Digital Commons Network^™

Giveforward V. Hodges, United States District Court For The District Of Maryland

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

MS. HODGES AND KDH’S MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN OPPOSITION TO GIVEFORWARD’S CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND REPLY IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF MS. HODGES AND KDH’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

The Normative Authority Of The World Health Organization, Lawrence O. Gostin, Devi Sridhar, Daniel Hougendobler

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The World Health Organization (WHO) was born after the devastation of World War II, as a normative agency endowed with unprecedented constitutional powers. But even as it has achieved stunning successes, such as the eradication of smallpox, it has failed to live up to the exalted expectations of the postwar health and human rights movement e exemplified most recently by its inadequate response to the Ebola epidemic. Our aim is to offer innovative ideas for restoring the Organization to its leadership position by exercising its normative authority, even as it faces a crowded and often chaotic global health architecture. Before …

Red-Teaming Nlw: A Top Ten List Of Criticisms About Non-Lethal Weapons, David A. Koplow

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Critics of non-lethal weapons (NL W) have asserted numerous complaints about the concepts, the Department of Defense research and development efforts, and the pace of innovation in the field. These critiques challenge the cost of the programs, their consistency with international law, the adverse public reaction to some of the devices, and the dangers of proliferation, among other points. This article summarizes the various assessments, in form of a "top ten list" of criticisms, and evaluates their weight. The author concludes that some of these points of objection have merit, but overall, the NLW enterprise is worthy of continuation and …

Macroinvertebrate Communities Along The Velika Morava River, Vanja Markovic, Jelena Tomovic, Ana Atanackovic, Margareta Kracun, Marija Ilic, Vera Nikolic, Momir Paunovic

Turkish Journal of Zoology

This paper presents the results of a faunistic study of the macrozoobenthos of the Velika Morava River. The investigation was conducted during the summer and autumn months in 2010. A total of 84 macroinvertebrate taxa have been identified, with Insecta (Ephemeroptera) as the most diverse and Oligochaeta as the most abundant groups. A tubificid worm, Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, was the most important species with regard to relative abundance and frequency of occurrence. Two rare and endangered species, Theodoxus transversalis and Unio crassus, were recorded, as well as 5 alien species. Locality VM4 (Markovac Bridge) is of particular interest as the northernmost …

A New Subspecies Of Lyciasalamandra Flavimembris (Urodela: Salamandridae) From Muğla, Southwestern Turkey, Nazan Üzüm, Azi̇z Avci, Emi̇n Bozkurt, Kurtuluş Olgun

Turkish Journal of Zoology

A new Lycian salamander subspecies, Lyciasalamandra flavimembris ilgazi subsp. nov., is described from southwestern Anatolia, Turkey. It differs from nominate subspecies by its characteristic color pattern, especially the ground color of the dorsum, tail, upper eyelids, and limbs. Its distribution is limited to the type locality (Kötekli, Muğla Province, Turkey).

Qcm-D Monitoring Of Binding-Induced Conformational Change Of Calmodulin, Hyun J. Kwon, Brian Dodge

Faculty Publications

Understanding conformational changes are important when studying a protein such as calmodulin (CaM), which activates various target enzymes and regulates numerous physiological functions. CaM is a highly flexible protein that can transitorily adopt various conformations. A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) sensor was used to study binding-induced conformational changes of surface-immobilized CaM. Structural changes of CaM were evaluated using the Voigt’s viscoelastic model with frequency (ΔF) and dissipation change (ΔD). When Apo-CaM layer was incubated in 0.1 mM Ca2+ solution, the layer decreased by approximately 0.56 nm, due to the release of coupled water molecules and conformational change. The …

Integrating Emerging Cryptographic Engineering Research And Security Education, Mehran Mozaffari Kermani, Reza Azarderakhsh

Articles

Unlike traditional embedded systems such as secure smart cards, emerging secure deeply embedded systems, e.g., implantable and wearable medical devices, have larger “attack surface”. A security breach in such systems which are embedded deeply in human bodies or objects would be life-threatening, for which adopting traditional solutions might not be practical due to tight constraints of these often-battery-powered systems. Unfortunately, although emerging cryptographic engineering research mechanisms have started solving this critical problem, university education (at both graduate and undergraduate level) lags comparably. One of the pivotal reasons for such a lag is the multi-disciplinary nature of the emerging security bottlenecks …

Communication: Analytic Continuation Of The Virial Series Through The Critical Point Using Parametric Approximants, Nathaniel S. Barlow, Andrew J. Schultz, Steven J. Weinstein, David A. Kofke

Articles

The mathematical structure imposed by the thermodynamic critical point motivates an approximant that synthesizes two theoretically sound equations of state: the parametric and the virial. The former is constructed to describe the critical region, incorporating all scaling laws; the latter is an expansion about zero density, developed from molecular considerations. The approximant is shown to yield an equation of state capable of accurately describing properties over a large portion of the thermodynamic parameter space, far greater than that covered by each treatment alone.

Symbiotic Werewolves And Cybernetic Anchoresses: Premodern Posthumans In Medieval Literature, Jennifer K. Cox

Quidditas

This paper examines how individual agency in medieval society might be expanded through posthuman configurations; in so doing, it pushes the boundaries of traditional practices in medieval research to include more contemporary ideas. Although as scholars, we must avoid anachronistic readings of these texts, ignoring modern thinkers like N. Katherine Hayles (How We Became Posthuman) and Donna Haraway (“A Cyborg Manifesto”) too easily disregards their valuable – and timeless – insights. While the term “posthuman” can evoke images of cyborgs or superhuman mutants using wormholes to traverse space and time, this pop culture perspective often overlooks less technoscientific examples of …

Dead Wood And Rushing Water: Essays On Mormon Faith, Culture, And Family, Mark Brown

BYU Studies

Boyd Jay Petersen. Dead Wood and Rushing Water: Essays on Mormon Faith, Culture, and Family.

Sandy, Utah: Greg Kofford Books, 2013.

For Whom The Data Tolls: A Reunified Theory Of Fourth And Fifth Amendment Jurisprudence, Bryan H. Choi

Publications

Data privacy demands a reunified theory of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. Data technologies allow personal information to be disembodied from physical bodies and “possessed” simultaneously by both first persons and third parties. As a result, the government has been able to use a divide-and-conquer strategy to obtain incriminating evidence alternately from the data intermediary or from the suspect.

Currently, Fourth Amendment doctrine and Fifth Amendment doctrine work at cross-purposes. The privacy community has already sounded the alarm on the “third-party doctrine,” which allows the government to sidestep the Fourth Amendment when demanding evidence from third parties. But few have …

Cherokee Freedmen And The Color Of Belonging, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Publications

This article addresses the Cherokee tribe and their historic conflict with the descendants of their former black slaves, designated Cherokee Freedmen. This article specifically addresses how historic discussions of black, red and white skin colors, designating the African-ancestored, aboriginal (Native American) and European-ancestored people of the United States, have helped to shape the contours of color-based national belonging among the Cherokee. This article also suggests that Homi K. Bhabha’s notion of postcolonial mimicry offers a potent source for analyzing the Cherokee’s historic use of skin color as a marker of Cherokee membership. The Cherokee past practice of black slavery and …

Biology I Lab, Todd Schraw

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Boron Functionalization Of Bodipy Dyes, And Their Evaluation As Bioimaging Agents, Alex Long Nguyen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

BODIPY, also known as “porphyrin’s little sister,” belongs to a class of fluorescent dyes. It contains a dipyrromethene π-system with a disubstituted boron atom. The basic 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) is known for its numerous useful applications in the fields of biology and materials. Modification of this well-known fluorophore has been shown to change its photophysical and chemical properties. There has been great interest in the modification at the boron center in recent years for synthesizing new dyads and cascade-type dyes. This work focuses on functionalization at the boron center with carbon and oxygen nucleophiles for further investigation as bioimaging agents. Chapter …

Hyperglycemia And Inhibition Of The Monocarboxylate Transporter 1 (Mct1) Enhances Growth Arrest In Cancer Cells, Aleksandra I. Pivovarova

Theses

Many cancer cells rely predominately on glycolysis for their energy production, even in the presence of oxygen. They proceed further and reduce the glycolysis product pyruvate to lactate, by means of fermentation, for continued ATP production. This phenomenon is called the Warburg effect, and is associated with an upregulation of glycolysis and increased lactate production. A persistent increase in glycolysis and ATP turnover leads to an intracellular proton accumulation, which could eventually lead to cell damage and death by cytosolic acidification. However, cancer cells avoid acidification and maintain an appropriate intracellular pH by employing monocarboxylate transporters for the coupled export …

Analysis Of Host-Parasite Interactions Between Darters (Etheostoma) And Monogenoidean Gill Parasites (Aethycteron) In Flat Creek And Mill Creek, Kara Million

Theses

This study sought to investigate the parasite-host relationships between two darter assemblages and their gill parasite populations, and to compare the biodiversity present in both systems. Eight darter species were collected over the course of one year from two sites in Tennessee, Flat Creek and Mill Creek, and parasite counts were performed on all sample populations. Parasite loads were compared across darter species in each site to determine whether infection levels differed significantly between host species. Phylogenetic trees containing mitochondrial and nuclear markers were constructed for each set of organisms using Bayesian analysis, and the trees were examined for congruence …

A Nucleotide Sequence Level Approach To Detection Of Lateral Gene Transfer In Eukaryotic Genomes, David E. Gray

Theses

Detection of lateral gene transfer (LGT) in eukaryotes has previously relied almost exclusively on phylogenetic analysis of amino acid sequences. This study developed a method for detection of eukaryotic LGT at the nucleotide sequence level. A pipeline was constructed consisting of Perl scripts that automate BLAST searches, phylogeny construction, and selection of phylogenetic trees indicating LGT. This pipeline was tested on the genomes of a bdelloid rotifer, Adineta vaga, and the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, using known LGT events as positive controls, as well as on a soil fungus, Laccaria bicolor, and a the black cottonwood tree, Populus trichocarpa. Analysis …

Identification Of A Putative Nuclease From Thermococcus Thioreducens, Jayson Isaza Pagan

Theses

A putative nuclease from Thermococcus thioreducens was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3)-Rosetta cells (6.2 g/l). The recombinant protein (TthNuc) was purified using heat precipitation, anion exchange chromatography, and size exclusion chromatography to a purity of 99%. A BLASTp search of the NR database found TthNuc to be 85% identical to an uncharacterized, RecJ endonuclease from the same genus. TthNuc exhibits in vitro divalent metal ion dependent catabolism of single and double stranded DNA. TthNuc was qualitatively shown to have in vitro nuclease activity between 37°-95°C and above pH 8.4 at 75°C. A three dimensional similarity search of the PDB …

Knowledge, Attitude, And Practice Of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Devices Among College Students, Kelly B. Vazquez

Theses

Electronic nicotine delivery devices (e-cigarettes) have increased in popularity over the past decade and new research will benefit the community, especially healthcare providers, as they will be providing education. To conduct this study, a Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices survey was administered to students on one college campus using Qualtrics software. Results revealed that 99.4% of students were aware of e-cigarettes, 55.2% had friends who used them, 54% viewed them as safer than cigarettes, 26.3% were unaware of chemicals used, 62.7% were bothered by their use, 58.3% supported ban placements (especially females), and 55.5% thought they could be effective for smoking …

Growth Inhibitory Properties Of Lactose Fatty Acid Esters, Seung-Min Lee, Guneev Sandhu, M. K. Walsh

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Sugar esters are biodegradable, nonionic surfactants which have microbial inhibitory properties. The influence of the fatty acid chain length on the microbial inhibitory properties of lactose esters was investigated in this study. Specifically, lactose monooctanoate (LMO), lactose monodecanoate (LMD), lactose monolaurate (LML) and lactose monomyristate (LMM) were synthesized and dissolved in both dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and ethanol. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were determined in growth media. LML was the most effective ester, exhibiting MIC values of

Impact Of Size, Secondary Structure, And Counterions On The Binding Of Small Ribonucleic Acids To Layered Double Hydroxide Nanoparticles, B. V. Rodriguez, J. Pescador, N. Pollok, G. W. Beall, Corina Maeder, L. K. Lewis

Chemistry Faculty Research

Use of ribonucleic acid (RNA) interference to regulate protein expression has become an important research topic and gene therapy tool, and therefore, finding suitable vehicles for delivery of small RNAs into cells is of crucial importance. Layered double metal hydroxides such as hydrotalcite (HT) have shown great promise as nonviral vectors for transport of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA), proteins, and drugs into cells, but the adsorption of RNAs to these materials has been little explored. In this study, the binding of small RNAs with different lengths and levels of secondary structure to HT nanoparticles has been analyzed and compared to …

Dairy Herd - Level Prevalence Of Johne's Disease And Bvd In The Intermountain West Of The U.S.A. And Farm Management Practices And Characteristics For Test-Positive Herds, David J. Wilson, Kerry A. Rood, C. Whitehouse, J. Bunnell, G. M. Goodell, T. M. Byrem

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Herd-level prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), causative agent of Johne’s disease (JD) and Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) virus were estimated on dairy farms in Utah. Duplicate milks were collected at 3-4 day intervals on 5 dates from each bulk tank on participating farms. Samples were tested at separate laboratories for BVD (real-time, RT-PCR) and for JD/MAP (ELISA and qPCR). 151/209 (72%) eligible dairy farms participated. Farms detected positive were: 58 JD (38%) and 14 BVD (9%); 5 farms had both diseases. Follow up visited farms’ (n=22) means, medians: 778,420 milking cows; 20,052 lbs, 20,311 lbs 305d milk; 175,545/ml, …

Nanoparticle Measurement, Control And Characterization: Procedure Applied To Machining Processes And Mechanical Friction, Victor Songmene, Riad Khettabi, Martin Viens, Jules Kouam, Stéphane Hallé, François Morency, Jacques Masounave, Abdelhakim Djebara

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Cliquez ici pour la version française de ce rapport

Alors que les nanotechnologies émergentes ouvrent des voies prometteuses dans plusieurs secteurs d’activité, des études suggèrent que les nanoparticules (NP) qu’elles génèrent pourraient avoir des effets négatifs, notamment sur la santé et sur l’environnement. Celles-ci peuvent être générées lors de la fabrication, de la manutention et de l’assemblage de pièces métalliques ordinaires et de celles à base de nanomatériaux. D’autres activités quotidiennes, telles que le freinage des automobiles, peuvent aussi produire des NP. Il est donc urgent de trouver des moyens de contrôler ces risques. Cependant, les techniques et méthodes usuelles …

Novel Experimental Method For Studying Trajectories And Wing Kinematics Of Freely Flying Butterflies, Jacob Taylor Cranford

Theses

A novel experimental technique is presented for gathering data on the kinematics and trajectories of flapping insects. An optical tracking facility was used to record the free flight of the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). The 5.7mx9.1mx3.0m capture volume allowed enough space to capture large numbers of sequential wing flaps. The system automatically tracked small reflective markers, which were modified to reduce the effects of additional mass on butterfly flight characteristics. This technique was used to record 2,000 flights of 86 different butterflies. A data analysis method is also presented that efficiently extracts information on flapping and body motion. A sample …

On The Development Of Analytical Methodologies To Interrogate The Lipid Dynamics And Phase Transition Resulting From The Reduction Of Stimuli-Responsive Vesicles, James Edward Winter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The potential is great for liposome drug delivery systems that provide specific contents release at diseased tissue sites upon activation by upregulated enzymes; however, this potential will only come to fruition with mechanistic knowledge of the contents release process. NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase type 1 (NQO1) is a target for reductively-responsive liposomes, as it is an enzyme upregulated in numerous cancer tissues and is capable of reducing quinone propionic acid (QPA) trigger groups to hydroquinones that self-cleave from dioleolylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) liposome surfaces, thereby initiating contents release. This research targets the development of analytical methodologies to observe and characterize the dynamics and resulting …

Comparative Population Genomics Of Neotropical Forest Birds, Michael Gaston Harvey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The causes and implications of differences in geographic variation across species are generally poorly understood, but comparative studies have the potential to provide better understanding of what factors predispose species to undergo population divergence and whether population divergence has lasting evolutionary impacts. Here, I examined geographic variation in birds using molecular data from across the genome. I characterized genetic diversity, estimated population history, and tested for impacts of landscape history as well as ecological traits on genetic parameters. I found evidence that diverse historical processes have led to present-day genetic variation in Neotropical bird species, including divergence, population expansion, migration, …

A Market-Based Approach For Valuing Ecosystem Services On Coastal Properties, Michelle A. Savolainen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As part of ongoing efforts to assess ecosystem services provided by wetlands, this research focuses on estimating the private monetary value of wetland services to residential property owners in Louisiana and Alabama using a hedonic price model. Understanding that tradeoffs must be made with limited resources, valuing ecosystem services is important for policy and decision making purposes, such as determining how much public and private financial resources should be put towards wetland maintenance and restoration. Data on property transactions, wetland coverage, and built infrastructure were collected for the analysis. Based on theory and results from a Box-Cox model, the log-linear …

Citrate Anticoagulation: Are Blood Donors Donating Bone?, Walter Bialkowski, Roberta Bruhn, Gustaf Edgren, Paula E. Papanek

Exercise Science Faculty Research and Publications

An estimated 2.4 million volunteer apheresis blood donation procedures were performed in the United States in 2010, and increases in the proportion of transfused blood products derived from apheresis blood collections have been consistently reported. Anticoagulation is required during apheresis and is achieved with citrate. Donor exposure to citrate causes an acute physiological response to maintain serum mineral homeostasis. Some data are available on the sequelae of this acute response in the days and weeks following exposure, raising questions about bone mineral density in regular apheresis donors. New research is emerging that addresses the potential long-term health outcomes of repeated …

Chemical Investigation Of Candidate Probiotics In Aquaculture And Formulation Of A Probiotic Agent For Oyster Larviculure, Christine Anh Dao

Open Access Dissertations

Aquaculture is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. The United States is a significant consumer to both fresh and marine aquaculture products. Aquaculture sales in Rhode Island have dramatically increased in the last 20 years. In Rhode Island nearly 4.3 million oysters were produced via aquaculture in 2012. Currently, hatcheries and nurseries in the United States produce large amounts of a variety of species of oysters, clams and scallops. Oysters are filter feeders and are exposed to many microbes in the hatchery. Infectious diseases from bacterial pathogens in the hatcheries can have serious impacts on production. Vibrio species are often responsible …

Predatory Behavior And Physiological Response Of Chinese Mantids To Toxic And Non-Toxic Lepidopteran Prey, Jamie L. Rafter

Open Access Dissertations

Prey have evolved a number of defenses against predation, and predators have developed means of countering these protective measures. Monarch caterpillars, Danaus plexippus, for example, feed on milkweed plants in the genus Asclepias and sequester cardenolides as an anti-predator defense. However, some predators are able to consume this otherwise unpalatable prey. The observation of a Chinese mantid, Tenodera sinensis, consuming the body tissue of a monarch caterpillar while ‘gutting’ the prey (i.e., removing the gut and associated internal organs) without any apparent ill-effects prompted this research. In a series of behavioral trials we explored how adult T. sinensis …