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A Systematic Review Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radical (Epfr) Formation, Characteristics, And Health Effects: Are There Sufficient Data For Risk Assessment?, Avinash Kumar, Divine Nde, Chuqi Guo, Rashmi Pathak, Fox Foley, Syed Ahmad, Prakash Dangal, Farhana Hasan, Myron Lard, Ankit Aryal, Martine E. Mathieu-Campbell, Jennifer Irving, Oluwafeyikemi Ogunmusi, Jennifer Richmond-Bryant, Slawomir Lomnicki, Lavrent Khachatryan, Stephania A. Cormier, Tammy R. Dugas Jan 2025

A Systematic Review Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radical (Epfr) Formation, Characteristics, And Health Effects: Are There Sufficient Data For Risk Assessment?, Avinash Kumar, Divine Nde, Chuqi Guo, Rashmi Pathak, Fox Foley, Syed Ahmad, Prakash Dangal, Farhana Hasan, Myron Lard, Ankit Aryal, Martine E. Mathieu-Campbell, Jennifer Irving, Oluwafeyikemi Ogunmusi, Jennifer Richmond-Bryant, Slawomir Lomnicki, Lavrent Khachatryan, Stephania A. Cormier, Tammy R. Dugas

Faculty Publications

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) are stable free radicals formed on particulate matter (PM) through processes such as combustion and pyrolysis. These free radicals are generated on transition metal oxide surfaces in the presence of aromatic precursors. Exposure to EPFRs occurs primarily via inhalation of PM deriving from combustion, traffic, industrial activities, and both indoor and outdoor burning. Other environmental factors that might generate EPFRs are radon, electronic and tobacco cigarettes. EPFRs exhibit unexpectedly long half-lives, ranging from several weeks to, in some cases, several years. EPFRs may be carbon-centered, oxygen-centered or mixed, identified by g-values exhibited in electron paramagnetic …

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Playing Politics With Traffic Fines: Sheriff Elections And Political Cycles In Traffic Fines Revenue, Min Su, Christian Buerger Jan 2025

Playing Politics With Traffic Fines: Sheriff Elections And Political Cycles In Traffic Fines Revenue, Min Su, Christian Buerger

Faculty Publications

The political budget cycle theory has extensively documented how politicians manipulate policies during election years to gain an electoral advantage. This paper focuses on county sheriffs, crucial but often neglected local officials, and investigates their opportunistic political behavior during elections. Using a panel data set covering 57 California county governments over four election cycles, we find compelling evidence of traffic enforcement policy manipulation by county sheriffs during election years. Specifically, a county's per capita traffic fines revenue is 9% lower in the election than in nonelection years. The magnitude of the political cycle intensifies when an election is competitive. Our …

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Do Major Customers Affect Firms' Environmental, Social And Governance Activities?, Feng Dong, John A. Doukas, Stephanie Walton, Rongyao Gloria Zhang, Yiyang Zhang Jan 2025

Do Major Customers Affect Firms' Environmental, Social And Governance Activities?, Feng Dong, John A. Doukas, Stephanie Walton, Rongyao Gloria Zhang, Yiyang Zhang

Faculty Publications

We examine the role of major customers in shaping firms' environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. We find that firms with major customer relationships undertake fewer ESG activities compared to those without such ties. The association is attenuated when institutional ownership is high, firms are less diversified, customers exhibit greater bankruptcy risk and lower switching costs and during periods of elevated equity market sentiment. Taken together, our findings highlight that reliance on a concentrated customer base can weaken firms’ incentives to engage in ESG practices, with important implications for supply chain sustainability.

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Convergence Of The Planewave Approximations For Quantum Incommensurate Systems, Ting Wang, Huajie Chen, Aihui Zhou, Yuzhi Zhou, Daniel Massatt Jan 2025

Convergence Of The Planewave Approximations For Quantum Incommensurate Systems, Ting Wang, Huajie Chen, Aihui Zhou, Yuzhi Zhou, Daniel Massatt

Faculty Publications

Incommensurate structures come from stacking the single layers of low dimensional materials on top of one another with misalignment such as a twist in orientation. While these structures are of significant physical interest, they pose many theoretical challenges due to the loss of periodicity. This paper studies the physical observables of continuum Schrodinger operators for incommensurate systems. We characterize the density of states and local density of states in real and reciprocal spaces, and develop novel numerical methods to approximate them. In particular, we (i) justify the thermodynamic limit of the density of states and local density of states via …

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The Holomorphic Discrete Series Contribution To The Generalized Whittaker Plancherel Formula Ii. Non-Tube Type Groups, Jan Frahm, Gestur Ólafsson, Bent Ørsted Jan 2025

The Holomorphic Discrete Series Contribution To The Generalized Whittaker Plancherel Formula Ii. Non-Tube Type Groups, Jan Frahm, Gestur Ólafsson, Bent Ørsted

Faculty Publications

For every simple Hermitian Lie group G, we consider a certain maximal parabolic subgroup whose unipotent radical N is either abelian (if G is of tube type) or two-step nilpotent (if G is of non-tube type). By the generalized Whittaker Plancherel formula we mean the Plancherel decomposition of L2(G/N,ω), the space of square-integrable sections of the homogeneous vector bundle over G/N associated with an irreducible unitary representation ω of N. Assuming that the central character of ω is contained in a certain cone, we construct embeddings of all holomorphic discrete series representations of G into L2(G/N,ω) …

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Realization Of Unitary Representations Of The Lorentz Group On De Sitter Space, Jan Frahm, Karl Hermann Neeb, Gestur Ólafsson Jan 2025

Realization Of Unitary Representations Of The Lorentz Group On De Sitter Space, Jan Frahm, Karl Hermann Neeb, Gestur Ólafsson

Faculty Publications

This paper builds on our previous work in which we showed that, for all connected semisimple linear Lie groups G acting on a non-compactly causal symmetric space M=G/H, every irreducible unitary representation of G can be realized by boundary value maps of holomorphic extensions in distributional sections of a vector bundle over M. In the present paper we discuss this procedure for the connected Lorentz group G=SO1,d(R)e acting on de Sitter space M=dSd. We show in particular that the previously constructed nets of real subspaces satisfy the locality condition. Following ideas of Bros and Moschella from the 1990’s, …

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Rethinking The Lake History Of Taylor Valley, Antarctica During The Ross Sea I Glaciation, Michael S. Stone, Peter T. Doran, Krista F. Myers Jan 2025

Rethinking The Lake History Of Taylor Valley, Antarctica During The Ross Sea I Glaciation, Michael S. Stone, Peter T. Doran, Krista F. Myers

Faculty Publications

The Ross Sea I glaciation, marked by the northward advance of the Ross Ice Sheet (RIS) in the Ross Sea, east Antarctica, corresponds with the last major expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the last glacial period. During its advance, the RIS was grounded along the southern Victoria Land coast, completely blocking the mouths of several of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs). Several authors have proposed that very large paleolakes, proglacial to the RIS, existed in many of the MDVs. Studies of these large paleolakes have been key in the interpretation of the regional landscape, climate, hydrology, and …

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Machine Learning Enabled Measurements Of Astrophysical (P,N) Reactions With The Secar Recoil Separator, P. Tsintari, N. Dimitrakopoulos, R. Garg, K. Hermansen, C. Marshall, F. Montes, G. Perdikakis, H. Schatz, K. Setoodehnia, H. Arora, G. P.A. Berg, R. Bhandari, J. C. Blackmon, C. R. Brune, K. A. Chipps, M. Couder, C. Deibel, A. Hood, M. Horana Gamage, R. Jain, C. Maher, S. Miskovich, J. Pereira, T. Ruland, M. S. Smith, M. Smith, I. Sultana, C. Tinson, A. Tsantiri, A. Villari, L. Wagner, R. G.T. Zegers Jan 2025

Machine Learning Enabled Measurements Of Astrophysical (P,N) Reactions With The Secar Recoil Separator, P. Tsintari, N. Dimitrakopoulos, R. Garg, K. Hermansen, C. Marshall, F. Montes, G. Perdikakis, H. Schatz, K. Setoodehnia, H. Arora, G. P.A. Berg, R. Bhandari, J. C. Blackmon, C. R. Brune, K. A. Chipps, M. Couder, C. Deibel, A. Hood, M. Horana Gamage, R. Jain, C. Maher, S. Miskovich, J. Pereira, T. Ruland, M. S. Smith, M. Smith, I. Sultana, C. Tinson, A. Tsantiri, A. Villari, L. Wagner, R. G.T. Zegers

Faculty Publications

The synthesis of heavy elements in supernovae is affected by low-energy (n,p) and (p,n) reactions on unstable nuclei, yet experimental data on such reaction rates are scarce. The SECAR (SEparator for CApture Reactions) recoil separator at FRIB (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams) was originally designed to measure astrophysical reactions that change the mass of a nucleus significantly. We used a novel approach that integrates machine learning with ion-optical simulations to find an ion-optical solution for the separator that enables the measurement of (p,n) reactions, despite the reaction leaving the mass of the nucleus nearly unchanged. A new measurement of the …

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The Work Of An Hour: A Case Study Of Propaganda, Michael F. Russo Jan 2025

The Work Of An Hour: A Case Study Of Propaganda, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

This research paper discusses the messaging of United States President George W. Bush and his administration regarding the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. Transcripts of presidential communications, national news programs, and public opinion polls from 2001-03 were analyzed to identify patterns in these communications. This review demonstrated techniques similar to those used in historical propaganda campaigns to sway public opinion. The introduction and repetition of key terminology from the government was followed by magnification by television news programs. These messages were broadcast despite lack of evidence of Iraq’s involvement with the 9/11 attacks or their possession of weapons of mass …

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Spectroscopic Modeling Of Luminous Transients Powered By H-Rich And He-Rich Circumstellar Interaction, Gururaj A. Wagle, Emmanouil Chatzopoulos, Michael J. Baer Jan 2025

Spectroscopic Modeling Of Luminous Transients Powered By H-Rich And He-Rich Circumstellar Interaction, Gururaj A. Wagle, Emmanouil Chatzopoulos, Michael J. Baer

Faculty Publications

In this study, we perform detailed spectroscopic modeling to analyze the interaction of circumstellar material (CSM) with ejecta in both hydrogen-rich and hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), by systematically varying properties such as the CSM density, composition, and geometry to explore their effects on spectral lines and light-curve evolution. Using advanced radiative transfer simulations with the new, open-source SuperLite code to generate synthetic spectra, we identify key spectroscopic indicators of CSM characteristics. Our findings demonstrate that spectral lines of hydrogen and helium exhibit significant variations due to differences in CSM mass and composition. In hydrogen-rich Type II SLSNe, we observe pronounced …

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Profinite Properties Of Algebraically Clean Graphs Of Free Groups, Kasia Jankiewicz, Kevin Schreve Jan 2025

Profinite Properties Of Algebraically Clean Graphs Of Free Groups, Kasia Jankiewicz, Kevin Schreve

Faculty Publications

We prove that for every prime p algebraically clean graphs of groups are virtually residually p-finite and cohomologically p-complete. We also prove that they are cohomologically good. We apply this to certain 2-dimensional Artin groups.

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Editorial: Advancements And Challenges In Quantum Technologies Using Low-Dimensional Systems, Nanrun Zhou, Omar Magana-Loaiza, Clebson Cruz Jan 2025

Editorial: Advancements And Challenges In Quantum Technologies Using Low-Dimensional Systems, Nanrun Zhou, Omar Magana-Loaiza, Clebson Cruz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Chip-Based Quantum Signature Network Reaches 200 Km, Chenglong You, Omar S. Magaña-Loaiza Jan 2025

Chip-Based Quantum Signature Network Reaches 200 Km, Chenglong You, Omar S. Magaña-Loaiza

Faculty Publications

A pioneering chip-based quantum digital signature (QDS) network achieves secure document signing over 200 km of fiber, leveraging integrated photonics to miniaturize transmitters and centralize measurement systems. This breakthrough paves the way for future scalable, cost-effective, and robust quantum-secure communication networks.

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Hydrogen And Deuterium Tunneling In Niobium, Abdulaziz Abogoda, W. A. Shelton, I. Vekhter, J. A. Sauls Jan 2025

Hydrogen And Deuterium Tunneling In Niobium, Abdulaziz Abogoda, W. A. Shelton, I. Vekhter, J. A. Sauls

Faculty Publications

We use density functional methods to identify the atomic configurations of H and D atoms trapped by O impurities embedded in bulk Nb. The O atoms are located at the octahedral position in the Nb body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice, and H (D) atoms tunnel between two degenerate tetrahedral sites separated by a mirror plane. Using nudged elastic band (NEB) methods, we calculate the double-well potential for O-H and O-D impurities and the wave functions and tunnel splittings for H and D atoms. Our results agree with those obtained from analysis of heat capacity and neutron scattering measurements on Nb with …

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Exercise And Nutrition To Improve Cancer Treatment-Related Outcomes (Enicto), Kathryn H. Schmitz, Justin C. Brown, Melinda L. Irwin, Kim Robien, Jessica M. Scott, Nathan A. Berger, Bette Caan, Andrea Cercek, Tracy E. Crane, Scott R. Evans, Jennifer A. Ligibel, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, Tanya Agurs-Collins, Karen Basen-Engquist, Jennifer W. Bea, Sheng F. Cai, Brenda Cartmel, Vernon M. Chinchilli, Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Christina M. Dieli-Conwright, Loretta Dipietro, Shawna E. Doerksen, Sharon L. Edelstein, Joanne Elena, William Evans, Leah M. Ferrucci, Julia Foldi, Sarah Freylersythe, Helena Furberg, Lee W. Jones, Ross Levine, Chaya S. Moskowitz, Cynthia Owusu Jan 2025

Exercise And Nutrition To Improve Cancer Treatment-Related Outcomes (Enicto), Kathryn H. Schmitz, Justin C. Brown, Melinda L. Irwin, Kim Robien, Jessica M. Scott, Nathan A. Berger, Bette Caan, Andrea Cercek, Tracy E. Crane, Scott R. Evans, Jennifer A. Ligibel, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, Tanya Agurs-Collins, Karen Basen-Engquist, Jennifer W. Bea, Sheng F. Cai, Brenda Cartmel, Vernon M. Chinchilli, Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Christina M. Dieli-Conwright, Loretta Dipietro, Shawna E. Doerksen, Sharon L. Edelstein, Joanne Elena, William Evans, Leah M. Ferrucci, Julia Foldi, Sarah Freylersythe, Helena Furberg, Lee W. Jones, Ross Levine, Chaya S. Moskowitz, Cynthia Owusu

Faculty Publications

Chemotherapy treatment-related side effects are common and increase the risk of suboptimal outcomes. Exercise interventions during cancer treatment improve self-reported physical functioning, fatigue, anxiety, and depression, but it is unclear whether these interventions improve important clinical outcomes, such as chemotherapy relative dose intensity. The National Cancer Institute funded the Exercise and Nutrition to Improve Cancer Treatment-Related Outcomes (ENICTO) Consortium to address this knowledge gap. This article describes the mechanisms hypothesized to underpin intervention effects on clinically relevant treatment outcomes, briefly outlines each project’s distinct research aims, summarizes the scope and organizational structure of ENICTO, and provides an overview of the …

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What ‘Unexplored’ Means: Mapping Regions With Digitized Natural History Records To Look For ‘Biodiversity Blindspots’, Laymon Ball, Sheila Rodríguez-Machado, Diego Paredes-Burneo, Samantha Rutledge, David A. Boyd, David Vander Pluym, Spenser Babb-Biernacki, Austin S. Chipps, Rafet Öztürk, Yahya Terzi, Prosanta Chakrabarty Jan 2025

What ‘Unexplored’ Means: Mapping Regions With Digitized Natural History Records To Look For ‘Biodiversity Blindspots’, Laymon Ball, Sheila Rodríguez-Machado, Diego Paredes-Burneo, Samantha Rutledge, David A. Boyd, David Vander Pluym, Spenser Babb-Biernacki, Austin S. Chipps, Rafet Öztürk, Yahya Terzi, Prosanta Chakrabarty

Faculty Publications

We examined global records of accessible natural history voucher collections (with publicly available data and reliable locality data) for terrestrial and freshwater vascular plants, fungi, freshwater fishes, birds, mammals, and herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles) and highlight areas of the world that would be considered undersampled and sometimes called ‘unexplored’ (i.e., have relatively low, or no evidence of, past sampling efforts) under typical Western-scientific descriptions. We also question what ‘unexplored’ may mean in these contexts and explain how replacing the term in favor of more nuanced phrasing (e.g., ‘biodiversity blindspots,’ which emphasizes the lack of publicly available data about specimens) can …

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Targeting Bacterial Transcription Factors For Infection Control: Opportunities And Challenges, Ahmed Al-Tohamy, Anne Grove Jan 2025

Targeting Bacterial Transcription Factors For Infection Control: Opportunities And Challenges, Ahmed Al-Tohamy, Anne Grove

Faculty Publications

The rising threat of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria emphasizes the need for new therapeutic strategies. This review focuses on bacterial transcription factors (TFs), which play crucial roles in bacterial pathogenesis. We discuss the regulatory roles of these factors through examples, and we outline potential therapeutic strategies targeting bacterial TFs. Specifically, we discuss the use of small molecules to interfere with TF function and the development of transcription factor decoys, oligonucleotides that compete with promoters for TF binding. We also cover peptides that target the interaction between the bacterial TF and other factors, such as RNA polymerase, and the targeting …

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All-Electron Molecular Tunnel Ionization Based On The Weak-Field Asymptotic Theory In The Integral Representation, Imam S. Wahyutama, Denawakage D. Jayasinghe, François Mauger, Kenneth Lopata, Kenneth J. Schafer Jan 2025

All-Electron Molecular Tunnel Ionization Based On The Weak-Field Asymptotic Theory In The Integral Representation, Imam S. Wahyutama, Denawakage D. Jayasinghe, François Mauger, Kenneth Lopata, Kenneth J. Schafer

Faculty Publications

Tunnel ionization (TI) underlies many important ultrafast processes, such as high-harmonic generation and strong-field ionization. Among the existing theories for TI, many-electron weak-field asymptotic theory (ME-WFAT) is by design capable of accurately treating many-electron effects in TI. An earlier version of ME-WFAT relied on an accurate representation of the asymptotic tail of the orbitals, which hindered its implementation in Gaussian-basis-set-based quantum chemistry programs. In this work, we reformulate ME-WFAT in the integral representation, which makes the quality of the asymptotic tail much less critical, hence greatly facilitating its implementation in standard quantum chemistry packages. The integral reformulation introduced here is …

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Maximum Spread Of Ks,T-Minor-Free Graphs, William Linz, Linyuan Lu, Zhiyu Wang Jan 2025

Maximum Spread Of Ks,T-Minor-Free Graphs, William Linz, Linyuan Lu, Zhiyu Wang

Faculty Publications

The spread of a graph G is the difference between the largest and smallest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of G. In this paper, we consider the family of graphs which contain no Ks,t-minor. We show that for any t ≥ s ≥ 2 and sufficiently large n, there is an integer ξt such that the extremal n-vertex Ks,t-minor-free graph attaining the maximum spread is the graph obtained by joining a graph L on (s −1) vertices to the disjoint union of (Formula Presented) copies of Kt and (Formula Presented) isolated vertices. Furthermore, we give an explicit formula for ξt …

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Hope For Louisiana’S Coast: From Catastrophic Loss To Transient Gain, Richard Condrey, Brian D. Marx, Frank Saforo, Rudy Bartels Jan 2025

Hope For Louisiana’S Coast: From Catastrophic Loss To Transient Gain, Richard Condrey, Brian D. Marx, Frank Saforo, Rudy Bartels

Faculty Publications

Louisiana’s fifty-billion-dollar coastal restoration plan relies on selected interpretations of a small dataset of coastwide land measurements. In the 1990’s, the plan’s founders used a mathematically impossible interpretation of an improbable manipulation of the initial (1932-1990) dataset to justify their misconceptions regarding natural conditions; delta-switching; and a failing, 60-year restoration goal. In 2017, the dataset was updated to 2016 and used to suggest that land loss had slowed to -28 km2/yr (-1 football field/100 min) since 2010. We find that the dataset does not support this suggestion. Rather, we find the dataset supports our hypothesis that increasing precipitation in the …

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Durable Oxyfluoride Waste Forms For Salt Wastes From Molten Salt Reactors, Alevtina A. Maksimova, Jake W. Amoroso, Matthew Page, Gregory Morrison, Hans Conrad Zur Loye Jan 2025

Durable Oxyfluoride Waste Forms For Salt Wastes From Molten Salt Reactors, Alevtina A. Maksimova, Jake W. Amoroso, Matthew Page, Gregory Morrison, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are promising technology to replace traditional light and heavy water reactors in the near future. Waste management for MSRs, however, remains a pressing concern that needs to be resolved prior to realizing deployment of MSRs. Specifically, the generated salt waste needs to be safely sequestered, a task made difficult by the high solubility of the salt waste that can cause the release of radionuclides into the environment. This work demonstrates a new approach to immobilize multiple fluoride salts into a single waste form by converting highly-soluble fluorides to durable and stable oxyfluorides. Notably, we report a …

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Administrability Over Testamentary Freedom Of Disposition, Kevin Bennardo Jan 2025

Administrability Over Testamentary Freedom Of Disposition, Kevin Bennardo

Faculty Publications

This Article challenges the widely accepted view that testamentary freedom is the dominant principle of American inheritance law. It argues that administrability—the need for a predictable, efficient probate system—frequently overrides freedom of disposition. Examining executor selection, procedural constraints, contest doctrines, settlement mechanisms, and the pervasive role of judicial and statutory oversight, the Article shows that testators have far less control over the disposition of their estates than traditional rhetoric suggests. Because process shapes outcomes, limits on testators’ ability to control the probate process constitute significant limits on testamentary freedom. The Article also demonstrates how doctrines such as intestacy and settlement …

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Death And Debts, Kevin Bennardo Jan 2025

Death And Debts, Kevin Bennardo

Faculty Publications

This Article analyzes how inheritance law treats debts owed to and by a decedent, focusing on the Uniform Probate Code’s treatment of unpaid purchase-price balances associated with specifically devised property. While UPC §2‑606(a)(1) automatically gives the outstanding balance to the specific devisee, the Article argues that this rule is inconsistent with modern intent‑based ademption doctrine and with the Code’s treatment of debts owed by the estate. It contends that only outstanding balances secured by the devised asset reflect a meaningful connection to the testator’s likely intent. Unsecured balances, by contrast, should not automatically avoid ademption. The Article proposes amending the …

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A Patent System For Temple Grandin, Andrew Chin Jan 2025

A Patent System For Temple Grandin, Andrew Chin

Faculty Publications

This article explores the intersection of neurodiversity and innovation through the lens of Temple Grandin’s contributions to livestock handling systems and her philosophical alignment with the U.S. patent system. Drawing on cognitive research by Simon Baron-Cohen, archaeological insights from Penny Spikins, and personal reflections, I argue that autistic cognitive styles—characterized by heightened “folk physics” aptitudes and visual thinking—have historically driven technological progress. Grandin’s patented inventions, motivated by sensory-based empathy for animals, exemplify how neurodivergent inventors seek to embed their conceptions of ethical utility into the nation’s technological infrastructure. The article critiques modern patent litigation trends, advocating instead for a system …

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Plastics, Carbon, Politics, And Experimentation In Environmental Governance, Donald T. Hornstein Jan 2025

Plastics, Carbon, Politics, And Experimentation In Environmental Governance, Donald T. Hornstein

Faculty Publications

This Article analyzes two major international environmental negotiations that concluded in late 2024 and uses them to explore emerging directions in plastics policy, carbon markets, and experimental forms of environmental governance. It examines the redesign of global carbon offset markets following the adoption of Article 6 mechanisms at COP 29, highlighting how new international standards and domestic U.S. initiatives seek to address longstanding concerns about offset quality while insulating climate policy from drastic federal political swings. The Article then evaluates the failed Busan negotiations toward a global plastics treaty, explaining how disagreements over production caps, consensus procedures, and the complexity …

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Winning By Losing: The Strategy Of Adverse Private Letter Rulings, Noah Hertz Marks Jan 2025

Winning By Losing: The Strategy Of Adverse Private Letter Rulings, Noah Hertz Marks

Faculty Publications

Every year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues hundreds of Private Letter Rulings (PLRs) responding to formal taxpayer inquiries about how tax law will apply to their proposed situations and transactions, which functionally bind the IRS with respect to the taxpayer. Although the Internal Revenue Code formally forbids relying on PLRs as precedent, taxpayers and practitioners closely monitor and structure their operations and advice around PLRs. Taxpayers can withdraw a PLR request at any time for any—or no—reason, and they generally know in advance whether the PLR will be favorable or adverse. Conventional wisdom assumes adverse PLRs should be extremely …

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Service Trade Dress: Demystifying The Tertium Quid, Dustin Marlan Jan 2025

Service Trade Dress: Demystifying The Tertium Quid, Dustin Marlan

Faculty Publications

Trademarks are often brand names or logos. Yet other marks involve the overall appearance of a product or business — a concept called “trade dress.” Courts and scholars have long struggled with how to determine whether trade dress is distinctive enough to function as a legally protectable trademark. In attempting to clarify this murky area, Justice Scalia articulated three types of trade dress in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers, Inc. These include (i) product packaging (e.g., a candy wrapper) and (ii) product design (e.g., an iPhone’s unique shape). The trouble lies in understanding the third category — what …

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Where Torrens Failed, John V. Orth Jan 2025

Where Torrens Failed, John V. Orth

Faculty Publications

The early days of the Torrens system in the United States looked promising. Its spread through the country was rapid — by the early 20th century, it had been adopted in almost half of America’s states. Today, however, Torrens is all but obsolete in America. This article examines what went wrong. For one thing, a workable, if cumbersome, system of title assurance — relying on recorded deeds, warranties of title, and title insurance — already existed. For title holders, the process of petitioning for Torrens registration was unfamiliar, often expensive and protracted, and invited risk from adverse claimants. Pragmatic factors …

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Civic Duties And Cultural Change, Daniel B. Rice Jan 2025

Civic Duties And Cultural Change, Daniel B. Rice

Faculty Publications

What duties do Americans owe the state? Today, this question seems almost incomprehensible. Compulsions in the common interest are received coolly in our rights-obsessed culture, and the Supreme Court has never announced a framework for identifying the burdens of citizenship. Yet the concept of civic duty has played a central role in America’s constitutional tradition. From shoveling snow to repairing roads to fighting overseas, private individuals have long been forced to serve the public in ways menial and profound. Strangely, the discourse of obligation that legitimated numerous compulsions has faded from professional view. Judges’ mawkish tributes to liberty pay no …

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The Art Belongs To The Artists, Deborah M. Weissman, Louis A. Pérez Jan 2025

The Art Belongs To The Artists, Deborah M. Weissman, Louis A. Pérez

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the rights of detainees interned at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station to claim ownership of cultural work produced during their imprisonment. Through a series of arbitrary policies, the U.S. government alternately punished detainees for creating works of art, confiscated paintings and drawings, and otherwise denied detainees’ rights to control their creative works. This Article suggests the need to understand these policies as acts akin to plunder—that is, as a practice long associated with colonialism as a means through which the artifacts of the material culture of conquered peoples were expropriated and claimed as “trophies” of conquest. It …

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