Digital Commons Network^™

P-15 Peptide Enhanced Bone Graft Improves Time To Fusion In Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: A Randomized, Controlled, Investigational Device Exemption Study, James S. Harrop, Michael P. Steinmetz, John E. O'Toole, Christopher D Chaput, Rick C. Sasso, K. Brandon Strenge, Greg Maislin, Jeffrey P. Mullin, Thomas B. Freeman, Anthony Guanciale, Howard Lantner, Michael E. Janssen, David G. Schwartz, John M. Small, Wellington K. Hsu, Paul M. Arnold

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, multicenter, single-blind, randomized, and controlled pivotal study.

OBJECTIVE: Compare time-to-fusion in patients treated with P-15L (PearlMatrix TM P-15 peptide enhanced bone graft) versus local autograft over 24 months and evaluate changes in pain and quality of life at 24 months relative to baseline.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: P-15L, an FDA-designated breakthrough device, is a composite bone graft with P-15, a 15-amino acid polypeptide that promotes cellular adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation to support bone formation.

METHODS: Patients (22-80 y) with degenerative disc disease were randomized to the investigational (P-15L) or control (local autograft) group during single-level transforaminal lumbar …

Flores De Caña: Documental, Adrianna Cruz-Manjarrez

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

García Ortega, Martha. (2024). Flores de Caña. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. https://youtu.be/W3Yv_gOT_EQ?si=nHK-70sEa22tZUFO Dirección: Martha García Ortega Fotografía: Marco Girón y Martha García Ortega Edición y posproducción: Meztli Vianey Suárez Mc Liberty Reseña por Adriana Cruz-Manjarrez Universidad de Colima

El Último Viaje, Gaspar Pedro González

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Gaspar le hizo una oferta a la revista: publicar uno de los capítulos de su último libro, Hojas de Onoño. El capítulo, titulado El Último Viaje, narra el último viaje de un anciano a la comunidad de su juventud, ubicada en el departamento de Huehuetenango, Guatemala. De forma lírica y metafórica, el autor describe cómo se desvanecen los recuerdos y la tristeza por las personas que ya no están. El poeta Daniel Caño escribió una breve reacción personal a la historia que incluimos al final de esta.

Full Issue - Maya America V7, I2, Maya America Editors

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Full issue of Maya America, volume 7, issue 2.

Living Experiences Of Indigenous Health Practice: Belizean Maya Communities And Belize Migrants, Kristina Baines

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Belize Maya communities, like many indigenous communities around the world, have long experienced challenges to maintaining health as they interface with an ever-expanding globalized model of development. This essay explores the relationship between traditional ecological practices and health in the context of a holistic understanding of what makes healthy bodies, healthy communities and healthy lives. Using the author’s Embodied Ecological Heritage (EEH) framework and a phenomenological lens, the essay shares how sensory experiences become embodied through everyday practice, promoting health and general wellbeing. This grounded theory, developed in and with Maya communities, helps us understand ways to consider and support …

Princesa Chnab’Jul Un Espacio Para La Mujer Maya Huehueteca Que Florece A Través Del Empoderamiento, Silvia Patricia López Juan

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Este documento recoge la historia viva de las mujeres mayas de Huehuetenango que, a lo largo de las décadas, han representado a sus pueblos en espacios de incidencia cultural. Más que un recuento de coronas, títulos y certámenes es un homenaje a la resistencia, la dignificación y el despertar de voces que durante mucho tiempo fueron silenciadas por el racismo y la exclusión. El surgimiento del certamen de la Princesa Xinabajul no fue casual: nació en un contexto marcado por la marginación de los pueblos originarios, donde la mujer maya no fue considerada apta para ser Reina Departamental. A pesar …

Comparison Of Cervical Spine Injury Clinical Prediction Rules For Children After Blunt Trauma, Lois K. Lee, Fahd A. Ahmad, Lorin R. Brown, Monica Harding, Lawrence Cook, Kathleen Adelgais, Rebecca K. Burger, Alexander Rogers, Leah Tzimenatos, Lauren C. Riney, Daniel Rubalcava, Caleb E. Ward, Kenneth Yen, Julie C. Leonard

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Macroinvertebrate Community Dynamics In A Recovering, Hypersaline Estuary, Catherine M. Eckert, Claudia A. Tamez, Erin E. Easton, David Hicks

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The Bahia Grande is a 6,500—acre tidal basin located at the southernmost tip of Texas. Tidal flow into this coastal estuary was cut off in the 1930s, causing the basin to dry up for ~70 y. A pilot channel connecting the Bahia Grande to tidal waters was constructed in 2005, allowing flooding of the basin to occur. Throughout the period reported herein (2005–2019), the system remained characterized by persistent spatial and temporal episodes of extreme hypersalinity (>70)—a critical factor influencing estuarine community composition and driving key ecological processes. With additional rehabilitation actions forthcoming, characterization of the estuary is essential …

Utilizing The Visia Camera For Analyzing 5-Fluorouracil Treatment Efficacy For Actinic Keratosis, Emily Woolhiser, Leena Jamal, Jessica Kirk, Bertha Baum, Robert Dellavalle

Student Publications

The VISIA camera is a device that captures images of the skin, offering a detailed look at skin health by detecting changes that are often missed during physical exams and by the naked eye. It can help identify changes in UV damage, pigmentation, texture, fine lines, and redness. In dermatology, it has become a useful tool to build targeted treatment plans and follow patient progress over time. We present a case of a male patient diagnosed with diffuse scalp actinic keratoses who was treated with topical 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). VISIA images were taken before treatment, at one week, and again three …

Ice In Nyc, Student Interfaith Walkout, And Bronx Night Market Bid Farwell: Reporting For Newmark’S “Audio Files”, Rebecca Raghunath

Capstones

Audiofiles is a news magazine podcast powered by students at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Students produce stories that seek to explore and explain the core issues defining the lives of New Yorkers through in-depth reporting, hosting interviews, and personal narratives. This capstone includes a collection of news stories that address immigration, politics, and food tourism. The first feature is about the chilling effect ICE enforcement has had on immigrant owned businesses in East Harlem. The second feature focuses on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses. This story examines how a student walkout at an interfaith workshop led to …

Inside The Gen Z Vote Across Gender And Race, Juliet La Sala

Capstones

This capstone examines how two people from two different Gen Z groups are navigating the 2024 U.S. election. One story revolves around a young woman adopting a U.S. version of South Korea’s 4B Movement and another reflects on a Gen Z Arab American responding to the Israel–Hamas war. Through reported stories and interviews, it explores how personal experience, gender and ethnic violence, and political disillusionment shaped these young voters’ choices and activism. Sierra Bee's story is in light of Trump's election and Liam's is right before the 2024 election took place. Together, the pieces highlight how global events and identity-based …

The American Eye And Greek Music: How Greek Artists Are Changing To Become Palatable To The Non-Greek Listener, Andriana Kourkoumelis

Capstones

International artists are trying to successfully bridge into the U.S. music industry, and Greek pop singers are finally making a dent. This year, some of the biggest names in Greece, along with a couple new faces, were working with their labels to rebrand as a means to connect with the American listener and expand their listenership. With three notable tours happening across the states from muscians like Konstantinos Argiros, Anastasia, and Marina Satti playing venues like the Barclays Center and Sony Hall, it's safe to assume that there is a shift happening in the world of Balkan and Hellenic entertainment. …

The Next Drug Epidemic Is Legal: The Nation's Kratom Problem Is More Complicated—And More Harmful—Than It Seems, Elizabeth Walsh

Capstones

This two-part health and science investigative piece reports how kratom and its offshoots have quietly fueled a lucrative and legal addiction epidemic for the last decade. While kratom’s derivative alkaloid 7-hyrdoxymitragynine made headlines this year and as the DEA is poised to ban the strong derivative, “natural” kratom and other kratom-derived products will remain. This piece tracks the history of the 'gas‑station opioid' crisis in the U.S. over ten years: what was thought to be an innocuous southeast Asian supplement has become multi-billion dollar industry built on gray‑area laws, marketed falsehoods, and regulatory loophooles.

Part 1: The ‘Gas Station Opioid’ …

From Elmhurst To Astoria, Indonesia’S Thousand Islands Find A Home In Food Bazaars, Adrian O'Farrill

Capstones

In Elmhurst and Astoria, three different bazaars focused on Indonesian food pop up once a month, all within two miles of each other, dubbed by the vendors as the unofficial “Little Indonesia” of New York. While there’s a handful of Indonesian restaurants in Elmhurst, for those Indonesians who don't have the necessary funds or even paperwork to start a brick and mortar establishment, or who don’t want to cook at a restaurant scale, the three bazaars in Queens present an opportunity to emphasize authentic Indonesian food and to make a profit for the culinary inclined of the tight-knit community.

https://adrianofarrill.com/cuny-capstone

Gowanus Faces A Hidden Threat Beneath Its Neighborhood Boom, Emma J. Rosenberg

Capstones

This article investigates urban redevelopment, climate change and environmental contamination in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood. The Gowanus Canal itself has been a designated EPA Federal Superfund Site since 2010, this designation does not apply to the land surrounding it where legacy industrial contamination still exists. This includes coal tar from former manufactured gas plants which poses a risk to groundwater and indoor air. Under a 2021 rezoning plan, large-scale residential redevelopment is rapidly moving forward, rising groundwater and increased flooding associated with climate change may exacerbate contaminants. Utilizing agency documents, Community Advisory Group meetings, and conversations with residents, advocates, officials and …

¡Ausente!: La Censura De Los Migrantes Dentro Del Museo Smithsonian, Gretchen Lembcke Peña

Capstones

El museo Smithsonian cerró su exhibición sobre migrantes latinos sin notificarles a los artistas. Ahora, grupos de defensa y los mismos artistas están empujando contra la censura de su arte.

How Has Your Climate Changed?, Rhyannon Bartlett-Imadegawa

Capstones

This interactive data visualization shows readers how much the climate has changed in their home state compared to 100 years ago, since the reader was born, the current year and projections into the future. It aims to communicate climate change impacts more personally by linking it to seasons, the reader's birth year and age mile stones and compares a readers' home state to a state that has been more impacted to connect across different states and communities.

Using JavaScript and Svelte, the code calculates and displays seasonal averages for the baseline period for the reader's state and years for the …

Recortes Federales Amenazan La Ayuda A Sobrevivientes De Violencia Doméstica En Nueva York, Ilvea Lezama Melendez

Capstones

Este reportaje examina el impacto de los recientes recortes federales en el financiamiento de organizaciones sin fines de lucro en Nueva York. Esas que brindan servicios a sobrevivientes de violencia doméstica y dependen en gran medida de subvenciones federales y fondos públicos para operar refugios, líneas de ayuda en crisis, servicios legales, consejería y apoyos culturalmente específicos. La reducción de recursos ha provocado interrupciones en los servicios y una disminución en la capacidad de atención, justo cuando la demanda de apoyo por parte de las sobrevivientes dentro de comunidades inmigrantes. A través de entrevistas con proveedores de servicios y expertos …

Nyc Falls Behind In Climate Resources For Pregnant And Postpartum Moms, Jada Simon

Capstones

The U.S. still holds the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations around the world. While national rates have since seen a slight decrease, Black mothers still see high maternal death rates in comparison to white mothers, showing that racial disparities in maternal death rates are still apparent. In NYC, the reason for these disparities are not just unequal access to quality healthcare, but also the poor living conditions of neighborhoods in the city that are made up mainly of minoritized groups. So far, it has gone unconsidered that that the maternal mortality and climate crises are happening concurrently. This …

Flooding, Not Just A Rain Problem, Annisha Singh

Capstones

This capstone focuses on the Rockaway Peninsula and how high-tide flooding also known as "sunny-day flooding" is not only affecting Rockaway but neighboring areas, such as Jamaica Bay.

Enduring The American Dream, Edward Grattan

Capstones

Martha and Rene - both Colombian nationals – have made the difficult decision to self-deport from the United States in the midst of the Trump Administration’s unprecedented immigration crackdown and deportation campaign. After working as day laborers in The Hamptons, New York for nearly eight years, the couple shares their experience of leaving their current life behind as anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy escalates across the country.

The Trump administration has transformed the landscape for immigrants living in the United States, regardless of documentation status, by eliminating paths for legal residency, charging The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency with …

Amidst The Struggles, Nyc Actors Say The Pursuit Of Their Craft Is Always Worth It, Allison Dubrow

Capstones

Despite high ticket prices and safety concerns, Broadway has had a record-breaking season, surpassing pre-pandemic box office revenue largely due to star-driven productions. While the industry is financially thriving, many NYC actors struggle to make a livable wage and rely on non-acting jobs to support themselves. The uncertainty of auditions and booking work makes sustaining an acting career especially difficult in such a competitive city. This project highlights the contrast between Broadway’s success and the resilience it takes for actors to survive and pursue their craft in New York City.

Two Major Ontario Hospital Labs Bought Research Dogs From U.S. Breeder With Troubled Pastdogs Bred For Scientific And Medical Testing Suffer Abuse As The Scientific Industry Increasingly Turns To Alternatives For Research., Allison Hunter, Mary Beech, Sami Marshak, Kate Morano

Capstones

The purpose-bred dog breeding industry for research is little known. Each year, thousands of dogs are bred for scientific and medical testing, supplied to research facilities by a handful of major commercial breeders. But gaps in enforcement and regulation have allowed abuses to persist, even as the industry increasingly turns to alternatives to animal testing. Animal rights advocates have been decrying the treatment of these dogs. A federal Inspector General report found lax oversight of the industry, raising further concerns about how dogs are treated. This story was reported in collaboration with the Investigative Journalism Bureau, based in Toronto, and …

Relief, At A Cost: New Bill Forces Landlords To Offer Ac, But Leaves Tenants With The Bill, Niamh Mcauliffe

Capstones

As summers in New York City are getting hotter and hotter every year due to climate change, lack of home air conditioning is a serious issue. A newly passed City Council bill would require landlords to provide air conditioning upon tenant request. While advocates see the legislation as a necessary step to protect tenants from the dangers of extreme heat, there are still unresolved questions around energy affordability, costs and implementation.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XgVilwyn6ncwVbslr1UcdP6p-3OwGQAseHXMY3EYCeY/edit?usp=sharing

The Glow Up Guide: Chicago Edition : Housing + Stability After Foster Care, Lucila M. Baptiste

Capstones

For my practicum, I examined what “independence” looks like for young people aging out of foster care and how the transition to adulthood is shaped by housing instability, rising living costs, and uneven access to support. Using an engagement journalism approach, I centered lived experience and community-informed reporting to document the challenges young people face as systems shift responsibilities onto them often quickly and with limited safety nets.

This practicum pairs narrative reporting with a practical, service-oriented resource component designed to be useful beyond the classroom. The project draws on interviews, field reporting, and collaboration with people closest to the …

El Camino Al Exilio Para Una Estudiante De Nicaragua Que Huyó De Ortega, Leyrian Colon Santiago

Capstones

A inicios de 2018, Lucía tenía bien estructurado como serían sus próximos dos años en la escuela de medicina. En las mañanas, se enfocaría en las clases teóricas y en las tardes, haría sus rotaciones como practicante en algún hospital de Nicaragua. Y cuando le sobrara tiempo, visitaría a su familia a las afueras de la capital, Managua.

Lo que Lucía jamás pensó fue que ser una estudiante universitaria que protestó pacíficamente contra el gobierno de su país la empujaría al exilio a sus 23 años de edad.

Actualmente Lucía, quien pidió que su nombre real no fuese publicado por …

Beyond Precision: Ambiomic Survivorship In Childhood And Aya Cancer., Juan Antonio Ortega-García, Omar Shakeel, Nicole Wood, Antonio Pérez-Martínez, Jose Luís Fuster-Soler, Mark D. Miller

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Background: Survival among children and adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer has improved substantially over recent decades; however, dominant survivorship models remain reactive-activated post-treatment and anchored to static exposure- and organ-based screening. This design underuses the anticipatory window at diagnosis and overlooks environmental and social determinants that modulate outcomes across the life course. Methods: We narratively reviewed international frameworks including the Children's Oncology Group (COG), the International Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Guideline Harmonization Group (IGHG), the Pan-European Network for Care of Survivors after Childhood and Adolescent Cancer (PanCare) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), and synthesized evidence …

Rwu Law Alumni Holiday Reception 12-03-2025, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

(Un)Intended Consequences Of Race In Medicine: The Ethics Of Race-Based Medical Practice And The Perpetuation Of Structural Racism, Allegra Merriweather

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation proposes that race-based medicine acts as a form of structural racism that is ethically indefensible. While it may be claimed to be a neutral diagnostic tool, the medical use of race as a biological proxy only further enforces the very hierarchies it purports to remediate, reinscribing inequity from conception to death. Building off Jacques Ellul’s work on Technique, we interpret race-based medicine as a self-perpetuating system that values procedural expediency over moral accountability. In nine chapters, the analysis follows the ways this technique is manifested in genetics and assisted reproduction, where commodified racial selection preserves social hierarchies; in …

A Systematic Characterization Of Fibroblast Subtypes And Heterogeneity, Xiuli Zhu, Hongen Kang, Zhongming Zhao, Peilin Jia

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Fibroblasts are essential components in development, disease, and treatment response, yet their diversity and function remain incompletely understood. Here, we constructed a comprehensive fibroblast landscape by integrating large-scale single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing datasets spanning 60 major human organs and tissues across various developmental stages and biological conditions. We identified 16 fibroblast subtypes and systematically characterized their tissue specificities, transcriptional heterogeneity, and cell states. Further analyses revealed distinct fibroblast subtypes associated with pluripotency and senescence across tissues. Leveraging the well-defined fibroblast atlas, we demonstrated that different fibroblast subtypes were associated with various complex traits such as anthropometric and immune diseases. …