Digital Commons Network^™

Crystal Structure Of Clostridium Acetobutylicum Aspartate Kinase (Caak): An Important Allosteric Enzyme For Amino Acids Production, Mark R. Chance

Faculty Scholarship

Aspartate kinase (AK) is an enzyme which is tightly regulated through feedback control and responsible for the synthesis of 4-phospho-l-aspartate from l-aspartate. This intermediate step is at an important branch point where one path leads to the synthesis of lysine and the other to threonine, methionine and isoleucine. Concerted feedback inhibition of AK is mediated by threonine and lysine and varies between the species. The crystal structure of biotechnologically important Clostridium acetobutylicum aspartate kinase (CaAK; E.C. 2.7.2.4; Mw = 48,030 Da; 437aa; SwissProt: Q97MC0) has been determined to 3 Å resolution. CaAK acquires a protein fold similar to the other …

Themes, Doctrine, And Pedagogy In The 2013-2014 National Health Law Moot Court Competition Problem, Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Fairness, Equity, And A Level Playing Field: Development Goals For The Resilient City, Christopher K. Odinet

Faculty Scholarship

In the wake of the Great Recession and in the midst of a political climate that endorses the devolution of governmental power to more localized levels there has been a resurgence in recent years of the idea of the city as the center of American life. Competition between cities in capturing economic development projects has become palpable. Success can lead to job creation and growth, private investment, and, importantly, increased tax revenues. Cities often compete with one another by each offering their own package of public incentives. In the waning hours of negotiations hundreds of millions of public dollars can …

Progressive Property Moving Forward, Timothy M. Mulvaney

Faculty Scholarship

In his thought-provoking recent article, “The Ambition and Transformative Potential of Progressive Property,” Ezra Rosser contends that, in the course of laying the foundations of a theory grounded in property’s social nature, scholars who participated in the renowned 2009 Cornell symposium on progressive property have “glossed over” property law’s continuing conquest of American Indian lands and the inheritance of privileges that stem from property-based discrimination against African Americans. I fully share Rosser’s concerns regarding past and continuing racialized acquisition and distribution, if not always his characterization of the select progressive works he critiques. Where I focus in this essay, though, …

Congress's (Less) Limited Power To Represent Itself In Court: A Comment On Grove And Devins, Jack M. Beermann

Faculty Scholarship

In their recent article, Congress’s (Limited) Power to Represent Itself in Court, 99 Cornell L. Rev. 571 (2014) Tara Leigh Grove and Neal Devins make the case against congressional litigation in defense of the constitutionality of federal statutes. They conclude that Congress, or a single House of Congress, may not defend the constitutionality of federal statutes in court even when the Executive Branch has decided not to do so but may litigate only in furtherance of Congress’s investigatory and disciplinary powers. Grove and Devins claim that congressional litigation in support of the constitutionality of federal statutes violates two separate but …

Modeling Of The Dorsal Gradient Across Species Reveals Interaction Between Embryo Morphology And Toll Signaling Pathway During Evolution, Priscilla Ambrosi, Juan Sebastian Chahda, Hannah R. Koslen, Hillel J. Chiel, Claudia Mieko Mizutani

Faculty Scholarship

Morphogenetic gradients are essential to allocate cell fates in embryos of varying sizes within and across closely related species. We previously showed that the maternal NF-κB/Dorsal (Dl) gradient has acquired different shapes in Drosophila species, which result in unequally scaled germ layers along the dorso-ventral axis and the repositioning of the neuroectodermal borders. Here we combined experimentation and mathematical modeling to investigate which factors might have contributed to the fast evolutionary changes of this gradient. To this end, we modified a previously developed model that employs differential equations of the main biochemical interactions of the Toll (Tl) signaling pathway, which …

Discovery Of Common Sequences Absent In The Human Reference Genome Using Pooled Samples From Next Generation Sequencing, Yu Liu, Mehmet Koyutürk, Sean Maxwell, Min Xiang, Martina Veigl, Li Li, Thomas Laframboise, Zhenghe Wang, Xiaofeng Zhu, Mark R. Chance

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Sequences up to several megabases in length have been found to be present in individual genomes but absent in the human reference genome. These sequences may be common in populations, and their absence in the reference genome may indicate rare variants in the genomes of individuals who served as donors for the human genome project. As the reference genome is used in probe design for microarray technology and mapping short reads in next generation sequencing (NGS), this missing sequence could be a source of bias in functional genomic studies and variant analysis. One End Anchor (OEA) and/or orphan reads …

Brief For American Civil Liberties Union Of New Mexico, Ramirez V. Stateof N.M. Children Youth And Families Department, George Bach

Faculty Scholarship

Brief on state sovereign immunity.

Constitutional Theories: A Taxonomy And (Implicit) Critique, Larry Alexander

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Angela Harris: The Person, The Teacher, The Scholar, Rachel F. Moran

Faculty Scholarship

Angela Harris has written eloquently about the creative tensions that define her as a person, a teacher, and a scholar. She has explored the challenges of maintaining a private identity when called upon to share her life experience with a public audience, whether in the classroom, at a conference, or in an essay. She has reflected on the ways in which legal teaching privileges reason over emotion, wondering whether this dynamic impoverishes the exchange of ideas and undervalues the joy that can motivate a caring advocate. And, she has explored the dialectic between identity politics and the structural forces that …

The New Habeas Corpus In Death Penalty Cases, Larry Yackle

Faculty Scholarship

This article offers the first systematic examination of Chapter 154, United States Code, which establishes new statutory arrangements for cases in which state prisoners under sentence of death file federal habeas corpus petitions challenging their convictions or sentences. Chapter 154 was enacted as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Yet its provisions were made applicable only in capital cases arising from states that established qualifying schemes for providing indigent death row prisoners with counsel in state postconviction proceedings. No state’s system for supplying lawyers in state court won approval and, in consequence, Chapter 154’s rules …

Humanitarian Protection For Unaccompanied Children From Central America, Jennifer Moore

Faculty Scholarship

We are approaching World Humanitarian Day, an occasion to honor the talents, struggles, and sacrifices of tens of thousands of humanitarian workers serving around the world in situations of armed conflict, political repression, and natural disaster.

Alternating Current And Infrared Produce An Onset-Free Reversible Nerve Block, Emilie H. Lothet, Kevin L. Kilgore, Niloy Bhadra, Narendra Bhadra, Tina Vrabec, Yves T. Wang, Michael W. Jenkins, Hillel J. Chiel

Faculty Scholarship

Nerve block can eliminate spasms and chronic pain. Kilohertz frequency alternating current (KHFAC) produces a safe and reversible nerve block. However, KHFAC-induced nerve block is associated with an undesirable onset response. Optical inhibition using infrared (IR) laser light can produce nerve block without an onset response, but heats nerves. Combining KHFAC with IR inhibition [alternating current and infrared (ACIR)] produces a rapidly reversible nerve block without an onset response. ACIR can be used to rapidly and reversibly provide onset-free nerve block in the unmyelinated nerves of the marine mollusk Aplysia californica and may have significant advantages over either modality alone. …

Indian Gaming – The Next 25 Years, Kevin Washburn

Faculty Scholarship

Testimony of Kevin K. Washburn Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs United States Department of the Interior Before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Oversight Hearing

Late Stages Of Hematopoiesis And B Cell Lymphopoiesis Are Regulated By Α-Synuclein, A Key Player In Parkinson's Disease, Wenbin Xiao, Afshin Shameli, Clifford V. Harding, Howard J. Meyerson, Robert W. Maitta

Faculty Scholarship

α-Synuclein plays a crucial role in Parkinson's disease and dementias defined as synucleinopathies. α-Synuclein is expressed in hematopoietic and immune cells, but its functions in hematopoiesis and immune responses are unknown. We utilized α-synuclein(-/-) (KO) mice to investigate its role in hematopoiesis and B cell lymphopoiesis. We demonstrated hematologic abnormalities including mild anemia, smaller platelets, lymphopenia but relatively normal early hematopoiesis in KO mice compared to wild-type (WT) as measured in hematopoietic stem cells and progenitors of the different cell lineages. However, the absolute number of B220(+)IgM(+) B cells in bone marrow was reduced by 4-fold in KO mice (WT: …

Heterogeneous Red Blood Cell Adhesion And Deformability In Sickle Cell Disease, Yunus Alapan, Jane A. Little, Umut A. Gurkan

Faculty Scholarship

We present a microfluidic approach that allows simultaneous interrogation of RBC properties in physiological flow conditions at a single cell level. With this method, we studied healthy hemoglobin A (HbA) and homozygous sickle hemoglobin (HbS) containing RBCs using whole blood samples from twelve subjects. We report that HbS-containing RBCs are heterogeneous in terms of adhesion and deformability in flow.

Cooperative Transboundary Mechanism, Alena Drieschova, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Management of transboundary waters in increasingly becoming more challenging, and climate change is likely to exacerbate these pressures. Not least because climate change is a global issue, adaptation will require an international response. This book aims to identify issues, both theoretical and practical, that States face in establishing cooperative transboundary mechanisms to effectively adapt water management to climate change. Furthermore, it will address complex legal hurdles that existing transboundary water institutions face when attempting to adapt existing mechanisms to function in a changing climate. It will also provide an overview of best practices in transboundary adaptive water governance thus far, …

Electronic Structure, Dielectric Response, And Surface Charge Distribution Of Rgd (1fuv) Peptide, Amy M. Wen, Roger H. French, Nicole F. Steinmetz

Faculty Scholarship

Long and short range molecular interactions govern molecular recognition and self-assembly of biological macromolecules. Microscopic parameters in the theories of these molecular interactions are either phenomenological or need to be calculated within a microscopic theory. We report a unified methodology for the ab initio quantum mechanical (QM) calculation that yields all the microscopic parameters, namely the partial charges as well as the frequency-dependent dielectric response function, that can then be taken as input for macroscopic theories of electrostatic, polar and van der Waals-London dispersion intermolecular forces. We apply this methodology to obtain the electronic structure of the cyclic tripeptide RGD-4C …

Metabolomics Analysis Identifies Intestinal Microbiota-Derived Biomarkers Of Colonization Resistance In Clindamycin-Treated Mice, Robin L.P. Jump, Myreen Tomas, Abhishek Deshpande, Curtis J. Donskey

Faculty Scholarship

Background: The intestinal microbiota protect the host against enteric pathogens through a defense mechanism termed colonization resistance. Antibiotics excreted into the intestinal tract may disrupt colonization resistance and alter normal metabolic functions of the microbiota. We used a mouse model to test the hypothesis that alterations in levels of bacterial metabolites in fecal specimens could provide useful biomarkers indicating disrupted or intact colonization resistance after antibiotic treatment. Methods: To assess in vivo colonization resistance, mice were challenged with oral vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus or Clostridium difficile spores at varying time points after treatment with the lincosamide antibiotic clindamycin. For concurrent groups of …

Themes, Doctrine, And Pedagogy In The 2013-2014 National Health Law Moot Court Competition Problem, Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Rakoff Revisited, Roberta S. Karmel

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Integrating Phosphoproteomics In Systems Biology, Yu Liu, Mark R. Chance

Faculty Scholarship

Phosphorylation of serine, threonine and tyrosine plays significant roles in cellular signal transduction and in modifying multiple protein functions. Phosphoproteins are coordinated and regulated by a network of kinases, phosphatases and phospho-binding proteins, which modify the phosphorylation states, recognize unique phosphopeptides, or target proteins for degradation. Detailed and complete information on the structure and dynamics of these networks is required to better understand fundamental mechanisms of cellular proceßes and diseases. High-throughput technologies have been developed to investigate phosphoproteomes in model organisms and human diseases. Among them, maß spectrometry (MS)-based technologies are the major platforms and have been widely applied, which …

On The Effectiveness Of Private Security Guards On Board Merchant Ships Off The Coast Of Somalia -- Where Is The Piracy? What Are The Legal Ramifications?, Barry H. Dubner, Claudia Pastorius

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

On The Effectiveness Of Private Security Guards On Board Merchant Ships Off The Coast Of Somalia -- Where Is The Piracy? What Are The Legal Ramifications?, Barry H. Dubner, Claudia Pastorius

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Consequences For Cleanup: Epa Gets Serious About Weak Watershed Improvement Plans, Rena I. Steinzor, Anne Havemann

Faculty Scholarship

In a landmark series of reports issued on June 26, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put the seven jurisdictions that pollute the Chesapeake Bay on notice that their plans for reducing nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment fall short of where they must be to make cleanup by 2025 a reality. By EPA’s reckoning, Pennsylvania and Delaware were furthest off the mark, but Maryland, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia face EPA action if they fail to substantially improve their plans. Of the seven jurisdictions, only Washington, D.C. escaped serious criticism.

Theory And Reality In Regulating Dispute Resolution (Book Review), Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

Nancy Welsh reviews "Regulating Dispute Resolution: ADR and Access to Justice at the Crossroads"

Of Gangs And Gaggles: Can A Corporation Be Part Of An Association-In-Fact Rico Enterprise? Linguistic, Historical, And Rhetorical Perspectives, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Over 30 years ago, courts of appeals began to hold that the RICO statute’s definition of association-in-fact enterprise is broad enough to include corporations as constituent members, even though that definition states that such an association is limited to a “group of individuals.” This Article demonstrates why these cases were wrongly decided from a variety of perspectives: linguistic, systemic and consequentialist. It also suggests a strategy for correcting this widespread interpretive error and provides evidence that the Supreme Court may be disposed to agree that the lower courts have uniformly erred.

Beyond Tax Credits: Smarter Tax Policy For A Cleaner, More Democratic Energy Future, Felix Mormann

Faculty Scholarship

Solar, wind, and other renewable energy technologies have the potential to mitigate climate change, secure America’s energy independence, and create millions of green jobs. In the absence of a price on carbon emissions, however, these long-term benefits will not be realized without near-term policy support for renewables. This Article assesses the efficiency of federal tax incentives for renewables and proposes policy reform to more cost-effectively promote renewable energy through capital markets and crowdfunding.

Federal support for renewable energy projects today comes primarily in the form of tax incentives such as accelerated depreciation and, critically, tax credits. Empirical evidence reveals that …

How The Nlrb's Light Still Shines On Anti-Discrimination Law Fifty Years After Title Vii, Michael Z. Green

Faculty Scholarship

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Provisions in Title VII of that statute ("Title VII") created a ban on employment discrimination. Title VII specifically establishes that "it shall be unlawful for an employer to fail or refuse to hire, discharge, limit, segregate, classify, or otherwise discriminate against any individual, with respect to wages, privileges, and other terms of employment because of that individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." As the passage of Title VII approaches its fiftieth anniversary, this Article explores what may be thought of as …

Protecting Consumers From Zombie-Debt Collectors, Neil L. Sobol

Faculty Scholarship

By obtaining judgments, or persuading consumers to pay a portion of these debts, acknowledge these debts, or enter into new agreements, collectors can resurrect and enforce dead or non-existent debts. The media has labeled these resurrected debts as "zombie debts." Just as the zombies in movies come back from the dead to terrorize individuals, dead debts may resurface to wreak havoc on consumers. Even if a consumer successfully defeats one zombie-debt collector, the process may restart if the debt is resold.

Legal scholarship has only begun to address zombie-debt issues, and has primarily focused on litigation. However, collectors are often …