Digital Commons Network^™

Gene Interaction Enrichment And Network Analysis To Identify Dysregulated Pathways And Their Interactions In Complex Diseases, Yu Liu, Mehmet Koyutürk, Jill S. Barnholtz-Sloan, Mark R. Chance

Faculty Scholarship

Background: The molecular behavior of biological systems can be described in terms of three fundamental components: (i) the physical entities, (ii) the interactions among these entities, and (iii) the dynamics of these entities and interactions. The mechanisms that drive complex disease can be productively viewed in the context of the perturbations of these components. One challenge in this regard is to identify the pathways altered in specific diseases. To address this challenge, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and others have been developed, which focus on alterations of individual properties of the entities (such as gene expression). However, the dynamics of …

The Alphabet Soup Of Transborder Intellectual Property Enforcement, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

n the past few years, policymakers, academic commentators, consumer advocates, civil liberties groups, and user communities have expressed grave concerns about the steadily increasing levels of enforcement of intellectual property rights. Many of these concerns relate to the "alphabet soup" of transborder intellectual property enforcement, which consists of the following: SECURE, IMPACT, ACTA, TPP, COICA, PIPA, SOPA, and OPEN.

Published in the inaugural issue of Drake Law Review Discourse, this short essay identifies six different concerns and challenges the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) poses to U.S. consumers, technology developers, and small and midsize firms. It then explores the ongoing negotiation …

Magnet: Microarray Gene Expression And Network Evaluation Toolkit, George C. Linderman, Mark R. Chance, Gurkan Bebek

Faculty Scholarship

MicroArray Gene expression and Network Evaluation Toolkit (MAGNET) is a web-based application that provides tools to generate and score both protein-protein interaction networks and coexpression networks. MAGNET integrates user-provided experimental measurements with high-throughput proteomic datasets, generating weighted gene-gene and protein-protein interaction networks. MAGNET allows users to weight edges of protein-protein interaction networks using a logistic regression model integrating tissue-specific gene expression data, sub-cellular localization data, co-clustering of interacting proteins and the number of observations of the interaction. This provides a way to quantitatively measure the plausibility of interactions in protein-protein interaction networks given protein/gene expression measurements. Secondly, MAGNET generates filtered …

Manure In The Bay: A Report On Industrial Animal Agriculture In Maryland And Pennsylvania, Rena I. Steinzor, Yee Huang

Faculty Scholarship

This report provides a substantive and detailed look at the concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) and other animal feeding operations (AFO) programs in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as a general overview of the federal CAFO program. The information in this report was gathered through publicly available resources as well as a series of interviews with agency officials and other individuals who work with the animal agricultural sector. This report identifies concrete and practical recommendations for improving how the waste generated by animal industrial agriculture is managed and controlled by EPA, the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE), and the Pennsylvania …

The Economics Of Necessity, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

The necessity doctrine aligns the private and the social incentive for a property possessor to take a defensive action that prevents an invasion of his property from occurring. The model described here is also applicable to self-help in contracts.

Portable Microfluidic Chip For Detection Of Escherichia Coli In Produce And Blood, Umut A. Gurkan

Faculty Scholarship

Pathogenic agents can lead to severe clinical outcomes such as food poisoning, infection of open wounds, particularly in burn injuries and sepsis. Rapid detection of these pathogens can monitor these infections in a timely manner improving clinical outcomes. Conventional bacterial detection methods, such as agar plate culture or polymerase chain reaction, are time-consuming and dependent on complex and expensive instruments, which are not suitable for point-of-care (POC) settings. Therefore, there is an unmet need to develop a simple, rapid method for detection of pathogens such as Escherichia coli. Here, we present an immunobased microchip technology that can rapidly detect and …

Mixed-Income Developments And Low Rates Of Return Insights From Relocated Public Housing Residents In Chicago, Mark L. Joseph

Faculty Scholarship

In the largest poverty deconcentration effort in any city in the US, all high-rise public housing family developments in Chicago have been demolished and are being replaced by mixed-income developments. Advocates for public housing residents have worked hard to negotiate a "right to return" to the new mixed income developments. Yet, as in other cities across the country, the rates of return to the new developments have been very low. Little is understood about residents’ perceptions of their options or the factors that drive their relocation decisions. This article examines relocation decisions using data from in-depth interviews with a panel …

The Role Of The Household In Urban Forestry As A Measure Of Urban Sustainability: A Matrix Of Action And Change, Anthony M. Rodriguez Ph.D.

Faculty Scholarship

The urban forest holds several important positions within the built and unbuilt environments. Those positions include economic, health, sustainability, quality of life measures, and overall protection of the environment, including air, water, and soil. The points are highlighted by Wolf (2005, 2007), McPherson (2005), and Rowntree & Nowak (1991). This research references the four socio-economic sectors; the public or government sector, for profit or market sector, philanthropic or nonprofit sector, and the household or private sector (Biggs & Helm 2007). The common purposes and role of each sector with respect to the urban tree cover takes on importance as they …

Toward A Theory Of Medical Malpractice, Alex Stein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Lay Of The Land: Examining The Three Opinions In J. Mcintyre Machinery, Ltd. V. Nicastro, Adam N. Steinman

Faculty Scholarship

It was a long time coming. The Supreme Court's decisions last Term in J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro and Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown ended a two-decade high-court hiatus from the subject of personal jurisdiction. In McIntyre, the more controversial of the two, the Court concludes that New Jersey state courts lacked jurisdiction over a British manufacturer in a suit by a New Jersey plaintiff who was injured in New Jersey by a machine purchased by his New Jersey employer. McIntyre lacks a majority opinion, however. Instead we have a four-Justice plurality authored by Justice Kennedy, a …

Violence And Political Incivility, David B. Lyons

Faculty Scholarship

The charge to our panel refers to "the deterioration of the political conversation," to "deep ... divisions in society," and to recent violence- especially the tragic events in Tuscon. It asks us to identify "the virtues required.for our common life as citizens in a democracy and for civil democratic conversation." I shall offer observations and conjectures on each issue, stressing the historical background.

Let me suggest, first,. that the nonconstructive and increasingly abusive character of our political discourse may be relatively mild manifestations of an even more troubling malaise of our society- commonplace unlawful violence. I wish to draw your …

Safeguarding The Safeguards: The Aca Litigation And The Extension Of Structural Protection To Non-Fundamental Liberties, Abigail Moncrieff

Faculty Scholarship

As the lawsuits challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have evolved, one feature of the litigation has proven especially rankling to the legal academy: the incorporation of substantive libertarian concerns into structural federalism analysis. The breadth and depth of scholarly criticism on this point is surprising, however, given that judges today frequently choose indirect methods for protecting substantive constitutional values, including structural and process-based methods of the kinds at issue in the ACA litigation. Indeed, indirection in the protection of constitutional liberties is a well-known and well-theorized strategy, which one scholar recently termed “semisubstantive review” and another …

Using Law To Improve Public Health: The Example Of Tobacco Regulation, Kathleen Hoke Dachille

Faculty Scholarship

Tobacco use has been the leading cause of preventable death in the United States for decades yet public health advocates have struggled to secure legislation effectively regulating tobacco products and their use. This is largely due to the role tobacco played in the economic development of the United States, particularly in the southern states, and the power tobacco companies wielded with Congress. Although tobacco use has declined significantly in recent decades and our country no longer relies on tobacco crops for economic stability, tobacco products still maintain a prominent place in American culture, often serving as the straw man in …

Back To The Future (Reviewing David Bernstein, Rehabilitating Lochner: Defending Individual Rights Against Progressive Reform (2011)), William D. Araiza

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Kids Aren't Alright: Every Child Should Have An Attorney In Child Welfare Proceedings In Florida, Michael J. Dale, Louis M. Reidenberg

Faculty Scholarship

This article is a continuation of a discussion as to why, as a matter of Florida constitutional law, public policy, and professional ethics, Florida's children need independent attorneys from the inception of all dependency and termination of parental rights cases to their completion. It is based upon events which have occurred since the authors' last article on this topic in the Nova Law Review, including the Barahona case, the resolution by the American Bar Association (ABA) in August 2011 at its Annual Convention in Toronto adopting the ABA Model Act Governing the Representation of Children in Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency …

Modern Odysseus Or Classic Fraud - Fourteen Years In Prison For Civil Contempt Without A Jury Trial, Judicial Power Without Limitation, And An Examination Of The Failure Of Due Process, Mitchell J. Frank

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Back To The Future, William Araiza

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Respectable Queerness, Yuvraj Joshi

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Some Thoughts On Health Care Exchanges: Choice, Defaults, And The Unconnected, Brendan S. Maher

Faculty Scholarship

One feature of the ACA that appealed to observers across the political spectrum was the creation of health insurance “exchanges.” Among other things, exchanges are intended to aid consumers in making simple and transparent choices regarding the purchase of health insurance. This Article considers how exchanges might benefit from the use of “default” options — both online and off. Given the significant number of Americans that have limited or no Internet access, offline defaults may be an attractive way to promote coverage of the “unconnected.”

A Man In Full (A Tribute Remembering Professor David Bederman), Robert B. Ahdieh

Faculty Scholarship

Robert B. Ahdieh provides a tribute remembering Professor David Bederman as a colleague and friend.

Tattoos, Tickets, And Other Tawdry Behavior: How Universities Use Federal Law To Hide Their Scandals, Mary Margaret Penrose

Faculty Scholarship

This Article seeks to expose the inappropriate, if not improper, inversion of FERPA by universities falsely in the name of "student privacy." As will be seen, universities do not hesitate to embrace student-athletes' FERPA waivers when the news is good: Academic All-Americans should have their grades trumpeted to the mountaintops, or at least on ESPN. Bad boys and girls, however, particularly those whose behavior initiates NCAA investigations or criminal charges, are routinely and aggressively shielded by the university. This Article will demonstrate that the use of "student privacy" and FERPA defenses by universities are not genuinely invoked for student well-being, …

Free Riding On Benevolence: Collective Action Federalism And The Minimum Coverage Provision, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

Opponents of the minimum coverage provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) argue that this “individual mandate” is beyond the scope of Congress’s commerce power because it regulates the “inactivity” of not purchasing health insurance. Defenders of the provision argue that it regulates the “activity” of participating in the interstate health care market, including by obtaining health care without paying for it. This Article argues that the distinction between inactivity and activity is irrelevant to the limits of the commerce power.

Drawing from the theory of collective action federalism that he recently articulated with Robert Cooter, the …

Reforming The Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Market, David Reiss

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Economics Of Third-Party Financed Litigation, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the law and economics of third-party financed litigation. I explore the conditions under which a system of third-party financiers and litigators can enhance social welfare, and the conditions under which it is likely to reduce social welfare. Among the applications I consider are the sale of legal rights (such as contingent tort claims) to insurers, to patent trolls, and to financiers generally

Paying Bank Examiners For Performance, M. Todd Henderson, Frederick Tung

Faculty Scholarship

Investigations into the recent financial crisis have found that banking regulators knew or should have known of many of the problems that would ultimately cripple the finance industry. We argue that their failure to address those problems prior to the crisis was at least partly due to misaligned incentives for bank examiners that encourage inadequate inspection and forbearance and discourage the curbing of ill-advised risk taking. We recommend changing examiners’ incentives to better align them with the public good. Specifically, banking regulators should be “paid for performance” — rewarded for nurturing long-term health for the banks they oversee as well …

The Affordable Care Act And Health Promotion: The Role Of Insurance In Defining Responsibility For Health Risks And Costs, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines whether insurance is an appropriate mechanism for improving individual health or reducing the cost of health care for payers. The Affordable Care Act contains implicit standards for allocating responsibility for health, especially in provisions encouraging health promotion and wellness programs. A summary of the accumulating evidence of the effects of such programs suggests that wellness programs have been somewhat more effective in making people feel better than in reducing costs. Health promotion should be encouraged, because health is valuable for its own sake. Insurance is not well suited to improve health or manage behavioral risks to health; …

The Middle Kingdom And The Intellectual Property World, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Delivered as the keynote opening address at the Symposium on "China's Role in Regulating the Global Information Economy," this Article scrutinizes China's participation in the international intellectual property regime and its role in both the WTO and WIPO. It begins by discussing China's engagement with international intellectual property norms before its accession to the WTO in December 2001. It points out that China is not a "norm breaker" one typically infers from its disappointing record of intellectual property protection. Instead, the country should be viewed as a "norm taker," having accepted most of the WIPO-administered intellectual property treaties available for …

A Copyright Law For A Social Species, Robert E. Suggs

Faculty Scholarship

Arguments about the proper scope of copyright protection focus on the economic consequences of varying degrees of protection. Most analysts view copyright as an economic phenomenon, and the size and health of our copyright industries measure the success of copyright policies. The constitutional text granting Congress the copyright power and the nature of special interest lobbying naturally create this economic focus; but this is a serious mistake. An exclusively economic focus makes no more sense than measuring the nutritional merits of our food supply from the size and profitability of the fast food industry.

The expressive culture that copyright protects …

Placing British Employment Law In Context, Michael Harper

Faculty Scholarship

It is probably fair to generalize that the best American legal scholarship in the fields of labor, employment, and employment discrimination law has found little inspiration in the study of comparative law. Hugh Collins’s analytic and insightful but succinct overview of British employment law — republished in 2010 in a second edition to account for significant developments in response to European Union law — should teach any perceptive American reader that this need not be the case. This two hundred sixty page volume demonstrates that studying how other developed countries have addressed common issues presented by the employment relationship …

Correlates Of Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Knowledge Among African American Girls, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: To identify significant factors that distinguish African American girls who have high sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention knowledge from those lacking such knowledge. Methods: We recruited a sample of 715 African American girls from three public health clinics in downtown Atlanta. Using audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (A-CASI) technology, we assessed for age, self-mastery, employment status, attendance at sex education classes, socioeconomic status, and STI prevention knowledge. Results: Slightly more than one-third of the girls did not know that females are more susceptible to STI infections than males; and that having an STI increases the risk of contracting HIV. Almost half …