Digital Commons Network^™

Una's Leo Put To Sleep, Lori Allen Dendy

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Breaking the news that Leo I has passed away at 14 years old.

*Article from The TimesDaily. *

Leo Recalled With Fondness, Lori Allen Dendy

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Remembering Leo I.

*Article from The TimesDaily. *

College Mascot Dies, Montgomery Advertiser

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Write up from The Montgomery Advertiser about Leo I's passing.

Tv Time, Matt Mckean/Staff

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Blurb about the joy TV brings to Leo II in The TimesDaily.

Leo Ii Dies Of Heart Failure At Auburn, Office Of University Relations And Staff Reports

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News of Leo II's passing in The Flor-Ala.

Party Animal, Matt Mckean/Staff

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Leo II and kids from First United methodist Church daycare enjoy celebrating his birthday.

*Article from The TimesDaily*

Leo Ii...King Of Una, Steven Compton

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Shoals Magazine article on Leo II

Primary Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis: Natural History, Pathogenesis, And Treatment, Edward J. Filippone, John L. Farber

Division of Nephrology Faculty Papers

Primary membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) is an ultrarare disease characterized by immunofluorescence microscopy as either immune-complex mediated (IC-MPGN) or C3 glomerulopathy (C3), the latter subdivided by electron microscopy to C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN) and dense deposit disease (DDD). Both IC-MPGN and C3G typically have obvious C3 staining differentiating them from other causes of MPGN histology. Secondary causes must be excluded, including infections, autoimmune disease, and neoplasia. Clinical presentations are variable, including urinary sediment abnormalities, nephrotic syndrome, or a rapidly progressive course. The prognosis is unfavorable with about 50% reaching kidney failure by 10 years. Recurrence following transplantation is frequent, and allograft survival …

Erythropoiesis-Inosine Metabolic Axis Failure Underlying Retinal Neurodegeneration In Glaucoma: Novel Diagnoses And Therapies, Yuyu Chou, Wuping Liu, Yanxiu Li, Changhan Chen, Cheng Luo, Shiping Shen, Piaoyu Dai, Lemeng Feng, Wenhao Xiao, Yiyan Wang, Juncheng Wang, Linlin Wan, Zhiyu Yang, Tingting Xie, Yujin Zhang, Rodney E Kellems, Weitao Song, Xiaobo Xia, Yang Xia

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Glaucoma, long considered an ocular-limited, age-dependent and hypoxia-driven neurodegeneration, is here reframed as a systemic erythroid-inosine axis failure that originates in the bone marrow yet culminates in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. By mining UK Biobank datasets (n = 127,028) and validating our findings in an independent clinical cohort (n = 178), we reveal that glaucoma is preceded by dyserythropoiesis and a compensatory, AMPK-driven metabolic rewiring of mature erythrocytes that hypercatabolizes inosine to enhance oxygen unloading. This adaptation collapses when accelerated erythrocyte inosine metabolism drains systemic pools, starving high-energy demand hematopoietic progenitors, driving retinal microenvironment hypoxia and accelerating RGC loss. …

Finding Research Datasets And Evaluating Data Quality, Ibis Anette Moreno-Lozano Phd.

Day Family Research Lab Workshop Series

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Workplace Ostracism, Moderated By Personality Traits On Psychological Safety, Aniko Rastovac

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Psychological safety, an essential element for fostering collaboration, trust, and innovation, can be undermined by negative interactions in the workplace. Most importantly, a lack of psychological safety is a barrier to individual and organizational growth, development, and innovation, which is necessary for gaining a competitive organizational advantage. The present study examines the concept of workplace ostracism as a negative interaction in the workplace that affects psychological safety. Using the big five personality traits framework, Edmondson’s (1999) concept of psychological safety, and Tett et al.’s (2021) trait activation theory, this quantitative study examined how individual differences moderate the impact of workplace …

Metagenomic Insights Into Antimicrobial Resistance In Small-Scale Poultry And Cattle Farms, Elijah Ayilaran, Agnes Kilonzo-Nthenge Agnes Kilonzo-Nthenge

Food and Animal Sciences Faculty Research

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a critical challenge to global health, with food animal production systems recognized as significant reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. This study evaluated the prevalence and distribution of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factors (VFs) across small-scale poultry and cattle farms. A total of 468 samples (soil, feces, water, and natural land soil) were collected from four farms and analyzed using shotgun metagenomics. Proteobacteria (34.91%) were the dominant phylum across environments, followed by Cyanobacteria (15.67%), Actinobacteria (14.95%), Firmicutes (10.57%), and Bacteroidetes (8.69%). Tetracycline (33.41%) and beta-lactam (30.30%) resistance genes were the most abundant, with macrolide (9.32%) and …

Rmzyme: Regulations Of Rna-Modifying Enzymes In Humans, Ruihan Luo, Haixia Xu, Qingbo Zhou, Shanli Ding, Min Qiang, Jianguo Wen, Pora Kim, Xiaojuan Yang, Yunshi Cai, Kunlin Xie, Jiang Zhu, Yungang Xu, Tian Lan, Xiaobo Zhou, Hong Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

RNA modifications represent a dynamic layer of gene expression regulation, RNA stability, and translation with profound implications for cellular function and disease. However, the critical regulation and functions of RNA-modifying proteins (RMPs) remain poorly understood. Here, we present a large-scale characterization of RMPs through 378 multiomics datasets encompassing genomics, bulk and single-cell transcriptomics, epitranscriptomics, proteomics, and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) across 63 human tissues. Our analysis of experimental perturbations of RMPs revealed dynamic differential modification peaks and expressed genes. We applied nonnegative matrix factorization to annotate RMP-mediated cell types in single-cell transcriptomes. Functional annotations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) revealed RMPs …

Targeting Oxalate Production By Combining Enzyme Inhibition And Proteolysis Activation: A Novel Therapeutic Approach For Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1, Fabio Arias, Sumati Rohilla, Yudibeth Sixto-López, Koral S E Richard, Sandeep Das, Sumit K Anand, Pilar Maria Luque-Navarro, Guillermo Bañuelos-Sanchez, Juan Luis Pacheco-García, Reethika Gade, M Peyton Mckinney, Dhananjay Kumar, Jemiah Maxie, W Rylan Corr, Nilesh Pandey, Harpreet Kaur, Jibin Ding, Lin Tan, Elisha Scott, Hyung Nam, Eyal Gottlieb, A Wayne Orr, Nirav Dhanesha, Arif Yurdagul, Angel L Pey, Francisco Franco-Montalbán, José A Gómez Vidal, Oren Rom, Mónica Díaz-Gavilán

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is a rare genetic disorder caused by hepatic oxalate overproduction due to alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGXT) deficiency. Therapeutic strategies targeting glycolate oxidase (GO) and lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), key enzymes in glyoxylate metabolism, have shown promise in reducing oxalate burden. However, recently approved siRNA therapies remain limited by high cost, unfavorable pharmacokinetics, and limited global accessibility. We report the development of compound 2, a dual GO/LDHA inhibitor (K i = 390 and 40 nM, respectively) that also promotes hydrophobic tag-mediated autophagic degradation of LDHA. Its efficacy was evaluated in Agxt –/– mice, both in primary …

Primary Tumor Size And Tumor-Vessel Interface Following Capecitabine And Temozolomide For Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor, Jin Guo, Kever A Lewis, Laura Prakash, Priya Bhosale, Ajaykumar Morani, Matthew H G Katz, Ching-Wei D Tzeng, Naruhiko Ikoma, Rebecca Snyder, Michael P Kim, Chandrikha Chandrasekharan, Arvind Dasari, James C Yao, Jeffrey E Lee, Jessica E Maxwell, Daniel M Halperin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Capecitabine/temozolomide (CAPTEM) is an established regimen for patients with metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNET) that is being increasingly used for tumor volume reduction in patients with borderline anatomically resectable disease. We sought to understand the response of the primary tumor, defined as changes in the tumor–vascular interface (TVI). This is a retrospective, single-institution study of patients with locally advanced or metastatic PanNET treated with CAPTEM between 2010 and 2020. RECISTv1.1 measurements and TVI assessments of the primary tumor were performed on pre- and post-therapy images. Patients with locally advanced or metastatic PanNET at presentation (n = 47) were included. …

Tumor-Immune-Neural Circuit Disrupts Energy Homeostasis In Cancer Cachexia, Xiuhui Shi, Alex X Arreola, Zhijun Zhou, Jingxuan Yang, Mingyang Liu, Yang Cai, Yu Ren, Hao Yuan, Qun Chen, Xinjie Chen, Xinyu Yang, Yimei Meng, Jingyi Wang, Wenyi Luo, Michael C Rudolph, Rohan Varshney, Kar-Ming Fung, Chao Xu, Wei R Chen, Michael S Bronze, Lei Zheng, Yi-Ping Li, Courtney W Houchen, Yuqing Zhang, Min Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cancer-induced cachexia and anorexia are debilitating complications across many cancers, yet effective treatments remain limited due to a poor understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Here, we identify an uncharacterized tumor-immune-neural circuit driving these syndromes, centered on growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF15). Using genetically engineered mouse models, we find that loss of GDF15 protects against appetite loss, muscle wasting, and fat loss in pancreatic, lung, and skin cancers. Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals macrophages as a major source of GDF15, induced by tumor-derived colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1). GDF15 acts via the central nervous system to enhance β-adrenergic signaling in the tumor …

Weight Loss Patterns And Clinical Outcomes Of Glp1 Receptor Agonists In Breast Cancer Survivors, Jasmine S Sukumar, Akshara Singareeka Raghavendra, Sarah Pasyar, Roland L Bassett, Debu Tripathy, Carlos H Barcenas, Karen M Basen-Engquist, Banu K Arun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA) for weight loss is increasing; implications in breast cancer (BC) survivors remain unclear.This retrospective cohort study evaluated treatment patterns, weight loss, and outcomes in BC survivors at an academic institution receiving GLP1-RA. We evaluated patients with non-metastatic (ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), stage 1-3) BC who received GLP1-RA (2005 - 2024). Linear regression models estimated associations between weight change and clinical factors. After excluding DCIS, propensity score matching (1:2) was used to match patients who received GLP1-RA with patients who did not, based on confounding covariates. Kaplan-Meier estimates and log-rank tests compared disease-free …

Albumin-Binding Domains In Therapeutic Protein Engineering: A Structural And Computational Perspective On Rational Design, Matthew Argyle, Dallin M. Chipman, Anna Claire Woolley, Bradley C. Bundy, Dennis Della Corte

Faculty Publications

Therapeutic proteins face a critical pharmacokinetic challenge: rapid clearance from circulation limits their clinical efficacy. Albumin-binding domains (ABDs) offer an elegant solution by enabling therapeutic proteins to “hitchhike” on serum albumin’s favorable 19-day half-life through FcRn-mediated recycling. Clinical validation through approved therapeutics like ozoralizumab demonstrates the success of this approach, with preclinical studies showing fusion to an ABD extended half-life to 18 days. This review provides an analysis of ABD-fusion protein design, integrating structural biology, computational prediction, and rational engineering principles. We catalog the major classes of albumin-binding modalities, including bacterial three-helix bundle domains, engineered peptides, antibody-derived binders, and alternative …

Cytotoxic And Antimicrobial Effects Of Plant-Derived Compounds Used In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Amanda Ly, Diane Sun, Shelbi Salinas, Victor M. Jimenez

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Waters At Risk: Preventive Methods Against Cyanobacteria Blooms In Rhode Island, Ryan Boline

CAFE Symposium 2026

This project analyzes the rise of cyanobacteria blooms in Rhode Island freshwater systems and identifies a policy gap in the state’s largely reactive management approach. Drawing on state reports and interviews with environmental experts, it highlights nutrient runoff, climate change, and limited public education as key drivers of bloom severity. To address this gap, I developed a prevention-focused public education poster designed for integration into existing state alert and outreach systems.

Sand Fly Endosymbionts In Kenya: Rickettsia And Wolbachia Associations With Leishmania And Detection Of Rickettsia Africae, Steve Kiplagat, Damaris Matoke-Muhia, Barrack O. Owino, David P. Tchouassi, Daniel K. Masiga, Gregory D. Hurst, Jandouwe Villinger

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

BACKGROUND: Sand flies are small hematophagous insects known as leishmaniasis vectors. Similar to most arthropods, they harbor nonobligate endosymbionts that may influence host adaptation and pathogen transmission, but these symbiont communities remain poorly characterized in Leishmania-endemic African sand flies. METHODS: We screened 1700 wild-caught phlebotomine sand flies (1266 females, 434 males) from Kenya's Baringo, Nakuru, and Kajiado counties, and 253 colony Phlebotomus duboscqi, for Rickettsia, Wolbachia, Spiroplasma, Cardinium, Arsenophonus, Microsporidia, and Leishmania by high-resolution melting analysis and sequencing of PCR products. RESULTS: In wild sand flies (Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia spp.), Wolbachia spp. were most common (8.5%, 145/1700), with particularly high …

Leveraging Ancestral Recombination Graphs For Scalable Mixed-Model Analysis Of Complex Traits, Jiazheng Zhu, Georgios Kalantzis, Ali Pazokitoroudi, Árni Freyr Gunnarsson, Hrushikesh Loya, Han Chen, Sriram Sankararaman, Pier Francesco Palamara

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recent algorithmic advances have enabled the inference of genome-wide ancestral recombination graphs (ARGs) from large genomic cohorts, providing detailed models of genealogical relatedness along the genome. These inferred ARGs can complement genotype imputation by capturing the effects of unobserved variants, but their use in large-scale linear mixed-model analyses has been computationally prohibitive. Here, we develop methods that leverage the ARG to perform genotype-matrix multiplications in sublinear time and implement scalable randomized algorithms for mixed-model analyses. We introduce ARG-RHE, a randomized Haseman-Elston approach for estimating narrow-sense heritability and performing region-based association testing using ARGs, enabling parallel analysis of multiple quantitative traits. …

Correction: The Hsp90-Myc-Cdk9 Network Drives Therapeutic Resistance In Mantle Cell Lymphoma, Fangfang Yan, Vivian Jiang, Alexa Jordan, Yuxuan Che, Yang Liu, Qingsong Cai, Yu Xue, Yijing Li, Joseph Mcintosh, Zhihong Chen, Jovanny Vargas, Lei Nie, Yixin Yao, Heng-Huan Lee, Wei Wang, Johnnelson R Bigcal, Maria Badillo, Jitendra Meena, Christopher Flowers, Jia Zhou, Zhongming Zhao, Lukas M Simon, Michael Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Third-Party Effects On Intergroup Trust: The Role Of Punishment/Compensation And Group Regulatory Focus, Xiaowei Geng, Jie Cui, Jie Wang, Feng Zhang, Wei Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Intergroup trust refers to a collective prediction and belief among members of one group regarding those of another in intergroup interactions. It plays an important role in avoiding intergroup conflicts, and thereby sustaining social development. This study was designed to investigate the effects of third-party punishment and compensation, as well as group regulatory focus, on intergroup trust. The findings revealed that, at both individual and group levels, prevention-focused groups exhibited higher levels of intergroup trust than promotion-focused groups under third-party compensation conditions. In contrast, under the third-party punishment conditions, promotion-focused groups displayed greater trust than prevention-focused groups, although this difference …

Agent-Based Modeling Of Cellular Dynamics In Adoptive Cell Therapy, Yujia Wang, Stefano Casarin, May Daher, Vakul Mohanty, Merve Dede, Mayra Shanley, Eleonora Dondossola, Ludovica La Posta, Rafet Başar, Katayoun Rezvani, Ken Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Adoptive cell therapies (ACT) leverage tumor-immune interactions to cure cancer. Despite promising phase I/II clinical trials of chimeric-antigen-receptor natural killer (CAR-NK) cell therapies, molecular mechanisms and cellular properties required to achieve clinical benefits in broad cancer spectra remain underexplored. While in vitro and in vivo experiments are essential, they are expensive, laborious, and limited to targeted investigations. Here, we present ABMACT (Agent-Based Model for Adoptive Cell Therapy), an in silico approach employing agent-based models (ABM) to simulate the continuous course and dynamics of an evolving tumor-immune ecosystem, consisting of heterogeneous "virtual cells" created based on knowledge and omics data observed …

Precision Chemotherapy In Biliary Tract Cancer Moving From Empiric Intensification To Biomarker-Guided Treatment: Editorial On "Molecular Determinants Of Outcome To Gemcitabine, Cisplatin, And Nab-Paclitaxel In Patients With Advanced Btc", Sung Hwan Lee, Ahmed O Kaseb, Ju-Seog Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Community Participatory Co-Design And Development Of A Digital Diabetes Prevention Education Program For Hispanic Families With Obesity: Mixed Methods Study, Sandra Mihail, Marbelly Partida, Lizette Villanueva, Debbe Thompson, Teresia M O'Connor, Salma M Musaad, Maria J Redondo, Erica G Soltero

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Digital health interventions (DHIs) can extend the reach of disease prevention interventions; however, few are evidence-based, theoretically grounded, or developed for high-risk youth and families. Co-design approaches engage end users in the design and development of the DHI, which can lead to increased accessibility and engagement.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the adaptation of an evidence-based diabetes prevention program for remote, digital delivery.

Methods: The adaptation of the in-person intervention was guided by a modified Inclusive Digital Health Intervention Design to Promote Health Equity framework and conducted in collaboration with Hispanic adolescents (n=23) with obesity (BMI ≥95th percentile) …

Aquatic Interrelations In Malika Mokeddem’S Novel N’Zid (2001), Laura C. Klein

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

This article offers an ecological analysis of Malika Mokeddem's novel N'Zid (2001), moving beyond postcolonial and anthropocentric interpretations. It centers on the protagonist Nora's individuation, arguing this process is intrinsically linked to her evolving relationship with the aquatic environment from which she emerges. The article aims to situate N'Zid within an ecological perspective, particularly relevant in the Anthropocene, an era compelling a reassessment of humanity's place. Echoing Bruno Latour, addressing inter-relationality is essential as the stable physical framework of the Moderns becomes unstable. This view necessitates rethinking environmental issues and encourages a scientific interpretation of the novel, drawing on neurosciences, …

Structural And Mechanical Properties Facilitate Shock Wave Damping By Helmet-Like Orbital Hoods In Snapping Shrimp, Mia Kazel, Rebekah E. Cammack, Alexandra C.N. Kingston, Ahmed A. Alshareef, Tarek Shazly, Daniel Isaac Speiser

Faculty Publications

Snapping shrimp damp the shock waves they produce and use as weapons with a helmet-like structure termed the orbital hood. Here, we ask how structural and material properties contribute to shock wave damping by orbital hoods in Alpheus heterochaelis. Using tensile mechanical testing, we find orbital hoods are approximately half as stiff as carapace and have twice the capacity for viscous energy dissipation. Microstructural features probably contribute to tissue-specific mechanical properties: the endocuticles of orbital hoods have almost twice as many lamellae as those of carapaces despite being half as thick, suggesting a mechanism for enhanced material mobility underlying …

A Framework For Assessing The Trustworthiness Of Scientific Research Findings, Brian A Nosek, David B Allison, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Marcia Mcnutt, A Beau Nielsen, Susan M Wolf

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Vigorous debate has erupted over the trustworthiness of scientific research findings in a number of domains. The question "what makes research findings trustworthy?" elicits different answers depending on whether the emphasis is on research integrity and ethics, research methods, transparency, inclusion, assessment and peer review, or scholarly communication. Each provides partial insight. We offer a systems approach that focuses on whether the research is accountable, evaluable, well-formulated, has been evaluated, controls for bias, reduces error, and whether the claims are warranted by the evidence. We tie each of these components to measurable indicators of trustworthiness for evaluating the research itself, …