Digital Commons Network^™

Structurally Distinct External Solvent-Exposed Domains Drive Replication Of Major Human Prions, Mohammad Khursheed Siddiqi, Chae Kim, Tracy Haldiman, Miroslava Kacirova, Benlian Wang, Jen Bohon, Mark R. Chance, Janna G. Kiselar, Jiri G. Safar

Faculty Scholarship

There is a limited understanding of structural attributes that encode the iatrogenic transmissibility and various phenotypes of prions causing the most common human prion disease, sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Here we report the detailed structural differences between major sCJD MM1, MM2, and VV2 prions determined with two complementary synchrotron hydroxyl radical footprinting techniques—mass spectrometry (MS) and conformation dependent immunoassay (CDI) with a panel of Europium-labeled antibodies. Both approaches clearly demonstrate that the phenotypically distant prions differ in a major way with regard to their structural organization, and synchrotron-generated hydroxyl radicals progressively inhibit their seeding potency in a strain and structure-specific …

Plant Proteins And Exercise: What Role Can Plant Proteins Have In Promoting Adaptations To Exercise?, Chad M. Kerksick, Andrew Jagim, Anthony Hagele, Ralf Jäger

Faculty Scholarship

Adequate dietary protein is important for many aspects of health with current evidence suggesting that exercising individuals need greater amounts of protein. When assessing protein quality, animal sources of protein routinely rank amongst the highest in quality, largely due to the higher levels of essential amino acids they possess in addition to exhibiting more favorable levels of digestibility and absorption patterns of the amino acids. In recent years, the inclusion of plant protein sources in the diet has grown and evidence continues to accumulate on the comparison of various plant protein sources and animal protein sources in their ability to …

Transparency's Ai Problem, Hannah Bloch-Wehba

Faculty Scholarship

A consensus seems to be emerging that algorithmic governance is too opaque and ought to be made more accountable and transparent. But algorithmic governance underscores the limited capacity of transparency law—the Freedom of Information Act and its state equivalents—to promote accountability. Drawing on the critical literature on “open government,” this Essay shows that algorithmic governance reflects and amplifies systemic weaknesses in the transparency regime, including privatization, secrecy, private sector cooptation, and reactive disclosure. These deficiencies highlight the urgent need to reorient transparency and accountability law toward meaningful public engagement in ongoing oversight. This shift requires rethinking FOIA’s core commitment to …

Visible Policing: Technology, Transparency, And Democratic Control, Hannah Bloch-Wehba

Faculty Scholarship

Law enforcement has an opacity problem. Police use sophisticated technologies to monitor individuals, surveil communities, and predict behaviors in increasingly intrusive ways. But legal institutions have struggled to understand—let alone set limits on—new investigative methods and techniques for two major reasons. First, new surveillance technology tends to operate in opaque and unaccountable ways, augmenting police power while remaining free of meaningful oversight. Second, shifts in Fourth Amendment doctrine have expanded law enforcement’s ability to engage in surveillance relatively free of scrutiny by courts or by the public. The result is that modern policing is not highly visible to oversight institutions …

Introduction: Lenses, Methods, And Approaches In Intellectual Property Research, Irene Calboli, Maria Lillà Montagnani

Faculty Scholarship

The relevance of Intellectual Property (IP) Law in our society has increased dramatically over the last several years. Globalization, digitization, and the rise of post-industrial information-based industries have all contributed to a new prominence of IP Law as one of the most important factors in driving innovation and economic development. At the same time, the significant expansion of IP rules has impacted many areas of public policy such as public health, the environment, biodiversity, agriculture, and information, in an unprecedented manner. No longer relegated to a cohort of few specialized experts, IP Law is now at the front and centre …

A Scapegoat Theory Of Bivens, Katherine Mims Crocker

Faculty Scholarship

Some scapegoats are innocent. Some warrant blame, but not the amount they are made to bear. Either way, scapegoating can allow in-groups to sidestep social problems by casting blame onto out-groups instead of confronting such problems—and the in-groups’ complicity in perpetuating them—directly.

This Essay suggests that it may be productive to view the Bivens regime’s rise as countering various exercises in scapegoating and its retrenchment as constituting an exercise in scapegoating. The earlier cases can be seen as responding to social structures that have scapegoated racial, economic, and other groups through overaggressive policing, mass incarceration, and inequitable government conduct more …

Metabolic Basis Of Creatine In Health And Disease: A Bioinformatics-Assisted Review, Diego A. Bonilla, Richard B. Kreider, Jeffrey R. Stout, Diego A. Foreno, Chad M. Kerksick, Michael D. Roberts, Eric S. Rawson

Faculty Scholarship

Creatine (Cr) is a ubiquitous molecule that is synthesized mainly in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. Most of the Cr pool is found in tissues with high-energy demands. Cr enters target cells through a specific symporter called Na+/Cl--dependent Cr transporter (CRT). Once within cells, creatine kinase (CK) catalyzes the reversible transphosphorylation reaction between [Mg2+:ATP4-]2- and Cr to produce phosphocreatine (PCr) and [Mg2+:ADP3-]-. We aimed to perform a comprehensive and bioinformatics-assisted review of the most recent research findings regarding Cr metabolism. Specifically, several public databases, repositories, and bioinformatics tools were utilized for this endeavor. Topics of biological complexity ranging from structural …

Law Enforcement's Lochner, Miriam H. Baer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Can “Asians” Truly Be Americans?, Vinay Harpalani

Faculty Scholarship

Recent, tragic events have brought more attention to hate and bias crimes against Asian Americans. It is important to address these crimes and prevent them in the future, but the discourse on Asian Americans should not end there. Many non-Asian Americans are unaware or only superficially aware of the vast diversity that exists among us, along with the challenges posed by that diversity. Some have basic knowledge of the immigration and exclusion of Asian Americans, the internment of Japanese Americans which was upheld in Korematsu v. United States, and the “model minority stereotype”, but these are Asian Americans 101. This …

Movement Law, Jocelyn Simonson, Amna A. Akbar, Sameer M. Ashar

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Secular Invocations And The Promise Of Religious Pluralism, Jay D. Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court has considered the constitutionality of “legislative prayer” twice, once in the 1983 case of Marsh v. Chambers and once in the 2014 case of Town of Greece v. Galloway. Although both of those cases upheld challenged invocation practices on the basis that such practices predated the adoption of the First Amendment, they also placed additional limits on the nature of such prayer programs, including that they be non-discriminatory, as Justice Kennedy explained in Town of Greece. In response to Justice Kennedy’s non-discrimination mandate, hundreds of secular individuals in the wake of Town of Greece asked to give …

Settled Law, G. Alexander Nunn, Alan M. Trammell

Faculty Scholarship

“Settled law” appears frequently in judicial opinions — sometimes to refer to binding precedent, sometimes to denote precedent that has acquired a more mystical permanence, and sometimes as a substantive part of legal doctrine. During judicial confirmation hearings, the term is bandied about as Senators, advocacy groups, and nominees discuss judicial philosophy and deeper ideological commitments. But its varying and often contradictory uses have given rise to a concern that settled law is simply a repository for hopelessly disparate ideas. Without definitional precision, it risks becoming nothing more than empty jargon.

We contend that settled law is actually a meaningful …

Takings Localism, Nestor M. Davisdson, Timothy M. Mulvaney

Faculty Scholarship

Conflicts over “sanctuary” cities, minimum wage laws, and gender-neutral bathrooms have brought the problematic landscape of contemporary state preemption of local governance to national attention. This Article contends that more covert, although equally robust, state interference can be found in property, with significant consequences for our understanding of takings law.

Takings jurisprudence looks to the states to mediate most tensions between individual property rights and community needs, as the takings federalism literature recognizes. Takings challenges, however, often involve local governments. If the doctrine privileges the democratic process to resolve most takings claims, then, that critical process is a largely local …

Health And Ergogenic Potential Of Oral Adenosine-5′-Triphosphate (Atp) Supplementation, Ralf Jäger, Martin Purpura, John A. Rathmacher, John C. Fuller Jr., Lisa M. Pitchford, Fabricio E. Ross, Chad M. Kerksick

Faculty Scholarship

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the primary compound that provides energy to drive many processes in living cells, including muscle contraction, neurotransmission, and cardiac function. Initial research used enteric-coated ATP that displayed no apparent efficacy. However, ATP disodium supplementation has demonstrated improved bioavailability and acute and chronic benefits to cardiovascular health, muscular performance, body composition, and recovery while attenuating muscle breakdown and fatigue. In this review, we provide a critical assessment of oral ATP’s bioavailability and its various health and ergogenic benefits.

Investigating Music-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation For Individuals With Moderate To Severe Chronic Acquired Brain Injury: A Feasibility Experiment, Nicole M. Richard Williams

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Acquired brain injuries often cause cognitive impairment, significantly impacting participation in rehabilitation and activities of daily living. Music can influence brain function, and thus may serve as a uniquely powerful cognitive rehabilitation intervention. Objective: This feasibility study investigated the potential effectiveness of music-based cognitive rehabilitation for adults with chronic acquired brain injury. Methods: The control group participated in three Attention Process Training (APT) sessions, while the experimental group participated in three Music Attention Control Training (MACT) sessions. Pre-and post- testing used the Trail Making A & B, Digit Symbol, and Brown-Peterson Task as neuropsychological tests. Results: ANOVA analyses showed …

A Unified Theory Of Data, William Magnuson

Faculty Scholarship

How does the proliferation of data in our modern economy affect our legal system? Scholars that have addressed the question have nearly universally agreed that the dramatic increases in the amount of data available to companies, as well as the new uses to which that data is being put, raise fundamental problems for our regulatory structures. But just what those problems might be remains an area of deep disagreement. Some argue that the problem with data is that current uses lead to discriminatory results that harm minority groups. Some argue that the problem with data is that it impinges on …

Intergenerative Transdisciplinarity In “Glocal” Learning And Collaboration, Peter J. Whitehouse

Faculty Scholarship

In this report, authors from North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia share commonalities and differences in the lessons we are learning from COVID-19, especially about scholarship and collaboration. We represent different ages and disciplines hence our focus on intergenerational perspectives and transdisciplinary considerations. Our work is intergenerative{that is going "between to go beyond" by connecting creative sources of culture and focusing on the emergent, that is responding to changes in the context in which we work. And importantly in our view, we will point beyond whatever the next phase of COVID or even the next pandemic brings to a more …

Environmental Effects Of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, Uv Radiation, And Interactions With Climate Change: Unep Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, Update 2020, Laura S. Bruckman

Faculty Scholarship

This assessment by the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides the latest scientific update since our most recent comprehensive assessment (Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, 2019, 18, 595–828). The interactive effects between the stratospheric ozone layer, solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and climate change are presented within the framework of the Montreal Protocol and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We address how these global environmental changes affect the atmosphere and air quality; human health; terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; biogeochemical cycles; and materials used in outdoor construction, solar energy technologies, and fabrics. In many cases, …

Constitutional Structure, Institutional Relationships And Text: Revisiting Charles Black's White Lectures, Richard C. Boldt

Faculty Scholarship

Fundamental questions about constitutional interpretation and meaning invite a close examination of the complicated origins and the subsequent elaboration of the very structure of federalism. The available records of the Proceedings in the Federal Convention make clear that the Framers entertained two approaches to delineating the powers of the central government relative to those retained by the states. The competing approaches, one reliant on a formalist enumeration of permissible powers, the other operating functionally on the basis of a broad dynamic concept of state incompetence and national interest, often are presented as mutually inconsistent narratives. In fact, these two approaches …

Deceive, Profit, Repeat: Public Deception Schemes To Conceal Product Dangers, Wes Henricksen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Social Justice, Civil Rights, And Bioethics, Kathy Cerminara

Faculty Scholarship

A stunning confluence of events in the United States in the first few months of 2020 have illustrated pervasive systemic prejudice against vulnerable people resulting in increased risk of death. Combined and situated among other, similar incidents too numerous to mention here, they present an opportunity for bioethicists to help change the impact of implicit bias, white privilege, and prejudice in shaping the very ability to live a healthy life in America. The current lack of care and even outright cruelty rendering a variety of vulnerable populations susceptible to early death illustrate why there must be more attention paid to …

Normative Dimensions Of Consensual Application Of Black Box Artificial Intelligence In Administrative Adjudication Of Benefits Claims, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Does A Rising Tide Lift All Boats? Sea Level Rise, Land Use, And Property Rights, Laura M. Padilla

Faculty Scholarship

This Article considers the competing interests of landowners, governments, and academics; Part I describes the problem-sea level rise and its projected acceleration. Part II details sea level rise physical and economic impacts. Part III discusses a range of adaptation responses to the problem, and Part IV explores the sea level rise-adaptation strategies' potential legal challenges. This Article focuses on California, but the problems, solutions, and challenges pervade coastal communities everywhere.

Algorithms In Business, Merchant-Consumer Interactions, & Regulation, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

Faculty Scholarship

The shift towards the use of algorithms in business has transformed merchant–consumer interactions. Products and services are increasingly tailored for consumers through algorithms that collect and analyze vast amounts of data from interconnected devices, digital platforms, and social networks. While traditionally merchants and marketeers have utilized market segmentation, customer demographic profiles, and statistical approaches, the exponential increase in consumer data and computing power enables them to develop and implement algorithmic techniques that change consumer markets and society as a whole. Algorithms enable targeting of consumers more effectively, in real-time, and with high predictive accuracy in pricing and profiling strategies. In …

Law Enforcement’S Lochner, Miriam H. Baer

Faculty Scholarship

Long-established rules of constitutional criminal procedure empower the government to cheaply and efficiently demand information from businesses and corporations, even when those entities are themselves targets of criminal investigations. These rules have become extremely valuable to government investigators, notwithstanding their contestable premises and wide-ranging effects on employees, owners, and consumers.

This ease of access era, however, may be nearing its end. A convergence of changes in how the Supreme Court views Fourth Amendment privacy rights on the one hand, and how it conceptualizes corporate personhood on the other, is apt to trigger an erosion of government enforcement power. At the …

Second Amendment Animus, Jacob D. Charles

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s animus doctrine has proven surprisingly adaptive. The Court has employed the doctrine not just in the typical equal protection context from which it arose, but also to claims that religious conduct or beliefs are the target of legislative hostility. Animus law and scholarship are flourishing after several invocations of the doctrine in the high Court’s recent Terms. Coinciding with these developments, gun-rights advocates and other supporters have increasingly railed against the hostility with which they believe government officials are treating the Second Amendment. This Essay connects these developments, mapping three types of gun-supporter claims that sound in …

Unpacking Third-Party Standing, Curtis A. Bradley, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

Third-party standing is relevant to a wide range of constitutional and statutory cases. The Supreme Court has said that, to assert such standing, a litigant must ordinarily have a close relationship with the right holder and the right holder must face obstacles to suing on their own behalf. Yet the Court does not seem to apply that test consistently, and commentators have long critiqued the third-party standing doctrine as incoherent. This Article argues that much of the doctrine’s perceived incoherence stems from the Supreme Court’s attempt to capture, in a single principle, disparate scenarios raising distinct problems of both theory …

Designing A State Court Small Claims Odr System: Hitting A Moving Target In New York During A Pandemic, David Allen Larson

Faculty Scholarship

When I began helping the New York State Unified Court System design a pilot online dispute resolution (“ODR”) system back in October 2016, I never imagined more than four years would pass before a system was implemented. One reason our journey was so long is because our target kept moving. After completing a detailed credit card debt collection ODR platform, we had to change direction before implementation and focus instead on small claims cases. Then like the rest of the world, we suddenly had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it took longer than anticipated, we achieved our goal …

Regents: Resurrecting Animus/Renewing Discriminatory Intent, William Araiza

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The State’S Right To Evidence And Duties Of Citizenship, Youngjae Lee

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.