Digital Commons Network^™

Arsenic As An Endocrine Disruptor: Arsenic Disrupts Retinoic Acid Receptor–And Thyroid Hormone Receptor–Mediated Gene Regulation And Thyroid Hormone–Mediated Amphibian Tail Metamorphosis, Jennifer C. Davey, Athena P. Nomikos, Manida Wungjiranirun, Jenna R. Sherman, Liam Ingram, Cavus Batki, Jean P. Lariviere, Joshua W. Hamilton

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background:

Chronic exposure to excess arsenic in drinking water has been strongly associated with increased risks of multiple cancers, diabetes, heart disease, and reproductive and developmental problems in humans. We previously demonstrated that As, a potent endocrine disruptor at low, environmentally relevant levels, alters steroid signaling at the level of receptor-mediated gene regulation for all five steroid receptors.

Objectives:

The goal of this study was to determine whether As can also disrupt gene regulation via the retinoic acid (RA) receptor (RAR) and/or the thyroid hormone (TH) receptor (TR) and whether these effects are similar to previously observed effects on steroid …

Climate Change And The Endangered Species Act: Building Bridges To The No-Analog Future, J.B. Ruhl

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article examines the challenges global climate change presents for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and its primary administrative agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Climate change will reshuffle ecological systems in ways that will defy prediction using existing knowledge and models, posing threats to species through primary and secondary ecological effects and the effects of human adaptation to climate change. Even assuming global-wide regulation of greenhouse gas emissions eventually yields a more stable climate variation regime, it will differ from the recent historical regime and many species will not survive the transition regardless of human interventions using …

Focal White Matter Changes In Spasmodic Dysphonia: A Combined Diffusion Tensor Imaging And Neuropathological Study, Kristina Simonyan, Fernanda Tovar-Moll, John Ostuni, Mark Hallett, Victor F Kalasinsky, Michael R Lewin-Smith, Elisabeth J Rushing, Alexander O Vortmeyer, Christy L Ludlow

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary spasms in the laryngeal muscles during speech production. Although the clinical symptoms are well characterized, the pathophysiology of this voice disorder is unknown. We describe here, for the first time to our knowledge, disorder-specific brain abnormalities in these patients as determined by a combined approach of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and postmortem histopathology. We used DTI to identify brain changes and to target those brain regions for neuropathological examination. DTI showed right-sided decrease of fractional anisotropy in the genu of the internal capsule and bilateral increase of overall water diffusivity in …

Evaluating The Relationship Among Clinical Measures Of Working Memory, Benjamin L. Giesbrecht

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Working memory is a construct that has received considerable attention and undergone significant theoretical evolution in the past 35 years. Nevertheless, agreement upon a definition of the concept has not occurred. Contributing to this disagreement are the many ways the concept is operationalized, as is evidenced across various standardized tests that purport to measure working memory. The present study examined this relationship among the working memory component of popular cognitive tests, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Third Edition, Wechsler Memory Scale -Third Edition, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale - Fifth Edition, and the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning - …

Abeta42 Mutants With Different Aggregation Profiles Induce Distinct Pathologies In Drosophila., Koichi Iijima, Hsueh-Cheng Chiang, Stephen A Hearn, Inessa Hakker, Anthony Gatt, Christopher Shenton, Linda Granger, Amy Leung, Kanae Iijima-Ando, Yi Zhong

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Aggregation of the amyloid-beta-42 (Abeta42) peptide in the brain parenchyma is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the prevention of Abeta aggregation has been proposed as a therapeutic intervention in AD. However, recent reports indicate that Abeta can form several different prefibrillar and fibrillar aggregates and that each aggregate may confer different pathogenic effects, suggesting that manipulation of Abeta42 aggregation may not only quantitatively but also qualitatively modify brain pathology. Here, we compare the pathogenicity of human Abeta42 mutants with differing tendencies to aggregate. We examined the aggregation-prone, EOFAD-related Arctic mutation (Abeta42Arc) and an artificial mutation (Abeta42art) that …

Genetic, Ecological, Behavioral And Geographic Differentiation Of Populations In A Thistle Weevil: Implications For Speciation And Biocontrol, I Olivieri, Mc Singer, S Magalhães, A Courtiol, Et Al

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Because weevils are used as biocontrol agents against thistles, it is important to document and understand host shifts and the evolution of host-specificity in these insects. Furthermore, such host shifts are of fundamental interest to mechanisms of speciation. The mediterranean weevil Larinus cynarae normally parasitizes either one of two thistle genera, Onopordum and Cynara, being locally monophagous. In Sardinia, however, both host genera are used. We used three types of data to help understand this complex host use: (i) weevil attack rates on the two host genera among 53 different populations in Sardinia and nearby Corsica, (ii) host preference in …

Neural Correlates Of Auditory Processing, Learning And Memory Formation In Songbirds, Raphael Pinaud, Thomas A. Terleph, Ryan D. Wynne, Liisa A. Tremere

Biology Faculty Publications

Songbirds have emerged as powerful experimental models for the study of auditory processing of complex natural communication signals. Intact hearing is necessary for several behaviors in developing and adult animals including vocal learning, territorial defense, mate selection and individual recognition. These behaviors are thought to require the processing, discrimination and memorization of songs. Although much is known about the brain circuits that participate in sensorimotor (auditory-vocal) integration, especially the “songcontrol” system, less is known about the anatomical and functional organization of central auditory pathways. Here we discuss findings associated with a telencephalic auditory area known as the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM). …

Race And Redemption: Racial And Ethnic Evolution In Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy, Peter Staudenmaier

History Faculty Research and Publications

With its origins in modern Theosophy, Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy is built around a racial view of human nature arranged in a hierarchical framework. This article examines the details of the Anthroposophical theory of cosmic and individual redemption and draws out the characteristic assumptions about racial and ethnic difference that underlie it. Particular attention is given to textual sources unavailable in English, which reveal the specific features of Steiner’s account of “race evolution” and “soul evolution.” Placing Steiner’s worldview in its historical and ideological context, the article highlights the contours of racial thinking within a prominent alternative spiritual movement and delineates …

Precipitating Factors And The Outcome Of Hepatic Encephalopathy In Liver Cirrhosis., Dileep K. Rohra, Jaipal, Ameer A. Khowaja, Khalid Mahmood, Kanya Lal Ahuja

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Montana Kaimin, February 1, 2008, Students Of The University Of Montana, Missoula

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

Aging And Inflammation In Two Epidemiological Worlds, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jeffrey Winking, Caleb Finch, Eileen M. Crimmins

ESI Publications

Humans evolved in a world with high levels of infection resulting in high mortality across the life span and few survivors to advanced ages. Under such conditions, a strong acute-phase inflammatory response was required for survival; however, inflammatory responses can also promote chronic diseases of aging. We hypothesize that global historical increases in life span at older ages are partly explained by reduced lifetime exposure to infection and subsequent inflammation. To begin a test of this hypothesis, we compare C-reactive protein (CRP); levels in two populations with different epidemiological environments: the Tsimane of Bolivia and persons in the United States. …

Bifidobacteria In Feces And Environmental Waters, Regina Lamendella, Jorge W. Santo Domingo, Catherine A. Kelty, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bifidobacteria have been recommended as potential indicators of human fecal pollution in surface waters even though very little is known about their presence in nonhuman fecal sources. The objective of this research was to shed light on the occurrence and molecular diversity of this fecal indicator group in different animals and environmental waters. Genus- and species-specific 16S rRNA gene PCR assays were used to study the presence of bifidobacteria among 269 fecal DNA extracts from 32 different animals. Twelve samples from three wastewater treatment plants and 34 water samples from two fecally impacted watersheds were also tested. The species-specific assays …

The Link, Vol. 2, No. 2, February 2008, Illinois State University, Center For Teaching, Learning, And Technology

The Link

Newsletter for the Illinois State University Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology

February 1, 2008, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

University Of San Diego Women's Rowing Media Guide 2008, University Of San Diego Athletics Department

Rowing (Women)

20 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 21.5 x 28 cm

Response To Hefce’S Consultation On The Assessment And Funding Of Higher Education Research Post-2008, A Smith, A Dell, D Edwards, J Hall-Spencer, A Hopper, R Jones, C Lazzeroni, J Skinner, P Wadler

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Risk Of Insect-Resistant Transgenic Crops To Nontarget Arthropods, Jörg Romeis, Detlef Bartsch, Franz Bigler, Marco P. Candolfi

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

An international initiative is developing a scientifically rigorous approach to evaluate the potential risks to nontarget arthropods (NTAs) posed by insect-resistant, genetically modified (IRGM) crops. It adapts the tiered approach to risk assessment that is used internationally within regulatory toxicology and environmental sciences. The approach focuses on the formulation and testing of clearly stated risk hypotheses, making maximum use of available data and using formal decision guidelines to progress between testing stages (or tiers). It is intended to provide guidance to regulatory agencies that are currently developing their own NTA risk assessment guidelines for IRGM crops and to help harmonize …

Fibulin-2 Is Dispensable For Mouse Development And Elastic Fiber Formation, Francois-Xavier Sicot, Takeshi Tsuda, Dessislava Markova, John Klement, Machiko Arita, Rui-Zhu Zhang, Te-Cheng Pan, Robert P. Mecham, David E. Birk, Mon-Li Chu

Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Faculty Papers

Fibulin-2 is an extracellular matrix protein belonging to the five-member fibulin family, of which two members have been shown to play essential roles in elastic fiber formation during development. Fibulin-2 interacts with two major constituents of elastic fibers, tropoelastin and fibrillin-1, in vitro and localizes to elastic fibers in many tissues in vivo. The protein is prominently expressed during morphogenesis of the heart and aortic arch vessels and at early stages of cartilage development. To examine its role in vivo, we generated mice that do not express the fibulin-2 gene (Fbln2) through homologous recombination of embryonic stem cells. Unexpectedly, the …

Relax! It's Just A Dandelion: Perceived Benefits And Barriers To Urban Integrated Pest Management, Mrill Ingram, John Stier, Elizabeth Bird

Journal of Extension

Pesticide misuse in urban gardens contributes to pollution of lakes and rivers, ill health of humans and other organisms, and disruptions of ecological balances. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been successfully used in agriculture for over 20 years, but its adoption by landscaping professionals has been slow. The 2-year project described here undertook baseline research into attitudes about IPM in the Lake Monona watershed, Wisconsin. Resulting data led to a social marketing strategy including prototype materials to assist professional landscapers in discussing IPM with clients. Materials were piloted on a Web site and with watershed groups.

Development Of A Three Dimensional Prolapse Model To Simulate Physiological Haemodynamics In A Stented Coronary Artery, Jonathan Murphy, Fergal Boyle

Conference Papers

Coronary stent implantation can improve blood flow in an artery that has been narrowed by the build up of arterial plaque. However, the haemodynamic effect of stent placement is unclear and may influence arterial restenosis (re-blockage). The degree of tissue prolapse between stent struts may be an important factor in predicting the restenosis rate of a stent due to the haemodynamic influence of the protruding tissue. In this paper a mathematical model has been developed to numerically predict the tissue prolapse for an artery implanted with a coronary stent. The prolapse model has been applied to the Gianturco-Roubin II (GR-II) …

Jeremy Waldron And The Philosopher's Stone, James Allan

San Diego Law Review

The author considers Jeremy Waldron's argument in favour of referring to, and on occasion perhaps even deferring to, foreign law. Waldron rests his argument on an analogy to how science works. The author argues this analogy is flawed. Indeed the author argues that Waldron's position on this issue is inconsistent with his earlier writings on the undesirability of strong judicial review under an entrenched bill of rights.

Speak No Evil: Circumventing Chinese Censorship, Jennifer Shyu

San Diego Law Review

This Comment will focus on the issue of the role of American corporations in enforcing Chinese censorship law. In the hands of the Chinese government, the increased freedom of speech granted by the Internet and brought to China via American corporations is curtailed by state-sponsored censorship. To do business in China, American companies must comply with Chinese Internet censorship laws, yet these very laws not only restrain the freedom of speech of Chinese citizens but also subject offenders to the whim of the Chinese secret police. As accurately stated in the hearing, Yahoo! aided China in arresting at least two …

The Role Of Sr²⁺ On The Structure And Reactivity Of Sro-Cao-Zno-Sio2 Ionomer Glasses, Daniel Boyd, Mark R. Towler, Sally Watts, Robert G. Hill, Anthony W. Wren, Owen M. Clarkin

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The suitability of Glass Polyalkenoate Cements (GPCs) for use in orthopaedics is retarded by the presence in the glass phase of aluminum, a neurotoxin. Unfortunately, the aluminum ion plays an integral role in the setting process of GPCs and its absence is likely to hinder cement formation. However, the authors have previously shown that aluminum free GPCs may be formulated based on calcium zinc silicate glasses and these novel materials exhibit significant potential as hard tissue biomaterials. To further improve their potential and given that Strontium (Sr) based drugs have had success in the treatment of osteoporosis, the authors have …

Tem Analysis Of Apatite Surface Layers Observed On Zinc Based Glass Polyalkenoate Cements, D. Boyd, Mark R. Towler, A. W. Wren, O. M. Clarkin, D. A. Tanner

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The amorphous nature and composition of the surface apatite layers observed on glass polyalkenoate cements based on zinc silicate glasses (Zn-GPCs) after immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) have been analyzed by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM was conducted using a JEOL JEM-2011 electron microscope operated at an accelerating voltage of 200 kV. The composition elements of the surface layer indicated the presence of calcium, phosphorous, zinc, and strontium within the amorphous structure. This composition, in particular the inclusion of Zn in the structure, indicates the lack of crystallinity associated with the formation of the apatite layers observed on …

Public Perceptions On The Ideal Balance Between Natural Resource Protection And Use In The Western Usa, Robert L. Mahler, Bahman Shafii, Steven Hollenhorst, Barbara J. Andersen

Journal of Extension

Attitudes of Western residents of the USA toward natural resources have been changing due to changes in demographics and rapid population growth in the region. The objective of the study reported here was to determine how residents in 15 Western states view the balance between natural resource exploitation and protection. In general, natural resource protection was more important than resource use for people having the following demographic characteristics: (1) female, (2) younger than 60, (3) more formally educated, and (4) residing in communities larger than 25,000.

Medulloblastomas Overexpress The P53-Inactivating Oncogene Wip1/Ppm1d, Robert C. Castellino, Massimiliano De Bortoli, Xiongbin Lu, Sung-Hwan Moon, Thuy-Ai Nguyen, Mark A. Shepard, Pulivarthi H. Rao, Lawrence A. Donehower, John Y H Kim

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood. Despite numerous advances, clinical challenges range from recurrent and progressive disease to long-term toxicities in survivors. The lack of more effective, less toxic therapies results from our limited understanding of medulloblastoma growth. Although TP53 is the most commonly altered gene in cancers, it is rarely mutated in medulloblastoma. Accumulating evidence, however, indicates that TP53 pathways are disrupted in medulloblastoma. Wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 (WIP1 or PPM1D) encodes a negative regulator of p53. WIP1 amplification (17q22-q23) and its overexpression have been reported in diverse cancer types. We examined primary medulloblastoma specimens …

Dissociation Predicts Later Attention Problems In Sexually Abused Children, Julie B Kaplow, Erin Hall, Karestan C Koenen, Kenneth A Dodge, Lisa Amaya-Jackson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: The goals of this research are to develop and test a prospective model of attention problems in sexually abused children that includes fixed variables (e.g., gender), trauma, and disclosure-related pathways.

METHODS: At Time 1, fixed variables, trauma variables, and stress reactions upon disclosure were assessed in 156 children aged 8-13 years. At the Time 2 follow-up (8-36 months following the initial interview), 56 of the children were assessed for attention problems.

RESULTS: A path analysis involving a series of hierarchically nested, ordinary least squares multiple regression analyses indicated two direct paths to attention problems including the child's relationship to …

Multimodal Breast Imaging: Registration, Visualization, And Image Synthesis, Karl Baum

Theses

The benefit of registration and fusion of functional images with anatomical images is well appreciated in the advent of combined positron emission tomography and x-ray computed tomography scanners (PET/CT). This is especially true in breast cancer imaging, where modalities such as high-resolution and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and F-18-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) have steadily gained acceptance in addition to x-ray mammography, the primary detection tool. The increased interest in combined PET/MRI images has facilitated the demand for appropriate registration and fusion algorithms. A new approach to MRI-to-PET non-rigid breast image registration was developed and evaluated based on …

The Yin And Yang Of Fcγ Receptors In Itp, Steven E. Mckenzie

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

The Fcγ receptors contribute to the susceptibility to autoimmune diseases such as ITP in several ways: (1) they modulate dendritic cell antigen processing and presentation, (2) they modulate antibody production by B cells, and (3) they participate in effector cell functions, such as phagocytosis, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, and mediator release. The key finding in recent years has been the appreciation that the activating Fcγ receptors, encoded by FCGR2A, -2C, -3A, and -3B, compete with the inhibitory Fcγ receptor, encoded by FCGR2B, to determine cellular responses to immune complexes and antibody-coated cells.

Discrete Sums For The Rapid Determination Of Exponential Decay Constants, Michael A. Everest, Dean B. Atkinson

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Several computational methods are presented for the rapid extraction of decay time constants from discrete exponential data. Two methods are found to be comparably fast and highly accurate. They are corrected successive integration and a method involving the Fourier transform (FT) of the data and the application of an expression that does not assume continuous data. FT methods in the literature are found to introduce significant systematic error owing to the assumption that data are continuous. Corrected successive integration methods in the literature are correct, but we offer a more direct way of applying them which we call linear regression …