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The Original Meaning Of “Religion” In The First Amendment: A Test Case Of Originalism’S Utilization Of Corpus Linguistics, Lee J. Strang

BYU Law Review

Originalism is the theory of constitutional interpretation that identifies the constitutional text’s public meaning when it was ratified as its authoritative meaning. Corpus linguistics is the study of word-use regularities and patterns, primarily in written texts. In a prior article, I argued that originalists should utilize corpus linguistics to facilitate originalism’s capacity to accurately uncover this original meaning. However, my arguments there were theoretical; this Essay provides a “test case” of corpus linguistics’ capacity to increase originalism’s methodological accuracy. This Essay accomplishes three modest goals. First, it provides a practical example of the application of corpus linguistics to originalism. This …

From Subject To Cyborg: Reframing Identity Within Female Spaces In Neil Gaiman's Black Orchid And A Game Of You, Mary A. Ruge

Masters Theses

Whether they are secret or whether they are household names, identities are paramount in superhero comics. Yet those that create these identities do so from a place of privilege in a hierarchy which results in inauthentic characters and repetitive plots. For the superhero genre, the misrepresentation of female characters (perhaps related to a severe underrepresentation of female creators) has resulted in highly patriarchal storylines that are reductive, stereotypical, and often violent toward women. To combat this trend, one must consider the ways in which a more complex female character violates the current framework and offer a solution. For superhero comics, …

Understanding The Relationship Between Hosts And Their Microbiome, Boahemaa Adu-Oppong

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Microbes are bountiful and associated with every animal and plant kingdom. Furthermore, microbes can alter host phenotype, development, health and functioning. However, this is not a one-way interaction, hosts can structure microbial communities by changing the environment to be suitable for certain microbial species. Several studies have characterized microbial communities associated with hosts to answer two2 main questions in ecology: who’s there, and what are they doing? However, two questions from the field of community ecology are often ignored (1) what forces are structuring the microbial communities (how was the community formed) and (2) how stable are these communities. Vellend …

Characterization And Function Of Islet Antigen Presenting Cells During Nod Diabetes, Stephen Thomas Ferris

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Here we characterized the initial antigen presenting cells (APCs) within the islet of Langerhans to ascertain their identity and functional role as it pertains to autoimmune diabetes. The activation of the adaptive immune system is induced by the innate immune system, and more specifically APCs. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the APCs that are initiating T1D in order to elucidate the break in tolerance and intervene in order to inhibit progression. We have found that there is a resident macrophage that is present in all strains of mice. This islet macrophage has a distinct transcriptional profile that is unique …

Antiviral Nucleoside Inhibitors Of Leishmania Rna Virus 1: Discovery And Mechanism, John Isaac Robinson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Some Leishmania parasites in the Viannia sub-genus are persistently infected with Leishmania RNA virus 1 (LRV1), a single-segmented double-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Totiviridae. Infected parasites cause greater pathology and reach higher populations in mouse models of Leishmania infection. In human disease, LRV1+ parasites are correlated with increased frequency of treatment failure and relapse. Efficient methods to detect LRV1 and eliminate it from parasites are required to better understand the role of LRV1 in Leishmania infection. We optimized multiple techniques to measure LRV1 levels in parasites, most notably using flow cytometry to measure the amount of viral capsid …

Avoidance Responses Of Minke Whales To 1–4 Khz Naval Sonar, Petter H. Kvadsheim, Stacy L. Deruiter, Lise D. Sivle, Jeremy A. Goldbogen

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Minke whales are difficult to study and little information exists regarding their responses to anthropogenic sound. This study pools data from behavioural response studies off California and Norway. Data are derived from four tagged animals, of which one from each location was exposed to naval sonar signals. Statistical analyses were conducted using Mahalanobis distance to compare overall changes in parameters summarising dive behaviour, avoidance behaviour, and potential energetic costs of disturbance. Our quantitative analysis showed that both animals initiated avoidance behaviour, but responses were not associated with unusual dive behaviour. In one exposed animal the avoidance of the sonar source …

Posttranscriptional Upregulation Of Idh1 By Hur Establishes A Powerful Survival Phenotype In Pancreatic Cancer Cells., Mahsa Zarei, Shruti Lal, Seth J. Parker, Avinoam Nevler, Ali Vaziri-Gohar, Katerina Dukleska, Nicole C. Mambelli-Lisboa, Cynthia Moffat, Fernando F Blanco, Saswati N. Chand, Masaya Jimbo, Joseph A. Cozzitorto, Wei Jiang, Charles J. Yeo, Eric R. Londin, Erin L. Seifert, Christian M. Metallo, Jonathan R. Brody, Jordan M. Winter

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Cancer aggressiveness may result from the selective pressure of a harsh nutrient-deprived microenvironment. Here we illustrate how such conditions promote chemotherapy resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Glucose or glutamine withdrawal resulted in a 5- to 10-fold protective effect with chemotherapy treatment. PDAC xenografts were less sensitive to gemcitabine in hypoglycemic mice compared with hyperglycemic mice. Consistent with this observation, patients receiving adjuvant gemcitabine (n = 107) with elevated serum glucose levels (HgbA1C > 6.5%) exhibited improved survival. We identified enhanced antioxidant defense as a driver of chemoresistance in this setting. ROS levels were doubled in vitro by either nutrient withdrawal …

The Effect Of Soursop Leaf Extract On Pancreatic Beta Cell Count And Fasting Blood Glucose In Male Wistar Rats Exposed To A High-Fat Diet And Streptozotocin, Dewa Ayu Agung Alit Suka Astini, H Ari Gunawan, R Mochamad Wirono Aman Santoso, Susilowati Andajani, Ahmad Basori

Folia Medica Indonesiana

Based on some researches known that soursop leaf extract can improve beta cell injury. The aims of this study was to analyze the effect of soursop leaf extract on fasting blood glucose (FBG) and pancreatic beta cell number in male Wistar rats wich were exposed to a high-fat diet and streptozotocin. This study design is the only randomized posttest control group design. The total sample size is 50 male Wistar rats. The independent variable: high-fat diet, STZ, and soursop leaf extract; the dependent variable: pancreatic beta cells number, and FBG3. Data tested for normality with Kolmogorov-Smirnov (a=0.05) and tested of …

Potency Of Cv12 Acupuncture As Obesity Prevention Through Modulation Of ρ¡ And ρ¢ Estrogen Receptors Expression On The Adipose Tissue Of Ovariectomized Mice, Purwo Sri Rejeki, Sundari Indah Wiyasihati, Atika Atika

Folia Medica Indonesiana

This study aims to determine the potency of CV 12 acupuncture as prevention of weight gain in ovariectomizedmice (OVX). Female mice strain BALB/c, 28 mice, 3-4 weeks, 25-35 grams were divided into four groups; namely K1 (n = 8, sham and vehiculum injection), K2 (n = 8, OVX and vehiculum injection), K3 (n = 7, OVX and injection of estrogen intraperitoneal 10 mg/kg/day) and K4 (n = 6, OVX and CV12 acupuncture with a frequency of 2 Hz in 10 mA of continuous spike current wave).Injection and acupuncture given every day for four weeks. Weight change in K1 (0.75 ± …

The Expression Of Tgf-ρ¢1 After Low Level Laser Therapy In Inflammation Animal Model, Imam Subadi, Indrayuni Lukitra Wardhani, Andriati Andriati

Folia Medica Indonesiana

Pain is the most common complaints in everyday practice. Pain is a clinical manifestation caused by stimuli due to potential tissue damage. Low level laser therapy (LLLT) has been used in reducing pain. One of indicator tissue healing is activation of transforming growth factor -b1(TGF-b1). Tissue healing will eliminate the pain. Do LLLT stimulate TGF-b1 expression? The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of TGF-b1 in low level laser therapy. Thirty male Wistar rats, body weight 250 – 300 gram, 3 month old, were divided into 3 groups, negative control (n=10), positive control (n=10) and treatment groups …

The Elevation Of Osteoblast Activity In Rat Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells In Osteogenic Medium Exposed With Melatonin In Physiological Doses, Nurma Yuliyanasari, Gondo Mastutik, Suhartono Taat Putra

Folia Medica Indonesiana

The objective of this study was to analyze the elevation of osteoblast activity in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) in osteogenic medium by physiological doses of melatonin administration by measuring alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin level.This studyused BM-MSCs from Rattusnorvegiccus femur bone. Rat BM-MSCs were cultured in a-Mem medium, differentiated in osteogenic medium, and administrated melatonin up to 21 days. This study was divided into 4 groups, K0 (control group), K1 (administrated of 25 nM melatonin), K2 (administrated of 50 nM melatonin), and K3 (administrated of 100 nM melatonin). Rat BM-MSCs were characterized CD 45- and CD 105+ marker …

Chiari I Malformation And Spinal Cord Ischemia In A Cadaver., Faizullah Mashriqi, Marios Loukas, Rod J Oskouian, Anthony V D'Antoni, R Shane Tubbs

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

With advanced imaging, the Chiari I malformation (CIM) is more frequently diagnosed than in the past when this entity was identified most commonly at autopsy. Herein, we report the rare case of an adult cadaver found not only to have CIM but also adjacent spinal cord ischemia. This case is discussed in the context of chronic compression of the spinal cord by a CIM and the need for close monitoring of these patients.

Comparison Of Fatty Acid Compositions And Fuel Characteristics Of Biodiesels Made From Isochrysis Galbana Lipids And From Used Cooking Oil, Cherng-Yuan Lin, Bo-Yu Lin

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The fatty acid compositions and typical fuel characteristics of the biodiesels produced from Isochrysis galbana lipids and used cooking oil were analyzed and compared in this study. The experimental results showed that the major fatty acid compositions of the biodiesel made from the extracted Isochrysis galbana lipids were significantly different from those of the biodiesel made from used cooking oil. The biodiesel made from the microalgae lipids primarily comprised 35.34 wt. % myristic acid (C14:0) whereas the major compound of the used cooking-oil biodiesel was 47.51 wt. % oleic acid (C18:1). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at 4.67 wt. % was only …

Phylogenetically Clumped Species Composition Of Marine Green Algae (Chlorophyta) In The Temperate Zone, Hungyen Chen, Satoshi Nagai

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Global patterns of diversity in marine algae have been reported at the genus level but rarely at the species level. In this study, we investigate the global distribution of species diversity for marine green algae and evaluate the effect of water temperature upon the species composition. We calculated and mapped the species richness and phylogenetic diversity of green algae in 5° x 5° latitude-longitude cells. We then compared and grouped the different spatial patterns of phylogenetic species composition of green algae around the world. Finally, we fitted a locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) curve to the sea surface temperature (SST) …

Corpus Linguistics As A Tool In Legal Interpretation, Lawrence M. Solan, Tammy Gales

BYU Law Review

In this paper, we set out to explore conditions in which the use of large linguistic corpora can be optimally employed by judges and others tasked with construing authoritative legal documents. Linguistic corpora, sometimes containing billions of words, are a source of information about the distribution of language usage. Thus, corpora and the tools for using them are most likely to assist in addressing legal issues when the law considers the distribution of language usage to be legally relevant. As Thomas R. Lee and Stephen C. Mouritsen have so ably demonstrated in earlier work, corpus analysis is especially helpful when …

Corpus Linguistics And The Criminal Law, Carissa Byrne Hessick

BYU Law Review

This brief response to Ordinary Meaning and Corpus Linguistics, an article by Stefan Gries and Brian Slocum, explains why corpus linguistics represents a radical break from current statutory interpretation practice, and it argues that corpus linguistics ought not be adopted as an interpretive theory for criminal laws. Corpus linguistics has superficial appeal because it promises to increase predictability and to decrease the role of judges’ personal preferences in statutory interpretation. But there are reasons to doubt that corpus linguistics can achieve these goals. More importantly, corpus linguistics sacrifices other, more important values, including notice and accountability.

Robust Odorant Recognition In Biological And Artificial Olfaction, Nalin Katta

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Accurate detection and identification of gases pose a number of challenges for chemical sensory systems. The stimulus space is enormous; volatile compounds vary in size, charge, functional groups, and isomerization among others. Furthermore, variability arises from intrinsic (poisoning of the sensors or degradation due to aging) and extrinsic (environmental: humidity, temperature, flow patterns) sources. Nonetheless, biological olfactory systems have been refined over time to overcome these challenges. The main objective of this work is to understand how the biological olfactory system deals with these challenges, and translate them to artificial olfaction to achieve comparable capabilities. In particular, this thesis focuses …

Photodynamic Therapy: Agents And Mechanisms, Rebecca Claire Gilson

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Despite enormous efforts, cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality world-wide. The main challenges currently facing cancer therapy include lack of adequate tumor targeting, failure to treat hypoxic tumor cells, and induction therapy resistant tumors. A solution to these limitations can be found in photodynamic therapy (PDT) which combines light and light activatable compounds, photosensitizers (PSs), to produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) to damage tumor tissue. This creates a spatiotemporal therapeutic effect, where cell damage only occurs at the intersection of the PS and light. PDT can treat tumors through unique mechanisms which reduce induction of tumor …

Intrinsic And Extrinsic Biomechanical Factors In A Co-Adaptive Ecog-Based Brain Computer Interface, Jonathan Carl Landes

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Paralysis, due to spinal cord injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or stroke, is the result of severed communication between the brain and the motor periphery. Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) are neuroprosthetic devices that create novel communication pathways by measuring and transforming neural activity into operational commands. State of the art BCI systems measure brain activity using penetrating electrode arrays able to record from hundreds of individual cortical neurons simultaneously. Unfortunately, these systems are highly susceptible to signal degradation which limits their efficacy to 1-2 years. However, electrocorticography (ECoG) signals recorded from the surface of the brain deliver a more competitive …

Designing Metabolite Biosensors And Engineering Genetic Circuits To Regulate Metabolic Pathways, Di Liu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Microbial production of chemicals has provided an attractive alternative to chemical synthesis. A key to make this technology economically viable is to improve titers, productivities, and strain robustness. However, pathway productivities and yields are often limited by metabolic imbalances that inhibit cell growth and chemical production. In contrast, natural metabolic pathways are dynamically regulated according to cellular metabolic status. Dynamic regulation allows cells to adjust metabolite concentrations to optimal levels and avoid wasting carbon and energy. Inspired by nature, synthetic regulatory circuits have shown great promise in improving titers and productivities, because they can balance the metabolism by dynamically adjusting …

Exploring Host-Virus Interactions In Caenorhabditis Nematodes, Kevin Chen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful model organism that has elucidated many biological questions in the fields of genetics, development, and neurobiology. In addition, C. elegans has been used in the past decade to investigate host-pathogen interactions with bacteria and fungi. The recent identification of nematode viruses that naturally infect C. elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae provides a unique opportunity to define host-virus interactions in these model hosts.This dissertation first explored the transcriptional response of C. elegans and C. briggsae to virus infection by RNA-seq. I identified a total of 320 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in C. elegans following Orsay virus infection. …

Development Of High Resolution Tools For Investigating Cardiac Arrhythmia Dynamics, Christopher Reed Gloschat

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Every year 300,000 Americans die due to sudden cardiac death. There are many pathologies, acquired and genetic, that can lead to sudden cardiac death. Regardless of the underlying pathology, death is frequently the result of ventricular tachycardia and/or fibrillation (VT/VF). Despite decades of research, the mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmia initiation and maintenance are still incompletely understood.

A contributing factor to this lack of understanding is the limitations of the investigative tools used to study VT/VF. Arrhythmias are organ level phenomena that are governed by cellular interactions and as such, near cellular levels of resolution are needed to tease out their …

Identification And Characterization Of An Interferon Stimulated Gene That Restricts Alphavirus Infection And Pathogenesis, Subhajit Poddar

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Viral infection of host cells induces the Type I interferon (IFN) response, which ischaracterized by the production of hundreds of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). Altogether, theseISGs function to induce an antiviral state, hindering or blocking various steps of the virallifecycle. Many individual ISGs have potent and broad antiviral functions. However eliminationof a single ISG does not completely abrogate protection, suggesting that other ISGs, althoughmoderate or moderate when considered alone, must work cooperatively to provide optimalantiviral activity.In order to identify and characterize novel ISGs, an attenuated strain of the alphaviruschikungunya (CHIKV-181/25) was tested against an shRNA library of 243 curated murine genesupregulated …

Nuclear Export Factor 3 Regulates The Localization Of Small Nucleolar Rnas, Melissa Wanling Li

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, are associated with excess levels of lipids, which can lead to organelle dysfunction, cell death and eventually organ dysfunction. This process, termed lipotoxicity, is still not completely understood. In a genetic screen used to identify genes critical for lipotoxicity, the Schaffer lab has identified small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) within the ribosomal protein L13a (Rpl13a) locus that mediate the cellular response to lipotoxic and general metabolic stress. These snoRNAs are non-canonical in that they accumulate in the cytosol after metabolic stresses like lipotoxicity and oxidative stress, suggesting that cells have specific mechanisms for regulating …

The Effect Of Dietary Fat On Obesity, Gene Expression, And Dna Methylation In Two Generations Of Mice, Madeline Rose Keleher

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

As obesity rates continue rising nationally and globally, it is crucial to understand how a high-fat diet disrupts the regulation of the genome and leads to adverse health effects. Uncovering the underlying gene expression and DNA methylation changes induced by an individual’s high-fat diet and a maternal high-fat diet can pinpoint new targets for epigenetic therapies and reveal the physiological and behavioral changes in obesity. The goal of this dissertation is to gain deeper insight into the DNA methylation and gene expression changes that occur in response to a high-fat diet.I studied the response to dietary fat within two generations …

Investigation Of The Contribution Of Type 1 Pili In Enterotoxigenic Escherichia Coli (Etec) Pathogen-Host Interactions, Alaullah Sheikh

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are one of the leading causes of death due to diarrhea in children living in developing countries. ETEC are also the leading cause of diarrhea in travelers to developing countries lacking sanitation and safe drinking water. Unfortunately, there is no broadly protective vaccine available against these important pathogens. In order to cause infection, ETEC colonize the intestinal epithelium and secrete toxins, including heat-labile toxin (LT) and/or heat-stable toxin (ST). Efficient delivery of these toxins to the cognate receptors on target intestinal cells requires direct ETEC-host interactions. Earlier studies demonstrated that ETEC facilitate interactions with host by …

Type 1 And F17-Like Pili Promote The Establishment Of The Uropathogenic E. Coli Intestinal Reservoir, Caitlin Nicole Spaulding

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Urinary tract infections (UTI) affect over 150 million individuals worldwide every year. These infections are associated with significant morbidity and have a sizeable economic impact, with $5 billion being spent on UTI treatment in the USA annually. Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) are responsible for 80% of community acquired UTIs and 65% of nosocomial UTI. The current standard of care for UTI is antibiotic therapy. However, 30-50% of women experience recurrent UTI (rUTI) despite receiving antibiotic therapy. The prevalence of single and multi-drug resistant UPEC strains has led to increased reliance on carbepenems, which are primarily reserved for multi-drug resistant infections, …

Robust Algorithms For Detecting Hidden Structure In Biological Data, Roman Sloutsky

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Biological data, such as molecular abundance measurements and proteinsequences, harbor complex hidden structure that reflects its underlyingbiological mechanisms. For example, high-throughput abundance measurementsprovide a snapshot the global state of a living cell, while homologousprotein sequences encode the residue-level logic of the proteins' functionand provide a snapshot of the evolutionary trajectory of the protein family.In this work I describe algorithmic approaches and analysis software Ideveloped for uncovering hidden structure in both kinds of data.Clustering is an unsurpervised machine learning technique commonly usedto map the structure of data collected in high-throughput experiments,such as quantification of gene expression by DNA microarrays orshort-read sequencing. …

The Role Of Vip Scn Neurons In Circadian Physiology And Behavior, Cristina Mazuski

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Located in the ventral hypothalamus, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is necessary for entraining daily rhythms in physiology and behavior to environmental cues. Though the 20,000 neurons of the SCN uniformly express GABA, they differ greatly in neuropeptide content. One anatomically and functionally distinct class of neuropeptidergic SCN neurons is vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). Expressed by approximately 10% of SCN neurons, VIP is necessary for synchronizing single-cell SCN rhythms to produce coherent output and sufficient for entrainment. However, little is known about the firing activity of these neurons releases VIP and results in circadian entrainment. We utilized multielectrode array technology and …

Mri In Cancer: Improving Methodology For Measuring Vascular Properties And Assessing Radiation Treatment Effects In Brain, Chong Duan

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Tumors cannot survive, progress and metastasize without recruiting new blood vessels. Vascular properties, including perfusion and permeability, provide valuable information for characterizing cancers and assessing therapeutic outcomes. Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI is a non-invasive imaging technique that affords quantitative parameters describing the underlying vascular structure of tissue. To date, the clinical application of DCE-MRI has been hampered by the lack of standardized and validated quantitative modeling approaches for data analysis.From a therapeutic perspective, radiation therapy is a central component of the standard treatment for patients with cancer. Besides killing cancer cells, radiation also induces parenchymal and stromal changes in normal …