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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (11 results)

  • Article
Women of Color Cluster (WOCC) in Collaboration and Conflict Research Journal 2019 (2019)
The University of California Research Cluster for the Study of Women of Color in Collaboration and Conflict was founded in 1991 by faculty and graduate students at UCSC. Reviving the cluster, and continuing and expanding this work, in 2015-2017, doctoral students from across different California institutions (UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, Hartnell College, California State University, Long Beach) have collaborated to co-author and co-edit this journal on the theme of witnessing and testimony as a decolonial feminist methodology. This collaboration across disciplines has allowed us to build upon our diverse experiences and training as we deeply examine and push the nexus of identity, subjectivity, violence, conflict, and collaboration.
    Cover page: Introduction from the Editors: Women of Color (WOC) in Collaboration and Conflict Witnessing and Testimony: Hurt, Healing, and Herstories
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2017)

    The dissertation examines the dynamics of conflict-induced internal displacement on the urban integration and citizenship of peasants in Medellín, Colombia. Using this case study of displacement in Colombia—which has the largest population of internally displaced persons in the world—my dissertation fills in a gap in the migration literature that does not adequately address internal and forced migration. It also goes beyond viewing displacement as a single event, analyzing it instead as a life-long process that constitutes what I call the Life-Cycle of Forced Migration. My broader analysis of migration links displacement, resettlement, integration, and community-building, providing a multistage understanding of the processes of citizenship and belonging. The research utilizes mixed-methods for gathering data, drawing from ethnographic interviews and surveys with rural internally displaced persons, as well as interviews with representatives of government agencies and NGOs, to answer: How does a group of migrants become non-citizens despite not crossing borders, not losing formal citizenship, and not losing national identity? I find that even after having resettled for two decades in Medellín, people still identify as “displaced” due to differential inclusion, which negatively affects their sense and practice of citizenship, a form of Segmented Citizenship. I define Segmented Citizenship as a new social status, within a spectrum of non-belonging, that is both inclusionary and exclusionary; where citizens have claims to formal rights, yet are limited from practicing these rights fully. I argue that Segmented Citizenship changes the displaced into Partial Citizens due to inadequate state aid and attention, stigma from state actors and the receiving community, stagnation in informal employment, segregation in informal settlements, and the displaced’s own subjective experiences with violence and trauma. However, by highlighting the lives of displaced community leaders, the thesis shows how Displaced Consciousness— a new affective awareness which results from displacement—is used as a tool for building solidarity with other displaced peasants and defending their Right to the Territory in the peripheries of the city. Ultimately, I contend that this research demonstrates the limits of integration and national citizenship, offering a more nuanced lens for examining citizenship as a spectrum, pushing us to examine belonging beyond a binary category of citizen/non-citizen; included and excluded.

      Cover page: The Life-Cycle of Forced Migration: The Lives and Politics of Internally Displaced Peasants in Medellín, Colombia.
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Davis Previously Published Works (2021)
      Mitochondria play a principal role in metabolism, and mitochondrial respiration is an important process for producing adenosine triphosphate. Recently, we showed the possibility that the muscle-specific protein myoglobin (Mb) interacts with mitochondrial complex IV to augment the respiration capacity in skeletal muscles. However, the precise mechanism for the Mb-mediated upregulation remains under debate. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether Mb is truly integrated into the mitochondria of skeletal muscle and to investigate the submitochondrial localization. Isolated mitochondria from rat gastrocnemius muscle were subjected to different proteinase K (PK) concentrations to digest proteins interacting with the outer membrane. Western blotting analysis revealed that the PK digested translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20 (Tom20), and the immunoreactivity of Tom20 decreased with the amount of PK used. However, the immunoreactivity of Mb with PK treatment was better preserved, indicating that Mb is integrated into the mitochondria of skeletal muscle. The mitochondrial protease protection assay experiments suggested that Mb localizes within the mitochondria in the inner membrane from the intermembrane space side. These results strongly suggest that Mb inside muscle mitochondria could be implicated in the regulation of mitochondrial respiration via complex IV.
        Cover page: Localization of myoglobin in mitochondria: implication in regulation of mitochondrial respiration in rat skeletal muscleCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Davis Previously Published Works (2021)
        This cross-sectional study examines racial and ethnic diversity among obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN), surgical, and nonsurgical residents in the US.
          Cover page: Racial and Ethnic Diversity Among Obstetrics and Gynecology, Surgical, and Nonsurgical Residents in the US From 2014 to 2019
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2025)

          Background

          HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains particularly underused among homeless-experienced people who use drugs (PWUD).

          Setting

          Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving homeless-experienced individuals in Boston, Massachusetts.

          Methods

          To identify determinants of PrEP prescription initiation and continuation, we analyzed electronic medical records and pharmacy data between April 2018 and March 2022. Participants were HIV-negative and reported sexual, drug, or community-related HIV exposures. Adjusted multinomial logistic regression explored associations between sociodemographics, social vulnerabilities, behavioral factors (eg, injection drug use), and mental health and substance use disorder diagnoses with filling of 1 and more than 1 PrEP prescription.

          Results

          Among 509 participants, mean age was 38 years, 28% were women, 19% were Black, and 24% were Hispanic/Latino. At program enrollment, most were experiencing homelessness (92%), injecting drugs (78%), and living with a mental health disorder (71%). In multivariable-adjusted models, injection drug use was positively associated with filling 1 and more than 1 PrEP prescription (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.33 to 6.26; and AOR: 3.60, 95% CI: 2.02 to 6.42, respectively). Participants with opioid use disorder and generalized anxiety disorder were more likely to fill 1 and more than 1 prescription, whereas those with bipolar disorder were less likely to fill 1 prescription. No sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behaviors, or other mental health or substance use disorders were associated with study outcomes.

          Conclusions

          A low-threshold, harm reduction-oriented PrEP program supported prescription initiation and continuation for homeless-experienced PWUD. Implementation research is needed to facilitate scale-up of this approach.
            Cover page: HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Prescription Initiation and Maintenance Among Homeless-Experienced People Who Use Drugs
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2025)

            Background

            HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains particularly underused among homeless-experienced people who use drugs (PWUD).

            Setting

            Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving homeless-experienced individuals in Boston, Massachusetts.

            Methods

            To identify determinants of PrEP prescription initiation and continuation, we analyzed electronic medical records and pharmacy data between April 2018 and March 2022. Participants were HIV-negative and reported sexual, drug, or community-related HIV exposures. Adjusted multinomial logistic regression explored associations between sociodemographics, social vulnerabilities, behavioral factors (eg, injection drug use), and mental health and substance use disorder diagnoses with filling of 1 and more than 1 PrEP prescription.

            Results

            Among 509 participants, mean age was 38 years, 28% were women, 19% were Black, and 24% were Hispanic/Latino. At program enrollment, most were experiencing homelessness (92%), injecting drugs (78%), and living with a mental health disorder (71%). In multivariable-adjusted models, injection drug use was positively associated with filling 1 and more than 1 PrEP prescription (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.33 to 6.26; and AOR: 3.60, 95% CI: 2.02 to 6.42, respectively). Participants with opioid use disorder and generalized anxiety disorder were more likely to fill 1 and more than 1 prescription, whereas those with bipolar disorder were less likely to fill 1 prescription. No sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behaviors, or other mental health or substance use disorders were associated with study outcomes.

            Conclusions

            A low-threshold, harm reduction-oriented PrEP program supported prescription initiation and continuation for homeless-experienced PWUD. Implementation research is needed to facilitate scale-up of this approach.
              Cover page: HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Prescription Initiation and Maintenance Among Homeless-Experienced People Who Use Drugs
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2017)
              Sample preparation is critical to biological electron microscopy (EM), and there have been continuous efforts on optimizing the procedures to best preserve structures of interest in the sample. However, a quantitative characterization of the morphological changes associated with each step in EM sample preparation is currently lacking. Using correlative EM and superresolution microscopy (SRM), we have examined the effects of different drying methods as well as osmium tetroxide (OsO4) post-fixation on cell morphology during scanning electron microscopy (SEM) sample preparation. Here, SRM images of the sample acquired under hydrated conditions were used as a baseline for evaluating morphological changes as the sample went through SEM sample processing. We found that both chemical drying and critical point drying lead to a mild cellular boundary retraction of ~60 nm. Post-fixation by OsO4 causes at least 40 nm additional boundary retraction. We also found that coating coverslips with adhesion molecules such as fibronectin prior to cell plating helps reduce cell distortion from OsO4 post-fixation. These quantitative measurements offer useful information for identifying causes of cell distortions in SEM sample preparation and improving current procedures.
                Cover page: Quantitating morphological changes in biological samples during scanning electron microscopy sample preparation with correlative super-resolution microscopyCreative Commons 'BY-NC-ND' version 4.0 license
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2019)
                Protective signaling from the leukemia microenvironment leads to leukemia cell persistence, development of resistance, and disease relapse. Here, we demonstrate that fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) from bone marrow stromal cells is secreted in exosomes, which are subsequently endocytosed by leukemia cells, and protect leukemia cells from tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Expression of FGF2 and its receptor, FGFR1, are both increased in a subset of stromal cell lines and primary AML stroma; and increased FGF2/FGFR1 signaling is associated with increased exosome secretion. FGFR inhibition (or gene silencing) interrupts stromal autocrine growth and significantly decreases secretion of FGF2-containing exosomes, resulting in less stromal protection of leukemia cells. Likewise, Fgf2 -/- mice transplanted with retroviral BCR-ABL leukemia survive significantly longer than their +/+ counterparts when treated with TKI. Thus, inhibition of FGFR can modulate stromal function, reduce exosome secretion, and may be a therapeutic option to overcome resistance to TKIs. This article has been through an editorial process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised during peer review. The Reviewing Editor's assessment is that all the issues have been addressed (see decision letter).
                  Cover page: FGF2-FGFR1 signaling regulates release of Leukemia-Protective exosomes from bone marrow stromal cellsCreative Commons 'BY-NC-ND' version 4.0 license
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2017)
                  The importance of context in regulation of gene expression is now an accepted principle; yet the mechanism by which the microenvironment communicates with the nucleus and chromatin in healthy tissues is poorly understood. A functional role for nuclear and cytoskeletal architecture is suggested by the phenotypic differences observed between epithelial and mesenchymal cells. Capitalizing on recent advances in cryogenic techniques, volume electron microscopy and super-resolution light microscopy, we studied human mammary epithelial cells in three-dimensional (3D) cultures forming growth-arrested acini. Intriguingly, we found deep nuclear invaginations and tunnels traversing the nucleus, encasing cytoskeletal actin and/or intermediate filaments, which connect to the outer nuclear envelope. The cytoskeleton is also connected both to other cells through desmosome adhesion complexes and to the extracellular matrix through hemidesmosomes. This finding supports a physical and/or mechanical link from the desmosomes and hemidesmosomes to the nucleus, which had previously been hypothesized but now is visualized for the first time. These unique structures, including the nuclear invaginations and the cytoskeletal connectivity to the cell nucleus, are consistent with a dynamic reciprocity between the nucleus and the outside of epithelial cells and tissues.
                    Cover page: Deep nuclear invaginations are linked to cytoskeletal filaments – integrated bioimaging of epithelial cells in 3D culture
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UCLA Previously Published Works (2017)
                    This paper provides an overview of the discussion and presentations from the Workshop on the Management of Large CryoEM Facilities held at the New York Structural Biology Center, New York, NY on February 6-7, 2017. A major objective of the workshop was to discuss best practices for managing cryoEM facilities. The discussions were largely focused on supporting single-particle methods for cryoEM and topics included: user access, assessing projects, workflow, sample handling, microscopy, data management and processing, and user training.
                      Cover page: Best practices for managing large CryoEM facilities
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