Digital Commons Network^™

The Police Archipelago: Decentralization, Police Violence, Over-Punishment, And Crime, José F. Girón

Faculty Publications

A strong consensus has taken hold in the legal academy. Criminal Justice Localism, espoused by scholars of every stripe, promotes greater local control of every facet of the criminal justice system. But Criminal Justice Localism largely overlooks an institution that plays a critical role in the criminal justice system, and which has been the subject of intense public criticism: the police. That oversight is remarkable for two reasons. First, calls for increased local control of the police seem to ignore that America operates one of the most—if not the most—decentralized policing models in the world, with its thousands of local, …

Government Religious Speech And The Establishment Clause, Mark Storslee, Michael Helfand

Faculty Publications

The government says religious things. From monuments and holiday displays to legislative prayers, religion saturates the government’s public voice. But how can that be permissible when the Establishment Clause, at least in theory, indicates the government should be religiously neutral?

So far, the Supreme Court’s attempts to address the puzzle have come up short. Early on, the Court suggested that seemingly all government speech must be secular, or that it refrain from “endorsing” religion. But the Court never consistently enforced those limits, struggling to reconcile them with America’s historical experience. And in recent years, the Court has rejected those approaches …

Teaching Evolution After Kennedy And Mahmoud, Alexander Gouzoules

Faculty Publications

One of the longest running disputes at the intersection of education law and the First Amendment has involved conflict over evolutionary biology in American public schools. Through a century of nearly continuous litigation, creationist legislation and parental demands to exempt students from science instruction have been constrained by longstanding First Amendment doctrines.

That settlement is now unraveling. In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court abandoned its prior approach to the Establishment Clause in favor of a history-and-tradition analysis that is ill-suited to questions about modern scientific education. And in Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Court held that students' compulsory …

Challenging Agency Deregulation, Todd S. Aagaard

Faculty Publications

The administrative state is experiencing two seismic shifts. First, in recent years, the Supreme Court has issued a series of decisions that significantly curtailed the powers of administrative agencies. Second, President Donald Trump is using administrative agencies to aggressively deregulate in his second term. The conventional wisdom is that the Supreme Court’s recent precedent will facilitate the Trump Administration’s deregulatory agenda.

This Article argues the opposite. Instead of promoting agency deregulation, recent Supreme Court precedent restraining agency authority provides a potentially powerful basis for challenging agency deregulation as administrative overreach. Time and time again, the Court has taken agencies to …

Workshop Outcomes Report: 2nd International Workshop On Seismic Resilience Of Arctic Infrastructure And Social Systems, Majid Ghayoomi, Daniela Morganti

Faculty Publications

The report provides an overview of the second international workshop on Seismic Resilience of Arctic Infrastructure and Social Systems. The report discusses agenda, workshop activities, interdisciplinary working groups, and results. It ends with several strategic questions and investigation plans that were developed as part of the workshop activities.

My Negotiation Chatbot Toby And Pedagogical Governance, Renee Henson

Faculty Publications

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots is exploding. Adolescents increasingly prefer interactions with AI companions over peers. Adults rely on these systems for health planning, therapy, administrative assistance, nutrition guidance, and even simulated “romantic relationships.” Individuals and institutions are adopting AI tools at a pace that far exceeds the development of governance frameworks.

I developed Toby for use in my first-year Lawyering: Problem-Solving and Dispute Resolution (“Lawyering”) course to expose students to the dynamics of negotiating against an opposing counsel with a difficult personality—a type of adversary all too common in legal practice, yet difficult to prepare for. Toby …

Can You Hear Me Now?, Daniel Gonzalez, Amanda Moore

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ai And Creativity, Herbert Midgley

Faculty Publications

This article argues that artificial intelligence is best understood as a tool in continuity with earlier technologies like digital cameras, non-linear editing, MIDI, and desktop publishing, rather than as a magical threat that will erase creativity or employment. Drawing on historical shifts from film to digital video, manual paste‑up to graphic design software, and acoustic instruments to synthesizers, the author shows that new tools disrupt workflows and certain jobs, yet ultimately broaden access and generate new creative opportunities. Concerns about AI’s resource use are contextualized by comparing its water footprint to bottled water, agriculture, beef production, and textiles, concluding that …

Metal Exposures And Their Interactions With The Dietary Inflammatory Index On Inflammatory Biomarkers In Mexican Adolescents, Yanelli Rodríguez-Carmona, Ana Baylin, Peter X.K. Song, Edward Ruiz-Narvaez, Cindy W. Leung, James Hébert Scd, Nitin Shivappa Mbbs, Mph, Ph.D., Michael David Wirth Msph, Phd, Face, Aljandra Cantoral, John D. Meeker, Niladri Basu, Martha María Tellez-Rojo, Karen E. Peterson, Sung Kyun Park

Faculty Publications

Background:

Heavy metals, like lead, arsenic, and cadmium, are linked to increased inflammation even in early life; however, anti-inflammatory diets may offset these effects.

Methods:

We evaluated associations between heavy metals and inflammatory biomarkers, and potential effect modification by diet in 399 adolescents aged 10 to 18 at baseline who attended two study visits 2 years apart (773 observations). At baseline, blood lead, urinary arsenic, and cadmium concentrations were measured, and the Children’s Dietary Inflammatory Index (C-DII) was calculated. Fasting serum interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were measured for both visits. Generalized …

Hurricanes And Human Health In Louisiana: Insights From Hurricanes Laura, Delta, And Ida, Shobha Kumari Yadav, Robert V. Rohli, M. E. Betsy Garrison, Elisabeth Ponce-Garcia, Nazla Bushra, Charleen Mcneill

Faculty Publications

Louisiana is one of the most disaster-prone states, with hurricanes ranking among the most destructive hazards. Hurricanes impede sustainability by straining hospital infrastructure, overwhelming emergency departments, and disrupting continuity of care. Louisiana’s healthcare system, characterized by high uninsured rates, limited rural access, and notable racial and socioeconomic disparities, is particularly vulnerable during disasters. This research explores trends of mental and respiratory health in Louisiana surrounding Hurricanes Laura (2020), Delta (2020), and Ida (2021). Analysis reveals a substantial increase in admissions after landfall of all three storms, with mental health conditions showing a larger surge than respiratory ones in already-vulnerable communities. …

Lynk Labs: How The Least-Vetted Documents Destroy Issued Patents, Dennis D. Crouch

Faculty Publications

The Lynk Labs petition presents the Supreme Court with an opportunity to restore the temporal coherence that Congress built into § 311(b)'s evidentiary framework. By treating "printed publication" as synonymous with any reference that eventually becomes public, the Federal Circuit has transformed IPR into a forum where unexamined, abandoned patent applications can destroy patents that survived the very scrutiny those applications failed to complete. The Court should grant certiorari and hold that a printed publication must be printed and published before the critical date to serve as the basis for an IPR challenge.

Water Circulation Beneath A Hovering Suas For Water Quality Monitoring Applications, Erin E. Hackett, Boone Fleenor, Jensine C. Coggin, Duvall Dickerson-Evans, Nikolaos Vitzilaios, Whitney E. Schuler, Paige K. Williams, Michael L. Myrick

Faculty Publications

Water quality has traditionally been measured via in situ sensors and satellites. The latter has limited applicability for smaller inland water bodies, while the former requires significant logistics, labor, and expense for routine sampling, and reactive/spurious sampling is often not feasible as a result (e.g., sampling pre-/post-storm). Consequently, small uncrewed aircraft system-based (sUAS-based) sampling has emerged as a potential solution to bridge these sampling gaps and challenges. But sampling from an sUAS is complicated by the need to pump water from depth, rather than suspending a sensor from the sUAS, due to concern over sampling sUAS-impacted waters. Here, we measure …

Deep Tracks: Using Deep Learning And Procedurally Simulated Data For Automated Vertebrate Footprints Classification, Carolina S. Marques, Afonso Mota, Matteo Belvedere, Diego Castanera, Ignacio Díaz-Martínez, Elisabete Malafaia, Soraia Pereira, Luís Miguel Rosalino, Vanda F. Santos

Faculty Publications

The study of vertebrate footprints provides useful information on animal behavior, locomotion, and ecology. However, automatically classifying these records using photographs is difficult due to the significant morphological variation in footprints and the lack of readily available labeled datasets. To address this issue, this study developed Deep Tracks, a novel Unity application to procedurally create a dataset of simulated footprint images. Two datasets were used to evaluate the influence and impact of the simulated dataset on real footprint classification: (1) a dataset comprising 40,000 simulated footprints, (2) approximately 1,500 real vertebrate footprints from 10 different vertebrate groups. Both simulated and …

Sinkhole Microcosms: Understanding Persistence Of Place Through Variable Cultivation Strategies In Northeastern Yucatán, Mexico, Maia Dedrick, Patricia A. Mcanany, Adolfo Iván Batún Alpuche, Elizabeth A. Webb, Isaac A. Hart

Faculty Publications

Sinkholes contributed to persistent human inhabitation of the northern Yucatán peninsula of Mexico for more than two millennia. Building on previous work on the use of sinkholes central to the town of Tahcabo and elsewhere in the Maya area, this study presents pollen, soil carbon isotope, radiocarbon, and artifactual evidence from four geomorphic features. They include the perennially wet cenote situated in the town center and three dry sinkholes (rejolladas) located in the commonly held lands (ejido) of the town. These features demonstrate striking variability in multispecies engagements with and within sinkholes, especially over the past …

User Interface And Watchstation Improvements Required For Multi-Vehicle Usv Operations, Val Schmidt, Joshua Bergeron

Faculty Publications

In October 2024, the University of New Hampshire and NOAA’s Uncrewed Systems Office embarked on a mapping mission in the Gulf of Maine, simultaneously operating two DriX Un-crewed Surface Vehicles. Goals of the project were focused on testing hypotheses related to concepts of operation, including the safety of operations, cognitive loading of operators, management of vehicle endurance, vehicle logistics, maintenance and field support, refueling and a host of others.

A Fragility Framework For Surface Erosion With Application To Earthen Dam Breaching, Ege C. Kurter, Ayman Mokhtar Nemnem, M. Hanif Chaudhry, Jasim Imran

Faculty Publications

Overtopping failures of earthen dams are a growing concern under intensifying extreme rainfall. This study introduces a probabilistic fragility framework that combines hydrologic modeling, hydraulic analysis, and soil erodibility to assess erosion risk under uncertain load and resistance. Fragility curves derived from Monte Carlo simulations quantify erosion initiation and severity as functions of rainfall depth and excess shear stress. Application to multiple dams affected during the 2015 South Carolina floods reproduces observed outcomes ranging from complete breach to no damage. The framework also captures cascading effects, where failure of an upstream structure increases downstream loading and erosion potential. Compared with …

A Fragility Framework For Surface Erosion With Application To Earthen Dam Breaching, Ege C. Kurter, Ayman Mokhtar Nemnem, M. Hanif Chaudhry, Jasim Imran

Faculty Publications

Overtopping failures of earthen dams are a growing concern under intensifying extreme rainfall. This study introduces a probabilistic fragility framework that combines hydrologic modeling, hydraulic analysis, and soil erodibility to assess erosion risk under uncertain load and resistance. Fragility curves derived from Monte Carlo simulations quantify erosion initiation and severity as functions of rainfall depth and excess shear stress. Application to multiple dams affected during the 2015 South Carolina floods reproduces observed outcomes ranging from complete breach to no damage. The framework also captures cascading effects, where failure of an upstream structure increases downstream loading and erosion potential. Compared with …

Local Injection Of Particles For Retinoic Acid Drug Delivery Improves Muscle Structure And Modulates Inflammation In Mice Recovering From Cast Immobilization, Candice V. Cheung, Regina A. Searcy, Kidochukwu J. Atube, Nicholas A. Colonna, Kelsey E. Krusen, Kate J. Cappage, Khufu M. Holly, R. Paul Ward Pratz, Jessie H. Fournier, Vitali Sikirzhytski Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Disuse muscle atrophy secondary to acute illness or injury prolongs recovery and increases risk of permanent disability as a result of reduced muscle strength and myofiber damage upon reambulation. However, there are no pharmacotherapies to support muscle growth and repair following prolonged immobility. We propose that all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) may support recovery of atrophied muscle via modulation of satellite cells and macrophages. Clinical application of ATRA is hindered by solubility, stability, and the need for high systemic doses. Therefore, in the current study, we developed poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) particles for local injection and extended release of ATRA (ATRA-PLG) and investigated …

Expanding Functionalities Of Immune Receptors Through Simultaneous Transfer Of Sensor And Helper Nlrs, Dongjiao Wang, Qibin Wu, Daowen Wang, Youxiong Que, Zheng Qing Fu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Formalism In Jewish Law, Chaim Saiman

Faculty Publications

Scholars differ as to the degree to which Jewish law is formalistic. This chapter aims to make sense of the debate surrounding formalism in Jewish law by distinguishing between three types of legal formalism: classic formalism, modern formalism, and detail-following formalism. Viewed through the lens of modern formalism, Jewish law is likely less formalistic than commonly assumed as it is not primarily concerned with constraining decision makers. Nor is Jewish legal discourse typified by its unified conceptual schemas that proceed from abstract concepts to bottom-line decisions in the way that classical formalism proceeds. This chapter introduces an alternative framing termed …

Ktrb-Mediated Alkaline Adaptation Drives Enterococcus Faecalis Persistence In The Gastrointestinal Tract Of Helicoverpa Zea, Patrick J. Hurd, Vivian Veto, Geneva Bell, Jerreme J. Jackson

Faculty Publications

Enterococcus faecalis is a commensal enteric bacterium capable of surviving in extreme and diverse environments. Here, we characterized the role of the gene ntpJ, which encodes the KtrB subunit of the KtrAB Na⁺/K⁺ symporter, during the adaptation of E. faecalis to alkaline stress and persistence in Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm). We assessed growth kinetics, biofilm formation, surface adhesion, and gastrointestinal persistence in vivo using an E. faecalis OG1RF mariner transposon mutant (ntpJ-Tn). The ntpJ-Tn mutant showed delayed entry into mid-log phase growth and biofilm formation under standard and alkaline-adjusted conditions relative to the wild-type strain, while adherence …

Interactions And Community Structure Of Fungi And Prokaryotes In Salt And Brackish Marsh Ecosystems, Madeleine A. Thompso, Xuefeng Peng

Faculty Publications

Microbial communities play a fundamental role in biogeochemical cycling within salt and brackish marsh ecosystems, yet fungal-prokaryotic interactions in these environments remain poorly understood. This study employed metabarcoding of the 16S and 28S rRNA genes to investigate prokaryotic and fungal communities across four locations in sediments and surface waters of the North Inlet salt marsh and Winyah Bay brackish marsh (South Carolina, USA) over four time points from 2020 to 2021. Co-occurrence network analyses were used to identify potential microbial interactions and their ecological implications. Distinct fungal and prokaryotic communities were observed between the two marsh types. From the 16S …

Home Range Size And Habitat Usage Of Hatchling And Juvenile Wood Turtles (Glyptemys Insculpta) In Iowa, Jeffrey W. Tamplin, Joshua G. Otten, Samuel W. Berg, Nadia E. Patel, Jacob B. Tipton, Justine M.R. Radunzel

Faculty Publications

The Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) is an endangered species in the state of Iowa and a species of conservation concern across their entire range. The Iowa population is characterized by high levels of adult and egg predation, displays little or no annual recruitment, and harbors an extremely low number of juveniles (7.3%). Home range and habitat usage studies of hatchling and juvenile Wood Turtles are limited to a few studies, and only one study of juveniles exists from the state of Iowa. Over a 10 yr period, we conducted a radiotelemetry study in Iowa on seven juvenile wood turtles for …

Competition And Soil Microbe-Mediated Interactions Following Dieback Of A Dominant Wetland Plant, Joseph Johnston, Aaron E. Devries, Rodrigo Diaz, Vinson P. Doyle, Tracy Elsey-Quirk, James T. Cronin

Faculty Publications

Plant invasions can have important consequences for the soil ecosystem which, in turn, can affect interactions with other plant species and impose serious constraints on restoration efforts. In the Mississippi River Delta (MRD), USA, widespread dieback of the dominant wetland plant, Phragmites australis, was followed by the colonization of invasive Colocasia esculenta (taro) in many areas. We conducted a common-garden experiment to investigate the competitive interactions among taro and two P. australis lineages prevalent in the MRD, Delta and European invasive (EU), and the role of taro-soil microbes in mediating those interactions. Plant types were grown alone or together and …

U-Shaped Relationship Between White Blood Cell Counts And Incident Hypertension In Military Young Adults: The Chief Study, 2014–2020, Kun-Zhe Tsai, Chia-Wei Hong, Yun-Chen Chang, Wei-Chun Huang, Xuemei Sui, Carl J. Lavie, Gen-Min Lin

Faculty Publications

Background

Systemic low-grade inflammation, which is characterized by increased counts of blood leukocytes (white blood cells, WBCs), can lead to hypertension, while reduced WBC counts caused by the use of some substances, e.g., alcohol, can also lead to hypertension. However, there have been no studies on the association between WBC counts and the risk of hypertension in young adults.

Methods

This cohort study conducted in Taiwan included a total of 2351 military personnel who were aged 18–39 years, were free of baseline hypertension and were followed up for incident hypertension from 2014 to the end of 2020. Resting blood pressure …

Adipose Tissue Estrogen Receptor-Alpha Overexpression Ameliorates High-Fat Diet–Induced Adipose Tissue Inflammation, Marion C. Hope, Christian A. Unger, M. Chase Kettering, Cassidy E. Socia, Ahmed K. Aladhami, Barton C. Rice, Darya S. Niamira, Ben P. Wiznitzer, Diego Altomare Ph.D., William E. Cotham, Reilly T. Enos

Faculty Publications

Context

We created an innovative mouse model that enables inducible overexpression of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα), specifically in adipose tissue (Adipo-ERα↑). Objective

We aimed to investigate how elevated Adipo-ERα↑ influences the development of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in both male and female mice. Methods

Male and female Adipo-ERα↑ mice and littermate controls were fed a low-fat diet (LFD) or HFD for 13 weeks. Adipo-ERα↑ was induced at the initiation of dietary treatment. Body morphology and composition, hepatic lipid accumulation, glucose tolerance, fasting insulin concentrations, and adipose tissue mRNA profiling were assessed. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to determine circulating and adipose …

Cannabis Improves Metabolic Dysfunction And Macrophage Signatures In Obese Mice, Brandon N. Vanderveen, Thomas D. Cardaci, Christian A. Unger, Mitchell M. Nesmith, Jeffrey C. Freeman, Arianna V. Bastian, Kasie Roark, Mansi Upadhyay, Andrew G. Levy, Brooke M. Bullard, Sierra J. Mcdonald, Kandy T. Velázquez, Reilly T. Enos, Jason L. Kubinak, Lorne J. Hofseth Ph.D., James Hébert Scd, Daping Fan, E. Angela Murphy

Faculty Publications

Obesity rates continue to rise, highlighting the need for new treatments that are effective, safe, and widely accessible. Aligned with the easing of restrictions on cannabis use, interest in its therapeutic potential is evolving. As such, we examined the effects of the cannabis plant with high cannabidiol (CBD) content or high Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content on metabolic and immune dysregulation in obese mice. Briefly, female C57BL/6 mice were randomized into four groups (n = 15/group): 1) lean, 2) obese placebo, 3) obese CBD, and 4) obese THC. Lean mice consumed a low-fat diet for the study …

Adipose Tissue Estrogen Receptor-Alpha Overexpression Ameliorates High-Fat Diet–Induced Adipose Tissue Inflammation, Marion C. Hope, Christian A. Unger, M Chase Kettering, Cassidy E. Socia, Ahmed K. Aladhami, Barton C. Rice, Darya S. Niamira, Ben P. Wiznitzer, Diego Altomare Ph.D., William E. Cotham, Reilly T. Enos

Faculty Publications

Context

We created an innovative mouse model that enables inducible overexpression of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα), specifically in adipose tissue (Adipo-ERα↑). Objective

We aimed to investigate how elevated Adipo-ERα↑ influences the development of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in both male and female mice. Methods

Male and female Adipo-ERα↑ mice and littermate controls were fed a low-fat diet (LFD) or HFD for 13 weeks. Adipo-ERα↑ was induced at the initiation of dietary treatment. Body morphology and composition, hepatic lipid accumulation, glucose tolerance, fasting insulin concentrations, and adipose tissue mRNA profiling were assessed. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to determine circulating and adipose …

Better Digital Contracts With Prosocial Friction-In-Design, Brett Frischmann, Moshe Y. Vardi

Faculty Publications

Contract law is supposed to enable people to reach genuine agreements and cooperate. If this ideal was ever a reality, the rise of mass market contracts and boil­erplate rendered it pure fiction. Modern consumer contracts are incomprehensible to most people. No one reads them anyway.

Digital contracting involves design features that amplify traditional boilerplate harms and create others. For example, digital contracting is too cheap; low marginal costs lead to overexpansion in scale and scope. To make matters worse, the loss of autonomy from repeat engagement with digital contracting systems is pernicious. People become increasingly predictable and programmable as digital …

Land Struggles, Resistance, And Mutual Protection Along The Colorado-New Mexico Border: The Sacred Right Of Self-Preservation, José A. Rivera Ph.D

Faculty Publications

Mutual protection societies proliferated in the American Southwest during a period of rapid social change, 1870-1930, coincident with significant changes in the region’s political economy and increased competition for land and water resources. To resist encroachment and protect their natural resources, hispano communities in Colorado and New Mexico organized mutual benefit and protective associations known as mutualistas, with a large number concentrated in the San Luis Valley of Colorado as well as in many rural counties of northcentral New Mexico. The Costilla Valley of New Mexico is a prototypical hispano settlement initially established as part of the expansive Sangre …