Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2012

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 4051 - 4080 of 19099

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Reforming Software Patents, Colleen Chien Aug 2012

Reforming Software Patents, Colleen Chien

Faculty Publications

While many believe the patent system has hit a historic and unprecedented low, discontent with patents, and in particular with software patents, is nothing new. In 1966, a Presidential Commission recommended prohibiting software patents because of the PTO’s inability to vet them. In 1883, the Supreme Court railed against “speculative schemers who make it their business to watch the advancing wave of improvement and gather its foam in the form of patented monopolies, which enable them to lay a heavy tax.” In 1836, the Ruggles Report documented how lax patent standards, “encourag[ed] fraudulent speculators in patent rights, deluging the entire …

Go to article

Transient Expression Of Ova Antigen: Rtb Fusions In Plants For Production Of Improved Subunit Vaccines, Lana Elkins Aug 2012

Transient Expression Of Ova Antigen: Rtb Fusions In Plants For Production Of Improved Subunit Vaccines, Lana Elkins

Student Theses and Dissertations

Plant-based production systems may provide a solution to the safety, cost, and scalability limitations of traditional vaccine production. While subunit vaccines offer several advantages, challenges of low immunogenicity need to be addressed. The nontoxic B subunit of ricin (RTB) may provide a novel platform for effective delivery and immune presentation for subunit vaccines. The RTB lectin binds sugars on the surface of mammalian cells to facilitate uptake/transport of fused antigen. The natural cell trafficking of RTB may allow differential presentation to the two major arms of the animal immune system, antibody- and cell-mediated using an RTB and RTBKDEL fusion vaccine …

Go to article

Investigating The Transcriptional Regulation By Oxyr In Porphyromonas Gingivalis., Anuya R. Paranjape Aug 2012

Investigating The Transcriptional Regulation By Oxyr In Porphyromonas Gingivalis., Anuya R. Paranjape

Theses and Dissertations

Periodontal diseases are bacterially induced, inflammatory diseases which are responsible for loss of alveolar bone and connective tissue supporting the teeth which results in loss of teeth. Gram negative anaerobic bacteria are highly associated with these diseases. One of them is Porphyromonas gingivalis belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes. Infection by P. gingivalis is recurrent after physical removal of the bacteria from the oral cavity and even after antibiotic treatment as development of resistance is not rare. Hence complete understanding the biology of this bacterium is of significance. This gram negative obligate anaerobe, being aerotolerant, manages to survive inside the oral …

Go to article

Bjc Today Aug 2012

Bjc Today

BJC Today

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Loss Of Atm Kinase Activity Leads To Embryonic Lethality In Mice, Jeremy A. Daniel, Manuela Pellegrini, Baeck-Seung Lee, Zhi Guo, Darius Filsuf, Natalya V. Belkina, Zhongsheng You, Tanya T. Paull, Barry P. Sleckman, Lionel Feigenbaum, André Nussenzweig Aug 2012

Loss Of Atm Kinase Activity Leads To Embryonic Lethality In Mice, Jeremy A. Daniel, Manuela Pellegrini, Baeck-Seung Lee, Zhi Guo, Darius Filsuf, Natalya V. Belkina, Zhongsheng You, Tanya T. Paull, Barry P. Sleckman, Lionel Feigenbaum, André Nussenzweig

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

The Disappearing Provision: Medical Liability Reform Vanishes From The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Despite State Court Split, Rafael Andre Roberti Aug 2012

The Disappearing Provision: Medical Liability Reform Vanishes From The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Despite State Court Split, Rafael Andre Roberti

Legislation and Policy Brief

The legal and medical communities have debated the impact and necessity of medical liability reform for over twenty years. At the heart of the debate is the question of how to strike a balance between compensating patients and their families for the thousands of deaths and injuries resulting from medical errors that occur annually, and encouraging physicians to continue to care for patients across America. While several states have passed medical liability reform laws previously, on March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)—colloquially known as the “health care bill”—that contains provisions on medical …

Go to article

Making The Case For Wilderness: The Bureau Of Land Management’S Wild Lands Policy And Its Role In The Storied History Of Wilderness Protection, Maureen O’Dea Brill Aug 2012

Making The Case For Wilderness: The Bureau Of Land Management’S Wild Lands Policy And Its Role In The Storied History Of Wilderness Protection, Maureen O’Dea Brill

Legislation and Policy Brief

On December 23, 2010, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Ken Salazar, issued Secretarial Order No. 3310, commonly referred to as the Wild Lands Policy. The Wild Lands Policy established a two-step process through which the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the Department of the Interior, was to inventory and to manage its lands with wilderness characteristics (LWCs). The policy continued the requirement that the BLM maintain a current inventory of LWCs and evaluate these LWCs during the previously established land use planning process. The Wild Lands Policy further required that the BLM protect LWCs …

Go to article

August 4, 2012 (Pages 4837-5136), Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau Aug 2012

August 4, 2012 (Pages 4837-5136), Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau

Volume 42 (2012)

No abstract provided.

Go to article

A Two-Hundred Year History Of Ornithology, Avian Biology, Bird Watching, And Birding In Kansas (1810–2010), Thomas G. Shane Aug 2012

A Two-Hundred Year History Of Ornithology, Avian Biology, Bird Watching, And Birding In Kansas (1810–2010), Thomas G. Shane

Zea E-Books Collection

The first two centuries of bird study in Kansas essentially can be split into 50 year intervals since Zebulon Pike’s 1810 publication, an account of his explorations. The first 50 years were records of explorers crossing Kansas collecting bird specimens; many were Army doctors. The second half of the 19th Century was a continuation of explorers and those affiliated with museums obtaining bird specimens and the establishment of colleges and universities with faculty members also collecting birds and making observations. The first half of the 20th Century was a period of college faculties primarily composed of vertebrate zoologists who had …

Go to article

Impact Of Salt On Denitrification Potential In Roadside Environments, Nakita A. Lancaster Aug 2012

Impact Of Salt On Denitrification Potential In Roadside Environments, Nakita A. Lancaster

Master's Theses

Urban systems are impacted by changes in hydrology and water chemistry, altering their ability to mitigate detrimental impacts to coastal water bodies, particularly those that result from high volumes of stormwater runoff. The elevated level of impervious cover increases not only runoff but also contaminant loading of nutrients, metals, and road salt used for deicing in cold weather climates. Current stormwater management strategies, while focused on managing the changes in hydrology associated with urbanization, also are designed to mitigate the pollutant loading. Here we investigate the impact that road salt will have on nitrogen removal in roadside environments. Sediments were …

Go to article

Use Of Anticoagulant Rodenticides In Single-Family Neighborhoods Along An Urban-Wildland Interface In California, Monica Bartos, Sylvie Dao, Dale Douk, Stephanie Falzone, Eric Gumerlock, Stephanie Hoekstra, Kaitlin Kelly-Reif, David Mori, Chay Tang, Cassandra Vasquez, Jennifer Ward, Sarah Young, Anita T. Morzillo, Seth P. D. Riley, Travis Longcore Aug 2012

Use Of Anticoagulant Rodenticides In Single-Family Neighborhoods Along An Urban-Wildland Interface In California, Monica Bartos, Sylvie Dao, Dale Douk, Stephanie Falzone, Eric Gumerlock, Stephanie Hoekstra, Kaitlin Kelly-Reif, David Mori, Chay Tang, Cassandra Vasquez, Jennifer Ward, Sarah Young, Anita T. Morzillo, Seth P. D. Riley, Travis Longcore

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Urbanization poses many threats for many wildlife species. In addition to habitat loss and fragmentation, non-target wildlife species are vulnerable to poisoning by rodenticides, especially acutely toxic second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). Although such poisonings are well documented for birds and mammals worldwide, the pathways by which these widely available compounds reach non-target wildlife have not been adequately studied, particularly in urban landscapes. Long-term studies of wild carnivores in and around Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a national park north of Los Angeles, have documented >85% exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides among bobcats, coyotes, and mountain lions. To investigate potential …

Go to article

Staff Council Steering Committee Meeting, 8/3/2012, Unm Staff Council Aug 2012

Staff Council Steering Committee Meeting, 8/3/2012, Unm Staff Council

UNM Staff Council

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Bacterial Virulence Factor And Host Stress-Response Kinase, Niraj Shrestha Aug 2012

Bacterial Virulence Factor And Host Stress-Response Kinase, Niraj Shrestha

Open Access Dissertations

Animals possess several different defense mechanisms to resist microbial infection. These defense mechanisms have different signaling pathway and receptors. Pathogens have also evolved different mechanisms to act against such defense mechanisms of the host. Previously we observed that in a yeast-based model, the activities of the Yersinia protein-kinase A (YpkA) and outer- protein J (YopJ) virulence factors converge on the eIF2α kinase Hri2. This pathway, eIF2α signaling, has been well characterized for regulation of global protein synthesis and to facilitate this function, in case of stress, four kinases are present in mammalian cells (GCN2, PERK, PKR and HRI). Out of …

Go to article

The Role Of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling In The Regulation Of Muscle Wasting And Cancer Cachexia, Rui Zhan Aug 2012

The Role Of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling In The Regulation Of Muscle Wasting And Cancer Cachexia, Rui Zhan

Open Access Dissertations

Cancer cachexia, defined by severe weight loss with inflammation, is responsible for one third of all cancer deaths. Inflammatory cytokines have been linked to muscle atrophy in cancer cachexia, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are still not fully understood. Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling is known to regulate embryonic muscle development and muscle regeneration. We show here, in vitro and in vivo, that cancer and cancer-related cytokines functionally activated Shh signaling in muscle cells. Activation or inhibition of Shh signaling led to muscle atrophy or muscle hypertrophy, respectively. Mechanistically, Shh signaling promoted self-renewal of selected myogenic progenitors in atrophied muscle, preventing …

Go to article

The Social Identity Of Wales In Question: An Analysis Of Culture, Language, And Identity In Cardiff, Bangor, And Aberystwyth, Clara Martinez Aug 2012

The Social Identity Of Wales In Question: An Analysis Of Culture, Language, And Identity In Cardiff, Bangor, And Aberystwyth, Clara Martinez

Fulbright Grantee Projects

The Fulbright Commission Wales Summer Institute is a six-week cultural and academic program held at three internationally renowned universities: Cardiff University, Bangor University, and Aberystwyth University. This reflective journal portfolio, completed as part of the academic coursework, shares Martinez's personal experience as a participant in the program. Composed in a style that offers a balance between academic and reflective writing, the journal entries focus on a specific theme: the social identity of Welsh people.

Go to article

"Mapuche Conflict" Flares Up In Chile's Araucanía Region, Benjamin Witte-Lebhar Aug 2012

"Mapuche Conflict" Flares Up In Chile's Araucanía Region, Benjamin Witte-Lebhar

NotiEn: An Analytical Digest About Energy Issues in Latin America

A flurry of arson attacks, land occupations, and violent police raids have refocused public attention on Chile's longsimmering "Mapuche conflict," which is once again showing signs of boiling over. Sonamed for the involvement of ethnic Mapuches, Chile's largest indigenous group, the conflict also involves nonMapuche farmers and rural business magnates, as well as heavily armed carabineros [uniformed police], which maintain a constant presence in and around certain 'hotspot' communities in the Biobío and Araucanía regions. Fueling tensions are issues of poverty, land ownership, and racism.

Go to article

"Mapuche Conflict" Flares Up In Chile’S Araucanã­A Region, Benjamin Witte-Lebhar Aug 2012

"Mapuche Conflict" Flares Up In Chile’S Araucanã­A Region, Benjamin Witte-Lebhar

NotiSur

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Sims V. Daker Respondent's Brief Dckt. 39760 Aug 2012

Sims V. Daker Respondent's Brief Dckt. 39760

Idaho Supreme Court Records & Briefs, All

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Impacts Of Climate Variability And Human Colonization On The Vegetation Of The Gala´Pagos Islands, Alejandra Restrepo, Paul A. Colinvaux, Mark B. Bush, Alexander Correa-Metrio, Jessica L. Conroy, Mark R. Gardener, Patricia Jaramillo, Miriam Steinitz-Kannan, Jonathan T. Overpeck Aug 2012

Impacts Of Climate Variability And Human Colonization On The Vegetation Of The Gala´Pagos Islands, Alejandra Restrepo, Paul A. Colinvaux, Mark B. Bush, Alexander Correa-Metrio, Jessica L. Conroy, Mark R. Gardener, Patricia Jaramillo, Miriam Steinitz-Kannan, Jonathan T. Overpeck

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

A high-resolution (2-9 year sampling interval) fossil pollen record from the Galapagos Islands, which spans the last 2690 years, reveals considerable ecosystem stability. Vegetation changes associated with independently derived histories of El Niño Southern Oscillation variability provided evidence of shifts in the relative abundance of individual species rather than immigration or extinction. Droughts associated with the Medieval Climate Anomaly induced rapid ecological change that was followed by a reversion to the previous state. The paleoecological data suggested nonneutral responses to climatic forcing in this ecosystem prior to the period of human influence. Human impacts on the islands are evident in …

Go to article

Modeling The Resistance To Hydrostatic Pressures For Superhydrophobic Coatings With Random Roughness, Thomas Michael Bucher Jr. Aug 2012

Modeling The Resistance To Hydrostatic Pressures For Superhydrophobic Coatings With Random Roughness, Thomas Michael Bucher Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

A superhydrophobic coating can be produced using a hydrophobic material textured with surface roughness on the micro-/nano-scale. Such a coating on the outside of a submersible body may result in reduced skin-friction drag due to a trapped layer of air in the coating. However, this layer may become unstable when subjected to elevated hydrostatic pressures, and a coating’s performance is compromised beyond a certain threshold (critical pressure). This thesis presents a numerical model for predicting the pressure tolerances of superhydrophobic coatings comprised of randomly deposited hydrophobic particles or fibers. We have also derived a set of force-balance-based analytical equations for …

Go to article

An Analysis Of Productivity Gaps Among Smallholder Groundnut Farmers In Uganda And Kenya, Cresensia Asekenye Aug 2012

An Analysis Of Productivity Gaps Among Smallholder Groundnut Farmers In Uganda And Kenya, Cresensia Asekenye

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Fine-Scale Habitat Use Of Reintroduced Black-Footed Ferrets On Prairie Dog Colonies In New Mexico, Jennifer G. Chipault, Dean E. Biggins, James K. Detling, Dustin H. Long, Robin M. Reich Aug 2012

Fine-Scale Habitat Use Of Reintroduced Black-Footed Ferrets On Prairie Dog Colonies In New Mexico, Jennifer G. Chipault, Dean E. Biggins, James K. Detling, Dustin H. Long, Robin M. Reich

Western North American Naturalist

Black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) are among the most endangered animals in North America. Reintroductions of captive-born ferrets onto prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) colonies are crucial to the conservation of the species. In September 2007, captive-born ferrets were released on a black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colony at the Vermejo Park Ranch, New Mexico. Ferret kits experimentally released in areas of comparatively low and high prairie dog burrow densities were located via spotlight surveys. Some maturing ferret kits were subsequently translocated to areas of low and high burrow densities on nearby prairie dog colonies. For 2 …

Go to article

Information On Black-Footed Ferret Biology Collected Within The Framework Of Ferret Conservation, Dean E. Biggins Aug 2012

Information On Black-Footed Ferret Biology Collected Within The Framework Of Ferret Conservation, Dean E. Biggins

Western North American Naturalist

Once feared to be extinct, black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) were rediscovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming, in 1981, resulting in renewed conservation and research efforts for this highly endangered species. A need for information directly useful to recovery has motivated much monitoring of ferrets since that time, but field activities have enabled collection of data relevant to broader biological themes. This special feature is placed in a context of similar books and proceedings devoted to ferret biology and conservation. Articles include general observations on ferrets, modeling of potential impacts of ferrets on prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), discussions on relationships …

Go to article

Digging Behaviors Of Radio-Tagged Black-Footed Ferrets Near Meeteetse, Wyoming, 1981–1984, Dean E. Biggins, Louis R. Hanebury, Kathleen A. Fagerstone Aug 2012

Digging Behaviors Of Radio-Tagged Black-Footed Ferrets Near Meeteetse, Wyoming, 1981–1984, Dean E. Biggins, Louis R. Hanebury, Kathleen A. Fagerstone

Western North American Naturalist

Intensive radio-tracking during August–December enabled us to collect detailed information on digging behaviors of a small sample of black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) occupying colonies of white-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys leucurus). A sample of 33 prairie dogs, also radio-tagged, progressively ceased aboveground activity during late summer and fall, presumably as they descended into burrows to hibernate. Most of the time ferrets spent digging was in November–December when >95% of the radio-tagged prairie dogs were inactive, suggesting that digging was primarily to excavate hibernating prey. Although 43.9% of the burrow openings were estimated to be in large mounds, …

Go to article

Importance Of Lunar And Temporal Conditions For Spotlight Surveys Of Adult Black-Footed Ferrets, David A. Eads, David S. Jachowski, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Dean E. Biggins Aug 2012

Importance Of Lunar And Temporal Conditions For Spotlight Surveys Of Adult Black-Footed Ferrets, David A. Eads, David S. Jachowski, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Dean E. Biggins

Western North American Naturalist

Black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) spend most daylight hours underground in prairie dog (Cynomys) burrows and exhibit aboveground movements primarily at night. Moonlight can influence the activity patterns of ferrets and, consequently, might influence the efficiency of spotlight surveys used by biologists to monitor ferret populations. We related detection of adult ferrets during postbreeding spotlight surveys to lunar and temporal conditions. We most frequently located ferrets during surveys in which the moon breached the horizon. The data suggested intersexual differences in response to moonlight. We located male ferrets most frequently during nights with greater moon illumination, but …

Go to article

Resource Selection Models Are Useful In Predicting Fine-Scale Distributions Of Black-Footed Ferrets In Prairie Dog Colonies, David A. Eads, David S. Jachowski, Dean E. Biggins, Travis M. Livieri, Marc R. Matchett, Joshua J. Millspaugh Aug 2012

Resource Selection Models Are Useful In Predicting Fine-Scale Distributions Of Black-Footed Ferrets In Prairie Dog Colonies, David A. Eads, David S. Jachowski, Dean E. Biggins, Travis M. Livieri, Marc R. Matchett, Joshua J. Millspaugh

Western North American Naturalist

Wildlife-habitat relationships are often conceptualized as resource selection functions (RSFs)—models increasingly used to estimate species distributions and prioritize habitat conservation. We evaluated the predictive capabilities of 2 black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) RSFs developed on a 452-ha colony of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) in the Conata Basin, South Dakota. We used the RSFs to project the relative probability of occurrence of ferrets throughout an adjacent 227-ha colony. We evaluated performance of the RSFs using ferret space use data collected via postbreeding spotlight surveys June–October 2005–2006. In home ranges and core areas, ferrets selected the predicted “very …

Go to article

Challenges To Black-Footed Ferret Recovery: Protecting Prairie Dogs, Brian Miller, Richard P. Reading Aug 2012

Challenges To Black-Footed Ferret Recovery: Protecting Prairie Dogs, Brian Miller, Richard P. Reading

Western North American Naturalist

The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) recovery program is an example of single-species management to preserve flora and fauna. We argue that conservationists must move beyond that approach for success. In 1988, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a down-listing goal of 1500 adult black-footed ferrets in 10 wild populations by 2010. The recovery program has only reached 23% of that goal. The overriding reason is the lack of regulatory mechanisms for poisoning and shooting prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) and our inability to control occurrence of plague (Yersinia pestis) in prairie dogs. We propose that …

Go to article

Effects Of Invasion By The Common Reed (Phragmites Australis) On Carbon Transformations In A Great Lakes Marsh, Shawn Trevor Duke Aug 2012

Effects Of Invasion By The Common Reed (Phragmites Australis) On Carbon Transformations In A Great Lakes Marsh, Shawn Trevor Duke

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The common reed (Phragmites australis) is a highly productive invasive grass that alters the wetland physiochemical environment and produces toxic secondary metabolites. Plant litter decomposition, effects of water level on soil microbes, and soil microbial response to leachate additions were investigated in Phragmites invaded and pre-invaded Typha sites. Less litter mass was lost from Phragmites than Typha in both sites during the initial 144 days. Annual mass loss from both species’ litter was greater in the Phragmites site. Lower water levels resulted in greater CO2 than CH4 production in both Phragmites and Typha soils. Higher water …

Go to article

The Role Of Individual Behavior Type In Mediating Indirect Interactions, Blaine D. Griffen, Benjamin J. Toscano, John Gatto Aug 2012

The Role Of Individual Behavior Type In Mediating Indirect Interactions, Blaine D. Griffen, Benjamin J. Toscano, John Gatto

Faculty Publications

Trait-mediated indirect interactions (TMII) play an important role in structuring natural communities, and numerous studies have experimentally demonstrated their presence in a variety of systems. However, these studies have largely examined the presence or absence of traits that are responsible for these interactions, without considering natural variation between individuals in the extent to which these traits are manifested. We used a well-documented TMII to investigate the importance of individual behavior type for determining the strength of the TMII. The toadfish Opsanus tau has an indirect positive influence on bivalve survival because the mud crab Panopeus herbstii, a consumer of bivalves, …

Go to article

Essential Spawning Habitat For Atlantic Sturgeon In The James River, Virginia., Geoffrey Austin Aug 2012

Essential Spawning Habitat For Atlantic Sturgeon In The James River, Virginia., Geoffrey Austin

Theses and Dissertations

Substrate composition plays a critical role in determining the spawning success of Atlantic sturgeon. A benthic analysis of the tidal freshwater portion of the James River, Virginia, was performed to locate and protect remaining sturgeon spawning habitat within the James River system. I modeled structural habitat, substrate distribution, and river bathymetry from Richmond, Virginia to the Appomattox River confluence. A classification model was developed to describe the dominant substrate type (mud/silt, sand, gravel, bedrock) using side scan sonar data collected from August 2011-Febuary 2012. River depth, bottom imagery, substrate density (hardness), and ground truth substrate samples were interpolated into a …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last