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Internal Funding Newsletter, Academic Year 2014-2015, Uno Office Of Research And Creative Activity

Internal Funding Newsletters

This newsletter features: a letter from Scott Snyder, Chief Research Officer, Office of Research and Creative Activity; 2014-2015 Internal Funding Awardees: Faculty Awards;2014-2015 Award for Distinguished Research or Creative Activity: John Crank, Criminology and Criminal Justice; 2014-2015 Internal Funding Awardees: Student Awards; Fund for Undergraduate Scholarly Experiences (FUSE) Spotlight: Olajide Cooper; Graduate Research and Creative Activity (GRACA) Mentors; University Committee on Research and Creative Activity Spotlight: Amy S. Walzer; and Internal Funding Opportunities and Summary.

Recent Engagements With Adam Smith And The Scottish Enlightenment, Maria Pia Paganelli

Economics Faculty Research

Recent literature on Adam Smith and other eighteenth-century Scottish thinkers shows an engaged conversation between the Scots and today's scholars in the sciences that deal with humans-the social sciences and the humanities, as well as neuroscience and evolutionary psychology. We share with the eighteenth-century Scots preoccupations about understanding human beings, human nature, sociability, moral development, our ability to understand nature and its possible creator, and about the possibilities to use our knowledge to improve our surroundings and standard of living. As our disciplines evolve, the studies of Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment evolve with them. Smith and the Scots remain …

Stem Cell Banking: An Update On Current Scenario, Harshal Deshpande, Sreelatha Akkala, Suman Rasquinha, Smita Karpate

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The emerging medical science coupled with biotechnological innovations is paving way for an exciting science - stem cell research. The researchers in the area of stem cell banking are exploiting the factual impending market worldwide. The possible clinical application of stem cells has generated great curiosity amongst medical professionals and general public. No only this, but stem cell research can be used for the treatment of widespread diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's disease, severe aplastic anemia, leukeamias, etc. The present article highlights the historical perspective about the stem cell banking along with an overview of global scenario of stem cell banking …

Fall 2015

Scientia

Prairie prep; Chicago Wildsounds listens for ecosystem health; Up, up and away; Fulbright Travelogue: Health care in Fortaleza, Brazil; New course explores the Pope's encyclical on the environment; A "scent-sational" career in the flavor and fragrance industry; Lab notes; Paying tribute

Human And Murine Ifit1 Proteins Do Not Restrict Infection Of Negative-Sense Rna Viruses Of The Orthomyxoviridae, Bunyaviridae, And Filoviridae Families, Amelia K. Pinto, Graham D. Williams, Kristy J. Szretter, James P. White, José Luiz Proença-Módena, Gai Liu, Judith Olejnik, James D. Brien, Hideki Ebihara, Elke Mühlberger, Gaya Amarasinghe, Michael S. Diamond, Adrianus C.M. Boon

Open Access Publications

UNLABELLED: Interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1 (IFIT1) is a host protein with reported cell-intrinsic antiviral activity against several RNA viruses. The proposed basis for the activity against negative-sense RNA viruses is the binding to exposed 5'-triphosphates (5'-ppp) on the genome of viral RNA. However, recent studies reported relatively low binding affinities of IFIT1 for 5'-ppp RNA, suggesting that IFIT1 may not interact efficiently with this moiety under physiological conditions. To evaluate the ability of IFIT1 to have an impact on negative-sense RNA viruses, we infected Ifit1(-/-) and wild-type control mice and primary cells with four negative-sense RNA viruses (influenza …

The Phenomenology Of Second Language Acquisition: Poiesis And The Emergence Of The Multilingual Subject, Courtney E. Scarborough

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explores relationships between second language acquisition (SLA), poetic language, and embodied cognition and its connection to second language speakers’ linguistic self-formation, or their distinct ways of speaking and thinking. In particular, this study examines processes by which second language (L2) learners’ subjective realities are constructed and demonstrates that these processes are inherently poetic, emerging from a combination of the constraining structures of the language system and second language speakers’ phenomenological experiences. The context of the study is a poetry-making activity the researcher designed and took place in the English Department Writing Center at California State University, San Bernardino. …

An Investigation Into Partitioning Algorithms For Automatic Heterogeneous Compilers, Antonio M. Leija

Master's Theses

Automatic Heterogeneous Compilers allows blended hardware-software solutions to be explored without the cost of a full-fledged design team, but limited research exists on current partitioning algorithms responsible for separating hardware and software. The purpose of this thesis is to implement various partitioning algorithms onto the same automatic heterogeneous compiler platform to create an apples to apples comparison for AHC partitioning algorithms. Both estimated outcomes and actual outcomes for the solutions generated are studied and scored. The platform used to implement the algorithms is Cal Poly’s own Twill compiler, created by Doug Gallatin last year. Twill’s original partitioning algorithm is chosen …

Multi-Stress Proteomics: The Global Protein Response To Multiple Environmental Stressors In The Porcelain Crab Petrolisthes Cinctipes, Michael A. Garland

Master's Theses

Global climate change is increasing the number of hot days along the California coast as well as increasing the incidence of off-shore upwelling events that lower the pH of intertidal seawater; thus, intertidal organisms are experiencing an increase in more than one stress simultaneously. This study seeks to characterize the global protein response of the eurythermal porcelain crab Petrolisthes cinctipes to changes in thermal, pH, and tidal regime treatments, either combined or individually. The first experiment examined temperature stress alone and sought to determine the effect of chronic temperature acclimation on the acute heat shock response. We compared the proteomic …

Morphological Response In Sister Taxa Of Woodrats (Genus: Neotoma) Across A Zone Of Secondary Contact, Michaela M. Koenig

Master's Theses

This study focuses on a secondary contact zone between two sister species of woodrat, Neotoma fuscipes (dusky-footed woodrat) and N. macrotis (big-eared woodrat). Along the Nacimiento River, on the border of southern Monterey and northern San Luis Obispo counties, the ranges of these sister species of woodrats meet and overlap forming a secondary contact zone. The zone of secondary contact is estimated to include a 500-meter (~1,650 linear feet) portion of the Nacimiento River riparian corridor.

This research examines quantifiable morphological change that is likely associated with heightened inter-specific competition within the contact zone. When in sympatry the sister species …

Selected Bibliography For The Study Of Life Writing, Louise O. Vasvari, I-Chun Wang

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

Animal Science E-Newsletter, September 2015, University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Department Of Animal Sciences

Animal Science e-Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Burrowing Owls, Pulex Irritans And Plague, James R. Belthoff, Scott A. Bernhardt, Christopher Ball, Michael Gregg, David H. Johnson, Rachel Ketterling, Emily Price, Juliette K. Tinker

Biology Faculty Publications

Western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are small, ground-dwelling owls ofwestern North America that frequent prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) towns and other grasslands.As they rely on rodent prey and occupy burrows once or concurrently inhabited by fossorialmammals, the owls often harbor fleas. We examined the potential role of fleas found onburrowing owls in plague dynamics by evaluating prevalence of Yersinia pestis in fleas and inowl blood. During 2012-2013 fleas and blood were collected from burrowing owls in portionsof five states with endemic plague: Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and South Dakota.Fleas were enumerated, taxonomically identified, pooled by nest and assayed for …

How Are Rare Species Maintained?: Reproductive Barriers Between Layia Jonesii, A Rare Serpentine Endemic, And L. Platyglossa, Natalie L. Rossington

Master's Theses

Reproductive barriers are vital to generating new species as well as maintaining distinct species. Investigating reproductive barriers between closely related plant taxa helps us to understand how these barriers are maintained, particularly between rare and widespread relatives. Layia jonesii, a rare San Luis Obispo County serpentine endemic, and L. platyglossa, a common coastal species, co-occur on serpentine derived hillsides and are interfertile. At these locations, L. jonesii is isolated to dry soils near serpentine rock outcrops and L. platyglossa is located on slightly deeper grassland soils surrounding the rock outcrops. On hillsides where they co-occur, I observe two morphologically …

Setauket To Abbottabad: The Value Of Film And Television In Teaching Human Intelligence, Keith Cozine Ph.D.

Journal of Strategic Security

Espionage is often referred to as the world’s second oldest profession, and human intelligence is the oldest collection discipline. When many people think of espionage the images that often come to mind are fictional characters such as Jason Bourne or James Bond. Human intelligence encompasses much more than “secret agents” using their “toys” to collect top-secret information. Teaching human intelligence within an academic setting can be difficult because of the clandestine nature of tradecraft and sources of intelligence. Ironically, it is television and film that brought us Bourne and Bond that can also aid in the teaching of the variety …

Injury In Aged Animals Robustly Activates Quiescent Olfactory Neural Stem Cells, Jessica H. Brann, Deandra Ellis, Benson Ku, Eleonora Spinazzi, Stuart Firestein

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

While the capacity of the olfactory epithelium (OE) to generate sensory neurons continues into middle age in mice, it is presumed that this regenerative potential is present throughout all developmental stages. However, little experimental evidence exists to support the idea that this regenerative capacity remains in late adulthood, and questions about the functionality of neurons born at these late stages remain unanswered. Here, we extend our previous work in the VNO to investigate basal rates of proliferation in the OE, as well as after olfactory bulbectomy, a commonly used surgical lesion. In addition, we show that the neural stem cell …

An Analytical Method For Detecting Toxic Metal Cations Using Cyclotriveratrylene Derivative Capped Gold Nanoparticles, Zachary R. Osner, Richard C. Holz, Daniel P. Becker Ph.D.

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Cyclotriveratrylene-oxime (CTV-oxime) derivatives that terminate with a dithiolate linker were synthesized enabling the supramolecular scaffold to adhere to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with the bowl-shaped cavity of the CTV scaffold exposed for utilization in host–guest chemistry. Exposure of these CTV functionalized AuNPs to varying concentrations of di- and trivalent metal cations resulted in the formation of large CTV-AuNP polymeric clusters and an accompanying a shift in the plasmon resonance. These interactions between the CTV-AuNPs and the metal cations in solution provides proof-of-concept that supramolecular functionalized AuNPs can be used as a simple and straightforward, on-site detection system for toxic metal cations …

High Prevalence Of Vitamin D Deficiency And Insufficiency In A Low Income Peri-Urban Community In Karachi, Naseema Mehboobali, Saleem Perwaiz Iqbal, Muhammad Perwaiz Iqbal

Community Health Sciences

Objective: To determine the frequency of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in a low-income peri-urban population.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in a low-income, unplanned settlement in Karachi, and comprised apparently healthy adults who were recruited randomly with informed consent. Serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D were measured using a kit obtained from Roche Diagnostics. One-way analysis of variance and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.Results: Of the 858 subjects, 507(59%) were females and 351(41%) males (age range: 18-60 years). Prevalence estimates of vitamin D deficiency (<20ng/ml) and insufficiency (20.0-29.9ng/ml) were found to be 501(58.4%) and 269(31.4%), respectively. Odds ratio of vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in females compared to males after adjusting for education and smoking status (p=0.001).CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among females in one of the peri-urban areas points towards a public health problem which requires attention of the medical community.

The Parthenon, September 1, 2015, Jocelyn Gibson

The Parthenon

The Parthenon, Marshall University’s student newspaper, is published by students Monday through Friday during the regular semester and weekly Thursday during the summer. The editorial staff is responsible for the news and the editorial content.

An Approach For Designing Origami-Adapted Products With Aerospace Mechanism Examples, Jessica Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research is to develop a design process for origami-adapted products and demonstrate it using aerospace mechanism examples. Origami-adapted design is a type of origami-based design. Origami-based design ranges from abstract to concrete applications of origami to design and includes: origami-inspired design, origami-adapted design, and origami-applied design. Origami-adapted design adapts origami fold patterns into products while preserving functionality. Some of the desirable attributes of origami that are sought after in design include: 1) reduced number of parts, 2) stowability, 3) deployability, 4) transportability, 5) manufacturability from a flat sheet of material, 6) ease of miniaturization, 7) a …

Short Peptides In Minimalistic Biocatalyst Design, Krystyna L. Duncan, Rein V. Ulijn

Publications and Research

We review recent developments in the use of short peptides in the design of minimalistic biocatalysts focusing on ester hydrolysis. A number of designed peptide nanostructures are shown to have (modest) catalytic activity. Five features are discussed and illustrated by literature examples, including primary peptide sequence, nanosurfaces/scaffolds, binding pockets, multivalency and the presence of metal ions. Some of these are derived from natural enzymes, but others, such as multivalency of active sites on designed nanofibers, may give rise to new features not found in natural enzymes. Remarkably, it is shown that each of these design features give rise to similar …

'May God Cure You': Contemporary Egyptian Therapeutic Landscapes Between Qur'anic Healing And Psychiatry, Ana Maria Vinea

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Based on 19 months of fieldwork research in Cairo, this dissertation investigates the constitution and the practice of a therapeutic technique known as Qur'anic healing (al-'ilāj bi-l-qur'ān). In contemporary Egypt, as throughout the Middle East, the past decades have witnessed the increased visibility and popularity of this revivalist, Salafi-based therapy of jinn exorcism and counter-sorcery that is rooted in centuries-old Islamic practices of healing, all the while developing them into new configurations. During the same period, heated public debates stirred by the emergence of Qur'anic healing have occurred, debates in which psychiatrists have played a prominent role.

By …

Communities In Action: Participatory Assessments As An Initial Stage In Critical Consciousness Raising And Community Capacity Building, Carizma Amila Chapman

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This paper presents the findings of two participatory community assessments conducted in Punta Raton and El Venado, two small coastal towns in Southern Honduras. The community assessments were designed and implemented to establish a baseline of community awareness and action, an important step in community development and environmental sustainability. The aim was to: build community partnerships, identify key stakeholders, facilitate dialogues about concerns, identify local and external resources required for progress, and construct actions plans targeting key communal concerns. The assessments were found to be successful in engaging community members and identifying local needs and resources. However, challenges in intervention …

Nondysphoric Depressive Symptoms And Cognitive Abilities In Healthy Older Adults, Clint H. Norseth

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Research has shown that depression is associated with poorer cognitive performance and cognitive decline. Cognitive functions such as processing speed, language ability, memory, and executive functions have been found to be affected in older adults with depression. However, there is limited research focused on the effects of minimal or mild depressive symptoms in older adults who do not meet criteria for a depressive disorder. Older adults are more likely than any other population to endorse depressive symptoms in the absence of typical dysphoric symptoms that would qualify an individual for a depressive disorder. Understanding the effects of nondysphoric depressive symptoms …

Prostate Cancer Screening Intention Among Black Men: A Multivariate Analysis, Crystal Renee Clarke

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death among Black men, and widespread lack of screening contributes to the mortality burden. The purpose of this present study was to evaluate the effect of relationship intimacy with individual intent to screen using the digital rectal examination (DRE) among Black men. The human ecological theory of human development was a good fit for this present study, as individual health status and population health disparities are embedded in larger historical, geographic, socio-cultural, economic, and political contexts. The ecological framework allows researchers to attempt to identify the influences of all these factors. …

Indicators Of Ambiguous Loss In Families With Traumatic Brain Injured Members, Mynda Ohs

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

People who have encountered medical traumas can experience significant changes in their lives. As a result, the family members become caregivers and experience increased stress and ambiguous losses (AL). These losses are often unacknowledged even by the family and cause significant distress. It is important that the family acknowledge these losses and allow themselves time to grieve and adapt to the changes in their lives. While it is widely known that caregivers experience this stress, and programs exist to help support these families, there is less known about the effectiveness of these programs. This study has been designed to explore …

Mortality In Sepsis And Its Relationship With Gender., Nosheen Nasir, Bushra Jamil, Shahla Siddiqui, Fauzia A. Khan, Rabia Hussain

Department of Medicine

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

Sepsis remains a leading cause of death across the world, carrying a mortality rate of 20-50%. Women have been reported to be less likely to suffer from sepsis and to have a lower risk of mortality from sepsis compared to men. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between gender and mortality in sepsis, and compare cytokine profiles of male and female patients.

METHODS:

This was a prospective case series on 97 patients admitted with sepsis. Clinical and microbiological data was gathered, blood samples were collected for cytokine (IL-10, IL-6 and TNFα) levels and …

Mapping The Stray Domestic Cat (Felis Catus) Population In New Zealand: Species Distribution Modelling With A Climate Change Scenario And Implications For Protected Areas, Gd Aguilar, Mj Farnworth, L Winder

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Species distribution models of stray cats were developed using two types of occurrence data: (i) a combined dataset of stray cats and cat colonies in Auckland and projected to the wider New Zealand area; and (ii) population density as an analogue for country-wide stray cat occurrence. These occurrence data, together with sets of environmental variables were used as input to the Maxent modelling tool to produce maps of suitability for the species. Environmental variables used in the models consist of current bioclimatic conditions, and a future climate scenario (RCP8.5 for year 2070 CCSM model). Commonly occurring bias in the modelling …

Usd Magazine Fall 2015, University Of San Diego

University of San Diego Magazine (1992- )

Editorial License; Torore News; Torero Athletics; By Leaps and Bounds; Not Afraid to Get His Feet Wet; Beyond the Title; Alumni Update; Class Notes; Major Milestone

Dna Cyclization And Looping In The Wormlike Limit: Normal Modes And The Validity Of The Harmonic Approximation, Stefan M. Giovan, Andreas Hanke, Stephen D. Levene

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

For much of the last three decades, Monte Carlo-simulation methods have been the standard approach for accurately calculating the cyclization probability, J, or J factor, for DNA models having sequence-dependent bends or inhomogeneous bending flexibility. Within the last 10 years approaches based on harmonic analysis of semi-flexible polymer models have been introduced, which offer much greater computational efficiency than Monte Carlo techniques. These methods consider the ensemble of molecular conformations in terms of harmonic fluctuations about a well-defined elastic-energy minimum. However, the harmonic approximation is only applicable for small systems, because the accessible conformation space of larger systems is increasingly …

Equity In The Age Of Statutes, Hang Wu Tang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

It has been said that we have moved from a legal system dominated by the common law to one where statutes represent the primary source of the law. Where does that leave equitable jurisprudence in the age of statutes? This article examines the tricky interplay between statute law and equity. It is suggested that there are broadly three categories of cases when the court is considering the application of equitable doctrines in the context of a statute. First, the statute may explicitly or implicitly abolish the application of a relevant equitable doctrine. In this case, the relevant equitable doctrine should …