Digital Commons Network^™

Targeted Delivery Of Rapamycin Via Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors In Pancreatic Cancer Cells Inhibits Cell Proliferation And Induces Apoptosis, Nawab Ali, Adeolu S. Oluremi, Christopher Baldwin, Nickolas Gustavison, Mujeebat Bashiru, Adeniyi Oyebade, Noureen Siraj, Raj Raghavendra Rao

Faculty Scholarship

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is aggressive and deadly; most PC cells overexpress an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFR-targeting peptide (GE11) was conjugated to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for delivering rapamycin (Rap), an mTOR inhibitor that reduces proliferation and induces apoptosis. Biophysical techniques confirmed the conjugation. Rap loading efficiency was 41.5%, with sustained release at a lower pH. Conjugates showed higher uptake in PANC-1 cells than unmodified AuNPs. It also inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis via pathways involving reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial damage, and caspase activation. This approach represents a promising nanoparticle-based therapeutic strategy targeting PC cells, utilizing GE11-EGFR interactions to minimize …

State-Level Immigrant Policies And Diabetes Prevalence In Latino And Asian American Groups: A Weighted Multilevel Analysis, Md Towfiqul Alam, Jennifer Toller Erausquin, Erica Payton, Elizabeth Vásquez, Sandra Echeverria

Faculty Scholarship

Introduction: Growing literature has shown that immigrant-related policies influence population health by limiting or enhancing immigrants’ rights. However, less is known about the role of state-level immigrant policies shaping chronic health conditions such as type 2 diabetes (T2DM). This cross-sectional study examined the association between state-level immigrant policies (both criminalising and inclusive) and prevalence of T2DM among individuals of Latin American and Asian American origin.

Method: We included adults aged 18+years sampled in the 2014–2018 behavioral risk factor surveillance system (BRFSS) (n=201 824), a survey design that allows the calculation of state-level estimates. Using existing policy measures, states …

Diffusion Model For Medical Image Denoising, Reconstruction And Translation, Wei Wang, Shuo Li

Faculty Scholarship

Diffusion models, as a class of generative models, have demonstrated significant performance in image generation since their inception. The fundamental principle behind diffusion models is the definition of a forward process and a reverse process. The input data is progressively perturbed by adding random noise during the forward process, and the expected noise distribution is learned. In the reverse process, noise is gradually reduced from a Gaussian distribution to generate the image. Recently, diffusion models have been widely adopted in various image processing tasks, including text-to-image synthesis, denoising, segmentation, and object detection. In medical image analysis, diffusion models have shown …

Drug Versioning And Legal Accountability, Robert A. Bohrer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Conceptualizing The Research Cycle For The Field Of Materials Science And Engineering, Jennifer L.W. Carter

Faculty Scholarship

Abstract: Early-career materials researchers often receive guidance from their individual advisors on best practices for conducting research, but the materials science community lacks an explicit model of the research process. As a result, the lived experience of an individual researcher can be quite different from their peers since they may be exposed to a different unique set of implicit research steps. In this article, we translate an existing research heuristic from other fields and make explicit the steps, methodologies, and strategies materials science engineering researchers utilize to advance our collective materials science knowledge. This newly proposed research cycle can improve …

Mechanism Of Ph-Sensitive Amphiphilic Endosomal Escape Of Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticles For Cytosolic Nucleic Acid Delivery, Zheng Rong Lu, Da Sun

Faculty Scholarship

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are among the most successful classes of nonviral delivery systems for nucleic acid-based therapeutics in treating human diseases. One of the key challenges in achieving efficient cytosolic delivery of nucleic acids is overcoming endosomal entrapment within cells. Conventional lipid bilayer-forming cationic and amino lipids mediate endosomal escape via the mechanism of lamellar-to-inverted hexagonal phase transition, resulting in suboptimal cytosolic cargo delivery. pH-sensitive amphiphilic cell membrane disruption and endosomal escape have emerged as a strategy for designing protonatable or ionizable lipids, especially nonlamellar lipids, for efficient cytosolic nucleic acid delivery. Nonlamellar amino lipids possess a large wedge-shaped tail …

Alpha-Synuclein Dysregulation In Systemic Pathophysiology Of Synucleinopathies, Hallie H. Dolin, Bowen Zhou, Robert W. Maitta

Faculty Scholarship

Alpha-synuclein (α-syn) has long been identified as the etiologic agent of multiple neurodegenerative diseases, the most common and well-known of which are Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD). While it is known that the pathophysiology of these synucleinopathies involves aggregation of improperly-folded α-syn, the mechanisms leading to its accumulation have not been fully identified. However, multiple pathways have been proposed, any or all of which may contribute to synucleinopathies. The role of α-syn in normal homeostasis and in other organ systems, especially the hematopoietic system, has been reported recently. Research within the last decade has shown that α-syn …

Medium Matters In Preparing For Law Practice: Critical E-Reading, Amanda L. Sholtis

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Earth Day 2025: Albuquerque, Nm, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

This Earth Day 2025, I was at home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I was born and raised, where we measure time in family generations. For too long, I’ve been away. But returning home, I have new perspectives—and new technology. You may laugh, but I’ve discovered Merlin.

Transforming The World With Reparations?, Ingrid Brunk, Monica Hakimi

Faculty Scholarship

Claims for reparations in international law commonly reflect two competing visions--one transformative, the other corrective. The transformative vision looks to reparations to end the long tail of injustices that are associated with large-scale historic harms. The corrective vision is more confined; it focuses on repairing specific, legally cognizable harms and returning the agents or entities involved as closely as possible to the status quo ante. We argue in this Essay that these two visions have distinct conceptual logics, even though they often overlap in practice, and that the transformative vision cannot carry the burdens that are placed on it.

Liquid Power: Myths, Realities, And Policy Responses To Wall Street's Takeover Of Water Markets, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

In Don Quixote, there is a moment when all the knightly novels are thrown into the fire for their fantastical depictions of chivalry. Yet one book is spared: Tirant lo Blanc. It is saved because, unlike the others, it portrays knights who die in their beds-offering a more realistic depiction of medieval battles. Similarly, Liquid Asset stands out as the book that should be preserved from the extensive body of scholarship on water markets. Many works in this field are influenced by ideological biases that shape their analyses. In contrast, Buzz Thompson's books provides the nuance and balance often lacking …

The Role Of Proactive Management Based Regulation In Assisting Lawyers And Promoting Public Protection, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

Increasingly, jurisdictions around the world are exploring and implementing proactive, management-based regulation (PMBR) as an alternative to traditional regulatory approaches that discipline attorneys after misconduct occurs. This essay examines the proof and potential of PMBR to empower lawyers and enhance public protection, while transforming the relationship between regulators and practicing lawyers. The essay is based on the Distinguished Lecture the author delivered at the Joseph G. Miller and William C. Becker Center for Professional Responsibility at the University of Akron School of Law.

Dark Patterns As Disloyal Design, Johanna Gunawan, Woodrow Hartzog, Neil Richards, David Choffnes, Christo Wilson

Faculty Scholarship

Lawmakers have started to regulate “dark patterns,” understood to be design practices meant to influence technology users’ decisions through manipulative or deceptive means. Most agree that dark patterns are undesirable, but open questions remain as to which design choices should be subjected to scrutiny, much less the best way to regulate them.

In this Article, we propose adapting the concept of dark patterns to better fit legal frameworks. Critics allege that the legal conceptualizations of dark patterns are overbroad, impractical, and counterproductive. We argue that law and policy conceptualizations of dark patterns suffer from three deficiencies: First, dark patterns lack …

Examining Pricing And Availability For Neglected Tropical Disease Therapies In The Us, Maple Goh, Kevin Outterson, Aaron S. Kesselheim

Faculty Scholarship

Background

Neglected tropical diseases primarily affect vulnerable populations in low-resource settings worldwide. In the US, neglected tropical diseases such as Chagas, soil-transmitted helminthiases, and other infections historically impacted immigrants but are increasingly relevant for US residents with climate change. We examined the pricing, prescribing rates, and supply of therapies used to treat neglected tropical diseases in the US and their implications for accessibility and patient care. Methods

A retrospective analysis of prescription rates, wholesale acquisition costs, and shortages was conducted for 11 treatment products from 2019 to 2024, aggregating data from Symphony Metys, First Databank, NAVLIN, Red Book, and the …

"What Shall Be Orthodox" In Polarized Times: Overview And Response To Commentators, Linda C. Mcclain, James E. Fleming

Faculty Scholarship

“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.” Justice Robert Jackson wrote this celebrated passage in his majority opinion in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), which protected the First Amendment right of Jehovah’s Witness children not to participate in a compulsory flag salute in public schools. In recent years, protests against imposed orthodoxy—usually invoking Barnette—have occurred in …

A Historical Case For A Robust But Non-Remedial Seventh Amendment, Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Faculty Scholarship

In Jarkesy, the Supreme Court rightly held that the Seventh Amendment required a jury trial for a case fundamentally similar to common law fraud, and it rightly limited the scope of the “public rights” exception to the Seventh Amendment. Grounded in historical and originalist methods, this essay makes four suggestions after Jarkesy:

1. Following Jarkesy, the judiciary should continue a more robust enforcement of the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. The courts should eliminate the “public rights” exception to the Seventh Amendment, which does not appear to have an original link to the Seventh Amendment. The …

The East Palestine Train Derailment: A Complex Environmental Disaster, Lynn T. Singer, Fredrick R. Schumacher, Timothy Ciesielski

Faculty Scholarship

This symposium, The East Palestine Train Derailment: A Complex Environmental Disaster, brought together scientists whose research represented initial scientific responses to the community health impacts of the chemical exposures incurred from a disastrous train derailment and subsequent combustion in East Palestine, Ohio in February, 2023. This derailment and burn led to multiple complex toxic exposures to air, soil and water, including vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate. Presenters described the multi-university consortium formed to assist with developing and communicating data-informed summaries to the affected community. Presenters also reported on the immediate health sequelae experienced by the community and the stress and …

Voclosporin‐Induced Gingival Enlargement: A Case Report, Dimitris N. Tatakis

Faculty Scholarship

The gingiva (gums) is often a site in the mouth where changes or reactions can occur in response to certain systemic medications. Some drugs, particularly those used to treat autoimmune conditions or following organ transplants, can cause the gums to grow excessively, a condition known as drug-induced gingival enlargement (also known as gingival overgrowth). In this report, we document the case of a 27-year-old woman with lupus nephritis who developed gingival enlargement after starting a medication called voclosporin. This drug is a newer treatment option for lupus nephritis, but until now had not been linked to gingival enlargement. The patient …

Association Of Medicaid Expansion With Colon Cancer Care: Treatment Patterns And Survival In Non-Metastatic Cases From State Registry-Claims Data, Kirsten Y. Eom, Weichuan Dong, Richard S. Hoehn, Jeffrey M. Albert, Uriel Kim, Gregory Cooper, Johnie Rose, Siran M. Koroukian

Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: Despite growing research on Medicaid expansion’s impact on cancer outcomes, there remains a critical need for a more nuanced understanding of how expansion affects cancer care and survival. This study assesses whether Medicaid expansion was associated with improved receipt of standard treatment, timely treatment initiation, and overall survival among colon cancer patients, while examining the specific factors influencing these outcomes. Methods: Using Ohio’s state cancer registry linked with Medicaid records, we analyzed 688 Medicaid-enrolled patients with non-metastatic colon cancer diagnosed between May 2011 and December 2017. We employed multivariable Poisson and Cox proportional hazard regression analyses to evaluate the …

Computational Model Predicts Function Of Rho-Gtpase Binding For Plexin Receptor Gap Activity On Rap1b Via Dynamic Allosteric Changes, Nisha Bhattarai

Faculty Scholarship

Plexin-semaphorin signaling regulates key processes such as cell migration, neuronal development, angiogenesis, and immune responses. Plexins stand out because they can directly bind with both Rho- and Ras-family small GTPases through their intracellular domains when these GTPases are in their active, GTP-bound states. This binding occurs via intracellular regions, which include a Rho-GTPase binding domain and a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) segment. Studies have shown that Rho and Ras GTPases play vital roles in plexin signaling and activation. However, the structural dynamics of plexins and GTPases and how these conformational changes affect interactions when plexin is bound with both Ras and …

Management Of Severe Gingival Recession Using A Double Papilla Connective Tissue Graft: A 2-Year Follow-Up Case Study, Dimitris N. Tatakis

Faculty Scholarship

Gum recession is a common condition where the gum tissue pulls away from the teeth, exposing the roots and making them more prone to damage. This report describes the treatment of a 30-year-old woman who had severe gum recession on her lower left canine tooth, caused by her long-term habit of scratching the gums with her fingernail. To restore the lost tissue and protect the tooth, a double papilla flap (a surgical technique that moves nearby tissue) along with a connective tissue graft (transplanted tissue from the roof of the mouth) was used. Over 2 years, the recession was reduced …

The Structure Of The Drp1 Lattice On Membrane, Kristy Rochon, Anelise N. Hutson, Jason A. Mears

Faculty Scholarship

Mitochondrial health relies on the membrane fission mediated by dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1). Previous structural studies of Drp1 on remodeled membranes were hampered by heterogeneity, leaving a critical gap in the understanding of the mitochondrial fission mechanisms. Here we present a cryo-electron microscopy structure of full-length human Drp1 decorated on membrane tubules. Using the reconstruction of average subtracted tubular regions (RASTR) technique, we report that Drp1 forms a locally ordered lattice along the tubule without global helical symmetry. The filaments in the lattice are similar to dynamin rungs with conserved stalk interactions. Adjacent filaments are connected by GTPase domain interactions …

Role Of Autonomic Dysfunction In Initiating Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation In A Canine Sterile Pericarditis Model, Seungyup Lee, Don W. Wallick, Celeen Khrestian, Dragan Juzbasich, Daniel Laurita

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Autonomic dysfunction plays a significant role in initiating postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) by causing atrial ectopic triggers, potentially through mechanisms such as increased sympathetic activity and altered vagal tone. These atrial ectopic triggers can easily induce POAF, especially in the presence of vulnerable substrates such as pericardial inflammation or structural remodeling. Objective: To test the hypothesis that autonomic dysfunction causes atrial ectopic triggers or POAF in the canine sterile pericarditis model. Methods: Ten sterile pericarditis dogs were studied on postoperative Days 2−3. Autonomic dysfunction was induced by stellate ganglion nerve stimulation (SNS, 5–15 mA; 4–10 Hz; pulse width 0.5–5 …

Methodological Considerations For Optimal Variable Selection In Machine Learning For Health Services Research, Weichuan Dong, Trisha Lal, Fangzhou Liu, Peter Pronovost, Samudragupta Bora, Richard S. Hoehn

Faculty Scholarship

Effective variable selection is central to the success of health services research, where large, complex datasets often include numerous variables with varying degrees of relevance. This paper presents a structured approach to variable selection, highlighting the importance of combining domain expertise with advanced analytical techniques to ensure the inclusion of only the most pertinent variables. We explore several methods, including manual selection, correlation matrices, random forests, and stepwise regression, each with its strengths and limitations in managing multicollinearity, dimensionality, and interpretability. By carefully preprocessing variables—removing redundant, irrelevant, or missing data—and applying feature selection tools like decision tree-based algorithms, researchers can …

The Use Of Partial Textual Stimuli Within An Interactive Task For Increasing Reports Of Past Behavior With A Child With Autism, Masyn S. Mcwilliams, Robbie Hanson

Faculty Scholarship

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may face challenges with reporting past behavior. Although some behavior-analytic studies have shown success with increasing these reports, the use of materials within activities that do not repeat has not been assessed (e.g., Shillingsburg et al., 2017). Thus, the purpose of the current study was to expand upon previous research (e.g., Shillingsburg et al. 2017; 2019) by utilizing novel materials within activities completed and examining the use of partial textual stimuli within an interactive task to increase reports of past behavior for one child with autism. The results showed an increase in reports of …

Art, Play, And Neuroplasticity: Advancing Dementia Care Through Art-Enriched Environments, Piper Hutson, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Dementia represents a global public health crisis, characterized not only by progressive memory loss but by a pervasive decline in cognitive flexibility, social functioning, and overall quality of life. Traditional therapeutic modalities, often limited to pharmacological management and cognitive training, have yielded only modest gains in symptom mitigation and patient well-being. Recent advances in neuroscience have illuminated the brain‘s capacity for neuroplasticity—its inherent ability to adapt, reorganize, and form new neural connections even in advanced age and the presence of neurodegenerative conditions. This emerging understanding invites a critical re-evaluation of dementia care strategies, highlighting the potential of non-pharmacological interventions to …

Scaffolded Integration: Aligning Ai Literacy With Authentic Assessment Through A Revised Taxonomy In Education, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

The accelerating prevalence of generative artificial intelligence in educational and professional spheres necessitates a reevaluation of when and how such technologies are introduced within pedagogical practice. The principal challenge for educators is not merely the imperative to prepare students for an AI-driven world, but rather to ensure that assessment practices remain authentic—providing an accurate measure of what students can independently achieve before leveraging the augmentation potential of intelligent systems. This article contends that the incremental introduction of AI, mapped onto a scaffolded framework aligned with a revised Bloom’s Taxonomy, constitutes a methodologically sound approach for maintaining academic integrity, fostering transferable …

The Administrative State's Second Face, Emily R. Chertoff, Jessica Bulman-Pozen

Faculty Scholarship

We often assume that there is one administrative state, with one body of administrative law that governs it. In fact, the administrative state has two distinct faces: one turned toward regulation and benefits distribution, and one turned toward physical force and surveillance. The two faces are growing further apart under the Roberts Court, which has hemmed in the first face with decisions like Loper Bright while showing solicitude for national security and law enforcement agencies.

This Article delineates the two faces of the administrative state. It provides a descriptive account of the second face and the distinctive administrative law that …

Addressing Missingness In Serialized Bureaucratic Data: The Case Of Chinese Courts, Xiaohan Wu, Margaret Roberts, Rachel E. Stern, Benjamin L. Liebman, Amarnath Gupta, Luke Sanford

Faculty Scholarship

Courts around the world are putting their data online, making information about caseloads, parties, and decisions available to the public. Yet, this data is far from complete, and often only reflects a portion of courts’ dockets. We offer and validate a set of tools for leveraging serialized bureaucratic data from courts to estimate the proportion of cases available to the public and the time courts take to make decisions. Using data from more than 3,000 courts in China, our methods allow us to assess patterns of missingness in court data across provinces and cities by type of case and to …

After Notice And Choice: Reinvigorating “Unfairness” To Rein In Data Abuses, Lina M. Khan, Samuel A.A. Levine, Stephanie T. Nguyen

Faculty Scholarship

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has long served as America’s default privacy enforcer. Yet for much of its history, the agency relied on self-regulation through a “notice and choice” framework that left the public vulnerable in an era of rampant data collection and digital surveillance. Businesses overwhelmed users with dense privacy notices while amassing and exploiting vast troves of personal data. The agency’s historical approach, rooted in outdated assumptions about self-correcting markets and an ideologically cramped view of the FTC’s authorities and mandate, helped usher in a digital economy where data abuses became routine.

During the Biden Administration, the FTC …