Digital Commons Network^™

Cross-Ancestry Comparison Of Aptamer And Antibody Protein Measures, Francois Aguet, K Alaine Broadaway, Jingsha Chen, Clary B Clish, Josef Coresh, Elaine Cornell, Daniel E Cruz, Rajat Deo, Margaret F Doyle, Peter Durda, Lynette Ekunwe, James S Floyd, Dipender Gill, Xiuqing Guo, Ron C Hoogeveen, Craig Johnson, Leslie A Lange, Yun Li, James B Meigs, Michael Y Mi, Josyf C Mychaleckyj, Nels C Olson, Katherine A Pratte, Brucy M Psaty, Alexander P Reiner, Peifeng Ruan, Magdalena Sevilla-Gonzalez, Amil M Shah, Quan Sun, Russell P Tracy, Jia Wen, Alexis C Wood, James G Wilson, Kristin L Young, Bing Yu, Mary R Rooney, Ani Manichaikul, Ruth Dubin, Karen L Mohlke, Stephen S Rich, Jerome I Rotter, Peter Ganz, Robert E Gerszten, Kent D Taylor, Laura M Raffield

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Measures from affinity-proteomics platforms often correlate poorly, challenging interpretation of protein associations with genetic variants and phenotypes. Here, we examine 2157 proteins measured on both SomaScan 7k and Olink Explore 3072 across 1930 participants with genetic similarity to European, African, East Asian, and Admixed American ancestry references. Inter-platform correlation coefficients for these 2157 proteins follow a bimodal distribution (median r = 0.30). We evaluate protein measure associations with genetic variants, and find approximately 25-30% of the signals on each platform are likely driven by protein-altering variants. We highlight 80 proteins that correlate differently across ancestry groups likely in part due …

Police Staffing Shortages, Public Awareness, And Policy Preferences, Hunter M. Boehme, Joshua Mccrain, Scott M. Mourtgos, Brandon Tregle

Faculty Publications

Since the summer of 2020, police agencies across the United States have continued to experience police staffing shortages. The consequences of understaffed police agencies are well studied, but little is known about whether the public is aware of the staffing problem and its consequences for public safety and police behavior. This study presents a pre-registered factorial survey experiment to 3105 US adults, varying the information respondents see on the consequences of staffing shortages (e.g., public safety, police behavior) and the messenger of this information (e.g., police chief, mayor). Respondents are then asked about their levels of concern about police staffing, …

Meet Me At The Rock: The Behavioral Patterns Of Collective Violence In Prison, Hayden P. Smith

Faculty Publications

This study explores the behavioral dynamics of collective violence in prisons, focusing on the largest prison riot in the United States in twenty-five years at Lee Correctional Institution, using an ethnographic approach and Crime Script Analysis (CSA). The sample consisted of twenty-five incarcerated men, predominantly African American, aged 25 to 61, with extensive incarceration histories, experiences of violence, and influencer status within the prison community. It identifies key factors such as situational awareness, gang affiliations, and chronic understaffing that escalate violence. Themes include the "pressure cooker" environment, elevated tensions, and stages of confrontation, escalation, and de-escalation. A key finding is …

A Non-Canonical Role For Hif-1Α: Redirecting Dgcr8 To The Rna Exosome For Snorna Degradation And Translational Modulation, Laising Yen, Chien-Hung Yu, Yu-Jhen Lyu, Pai-Sheng Chen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The RNA exosome complex (EC) is a multi-protein complex responsible for RNA surveillance. Guided by specific adaptor factors, the EC recognizes RNA species as substrates for processing or degradation. Although its basic structure and components are documented, the regulatory mechanisms that enable this fundamental machinery to respond to biological signals remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) brings DGCR8 to associate with the EC in an RNA-independent manner and shifts DGCR8's RNA-binding preference toward small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). This circuit triggers the snoRNA degradation without affecting their transcription or processing, ultimately impairing ribosomal RNA (rRNA) modifications such …

Single-Cell Atlas Of Human Lung Aging Identifies Cell Type Dyssynchrony And Increased Transcriptional Entropy, Fadi Nikola, Reina Rangel, Sabina Anderson, Edward P Manning, Juan Cala Garcia, Benjamin Moss, Alan Waich, Fernando Poli, Rafael Cardenas, Cristian Coarfa, Qi Song, Ziv Bar-Joseph, Bart M Vanaudenaerde, Wim A Wuyts, Laura Niklason, Micha Sam B Raredon, Xiting Yan, Ivan O Rosas, Naftali Kaminski

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Age is a major risk factor for lung disease. We characterized the changing cellular, transcriptional, and genomic landscape of human lung aging using single-cell RNA sequencing. We find that lung aging is cell-type dyssynchronous, with alveolar epithelial and endothelial cells exhibiting the greatest transcriptional changes. Among alveolar epithelial cells, aging is associated with a decreased relative proportion of surfactant-expressing SPChigh AT2 cells. Among alveolar capillary cells, we observed loss of differentiation and capillary function. Analysis of somatic mutations called from single-cell data revealed an increase with aging, with alveolar epithelial and endothelial cell types exhibiting greater mutation burdens. Transcriptional entropy …

An Ai Tool Recreates Some Of The Friction Of Academic Search. Is That Actually Helpful?, Jasmine S. Kirby

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Keenious mitigates some of the educational risks of AI search. But its limitations will frustrate some users.

Phase 1b/2 Study Of Bms-813160, A Ccr2/5 Dual Antagonist, In Combination With Chemotherapy Or Nivolumab In Patients With Advanced Pancreatic Or Colorectal Cancer, Dung T. Le, Gunnar Folprecht, Anna M. Varghese, Martin Gutierrez, Marcus Noel, Nikolaos A. Trikalinos, Eric Chen, Farshid Dayyani, S. Lindsey Davis, Wen Wee Ma, Atrayee Basu Mallick, Ignacio Garrido-Laguna, Mayu Osawa, Shaun O'Brien, Ruslan D. Novosiadly, Ke Xu, Danielle M. Greenawalt, Santanu Dutta, Christina Twyman Saint Victor, Heinz-Josef Lenz

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Cysteine-cysteine chemokine receptors 2 (CCR2) and 5 (CCR5) contribute to immune suppression in tumor microenvironments. CCR2 and CCR5 antagonists have demonstrated antitumor activity in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and colorectal cancer (CRC), respectively. This phase 1b/2, open-label study evaluated BMS-813160, a CCR2/5 dual antagonist, in combination with chemotherapy±nivolumab in advanced PDAC or metastatic CRC.

METHODS: Part 1 included patients with metastatic untreated (first-line (1L)) PDAC, 1L CRC, or previously treated (second or third line (2/3L)) microsatellite stable (MSS) CRC. Patients received 2 weeks of BMS-813160 monotherapy (300 mg two times a day, 600 mg once daily, 300 mg once …

Association Between The 2022 Aha/Acc/Hfsa Heart Failure Staging And Cardiovascular And Kidney Outcomes In Patients With Diabetes And Kidney Disease: A Post Hoc Analysis Of The Scored Randomized Controlled Trial, Ayodele Odutayo, Deepak L Bhatt, Vikas S Sridhar, Michael Szarek, Christopher P Cannon, Darren K Mcguire, Renato D Lopes, Benjamin M Scirica, Kausik K Ray, Michael J Davies, Phillip Banks, Manon Girard, Subodh Verma, Jacob A Udell, Bertram Pitt, Ph Gabriel Steg, David Z I Cherney

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The 2022 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Heart Failure Society of America heart failure (HF) classification incorporates cardiac biomarkers to identify early risk of HF. The HF stages may also guide the prognosis and management of cardiovascular and kidney-related events.

Methods: SCORED (Effect of Sotagliflozin on Cardiovascular and Renal Events in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and Moderate Renal Impairment Who Are at Cardiovascular Risk) was a randomized trial in diabetes with kidney disease comparing sotagliflozin versus placebo on cardiovascular death, HF hospitalizations, and urgent HF visits. SCORED participants were grouped by HF stage post hoc. Stage A: no …

Cdk2 Inhibitor Blu-222 Synergizes With Cdk4/6 Inhibitors In Drug Resistant Breast Cancers Through P21/P27 Induction, Linjie Luo, Yan Wang, Tuyen Bui, Xiaoting Jiang, Mei-Kuang Chen, Sepideh Mohammadhosseinpour, Serena Kim, Rachel Y Kim, Saba Kamaliasl, Carmen W Ulizio, Spyros Tsavachidis, Juliana Navarro-Yepes, Nicole M Kettner, Hannah Wingate, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Kelly K Hunt, Jing Wang, Kerrie Faia, Khandan Keyomarsi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) combined with endocrine therapy are the standard first-line treatment for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer, but resistance inevitably develops. In triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the efficacy of CDK4/6i remains uncertain. Our study shows that the selective CDK2 inhibitor BLU-222, while effective alone, enhances synergistic activity when combined with CDK4/6i in resistant HR+/HER2- and TNBC models, leading to increased apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. In vivo, combining BLU-222 with palbociclib or ribociclib produced significant antitumor activity across eight resistant models, driving durable tumor regression and prolonged survival. Mechanistically, BLU-222, alone or with palbociclib, upregulated …

Disease-Specific And Overall Survival For Patients With Lacrimal Gland Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma In Recent Decades, Bita Esmaeli, Zhouxuan Li, Tracy J Lu, Hila Goldberg, Jing Ning, Steven Jay Frank

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: To evaluate the presenting symptoms, and the overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma (LGACC).

Methods: This retrospective single-centre cohort study included all consecutive patients with LGACC treated by the primary author from November 1998 through August 2024. Demographic data, presenting symptoms, the histological subtype of LGACC, type of surgical treatment, adjuvant radiotherapy or chemotherapy, T category at presentation and survival data were reviewed. Correlations between histological subtypes, T-category, type of surgery (eye sparing vs orbital exenteration), and DSS and OS were analysed.

Results: 52 patients had a median age of …

Cdk2 Inhibitor Blu-222 Synergizes With Cdk4/6 Inhibitors In Drug Resistant Breast Cancers Through P21/P27 Induction, Linjie Luo, Yan Wang, Tuyen Bui, Xiaoting Jiang, Mei-Kuang Chen, Sepideh Mohammadhosseinpour, Serena Kim, Rachel Y Kim, Saba Kamaliasl, Carmen W Ulizio, Spyros Tsavachidis, Juliana Navarro-Yepes, Nicole M Kettner, Hannah Wingate, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Kelly K Hunt, Jing Wang, Kerrie Faia, Khandan Keyomarsi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) combined with endocrine therapy are the standard first-line treatment for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer, but resistance inevitably develops. In triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the efficacy of CDK4/6i remains uncertain. Our study shows that the selective CDK2 inhibitor BLU-222, while effective alone, enhances synergistic activity when combined with CDK4/6i in resistant HR+/HER2- and TNBC models, leading to increased apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. In vivo, combining BLU-222 with palbociclib or ribociclib produced significant antitumor activity across eight resistant models, driving durable tumor regression and prolonged survival. Mechanistically, BLU-222, alone or with palbociclib, upregulated …

Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Functional Liver Imaging To Facilitate Reirradiation For Liver Malignancies: A Phase I Trial, Enoch Chang, Emma B Holliday, Janio Szklaruk, William D Erwin, Ethan B Ludmir, Prajnan Das, Bruce D Minsky, Grace L Smith, Gabriel O Sawakuchi, Rachael M Martin-Paulpeter, Joshua S Niedzielski, Luis A Perles, Sam Beddar, Veronica S Valino, Joshua L Nguyen, Kanwal P S Raghav, Milind Javle, Ahmed O Kaseb, Arvind N Dasari, Michael J Overman, Christine M Parseghian, Bruno C Odisio, Armeen Mahvash, Joshua D Kuban, Shu-En Shen, Xin S Wang, Aashish C Gupta, Mais M Al Taie, Kristy K Brock, Ching-Wei D Tzeng, Jean-Nicolas Vauthey, Franklin C L Wong, Eugene J Koay

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background & aims: This phase I trial evaluated the safety of hypofractionated liver reirradiation (reRT) with preferential sparing of functional liver identified by technetium-99m sulfur colloid single-photon emission computed tomography (Tc-99m SC SPECT; hereafter SPECT) for patients previously treated with external beam radiotherapy or transarterial radioembolization.

Methods: A 3+3 design evaluated the safety of two escalating SPECT-based functional liver volumetric dose constraints. Dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs), liver segment volumes, and MRI functional liver imaging score, relative liver enhancement, and elastography were assessed.

Results: Thirteen patients were enrolled from 2018 to 2021. Median reRT gross tumor volume was 61 cm3 (range 1-677 …

Exploring Patient, Parent And Clinician Views Of Outcomes For Family-Centered Care In Neonatal Settings: A Qualitative Study, Cousin Study Group, Cansel Kocakabak, Agnes Van Den Hoogen, Jos M. Latour

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Highlights: What are the main findings? Qualitative analysis of family-centered care experiences, drawn from perspectives of parents, a former neonatal patient, and healthcare professionals, identified 42 distinct outcomes which were categorized into five domains. The five domains, with distinct outcomes, highlight the multidimensional family-centered care including: emotional functioning, role functioning, delivery of care, physiological health, and hospital resources. What are the implications of the main findings? These findings show the importance of involving parents, former neonatal patients and healthcare professionals in the development of a robust core outcome set for family-centered care interventions in neonatal settings. The findings provide evidence …

Prehospital Transfusion Strategies In Haemorrhagic Shock, Brian Burns, Brodie Nolan, Ian Ferguson, Michael Peddle, Christopher Partyka, Geoff Healy, Stacy Shackelford, Bryan Cotton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Massive transfusion protocols are established in-hospital practices for managing haemorrhagic shock, yet critical bleeding accounts for up to 40% of trauma deaths, with half occurring before hospital arrival. This has driven interest in prehospital transfusion, a concept originating in military settings where early blood product administration during prolonged evacuations demonstrated significant survival benefits. Despite compelling military evidence showing improved 24-h and 30-day survival with prehospital transfusion, civilian adoption faces substantial challenges. Global interest in this domain is increasing, particularly in regions with trauma populations remote from immediate access to major trauma centres.

Main body: Current prehospital transfusion strategies have …

The Gene Encoding Ornithine Decarboxylase For Putrescine Biosynthesis Is Essential For The Viability Of Fusobacterium Nucleatum, Shiqi Xu, Bibek G C, Alex Phan, Chenggang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Fusobacterium nucleatum is a Gram-negative anaerobe associated with periodontitis and colorectal cancer. It secretes putrescine, a polyamine that promotes biofilm formation by oral co-colonizers and enhances the proliferation of cancer cells. However, the physiological importance of putrescine for F. nucleatum itself remains unexplored. Here, we show that putrescine biosynthesis, mediated by the ornithine decarboxylase gene oda, is essential for F. nucleatum viability. Deletion of oda was only possible when a functional copy was provided in trans, and CRISPR interference of oda expression resulted in complete growth defects. The essentiality of oda was conserved across multiple subspecies. Supplementation with …

Holistic Wellness Frameworks In Higher Education: A Systematic Review Of Impact On Student Well-Being And Academic Outcomes, Charles Rettig

Pacific Journal of Health

Objective: To examine the impact of holistic wellness frameworks on undergraduate students’ well-being, academic performance (GPA), and graduation rates, and to understand student perceptions and engagement factors with programs in higher education.

Background: Undergraduate students face increasing issues like mental health challenges, sleep deprivation, and inadequate physical activity, which significantly impede academic potential and well-being. Although the military’s H2F framework successfully enhances readiness across five integrated pillars, a systematic exploration of a similarly crafted civilian program’s direct influence on student outcomes in higher education remains largely unaddressed.

Methods: A structured electronic search following PRISMA 2020 guidelines across PubMed, GoogleScholar, PacificScholar, …

The Experience Of U.S. Fulbright Scholars From Business Disciplines: 1998 – 2005

Journal of Economics and Finance Education

The Fulbright Scholar program provides a long-standing and externally-funded means for internationalizing college and university curriculum. Over the past decade there has been an increasing emphasis on internationalization among faculty, administration and accrediting agencies. This manuscript is drawn from survey data which examines self-reported experiences of recent Fulbright Scholars from business disciplines in AACSBI accredited business programs. An overview of the perceptions and experiences of program participants and an exploratory model identifying factors impacting these experience are presented. Specific policy and process measures to improve the experiences of future Fulbright Scholars are suggested.

Measuring Finance Majors' Communications Abilities Using Aacsb Best Practices For Aol Processes

Journal of Economics and Finance Education

AACSB accreditation of an undergraduate business degree program requires that the institution enumerate its learning goals and demonstrate the successful student’s attainment thereof. AACSB mandates that learning goals be both consistent with the institution’s mission statement and measurable. This study describes the AOL process for assuring oral and written communications abilities in the finance major curriculum. Among finance majors, the findings reveal an adequate level of oral communications skills but written communications skills below the appropriate level for the finance professional. The results reveal that lack of performance is a function of skill and not writing apprehension for this set …

Changes In Math Prerequisites And Student Performance In Business Statistics: Do Math Prerequisites Really Matter?

Journal of Economics and Finance Education

We use a binary probit model to assess the impact of several changes in math prerequisites on student performance in an undergraduate business statistics course. While the initial prerequisites did not necessarily provide students with the necessary math skills, our study, the first to examine the effect of math prerequisite changes, shows that these changes were deleterious to student performance. Our results helped convince the College of Business to change the math prerequisite again beginning with the 2008/2009 academic year. Thus, this study is also the first to actually help strengthen math prerequisites and improve student performance in business statistics.

"El Malcriado: The Magazine Of The Farm Worker"

Migrant Farm Workers Organizing Movement Collection

Document promoting the "El Malcriado: La Revista del Campesino" magazine. The document talks about where the magazine originated, their mission, achievements, and subscription details.

"Agenda Regular Board Meeting Pharr, San Juan, And Alamo Schools Board Of Education"

Migrant Farm Workers Organizing Movement Collection

Document titled "Agenda Regular Board Meeting Pharr, San Juan, and Alamo Schools Board of Education". The document is dated May 8, 1967.

Macau Noir: Criminal Brotherhoods, Casino Capitalism, And The Case Of The Post-Socialist Chinese Consumer, Tim Simpson

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

"The World Of The Grotesque Is The Darkness Within Us": The Noir Geoaesthetics Of Murakami's Nakata, Rick Dolphijn

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Noir As Politics: Spanish Language Hardboiled Detective Fiction And The Discontents Of The Left, Patrick Blaine

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

A Contribution To The Critique Of The Political Economy Of Google, Christian Fuchs

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Full Issue: Volume 7, Issue 1, Editorial Board

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The first issue in the seventh volume of the Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal.

Colonial Whaling In Walvis Bay And In Southern Africa: Environmental Exploitation And Legacy Of South Africa’S Cetaceans, Jake L. Zarak

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper examines the colonial whaling industry in Southern Africa, with a focus on Walvis Bay, tracing its long term environmental and socio-economic impacts. From the 1700s to the 1900s, whaling operations, primarily led by American, British, and French enterprises, exploited the region’s rich populations of sperm and right whales, drastically reducing their numbers. The study contextualizes whaling within a broader colonial framework, analyzing its effects on whale migratory patterns, indigenous communities, and marine ecosystems. It explores as well, the transition from whaling as an economic endeavor to modern conservation efforts and the romanticization of whales in literature and art. …

Western Mansions In The Gardens Of Perfect Brightness, Another History Of High Qing Sino-European Exchanges, Nicolas Woreth

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The Gardens of Perfect Brightness, the favorite residence of Chinese Emperors in the High Qing era (1683-1799), held mysteries that will remain forever concealed from the public eye after French and British imperialist forces looted it and burned it beyond repair during the Second Opium War (1856-1860). Behind the doors of the secret garden, scarcely open to anyone but the emperor, his wives, and servants, worked European artists and scientists. Most of them were Jesuit missionaries who served the emperor in the hope of gaining his favor and support for the spread of Christianity in China.

This paper aims to …

Gold, Manuscripts, And Misunderstanding: The Forgotten Intellectual Wealth Of Timbuktu, Caroline A. Valdovinos

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This article re-examines Timbuktu’s legacy, challenging European myths that imagined the city as a hidden African “El Dorado” while overlooking its intellectual wealth. From the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, Timbuktu thrived as a hub of trade, religion, and scholarship, home to mosques, libraries, and networks of learning that drew scholars from across the Islamic world. Manuscripts on theology, law, medicine, and science circulated widely, placing the city at the heart of West Africa’s intellectual life. Yet European explorers and mapmakers, influenced by accounts like those of Leo Africanus, recast Timbuktu as a treasure-laden city of gold. This obsession, reinforced by …

"El Malcriado" Newspaper From December, 1973

Migrant Farm Workers Organizing Movement Collection

"El Malcriado" newspaper, the voice of the farm worker December, 1969. The document contains words such as "Paz y Justicia" or "Peace and justice".