USD Recent Faculty Publications

July and August 2009 Faculty Publications

Ali, S., Garg, S. K., Cohen, B. E., Bhave, P., Harris, W. S., & Whooley, M. A. (2009).
Association between omega-3 fatty acids and depressive symptoms among patients with established coronary artery disease: Data from the heart and soul study.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 78(2), 125-127.

Depression is an established risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy patients and for adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with existing CHD. It is unknown whether low ω–3 fatty acid levels are associated with depression in patients with stable CHD. We measured red blood cell levels of two ω–3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and assessed depressive symptoms in a cross-sectional study of 987 adults with CHD. We evaluated the association between ω–3 fatty acid levels and depressive symptoms as continuous variables using linear regression. The prevalence of depression ranged from 23% in participants in the lowest tertile of ω–3 fatty acids to 13% in participants in the highest tertile. In the analyses, ω–3 fatty acid levels were no longer associated with depression after adjustment for education and household income level. Similar results were obtained for the analyses of EPA and DHA alone. The finding suggest a strong association between low ω–3 fatty acids and depression in outpatients with stable CHD, a population distinct from sicker, hospitalized patients with acute coronary syndrome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

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Li, Y.-F., LaCroix, C., & Freeling, J. (2009).
Specific subtypes of nicotinic cholinergic receptors involved in sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular responses.
Neuroscience Letters, 462(1), 20-23.

Abstract: Various subtypes of nicotinic cholinergic receptors are expressed in autonomic ganglia. The distinct functional roles of these receptors in autonomic ganglionic transmission to different target organs remain to be elucidated. In this study, we tested the sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular responses to nicotinic agonist and antagonists in urethane-anesthetized mice. Intravenous injection with a nicotinic agonist, 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium iodide, induced a brief but pronounced decrease in heart rate, followed by significant increases in heart rate and arterial blood pressure. The bradycardic response was blocked by atropine whereas the pressor response was blocked by prazosine, confirming those responses were parasympathetic and sympathetic activities, respectively. The sympathetic response was blocked by methyllycaconitine citrate, a selective α7 nicotinic cholinergic receptor (nAchR) antagonist. The parasympathetic response was blocked by a selective α4β2 nAchR antagonist, dihydro-β-erythroidine hydrobromide. Moreover, injection with a selective α4β2 nAchR agonist, RJR2403 oxalate, induced a pronounced parasympathetic response with a smaller sympathetic response. Collectively, these data show that activations of α4β2 nAchRs elicits a parasympathetic cardiovascular response and activation of α7 nAchRs elicits a sympathetic cardiovascular response. These data suggest that specific subtypes of nicotinic receptors at the level of the ganglia may play distinct roles in mediating sympathetic or parasympathetic activation.

Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences, Sanford School of Medicine, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, United States

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Farzaneh-Far, R., Harris, W. S., Garg, S., Na, B., & Whooley, M. A. (2009)
Inverse association of erythrocyte n-3 fatty acid levels with inflammatory biomarkers in patients with stable coronary artery disease: The Heart and Soul Study. /i>
Atherosclerosis, 205(2), 538-543.

Abstract: Objective: Dietary intake of polyunsaturated n-3 fatty acids has been associated with a reduced incidence of adverse cardiovascular events. The protective mechanisms involved are not fully understood, but may include anti-inflammatory factors. We sought to investigate the relationship between n-3 fatty acid levels in erythrocyte membranes and markers of systemic inflammation in 992 individuals with stable coronary artery disease. Methods: Cross-sectional associations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and Interleukin-6 (Il-6) with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EHA) were evaluated in multivariable linear regression models adjusted for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, medication use, exercise capacity, body-mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio. Results: After multivariable adjustment, n-3 fatty acid levels (DHA+EPA) were inversely associated with CRP and IL-6. The inverse association of n-3 fatty acids with CRP and IL-6 was not modified by demographics, body-mass index, smoking, LDL-cholesterol, or statin use (p values for interaction>0.1). Conclusions: In patients with stable coronary artery disease, an independent and inverse association exists between n-3 fatty acid levels and inflammatory biomarkers. These findings suggest that inhibition of systemic inflammation may be a mechanism by which n-3 fatty acids prevent recurrent cardiovascular events.

Sanford School of Medicine and Research, University of South Dakota, United States

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Willyard, A., Cronn, R., & Liston, A. (2009).
Reticulate evolution and incomplete lineage sorting among the ponderosa pines.
Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution, 52(2), 498-511.

Abstract: Interspecific gene flow via hybridization may play a major role in evolution by creating reticulate rather than hierarchical lineages in plant species. Occasional diploid pine hybrids indicate the potential for introgression, but reticulation is hard to detect because ancestral polymorphism is still shared across many groups of pine species. Nucleotide sequences for 53 accessions from 17 species in subsection Ponderosae (Pinus) provide evidence for reticulate evolution. Two discordant patterns among independent low-copy nuclear gene trees and a chloroplast haplotype are better explained by introgression than incomplete lineage sorting or other causes of incongruence. Conflicting resolution of three monophyletic Pinus coulteri accessions is best explained by ancient introgression followed by a genetic bottleneck. More recent hybridization transferred a chloroplast from P. jeffreyi to a sympatric P. washoensis individual. We conclude that incomplete lineage sorting could account for other examples of non-monophyly, and caution against any analysis based on single-accession or single-locus sampling in Pinus.

Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA

epartment of Biology, University of South Dakota, 414 E. Clark St, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA

Biology Department, Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway, AR 72032, USA

Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331

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Lin, C., Berry, M. T., Anderson, R., Smith, S., & May, P. S. (2009).
Highly Luminescent NIR-to-Visible Upconversion Thin Films and Monoliths Requiring No High-Temperature Treatment.
Chemistry of Materials, 21(14), 3406-3413.

A method is described for producing highly luminescent composite NIR-to-visible upconversion thin films, made from β-NaYF4:3%Er,17%Yb nanocrystals in a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) matrix, which require no postdeposition heat treatment. Nanocrystals are synthesized via a single-phase, high-boiling-point solvent method, which requires neither metal-trifluoroacetate precursors nor the use of autoclaves. Highly luminescent films are produced that can be varied in thickness down to dimensions approaching those of the nanocrystals themselves. The physical properties of the films are characterized by AFM and TEM, whereas the spectroscopic properties are characterized by NIR-to-visible confocal microscopy and by the time-dependence of upconversion luminescence following pulsed NIR excitation. It is shown that dispersal of β-NaYF4:3%Er,17%Yb nanocrystals in PMMA has no adverse effect on the intrinsic quantum efficiency of upconversion. By focusing the NIR pump beam (980 nm, cw) in the film, linear intensity response and constant color balance are achieved at pump powers down to 40 μW. It is also demonstrated that the thin-film method can be modified to produce large NIR-to-visible upconversion monoliths of high optical quality. This study supports an earlier assertion that the upconversion properties of β-NaYF4:Er,Yb nanocrystals approach those of the bulk material when nanocrystal size is greater than ∼70 nm.

Department of Chemistry, University of South Dakota, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, South Dakota 57069

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Mei, D.-M., Yin, Z.-B., & Elliott, S. R. (2009).
Cosmogenic production as a background in searching for rare physics processes.
Astroparticle Physics, 31(6), 417-420.

Abstract: We revisit calculations of the cosmogenic production rates for several long-lived isotopes that are potential sources of background in searching for rare physics processes such as the detection of dark matter and neutrinoless double-beta decay. Using updated cosmic-ray neutron flux measurements, we use TALYS 1.0 to investigate the cosmogenic activation of stable isotopes of several detector targets and find that the cosmogenic isotopes produced inside the target materials and cryostat can result in large backgrounds for dark matter searches and neutrinoless double-beta decay. We use previously published low-background HPGe data to constrain the production of ³H on the surface and the upper limit is consistent with our calculation. We note that cosmogenic production of several isotopes in various targets can generate potential backgrounds for dark matter detection and neutrinoless double-beta decay with a massive detector, thus great care should be taken to limit and/or deal with the cosmogenic activation of the targets.

Department of Physics, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, United States

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Mei, D.-M., Zhang, C., & Hime, A. (2009).
Evaluation of induced neutrons as a background for dark matter experiments.
Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A, 606(3), 651-660.

Abstract: Neutrons from () reactions through thorium and uranium decays are important sources of background for direct dark matter detection. The neutron yields and energy spectra from a range of materials that are used to build dark matter detectors are calculated and tabulated. In addition to thorium and uranium decays, we found that -particles from samarium, often the dopant of the window materials of photomultiplier tubes (PMT), are also an important source of neutron yield. The results in this paper can be used as the input to Monte Carlo simulations for many materials that will be used for next generation experiments.

Department of Physics, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA

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Ray, B., Ballal, A., & Manna, A. C. (2009).
Transcriptional variation of regulatory and virulence genes due to different media in Staphylococcus aureus.
Microbial Pathogenesis, 47(2), 94-100.

Abstract: The pathogenesis of staphylococcal infections is a multifactorial process that depends on expression of different virulence factors. Expression of these factors is controlled by multiple regulatory systems in conjunction with environmental signals. Most of the genetic studies in Staphylococcus aureus have been performed using different growth media, therefore, we examined the effects of different growth media on transcription of the selective target (e.g., hla, hlb, spa, sspA) and regulatory (e.g., agr, sarA family) genes. The results from this study suggest that different growth media have substantial effect on transcription of various genes being analyzed. Interestingly, when compared with the wild-type, the isogenic sarA mutant showed a media-dependent distinct regulatory effect on expression of the target genes.

Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences, University of South Dakota, 414 E Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA

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Brownawell, A. M., Harris, W. S., Hibbeln, J. R., Klurfeld, D. M., Newton, I., & Yates, A. (2009).
Assessing the environment for regulatory change for eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid nutrition labeling.
Nutrition Reviews, 67(7), 391-397.

This review examines issues related to the development of a recommended daily allowance or adequate intake, two of the categories of dietary reference intakes, for the long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFAs), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5 n-3), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n-3). Although some have suggested a dietary intake of two servings of fatty fish per week or supplement intake of 500 mg/day EPA plus DHA, based on evidence from epidemiologic and clinical studies of cardiovascular benefit from regular fish or fish-oil consumption, supplementation with EPA and/or DHA may also have antidepressant and mood-stabilizing effects. Omega-3 PUFA biology is complex and chronic disease outcomes are sometimes difficult to prove, yet the possibility of benefit for a substantial portion of the population from increased omega-3 PUFA intake is a public health issue that must be addressed responsibly and be based on significant scientific evidence.

Life Sciences Research Office, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. WS

University of South Dakota School of Medicine, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Maryland, USA 

USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland, USA

Ceres Consulting, Markham, Ontario, Canada

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Watt, M. J., Burke, A. R., Renner, K. J., & Forster, G. L. (2009).
Adolescent Male Rats Exposed to Social Defeat Exhibit Altered Anxiety. Behavior and Limbic Monoamines as Adult.
Behavioral Neuroscience, 123(3), 564-576.

Social stress in adolescence is correlated with emergence of psychopathologies, during early adulthood. In this study, the authors investigated the impact of social defeat stress during mid-adolescence on adult male brain and behavior. Adolescent male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to repeated social defeat for 5 days while controls were placed in a novel empty cage. When exposed to defeat-associated rues as adults, previously defeated rats showed increased risk assessment and behavioral inhibition, demonstrating long-term memory for the defeat context. However, previously defeated rats exhibited increased, locomotion in both elevated plus-maze and open field tests, suggesting heightened novelty-induced behavior. Adolescent defeat also affected adult monoamine levels in stress-responsive limbic regions, causing decreased medial prefrontal cortex dopamine, increased norepinephrine and serotonin in the ventral dentate gyms, and decreased norepinephrine in the dorsal raphe. Our results suggest that adolescent social defeat produces both deficits in anxiety responses and altered monoaminergic function in adulthood. This model offers potential for identifying specific mechanisms induced by severe adolescent social stress that may contribute to increased adult male vulnerability to psychopathology.

University of South Dakota

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MACEDONIA, J. M., LAPPIN, A. K., LOEW, E. R., BRANDT, Y., LEMOS-ESPINAL, J. A., & KEMP, D. J. (2009).
Conspicuousness of Dickerson's collared lizard ( Crotaphytus dickersonae) through the eyes of conspecifics and predators.
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 97(4), 749-765.

Selection should favour coloration in organisms that is more conspicuous to their own visual system than to those of their predators or prey. We tested this prediction in Dickerson's collared lizard ( Crotaphytus dickersonae), a sexually dichromatic desert reptile that preys on insects and smaller lizard species, and which in turn is prey for birds and snakes. We modelled the spectral sensitivities of the lizards and their avian and snake predators, and compared the conspicuousness of the lizards' entire colour patterns with each class of viewers. Almost all comparisons involving females strongly supported our prediction for greater chromatic and brightness conspicuousness against local terrestrial visual backgrounds to their own modelled visual system than to those of avian and snake predators. Males, in contrast, exhibited far fewer cases of greater conspicuousness to their own visual system than to those of their predators. Our own perception of spectral similarity between blue C. dickersonae males and a local nonterrestrial visual background (i.e. the Sea of Cortéz) prompted a further investigation. We compared sea (and sky) radiance with dorsum radiance of C. dickersonae males and with males from two distantly-related Crotaphytus collaris populations in which males possess blue bodies. In all three visual models, C. dickersonae males exhibited significantly lower chromatic contrast with the sea (and sky) than did their noncoastal, blue-bodied congeners. Among potential explanations, the blue body coloration that is unique to male C. dickersonae may offset, if only slightly, the cost of visibility to predators (and to prey) through reduced contrast against the extensive, local, nonterrestrial blue backgrounds of the sea and sky.

Biology Department, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA.

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Ragothaman, S., & Gollakota, K. (2009).
The Effect of Firm Characteristics on Corporate Governance: An Empirical Study in the United States.
International Journal of Management, 26(2), 309-319.

Recent financial scandals in United States companies have exposed "corporate governance" weaknesses. The measure of corporate governance used in this study is based on a Business Week survey. The governance rankings of this survey are derived from the opinions of experts who rated each company on four aspects of governance: shareholder accountability, quality of directors, independence of the board, and corporate performance. We use a multivariate logistic regression (logit) model in this study and the sample size is 85 United States companies. Our results suggest that return on assets, firm size, debt ratios, and auditor opinion are useful in discriminating "best" governed firms from "worst" governed firms.

University of South Dakota

University of Redlands

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Rosacker, K. M., Ragothaman, S., & Gillispie, M. (2009).
FINANCIAL LITERACY OF FRESHMEN BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS.
College Student Journal, 43(2), 391-399.

In recent years, financial literacy has increasingly captured the attention of the banking and financial industries, policy makers, government agencies, public interest groups, and members of the news media. These interested parties are concerned that consumers lack the basic skills required to make decisions beneficial to their economic welfare. Financial illiteracy can hinder one's ability to achieve long-term goals such as succeeding at higher education, owning a home, and financing retirement. This study investigates the efficacy of having upper-level accounting majors teaching basic financial literacy concepts to freshmen business majors. Specifically, upper-level accounting majors at a small mid-western university developed and conducted financial literacy training workshops for freshmen business majors during the 2007/2008 fall and spring semesters. Both quantitative and qualitative results that flowed from the training workshops are reported. Several positive outcomes accompanied the project. First, the delivery of this training provides a foundation of financial literacy that will hopefully enhance their ability to make financial decisions into the future. Second, the upper-level accounting major mentors enhanced their leadership, project management, teamwork, and public speaking skills while concurrently also expanding their own financial literacy. Each of these skills enumerated constitute vital components in the professional portfolio for individuals seeking a successful career in business as well as personal financial stability.

Assistant Professor of Accountancy University of Wisconsin at La Crosse

Professor of Accounting

Marketing Instructor Beacom School of Business University of South Dakota

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Bardhoshi, G., & Duncan, K. (2009).
Rural School Principals' Perception of the School Counselor's Role.
Rural Educator, 30(3), 16-24.

Responding to the lack of clarity related to the defined role of the school counselor, the authors investigated school principals (n = 538), in a rural Midwest state, and their perceptions of the role of the school counselor. The survey utilized was developed based on professional standards of service delivery for professional school counselors as identified by the American School Counselor Association and a listing of identified appropriate and inappropriate school counselor tasks. Results indicate that school principals see responsive service provision as an essential task of the school counselor. School principals also perceive a number of ASCA identified inappropriate tasks as being important. Recommendations are made to further enhance school principals' understanding of the appropriate role of the school counselor.

Stephen F. Austin State University;/p>

University of South Dakota

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Molina, A. D. (2009).
VALUES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE.
International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, 12(2), 266-279.

This article argues that the field of public administration, academics and practitioners alike, would benefit by more explicitly addressing the role that values play in administrative behavior and decision making. It reflects on the extent to which values are embedded in the work of public administrators, and their role in serving as normative criteria for action. Because the values associated with democracy and bureaucracy are often in competition, though, the challenge for administrators is to arrive at a workable balance consistent with our constitutional tradition. To that end, the insights offered by an organizational culture perspective are helpful in understanding how particular values can be promoted in organizations. This article concludes with a brief discussion of some implications that such an approach has for how we study, teach, and practice public administration.

University of South Dakota Source Info: Summer2009, Vol. 12 Issue 2, p266

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Schweinle, A., & Mims, G. (2009).
Mathematics self-efficacy: stereotype threat versus resilience.
Social Psychology of Education, 25(1), 1-14.

Children's academic self-efficacy is one of the strongest predictors of achievement (Wigfield and Eccles, Contemporary Educational Psychology 25(1): 68-81, 2000). The present research examined mathematics self-efficacy and the relationship of racial context from the perspective of two competing bodies of research. Stereotype threat theory would predict that, under conditions where negative stereotypes are salient, self-efficacy would decrease. So, Black/African American students in primarily White classrooms would be predicted to report lower self-efficacy. However, other research suggests that Black/African American students demonstrate fortitude even under disadvantage (e.g., Graham, Review of Educational Research, 64(1): 55-117, 1994). We examined the mathematics self-efficacy of 170 fifth-grade students. In contrast to stereotype threat theory, results suggested that Black/African American students self-efficacy remained stable regardless of the racial breakdown of the class. However, White students demonstrated elevated self-efficacy when in predominantly Black/African American classrooms. These results could not be explained by differences in classroom environments. Results are discussed in terms of resilience, ethnic identity and White identity.

The University of South Dakota Vermillion USA

University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney USA

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Simons, J. S., Dvorak, R. D., & Lau-Barraco, C. (2009).
Behavioral inhibition and activation systems: Differences in substance use expectancy organization and activation in memory.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23(2), 315-328.

We used multidimensional scaling to model the semantic network of alcohol and marijuana expectancies (N = 897). Preference mapping was used to estimate vectors representing patterns of activation through the network as a function of levels of behavioral inhibition (BIS) and behavioral activation (BAS). Individuals with low BIS combined with high BAS levels exhibited patterns of activation emphasizing behavioral activation similar to heavier drug users in previous research. High BIS, low BAS individuals exhibited activation patterns with greater emphasis on inhibitory expectancies similar to low-level users. Differences in expectancy activation patterns were maintained after controlling for substance use and gender. Individual differences in BIS/BAS are associated with the organization of semantic networks and patterns of activation of expectancies contributing to differences in substance use behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved) (from the journal abstract)

Simons, Jeffrey S.; Department of Psychology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, US

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Wang, X. T., Kruger, D. J., & Wilke, A. (2009).
Life history variables and risk-taking propensity.
Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(2), 77-84.

We examined the effects of life-history variables on risk-taking propensity, measured by subjective likelihoods of engaging in risky behaviors in five evolutionarily valid domains of risk, including between-group competition, within-group competition, environmental challenge, mating and resource allocation, and fertility and reproduction. The effects of life-history variables on risk-taking propensity were domain specific, except for the expected sex difference, where men predicted greater risk-taking than women in all domains. Males also perceived less inherent risk in actions than females across the five domains. Although the age range in the sample was limited, older respondents showed lower risk propensity in both between- and within-group competition. Parenthood reduced risk-taking propensity in within- and between-group competitions. Higher reproductive goal setting (desiring more offspring) was associated with lower risk-taking propensity. This effect was strongest in the risk domains of mating and reproduction. Having more siblings reduced risk-taking propensity (contrary to our initial prediction) in the domains of environmental challenge, reproduction, and between-group competition. Later-born children showed a higher propensity to engage in environmental and mating risks. Last, shorter subjective life expectancy was associated with increased willingness to take mating and reproductive risks. These results suggest that life-history variables regulate human risk-taking propensity in specific risk domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved) (from the journal abstract)

Wang, X. T.; Department of Psychology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, US

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Carpenter, R. E., & Summers, C. H. (2009).
Learning strategies during fear conditioning.
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 91(4), 415-423.

This paper describes a model of fear learning, in which subjects have an option of behavioral responses to impending social defeat. The model generates two types of learning: social avoidance and classical conditioning, dependent upon (1) escape from or (2) social subordination to an aggressor. We hypothesized that social stress provides the impetus as well as the necessary information to stimulate dichotomous goal-oriented learning. Specialized tanks were constructed to subject rainbow trout to a conditioning paradigm where the conditioned stimulus (CS) is cessation of tank water flow (water off) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) is social aggression from a larger conspecific. Following seven daily CS/US pairings, approximately half of the test fish learned to consistently escape the aggression to a neutral chamber through a small escape hole available only during the interaction. The learning curve for escaping fish was dramatic, with an 1100% improvement in escape time over 7 days. Fish that did not escape exhibited a 400% increase in plasma cortisol and altered brain monoamine response to presentation of the CS alone. Elevated plasma cortisol levels represent classical fear conditioning in non-escaping fish, while a lack of fear conditioning and a decreased latency to escape over the training period in escapers indicates learned escape.

Carpenter, Russ E.; Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, US

Posted at 10:36AM Sep 28, 2009 by Tracy Marie Elsen in July & August 2009  |  Comments[0]