Living \u3cem\u3eMore Than\u3c/em\u3e Just Enough for the City: Persistence of High-Quality Vegetation in Natural Areas in an Urban Setting

Urban environments pose special challenges to flora, including altered disturbance regimes, habitat fragmentation, and increased opportunity for invasion by non-native species. In addition, urban natural area represents most people’s contact with nature, given the majority of the world’s population currently live in cities. We used coefficients of conservatism (C-values), a system that ranks species based on perceived fidelity to remnant native plant communities that retain ecological integrity, to quantify habitat quality of 14 sites covering 850 ha within the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, in the Midwestern United States. All sites contained significant natural area and were inventoried via intensive complete censuses throughout one or two growing seasons within the last 15 years. Mean C-values for five sites were high, especially when compared to values reported for the highest quality preserves in central Indiana. However, for most sites the difference in mean C-value with and without non-natives was rather high, meaning that natural quality is likely to have been compromised by the presence of non-natives. Sites receiving the highest levels of stewardship and those with the least public access via trails had the highest mean native C-values. A total of 34 invasive non-native species were found across all 14 sites. Most were woody species. Mean C-value over all sites was significantly negatively correlated with the number of non-natives present, especially those considered invasive. These results demonstrate for the Indianapolis area, and likely other urbanized Midwestern cities, remnant natural areas can retain high ecological value, especially if they receive regular environmental stewardship

The Development of Capillary and Microchip Electrophoresis Methods for the Analysis of Pharmaceuticals in Developing Countries

Maintaining a consistent supply of pharmaceuticals to developing countries could save millions of lives per year. One of the major roadblocks in this effort is an abundance of substandard and counterfeit drugs in the supply chain. To prevent these products from being distributed, improved methodology and instrumentation for drug screening is needed. In these low-resource areas the availability of proper funding and laboratory space is limited. To replace the expensive liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry instrumentation traditionally used for quality control, capillary electrophoresis (CE) can be used. CE has a low startup cost and, because of the small sample and reagent volume requirements, the cost per test is kept to a minimum. Additionally, any methodology developed for CE can be transferred to the miniaturized platform of microchip electrophoresis (ME). ME further reduces the cost-per-test and provides the potential for a fully portable analytical device that can be used for on-site analysis. This method is particularly useful for screening pharmaceuticals throughout the many distribution lines, store houses, and clinics across a large country. In this dissertation, CE was used to develop methodology for the analysis of the peptide drug oxytocin (OT). OT is needed in developing countries to prevent death from post-partum hemorrhage. A major concern regarding the supply chain of peptide-based drugs is the degradation of these products when then are shipped and stored incorrectly. Several degradation products are produced when OT is subjected to heat-stress conditions. Deamidation, in particular, produces small molecular changes that have significant effects on the biological activity of the peptide. Initially, methodology for the separation and detection of desamino degradation products of OT was developed for CE-UV. OT contains three potential sites of deamidation, which leads to seven distinct desamino products. The separation was achieved following an optimization of the background electrolyte to include a pseudostationary phase and an organic modifier to increase selectivity and resolve the eight structurally similar peptides. To improve the functionality of the CE assay for OT integrity screening, the next step of was to further optimize the method for a separation of all of the known degradation products formed under heat-stressed OT formulations. However, current literature on the degradation of OT does not yet addressed the degradation of Pitocin pharmaceutical formulations that are prepared in water containing a small amount of acetic acid, to adjust the pH between 3-5, and 0.5% chlorobutanol as a preservative. To investigate the effect that CB and CB-like products have on the degradation of OT, LC-UV-MS was used to monitor the formation of degradation products as a function of time. The preliminary data shows that CB, and the structurally similar trichloroethanol (TCE), significantly stabilize OT from the heat-stress degradation. The addition of either of these trichloro species substantially reduces the rate of degradation observed over a 48 h period at 70 °C. Further work is needed on this project to determine the cause of this protective effect by performing structural studies of OT in the presence of CB or TCE. Finally, initial steps were taken towards the development of a low-cost portable ME device. A significant percentage of small molecule counterfeit drugs are formulated with the wrong amount of active ingredient. Current portable analytical methods available to monitor the pharmaceutical supply chain are limited in their quantitative abilities. By coupling ME to conductivity detection, it is possible to perform quantitative analysis of multiple species simultaneously. Initial experiments to evaluate system performance were performed using two first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs, ethambutol and isoniazid

Holding Steady, Looking Ahead: Annual Findings of a 50-State Survey of Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost Sharing Practices in Medicaid and CHIP, 2010-2011

Analyzes findings on state trends in maintaining or expanding eligibility for public coverage and improving enrollment and renewal procedures. Highlights the challenges of developing the Web-based eligibility systems required under healthcare reform

Performing Under Pressure: Annual Findings of a 50-State Survey of Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost-Sharing Policies in Medicaid and CHIP, 2011-2012

Analyzes findings on state trends in maintaining or expanding eligibility for public coverage and improving enrollment and renewal procedures. Highlights some states' expansion of Medicaid eligibility and the use of technology to achieve efficiencies

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis paper examines the relationship between foreign direct investment and well-being in poor countries, as measured by life expectancy and child mortality. The effect of foreign direct investment on impoverished nations has long been the subject of debate in both economics and sociology. While much of the previous literature has investigated foreign direct investment's effect on measures of well-being, this paper constitutes a new contribution by examining the structure of this investment in the form of foreign direct investment concentration. Foreign direct investment concentration is the proportion of investment from the top investing nation, and greater levels are hypothesized to have a detrimental impact on life expectancy and under-five mortality. Drawing from a variety of theoretical perspectives, including modernization/liberalism and dependency theory, this paper uses a panel data set and a longitudinal methodology. The hypothesis is partially supported: while neither FDI nor FDI concentration are significant indicators of life expectancy or under-five mortality, FDI concentration reduces life expectancy in Asian countries

Effects of leukemia inhibitory factor on 3T3-L1 adipocytes

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a member of the gp130 cytokine family and signals through the receptor complex of gp130 and the LIF receptor (LIFR) to activate the JAK/STAT signaling cascade. Since LIF activates STATs 1 and 3 in adipocytes, we examined the effects of LIF on 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Our studies clearly demonstrate that LIF treatment had minimal effects on adipocyte differentiation as judged by marker gene expression, but did inhibit triacylglyceride (TAG) accumulation during adipogenesis. Acute treatment with LIF resulted in increased expression of suppressors of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS3) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-δ (C/EBPδ) mRNA in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Moreover, the upregulation of C/EBPδ correlated with binding to three sites in the C/EBPδ promoter by LIF-activated protein complexes that contained STAT1 and not STAT3. Chronic treatment with LIF resulted in decreased protein levels of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP1) and fatty acid synthase (FAS), but had no effect on the expression of other adipocyte marker proteins or on TAG levels in mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes. LIF had a small effect on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, but did not cause insulin resistance following chronic treatment. These findings indicate that LIF has similar and distinct effects in comparison with the effects of other gp130 cytokines on cultured fat cells. In summary, our results support a role for LIF in the regulation of proteins involved in lipid synthesis and in the modulation of signal transduction pathways in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. © 2005 Society for Endocrinology

Hits and myths of cross battery assessment

The increased use of the cross-battery approach has resulted in the misunderstanding and misuse of this research-based tool. The purpose of this article is to provide practitioners with a more pointed approach in conducting cross-battery assessments, while highlighting the common pitfalls. Additionally, the authors provide suggestions for appropriate use of this assessment process

The regulation of fatty acid synthase by STAT5A

Growth hormone (GH) diminishes adipose tissue mass in vivo and decreases expression and activity of fatty acid synthase (FAS) in adipocytes. GH and prolactin (PRL) are potent activators of STAT5 and exert adipogenic and antiadipogenic effects in adipocytes. In this study, we demonstrate that GH and PRL decrease the mRNA and protein levels of FAS in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. We present evidence that indicates that FAS is repressed at the level of transcription. In addition, PRL responsiveness was shown to exist between -1,594 and -700 of the rat FAS promoter. Moreover, responsiveness to PRL was abolished with mutation of a site at position -908 to -893, which we have shown to bind STAT5A in a PRL-dependent manner. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that PRL directly represses expression of FAS in adipocytes through STAT5A binding to the -908 to -893 site. Furthermore, our results indicate that STAT5A has an antilipogenic function in adipocytes and may contribute to the regulation of energy balance. © 2005 by the American Diabetes Association

Does Gender Raise the Ethical Bar? Exploring the Punishment of Ethical Violations at Work

We investigate whether women are targets of more severe punishment than men following ethical violations at work. Using a large sample of working adults, Study 1 finds that ethical behavior is more strongly prescribed for women than for men. Women face intensified ethical prescriptions, relative to a gender-neutral person. Study 2 experimentally tests whether women are punished more severely than men. Study 2 also tests the scope of our theory by asking whether women are punished more for errors in general, or only for ethical violations. Study 3 examines our effect in the field by examining how severely attorneys are punished for violating the American Bar Association’s ethical rules. Female attorneys are punished more severely than male attorneys, after accounting for a variety of factors. Study 3 also provides evidence that the gender make-up of the decision-making group that allots punishment serves to moderate the extent of discriminatory punishments. When a larger percentage of women sat on the judges’ panels overseeing attorney disciplinary hearings, disparities in allotted punishment between men and women were smaller. Our research documents a new prescriptive stereotype faced by women and helps to explain gender disparities in organizations. It highlights punishment severity as a novel mechanism by which institutions derail women’s careers more than men’s

Seamus Heaney and the Emblems of Hope

Dans cet ouvrage paru en 2007, la poétesse Karen Marguerite Moloney s’intéresse à la tradition du « mariage sacré » : une déesse tellurique s’unit à un consort masculin et, par là même, lui octroie le droit de régner sur une terre et d’accéder au statut de roi à part entière. Des références au hieros gamos (« mariage sacré ») apparaissent déjà dans la littérature grecque et indienne, mais perdurent dans la littérature celte et plus précisément irlandaise. Si Karen Maloney évoque brièvement le..