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Oncolog, Volume 59, Number 06, June 2014, Jill Delsigne, Luanne Jorewicz, K. Stuyck

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• New Agents Hold Promise for Patients With Advanced Thyroid Cancer: New agents are expanding treatment options for patients with advanced thyroid cancer-not only the papillary variant but also the less common medullary and differentiated variants of the disease
• Surgical Options for Lymphedema: Lymphedema of the extremities, whether from cancer treatment or other causes, typically is not curable. But advances in surgical techniques are reducing or eliminating symptoms for many patients
• INBRIEF: Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Improves Survival in Head and Neck Cancer Patients/ Research Findings Could Lead to Blood Test for Cancer-Related Gene Defects/ Tumor-Suppressing Protein May Help Predict Survival in …

Acknowledging The Gender In Anti-Transgender Discrimination, David B. Cru

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

Symposium: Civil Rights and Civil Justice: 50 Years Later

The Representation Of Nonmonogamy On Feminist Blogs, Caitlin M.

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

When young women look to enhance their understanding or knowledge about sexuality and relationships they often seek out internet resources. Young women, who are looking for knowledge that challenges norms surrounding relationships and sexuality, can go to feminist blogs to discuss and discern these topics. Therefore, it is important to note what these blogs are offering the women who read them and how the blogs challenge compulsory norms in our society.

This thesis will combine a study of content pertaining to nonmonogamy on feminist blogs and a literary analysis of cyberfeminist theories. Through these findings I will determine what information …

Factors Associated With Flammulated Owl And Northern Saw-Whet Owl Occupancy In Southern Idaho, Micah N. Scholer, Matthias Leu, James R. Belthoff

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Spatially explicit models depicting species occupancy offer a useful conservation tool for land managers. Using occurrence data collected in 2009 and 2010 from the Boise National Forest, Idaho, we developed distribution models for Flammulated Owls (Psiloscops flammeolus) and Northern Saw-whet Owls (Aegolius acadicus) to explore associations between habitat factors and owl occupancy. We then spatially applied these models in a Geographic Information System. We considered land cover and topographic variables at three spatial scales: 0.4-km, 1-km, or 3-km-radius plots centered on point-count locations (n  =  150) with resolution of land covers at 30 m. Flammulated …

Western Massasauga (Sistrurus Tergeminus): Species Conservation Assessment, Melissa J. Panella, Brent D. Johnson

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

The primary goal in development of at-risk species conservation assessments is to compile biological and ecological information that may assist conservation practitioners in making decisions regarding the conservation of species of interest. The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project recognizes the Western Massasauga (Sistrurus tergeminus) as a Tier I at-risk species. Provided are some general management recommendations regarding Western Massasaugas. Conservation practitioners will need to use professional judgment to make specific management decisions based on objectives, location, and a multitude of variables. This resource was designed to share available knowledge of this at-risk species that will aid in the decision-making process or …

“The Valley Of The Shadow Of Books”: George Gissing, New Women, And Morbid Literary Detachment, Marisa Palacios Knox

Literatures and Cultural Studies Faculty Publications

Victorian consternation about the physiological—especially reproductive—repercussions of women readers’ affective involvement with fiction is well documented. This essay contends, however, that at the fin de siècle a new cultural anxiety developed around the possibility of the woman who under-identifies, that is, refuses or is simply incapable of a stereotypically feminine standard of personal identification with literature. As the number of women entering vocational training as well as higher education increased exponentially in the late nineteenth century, the threat of women’s influx into the workplace expressed itself in a discourse of concern for the vitiation of women’s “natural” responsiveness to reading …

Predictive Modeling In The Search For Vertebrate Fossils: Geographic Object Based Image Analysis (Geobia) In The Eocene Of Wyoming, Bryan Bommersbach

Masters Theses

The development and testing of predictive models for identifying productive fossil localities represents a promising interdisciplinary endeavor among geographic information scientists, paleoanthropologists, and vertebrate paleontologists. This thesis analyzed high resolution (2m spatial resolution) commercial satellite imagery from the Worldview-2 satellite of five areas of the Great Divide Basin using a GEographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) technique, which segments the image into spectrally homogeneous, multi-pixel image objects. In addition to allowing statistical analysis of the spectral characteristics of the image objects, GEOBIA techniques also let analysts incorporate expert knowledge and contextual information to improve classification accuracy. The spectral characteristics of the …

Privatization And Property In Biology, Joan E. Strassmann, David C. Queller

Biology Faculty Research

Organisms evolve to control, preserve, protect and invest in their own bodies. When they do likewise with external resources they privatize those resources and convert them into their own property. Property is a neglected topic in biology, although examples include territories, domiciles and nest structures, food caching, mate guarding, and the resources and partners in mutualisms. Property is important because it represents a solution to the tragedy of the commons; to the extent that an individual exerts long-term control of its property, it can use it prudently, and even invest in it. Resources most worth privatizing are often high in …

Genetic Explanations: Sense And Nonsense, Garland E. Allen

Biology Faculty Research

Book review of Sheldon Krimsky; Jeremy Gruber (Editors). Genetic Explanations: Sense and Nonsense. xi + 368 pp., index. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2013. $45 (cloth).

The Differences In Approaches To Learning Among Kindergartners Who Attended State-Funded Pre-K, Kristin Mobbs

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This causal-comparative study examined the differences in early childhood experiences on the critical school readiness domain of approaches to learning. Kindergarten teachers from a small district in northeast Georgia completed the Learning Behaviors Scale to examine the dependent variables of competence motivation, attitude toward learning, attention/persistence, and strategy/flexibility from a convenience sample of 187 kindergarten students. The school district provided archived data that included kindergarten class lists, preschool experiences during the 2012-2013 school year, race, gender, free/reduced lunch status, and elementary school attended for kindergarten in order to examine kindergartners' learning behaviors. Descriptive statistics provided information on the mean differences …

The Case Against Free Speech, Brian Leiter

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Free societies employ a variety of institutions — including courts and schools — in which speech is heavily regulated on the basis of its content (and with regard to the cognitive infirmities of listeners) in order to promote other desirable ends, including discovery of the truth. I illustrate this with the case of courts and rules of evidence. Three differences between courts and the polity at large might seem to counsel, of course, against extending that approach more widely. First, the courtroom has an official and somewhat reliable (as well as reviewable) arbiter of the epistemic merits, while the polity …

The Antimicrobial, Mechanical, Physical And Structural Properties Of Chitosan-Gallic Acid Films, Xiuxiu Sun, Zhe Wang, Hoda Kadouh, Kequan Zhou

Nutrition and Food Science Faculty Research Publications

Chitosan films incorporated with various concentrations of gallic acid were prepared and investigated for antimicrobial, mechanical, physical and structural properties. Four bacterial strains that commonly contaminate food products were chosen as target bacteria to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the prepared gallic acid-chitosan films. The incorporation of gallic acid significantly increased the antimicrobial activities of the films against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria innocua and Bacillus subtilis. Chitosan films incorporated with 1.5 g/100 g gallic acid showed the strongest antimicrobial activity. It was also found that tensile strength (TS) of chitosan film was significantly increased when incorporating …

Questioning The “Melting Pot”: Analysis Of Alu Inserts In Three Population Samples From Uruguay, Pedro C. Hidalgo, Patricia Mut, Elizabeth Ackermann, Gonzalo Figueiro, Monica Sans

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The way that immigrants integrate to recipient societies has been discussed for decades, mainly from the perspective of the social sciences. Uruguay, as other American countries, received different waves of European immigrants, although the details of the process of assimilation, when occurred, are unclear. In this paper, we use genetic markers to understand the process experienced by the Basques, one of the major migration waves that populated Uruguay, and its relation to other immigrants as well as to Native American and African descendants. For this purpose, we analyze the allele frequencies of ten ALU loci (A25, ACE, APOA1, B65, F13B, …

Integrative And Functional Nutrition Practices And Use Of The Integrative And Functional Medical Nutrition Therapy Radial Among Registered Dietitians, Dana Kohut

Theses - ALL

Background: The important role nutrition plays in Integrative and Functional Medicine, along with increased enrollment rates in the Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine (DIFM) dietetics practice group points to the fact that dietitians are in need of effective tools to use to guide their integrative and functional nutrition practice. The Integrative and Functional Medical Nutrition Therapy Radial was created as a conceptual framework to assist dietitians in providing personalized nutrition care. We do not know, however, what integrative dietitians are currently doing in their practice or if they are utilizing this conceptual framework. The objective of this research is …

Grazing Method Effects On Forage Production, Utilization, And Animal Performance On Nebraska Sandhills Meadow, Miles D. Redden

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mob grazing using ultrahigh stocking densities is promoted as a tool to increase the health and productivity of grasslands by increasing nutrient cycling and soil organic matter. Mob grazing can be defined as a strategy in which area available to grazing animals is restricted to achieve stocking densities of 200,000 kg/ha or greater. Objectives were to determine herbage production, utilization, and cattle weight gains among ultrahigh stocking density grazing and more conventional grazing methods on a Sandhills subirrigated meadow. Treatments included two replications of each of the following: four-pasture rotational grazing with two occupations per pasture in an 80-day grazing …

None Of The Laws But One, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

This Symposium contribution explores differences in how congressional Republicans responded to Medicare and how they responded to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Given the narrowness of the constitutional challenges to the ACA that congressional Republicans promoted and the many federal taxes, expenditures, and regulations that they support, this Article rejects the suggestion that today's Republicans in Congress generally possess a narrow view of the constitutional scope of federal power. The Article instead argues that congressional Republicans then and now-and the two parties in Congress today-fracture less over the constitutional expanse of congressional authority and more over the …

The Inferred Cardiogenic Gene Regulatory Network In The Mammalian Heart, Jason Bazil, Karl D. Stamm, Xing Li, Raghuram Thiagarajan, Timonthy J. Nelson, Aoy Tomita-Mitchell, Daniel A. Beard

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Cardiac development is a complex, multiscale process encompassing cell fate adoption, differentiation and morphogenesis. To elucidate pathways underlying this process, a recently developed algorithm to reverse engineer gene regulatory networks was applied to time-course microarray data obtained from the developing mouse heart. Approximately 200 genes of interest were input into the algorithm to generate putative network topologies that are capable of explaining the experimental data via model simulation. To cull specious network interactions, thousands of putative networks are merged and filtered to generate scale-free, hierarchical networks that are statistically significant and biologically relevant. The networks are validated with known gene …

In Vitro Biosynthesis And Chemical Identification Of Udp-N-Acetyl-D-Quinovosamine (Udp-D-Quinac), Tiezheng Li, Laurie Simonds, Evgenii L. Kovrigin, K. Dale Noel

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

N-acetyl-d-quinovosamine (2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-d-glucose, QuiNAc) occurs in the polysaccharide structures of many Gram-negative bacteria. In the biosynthesis of QuiNAc-containing polysaccharides, UDP-QuiNAc is the hypothetical donor of the QuiNAc residue. Biosynthesis of UDP-QuiNAc has been proposed to occur by 4,6-dehydration of UDP-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) to UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-d-xylo-4-hexulose followed by reduction of this 4-keto intermediate to UDP-QuiNAc. Several specific dehydratases are known to catalyze the first proposed step. A specific reductase for the last step has not been demonstrated in vitro, but previous mutant analysis suggested that Rhizobium etli gene wreQ might encode this reductase. Therefore, this gene was cloned and expressed …

Semantics-Enhanced Geoscience Interoperability, Analytics, And Applications, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

We present our research ideas for developing cyberinfrastructure for Geoscience applications developed in the context of the EarthCube initiative, and our NSF-sponsored work on incorporating spatial-temporal-thematic semantics for enhanced querying and feature extraction from sensor data streams.

From Sea To Shining Sea: Force Health Management Of Infectious Diseases In A Cross-Global Deployment Flux Toward Tropical Environments, Joanna M. Nelms

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Infectious diseases in fighting armies are a pestilence as old as war itself. The history of the United States military is rich in successes of innovation and lessons learned in failure in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. Over the nearly two and a half centuries of American warfare, military research and development have contributed greatly to advancements in vaccines, medical treatments, and other control and prevention strategies for tropical and other infectious diseases. Current deployments in desert environments have provided continued research and progress in infectious disease control, treatment, and prevention, despite a relative decrease in civilian medical …

Diet Of A Cryptic But Widespread Invader, The Oriental Weatherfish (Misgurnus Anguillicaudatus) In Idaho, Usa, Alexander N. Urquhart, Peter Koetsier

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The oriental weatherfish (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) is invasive to 13 U.S. states and at least 9 other countries. Although this cryptic fish species is widespread, very little is known regarding its ecology. We used baited minnow traps to collect 237 individuals from water bodies connected to the Boise River, Idaho. To determine the diet of the fish within this invasive population, we dissected and examined stomach contents of the sampled fish. Most of the stomachs (158 of 237) were empty, and 42 contained only the trap bait. However, 37 contained natural food items. Gravimetric analysis, frequency of occurrence, and …

Gender Dimensions Of The U.S. Consumer Borrowing Expansion, Barbara E. Hopkins, Zdravka Todorova

Economics Faculty Publications

The article calls attention to gender as a dimension of the expansion of U. S. consumer borrowing. The first section emphasizes that gender is not a dummy variable, but an evolution of habits of thought. The second section discusses how changing gender relations are connected to gendered product differentiation and market expansion. The final section connects gendered market expansion and changing gender habits of thought to the expansion of consumer borrowing. We argue that, in addition to the acknowledged role of credit, gender relations also mask the structural financial fragility of households.

Sex, Light, And Sound: Location And Combination Of Multiple Attractants Affect Probability Of Cane Toad (Rhinella Marina) Capture, Alyse Yeager, John A. Commito, Andrew M. Wilson, Deborah Bower, Lin Schwarzkopf

Student Publications

Invasive species management is a critical issue worldwide, but mitigation strategies are slow to develop, and invader populations often expand too rapidly for eradication to be feasible. Thus, reduction in numbers of individuals is the most heavily used management strategy for invasive pests. While long-term biocontrol agents may take years or decades to develop, simple trap modifications can increase capture of targeted demographic groups, such as ovigerous females. The present study identifies the effectiveness of trap modification and use of multiple attractants to capture the invasive cane toad (Rhinella marina). Cane toad traps typically use lights to attract insect prey. …

Multiplatform, Multidisciplinary Investigations Of The Impacts Of Modified Circumpolar Deep Water In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, Walker O. Smith, Kimberly T. Goetz, Daniel E. Kaufman, Bastien Y. Queste, Vernon Asper, Daniel P. Costa, Michael S. Dinniman, Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs, Eileen E. Hofmann, Karen J. Heywood, John M. Klinck, Josh T. Kohut, Craig M. Lee

CCPO Publications

In 2010–2011, three projects combined to characterize the temporal and spatial distributions of Modified Circumpolar Deep Water (MCDW) in the Ross Sea using icebreaker-based sampling, gliders, instrumented seals, and hindcasts from a numerical circulation model. Te fieldwork clearly identified MCDW throughout the Ross Sea, and the data were used to determine its influence on potential heat and nutrient inputs and biotic distributions. Furthermore, the numerical simulations confirm its apparent trajectory and location. Substantial small-scale variability in oceanographic and biological distributions suggests that such variability may play an important role in biogeochemical cycles. Data from the three projects provide a view …

Investigation Of The Definitive Age Of Freshwater Decapod Crustaceans, Orconectes Propinquus And Procambarus Clarkii, Via Growth Bands In The Calcified Regions Of The Eyestalk And Gastric Mill, Jayson L. Clore

Masters Theses

A preliminary study that utilized the calcified regions of the eyestalks and gastric mills of decapod crustaceans for chronological age determination. The procedure is based on the traditional method for growth analysis of concentric growth bands in otoliths, shells, and genital plates. Transverse cross sections of the eyestalks and prepyloric, pyloric, and zygocardiac ossicles of the gastric mills of Orconectes propinquus and Procambarus clarkii crayfish showed the presence of alternating dark and light growth bands. These growth bands were recorded as a finer secondary series of growth bands found within the broader primary growth bands. Size modal comparisons showed that …

Development And Validation Of Lc–Ms/Ms Method For Quantitative Determination Of (−)-Securinine In Mouse Plasma, Simuli L. Wabuyele, David Wald, Yan Xu

Chemistry Faculty Publications

(−)-Securinine (SE) is a major alkaloid found in plant Securinega suffruticosa, which has a wide range of pharmacological activities including anticancer, anti-parasitic and central nervous system stimulating effects, etc. To aid the pharmacological study of SE, we developed an LC–MS/MS method for quantitative determination of SE in mouse plasma. In this method, plasma samples were first prepared with salting-out assisted liquid–liquid extraction using cold acetonitrile (−20 °C) and 2.00 M ammonium acetate. Separation of SE and the internal standard (IS) from sample matrix was achieved on a Gemini Nx C18 column using 40% acetonitrile and 60% 10.0 mM ammonium acetate …

Resistant Starch Type 4-Enriched Diet Lowered Blood Cholesterols And Improved Body Composition In A Double Blind Controlled Cross-Over Intervention, Sailendra N Nichenametla, Lee A. Weidauer, Howard Wey, Tianna Beare, Bonny Specker, Moul Dey

Health and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

A metabolic health crisis is evident as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of mortality in the United States. Effects of resistant starch type 4 (RS4), a prebiotic fiber, in comprehensive management of metabolic syndrome (MetS) remain unknown. This study examined the effects of a blinded exchange of RS4-enriched flour (30% v/v) with regular/control flour (CF) diet on multiple MetS comorbidities. In a double blind (participants-investigators), placebo-controlled, cluster cross-over intervention (n = 86, age≥18, 2-12 week interventions, 2-week washout) in the United States, individuals were classified as having MetS (With-MetS) or not (No-MetS) following International Diabetes Federation (IDF)-criteria. RS4 …

Association Between Symptomatic Vulvovaginal Candidiasis And Hiv Rna Levels In Plasma And Genital Secretions Among Women On Haart, Teke Apalata, William H. Carr, Benjamin Longo-Mbenza, Willem A. Sturm, P. Moodley

Publications and Research

Background. Genital tract (GT) inflammation plays a major role in HIV transmission. We aimed to determine the association between symptomatic vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and HIV RNA levels in plasma and GTs of HIV-infected women on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Method. Women with VVC on HAART were recruited from a primary healthcare clinic in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, between June 2011 and December 2011. VVC was diagnosed clinically, supported by Gram staining and culture of genital secretions. HIV RNA load was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. CD4+ counts were obtained from patients’ medical records.

Results. Plasma HIV RNA …

Surface Water Inundation In The Boreal- Arctic: Potential Impacts On Regional Methane Emissions, Jennifer D. Watts, John S. Kimball, Annett Bartsch, Kyle C. Mcdonald

Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group Publications

Northern wetlands may be vulnerable to increased carbon losses from methane (CH₄), a potent greenhouse gas, under current warming trends. However, the dynamic nature of open water inundation and wetting/drying patterns may constrain regional emissions, offsetting the potential magnitude of methane release. Here we conduct a satellite data driven model investigation of the combined effects of surface warming and moisture variability on high northern latitude (≥45° N) wetland CH₄ emissions, by considering (1) sub-grid scale changes in fractional water inundation (Fw) at 15 day, monthly and annual intervals using 25 km resolution satellite microwave retrievals, and (2) …

Wilkins Named Outstanding Engineering Faculty Of The Year, Edwin Smith

University of Mississippi News

Computer science professor is loved by students, respected by colleagues