Digital Commons Network^™

Shadow Investment Companies, William A. Birdthistle, Gabriel Rauterberg, Jeffery Y. Zhang

Faculty Scholarship

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to track the value of fiat currency, most commonly the U.S. dollar. Over the past decade, they have grown from a niche innovation into the primary gateway between crypto markets and the traditional financial system, with daily trading volumes exceeding $100 billion. Despite their scale and centrality, stablecoin issuers occupy an uncertain and increasingly contested regulatory space.

This Article argues that the largest stablecoin issuers — such as Circle and Tether— are best understood not as banks or payments firms, but as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940. As a matter of statutory …

Legislating For The Future, Jonathan S. Gould, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Scholarship

Public policy must address threats that will manifest in the future. Legislation enacted today affects the severity of tomorrow’s harms arising from biotechnology, climate change, and artificial intelligence. This Essay focuses on Congress’s capacity to confront future threats. It uses a detailed case study of financial crises to show the limits and possibilities of legislation to prevent future catastrophes. By paying insufficient attention to Congress, the existing literature does not recognize the full nature and extent of the institutional challenges in regulating systemic risk. Fully recognizing those challenges reveals important design insights for future-risk legislation.

We first examine Congress as …

Reassessing Corporate Philanthropy From A Tax Perspective, David I. Walker

Faculty Scholarship

U.S. corporations make and deduct charitable contributions in excess of $20 billion annually. This Article reassesses corporate philanthropy from a tax perspective, asking first whether the federal tax subsidy for corporate philanthropy is greater than the subsidy for the alternative stakeholder philanthropy, as some commentators have previously found. The answer: it depends. The relative degree of subsidy depends on corporate and individual tax rates, obviously, but also on the incidence of corporate philanthropy, i.e., who bears the cost, which is generally unclear, as well as other details, such as whether individual stakeholders itemize deductions. At current tax rates, however, any …

Shadow Banking And Securities Law, Gabriel Rauterberg, Jeffery Y. Zhang

Faculty Scholarship

Shadow banking may be the single greatest challenge facing financial regulation. Financial institutions that function like banks, but fall outside the scope of banking regulation — aptly termed “shadow banks” — were at the heart of the Global Financial Crisis and most episodes of serious financial stress since then. Scholars have largely focused on one response to this problem: extending traditional banking regulation to shadow banks. Yet more than fifteen years after the crisis, major regulatory efforts along this route have stalled.

In this Article, we explore the uneasy case for greater regulation of shadow banking through a different route …

Climate Change Litigation In New York, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

Numerous lawsuits have been brought in the federal and state courts in New York concerning climate change. Some were under two important state statutes on the subject – the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 (CLCPA)and New York Climate Superfund Act of 2024. Others are brought under various common law, consumer protection, securities, and other theories. This column describes the most important of these cases.

Regionalism And The Federal Reserve Banks, Kathryn Judge, Lev Menand

Faculty Scholarship

Regionalism is central to our country’s central banking system. Rather than rely on a single organization to set monetary policy and oversee banks, Congress created a multiplicity of bodies including twelve Federal Reserve Banks (FRBs), each designed to operate in a different part of the country. These FRBs are an early and undertheorized example of how the federal government uses regional bodies to formulate and administer federal policy. When they were first authorized in 1913, their regional character assuaged concerns about centralizing power over the economy. Today, the FRBs continue to play a number of important roles, helping to shape …

Mainstreaming Parafamily, Elizabeth F. Emens

Faculty Scholarship

In Parafamily, Chen and Mulligan have managed to cover vast terrain, to catalogue important developments in law, to canvass insights from generations of thinkers, and to propose an ambitious yet pragmatic approach to the laws that govern human relationships, directly and indirectly. They do all this in a relatively short article composed of unusually readable prose. Quite a feat.

The focus of the piece is Chen and Mulligan’s contribution to the field of legal scholarship dedicated to relationships that go beyond the traditional nuclear family. As their title reveals, the authors contribute a new term and concept to this …

Public Funds, Public Functions, Private Actors: The Cognitive Dissonance Of Us Health Law, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter begins with the evolution of American medicine from a “sovereign” self-regulating profession focused on direct patient service to a large industry that serves the social sector but that, because of its professional heritage, receives extensive public subsidies without equivalent public accountability. Next, the chapter identifies regulatory dynamics in American health care governance that structurally discourage movement from the prevailing, if dissonant, private law framework to one explicitly grounded in public law. The chapter concludes by highlighting the challenges and opportunities inherent in a private law approach to what is intuitively a public law domain.

Optimal Real-Time Review Standards: Implications For Law Enforcement And Competitive Games, Murat C. Mungan

Faculty Scholarship

Real-time review systems are frequently used in various sports to monitor the decisions of referees and correct their mistakes. Interventions through these systems cause delays in games, which are perceived as being costly. This makes it optimal for these review systems to interfere with the decisions of the referee less frequently than would minimize the costs of decision errors, which I formalize through an analysis of the VAR system in football. This analysis also reveals that optimal review standards ought to be laxer when an important event (e.g., a goal) occurs between the position in which the potential error took …

The Extraordinary Drought Provision And The Future Of The Rio Grande Water Deliveries Under The 1944 Us–Mexico Water Treaty: An Exploratory Policy Analysis, Rosario Sanchez, Stephen P. Mumme, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

The ‘extraordinary drought’ provision contained in the legal framework governing water allocation between Mexico and the United States has been applied differently on the Colorado River, Upper Rio Grande, and Lower Rio Grande. While the provision has been interpreted to require proportional water allocation reductions during droughts for both parties on the Colorado and Upper Rio Grande, it has been applied very differently on the Lower Rio Grande where it binds Mexico to make up delivery shortfalls in subsequent cycles. Given climatic, economic, and population pressures in the Lower Rio Grande basin, application of the ‘extraordinary drought’ provision requires reconsideration.

Edge Feathering Across Forest-Meadow Ecotones Increases Light Heterogeneity And Understory Plant Diversity, Aruni Kadawatha, Jean H. Burns

Faculty Scholarship

Ecotones, the transitional zones between distinct habitats, are vital for ecosystem functioning and habitat diversity. Traditional management practices frequently create abrupt boundaries, leading to stressful conditions for organisms. To address this challenge, an underutilized land management technique called “edge feathering”, which involves gradual thinning of the canopy along the forest edge, has been introduced. This study, con- ducted at Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio, investigated the effects of edge feathering on light availability and understory plant diversity in edge feathered and control treatments. We calculated the coefficient of variation in light availability as light heterogeneity and plant diversity indices at …

Psychosocial Burden And Suicidality In Epilepsy: A Public Health Concern, Martha Sajatovic

Faculty Scholarship

The increased risk for psychosocial burden and suicidality in people with epilepsy compared to the general population is a well-established global public health concern. Suicidality risk is also increased in patients with functional seizures. The timely identification of patients at highest risk for psychosocial burden and self-harm is vital. This can pose a significant challenge for multidisciplinary clinicians caring for people with epilepsy. Early identification of social stressors and comorbid psychiatric contributors via screening are required to assist with the development of predictive models for self-harm in epilepsy; and subsequent options for treatment and the provision of adjunct supports in …

Examination Of Protective Factors That Promote Prosocial Skill Development Among Children Exposed To Intimate Partner Violence, Megan R. Holmes, Anna E. Bender, Kristen A. Berg, Kylie E. Evans, Amy Korsch-Williams, Adam T. Perzynski

Faculty Scholarship

This retrospective cohort study examined prosocial skills development in child welfare-involved children, how intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure explained heterogeneity in children's trajectories of prosocial skill development, and the degree to which protective factors across children's ecologies promoted prosocial skill development. Data were from 1,678 children from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being I, collected between 1999 and 2007. Cohort-sequential growth mixture models were estimated to identify patterns of prosocial skill development between the ages of 3 to 10 years. Four diverse pathways were identified, including two groups that started high (high subtle-decreasing; high decreasing-to-increasing) and two groups …

Human-Ai Collaboration In Writing: A Multidimensional Framework For Creative And Intellectual Authorship, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

The integration of AI technologies into the writing process has significantly altered traditional notions of authorship, creativity, and intellectual labor. Historically, writing was seen as a human-driven cognitive and creative exercise, but with the rise of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, the line between human and AI contributions has become increasingly ambiguous. This paper addresses the limitations of the current sliding scale model, which views AI involvement as ranging from “none” to “complete”. In its place, we propose a new multidimensional framework that more accurately reflects the complexity of human-AI collaboration in writing. The model includes axes …

Development Of A Self-Management Tool For Individuals With Seizure Clusters: Trial Design And Methodological Report, Molly Mcvoy, Eytan Hirsch, Luisa Londono, Kari Colón-Zimmermann, Jin Seok Cho, Evelyn K. Shih, Martha Sajatovic

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Despite advances in anti-seizure medications (ASMs) for people with epilepsy (PWE), adverse outcomes, negative health events (NHEs), and breakthrough seizures remain common. Rescue medication (RM) can better manage repetitive seizures, but barriers to RM use persist. Self-management for PWE and a history of NHEs (SMART) is an evidence-based epilepsy self-management program aimed at reducing barriers and maximizing facilitators to self-care in high-risk PWE. Methods: This 2-phase, ongoing clinical trial adapts SMART to integrate RM support for PWE with repetitive seizures. Phase 1, now completed, used input from an advisory board (AB) of PWE, caregivers, and clinicians to adapt the …

Prevalence Of Social Determinants Of Health Risk Factors Among And Their Impact On Viral Suppression, Consistent Visits, And No-Show Rates Among Persons With Hiv Who Identify As Hispanic, Mary Cowden, Ana Clavijo, Pragnya Iyengar, Ann Avery

Faculty Scholarship

The current study examines the association between language preference, social determinants of health (SDOH) risk factors, viral load, and HIV care outcomes among individuals of Hispanic ethnicity in the United States. More than half (54%) of all participants reported having two or more unmet needs. Hispanic individuals were more likely to be at risk in 2 or more domains than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Food insecurity was the most common risk factor reported and when present, 51% of patients also reported financial resource strain. Surprisingly, when language preference was analyzed, English-preferring Hispanic patients were at higher risk of financial resource strain, …

Postnatal Progressive Craniosynostosis: An Unusual Case Presentation Leading To Cascade Diagnosis For Multiple Generations, Jessica T. Ogawa, Maura Guyler, Krystal L. Tomei, Howard D. Wang

Faculty Scholarship

NM_000141.5: FGFR2 c.1032G>A is a pathogenic variant that causes Crouzon syndrome through activation of a new donor splice site. This clinical report highlights the intrafamilial variability that can exist with this specific variant. The proband is a 4-year-old boy who initially presented with concern for seizures. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed pancraniosynostosis and Chiari 1 malformation. Papilledema on fundoscopic exam and copper beaten appearance of the skull on imaging both suggested the presence of elevated intracranial pressure. Genetic testing identified c.1032G>A (p.Ala344=) in FGFR2. Familial testing and genetic evaluation confirmed the same pathogenic variant in the …

Performing Protest, Performing Memory: Speech Act Theory And January 6, Mary Lynne Gasaway Hill

Faculty Scholarship

In daily life, memory performs a staggering array of tasks. It offers reassurance, validation, legitimation, and approval. It transgresses boundaries and polices them. It confirms understandings and undermines them. It warms our hearts and chills our blood. In the realm of protest, as this article will show, memory works through intentional language use. In the context of activism, acts of memory are often performative: they aim not just to restate the status quo, but to change something about it. This chapter operationalises J.L. Austin’s Speech Act Theory (1994, SAT) as a lens through which to examine how the contentious discourse …

Examining The Relationship Between Frailty, Operative Management, And 90-Day Mortality Across Emergency General Surgery Conditions, Caleb W. Curry, Marisa R. Imbroane, Wyatt P. Bensken, Adam T. Perzynski, Christopher W. Towe, Vanessa P. Ho

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Scalability Of A Graph Neural Network In Accurate Prediction Of Frictional Contact Networks In Suspensions, Armin Aminimajd, Joao Maia, Abhinendra Singh

Faculty Scholarship

Dense suspensions often exhibit shear thickening, characterized by a dramatic increase in viscosity under large external forcing. This behavior has recently been linked to the formation of a system-spanning frictional contact network (FCN), which contributes to increased resistance during deformation. However, identifying these frictional contacts poses experimental challenges and is computationally expensive. This study introduces a graph neural network (GNN) model designed to accurately predict FCNs by two dimensional simulations of dense shear thickening suspensions. The results demonstrate the robustness and scalability of the GNN model across various stress levels (s), packing fractions (f), system sizes, particle size ratios (D), …

Aging Is Associated With Decreased Lactobacillus And Increased Cervicovaginal Inflammation In Canadian Women, Ha T. Dang, Laura Noel-Romas, Samantha Knodel, Kenzie Birse, Hossaena Ayele, Alicia R. Berard, Adam D. Burgener, Christina Farr Zuend

Faculty Scholarship

Problem: Aging is characterized by a general dysregulation of systemic immune responses that increases susceptibility to infections and malignancies. Immune cells in the female genital tract (FGT) are regulated by sex hormones, but little is known about the impact of aging and menopause on immunology in the FGT. Method of Study: This study conducted an age-focused sub-analysis of cervicovaginal samples collected from 47 women enrolled in the Vaginal Mucosal Systems study in Winnipeg, Canada. Paired cervicovaginal lavage and cervical cytobrush were collected and analyzed by Luminex cytokine array, mass spectrometry based metaproteomics, metabolomics, and high dimensional flow cytometry. Results: The …

Redefining Cell Culture Using A 3d Flipwell Co-Culture System: A Mimetic For Gut Architecture And Dynamics In Vitro, Saori Furuta

Faculty Scholarship

Gut mucosae are composed of stratified layers of microbes, a selectively permeable mucus, an epithelial lining, and connective tissue homing immune cells. Studying cellular and chemical interactions between the gut mucosal components has been limited without a good model system. We have engineered a three-dimensional (3D) multi-cellular co-culture system we coined “3D Flipwell system” using cell culture inserts stacked against each other. This system allows an assessment of the impact of a gut mucosal environmental change on interactions between gut bacteria, epithelia, and immune cells. As such, this system can be utilized in examining the effects of exogenous stimuli, such …

Super-Resolution Imaging Reveals Resistance To Mass Transfer In Functionalized Stationary Phases, Ricardo Monge Neria, Muhammad Zeeshan, Aman Kapoor, Tae Kyong John Kim, Nichole Hoven, Jeffrey S. Pigott, Burcu Gurkan, Christine E. Duval, Lydia Kisley

Faculty Scholarship

Chemical separations are costly in terms of energy, time, and money. Separation methods are optimized with inefficient trial-and-error approaches that lack insight into the molecular dynamics that lead to the success or failure of a separation and, hence, ways to improve the process. We perform super-resolution imaging of fluorescent analytes in five different commercial liquid chromatography materials. Unexpectedly, we observe that chemical functionalization can block more than 50% of the material’s porous interior, rendering it inaccessible to small-molecule analytes. Only in situ imaging unveils the inaccessibility when compared to the industry-accepted ex situ characterization methods. Selectively removing some of the …

Super-Resolution Imaging Reveals Resistance To Mass Transfer In Functionalized Stationary Phases, Ricardo Monge Neria, Muhammad Zeeshan, Aman Kapoor, Tae Kyong John Kim, Nichole Hoven, Jeffrey Pigott, Burcu Gurkan, Christine Duval, Lydia Kisley

Faculty Scholarship

Chemical separations are costly in terms of energy, time, and money. Separation methods are optimized with inefficient trial-and-error approaches that lack insight into the molecular dynamics that lead to the success or failure of a separation and, hence, ways to improve the process. We perform super-resolution imaging of fluorescent analytes in five different commercial liquid chromatography materials. Unexpectedly, we observe that chemical functionalization can block more than 50% of the material’s porous interior, rendering it inaccessible to small-molecule analytes. Only in situ imaging unveils the inaccessibility when compared to the industry-accepted ex situ characterization methods. Selectively removing some of the …

Towards More Sustainable Oceans: A Review Of The Pressing Challenges Posed By Marine Plastic Litter, Peter Yang

Faculty Scholarship

Marine littering is a global challenge and a significant threat to a sustainable planet, requiring comprehensive and effective mechanisms to address it in a comprehensive manner. This study reports on a bibliometric analysis that has identified the extent to which the topic has been explored in the international literature, by focusing on geographical scope, the emphasis on (micro)plastic litter and on policy measures. Additionally, as a complement to the assessment of the recent literature on marine plastic litter, this study reviews some case studies, identifying some trends on how to cope with this problem. The findings underscore the imperative for …

Microstructural, Oxidation, And Mechanical Behavior Of Nbti-Based Refractory Alloys With 5 To 10 Pct Co, Cr, And Ni Additions, Tae Kyong John Kim, Jennifer Carter

Faculty Scholarship

NbTi-based refractory alloys with additions of Co, Cr, and Ni represent an interesting medium-entropy alloy system with potential for protective oxide film formation, high strength, and ductility. This study investigates the microstructural evolution, oxidation behavior, and mechanical properties of NbTi-based alloys containing 5 to 10 at. pct Co, Cr, and Ni. CALPHAD predictions suggest that this composition range can be heat treated to obtain a predominantly body-centered cubic matrix phase. Mechanical properties, including microhardness, yield strength, maximum strength, and specific strength are evaluated through isothermal compression tests conducted between room temperature and 800 °C. The oxidation kinetics of these alloys …

Novel Biomarkers Of Fetal And Neonatal Environmental Exposure, Effect And Susceptibility, Cynthia F. Bearer

Faculty Scholarship

Abstract: Rapid advancements in science and technology have allowed medical providers to treat wider ranges of diseases with safer and more effective therapies than ever before. One of the areas of health that has been consistently understudied, however, is one that affects us all: environmental health or the effects that the chemicals we are exposed to every day have on our acute and chronic health. This effect can be exacerbated during and shortly after pregnancy, as an individual exposure is often shared by both the mother and the fetus/neonate. The diagnosis and monitoring of chemical exposure can be quite challenging, …

The Evolution And Future Of Microservices Architecture With Ai-Driven Enhancements, Jill Willard, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Microservices architecture has revolutionized software development by enabling the decomposition of monolithic applications into smaller, more manageable services. While this shift has reduced risks and enhanced system resiliency, the increasing complexity of managing numerous microservices presents new challenges. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, there is a growing need to explore how autonomous AI agents can optimize microservices architectures, particularly in terms of communication and workflow orchestration. The purpose of this study is to investigate how AI agents can autonomously interact and manage microservices, reducing human intervention and enhancing system efficiency. The key research question guiding this investigation relates …

Elevation In White Blood Cell Count After Corticosteroid Use In Noninfected Hospitalized Patients, Erin Sullivan, Michael B. Rothberg

Faculty Scholarship

Background: It is widely accepted that corticosteroids cause leukocytosis. Clinicians must decide whether a rise in white blood cell (WBC) count is due to steroids versus other processes like developing infection. Objective: The objective of this study is to measure the increase in white blood cell count after corticosteroid administration in hospitalized patients without malignancy, infection, or immune dysfunction. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study from 2017 to 2018 in a single large healthcare system. We analyzed the trajectory of WBC count stratified by steroid dose. The study included nonsurgical patients admitted with at least two complete blood count …

Thrombocytopenia In Sepsis, Alireza Setarehaseman, Robert W. Maitta

Faculty Scholarship

Platelets, traditionally known for their role in hemostasis, have emerged as key players in immune response and inflammation. Sepsis, a life-threatening condition characterized by systemic inflammation, often presents with thrombocytopenia, which at times, can be significant. Platelets contribute to the inflammatory response by interacting with leukocytes, endothelial cells, and the innate immune system. However, excessive platelet activation and consumption can lead to thrombocytopenia and exacerbate the severity of sepsis. Understanding the multifaceted roles of platelets in sepsis is crucial for developing effective therapeutic strategies. Targeting platelet-mediated inflammatory responses and promoting platelet production may offer potential avenues for improving outcomes in …