Digital Commons Network^™

Striation Characteristics In Atmospheric Pressure Ac-Driven Glow Discharge Operating In Monoatomic Gas, Ayuob K. Alwahaibi, Sang Hee Won, Tanvir Farouk

Faculty Publications

Striation in an atmospheric pressure AC-driven helium glow discharge operating at 25 kHz is experimentally characterized. Striation behavior is characterized by the visualization of discharges and voltage–current measurements over a range of plasma power. Voltage–current characteris tics reveal that striations form in the “normal” glow regime of operation, with a higher number of strata at low current, diminishing as dis charge current increases. The relative differences and similarities in the striation patterns during the positive and negative cycles are identified. High-speed imaging shows the striations to be traveling in time—“moving striations.” The spatial luminosity of the striations is tracked over …

Equal Chances Or Fewer Victims? Moral Judgments In Autonomous Vehicle Dilemmas, Alexander Matros, Eren Bilen, Leonid Matros

Faculty Publications

We examine the moral dilemma of how autonomous vehicles (AVs) should be programmed to act in unavoidable crash scenarios involving trade-offs between saving one life and saving many. We report results from three experimental studies that investigate individuals’ preferences over alternative AV decision rules in stylized crash scenarios. Across designs, we find robust support for a probabilistic decision rule that assigns passengers and pedestrians equal ex ante chances of survival (a 50:50 rule). This preference persists across different framings and remains salient even when additional probabilistic options are introduced.

Theoretical And Experimental Investigation Of Magnetic Order In Mn2ptin, Parashu Kharel, Caden Sadler, Salar A. Ghumman, Mason Pulse, Alec Venner, Mohd Anas, Paul M. Shand, Pavel V. Lukashev

Faculty Publications

Here, we present the results of a combined computational and experimental study of magnetic and structural properties of a Heusler compound Mn2PtIn. In particular, we analyze the effect of biaxial strain on tetragonal distortion and magnetic properties of this alloy. It is shown that the ground state of this material corresponds to tetragonal symmetry, with possible non-collinear magnetic alignment. At the same time, our calculations indicate that this system may also exhibit ferrimagnetic alignment of magnetic moments. Analysis of exchange couplings indicates that ferrimagnetic alignment is more likely to be realized in practice. The interplay between these two magnetic phases …

Theoretical And Conceptual Approaches To Journalism Education, August E. Grant, Jeffrey S. Wilkinson, G. Nathan Carnes

Faculty Publications

Many journalism programs embrace the teaching hospital model because of its practical approach, employing working journalists as journalism educators. However, critics contend a more conceptual model of journalism education is needed. This essay explores the literature on journalism education models and seeks to integrate the teaching hospital and entrepreneurial journalism approaches with the revised Bloom's Taxonomy and Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning. Combined, these models provide a solid theoretical foundation for practical, applied journalism education. This essay applies these four models to journalism education, yielding a matrix of dimensions that can guide the creation or modification of curricula as well …

Construction Project Performance Research: A Bibliometric, Scientometric, And Qualitative Review (1989–2023), Abdelnaser Abdelhameed, Mohamed S. Yamany, Ahmed Abdelaty, Emad Elbeltagi

Faculty Publications

Despite the significant increase in publications on construction project performance (CPP), there is a deficiency of research that rigorously assesses and synthesizes previous studies to delineate the field’s development, themes, and research gaps. This article employs quantitative and qualitative methodologies to critically evaluate studies on CPP published over the last three decades and indexed in the Scopus database. The quantitative approach includes bibliometric searches and scientometric analyses to assess the extent of research interest and achievements. The qualitative methodology aims to conduct thorough content analysis to classify existing material based on prevalent themes. The results demonstrate an exponential growth of …

Nanomedicine Meets Immunotherapy: Transforming Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Treatment For Solid Tumors, Stephen O'Rourke, Nuo Xu, Hongjun Wang, Hexin Chen

Faculty Publications

The emergence of effective immunotherapies has drastically revolutionized clinical management of many cancer types. Among them, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy (CTT), as a groundbreaking approach, has been considered as a “living drug,” displaying unprecedented clinical outcomes with hematological malignancies, including B cell leukemia and lymphomas, and multiple myeloma. Despite the high remission rates and improved survival achieved with hematological cancers, the effectiveness of CTT in solid tumors remains largely unsatisfactory. The efficacy of CTT in solid tumors is significantly challenged by multiple factors, including tumor-antigen heterogeneity, limited T cell trafficking and infiltration, a highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and …

A Bayesian Network-Based Framework To Uncover Social Inequities In Flood Risk: An Application To East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, Fuad Hasan, Sabarethinam Kameshwar, Md Adilur Rahim, Robert V. Rohli, Carol Friedland

Faculty Publications

Regional flood risk assessment requires understanding the complex interplay of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, hydrogeologic, built environment, and climatic variables that impact flood vulnerability. Traditional studies often focus on large-scale units, overlooking localized variations and disproportionate exposure within populations. To address these gaps, a methodological framework of flood risk assessment using Bayesian networks was proposed and applied to East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, for the August 2016 flood event to identify relationships between flood risk variables at the housing unit level. Flood exposure representativeness (FER) was determined using the Bayesian network’s inference capabilities to identify over-represented or under-represented groups. This study considered …

Biomechanical Trade-Offs Between Root Tensile Strength And Porosity In Coastal Marshes, M. O. Hassan, N. H. Jafari, A. S. Rovai, R. R. Twilley

Faculty Publications

Root biomechanics play a fundamental role in stabilizing wetland soils and sustaining coastal ecosystems under increasing environmental stress. This study investigates the tensile strength (TS) and internal porosity (n) of roots from two dominant marsh grasses, Spartina alterniflora and Spartina patens, across four sites in the Mississippi River Delta Plain (MRDP), spanning active (Atchafalaya) and inactive (Terrebonne) basins. Through approximately 300 tensile strength tests conducted on live roots across diameter classes and depths, we observed a consistent decline in strength with increasing root diameter and depth. Fine roots (< 2 mm), particularly those in the upper 15 cm, showed the highest tensile resistance, reinforcing their critical role in erosion control. To assess morphological drivers, we employed high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with a machine learning (ML) segmentation pipeline to quantify porosity and visualize aerenchyma. Coarse roots exhibited significantly higher porosity due to large central lumens and expanded aerenchyma, while fine roots maintained denser tissue structures. An exponential decay relationship emerged between porosity and tensile strength, indicating a trade-off: increased void space enhances oxygen diffusion in waterlogged soils but compromises mechanical integrity. This inverse relationship was most pronounced in saline environments, suggesting that stress amplifies structural compromises in root traits. This integrative approach, combining precision mechanical testing, advanced imaging, and ML-based analysis, provides a scalable and reproducible framework for characterizing root biomechanics. Findings advance understanding of plant contributions to belowground stability in coastal wetlands and offer practical insights for restoration strategies to enhance shoreline resilience.

Impact Of Iron-Bearing Fillers On The Mechanical Strength And Chemical Stability Of Magnesium Potassium Phosphate Matrices Incorporating Rhenium, Sergey Sayenko, Volodymyr Shkuropatenko, Hans Conrad Zur Loye, Petr Vecernik, Monika Kiselova, Vlastislav Kašpar, Vlastimil Miller, Petr Bezdicka, Jan Šubrt, Petra Ecorchard, Natalija Murafa, Iva Milisavljevic, Scott T. Misture

Faculty Publications

We report on the study of the immobilization process of non-radioactive rhenium (Re), a chemical analogue of technetium-99 (⁹⁹Tc), in compounds based on magnesium potassium phosphate (MKP), as well as the possibility of enhancing their properties with iron-bearing additives/fillers. Powdered Re2O7 was used as the initial Re-containing source. Because of the solubility and high leachability of Tc (VII), which is also volatile at high temperatures, its immobilization for long-term storage and disposal poses a serious challenge to researchers. Taking this into account, low-temperature stabilization technology based on MKP, a cementitious material, is currently considered promising. We prepared experimental …

Future Trends In Cybersecurity: A Meta-Review, Yara Mohammed, Manar Alsaid, Gahangir Hossain

Faculty Publications

The increasing importance of cybersecurity in protecting digital assets, data and infrastructures necessitates a reevaluation of research priorities within the discipline. As of today, numerous emerging cybersecurity topics are gaining significant importance in both academic research and industry applications. To identify recent trends in cybersecurity topics, this study extracts scholarly articles from two prestigious academic databases, the ACM Digital Library, and Google Scholar, covering the period from early 2015 to late 2024.Through a systematic identification of trends and focal points in cybersecurity research, a comprehensive analysis is facilitated, including Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), Biterm Topic Modeling (BTM), keyword frequencies, and …

Rapid Flood Inundation Mapping For Dam Failure And Operations, Shivakumar Balachandran, Parvaneh Nikrou, Ayman Mokhtar Nemnem, Reza Saleh Alipour, Sagy Cohen, Xingong Li, Erfan Goharian, Jasim Imran

Faculty Publications

Dam failure often causes catastrophic flooding. Although conventional hydrodynamic models are available for generating flood inundation maps, there is a need for low-complexity models that can provide rapid inundation estimates during emergency situations. Operational releases of large volumes may also lead to downstream flooding. This study utilizes two DEM-based models, OWP HAND-FIM and FLDPLN, to produce flood inundation maps for near-real-time operational applications. Three dam-related scenarios, including failures and controlled operations, are examined using these simplified models for the Fall River Dam in Kansas. Breach flows are estimated using empirical relationships, and discharge attenuation is calculated using an analytical approach. …

Research Journal 2026: People And Places, José A. Rivera Ph.D

Faculty Publications

José Rivera narrates his life history from adolescence into college years, university teaching, research career, publications, and ends with post-retirement service as a giving back to community. For most of his term as an academic, his research focus was on community-based organizations that he terms “peoples’ institutions”: acequia associations and mutual help societies. For data, he conducted field work in New Mexico and the American Southwest as well as internationally, primarily in Mexico, Peru, Spain and the Philippines. While at these locations, he interviewed people, collected maps, researched archives, and took photographs as ethnographic evidence of people and places. His …

Influence Of Superhydrophobic Surface Microstructure On Transient Jet Impingement Cooling, D. Jacob Butterfield, Brian D. Iverson, Daniel Maynes, Julie Crockett

Faculty Publications

Water jet impingement is an effective method of rapidly cooling a surface, but heat transfer from the surface is highly dependent on the surface condition and properties. Here, the impact of a superhydrophobic (SH) surface on heat transfer to an impinging, axisymmetric, room-temperature water jet with Re=6 x 10³to 18 x 103 is explored. SH surfaces are created by etching thin silicon wafers to form different micropatterns (posts or holes). Surfaces are heated to between 200 and 320°C, and the local surface temperature is measured with a thermal camera. The time resolved heat transfer from the surface and …

The Case For An African Investment Court (Aic), Won L. Kidane

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Taming Psoriatic Inflammation: Targeting The Inos–Oxidative Stress–Necroptosis Axis For Precision Therapy, Tolulope Omotope Omolekan, Tithi Roy, Jean Christopher Chamcheu

Faculty Publications

Necroptosis is increasingly recognized as a central driver of psoriatic inflammation, promoting keratinocyte death and sustaining immune activation. Recent evidence shows that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) deficiency and exogenous nitric oxide (NO) supplementation ameliorate psoriasis-like dermatitis in mice by reducing oxidative stress and constraining necroptotic signaling. These findings identify iNOS-derived NO as both a mediator of reduction–oxidation (redox) imbalance and a key regulator of necroptosis, thereby advancing mechanistic insight into psoriatic pathogenesis. Importantly, they highlight the iNOS–oxidative stress–necroptosis axis as a translationally actionable therapeutic target. Modulating necroptotic cell death through NO-based interventions may restore epidermal homeostasis and improve clinical …

Patient-Specific Lumped-Parameter Model For Quantifying Vessel-Specific Remodeling And Predicting Right Ventricular Function In Pulmonary Hypertension, Christopher G. Lechuga, Amirreza Kachabi, Mitchel J. Colebank, Claudia E. Korcarz, Farhan Raza

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a heterogeneous disease with patient-specific variability and vessel-specific remodeling, which eventually lead to right ventricular (RV) failure. The gold standard for RV assessment—pressure–volume (PV) loop acquisition—is invasive and limited to specialized settings. This study aims to develop a patient-specific lumped-parameter model that quantifies vessel-specific remodeling and simulates RV PV loops across PH phenotypes using routine clinical data.

Methods: A lumped-parameter model was calibrated using right heart catheterization and echocardiography data. Model agreement was assessed by R2 values for pressure and flow goodness-of-fit, and model-derived hemodynamic metrics were comparedwith clinical values. A dimensionality reduction approach was …

Spline-Based Factor-Graph Optimization With High-Grade Inertial Sensors, Kyle Leland, Clark N. Taylor, David Woodburn, Randal Beard

Faculty Publications

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are central to global navigation satellite system-based and alternative navigation solutions. This paper combines three lines of research to explore a novel methodology for using inertial sensors: factor graphs, spline-based trajectory estimation, and high-grade inertial sensing. Spline-based factor-graph trajectory estimation is increasingly used in the literature, especially for asynchronous or high-rate sensors. However, prior models neglect the impact of the Earth’s rotation, which is significant for high-grade IMUs. We extend spline-based factor graphs to incorporate accelerometer and gyroscope models that account for the Earth’s rotation. We apply this approach to simulated data from high-grade inertial sensors …

When Disasters Trigger Cyber Vulnerabilities: Mapping Physical-Digital Interdependencies In Critical Infrastructure Systems, Dikshya Panta, Sicheng Wang, Aditya Sapkota, Prakash Ranganathan

Faculty Publications

Critical infrastructure (CI) systems such as power, water, communications, and emergency services are increasingly exposed to compound risks in which natural disasters and cyber incidents interact and amplify one another. Traditional risk assessments often isolate physical and digital threats, overlooking the cascading dependencies that emerge when operational stress, emergency reconfiguration, and adversarial exploitation coincide. This study conducts a 2019–2025 scoping review and introduces a Geographic Information System (GIS) driven six-stage disaster cyber compounding framework that characterizes, maps, and operationalizes compound risk across interdependent CI sectors. The framework integrates a common operating picture, analytic situational understanding, exposure mapping, threat-fingerprint encoding, detection …

Crystal Structures, Optical Behavior, And Magnetic Properties In Hydrated Lanthanide Iron Sulfates, Chole Jones, Silu Huang, Tyler L. Spano, Eric A. Gabilondo, Mohammed Al-Fahdi, Kara Trim, Mary Douglas, Rongying Jin, Andrew Miskowiec, P. Shiv Halasyamani, Ming Hu, Jie Ling

Faculty Publications

Single crystals of LnFe(SO₄)₃(H₂O)₂ (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm; compounds 1–11) and LnFe(SO₄)₃(H₂O) (Ln = Tm, Yb, Lu; compounds 12–14) were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) analysis revealed that the dihydrated compounds (1–11) crystallize in centrosymmetric (CS) structures, with the lanthanide ions adopting eight-coordinate geometries. In contrast, the monohydrated compounds (12–14) exhibit noncentrosymmetric (NCS) structures, where the lanthanide ions are seven-coordinated. Vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) confirmed that compounds 2, …

Pdr-Stgcn: An Enhanced Stgcn With Multi-Scale Periodic Fusion And A Dynamic Relational Graph For Traffic Forecasting, Jie Hu, Bingbing Tang, Langsha Zhu, Yiting Li, Jianjun Hu, Guanci Yang

Faculty Publications

Accurate traffic flow prediction is a core component of intelligent transportation systems, supporting proactive traffic management, resource optimization, and sustainable urban mobility. However, urban traffic networks exhibit heterogeneous multi-scale periodic patterns and time-varying spatial interactions among road segments, which are not sufficiently captured by many existing spatio-temporal forecasting models. To address this limitation, this paper proposes PDR-STGCN (Periodicity-Aware Dynamic Relational Spatio-Temporal Graph Convolutional Network), an enhanced STGCN framework that jointly models multi-scale periodicity and dynamically evolving spatial dependencies for traffic flow prediction. Specifically, a periodicity-aware embedding module is designed to capture heterogeneous temporal cycles (e.g., daily and weekly patterns) and …

Fatigue Crack Length Estimation Using Acoustic Emissions Technique-Based Convolutional Neural Networks, Asaad Migot, Ahmed Saaudi, Roshan Joseph, Victor Giurgiutiu

Faculty Publications

Fatigue crack propagation is a critical failure mechanism in engineering structures, requiring meticulous monitoring for timely maintenance. This research introduces a deep learning framework for estimating fatigue fracture length in metallic plates through acoustic emission (AE) signals. AE waveforms recorded during crack growth are transformed into time-frequency images using the Choi–Williams distribution. First, a clustering system is developed to analyze the distribution of the AE image-based dataset. This system employs a CNN-based model to extract features from the input images. The AE dataset is then divided into three categories according to fatigue lengths using the K-means algorithm. Principal Component Analysis …

Polystyrene Nanoplastics As Pfas Carriers And Their Interactions With Zwitterionic Phospholipid Membranes, Jiahuiyu Fang, Tongxuan Qiao, Pranab Sarker, Xiaoxue Qin, Size Zheng, Mark J. Uline, Tao Wei

Faculty Publications

The co-occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and nanoplastics (NPs) poses a synergistic threat to environmental and human health, yet the molecular mechanisms governing PFAS–NP complexation and membrane interactions remain unclear. Using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, we investigated the adsorption of neutral polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and anionic perfluorinated compounds (perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA, and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, PFOS) on polystyrene NPs (3.1 and 6.7 nm) and their interactions with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) membranes. Polystyrene NPs act as carriers, transporting PFAS molecules to the lipid/water interface, where PFAS attachment modifies NP interfacial behavior. PFAS adsorption on the NP surface is driven by …

First Results On The Search For Lepton Number Violating Neutrinoless Double-Β Decay With The Legend-200 Experiment, H. Acharya, N. Ackermann, M. Agostini, A. Alexander, C. Andreoiu, G. R. Araujo, Frank Avignone Iii, M. Babicz, W. Bae, A. M. Bakalyarov, M. Balata, A. S. Barabash, C. J. Barton, L. Baudis, C. Bauer, E. Bernieri, L. Bezrukov, K. H. Bhimani, V. Biancaccu, E. Blalock, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

The LEGEND Collaboration is searching for neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay by operating high-purity germanium detectors enriched in ⁷⁶Ge in a low-background liquid argon environment. Building on key technological innovations from the GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR experiment, LEGEND-200 has performed a first 0νββ decay search based on 61.0 kg yr of data. Over half of this exposure comes from our highest performing detectors, including newly developed inverted-coaxial detectors, and is characterized by an estimated background level of 0.5^+0.3_−0.2 cts/(keV ton yr) in the 0νββ decay signal region. A combined …

Proposed Methodology For Correcting Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy Field-Of-View Scene-Change Artifacts, Kody A. Wilson, Michael L. Dexter, Benjamin F. Akers, Anthony L. Franz

Faculty Publications

Fourier-transform spectrometers are widely used for spectral measurements. Changes in the field of view during measurement introduce oscillations into the measured spectra known as scene-change artifacts. Field-of-view changes also introduce uncertainty about which target the measured spectrum represents. Though scene-change artifacts are often present in dynamic data, their significance is disputed in the current literature. This work presents a theoretical framework and experimental validation for scene-change artifacts. Field-of-view changes introduce variable interferogram offsets, which standard processing techniques assume are constant. The error between the interferogram offset and its estimate is Fourier-transformed, yielding scene-change artifacts, often confused with noise, in the …

Anoikis Resistance And Metastasis Of Ovarian Cancer Can Be Overcome By Cdk8/19 Mediator Kinase Inhibition, Mehri Monavarian, Resha Rajkarnikar, Emily Faith Page, Asha Kumari, Liz Quintero Macias, Felipe Massicano, Nam. Y. Lee, Sarthak Sahoo, Nadine Hempel, Mohit Kumar Jolly, Lara Ianov, Elizabeth Worthey, Abhyudai Singh, Igor Roninson Ph.D., Eugenia Broude Ph.D., Mengqian Chen Ph.D., Karthikeyan Mythreye

Faculty Publications

Anoikis resistance, or evasion of cell death triggered by matrix detachment, is a hallmark of cancer cell survival and metastasis. We showed that repeated exposure to suspension stress followed by recovery under attached conditions leads to development of anoikis resistance. The acquisition of anoikis resistance was associated with enhanced invasion, chemoresistance, and immune evasion in vitro and distant metastasis in vivo. This acquired anoikis resistance was not genetic, persisting for a finite duration without detachment stress, but was sensitive to CDK8/19 mediator kinase inhibition that could also reverse anoikis resistance. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that CDK8/19 kinase inhibition induces bidirectional transcriptional …

The Incorporation Of Ai-Enabled Culturally Relevant Narrative-Based Learning Pedagogy To Engage Students In A Diverse Stem Classroom, Nitin U. Jain, Eliza G. Braden

Faculty Publications

This study explores how AI-enabled, culturally relevant, narrative-based learning pedagogy influences engagement among ninth-grade students in an Earth Science course. Conducted in two classrooms in a southeastern U.S. school predominantly attended by African American and Latinx students, we developed lesson plans on Earth Systems and Climate Change. Using a qualitative case study design, we examined one educator's implementation of AI-enhanced lessons. Thematic analysis of exit surveys and students' artifacts revealed that narrative-based learning significantly increased students' desire, engagement, and confidence in scientific concepts compared to conventional methods. This approach allowed students to integrate local and global knowledge, fostering deep questions …

Distributed Model Predictive Control-Based Power Management Scheme For Grid-Integrated Microgrids, Sergio Escareno, Sijo Augustine, Liang Sun, Sathishkumar J. Ranade, Olga Lavrava, Enrico Pontelli, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

Transitioning from traditional electrical grids to smart grids is currently an ongoing process that many nations are striving for due to their access to renewable resources. Energy management is one of the key parameters that decides the performance of such complex systems. Distributed Model Predictive Control (DMPC) is a promising technique that can be used to improve the energy management of grid-connected systems. This paper analyzes a grid-connected inverter system with DMPC that exchanges key operating parameters with the grid to optimize coordinated power sharing between its respective loads. The state-space model for the inverter is derived and verified to …

Optimized Photoemission From Organic Molecules In 2d Layered Halide Perovskites, Muhammad S. Muhammad, Dilruba A. Popy, Hamza Shoukat, John M. Lane, Neeraj Rai, Vojtěch Vaněček, Zdeněk Remeš, Romana Kučerková, Vladimir Babin, Chenjia Mi, Yitong Dong, Mark D. Smith, Novruz G. Akhmedov, Daniel T. Glatzhofer, Bayram Saparov

Faculty Publications

In recent years, hybrid organic–inorganic metal halides have been at the forefront of materials research. Typically, the functional (e.g., optoelectronic) properties of hybrid halides are derived from the inorganic structural part, whereas the organic structural units can add extra advantages in terms of stability, rigidity, and processability. Here, we report the design, synthesis, and characterization of two new hybrid materials in which the outstanding photophysical properties originate from the organic structural part. The new compounds, (C₁₅H16N)₂CdCl₄ and((Br)C₁₅H₁₅N)₂CdCl₄, have 2D layered Ruddlesden–Popper-type perovskite structures. These hybrids are blue-white …

Tuning Oxygen Reduction Kinetics In Lasrcoo4 With Strained Epitaxial Thin Films And Wrinkled Freestanding Membranes, Habib Rostaghi Chalaki, Ebenezer Sessi, Mohammad El Loubani, Dongkyu Lee

Faculty Publications

Sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) remains a critical barrier to advancing intermediate-temperature electrochemical energy devices. Here, we demonstrate that strain engineering in two platforms, epitaxial thin films and freestanding membranes, systematically tunes ORR kinetics in Ruddlesden-Popper LaSrCoO4. In epitaxial films, film thickness is varied to control in-plane tensile strain, whereas in freestanding membranes strain relaxation during the release step using water-soluble sacrificial layers produces flat or wrinkled architectures. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis reveals more than an order of magnitude increase in the oxygen surface exchange coefficient for tensile-strained films relative to relaxed films, together with a larger oxygen vacancy concentration. …

Molecular Survival Strategies Against Kidney Filtration: Implications For Therapeutic Protein Engineering, William Heaps, Anna Elise Packard, Kristina M. Mccammon, Tyler P. Green, Joseph P. Talley, Bradley C. Bundy, Dennis Della Corte

Faculty Publications

The glomerular filtration barrier poses a significant challenge for circulating proteins, with molecules below ~60–70 kDa facing rapid renal clearance. Endogenous proteins have evolved sophisticated evasion mechanisms including oligomerization, carrier binding, electrostatic repulsion, and FcRn-mediated recycling. Understanding these natural strategies provides blueprints for engineering therapeutic proteins with improved pharmacokinetics. This review examines how endogenous proteins resist filtration, evaluates their application in protein engineering, and discusses clinical translation including established technologies (PEGylation, Fc-fusion) and emerging strategies (albumin-binding domains, glycoengineering). We address critical challenges of balancing half-life extension with tissue penetration, biological activity, and immunogenicity—essential considerations for the rational design of next-generation …