Organization Spotlight: Black Law Students Association

Article from the January 20, 2012 issue of Not Wythe Standing: The News (v.3:no.5) highlighting the activities of BLSA during the 2011/2012 academic year .https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/blackhistorywmls/1037/thumbnail.jp

Putative role of palmitate and Akt signaling in attenuating skeletal muscle growth in the obese zucker rat

The Obese zucker rat (OZR) is a model of obesity and metabolic syndrome, with a reduced skeletal muscle mass compared with the lean zucker rat (LZR). Growth and hypertrophy of muscle fibers critically depend on activation and differentiation of satellite cells into new myonuclei, as well as the prevention of myonuclear apoptosis. Akt is known to regulate satellite cell activation and differentiation and inhibit apoptotic signaling. Akt activity is also reduced in the OZR compared to the LZR. The present study had two primary purposes; first, to observe, in vitro, the effects of the saturated free fatty acid palmitate on C2C12 mouse myoblast proliferation and differentiation, Akt signaling and apoptosis in myotubes, and second, to examine if there was reduced Akt signaling, satellite cell proliferation and differentiation, and/or increased satellite death in the OZR compared to the LZR. Akt signaling was significantly reduced both in vitro following palmitate treatment and in vivo in the OZR. Furthermore, myoblast proliferation and differentiation were reduced after palmitate treatment, in vitro, and satellite cell activation was reduced in the OZR compared to the LZR. Although palmitate treatment was sufficient to induce apoptotic signaling in C2C12 myotubes, there was no increase in apoptotic signaling in muscles of the OZR. Together, these data indicate that although disruptions in Akt signaling in muscles of the OZR may be responsible for the decrease in muscle mass through attenuated satellite cell activation and proliferation, increased apoptotic signaling does not appear to be a factor to explain the decrease muscle mass in the OZR compared to the LZR

Money Power in Politics

Money power in politics has been bolstered over the last thirty years thanks to Supreme Court decisions that hinder the Federal Election Commission’s ability to regulate financial influences on campaigns. Increases in corporate ability to impact campaigns through independent expenditures are principally against democratic values as they create a political climate of inequality favoring wealthy speakers. Additionally, money power’s influences on campaigns lead to impacting policy both directly through access to politicians and indirectly through the broad success of pro-contributor candidates. With an inability to govern over money power in elections comes a trend of anti-majoritarian policies that are inherently undemocratic in their favoritism of corporate agendas and goals

Characterization of the movement of spray drift past a shelterbelt

Pesticide use is an important component of the agricultural industry. Pesticides are typically applied to crops as a droplet spray, and these droplets are susceptible to off-target movement due to wind, which is called spray drift. It has recently been recognized that shelterbelts may protect vulnerable downwind areas from spray drift. There is a need to characterize the movement of spray drift past a shelterbelt to better understand the extent of this protection and the variables which affect it. The variables investigated in this research may be classified as meteorological conditions, spray application settings, and shelterbelt properties.This research investigated the movement of spray drift past a 5 m tall carragana/chokecherry shelterbelt. Spray was applied using a conventional sprayer that travelled on a path that was upwind and parallel to the shelterbelt. A tracer substance was mixed into the spray solution, and the deposition and airborne concentration of drift was measured using a variety of collectors placed at perpendicular distances up- and downwind of a shelterbelt. The mass of drift deposit on the collectors was determined using spectrofluoremetry and standard solutions.When the spray swath was a distance of 3H (where H is the height of the shelterbelt) upwind of the shelterbelt, it was found that the ground deposition of drift at a distance of 0.5H downwind of the shelterbelt was reduced by approximately 74%, compared to the drift deposit at 0.5H upwind. The reduction over the same downwind distances was 29% in the open field setting. The airborne drift cloud was attenuated by the shelterbelt and the airborne concentration of drift exiting the shelterbelt was reduced by approximately 85% of the entering drift. The airborne drift concentration profile indicated that there was a greater proportion of drift travelling over the top of the shelterbelt rather than passing through the shelterbelt, with the peak concentration occurring at approximately 1.2H.Qualitative and multiple linear regression analyses were used to determine the significance of a number of meteorological and controlled variables on the deposition of drift. It was found that the mass of drift deposited downwind of the shelterbelt increased with a higher wind speed, higher temperature, and lower relative humidity. For the range of meteorological conditions sampled, the effect of wind direction and atmospheric stability were found to be insignificant. Finer spray qualities and higher shelterbelt optical porosity produced greater airborne drift and deposition downwind of the shelterbelt. With increasing upwind sprayer distance, the mass of drift deposited within the shelterbelt decreased

Solar-Powered Hot Tub

This paper discusses the design and implementation of a solar-powered hot tub. The concept of this project was to design an independently-operated hot tub powered by a 12V rechargeable battery, charged during the day by a single 400W solar panel. For this purpose, a twenty-year-old name-brand hot tub was purchased, in used condition. The plumbing, AC electrical wiring, and mechanical pumps were all removed and replaced with new components to meet our design specifications. Additionally, a solar water-heater was designed and integrated into the system to directly apply the sun’s heat to water pumped in and out of the tub, which significantly reduced the power budget for the system. Furthermore, the tub structure was fitted with energy efficient LED lighting for night-time use. Lastly, a user-friendly control and display unit was designed and embedded into the tub’s mechanical structure to allow owners to adjust and set modes of operation, jet and heat cycle times, and lighting options. Our design allows an owner to continually power their hot tub at no additional cost every month. This project served as a channel through which much of our studies in microelectronic, embedded system, and power system design got put into practice

The Gunnison Basin Sage-grouse Strategic Committee: A Colorado County’s Fight for Conservation Self-Determination

Since 1995, sage-grouse (Centrocercus spp.) conservation planning in the western United States has largely been based upon local working groups comprised of federal, state and local governments, environmental groups, landowners, interested citizens. In this article, we review the history and process of these local working groups in western Colorado. These groups are generally convened by one or more government agencies, operate on the general principle of consensus, and have little or no administrative or financial support. The local working groups were generally comprised of field biologist, rancher/landowners, members of local environmental groups and occasionally representatives from local governments. The plans they generated were based upon consensus, therefore difficult issues were often bypassed in order to keep the plan development process moving. The early success of a number of these local working groups resulted in sage-grouse conservation plans such as the Gunnison Sage-grouse Conservation Plan, which provides sage-grouse conservation guidance for the Gunnison Basin in South Central Colorado. However, there were problems such as an undefined membership, lack of administrative support, and achieving consensus. The Gunnison County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) created an entirely new approach to the local work group concept. The Gunnison Basin Sage-grouse Strategic Committee (GBSGSC) was created, with appointed (by the BoCC) representatives from the federal land management agencies, the state wildlife agency, the neighboring county, the ranching community, the environmental community, the development community, the recreation community, and the public at large. Formal operating guidelines were adopted by the BoCC. Specific membership criteria were identified. Administrative staff from Gunnison County was assigned to the Committee. Importantly, the BoCC determined that, though consensus was an admirable goal, this Committee would operate under majority rule. The GBSGSC has been meeting monthly since 2005

End of Life Disposal for Three Libration Point Missions through Manipulation of the Jacobi Constant and Zero Velocity Curves

The aim of this investigation is to determine the feasibility of mission disposal by inserting the spacecraft into a heliocentric orbit along the unstable manifold and then manipulating the Jacobi constant to prevent the spacecraft from returning to the Earth-Moon system. This investigation focuses around L1 orbits representative of ACE, WIND, and SOHO. It will model the impulsive delta-V necessary to close the zero velocity curves after escape through the L1 gateway in the circular restricted three body model and also include full ephemeris force models and higher fidelity finite maneuver models for the three spacecraft

Activation of the Listeria monocytogenes Virulence Program by a Reducing Environment.

Upon entry into the host cell cytosol, the facultative intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes coordinates the expression of numerous essential virulence factors by allosteric binding of glutathione (GSH) to the Crp-Fnr family transcriptional regulator PrfA. Here, we report that robust virulence gene expression can be recapitulated by growing bacteria in a synthetic medium containing GSH or other chemical reducing agents. Bacteria grown under these conditions were 45-fold more virulent in an acute murine infection model and conferred greater immunity to a subsequent lethal challenge than bacteria grown in conventional media. During cultivation in vitro, PrfA activation was completely dependent on the intracellular levels of GSH, as a glutathione synthase mutant (ΔgshF) was activated by exogenous GSH but not reducing agents. PrfA activation was repressed in a synthetic medium supplemented with oligopeptides, but the repression was relieved by stimulation of the stringent response. These data suggest that cytosolic L. monocytogenes interprets a combination of metabolic and redox cues as a signal to initiate robust virulence gene expression in vivoIMPORTANCE Intracellular pathogens are responsible for much of the worldwide morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. These pathogens have evolved various strategies to proliferate within individual cells of the host and avoid the host immune response. Through cellular invasion or the use of specialized secretion machinery, all intracellular pathogens must access the host cell cytosol to establish their replicative niches. Determining how these pathogens sense and respond to the intracellular compartment to establish a successful infection is critical to our basic understanding of the pathogenesis of each organism and for the rational design of therapeutic interventions. Listeria monocytogenes is a model intracellular pathogen with robust in vitro and in vivo infection models. Studies of the host-sensing and downstream signaling mechanisms evolved by L. monocytogenes often describe themes of pathogenesis that are broadly applicable to less tractable pathogens. Here, we describe how bacteria use external redox states as a cue to activate virulence

Petrographic Signature for the Whidbey Formation

The late Pleistocene Whidbey Formation occupies a region on and around Whidbey Island, Washington, that received both northern-derived glacial sediments and eastern-derived nonglacial sediments. Distinguishing between glacial outwash and nonglacial sediments of the Whidbey Formation and the younger Olympia beds has been problematic where stratigraphic sections are incomplete. For the Whidbey Formation, discontinuous deposits of sand, clay, peat and silt that stem from meandering streams on floodplains have not been fully characterized, petrographically. Recent documentation (Dragovich and others, 2005) of dacitic channel and lahar-runout facies on northern Whidbey Island spurred petrographic analysis of various sands from across the whole region of known outcrops for the Whidbey Formation. Sands from the Whidbey Formation and surrounding stratigraphic units were point counted and compared. Most nonglacial sands had higher amounts of hypersthene, biotite, hornblende and augite. Glacial sands had higher amounts of chert and polycrystalline quartz. Felsic volcanic and greenstone lithics were the most telling sand components, the latter linked to glacial sands and the former, in concentrations of over 10%, to nonglacial sands. Comparison between the Whidbey Formation and Olympia beds proved inconclusive both for a lack of coarse sand in the Olympia beds and the uncertain assignment of some sands to the two units. The nonglacial sands from northern Whidbey and Camano Islands typically contain over 20% felsic lithics; felsic lithics are less abundant among the nonglacial sands from southern Whidbey and southern Camano Islands, the Kitsap Peninsula, and the mainland. Throughout the Whidbey Formation most sands contain over 10% felsic lithics, although a few contain sedimentary lithics instead of felsic lithics. Sands of the Olympia beds also contain felsic lithics, the concentration of which exceeds 50% at Long Point. Differing amounts of felsic lithics in nonglacial sands reflect episodic input of volcanogenic material from Glacier Peak via either the Skagit or Stillaguamish Rivers. Sands of the Olympia beds near the Snohomish delta and the Olympic Peninsula contain over 2% serpentine lithics, whereas sands of the Whidbey Formation contain less than 2% serpentine. Beyond this, the petrography of the Olympia beds is apparently indistinguishable from that of the Whidbey Formation