Digital Commons Network^™

Dollar Trap And Digital Currency, Lan Cao

Chapman Law Review

The dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, cemented after World War II, has been called into question over the years. American stewardship of the dollar, as both a currency of the United States and an international reserve currency, has been a source of global resentment, from allies as well as rivals. Fractures within the international monetary system, many of which rise intrinsically from the dollar’s unique status, have been compounded by the manner the United States has used the dollar: one, to solve financial disturbances such as those emerging from the 2008 housing crisis, and two, to punish certain …

Investigating The Importance Of Non-Textual Caption Properties From Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Viewers' Perspective, Akhter Al Amin

Theses

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) viewers rely on captioning to perceive auditory information while watching live television programming. Captioning ensures that viewers can receive textual and non-textual information that is crucial to comprehend the content of the video. However, no research has investigated how non-textual properties of captioning, such as caption placement and the presentation of current speakers, influence DHH viewers’ ability to comprehend video content and their judgement of a captioned video’s quality. Thus, this work aims to understand the effect of non-textual properties of captioning on DHH viewers’ live captioned video watching experiences; these findings can inform a better …

Relentless Atrocities: The Persecution Of Hazaras, Mehdi J. Hakimi

Michigan Journal of International Law

As one of the main ethnic groups in Afghanistan, Hazaras are Farsi-speaking and mostly Shi’a Muslims in a predominantly Sunni Muslim country. They are also distinguishable by their Asiatic appearance. Throughout Afghanistan’s history, Hazaras have suffered considerably under different regimes, enduring recurring massacres, enslavement, and forced displacement. Despite Afghanistan’s accession to the Rome Statute in 2003, the plight of Hazaras has not improved. Indeed, the assaults on Hazaras have only intensified in recent years, impacting virtually every aspect of their lives.

This article argues that the recent and ongoing attacks against Hazaras constitute a crime against humanity. In particular, I …

In The Air 2023, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

In the Air was a community-based photography and poetry zine that was designed to reflect student experiences and build community across majors on campus. The first and only issue is divided into four chapters that contain creative writing and student artwork: To Be in Love, School(ed), Observations, and Life.

An Examination Of The Current Knowledge Of Contaminants In Mangroves: Hawaii And Globally, Geoffrey Szafranski

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The geographic range of mangrove forests is shifting quickly as they expand poleward in response to climate change while simultaneously being removed from their native extent to clear space for anthropogenic land-uses. Mangrove forests are also known to be sinks for anthropogenic contamination. Yet contamination research is under-researched in mangrove ecosystems, specifically the environmental fate, effect on biodiversity, and risk to human populations from contamination in the context of these changing conditions requires further research. The goal of this thesis is to address this data gap through analysis of contamination in the literature and through an investigational survey of mangrove …

Primitive Mythology (The Masks Of God, Volume 1) By Joseph Campbell, Phillip Fitzsimmons

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

The Linguistic Reimagining Of Natural Elements In Gerard Manley Hopkins' Nature Sonnets, Leah Rice

Student Works

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) was a Victorian poet and Jesuit priest now numbered among the major English poets. When the first edition of his poems was published posthumously in 1918 by his friend Robert Bridges, it “baffled more readers than it converted” (Martin 50). Nevertheless, despite this original reticence to accept Hopkins as a poet, the tests of time and scholarship has proven his depth and continued relevance of study.

Communication Monographs Spring 2023 Newsletter, Martina Santia, Srividya Ramasubramanian

CODE^SHIFT Research

No abstract provided.

Snacking Consumption Among Adults In The United States: A Scoping Review, Jean Pierre Enriquez, Elizabeth Gollub

Faculty Publications

Snacks are a staple of the American diet, contributing to approximately 20% of energy intake. Most U.S. adults consume one to three snacks/day, yet few reviews have focused on snacking among this population. This scoping review was conducted to characterize snacks and snacking occasions among U.S. adults to further inform healthy eating practices. The protocol was prepared following the PRISMA-Extension for Scoping Reviews. Three web databases were used to identify articles using snacking or eating occasions as primary or secondary outcomes among U.S. adults. A search strategy was developed using subject headings, truncation, and phrase searching in the title and …

Spring 2023 Catalog, Lsu Press

LSU Press Seasonal Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Melatonin Treatment Of Strawberry Fruit During Storage Extends Its Post-Harvest Quality And Reduces Infection Caused By Botrytis Cinerea, Surassawadee Promyou, Yenjit Raruang, Zhi Yuan Chen

Faculty Publications

Gray mold is a main disease of strawberry fruit (Fragaria × xananassa cv. Camino Real) caused by Botrytis cinerea, which leads to marketable value losses in the supply chain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exogenous melatonin (MT) on the physicochemical quality, antioxidant defense system, and disease resistance of strawberry fruit to B. cinerea infection. The results revealed that strawberry fruit immersed in 100 µM MT for 15 min effectively maintained its brightness and delayed the change in fruit color. MT also maintained the level of titratable acidity and slowed down the increase of total …

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine, Spring 2023

Louisiana Agriculture

In this issue of Louisiana Agriculture, Carl Motsenbocker, the executive director of Seeds to Success, and Crystal Besse, the program director, explain how local food systems are seeing a resurgence. The Seeds to Success team details how the farm to school movement is assisting this growth. They also profile the people who work to make it possible — a teacher, farmers and an AgCenter Extension agent. In additional articles, researchers examine the economic benefits of farm to school programs as well as soil mixes for home gardeners and the media used by our consumer horticulture industry.

Reduction Of Plasma Bcaas Following Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery Is Primarily Mediated By Fgf21, Harsh Shah, Alyssa Kramer, Caitlyn A. Mullins, Marie Mattern, Ritchel B. Gannaban, R. Leigh Townsend, Shawn R. Campagna, Christopher D. Morrison, Hans Rudolf Berthoud, Andrew C. Shin

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a challenging health concern worldwide. A lifestyle intervention to treat T2D is difficult to adhere, and the effectiveness of approved medications such as metformin, thiazolidinediones (TZDs), and sulfonylureas are suboptimal. On the other hand, bariatric procedures such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) are being recognized for their remarkable ability to achieve diabetes remission, although the underlying mechanism is not clear. Recent evidence points to branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) as a potential contributor to glucose impairment and insulin resistance. RYGB has been shown to effectively lower plasma BCAAs in insulin-resistant or T2D patients that may help …

Genetic Susceptibility To Diabetic Kidney Disease Is Linked To Promoter Variants Of Xor, Qin Wang, Haiying Qi, Yiming Wu, Liping Yu, Rihab Bouchareb, Shuyu Li, Emelie Lassén, Gabriella Casalena, Krisztian Stadler, Kerstin Ebefors, Zhengzi Yi, Shaolin Shi, Fadi Salem, Ronald Gordon, Lu Lu, Robert W. Williams, Jeremy Duffield, Weijia Zhang, Yuval Itan, Erwin Böttinger, Ilse Daehn

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

The lifetime risk of kidney disease in people with diabetes is 10–30%, implicating genetic predisposition in the cause of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Here we identify an expression quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in the cis-acting regulatory region of the xanthine dehydrogenase, or xanthine oxidoreductase (Xor), a binding site for C/EBPβ, to be associated with diabetes-induced podocyte loss in DKD in male mice. We examine mouse inbred strains that are susceptible (DBA/2J) and resistant (C57BL/6J) to DKD, as well as a panel of recombinant inbred BXD mice, to map QTLs. We also uncover promoter XOR orthologue variants in humans associated with …

Cerebrospinal Fluid Protein Markers Indicate Neuro-Damage In Sars-Cov-2-Infected Nonhuman Primates, Sudipa Maity, Meredith G. Mayer, Qingbo Shu, Hellmers Linh, Duran Bao, Robert V. Blair, Yanlin He, Christopher J. Lyon, Tony Y. Hu, Tracy Fischer, Jia Fan

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Neurologic manifestations are among the most frequently reported complications of COVID-19. However, given the paucity of tissue samples and the highly infectious nature of the etiologic agent of COVID-19, we have limited information to understand the neuropathogenesis of COVID-19. Therefore, to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the brain, we used mass-spectrometry–based proteomics with a data-independent acquisition mode to investigate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins collected from two different nonhuman primates, Rhesus Macaque and African Green Monkeys, for the neurologic effects of the infection. These monkeys exhibited minimal to mild pulmonary pathology but moderate to severe central nervous system (CNS) …

Pharmacological Inhibition Of Cftr Attenuates Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (Nash) Progression In Mice, Sangam Rajak, Archana Tewari, Sana Raza, Pratima Gupta, Bandana Chakravarti, Baby Anjum, Madhulika Tripathi, Brijesh K. Singh, Paul M. Yen, Amit Goel, Sujoy Ghosh, Rohit A. Sinha

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is considered a pivotal stage in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progression and increases the risk of end-stage liver diseases such as fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The etiology of NASH is multifactorial and identifying reliable molecular players has proven difficult. Presently, there are no approved drugs for NASH treatment, which has become a leading cause of liver transplants worldwide. Here, using public human transcriptomic NAFLD dataset, we uncover Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance receptor (CFTR) as a differentially expressed gene in the livers of human NASH patients. Similarly, murine Cftr expression was also found to be …

Strategy For Pre-Clinical Development Of Active Targeting Microrna Oligonucleotide Therapeutics For Unmet Medical Needs, Marc Thibonnier, Sujoy Ghosh

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

We present here an innovative modular and outsourced model of drug research and development for microRNA oligonucleotide therapeutics (miRNA ONTs). This model is being implemented by a biotechnology company, namely AptamiR Therapeutics, in collaboration with Centers of Excellence in Academic Institutions. Our aim is to develop safe, effective and convenient active targeting miRNA ONT agents for the metabolic pandemic of obesity and metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), as well as deadly ovarian cancer.

Regional Variation In Feeding Patterns Of Sheepshead (Archosargus Probatocephalus) In The Northwest Gulf Of Mexico, Elsa M. Gutierrez, Jeffrey D. Plumlee, Derek G. Bolser, Brad E. Erisman, R. J.David Wells

Faculty Publications

Feeding patterns of sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, in the northwest Gulf of Mexico were examined from samples collected at two locations in Texas, USA; Galveston and Port Aransas. A total of 53 sheepshead stomachs (Galveston, n = 35; Port Aransas, n = 18) had their contents analyzed along with tissue samples from the muscle and liver for a stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) because they provide a contrast between short-term (liver) and long-term (muscle) measurements. Multiple species of amphipods made up the majority of the prey items in sheepshead from Galveston (%IRI = 61.79), whereas barnacles were the primary …

Low Species Turnover Of Upland Amazonian Birds In The Absence Of Physical Barriers, Cameron L. Rutt, W. Justin Cooper, Christian B. Andretti, Thiago V.V. Costa, Philip C. Stouffer, Claudeir F. Vargas, David A. Luther, Mario Cohn-Haft

Faculty Publications

Aim: One of the oldest and most powerful ways for ecologists to explain distinct biological communities is to invoke underlying environmental differences. But in hyper-diverse systems, which often display high species richness and low species abundance, these sorts of community comparisons are especially challenging. The classic view for Amazonian birds posits that riverine barriers and habitat specialization determine local and regional community composition. We test the tacit, complementary assumption that similar bird communities should therefore permeate uniform habitat between major rivers, regardless of distance. Location: Upland (terra firme) rainforests of central Amazonia. Methods: We conducted intensive whole-community surveys of birds …

Increasing Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Fields Of Nutrition And Obesity: A Roadmap To Equity In Academia, Samantha L. Martin, Michelle I. Cardel, Tiffany L. Carson, James O. Hill, Takara Stanley, Steven Grinspoon, Felicia Steger, Loneke T. Blackman Carr, Maxine Ashby-Thompson, Delisha Stewart, Jamy Ard, Raziel Rojas-Rodriguez, Mabel Toribio, Gabrielle Page-Wilson, Ursula White, Glenn Rowe, Marine Saint-Cyr, Rita Brookheart, Lauren Adele Fowler, Gwen Twillman, Felicia Price, April Stull, Sonia Vega-Lopez, Tony Comuzzie, Catherine M. Kotz, Francoise Knox Kazimierczuk, Monica L. Baskin, Robert Newton, Andrew Greenberg, Camile E. Powe, Dympna Gallagher, David H. Burk, Elissa S. Epel, Paul S. Maclean

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Research shows that a diverse faculty improves academic, clinical, and research outcomes in higher education. Despite that, persons in minority groups, usually categorized by race or ethnicity, are underrepresented in academia (URiA). The Nutrition Obesity Research Centers (NORCs), supported by the NIDDK, hosted workshops on five separate days in September and October 2020. NORCs convened these workshops to identify barriers and facilitators for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and provide specific recommendations to improve DEI within obesity and nutrition for individuals from URiA groups. Recognized experts on DEI presented each day, after which the NORCs conducted breakout sessions with key …

Monitoring Body Composition Change For Intervention Studies With Advancing 3d Optical Imaging Technology In Comparison To Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry, Michael C. Wong, Jonathan P. Bennett, Lambert T. Leong, Isaac Y. Tian, Yong E. Liu, Nisa N. Kelly, Cassidy Mccarthy, Julia M.W. Wong, Cara B. Ebbeling, David S. Ludwig, Brian A. Irving, Matthew C. Scott, James Stampley, Brett Davis, Neil Johannsen, Rachel Matthews, Cullen Vincellette, Andrea K. Garber, Gertraud Maskarinec, Ethan Weiss, Jennifer Rood, Alyssa N. Varanoske, Stefan M. Pasiakos, Steven B. Heymsfield, John A. Shepherd

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Background: Recent 3-dimensional optical (3DO) imaging advancements have provided more accessible, affordable, and self-operating opportunities for assessing body composition. 3DO is accurate and precise in clinical measures made by DXA. However, the sensitivity for monitoring body composition change over time with 3DO body shape imaging is unknown. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the ability of 3DO in monitoring body composition changes across multiple intervention studies. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using intervention studies on healthy adults that were complimentary to the cross-sectional study, Shape Up! Adults. Each participant received a DXA (Hologic Discovery/A system) and 3DO (Fit3D ProScanner) …

Safety And Tolerability Of Whole Soybean Products: A Dose-Escalating Clinical Trial In Older Adults With Obesity, Candida J. Rebello, Stephen Boué, Ronald J. Levy, Renée Puyau, Robbie A. Beyl, Frank L. Greenway, Mark L. Heiman, Jeffrey N. Keller, Charles F. Reynolds, John P. Kirwan

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Soybean products have nutrients, dietary fiber, and phytoalexins beneficial for cardiovascular and overall health. Despite their high consumption in Asian populations, their safety in Western diets is debated. We conducted a dose-escalating clinical trial of the safety and tolerability of soybean products in eight older adults (70–85 years) with obesity. Whole green soybean pods grown under controlled conditions were processed to flour (WGS) at the United States Department of Agriculture using common cooking techniques such as slicing and heat treatment. WGS incorporated into food products was consumed at 10 g, 20 g, and 30 g/day for one week at each …

Is The Gut Microbiome Implicated In The Excess Risk Of Hypertension Associated With Obstructive Sleep Apnea? A Contemporary Review, Sanah S. Munir, Fatima H. Sert Kuniyoshi, Prachi Singh, Naima Covassin

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder and an established risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension. The pathogenesis of elevated blood pressure (BP) in OSA is multifactorial, including sympathetic overdrive, vascular aberrations, oxidative stress, inflammation, and metabolic dysregulation. Among the mechanisms potentially involved in OSA-induced hypertension, the role of the gut microbiome is gaining increasing attention. Perturbations in the diversity, composition, and function of the gut microbiota have been causally linked to numerous disorders, and robust evidence has identified gut dysbiosis as a determinant of BP elevation in various populations. In this brief review, we summarize …

A Review Of Methods Of Assessing Preference For Social Stimuli, Samuel L. Morris, Madison L. Gallagher, Alva E. Allen

Faculty Publications

Research on preference and reinforcer assessments has historically focused on the evaluation of edible and leisure reinforcers, but the identification and use of individualized social reinforcers may be beneficial for several reasons. Recently, many studies have evaluated methods of assessing preference for social stimuli. The procedures and outcomes across these studies have varied greatly, and the current state of evidence for methods of assessing preference for social stimuli remains unclear. Thus, we conducted a review to synthesize all previous research in this area, evaluate the evidence for the utility of this general methodology, and identify factors that may influence its …

Total Daily Energy Expenditure Has Declined Over The Past Three Decades Due To Declining Basal Expenditure, Not Reduced Activity Expenditure, John R. Speakman, Jasper M.A. De Jong, Srishti Sinha, Klaas R. Westerterp, Yosuke Yamada, Hiroyuki Sagayama, Philip N. Ainslie, Liam J. Anderson, Lenore Arab, Kweku Bedu-Addo, Stephane Blanc, Alberto G. Bonomi, Pascal Bovet, Soren Brage, Maciej S. Buchowski, Nancy F. Butte, Stefan G.J.A. Camps, Jamie A. Cooper, Richard Cooper, Sai Krupa Das, Peter S.W. Davies, Lara R. Dugas, Ulf Ekelund, Sonja Entringer, Terrence Forrester, Barry W. Fudge, Melanie Gillingham, Santu Ghosh, Annelies H. Goris, Michael Gurven, Lewis G. Halsey, Catherine Hambly, Hinke H. Haisma

Faculty Publications

Obesity is caused by a prolonged positive energy balance1,2. Whether reduced energy expenditure stemming from reduced activity levels contributes is debated3,4. Here we show that in both sexes, total energy expenditure (TEE) adjusted for body composition and age declined since the late 1980s, while adjusted activity energy expenditure increased over time. We use the International Atomic Energy Agency Doubly Labelled Water database on energy expenditure of adults in the United States and Europe (n = 4,799) to explore patterns in total (TEE: n = 4,799), basal (BEE: n = 1,432) and physical activity energy expenditure (n = 1,432) over time. …

Attributes Of Culture Bacteria As Influenced By Ingredients That Help Treat Leaky Gut, Ricardo S. Aleman, David Paz, Roberto Cedillos, Miguel Tabora, Douglas W. Olson, Kayanush Aryana

Faculty Publications

Consumers are becoming aware of functional ingredients such as medicinal herbs, polyphenols, mushrooms, amino acids, proteins, and probiotics more than ever before. Like yogurt and its probiotics, L-glutamine, quercetin, slippery elm bark, marshmallow root, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, licorice root, maitake mushrooms, and zinc orotate have demonstrated health benefits through gut microbiota. The impact of these ingredients on yogurt starter culture bacteria characteristics is not well known. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of these ingredients on the probiotic characteristics, tolerance to gastric juices and lysozyme, protease activity, and viability of Streptococcus thermophilus STI-06 and Lactobacillus bulgaricus LB-12. Acid …

Genome-Wide Association Analysis Of Hyperspectral Reflectance Data To Dissect The Genetic Architecture Of Growth-Related Traits In Maize Under Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria Inoculation, Rafael Massahiro Yassue, Giovanni Galli, Chun Peng James Chen, Roberto Fritsche-Neto, Gota Morota

Faculty Publications

Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) may be of use for increasing crop yield and plant resilience to biotic and abiotic stressors. Using hyperspectral reflectance data to assess growth-related traits may shed light on the underlying genetics as such data can help assess biochemical and physiological traits. This study aimed to integrate hyperspectral reflectance data with genome-wide association analyses to examine maize growth-related traits under PGPB inoculation. A total of 360 inbred maize lines with 13,826 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were evaluated with and without PGPB inoculation; 150 hyperspectral wavelength reflectances at 386–1021 nm and 131 hyperspectral indices were used in the …

New Boron Delivery Agents, Annette G. Beck-Sickinger, Daniel P. Becker, Oksana Chepurna, Bhaskar Das, Sebastian Flieger, Evamarie Hey-Hawkins, Narayan Hosmane, Satish S. Jalisatgi, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Rameshwar Patil, Maria Da Graça H. Vicente, Clara Viñas

Faculty Publications

This proceeding article compiles current research on the development of boron delivery drugs for boron neutron capture therapy that was presented and discussed at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Workshop on Neutron Capture Therapy that took place on April 20-22, 2022. The most used boron sources are icosahedral boron clusters attached to peptides, proteins (such as albumin), porphyrin derivatives, dendrimers, polymers, and nanoparticles, or encapsulated into liposomes. These boron clusters and/or carriers can be labeled with contrast agents allowing for the use of imaging techniques, such as PET, SPECT, and fluorescence, that enable quantification of tumor-localized boron and their use …

Factors Affecting Groundwater Nitrate Concentration In Madinah Area, Saudi Arabia, Majed M. Almutairi

Masters Theses

High levels of nitrate in groundwater are a serious problem in Madinah Area, Saudi Arabia. Identifying factors affecting groundwater nitrate contamination is important for managing groundwater quality. This study examined factors that have significant impacts on the high level of groundwater nitrate in Madinah Area. Factors examined included well-depth and land cover. Relationships between variables were explored using three statistical approaches: the Kruskal-Wallis test and two types of regression (ordinary least squares [OLS] and geographically weighted regression [GWR]).

Nitrate concentration data show that 73% of obtained groundwater samples exceeded the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) …

Assessing The Total Economic Value Of Parks In Kalamazoo County, Samuel Herman Ayivi

Masters Theses

Urban parks and green spaces have become an important part of the urban ecosystems in recent years, and there is growing evidence on the positive relationship between having green spaces and good health. Indeed, access to urban parks is part of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goals (Goal 11 target 7). In recent years, these parks and green spaces have become a subject of development pressures because of the inability of planners and researchers to clearly articulate the value of these parks. The Total Economic Value Framework (TEVF) situates resources (Parks and green spaces in this case) in the minds …