People are more likely to spend time together in public spaces than they were 30 years ago

Has the rise of mobile phones made us more likely to be isolated and alone in public? New research from Keith N. Hampton based on observations of thousands of people in public spaces in 1979-1980 and again in 2010, shows that we are in fact less alone, and more together in public. He finds that there has been a substantial decline in the number of people alone in most of the public places examined, that there has been a large increase in the number of women visible in these public spaces

Advancement of Interpolyelectrolyte Complexes for the Delivery of Genetic Material

This dissertation focuses on the development and advancement of interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPECs) and block ionomer complexes (BICs) for the delivery of genetic material, namely RNA, to cells, both human and insect. RNA interference (RNAi) provides a powerful tool for disease treatment and the elimination of crop pests at the genetic level. Therefore, development of successful delivery vehicles for its effector molecules, small interfering and double stranded RNAs (siRNA and dsRNA), is imperative. IPECs and BICs show the most promise as RNAi vectors, and thus this work focuses on ascertaining the structure-property relationships affecting RNA delivery as well as applying such insights toward enabling RNAi in crop pest insects that remain highly resistant to such treatment. In Section I, BIC-siRNA interactions and effectiveness in cell transfection are reported. Aqueous RAFT polymerization was used to prepare a series of hydrophilic-block-cationic copolymers in which the cationic block statistically incorporates increasing amounts of neutral, hydrophilic monomer such that the number of cationic groups remains unchanged but the cationic charge density is diluted along the polymer backbone. Reduced charge density decreases the electrostatic binding strength between copolymers and siRNA with the goal of improving siRNA release after targeted cellular delivery. However, lower binding strength resulted in decreased transfection and RNA interference pathway activation, leading to reduced gene knockdown. Enzymatic siRNA degradation studies with BICs indicated lowered binding strength increases susceptibility to RNases, which is the likely cause for poor gene knockdown. Section II discusses how RNAi-based technologies are ideal for pest control as they can provide species specificity and spare non-target organisms. However, in some pests biological barriers prevent use of RNAi, and therefore broad application. In this study we tested the ability of a synthetic cationic polymer, poly-[N-(3-guanidinopropyl)methacrylamide] (pGPMA), that mimics arginine-rich cell penetrating peptides to trigger RNAi in an insensitive animal–Spodoptera frugiperda. Polymer-dsRNA interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPECs) are efficiently taken up by cells, and can drive highly efficient gene knockdown. These IPECs also trigger target gene knockdown and moderate larval mortality when fed to fall armyworm larva. This effect was sequence specific, which is consistent with the low toxicity we found to be associated with this polymer. A method for oral delivery of dsRNA is critical to development of RNAi-based insecticides. Thus, this technology has the potential to make RNAi-based pest control useful for targeting numerous species and facilitate use of RNAi in pest management practices

Social Networking Sites and Our Lives

Examines the characteristics of social networking site users, their online activities, and their friendships, sense of trust, social support, perspectives, and civic engagement by site and compared with those of non-users and users of other technologies

Why Most Facebook Users Get More Than They Give

Analyzes data on Facebook user activity, including patterns in sending friend requests, adding content, and "liking" their friends' content; the interconnectedness of friends; and links between the number of friends, Facebook activity, and social support

Stranded in the Wastelands of Unregulated Roadway Police Powers: Can Reasonable Officers Ever Rescue Us.

This Article describes the present state of roadway police power and explores the vulnerability of drivers and occupants to police abuse, specifically using pretextual stops. Today, state and federal courts have made many police power accommodations to the constitutional reasonableness requirement. Current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence justifies almost all conceivable police seizures of people in vehicles. If the police officer can point out any traffic law violation, he can arrest. And if he can arrest under those circumstances, then the already blurred line between detentions and arrest becomes inconsequential, constitutionally speaking. This Article proposes that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals extend its “reasonable officer” test—already employed by the analysis of arrests and searches—to traffic stops and detentions. In addition, this Article proposes that the Texas Legislature remove police authority to arrest for fine-only traffic offenses. The diminution of constitutional protections on the roadway is due in part to the reasonable suspicion standard under Terry v. Ohio of automobile stops. The reasonable suspicion standard accommodates police interests in enabling them to stop drivers even when the indications of criminal conduct are ambiguous. In Whren v. United States, the United States Supreme Court decided that bad faith seizures by police were beyond Fourth Amendment regulation so long as they could be objectively justified in some way. Then, in Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, the Court held police are free under the Fourth Amendment to arrest for such minor infractions as the failure to wear a safety belt. Together, these two decisions leave drivers open to the unchallengeable discretion of the police. As it stands now, Atwater and Whren together expanded the formerly regulated area of police detentions in an unprecedented fashion; a consequence, most directly and most often experienced by drivers

Criminal Law - Mail Fraud - Mail Fraud Statute Restricted to the Protection of Property Rights and Doesn Not Extend to the Protection of the Intangible Right to Honest and Impartial State Government Case Note.

Abstract Forthcoming

Criminal Law - Mail Fraud - Mail Fraud Statute Restricted to the Protection of Property Rights and Doesn Not Extend to the Protection of the Intangible Right to Honest and Impartial State Government Case Note.

Abstract Forthcoming

Stranded in the Wastelands of Unregulated Roadway Police Powers: Can Reasonable Officers Ever Rescue Us.

This Article describes the present state of roadway police power and explores the vulnerability of drivers and occupants to police abuse, specifically using pretextual stops. Today, state and federal courts have made many police power accommodations to the constitutional reasonableness requirement. Current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence justifies almost all conceivable police seizures of people in vehicles. If the police officer can point out any traffic law violation, he can arrest. And if he can arrest under those circumstances, then the already blurred line between detentions and arrest becomes inconsequential, constitutionally speaking. This Article proposes that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals extend its “reasonable officer” test—already employed by the analysis of arrests and searches—to traffic stops and detentions. In addition, this Article proposes that the Texas Legislature remove police authority to arrest for fine-only traffic offenses. The diminution of constitutional protections on the roadway is due in part to the reasonable suspicion standard under Terry v. Ohio of automobile stops. The reasonable suspicion standard accommodates police interests in enabling them to stop drivers even when the indications of criminal conduct are ambiguous. In Whren v. United States, the United States Supreme Court decided that bad faith seizures by police were beyond Fourth Amendment regulation so long as they could be objectively justified in some way. Then, in Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, the Court held police are free under the Fourth Amendment to arrest for such minor infractions as the failure to wear a safety belt. Together, these two decisions leave drivers open to the unchallengeable discretion of the police. As it stands now, Atwater and Whren together expanded the formerly regulated area of police detentions in an unprecedented fashion; a consequence, most directly and most often experienced by drivers

Block Ionomer Complexes Consisting of siRNA and \u3ci\u3ea\u3c/i\u3eRAFT-Synthesized Hydrophilic-\u3ci\u3eBlock\u3c/i\u3e-Cationic Copolymers II: The Influence of Cationic Block Charge Density on Gene Suppression

Block ionomer complex (BIC)–siRNA interactions and effectiveness in cell transfection are reported. Aqueous RAFT polymerization was used to prepare a series of hydrophilic-block-cationic copolymers in which the cationic block statistically incorporates increasing amounts of neutral, hydrophilic monomer such that the number of cationic groups remains unchanged but the cationic charge density is diluted along the polymer backbone. Reduced charge density decreases the electrostatic binding strength between copolymers and siRNA with the goal of improving siRNA release after targeted cellular delivery. However, lower binding strength resulted in decreased transfection and RNA interference pathway activation, leading to reduced gene knockdown. Enzymatic siRNA degradation studies with BICs indicated lowered binding strength increases susceptibility to RNases, which is the likely cause for poor gene knockdown