Digital Commons Network^™

Powering The Tap Dry: Regulatory Alternatives For The Energy-Water Nexus, Amy Hardberger

Faculty Articles

Water and energy are indivisibly linked and interwoven into every aspect of our culture and lifestyle. Large quantities of water are required to generate energy, and energy is required at all stages of the water supply process. Population growth and corresponding demand create significant community consequences including energy blackouts and water shortages. In order to help avoid these unintended consequences, appropriate planning must be done on the local, state, and federal level.

A critical first step in achieving better sustainability is understanding the quantifying relationship between energy and water. This relationship needs to be recognized by both the power and …

The Barriers And Route To Texas School Finance Equity, Albert H. Kauffman

Faculty Articles

Every student in Texas public schools deserves to have the same resources devoted to her public education, taking into full consideration the special needs of the child and the district in which she attends school. Alternatively, every student deserves to attend school in a school district that can offer the same resources at any tax rate as any other district in the state, taking into consideration the special needs of the district and the students attending school in the district. These are both classic equity standards. The student-focused standard is described as “student equity” and the district-focused standard is described …

Why Is Property So Hard?, Chad J. Pomeroy

Faculty Articles

This paper seeks to flesh out the heterogeneity and inherent difficulty of property law and to analyze it in depth. Part I begins this examination by setting up a taxonomy for property law and then describing the heterogeneity inherent in that context and the costs associated with that variability. Real estate law has continually evolved throughout American history — changing from a small, local business to a large, national one, spanning jurisdictional lines and limits — and it is the haphazard and varied nature of this evolution that has created this difficulty and cost. This is notable when contrasted with …

Friend Or Foe: The Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause In Post-Conviction Formal Revocation Proceedings, Esther K. Hong

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Eminent Domain - Texas Supreme Court Requires Common Carrier Pipeline Companies To Demonstrate Reasonable Expectation Of Future Public, Sam Pinkston

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Unbearable Whiteness Of Abc: The First Amendment, Diversity, And Reality Television In The Wake Of Claybrooks V. Abc, Sarah Honeycutt

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Nucleosome Remodeling And Histone Deacetylase (Nurd) Complex In Fetal Γ-Globin Expression, Maria Amaya

Theses and Dissertations

An understanding of the human fetal to adult hemoglobin switch offers the potential to ameliorate β-type globin gene disorders such as sickle cell anemia and β-thalassemia through activation of the fetal γ-globin gene. Chromatin modifying complexes, including MBD2-NuRD and GATA-1/FOG-1/NuRD play a role in γ-globin gene silencing, and Mi2β (CHD4) is a critical component of NuRD complexes. In the studies presented in Chapter 2, we observed that the absence of MBD2 in a sickle cell mouse model leads to a decrease in the number of sickled cells observed in the peripheral blood, and significantly increases survival in these mice. Although …

Hormone Epimers Regulate Er Stress And Core Regulatory Genes: Network Analysis With Applications To Glioma And Chronic Pressure Ulcers, Thomas L. Shaak

Theses and Dissertations

DHEA has been determined to have medically significant activity and is the parent compound to the more active metabolites; 17α-AED, 17β-AED and 17β-AET, which exhibit strong biological activity that has been attributed to androgenic, estrogenic or anti-glucocorticoid activity in vivo and in vitro. This study compared DHEA, 17α-AED, 17β-AED and 17β-AET for their ability to activate the human AR, ER and GR receptors and determine the relative androgenicity, estrogenicity and glucocorticoid activity. The results show that, at the receptor level, these androstene hormones are weak AR and even weaker ER activators. Direct androstene hormone activation of the human AR, ERα, …

The Metabolic Transitions Regulated By The Estrogen-Related Receptor (Err) In Drosophila Melanogaster, Yan Li

Theses and Dissertations

In multicellular organism, bioenergetic metabolism is strictly regulated toward efficient generation of ATP. However, in certain situations, such as in limiting oxygen or in the rapidly proliferating system like growing juvenile or cancer cells, organisms apply the metabolic strategy that favors the production of biomass (e.g., nucleotides, amino acids, and lipids) over efficiency of ATP generation. The conserved estrogen-related receptors (ERRs) are master regulators in controlling metabolic homeostasis, and good candidates for mediating the metabolic transition induced by hypoxia and development. First, we investigate how dERR influences hypoxic adaptation in Drosophila melanogaster. We find that dERR is required for a …

Distinguished Brief: People Of The State Of Michigan V. David Mark Cole, J.J. Prescott, Mirian J. Aukerman, Michael J. Steinberg, Kary Moss, John Minock

Articles

This amicus brief on behalf of the Criminal Defense Lawyers of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan argues that defendants accused of first- or second-degree criminal sexual conduct in Michigan must be made aware that pleading guilty will result in mandatory, lifetime electronic monitoring after their release in order for any plea to be valid under Michigan law and the U.S. Constitution. To be lawful, guilty pleas must be knowing and voluntary, which requires that defendants be informed of any punishment that would be a direct consequence of their guilty plea. Lifetime electronic monitoring is a …

Costly Mistakes: Undertaxed Business Owners And Overtaxed Workers, Mary Louise Fellows, Lily Khang

Articles

This Article advocates fundamental changes in the federal income tax base by systematically challenging conventional understandings of consumption and investment. As signaled by its title, “Costly Mistakes,” this Article's thesis has to do with the disparate treatment of expenditures incurred by business owners and workers. Where the current tax law treats a business owner's expenditure as investment, the Article sometimes finds consumption and questions why the law should allow the expenditure to be deducted. Where the tax law treats a worker's expenditure as consumption, the Article sometimes finds investment and questions why the law does not allow at least a …

Erie's Starting Points: The Potential Role Of Default Rules In Structuring Choice Of Law Analysis, Allan Erbsen

Articles

This contribution to a symposium marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of Erie Railroad Company v. Tompkins is part of a larger project in which I seek to demystify a decision that has enchanted, entangled, and enervated commentators for decades. In prior work I contended that the “Erie doctrine” is a misleading label encompassing four distinct inquiries that address the creation, interpretation, and prioritization of federal law and the adoption of state law when federal law is inapplicable. This article builds from that premise to argue that courts pursuing Erie’s four inquiries would benefit from default rules that establish initial assumptions and …

Rethinking Critical Mass In The Federal Appellate Courts., Laura Moyer

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This article draws from critical mass studies of gender in other political institutions to inform an application to the US Courts of Appeals. The results demonstrate the utility of considering court-level aspects of diversity. As mixed-sex panels become more common within a circuit, both male and female judges increasingly support plaintiffs in civil rights claims, though the magnitude of the effect is larger for women. The presence of a female chief judge is also positively associated with pro-plaintiff decisions by men and women in sex discrimination cases.

Material Internal Control Weaknesses And Earnings Management In The Post-Sox Environment, Benjamin P. Foster, Trimbak Shastri

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Prior studies found that companies with internal control deficiencies incorporate abnormal accounting accruals into their financial statements. However, these studies did not consider the materiality of abnormal accruals. Abnormal accruals should be within materiality when financial statements receive clean audit opinions. When material internal control weaknesses (MICW) exist, to compensate for additional risk, auditors should apply more audit effort to gain the quantity and quality of evidence necessary to obtain a reasonable degree of assurance to support their audit reports. We find evidence of this because audit fees are significantly higher for MICW companies than those for effective internal controls …

The Deep Grammar Of Augustine’S Conversion, Jared J. Ortiz

Faculty Publications

In light of the growing consensus that the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo is foundational for Augustine’s thought, it would be fruitful to consider more fully its role in the Confessions, especially its role in how Augustine understands his conversion in Book Eight. In this short communication, I will argue that Augustine situates his conversion narrative within the context of the Trinity’s creative act. His understanding of the ontological distinction between God and the world as well as the creational notion of imitation are the keys to understanding this in Book Eight. They make up the deep grammar of …

A Framework For Managing Airport Grasslands And Birds Amidst Conflicting Priorities, Bradley F. Blackwell, Thomas W. Seamans, Paige M. Schmidt, Travis L. Devault, Jerrold L. Belant, Mark J. Whittingham, James A. Martin, Esteban Fernández-Juricic

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Management of modern airports is a task beset by conflicting priorities. Airports are vital to the global market economy, but impose costly environmental disturbances including habitat loss, noise, reduced air quality, erosion, introduction of invasive organisms, and polluted storm-water runoff (Blackwell et al. 2009). Airport environments also attract some wildlife hazardous to aviation safety, namely species involved in wildlife-aircraft collisions or ‘strikes’ (ICAO 2001, Blackwell et al. 2009, DeVault et al. 2011). Since 1912 at least 276 human lives have been lost due to bird strikes (Thorpe 2010), and from 1990 to 2010, more than 106 000 bird strikes involving …

Avian Mortality At Communication Towers In The United States And Canada: Which Species, How Many, And Where?, Travis Longcore, Catherine Rich, Pierre Mineau, Beau Macdonald, Daniel G. Bert, Lauren M. Sullivan, Erin Mutrie, Sidney A. Gauthreaux Jr., Michael L. Avery, Robert L. Crawford, Albert M. Manville Ii, Emilie R. Travis, David Drake

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Birds migrating to and from breeding grounds in the United States and Canada are killed by the millions in collisions with lighted towers and their guy wires. Avian mortality at towers is highly variable across species, and the importance to each population depends on its size and trajectory. Building on our previous estimate of avian mortality at communication towers, we calculated mortality by species and by regions. To do this, we constructed a database of mortality by species at towers from available records and calculated the mean proportion of each species killed at towers within aggregated Bird Conservation Regions. These …

The Use Of Diazacon™ To Limit Fertility By Reducing Serum Cholesterol In Female Grey Squirrels, Sciurus Carolinensis, Brenda A. Mayle, Mark Ferryman, Andrew Peace, Christi A. Yoder, Lowell A. Miller, David Cowan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: The grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, is an invasive alien species introduced into Great Britain in the late nineteenth century and into Northern Italy during the early twentieth century. Grey squirrels have displaced the native European red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris L., throughout much of Great Britain and have a significant impact on trees and woodlands through bark-stripping activity. In Britain, eradication is no longer an option at a regional scale, but fertility control offers a non-lethal approach to reducing negative impacts. The cholesterol mimic DiazaCon™ has been successfully used to inhibit reproduction in some species. These studies aimed to …

Potential Economic Benefits Of Eliminating Canine Rabies, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Katie Hampson, Aaron M. Anderson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contents

1. Introduction ...................352

2. Pathways to economic impacts .................353

3. Counting the costs of canine rabies ...........353
3.1. Direct costs ...............................353
3.2. Indirect costs ............................353
3.3. Comparing regions ...................353

4. Monetizing the impacts ..............354

5. Macroeconomic impacts ..................355

6. The value of global canine rabies elimination .........355

References ..............................356

Report To The Chicago Park District On Conflicts With Ring-Billed Gulls And The 2013 Integrated Ring-Billed Gull Damage Management Project, J. W. Hartmann, T. G. Guerrant, S. F. Beckerman, R. M. Engeman, T. W. Seamans

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The large ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) population in the City of Chicago has caused various conflicts including general nuisance, property damage, economic losses, and threats to human health and safety. Several studies have shown a relationship between ring-billed gulls and increased levels of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) in nearshore waters. Results of tests for E. coli have led to the issuance of swim advisories at Chicago beaches.

The objectives of the Chicago Ring-billed Gull Damage Management Project were to (1) reduce the local production of ring-billed gulls, (2) reduce the severity of …

State-Level Approaches To Managing The Use Of Contraceptives In Wildlife In The United States, John D. Eisemann, Jeanette R. O'Hare, Kathleen A. Fagerstone

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Several fertility control agents have recently been registered with the United States Environmental Protection Agency for management of wildlife or other free-ranging animals. The registration of GonaConTM Immunocontraceptive Vaccine for use in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and OvoControl for use in Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and pigeons (Columba livia) has caused state wildlife and land management agencies to review their regulatory authority over the use of contraceptives in wildlife. As a result, many states are taking steps to ensure legislation or policies are current with emerging technologies. This article examines the various approaches states are …

Avian Influenza Infection Alters Fecal Odor In Mallards, Bruce A. Kimball, Kunio Yamazaki, Dennis Kohler, Richard A. Bowen, Jack P. Muth, Maryanne Opiekun, Gary K. Beauchamp

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Changes in body odor are known to be a consequence of many diseases. Much of the published work on disease-related and body odor changes has involved parasites and certain cancers. Much less studied have been viral diseases, possibly due to an absence of good animal model systems. Here we studied possible alteration of fecal odors in animals infected with avian influenza viruses (AIV). In a behavioral study, inbred C57BL/6 mice were trained in a standard Y-maze to discriminate odors emanating from feces collected from mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) infected with low-pathogenic avian influenza virus compared to fecal odors …

Cottontail Rabbit Papillomavirus Infection In A Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus Audubonii) From Colorado, Usa, J. Jeffrey Root, Matthew W. Hopken, Thomas Gidlewski, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A wild-caught desert cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus audubonii) from Colorado was observed to have large, pedunculated, dark cutaneous lesions on its abdomen and cylindrical masses on its mouth. Morphologically, the masses were consistent with previous reports of virally induced papillomas. Subsequent DNA analysis indicated widespread infection with cottontail rabbit papillomavirus.

Landslides Cause Spatial And Temporal Gradients At Multiple Scales In The Luquillo Mountains Of Puerto Rico, Aaron B. Shiels, Lawrence R. Walker

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Landslides represent one of the most severe disturbances in montane forests because the main consequence of their occurrence is loss or downslope redistribution of the majority of the above- and below-ground biomass. We examined among-landslide gradients (size, slope, aspect, age, elevation) on 142 landslides in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico, created by three storms in 2003–2004. We also examined within-landslide gradients (top to bottom, edge to center, successional development) by reviewing 20 yr of landslide data in the Luquillo Mountains. Landslide abundance and plant successional patterns do not closely reflect the elevation gradient that is characteristic of this mountain range, …

Dietary Niche Differentiation Among Three Species Of Invasive Rodents (Rattus Rattus, R. Exulans, Mus Musculus), Aaron B. Shiels, Caitlin A. Flores, Arthur Khamsing, Paul D. Krushelnycky, Stephen M. Mosher, Donald R. Drake

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The diets of sympatric rodents partially define their realized niches. Identifying items in stomachs of introduced rodents helps determine rodents’ trophic positions and species most at risk of consumption. In the Hawaiian Islands, which lacked rodents prior to human arrival, three rodents (Rattus rattus or black rat, R. exulans or Pacific rat, Mus musculus or house mouse) commonly coexist in native habitats where they consume a wide range of plants and animals. These three rodent species were trapped in montane forest for 2.5 years; their stomach contents were analyzed to determine short-term diets (n = 12–95 indiv. per species), …

Estimating Prion Adsorption Capacity Of Soil By Bioassay Of Subtracted Infectivity From Complex Solutions (Basics), A. Christy Wyckoff, Krista L. Lockwood, Crystal Meyerett-Reid, Brady A. Michel, Heather Bender, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Mark D. Zabel

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Prions, the infectious agent of scrapie, chronic wasting disease and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are misfolded proteins that are highly stable and resistant to degradation. Prions are known to associate with clay and other soil components, enhancing their persistence and surprisingly, transmissibility. Currently, few detection and quantification methods exist for prions in soil, hindering an understanding of prion persistence and infectivity in the environment. Variability in apparent infectious titers of prions when bound to soil has complicated attempts to quantify the binding capacity of soil for prion infectivity. Here, we quantify the prion adsorption capacity of whole, sandy loam soil …

New World Bats Harbor Diverse Influenza A Viruses, Suxiang Tong, Xueyong Zhu, Yan Li, Mang Shi, Jing Zhang, Melissa Bourgeois, Hua Yang, Xianfeng Chen, Sergio Recuenco, Jorge Gomez, Li-Mei Chen, Adam Johnson, Ying Tao, Cyrille Dreyfus, Wenli Yu, Ryan Mcbride, Paul J. Carney, Amy T. Gilbert, Jessie Chang, Zhu Guo, Charles T. Davis, James C. Paulson, James Stevens, Charles E. Rupprecht, Edward C. Holmes, Ian A. Wilson, Ruben O. Donis

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Aquatic birds harbor diverse influenza A viruses and are a major viral reservoir in nature. The recent discovery of influenza viruses of a new H17N10 subtype in Central American fruit bats suggests that other New World species may similarly carry divergent influenza viruses. Using consensus degenerate RT-PCR, we identified a novel influenza A virus, designated as H18N11, in a flat-faced fruit bat (Artibeus planirostris) from Peru. Serologic studies with the recombinant H18 protein indicated that several Peruvian bat species were infected by this virus. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that, in some gene segments, New World bats harbor more influenza …

Chapter 4 Biological Consequences For Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Landslide colonists have adaptations to survive low-nutrient, unstable substrates, where they may also experience temperature and water stress. Many of the species that colonize landslides are found exclusively in disturbed habitats and are known as gap specialists. Other colonists are common species in the adjacent undisturbed environment where their proximity to the landslide may have enabled rapid dispersal.

2. Microbes (including bacteria and fungi) are probably the first organisms to disperse to and colonize landslides. Symbiotic relationships, such as lichens, and plants with mycorrhizal fungi or nitrogen fixing bacteria, represent adaptations for survival in newly exposed, lownutrient landslide substrates. …

Chapter 3 Physical Causes And Consequences For Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. The propensity for a landslide to occur is largely determined by potential slip planes, or weakness planes in the geological substrate, where the driving forces exceed resisting forces.

2. Landslide occurrence across the landscape is often unpredictable; substrates can be resistant to slippage for centuries and then suddenly experience instability that may result from human or non-human changes that disrupt the balance between driving and resisting forces at a slip plane.

3. Post-landslide erosion is common and can contribute as much as 33% of the total sediment loss from the site of landslide initiation. Such post-landslide erosion can continue …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 3 Effectiveness Of Chemical Repellents In Managing Birds At Airports, Larry Clark, Michael L. Avery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Repellents include methods and devices used to manipulate behavior of animals to reduce damage or nuisance. Critical to the design and success of repellents is understanding how sensory modalities mediate perception of signals, and how ecological context and sensory inputs influence animal learning. A repellent's success is tied to the axiom of using the proper tool for the proper job. When repellents "fail," it is almost always because wildlife managers have not appropriately matched signal, receiving systems, message, and context. Reconciling such considerations can be a complex process. In this chapter we review components and processes essential for the successful …