Digital Commons Network^™

Characterization Of Inflammatory Pseudotumors In A Large Animal Model Of Liver Cancer, Erik N K Cressman, Samantha Hicks, Natalie W Fowlkes, Danielle L Stolley, Maria Sophia Stenkamp

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The development of relevant and robust large animal models of hepatocellular carcinoma is needed to test new therapeutic strategies for this disease. Transgenic approaches hold promise in addressing this complex problem. One such model, the Oncopig, has been reported to develop tumors of up to 4 cm in diameter within 7-14 days at sites of in situ vector inoculation. However, the resulting lesions reportedly contained an extensive inflammatory component that has not been evaluated in detail.

Methods: Herein, we describe our results from multiparametric characterization of the lesions generated using liver biopsy cores incubated in vector solution and replaced …

Loss Of Kdm6a-Mediated Genomic Instability And Metabolic Reprogramming Regulates Response To Therapeutic Perturbations In Bladder Cancer, Pratishtha Singh, Ranit D'Rozario, Bidisha Chakraborty, Swadhin Meher, Deblina Raychaudhuri, Aminah J Tannir, Yang Li, Anurag Majumdar, Jessalyn Hawkins, Yun Xiong, Philip Lorenzi, Padmanee Sharma, Kadir Akdemir, Patrick Pilie, Abhinav K Jain, Byron Hing Lung Lee, Sangeeta Goswami

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mutations in epigenetic regulators are common in bladder cancer, yet their impact on therapeutic responses remains unclear. Here, we identify that loss-of-function mutations in KDM6A, a histone demethylase altered in about 26% of advanced bladder cancers, are associated with poor survival after cisplatin chemotherapy, whereas they correlate with improved outcomes with anti-PD-1 therapy. Using CRISPR-Cas9-engineered murine and human bladder cancer models, we show that KDM6A deficiency increases formation of extrachromosomal circular DNA carrying chemoresistance loci, promoting cisplatin resistance. In parallel, KDM6A loss impairs DNA repair and rewires tumor metabolism, reducing glycolysis and lactate output. This metabolic shift diminishes histone lactylation …

Glossary-Augmented Generative Ai For Enterprise Translation, Tanmay Kayande, Deep Raithatha, Akash Dambhare, Pooja Agrawal, Mohith P

Defensive Publications Series

Global enterprise operations can experience inefficiencies and service delays from language-siloed support queues, while generic machine translation tools may lack the context to handle enterprise-specific terminology. A system and method can facilitate multilingual communication by integrating a generative artificial intelligence model within enterprise workflow platforms, such as customer relationship management systems. The framework can programmatically retrieve a curated, enterprise-specific glossary and inject it into a translation prompt sent to the model. This technique grounds the model, instructing it to prioritize an organization's specific lexicon for a given translation. The approach can produce translations that are both linguistically fluent and terminologically …

Thermodynamic Stability Modulates Chaperone-Mediated Disaggregation Of Α-Synuclein Fibrils, Celia Fricke, Antonin Kunka, Rasmus K Norrild, Shuangyan Wang, Thi Lieu Dang, Jonas Folke, Mohammad Shahnawaz, Claudio Soto, Susana Aznar, Anne S Wentink, Bernd Bukau, Alexander K Buell

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Aggregation of the intrinsically disordered protein alpha-synuclein into amyloid fibrils and their subsequent intracellular accumulation are hallmark features of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease, for which no curative treatments currently exist. In this study, we investigate the relationship between fibril morphology, thermodynamic stability, and susceptibility to disaggregation by the human chaperone system comprising HSP70, DNAJB1, and Apg2. By varying assembly conditions and incubation times, we generated alpha-synuclein fibrils with diverse morphological and biochemical properties, including a broad range of thermodynamic stabilities, which we quantified using a chemical depolymerization assay. The chaperone system effectively disaggregated three of the four fibril …

The Virtual Kitchen Challenge-Version 2: Validation Of A Digital Assessment Of Everyday Function In Older Adults, Marina Kaplan, Moira Mckniff, Stephanie M. Simone, Molly B. Tassoni, Katherine Hackett, Sophia Holmqvist, Rachel E. Mis, Kimberly Halberstadter, Riya Chaturvedi, Melissa Rosahl, Giuliana Vallecorsa, Mijail Serruya, Deborah A. G. Drabick, Takehiko Yamaguchi, Tania Giovannetti

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Conventional methods of functional assessment include subjective self- or informant report, which may be biased by personal characteristics, cognitive abilities, and lack of standardization (eg, influence of idiosyncratic task demands). Traditional performance-based assessments offer some advantages over self- or informant reports but are time-consuming to administer and score.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Virtual Kitchen Challenge-Version 2 (VKC-2), an objective, standardized, and highly efficient alternative to current functional assessments for older adults across the spectrum of cognitive aging, from preclinical to mild dementia.

METHODS: A total of 236 community-dwelling, diverse older adults …

Harnessing Microbial Tools: Escherichia Coli As A Vehicle For Neuropeptide Functional Analysis In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Elizabeth M Diloreto, Shruti Shastry, Emily J Leptich, Douglas K Reilly, Rachel N Arey, Jagan Srinivasan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Animals respond to changes in their environment and internal states via neuromodulation. Neuropeptides modulate neural circuits with flexibility because 1 gene can produce either multiple copies of the same neuropeptide or different neuropeptides. However, with this architectural complexity, the function of discrete and active neuropeptides is muddled. Here, we design a genetic tool that facilitates functional analysis of individual peptides. We engineered Escherichia coli bacteria to express active peptides, fed loss-of-function Caenorhabditis elegans, and rescued the activity of genes with varying lengths and functions: pdf-1, flp-3, ins-6, and ins-22. Some peptides were functionally redundant, while others exhibit unique and previously …

Spatially Resolved Integrative Analysis Of Transcriptomic And Metabolomic Changes In Tissue Injury Studies, Eleanor C Williams, Lovisa Franzén, Martina Olsson Lindvall, Gregory Hamm, Steven Oag, Muntasir Mamun Majumder, James Denholm, Azam Hamidinekoo, Javier Escudero Morlanes, Marco Vicari, Joakim Lundeberg, Laura Setyo, Trevor M Godfrey, Livia S Eberlin, Aleksandr Zakirov, Jorrit J Hornberg, Marianna Stamou, Patrik L Ståhl, Anna Ollerstam, Jennifer Y Tan, Irina Mohorianu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Recent developments in spatially resolved -omics have enabled the joint study of gene expression, metabolite levels and tissue morphology, offering greater insights into biological pathways. Integrating these modalities from matched tissue sections to probe spatially-coordinated processes, however, remains challenging. Here we introduce MAGPIE, a framework for co-registering spatially resolved transcriptomics, metabolomics, and tissue morphology from the same or consecutive sections. We show MAGPIE's generalisability and scalability on spatial multi-omics data from multiple tissues, combining Visium with MALDI and DESI mass spectrometry imaging. MAGPIE was also applied to new multi-modal datasets generated with a specialised sampling strategy to characterise the metabolic …

Pathways, Outputs And Impact Of Nih-Supported Bioinformatics And Genomics Graduate Trainees In Africa, Daudi Jjingo, Andrew Walakira, Suhaila Hashim, Cisse Cheickna, Ronald Galiwango, Caleb Kibet, Florence N Kivunike, Gerald Mboowa, Fredrick Elishama Kakembo, Babajide Ayodele, Jean-Baka Domelevo Entfellner, Santie De Villiers, Karen Wambui, Segun Fatumo, Tinashe Chikowore, John Mukisa, Alfred Ssekagiri, Nicholas Bbosa, Julius Mulindwa, Samuel Kyobe, Mike Nsubuga, Grace Kebirungi, Eric Katagirya, Savannah Mwesigwa, Ibra Lujumba, Rogers Kamulegeya, Samuel Kirimunda, Stephen Kanyerezi, Shahiid Kiyaga, Ivan Sserwadda, Davis Kiberu, Bernard S Bagaya, Julius Okwir, Patricia Nabisubi, Grace Nabakooza, Mugume Twinamatsiko Atwine, Ricard Sserunjogi, Rolanda Julius, Mariam Quiñones, Meghan Mccarthy, Phillip Cruz, Karlynn Noble, Christopher J Whalen, Darrell Hurt, Maria Y Giovanni, Michael Tartakovsky, Deogratius Ssemwanga, John M Kitayimbwa, Steven J Reynolds, Christopher C Whalen, Andrew Kambugu, Neil A Hanchard, Li Jian, Peter Amoako-Yirenkyi, Graeme Mardon, I King Jordan, Samson Pandam Salifu, Mamadou Wele, Ezekiel Adebiyi, Jeffrey G Shaffer, Seydou Doumbia, David Patrick Kateete, Michelle Skelton, Nicola Mulder, Jonathan K Kayondo, Daniel Masiga, H3africa Consortium

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Global biomedical and health research is increasingly relying on genomic and computational approaches, largely driven by the increasing volumes of nucleic acid sequencing. Concurrently, epidemiological studies and clinical records are generating enormous amounts of data amenable to disease modeling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence techniques. Bioinformatics and data science expertise is therefore essential for improved population health. Accordingly, in 2012, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, and with support from the African Society for Human Genetics, initiated the H3Africa (Human Heredity and Health in Africa) consortium. One of its key goals was to …

Machine Learning-Based Multimodal Biomarkers Enable Accurate Diagnosis And Early Detection Of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Tsung-Hung Yao, Warapen Treekitkarnmongkol, Nagireddy Putluri, Deivendran Sankaran, Tristian Nguyen, Seetharaman Balasenthil, Mark W Hurd, Meng Chen, Randall E Brand, Paul D Lampe, Abu Hena M Kamal, Vasanta Putluri, Tony Y Hu, Anirban Maitra, Eugene J Koay, Ann M Killary, Subrata Sen, Suprateek Kundu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

While there has been some progress on discovering clinically validated biomarkers for early detection in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), several challenges remain. Most approaches rely on single-modality biomarkers with limited sensitivity and/or specificity. Using data from a multicenter study with an age-matched cohort (n = 203 with healthy controls n = 46, pancreatitis controls n = 36, and diagnosed cases n = 121), we developed a machine learning approach integrating 2,096 microRNAs, 125 metabolites, and CA19-9. Our method performs unsupervised selection of an optimal subset of biomarkers with maximal discriminatory power for diagnosis and early detection. In training data, the …

Assessing The Effects Of Ehealth Literacy And The Area Deprivation Index On Barriers To Electronic Patient Portal Use For Orthopedic Surgery: Cross-Sectional Observational Study, Audrey Lynn Litvak, Nicholas Lin, Kelly Hynes, Jason Strelzow, Jeffrey G Stepan

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: As electronic patient portals (EPPs) continue to gain popularity and systems transition to online tools for scheduling, communication, and telehealth, patients without access or skills to use these tools may be overlooked.

OBJECTIVE: This study analyzed patient and neighborhood-level factors, including eHealth literacy level and the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), that may limit EPP access for orthopedic surgery.

METHODS: A cross-sectional, survey-based study was performed at a single urban tertiary academic medical center in the United States across foot and ankle, hand and upper extremity, and orthopedic trauma subspecialty clinics from June 21, 2022, to August 12, 2022. Survey …

Editorial: Building Belonging Across Languages: Spanish-English Picturebooks In Conversation Construyendo Pertenencia Entre Lenguas: Libros Bilingües En Diálogo, Brenda Sarmiento-Quezada, Dafne Zanelli

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

Examining The Impact Of Racial Microaggressions And Psychological Distress In Latine Individuals: A Focus On Ptsd, Anxiety, Depression, And Stress, Melanie Garcia, Yajairy Cabrales, Miguel A. Castano, Richard Chang, Gloria Wong-Padoongpatt

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Latine individuals in the United States face distinct mental health challenges due to unique stressors, including systemic racism and discrimination. While research has established that racial microaggressions—such as daily slights, insults, and invalidations—negatively impact the psychological well-being of people of color, there remains limited scholarship specifically focused on Latine communities. This study examines different types of racial microaggressions—such as invisibility, criminality, and sexualization—as predictors of psychological distress among Latine individuals. A sample of 434 Latine participants completed measures assessing their experiences with racial microaggressions, as well as symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and trauma. Four multiple linear regression models were …

Judging Values: Public Confidence In The Federal Courts' Approach To Religion & Morality, Clark L. Hildabrand

University of Memphis Law Review

Each American has his own story about when he learned of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, that day was March 11, 2020.1 The NBA suspended its season.2 The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.3 And President Trump announced a ban on travel from European countries.4 Few, however, comprehended in March 2020 that over the next few years we would experience perhaps “the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.”5 “Executive officials across the country issued emergency decrees on a breathtaking scale,” “forcing people to remain in their homes” and “shutter[ing] businesses and schools, public …

Constitutional Time: The Temporal Dimension Of Precedent In Consitutional Jurisprudence, Laura A. Cisneros

University of Memphis Law Review

The role of time in constitutional precedent lies at the heart of judicial decision making. While there is a consensus on the importance of precedent, the modalities of its application remain a subject of intense debate within legal circles. At the core of this discourse lies a fundamental tension: the imperative to maintain fidelity to established precedent, thereby ensuring legal stability and predictability, versus the necessity to re-evaluate and potentially overturn precedent in response to evolving societal norms or innovative constitutional interpretations. This dichotomy presents a fundamental challenge to the Supreme Court, requiring a delicate balance between continuity and adaptability …

Judicial Sanewashing: The Roberts Court's New Canon Of Construction, Erin M. Carr

University of Memphis Law Review

In late 2024, a new expression—“sanewashing”—began circulating in the lead-up to the presidential election. The term was used to describe the media’s coverage of Donald Trump, in which journalists, in their attempt to make his often incoherent campaign and media statements seem semi-intelligible, were accused of presenting his ideas as more sensible and cogent than they actually were. While finding its contemporary relevance primarily in politics, this Article argues that the sanewashing phenomenon is not limited to the political branches of government or the reporters who cover it. Instead, the Supreme Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, …

Kiantone Harmonia: John Murray Spear’S Enchanted Electric Utopia, 1844-1863, Mitchell K. Jones

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of On The Edge Of The Future: Esalen And The Evolution Of American Culture, Ruth Baer Lambach

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

The Concept Of Individualism In American Historical Communities, Mark Kruger

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Validation In The Shaker Era Of Manifestations: A Process Analysis, Glendyne Wergland

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Removing Barriers In Graduate Health Education For Students With Disabilities, Daniel Nuss

Pacific Journal of Health

Abstract

Students with disabilities continue to face barriers in graduate health education academic programs. As the number of enrolled students with disabilities increases, it is imperative that solutions are identified that remove these barriers to create inclusive and accessible learning opportunities. This study presents a narrative review of literature that examines current research on the topic of graduate health education and disability. Results identified four relevant themes for reducing barriers and improving inclusive access for students with disabilities. The themes include the need for modifying technical standards, faculty training, reasonable accommodations, and Universal Design of Learning (UDL). The findings are …

Data-Driven Prediction Of Superconducting Critical Temperature: A Linear And Regularized Linear Modeling Approach, Dipok Deb

Data Science and Data Mining

This study adopts a data-driven approach to estimate the critical temperature of superconducting materials using linear machine learning models. A comprehensive dataset derived from material physico-chemical properties was analyzed after systematic preprocessing and standardization. Three linear modeling strategies—Linear Regression, Ridge Regression, and Linear Regression with Subset Selection—were developed and evaluated using standard regression performance metrics. The findings demonstrate that both basic and regularized linear models can effectively capture the relationship between material features and superconducting behavior, offering robust and interpretable predictions. While feature selection enhances model transparency, it comes with a modest reduction in predictive capability. Overall, this work emphasizes …

From Prompt To Clone: Copyright Challenges In Ai Model Distillation, Claudia Philipp

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

This paper examines the legality of model distillation in the context of large language models (LLMs), where smaller “student” models are trained by mimicking the outputs of larger, proprietary “teacher” models. As artificial intelligence continues to advance rapidly, the legal framework surrounding patent, and contract law is being tested. Specifically, the paper explores whether current U.S. copyright law offers sufficient protection for frontier LLM developers and whether practices like unauthorized distillation amount to infringement. By analyzing model architecture, training data, behavioral mimicry, and reverse engineering under prevailing legal doctrines—including fair use, terms of use enforcement, and recent litigation—the paper finds …

Bridging The Gap: A Systematic Review Of Cyber Conflict Forecasting Models And The Case For Ai-Driven Dynamic Frameworks, Salim Arfaoui, Youssef Harrath, Omar El-Gayar

Research & Publications

Cyber conflict forecasting remains constrained by static models that overlook the integration of geopolitical context with technical indicators. This systematic literature review examines 58 studies (2010–2025) using PRISMA guidelines and an InputProcess-Output framework to classify approaches and identify key gaps. Quantitative methods dominate (67%), yet only 14% incorporate geopolitical variables, despite the political nature of cyber conflict. Major limitations include adversarial adaptation blindness (85% assume static behavior), coarse temporal granularity (72% use daily+ intervals), lack of uncertainty quantification (75%), and minimal modeling of cross-domain escalation (92% cyber-only focus). Strategic forecasting is rare, with just 14% providing long-term insights and 16% …

Private Money: Stablecoins, Bitcoin, And The Genius Act, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Cryptocurrency has been legalized in the United States. The 2025 GENIUS Act provides a sensible regulatory framework for cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange while avoiding predicted monetary chaos. The Act correctly distinguishes between volatile fiat cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which are unsuitable as payment mechanisms, and stablecoins backed by traditional currencies and reserves.

Historical analysis spanning American monetary systems from the “free banking era” before 1860 through modern digital payments demonstrates that private money has long coexisted with government currency but requires appropriate regulation to prevent bank runs, fraud, and monetary instability. The GENIUS Act addresses key cryptocurrency risks—technological failures, …

Tectonic Implications Of Transitional Melting Regimes From Petrological, Geochronological, And Compositional Characterization Of The Ophiolitic Seventymile Terrane, Alaska, Usa, Erin Todd, Johnathan Saul Caine, Michael Bizimis, Andrew R.C. Kylander-Clark, Robert Reece Hammond, Alicja Wypych

Faculty Publications

New geochemical, U-Pb geochronology, and Sr-Nd-Hf isotope data provide evidence for the tectonic evolution of the Seventymile terrane in interior Alaska, USA. Ultramafic and mafic rocks of the Seventymile terrane are thought to represent components of a dismembered ophiolite and provide unique constraints on regional terrane evolution and accretion. The Seventymile ophiolite represents fragments of the Devonian to Permian Slide Mountain Ocean (SMO) that separated allochthonous and parautochthonous continental fragments of western North America. It now occurs as multiple thrust sheets containing Permian mafic and ultramafic rocks overlying and/or possibly imbricated with amphibolite-facies supracrustal rocks of allochthonous Yukon-Tanana terrane and …

Latin American Refugees To The U.S. Experience More Discrimination Than Refugees From Other Regions, Sobia Mushtaq, Janet M. Wilmoth

Population Health Research Brief Series

Discrimination is a serious challenge for refugees trying to rebuild their lives in new countries. This data slice presents findings from the 2022 Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR), a nationally representative survey of refugees who arrived in the United States between 2017 and 2021 (N=1,364). The probability of experiencing discrimination was substantially higher among refugees from Latin America compared to other origin regions. Latin American refugees have a 62.4% probability of experiencing discrimination, compared to 12.6% for Southeast Asian refugees. The findings suggest that service providers and policymakers should not assume that all refugees face the same challenges.

Student Perceptions And Use Of Genai For Writing: "Great Tool" Or "Pandora's Box"?, Cheryl Hofstetter Duffy Ph.D., Rose Helens-Hart Ph.D., Stephanie M. Weigel Ph.D.

English Faculty Publications

WAC/WID programs are uniquely positioned to lead the response to generative AI (GenAI) in student writing—not by policing its use, but by guiding ethical, effective integration across and in the disciplines. This study shares findings from a spring 2024 survey of 226 students at a midwestern university, exploring how students use GenAI in their writing, what they perceive as its benefits and risks, and whether they’re receiving instruction on how to use it well. Students reported frequent use of GenAI for brainstorming and revising but noted limited faculty guidance. Many expressed nuanced views: they recognized GenAI’s potential to support learning …

Rapid Inpatient Methadone Induction In The Fentanyl Era: A Systematic Review Of Safety, Efficacy, And Protocols For Hospitalized Patients With Opioid Use Disorder, Lorik Berisha, Sapan Patel, Charlotte Pirquet, Navina Magesh Kumar, Yousef Soliman, Ahsan Ullah, Daniel M. Matassa

Division of Internal Medicine Faculty Papers & Presentations

Purpose of Review: The potency of illicit fentanyl has rendered standard methadone inductions inadequate for many hospitalized adults with opioid use disorder. Standard protocols often fail to achieve therapeutic doses quickly enough to manage withdrawal and cravings in fentanyl-tolerant individuals, contributing to poor retention and higher self-discharge rates. This review examines emerging evidence on dosing strategies, outcomes, and safety of rapid methadone inductions in acute-care hospitals. Recent Findings: Nine studies (five retrospective cohorts, four case series/reports) encompassing 380 patients met inclusion criteria. Median starting doses were 30–40 mg (range 20–90 mg), with daily or symptom-triggered increases achieving 60–100 mg within …

Executive Committee - Agenda, 01/06/2026, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.