Inhibitory Effects of Torin2 on Proximal Tubular Development of the Xenopus laevis Pronephric Kidney

One of the central components in regulating cell growth and cell cycle progression is the mammalian target of Rapamycin (mTOR) complex. The mTOR complex consists of two distinct forms, mTORC1 and mTORC2. As aberrant mTOR complex activity is a major causative factor of many diseases including Polycystic Kidney Diseases (PKD), mTOR has become a major therapeutic target in the last decade. Rapamycin was the first macrolide drug known to inhibit mTOR activity, specifically inhibiting mTORC1. Recently, small-molecule-inhibitors such as Torin2 have been designed to directly bind the catalytic domain of mTOR in order to inhibit both mTORC1 and mTORC2. Using Rapamycin to block mTORC1, proximal tubular growth of Xenopus laevis can be partially abrogated. Here, we investigate whether Torin2 could further inhibit proximal tubular growth by blocking both mTORC1 and mTORC2 activity. Treatment with Torin2 showed greater proximal tubular growth inhibition than Rapamycin, which indicates both mTORC1 and mTORC2 are involved in proximal tubular development

Serano hosts public talk on “Call-Out Culture, Identity Politics, and Political Correctness”

Dr. Julia Serano held a public talk, entitled “A Social Justice Activist’s Perspective on Call-Out Culture, Identity Politics, and Political Correctness” in the Minsky Recital Hall on March 22, 2018, as part of UMaine’s Women’s History Month celebrations. Serano is a writer, performer, biologist, and transgender and bisexual activist, whose works include “Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity,” “Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive” and most recently “Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism.

Hegemonic Masculinity and Health Outcomes in Men: A Mediational Study on the Influence of Masculinity on Diet

Research has demonstrated that men have markedly worse health outcomes than women and have higher rates of death from all 15 leading causes of death except Alzheimer\u27s disease. Little is known about the cause of this discrepancy, except that in evaluations of lifestyle choices and preventive health factors, men engage in far more health-defeating behaviors than women, including diets significantly lower in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and micronutrients, and higher in fat and cholesterol. One theory proposed to help explain this discrepancy is that of hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity is a form of masculine identification associated with cultural dominance and subordination of women and other, less idealized forms of masculinity, such as stoicism, the primacy of work, a presupposition toward violence, and a disdain of homosexuality. This dissertation examined the links between hegemonic masculinity, social physique anxiety, and poor dietary choices in men. Social physique anxiety was defined as the result of self-objectification that creates insecurity and anxiety in men around how others might view their bodies. Specifically, I hypothesized that adherence to hegemonic would predict higher rates of social physique among American men that, in turn, would predict worse dietary habits and patterns. The current study examined survey responses from 313 male participants living in the United States. A multiple regression indicated that the total masculinity scale score was not significantly related to food choices, nor to social physique anxiety. Social physique anxiety, however, was found to be highly predictive of dietary choices and beliefs. Specific male role norms of risk-taking and self-reliance did indirectly predict dietary choices via social physique anxiety. The study sample of men was roughly 76% non-heterosexual-identified (i.e., gay, bisexual, pansexual) although heterosexual and non-heterosexual identified men did not differ on the measures of masculinity or dietary choices. The sample composition limits the generalizability of the findings. These results have implications for how mental health professionals may assist men in making more healthful and conscientious choices, including helping men examine how they have internalized ideas about how to be masculine, and how that, in turn, influences lifestyle choices related to health

linguistic like me: sharp as two metaphors in a bush (Original writing).

Abstract not available.Dept. of English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2004 .C69. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 43-01, page: 0058. Adviser: Susan Holbrook. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2004

Mixed Messaging: Should Judges on the Tennessee Supreme Court Be Called Justices?

Originally published on the LMU Law Review Blog--Off the Record--in February 2021

The Takings Clause Confronts The Police Power: How the Constitution’s Well-Known Protection Failed to Protect Jobs, Businesses, and the Broader Economy in the Name of COVID-19

“This note, completed in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, recounts the emergency orders issued by various levels of government in Tennessee and explains how those orders interplay with the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. As the note explains in great detail, the limitations imposed on government by way of the Takings Clause, a well-known rule that essentially requires the government to pay citizens for property it takes, are thwarted by state governments’ police powers. Analogizing the COVID-19 Pandemic to a disease that kills apple trees, the note explains how the government can take its citizens’ property to further “health, safety, and welfare”—and pay its citizens nothing.

Development of a Humidity-Resistant Coating to Impart High Oxygen Barrier Performance to Food Packaging Films

Oxygen barrier coatings have the potential to greatly extend the lifetime of certain food products by incorporating them into existing food packaging. Present technologies face definite challenges of maintaining high performance, while attaining simple and inexpensive preparation methods. The oxygen barrier effect obtained with these coatings is also susceptible to a plasticization effect when exposed to high humidity, since water vapor molecules are readily soluble in typically hydrophilic resins. In this work, we demonstrate a 1 – 2 micron thick oxygen barrier coating, prepared on a 12 micron poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate, that has oxygen transmission rates as low as 1.44 cc m-2 day-1 under standard conditions and can maintain similar oxygen barrier performance at high humidity. This degree of oxygen barrier meets the standard of 1 – 10 cc m-2 day-1 established for food packaging applications. The coating is prepared through use of sol-gel chemistry between poly(vinyl alcohol) and vinyltrimethoxsilane molecules, which form a strong network resin through hydrolysis and condensation reactions. The formulation of these oxygen barrier coatings allows for variability of solids percentage and viscosity without significant change in performance. The ability to scale up the preparation of these coated films was tested successfully on an industrial flexographic printing press

#MeToo Meets Estoppel: How Bill Cosby’s Conviction Got Tossed by Court’s Application of Equitable Doctrine

Originally published on the LMU Law Review Blog--Off the Record--in August of 2021