University of South Alabama

The impact of demographic aging on government debt

Purpose This study examines whether demographic aging causes government debt. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel dataset of 61 countries from 2004 to 2023, we evaluate the possible causal relationship between the old-age dependency ratio and the debt-to-gross domestic prod...

Enumerative Chromatic Choosability

Chromatic-choosability is a notion of fundamental importance in list coloring. A graph is chromatic-choosable when its chromatic number is equal to its list chromatic number. In 1990, Kostochka and Sidorenko introduced the list color function of a graph $G$, denoted $P_{\ell}(G,m...

Composite Adaptive Control Barrier Functions for Safety‐Critical Systems With Parametric Uncertainty

ABSTRACT Control barrier functions guarantee safety but require accurate system models; parametric uncertainty invalidates these guarantees. Existing robust methods maintain safety via worst‐case bounds at the cost of performance, while modular learning schemes decouple estimatio...

Stochastic Optimal Harvesting of Renewable Resources

This paper develops a finite-horizon stochastic optimal harvesting model that links constrained Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) control with a nonlinear Feynman-Kac/BSDE representation. Harvesting effort is bounded, yielding a projected feedback policy with lower-bound, interior, a...

Officer sex, hegemonic masculinity and beliefs about sexual assault and other gendered violent crime within a SAKI-funded police department

Purpose Some police departments have prioritized the inclusion of female officers within special victims units (SVUs), given male officers’ higher endorsement of maladaptive beliefs towards sexual assault cases and victims (i.e. rape myths). Yet, beliefs related to rape and other...

Uterine Carcinosarcoma: Mutational Profiling of p53-Abnormal Tumors and Its Association with Histologic Subtypes and Survival in an Underserved Population

Uterine carcinosarcoma is a rare and highly aggressive malignancy characterized by biphasic epithelial and mesenchymal components. Although molecular classification has improved risk stratification in endometrial carcinoma, the mutational profile of carcinosarcoma by heterologous...

Central Adiposity Versus Body Mass Index in Assessment of Adiposity-Related Differences in Physical Activity Among Schoolchildren Aged 5–12 Years in High-Risk Neighborhoods

Purpose: Body mass index (BMI) is widely used in childhood obesity surveillance despite limitations in capturing central adiposity, which has been hypothesized to relate to reduced participation in movement. This study compared associations between z-score waist circumference (zW...

GENETIC AND PHARMACOLOGIC ACTIVATION OF BECLIN1 PREVENTSALDOSTERONE-INDUCED CARDIOVASCULAR DAMAGE

Aldosterone promotes endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular injury through mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation. Autophagy is essential for endothelial homeostasis, yet its role in aldosterone-mediated vascular dysfunction remains unclear. We tested whether aldosterone...

Gene-level RNA-seq obscures extensive transcript-level remodeling during hypoxic adaptation

Although RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) generates transcript-resolved measurements, these data are commonly summarized to the gene level by collapsing sequencing reads into a single expression value for each gene. Because most mammalian genes express multiple transcript isoforms throug...

Appetitive trait profiles in late life: links to eating disorder psychopathology and psychosocial well-being

Abstract Objective Appetitive traits shape eating behaviors across the lifespan, yet their patterns and health correlates in later life remain poorly understood. This study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify distinct profiles of appetitive traits among older adults an...

Clinical Outcomes of HIF-2α inhibition in Von Hippel-Lindau Disease: A Multicenter Real-World Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Management of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is challenging due to multisystem involvement and limited systemic treatment options. Belzutifan has shown promising efficacy in clinical trials; however, real-world data remain limited. We aimed to evaluate...

When leaders rock the boat: Leader reputation and the credibility of US commitments

Do allies translate negative assessments of a patron state’s leader into doubts about the credibility of the patron state? Recent work suggests that they do, but this article argues otherwise. It develops a theory of reputational filtering, whereby allied elites interpret leader-...

Firearm carrying practices and motivations: A mixed methods study among adults and youth

Abstract The purpose of this participatory action, mixed methods research study was to identify motivations related to firearm carrying from a qualitative perspective, and then to use quantitative research to characterize the patterns of motivations around carrying. Qualitative i...

Identification of a membrane transporter for dimethylsulfoniopropionate uptake in marine eukaryotic phytoplankton

Marine microalgae obtain essential sulfur through energetically costly, assimilatory reduction of sea-salt sulfate, so the ability for osmotrophic incorporation of reduced sulfur would confer them adaptability in energy-limiting conditions. Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is a...

Diet-dependent, beneficial and adverse effects of rapamycin on life span of Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract Rapamycin supplementation has been reported to extend life spans in numerous species, including Drosophila melanogaster , but a recent study in this laboratory revealed a marked life-shortening effect in y w male flies. The experiments reported here were performed to cha...

HPV Vaccination Predictors Among College Students

College students remain at increased risk for acquiring human papillomavirus (HPV), yet HPV vaccination coverage remains suboptimal despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. This study examined predictors of HPV vaccination and HPV- and HPV vaccine-related knowled...

Conservation of Long G4-rich (LG4) genomic enhancer regulations

Long G4-rich regions (LG4s) are defined as DNA sequences containing a high density of guanine triplets capable of forming non-B DNA structures called G-quadruplexes (G4s). These regions frequently overlap with enhancers, which are regulatory DNA elements that modulate gene expres...