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Modeling the Effects of Retinal Thinning and Oxidative Stress During Space Travel
Get PDFSpaceflight causes both physical and chemical changes within the subretinal tissue, particularly the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Bruch’s membrane. Changes such as layer thinning and increases in oxidative stress are both implicated in vision loss caused by spaceflight. While these changes can lead to cell death, the mechanistic impact that these changes have on retinal function are unknown. To isolate the physical alterations to the subretinal tissue caused by space travel, we utilized a tunable in vitro model of Bruch’s membrane and primary porcine RPE cells. Initial results showed that while thinner models can be constructed, they are difficult to transfer, and no samples have been used for cell culture. When we applied low levels of oxidative stress to RPE cultures, the barrier function of the RPE remained intact. These findings suggest that to better understand the impact of spaceflight on the subretinal tissue, further work must be performed with the thinned Bruch’s membrane and higher levels of oxidative stress
Comparison of Sheep and Goats to the Acute Toxic Effects of Foothill Death Camas
Get PDFDeath camas (Zigadenus spp) is a perennial forb found throughout the western United States, which is known to kill both sheep and cattle. In a previous study, goats appeared to be somewhat resistant to the adverse effects of death camas. Therefore, the objective of this study was to directly compare the susceptibility of goats and sheep to the acute toxic effects of death camas. Sheep and goats were dosed at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 6.0 g death camas per kg BW. The data presented in this manuscript suggest that goats are more susceptible to death camas than sheep. There were no differences in the serum concentrations of zygadenine in sheep versus goats. There was a difference between goats and sheep in the severity of observed clinical signs of poisoning. This is highlighted by the fact that five goats from the two highest doses died, whereas none of the sheep died. Consequently, when grazing goats in death camas infested pastures as much caution, if not more, should be taken than one would with sheep. Additionally, the data presented in the study suggests that goats can be used as a small ruminant model to study the toxic effects of death camas
Practitioners\u27 Needs for Addressing the Challenges of Sea-Level Rise—A Qualitative Assessment
No full textPractitioners at the local and regional scale are under increased pressure to reduce risks to people and property posed by the threats of sea‐level rise (SLR) and associated impacts. To achieve this, a dialog between practitioners and scientists is imperative. Current research documents impacts of SLR, evaluates local SLR adaptation activities, identifies barriers to action, and works to assess local adaptive capacity. Despite this work, there has been little qualitative assessment of practitioners\u27 needs when it comes to translating SLR science into local changes. To fill this gap, we used a combination of semi‐structured interviews and surveys. The interviews revealed practitioners’ needs, the tools they use, the challenges they face, and the contexts in which they make decisions. The survey allowed practitioners to rank potential interventions according to the level of impact they believed it would have on coastal adaptation planning. In total our study includes the perspectives of 142 practitioners from 24 states, Puerto Rico, the Mariana Islands, and Barbados. Corroborating earlier work, we find that resources broadly and funding specifically is the largest barrier faced by practitioners. We find that practitioners need more localized information and models supported by on the ground monitoring, decision support resources that allow for comparison of different scenarios, and communication tools that will enable them to engage with key audiences. These needs suggest a critical shift toward building trusted relationship between scientists and local practitioners and the need to bolster organizations that can support a bridge between these two contexts
Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship
No full textWhat is Intellectual Property
- Tangible vs. Intangible Property, Costs
How Your Business Acquires IP: Employment Inventions / Employment Copyrights
- Employment Agreements: IP Assignment, Non-Disclosure Agreement, Non-Competes
Know-how
Trade Secrets
- Trade Secret Misappropriation
- Non-Disclosure Agreements: Limitations and Liabilities
Copyright
- Definition, What Copyright Protects and Does Not Protect,
- How Copyright is Protected / Life of a Copyright
- Software Licenses
Trademark
- Use and Protection
- First Mover / Flood the Market
Patent
- Definition, Types, What is Patentable, Patentability Limits
- What’s in a patent?
- Example Patent Application Filing
- Example Portfolios
- Costs, Pros/Cons, When to Fil
The Concentration of Organic Nitrogen in Mountain Lakes is Increasing as a Result of Reduced Acid Deposition and Climate Change
No full textThe ionic and nutrient composition of mountain lakes recovering from atmospheric acidification is increasingly influenced by climate change (increasing air temperature and frequency of heavy rainfall events). We investigated the evolution of organic nitrogen (ON), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in alpine lakes in the Tatra Mountains (Central Europe) between 1993 and 2023, resulting from changes in climate and the ionic composition of atmospheric deposition. Our results suggest that the decreasing acidity of precipitation and the climatically induced increasing frequency of heavy rainfall events and air temperatures fluctuating around the freezing point have the potential to increase ON concentrations in alpine lakes despite decreasing deposition of inorganic N. The increasing ON involves its allochthonous and autochthonous sources: (1) increased co-export of ON with DOC from soils in dissolved organic matter due to less acidic precipitation and more frequent heavy rainfall events and (2) increased in-lake primary productivity (chlorophyll a) associated with higher P availability. Based on our previous studies, we hypothesize that P availability has increased due to (i) reduced adsorption of phosphate in precipitation to the metal hydroxides in the soil-adsorption complex as a result of increasing pH in precipitation and soil water and (ii) increased P production by weathering due to climate-induced increased mechanical erosion of rocks in unstable scree areas. The extent of these changes was related to the percentage cover of scree areas and meadow soils in the lake catchments. In addition, our results suggest that ON (besides chlorophyll a) may be a more sensitive indicator of increasing productivity of oligotrophic alpine lakes under changing air pollution and climate than generally low P concentrations and their poorly detectable trends
Satellite-Based Aerosol Optical Depth Estimates Over the Continental U.S. During the 2020 Wildfire Season: Roles of Smoke and Land Cover
No full textWildfires produce smoke that can affect an area \u3e 1000 times the burn extent, with far-reaching human health, ecologic, and economic impacts. Accurately estimating aerosol load within smoke plumes is therefore crucial for understanding and mitigating these impacts. We evaluated the effectiveness of the latest Collection 6.1 MODIS Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm in estimating aerosol optical depth (AOD) across the U.S. during the historic 2020 wildfire season. We compared satellite-based MAIAC AOD to ground-based AERONET AOD measurements during no-, light-, medium-, and heavy-smoke conditions identified using the Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product. This smoke product consists of maximum extent smoke polygons digitized by analysts using visible band imagery and classified according to smoke density. We also examined the strength of the correlations between satellite- and ground-based AOD for major land cover types under various smoke density levels. MAIAC performed well in estimating AOD during smoke-affected conditions. Correlations between MAIAC and AERONET AOD were strong for medium- (r = 0.91) and heavy-smoke (r = 0.90) density, and MAIAC estimates of AOD showed little bias relative to ground-based AERONET measurements (normalized mean bias = 3 % for medium, 5 % for heavy smoke). During two high AOD, heavy smoke episodes, MAIAC underestimated ground-based AERONET AOD under mixed aerosol (i.e., smoke and dust; median bias = -0.08) and overestimated AOD under smoke-dominated (median bias = 0.02) aerosol. MAIAC most overestimated ground-based AERONET AOD over barren land (mean NMB = 48 %). Our findings indicate that MODIS MAIAC can provide robust estimates of AOD as smoke density increases in coming years. Increased frequency of mixed aerosol and expansion of developed land could affect the performance of the MAIAC algorithm in the future, however, with implications for evaluating wildfire-associated health and welfare effects and air quality standards
Aridity Drives the Response of Soil Total and Particulate Organic Carbon to Drought in Temperate Grasslands and Shrublands
No full textThe increasing prevalence of drought events in grasslands and shrublands worldwide potentially has impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC). We leveraged the International Drought Experiment to study how SOC, including particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) concentrations, responds to extreme drought treatments (1-in-100-year) for 1 to 5 years at 19 sites worldwide. In more mesic areas (aridity index \u3e 0.65), SOC and POC concentrations decreased by 7.9% (±3.9) and 15.9% (±6.2) with drought, respectively, but there were no impacts on MAOC concentrations. However, drought had no impact on SOC, POC, or MAOC concentrations in drylands (aridity index \u3c 0.65). The response of SOC to drought varied along an aridity gradient, concomitant with interannual precipitation variability and standing SOC concentration gradients. These findings highlight the differing response magnitudes of POC and MAOC concentrations to drought and the key regulating role of aridity
Radiation Induced Conductivity of PEEK: Effects of Temperature and Total Ionizing Dose
Get PDFRadiation induced conductivity (RIC) plays a critical role in space charge dissipation with insulating materials used in spacecraft. Ionizing radiation present in harsh space plasma environments deposits energy into materials via inelastic scatter, exciting electrons into the conduction band without depositing charge for penetration radiation. RIC is expected to be affected by temperature and total ionizing dose (TID); temperature primarily affects the rate of promotion of electrons in localized trap states within the band gap to the conduction band, while TID can create additional traps states thereby increasing trap density and reducing mean trap separation.
RIC was measured in a new test system employing a closed-cycle He cryostat with a custom test fixture using a parallel plate geometry. An 80 keV electron beam exposed samples to penetrating electron radiation, with dose rates ranging over ~20 μGy/s to 0.2 Gy/s. 25 μm thick polyether ether ketone (PEEK) samples with 500 nm of vapor deposited copper electrodes on either side, were held under a constant electric field of ~1 MV/m (~220 V) provided by a very stable current battery power supply. The resulting increased equilibrium current during bombardment is used to infer the enhanced RIC conductivity above the dark current conductivity (with limiting ranges of ~1 fA and \u3c 5·10-21 (Ω-cm)-1.
Results show that RIC of PEEK follows a standard theoretical power law model proposed by Fowler, σ = kRIC · Δ, where is the incident dose rate and kRIC and Δ are material dependent parameters. TID and temperature dependence of the kRIC(T, ) and Δ(T, ) parameters for PEEK are determined; RIC exhibits weak temperature and TID dependence, with less than a 20% change observed in kRIC and Δ over the experimentally accessed ranges. Data were acquired over temperatures from ~180 K to room temperature sensitivity of \u3c 5K and for TID ranging from ~0.6 kGy to 8 kGy
Socio-Demographic Disparities in Diet Quality Among Utah Residents
Get PDFDiet quality significantly influences health outcomes, with socio-demographic factors playing a crucial role in shaping dietary behaviors. This study aims to investigate the dietary behaviors and socio-demographic characteristics of Utah residents, highlighting disparities in diet quality and the underlying factors contributing to these differences. Using a sample of 1,522 adults, data on socio-demographic characteristics, diet quality, and food expenditure were collected via an online survey in April and May 2023. The modified Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants-Shortened Version (REAP-S) was used to assess diet quality. Results indicate that respondents spent about 30% of their monthly income on food, reflecting a substantial financial burden. Higher diet quality was linked to infrequent dining out, limited dairy consumption, and reduced sugary drink intake, while lower diet quality was associated with skipping breakfast and low fruit intake. Significant associations were found between diet quality and socio-demographic factors such as race, marital status, age, and income, with higher income and older age groups exhibiting better diet quality. These findings highlight the need for targeted public health interventions to address dietary disparities and promote food equity in Utah. Future research should further explore these disparities to develop effective and equitable nutritional policies and programs
Courageous Student-Teacher Dialogue on AI: Cultivating Environments of Respect
No full textThis interdisciplinary panel, representing five departments from the CHaSS AI Working Group, will discuss policies and pedagogical approaches for navigating uncertainties with generative AI challenges. This informational session highlights issues in relation to USU’s academic integrity policies and procedures, as well as students\u27 rights and educational benefits. The session also focuses on creating productive learning conversations with students in order to cultivate productive AI use, prevent AI misuse, and respond with care when AI has been possibly misused. Our panelists will discuss the following questions:How can teachers frame classes\u27 (and my pedagogy) to establish productive expectations around AI usage? What are the possible consequences of various instructor responses to AI misuse? (from the I\u27ll ignore it to I\u27ll sanction the student without reporting a suspected academic integrity violation to You immediately fail ). How can teachers guide students in documenting their use of AI? How can teachers give productive feedback on AI documentation so students can evaluate their learning? How can teachers build productive student-teacher dialogue and revision opportunities into an assignment in anticipation of some students mistakenly misusing or over-relying on AI? How can teachers create dialogues/activities on the ethical and practical uses (or misuses) of AI in their discipline