Digital Commons Network^™

A Testis-Specific Aralkylamine N-Acetyltransferase Regulates Dimorphic Sperm Function And Male Fertility In Moths, Hao Sun, Peng Yi Huang, Zhi Ruo Zhang, Cong Fen Gao, Subba Reddy Palli, Shun Fan Wu

Entomology Faculty Publications

Most Lepidopterans produce two distinct sperm types—nucleated eupyrene (fertile) and anucleate apyrene (non-fertile), yet the genetic mechanisms governing this dimorphism remain poorly understood. Using the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) as a model, we identified a Lepidoptera-conserved, testis-specific arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (LTNAT) indispensable for male fertility. Functional analyses showed that LTNAT is expressed in both sperm types, and its depletion disrupts mitochondrial derivatives (MDs) in eupyrene sperm and drastically impairs apyrene sperm motility. Multi-omics analyses revealed LTNAT mutation perturbs energy metabolism, lipid homeostasis, and transmembrane transport—alterations correlating with abnormal MD structure. Furthermore, LTNAT deficiency likely compromises apyrene sperm motility by downregulating Sex-lethal …

Food Traceability Rule Vs. Produce Safety Rule, Hema Lingireddy, Amanda J. Deering, Tari Gary, Scott Monroe, Katheryn Parraga, Rama Radhakrishna

Purdue Extension Numbered Publications

The federal Food Traceability Rule and Produce Safety Rule address different but complementary aspects of food safety. In this publication, Purdue University researchers support understanding and clarification by explaining the differences and how the rules work together within the Food Safety Modernization Act. This publication pairs with FS-73-W and FS-74-W.

Plant-Derived Bioactives, The Gut-Brain Axis, And Neurodegenerative Diseases: Mechanistic Roles Of Diet-Microbiota Interactions, Ashley Reynolds, Ethan Glenn, Brigitte Lavoie, Suzanne L. Ishaq, Yanyan Li

Pharmacy Faculty Scholarship

Diet is increasingly recognized as a potential upstream modulator of the gut-brain axis (GBA) through its effects on the microbiome, microbial metabolites, and host immune and endocrine responses. The GBA is a complex, bidirectional network connecting the gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system, with diet influencing microbial community structure and metabolic output. Plant-based diets, such as Mediterranean and MIND, have been associated with increased production of anti-inflammatory microbial metabolites and improved barrier function, while high calorie/low nutrient diets are often linked to increased immune activation and barrier dysfunction. However, while microbial metabolites, especially short-chain fatty acids, indoles, bile acids, and …

A Political Ecology Of The Orang Rimba's Struggle And Existence In Jambi, Indonesia, Aditya Dipta Anindita, Arya Hadi Dharmawan, Soeryo Adiwibowo, Didik Suharjito

Forest and Society

Since the 1970s, forest conversion in the name of development has encroached upon the living spaces of the Orang Rimba, a forest-dwelling indigenous group in Jambi Province, Indonesia. Some of the forest areas, which serve as the cultural and livelihood foundation for this hunter-gatherer community, have been transformed into transmigrant settlements and oil palm plantations, while the remaining forests were designated as a National Park in 2000. Although they still have access to the national park, many Orang Rimba have built their livelihoods among the oil palm trees—not as owners or workers, but believing that these lands are their ancestral …

Structure Of Ergosteryl-Aspartate Synthase Reveals How An Entrapped Trna Is Used Like A Prosthetic Swinging Arm In The Synthesis Of Aminoacylated Sterols, Hanako Murayama, Nathaniel Yakobov, Nassira Mahmoudi, Sasha Legrosdidier, Nicolas Fournier, Solène Zuttion, Kanata Matsumoto, Michihiro Nishimura, Jingwei Ji, Bruno Senger, Laurence Huck, Howard Gamper, Yoshiaki Kise, Ralph Kleiner, Mathieu Frechin, Ya-Ming Hou, Hubert Becker, Yuzuru Itoh, Frédéric Fischer, Osamu Nureki

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Ergosteryl-3β-O-L-aspartate synthase (ErdS) catalyzes tRNA-dependent aspartylation of ergosterol, a lipid essential for fungal cell membrane integrity. However, the functional significance of ergosteryl-aspartate and the molecular mechanisms underlying its synthesis remain unclear. Here, we show that ErdS localization is highly dynamic and that Erg-Asp is required for proper hyphal growth, sporulation, and spore germination, and likely influences stress tolerance. The cryo-electron microscopy structure of ErdS revealed an unprecedented sterol-binding pocket. In addition, the structures in complex with a non-hydrolyzable Asp-N-tRNAAsp show a tRNA-guided intramolecular aminoacyl transfer mechanism between two functional domains of the enzyme. The CCA end of tRNAAsp undergoes a …

Movement, Residency, And Behavioral Plasticity Of Reef Manta Rays In The Samarai Islands Of Papua New Guinea, Anna Knochel, Joanna Harris, Shannon Murphy, Annie Murray, Guy M.W. Stevens, Mark Erdmann

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) is a highly mobile pelagic marine ray found throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, but investigation into their behavior and ecology within Papua New Guinea has not been previously undertaken. Furthermore, the home range, dispersal characteristics, and inter-seasonal fine-scale habitat use of this species is limited. To address these data gaps and investigate the vertical and horizontal habitat use of a previously unstudied population, SPLASH10-F-321A pop-off archival satellite tags were used to track ten adult individuals from 4–181 days between 2016–2018 across two distinct monsoonal periods in the Samarai Islands of …

Unbiased Niche Labeling Maps Immune-Excluded Niche In Bone Metastasis, Zhan Xu, Fengshuo Liu, Yunfeng Ding, Tianhong Pan, Yi-Hsuan Wu, Yujiao Han, Jun Liu, Igor L Bado, Weijie Zhang, Ling Wu, Yang Gao, Xiaoxin Hao, Liqun Yu, Xuan Li, David G Edwards, Hilda L Chan, Sergio Aguirre, Michael Warren Dieffenbach, Elina Chen, Siyue Wang, Yichao Shen, Dane Hoffman, Luis Becerra Dominguez, Charlotte Helena Rivas, Xiang Chen, Hai Wang, Yibin Kang, Zbigniew Gugala, Robert L Satcher, Xiang H-F Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Metastatic cancer cell fate is shaped by the local microenvironment niches. To unbiasedly define the cellular and molecular features of metastatic niches, we developed sortase A-based microenvironment niche tagging (SAMENT), which selectively labels cells encountered by cancer cells during metastasis. Applying SAMENT across multiple cancer models and target organs revealed shared niche features, including macrophage enrichment and T cell depletion, alongside marked organ-specific phenotype heterogeneity in niche macrophages. In bone, metastatic niches are enriched for macrophages expressing estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) with active ERα signaling. Conditional deletion of Esr1 in macrophages significantly impaired bone colonization by enabling T cell infiltration. …

Development Of A Second-Generation Rarα Selective Antagonist As An Orally Bioavailable, Effective, Safe, And Reversible Male Contraceptive, Rui Shi, Kristen John, Xuan Qin, Ehfazul Haque, Taimeng Liang, Narsihmulu Cheryala, Feng Li, Henry L Wong, Gunda I Georg

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

We report the design and SAR studies of benzopyran-, benzofuran-, and benzothiophene-derived inhibitors of the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) for male contraception. SAR studies identified critical features influencing activity, such as the optimal positioning of antagonism moieties and substituents, leading to the discovery of (S)-4-(5-(2,8-dimethyl-5-(p-tolyl)-2H-chromen-3-yl)-1H-pyrrol-2-yl)­benzoic acid (compound 23). Compound 23 is a highly potent RARα inhibitor (IC50 = 0.051 nM) with excellent selectivity (>1650-fold over RARβ and >1960-fold over RARγ) and ADMET properties. Compound 23 is orally bioavailable and reduces sperm counts in mice for a full male contraceptive effect …

Icam1high Neutrophils Sculpt Tumor Evolution And Metastasis Through Symbiotic Adhesion And Reverse Migration, Ling Wu, Zhan Xu, Jun Wang, Fengshuo Liu, Yunfeng Ding, Yang Gao, Siyue Wang, Jun Liu, Hilda L Chan, Weiguo Wu, Yi-Hsuan Wu, Liqun Yu, Xiaoxin Hao, Xuan Li, David G Edwards, Cher Sha, Tobie D Lee, Nan Guan, Sergio Aguirre, Luis Becerra-Dominguez, Dane Hoffman, Xiang Chen, Charlotte Helena Rivas, Xiaoyuan G Yan, Igor L Bado, Weijie Zhang, Qian Zhu, Arun Sreekumar, Robert L Satcher, Xiang H-F Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Neutrophils are a prominent component of the tumor microenvironment that can have both pro- and anti-tumor functions. By analyzing neutrophils across different human cancers, we revealed an ICAM1high subset enriched in the tumor microenvironment, which were also observed in murine triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) models. ICAM1high neutrophils exhibited an enhanced capacity for cell-cell adhesion specifically with tumor cells retaining epithelial features, and this adhesion conferred mutual advantages to both cell types. In contrast, cancer cells with mesenchymal-like phenotypes were vulnerable to neutrophil-mediated cytotoxicity due to decreased cell adhesion and elastase resistance. These opposite effects drove tumor evolution toward a …

Seaweed-Derived Bioactives: A Promising Source Of Novel Therapeutics, Aida H. Shobier, Sahar W.M. Hassan, Safaa A. Abdel Ghani

Blue Economy

The marine environment provides bioactive natural products with unique structures that are absent in terrestrial compounds. This review aims to provide a thorough overview of key studies on bioactives derived from seaweeds. It focuses on their potential to address common diseases such as microbial infections, diabetes, oxidative stress, inflammation, viral infections, cancer, immune disorders, and Alzheimer's disease as well as their potential use in drug delivery systems. The bioactive compounds found in seaweeds belong to various chemical classes, with the largest proportion being polysaccharides, lipids, proteins, phenolics, pigments, terpenoids, alkaloids, and sterols. These compounds possess significant pharmacological potential. …

Ai Need Not Make One Slothful, Roy A. Kaelin Jr

i.e.: inquiry in education

As National Louis University seeks to plan and advance its way amid the potential perils and pitfalls of so-named artificial intelligence, one finds that with reasonable workflows and guard rails, the use of AI proposes both potential promise and prospect, to assist and augment the natural intelligence that students and teachers bring to the classroom, encouraging them to pursue STEM-related activities with the preparation and deployment of focused and directed AI-bots. This paper presents examples and a case study of that directed and focused approach, the incremental lessons learned to date, and a proposed path to advance worthwhile AI …

Ai-Powered Remixes: Using Generative Ai To Critically Examine Text, Genre, And Language In First Year College Writing, Lauren Anderson, Eric Vandemark

i.e.: inquiry in education

As generative AI tools become embedded in writing instruction, educators face urgent questions about how these technologies encode and reinforce language standardization — particularly for multilingual and multidialectal students. This practitioner reflection describes a series of AI-powered "remix" activities developed and refined in corequisite writing labs. Building on a prior action research study, this paper turns to the pedagogical questions that emerged after the study: how AI tools might be used not as writing shortcuts but as objects of critical inquiry. Drawing on frameworks including critical literacy, plurilingualism, culturally relevant pedagogy, and AI literacy, we describe four remix activity types …

Open Amd Delivery Testbed (O‑Amd‑Dt V1.0), Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

O‑AMD‑DT v1.0 is a fully open, modular, benchtop‑only testbed for evaluating drug penetration into posterior ocular analogs under ultrasound stimulation.

The system uses standardized, layered ocular phantom cartridges with microfluidic sampling ports, enabling quantitative measurement of drug transport through cornea, sclera, and choroid/retina analogs.

The platform integrates capabilities from UAAP v1.0, GCI‑267, GCI‑v3.1, VMR v2.5‑T “Titan”, and VABR‑v2.0, providing acoustic control, microfluidic sampling, and nano‑/micro‑carrier preparation.

This disclosure includes complete mechanical blueprints, phantom construction methods, ultrasound coupling geometry, microfluidic architecture, assembly instructions, and test protocols, enabling any laboratory to fabricate and use the system.

Non‑Invasive Ultrasound‑Enhanced Macular Drug Delivery Platform (Onrs‑Amd V1.0), Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

ONRS‑AMD v1.0 is a fully open, build‑ready, non‑invasive macular drug‑delivery platform using low‑intensity focused ultrasound, acoustic vortex field shaping, and a periocular drug/gel reservoir to drive therapeutic molecules across the cornea, sclera, and choroid toward the macula.

The system uses a 12‑element ultrasound ring with independent phase control, programmable delivery modes, and integrated safety logic.

This disclosure provides complete mechanical blueprints, electronics, firmware logic, assembly steps, phantom testbeds, validation protocols, and safety requirements, enabling any research group to fabricate and test the system without licensing barriers.

Cadencias, No. 7 (2020)

Cadencias

The full issue of Cadencias from the 2019-2020 academic year, including poetry, essays, and art.

Cadencias, No. 5 (2017)

Cadencias

The full issue of Cadencias from the 2016-2017 academic year, including the sections:

• Relatos Breves
• Expresiones Poéticas

Cadencias, No. 3 (2014-2015)

Cadencias

The full issue of Cadencias from the 2014-2015 academic year, including the sections:

• Hojas breves: Recuerdos, anécdotas y visiones nuevas
• Expresiones poéticas—Poetic expressions

Food, Crisis And Hope: Three Conflicts, Three Approaches, Johanna Mendelson Forman, Michael Shaikh, Joan Nathan, Yeheniia Yemshenetska, Andrea Borghini

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

Plenary Session: Food, Crisis and Hope: Three Conflicts, Three Approaches

Panel hosted by Johanna Mendelson Forman

Michael Shaikh - "Saving Cuisine Is the Same As Saving a People"

Joan Nathan - "The Edible DNA: Jewish Food as a Bond through Crisis and War"

Johanna Mendelson Forman and Yevheniia Yemshenetska - "Hope and Crisis in War: Ukraine’s Deployment of Food as Soft Power during Conflict"

Andrea Borghini - "Food in Times of Crisis: A Leadership Perspective"

The Choctaw Mission: An Experiment In Civilization, Dawson A. Phelps

Journal of Mississippi History

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Pre-Service Teachers’ Agency In Ai-Supported Lesson Design Through A Posthuman Synthesis Of Three Empirical Studies In Teacher Education, Wen Wen, Huijing Wen

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly used in lesson planning in teacher education. There has been a growing interest in exploring the different practices of teachers using GenAI to support lesson planning. This conceptual paper, using posthumanism as a framework, synthesizes three empirical studies to conceptualize pre-service teachers’ agency in AI-supported lesson design on literacy instruction. Pre-service teachers’ agency emerges from the interaction with GenAI, as well as with other human and non-human resources. Although their agency is shared and distributed during the design process, it remains essential for pre-service teachers to actively exercise their agency and make informed judgments …

After Meat: Ruin, Decomposition, And The Epistemic Collapse Of Industrial Food Systems, Alexandra Kenefick

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

The contemporary crisis of industrial meat is typically framed in environmental, ethical, or technological terms. This paper argues instead that the crisis is fundamentally epistemic, exposing the conceptual limits of modern food systems organized around abstraction, purification, efficiency, and control. Drawing on critical theories of modernity, political ecology, and design, it reframes meat not as food but as a designed industrial artefact. Through the lens of ruin, industrial breakdown is read as material disclosure, rendering visible the violences, dependencies, and exclusions that sustained modern abundance. Against technological solutionism and post-meat futurism, the paper develops decomposition as an alternative epistemic and …

Migration And Settlement: Nation, Diaspora, And Culinary Geographies In Izmir’S Culinary Culture, Betül Öztürk

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

The study explores the historical formation of Izmir as a port city shaped by waves of migration, examining how these dynamics contributed to the emergence of a hybrid culinary culture. The present study draws on historical sources and literature on migration to trace Izmir’s transformation from a small Ottoman settlement to a cosmopolitan Mediterranean city. The study highlights the role of diasporic communities including Rums, Sephardic Jews, Armenians, Levantines and later internal migrants in shaping daily life. The manner in which cohabitation patterns, neighbourhood-based settlements, and shared economic spaces have served to facilitate continuous cultural interaction among ethnic minorities is …

Bonding Through Boucherie: Strengthening Social Ties Through Butchery, Evelyn Lambeth

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

“La boucherie de quartier” is a Cajun phrase referring to a neighbourhood pig slaughter. One such annual event, the Lâche Pas Boucherie in southern Louisiana, brings multiple generations and many traditions together with the goal of sharing and celebrating music, food and culture. Boudin, crackling, andouille sausage, and hogshead cheese are but a few of the unique offerings from this melting pot of shared flavours. I was born and raised in southern Louisiana but rarely appreciated the novelty of Cajun cuisine until I moved to Australia. The flavours and spices of my former home add a certain piquancy that is …

A Crisis Of Blood – The Slow Death Of Ireland’S Fresh Blood Black Pudding Tradition, Kate Ryan

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

Fresh blood black pudding is one of the oldest foods of Ireland, yet rapidly declining access to fresh animal blood means this is a food under threat of extinction. Underpinning this crisis is the shuttering of abattoirs capable or willing to collect blood at slaughter. However, this is a crisis hidden from view of the consumer as proliferation of cheap mass-made puddings reliant on imported dried blood obfuscates the issue. The result is that this is a food crisis experienced only by those who persist – by obligation to recipe, legacy and tradition – in keeping the practice alive. This …

Food As Freedom In The 1798 Rebellion, Lorna Carney

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This paper draws out the tension between the well-fed leadership of the 1798 rebellion versus reports of hungry reality for poorer rebels. Readers of the unabridged diaries of Theobald Wolfe Tone must be struck by how often the man talks about what he ate, when he ate it and who he ate it with. Emerging from the coffee houses and dining clubs of Dublin and Belfast, the prosperous members of the professional classes and minor gentry who made up the leadership of the United Irishmen spent a good deal of their time around the table discussing the application of the …

The Beast Sleeps Down In Georgia, Sophia Flamoe

Fragments

No abstract provided.

Dissolve, Sailor Kensrue

Fragments

No abstract provided.

Feeding A Colony: Crisis, Adaptation, And The Making Of A Wartime Food Economy In Cyprus (1939-1945), Evangelia Matthopoulou, Petroula Hadjittofi

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

The outbreak of the WWII severely disrupted Mediterranean maritime transport, curtailing the inflow of foodstuffs and processed commodities to small import- dependent economies. This paper examines British Cyprus as a case study, arguing that wartime supply chain crisis prompted both policy and entrepreneurial shifts that not only safeguarded subsistence, but also laid foundations for postwar development. Colonial emergency measures (rationing, price controls, and food campaigns) sought to manage trade bottlenecks, while British policy actively redirected demand toward locally processed food products. This turn to import substitution was reinforced by Cyprus’s incorporation into the Middle East Supply Center in Cairo, which …

Superman And Coca-Cola, Karen Pepper

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

One crisis we currently face is the rising incidence of diabetes worldwide, arguably due to the inclusion of sugar, in one form or another, in nearly all processed foods. Superman and Coca Cola, two symbols prominent in the American cultural landscape, suggest an association of sugar consumption and power. Indeed, sweetness appeals to us both as a taste and as a concept, and sugar, accordingly, is often marketed not as nourishing but as empowering. Superman may seem far removed from discussions of food. However, the possibility of acquiring greater-than-human strength was apparently uppermost in the minds of mid-twentieth century Americans, …

The Taste Of Resilience In Bread, Beer And Ashes At Tell Bazi (Syria), Marie Hopwood

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

Nuances of ancient life choices do not leave traces that can be excavated and quantified. Even with written language, not all thoughts made it to tablet, and not all tablets survive. What archaeologists can see from millennia past are points of intense change, sometimes resulting from crisis. People cope with crisis through traditions and rituals designed to help them transition through the upheaval and loss into a new future when happiness can be found. Around 1350BCE the people of Tell Bazi (Syria) faced annihilation likely from the Hittites who left a swath of ravaged towns and displaced populations in their …