat shocking, then, that many crucial decisions about electric power service in the United States are made not by consumers or their utilities, nor by state public utilities commissions or federal regulators. Instead, for much …

Gamestopped: How Robinhood’S Gamestop Trading Halt Reveals The Complexities Of Retail Investor Protection, Neal Newman

Faculty Scholarship

Should brokers have the unfettered right to restrict investor trading? GameStop, a brick-and-mortar video game retailer, had been experiencing declining revenues since 2016. However, GameStop saw its share price climb almost 1000 percent in the span of a one- week period from January 21, 2021 to January 27, 2021 due to retail investors buying significant amounts of GameStop shares during that period. Melvin Capital, a hedge fund, ended up losing billions as they were betting that GameStop shares would lose value instead of increase—a practice referred to as short selling. On January 28, 2021, brokers inexplicably halted trading on GameStop …

Fishing And Fisheries Under International Water Law: A Dialogue Between Professor Gabriel Eckstein And Professor Paul Stanton Kibel, Gabriel Eckstein, Paul Stanton Kibel

Faculty Scholarship

On April 10 and 11, 2023, the Center on Urban Environmental Law (CUEL) at Golden Gate University School of Law hosted a two-day webinar on International Law Aspects of Fisheries and Hydropower in Europe. To open the webinar, Professor Gabriel Eckstein (of Texas A&M University School of Law) and Professor Paul Stanton Kibel (of Golden Gate University School of Law) participated in a keynote dialogue titled Fishing and Fisheries under International Water Law. What follows is a transcription of this dialogue between Professor Eckstein and Professor Kibel.

The Public Stakes Of Consumer Law: The Environment, The Economy, Health, Disinformation, And Beyond, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Scholarship

This Article shows how consumer law, a field “derided as the law of small problems,”⁴ is more accurately viewed as important for addressing large-scale societal threats. It also offers a more integrated conceptual and institutional approach to consumer law so that the field can have a better chance of fulfilling its societal potential.

Part I of this Article outlines the importance of consumer law. It maps consumer law’s connections to some of the most pressing societal threats: climate change, public health, inequality, and disinformation. Part II focuses on consumer law’s place in the legal academy and government. Currently, important …

The Problem Is The Court, Not The Constitution, Jonathan Feingold

Faculty Scholarship

“But first, we must believe.” So concludes The Antiracist Constitution, where Brandon Hasbrouck confronts an uneasy question: In the quest for racial justice, is the Constitution friend or foe? Even the casual observer knows that constitutional law is no friend to racial justice. In the nineteenth century, Plessy v. Ferguson blessed Jim Crow. In the twentieth century, Washington v. Davis insulated practices that reproduce Jim Crow. Now in the twenty-first century, pending affirmative action litigation invites the Supreme Court to outlaw efforts to remedy Jim Crow.

Real-Time Mapping With Global Positioning Systems Devices In A Mixed Methods Toolkit For Studying Social And Environmental Change, Cynthia Twyford Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

To explore the process through which people develop knowledge about socioecological change, this article describes a mixed-methods toolkit containing a technique for making maps in real time while moving through landscapes. The quantitative component of the toolkit is grounded in ethnobiologists’ embeddedness in place-based communities and harnesses the power of global positioning systems (GPS). As GPS-wielding ethnobiologists engage in participatory mapping by moving through landscapes with their research collaborators, we can use handheld devices and simultaneously communicate with satellites in outer space to produce maps in real time. Within the existing, large inventory of ethnobiological methods, using handheld GPS devices …

A Cross-Sectional Examination Of Wrist Wrap Use Prevalence And Characterization For Ergogenic Purposes In Actively Competing Powerlifters, Dillon Harris, Thomas Cardaci, Harry Cintineo, Richard Pham, Kristen Dunsmore, Leslee Funderburk, Steven Machek

Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: Wrist wraps are regularly incorporated by competitive powerlifters, but several product-specific variations may influence any potential ergogenic benefits. In addition, the prevalence of athletic wrist wrap use is hitherto undescribed.

Methods: Seventy actively competing powerlifters (n=70; 27±6y) who competed in the last two years were randomly recruited at sanctioned meets, whereby wrist wrap use descriptive data (wrap style [F or S], wrap length, and events used), wrap tightness (assessed via pulse oximeter-detected oxygen saturation (SpO2) and subjective discomfort [Borg CR10+]), as well as post-meet bench press one repetition maximum (1RM) were collected. Wrist wrap use prevalence data (wrap …

Factor In Fear: Interference Competition In Polymorphic Spadefoot Toad Tadpoles And Its Potential Role In Disruptive Selection, Ryan A. Martin

Faculty Scholarship

Disruptive selection arises when extreme phenotypes have a fitness advantage compared to more-intermediate phenotypes. Theory and evidence suggest that intraspecific resource competition is a key driver of disruptive selection. However, while competition can be indirect (exploitative) or direct (interference), the role of interference competition in disruptive selection has not been tested, and most models of disruptive selection assume exploitative competition. We experimentally investigated whether the type of competition affects the outcome of competitive interactions using a system where disruptive selection is common: Mexican spadefoot toads (Spea multiplicata). Spea tadpoles develop into alternative resource-use phenotypes: carnivores, which consume fairy shrimp and …

The Poetry Of Prompts: The Collaborative Role Of Generative Artificial Intelligence In The Creation Of Poetry And The Anxiety Of Machine Influence, James Hutson, Ana Schnellmann

Faculty Scholarship

2022 has been heralded as the year of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Generative AI like ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion, along with a host of others, launched late in the year and immediately disrupted the status quo of the literary and art worlds, leading to outcries to ban “AI Art” and spawning an entirely new market of NFTs. Fears over the “death of the artist” and the “death of college composition,” however, are unfounded when considering the historical adoption of emerging technologies by creatives and the reconsideration of authorship that began with post structuralism and the Foucauldian Death of the Author …

Echoes Of The Zong Confronting Legal Realism In The Arguments For Reparations From The Atlantic Slave Trade And Modernday Human Trafficking, Glenys Spence

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is based on the premise that modern day human trafficking, like the transatlantic slave trade, violates jus cogens norms, and thus the practice was and still is a violation of US laws under customary international law. The analysis will examine the laws that were applied to chattel slavery in England and her colonies through the lens of some seminal slavery cases to unearth the tyranny of interpretation in human trafficking reparations and liability claims under the current Supreme Court jurisprudence and the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”). The featured cases will reveal that the same philosophies undergirding the jurisprudence …

If We Build It, Will They Legislate? Empirically Testing The Potential Of The Nondelegation Doctrine To Curb Congressional "Abdication", Daniel E. Walters, Elliott Ash

Faculty Scholarship

A widely held view for why the Supreme Court would be right to revive the nondelegation doctrine is that Congress has perverse incentives to abdicate its legislative role and evade accountability through the use of delegations, either expressly delineated or implied through statutory imprecision, and that enforcement of the nondelegation doctrine would correct for those incentives. We call this the Field of Dreams Theory—if we build the nondelegation doctrine, Congress will legislate. Unlike originalist arguments for the revival of the nondelegation doctrine, this theory has widespread appeal and is instrumental to the Court’s project of gaining popular acceptance of a …

Stories From The Negative Spaces: United States V. Thind And The Narrative Of (Non)Whiteness, Joy Kanwar

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Modular Design Of A Polymer-Bilayer-Based Mechanically Compliant Worm-Like Robot, Austin S. Mills, Shane Riddle, Hillel J. J. Chiel, Roger D. Quinn, Kathryn A. Daltorio

Faculty Scholarship

Soft earthworm-like robots that exhibit mechanical compliance can, in principle, navigate through uneven terrains and constricted spaces that are inaccessible to traditional legged and wheeled robots. However, unlike the biological originals that they mimic, most of the worm-like robots reported to date contain rigid components that limit their compliance, such as electromotors or pressure-driven actuation systems. Here, a mechanically compliant worm-like robot with a fully modular body that is based on soft polymers is reported. The robot is composed of strategically assembled, electrothermally activated polymer bilayer actuators, which are based on a semicrystalline polyurethane with an exceptionally large nonlinear thermal …

Effects Of Honey Locust Seed Pods On The Behavior And Nutrient Intake Of Zoo-Housed François Langurs And Prehensile-Tailed Porcupines, Noah T. Dunham, Kaylin S. Tennant, Patricia M. Dennis

Faculty Scholarship

Seed pods represent an under-utilized and valuable dietary resource for zoos because they encourage naturalistic extractive foraging behavior and because seeds pods, like leafy browses, are more fiber-rich than most dietary items typically offered in zoos. The primary goal of this study was to examine the effects of honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) seed pods on the behavior and macronutrient intake of zoo-housed François’ langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi; n = 3) and prehensile-tailed porcupines (Coendou prehensilis; n = 2) using a pre- versus postdiet implementation design. From December 2019 to April 2020, we recorded behavior using instantaneous interval sampling and daily macronutrient …

The Indecisions Of 1789: Inconstant Originalism And Strategic Ambiguity, Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Faculty Scholarship

The unitary executive theory relies on the First Congress and an ostensible "Decision of 1789" as an originalist basis for unconditional presidential removal power. In light of new evidence, the First Congress was undecided on any constitutional theory and retreated to ambiguity in order to compromise and move on to other urgent business.

Seila Law's strict separation-of-powers argument depends on indefeasibility (i.e., Congress may not set limits or conditions on the president's power of civil removal). In fact, few members of the First Congress defended or even discussed indefeasibility. Only nine of fifty-four participating representatives explicitly endorsed the presidentialist …

Acceptance Governance, Jeremy Bendik-Keymer

Faculty Scholarship

There is a form of power whereby the moral relationship governs those who are part of, or affected by, the relationship. Called “acceptance governance,” it develops “power-with" in a decolonial manner, reframing agency as guided by accountability. Power-with leads to minimal moral relations between worlds out of which processes of acceptance build justice and right relations from the bottom up. There are two senses of acceptance, however, the second being accepting the conditions of acceptance. Power-with then becomes grounded in “power from,” a new form of power uncommon in the literature. In addition to cohering with a number of indigenous …

The Self-Work Of Planetary Justice, Jeremy Bendik-Keymer

Faculty Scholarship

A necessary part of planetary justice is self-work, restoring or forming our being truthful, consistent, dependable, and accountable people. Planetary justice – so far typically associated with vast, geological scales of space and time – involves an intimate dimension, too. We can work on it wherever we are. Moreover, self-work and planetary justice intertwine historically and conceptually. The historical context for self-work involves the histories of violence that led to the breakthrough of the planetary as a category of thought about justice. Facing this, the essay notes areas for further reflection, study, and action.

A Novel Sorbicillinoid Compound As A Potent Anti‐Inflammation Agent Through Inducing Nlrp3 Protein Degradation, Fangfang Wang, Youwei Zhang

Faculty Scholarship

Background and Purpose: Chronic inflammation is pathogenic and contributes to human diseases, causing a significant threat to public health. The NLR family pyrin domain‐containing protein 3 (NLRP3) is the best‐characterized factor regulating inflammation. Therefore, targeting NLRP3 has the potential to treat inflammatory diseases and improve human health. Experimental Approach: Lipopolysaccharide was used to induce inflammation in cell cultures. Lipopolysaccharide/d‐galactosamine and dextran sulfate sodium salt were used to induce acute liver inflammation and ulcerative colitis respectively in C57BL/6J mice. Western blotting, immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, quantitative PCR and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to evaluate the activation of the inflammatory response in …

Digital Twins And Cultural Heritage Preservation: A Case Study Of Best Practices And Reproducibility In Chiesa Dei Ss Apostoli E Biagio, James Hutson, Joe Weber, Angela Russo

Faculty Scholarship

The use of digital twin technologies to preserve cultural heritage has become increasingly common over the past two decades. Evolving from the use of virtual environments (VE) and digital reconstructions that required multiple phases of workflow and multiple software applications and various hardware to output a useable experience to the immediacy of 3D artificial intelligence (AI) generative content and the latest generation of photogrammetric scanning, non-specialists are now able to more easily create digital twins. At the same time, the destruction of cultural heritage has accelerated due to geopolitical instability, seen in examples such as the invasion of Ukraine by …