Digital Commons Network^™

Learning An Interpretable Stylized Subspace For 3d-Aware Animatable Artforms, Chenxi Zheng, Bangzhen Liu, Xuemiao Xu, Huaidong Zhang, Shengfeng He

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Throughout history, static paintings have captivated viewers within display frames, yet the possibility of making these masterpieces vividly interactive remains intriguing. This research paper introduces 3DArtmator, a novel approach that aims to represent artforms in a highly interpretable stylized space, enabling 3D-aware animatable reconstruction and editing. Our rationale is to transfer the interpretability and 3D controllability of the latent space in a 3D-aware GAN to a stylized sub-space of a customized GAN, revitalizing the original artforms. To this end, the proposed two-stage optimization framework of 3DArtmator begins with discovering an anchor in the original latent space that accurately mimics the …

Procalcitonin-Guided Duration Of Antibiotic Treatment In Children Hospitalised With Confirmed Or Suspected Bacterial Infection In The Uk (Batch): A Pragmatic, Multicentre, Open-Label, Two-Arm, Individually Randomised, Controlled Trial, Cherry-Ann Waldron, Philip Pallmann, Simon Schoenbuchner, Debbie Harris, Lucy Brookes-Howell, Céu Mateus, Jolanta Bernatoniene, Katrina Cathie, Saul N. Faust, Helen Nabwera

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background Procalcitonin is a rapid response biomarker specific for bacterial infection, which is not routinely used in the UK National Health Service. We aimed to assess whether using a procalcitonin-guided algorithm would safely reduce the duration of antibiotic therapy compared with usual care, in which C-reactive protein is the commonly used biomarker.

Methods The BATCH trial was a pragmatic, multicentre, open-label, parallel, two-arm, individually randomised, controlled trial conducted in 15 hospitals in England and Wales. Children aged 72 h to 18 years who were admitted to hospital and were being treated with intravenous antibiotics for suspected or confirmed bacterial infection …

A Commitment Rule For Insolvency Forum, Anthony J. Casey, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez, Robert K. Rasmussen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In this Article, we propose a new rule for determining the proper forum for insolvency proceedings. Currently, the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (Model Law)—promulgated by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)—looks to a debtor’s center of main interest (COMI) to determine the proper forum for a foreign main insolvency proceeding. This rule is flawed. It is both inflexible and manipulable. It is also indeterminate and neither requires nor allows advance commitment by debtors. As a result, it leads to uncertainty, increases litigation costs, and opens the door to opportunistic manipulation by debtors. These costs, in turn, …

Negotiating With Gpt-4: Digital Doormat Or Skilful Counterpart?, Dorcas Quek Anderson

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 have been creatively harnessed in the conflict resolution arena as dialogue agents interacting with humans within negotiations, due to their capacity for in-context learning and giving human-like responses. In light of the burgeoning use of LLMs in conflict resolution training, a pilot study was conducted to ascertain the desirability of using dialogue agents built on GPT-4 in conducting simulations for students learning negotiation skills. This article discusses insights gained from the study on the reliability of LLM agents in following prompts for negotiation simulations; notable negotiation behaviour of the LLM agent; the degree …

Teacher Retention And The Future Of Learning: Alarming Concerns About Preparing The Next Generation Of Citizens, Dejuanna M. Parker, Barbara D. Holmes

Journal of Research Initiatives

Research is robust in detailing the various reasons teachers leave the profession. There is scant literature on why teachers stay and what should be done to improve teacher retention. Teacher retention is a primary concern nationally and internationally. The inability to retain teachers has resulted in a teacher shortage and significantly affects student learning. Sorenson and Ladd (2020) This study yielded three emergent themes related to integral factors of teacher retention: changing attitudes on administrative support, workplace collegiality, and persistence of passion and purpose. Recommendations offered include encouraging administrators to leverage the passion and commitment of the educators to create …

Factors Influencing Jordanian College Understudies' Impressions Of Learning Through Emergency Distance Learning (Edl), Abdelnaser Sanad Alakayleh

Journal of Research Initiatives

In this study, which used a quantitative and correlational approach, the variables influencing Jordanian university students' perceptions of their education under emergency remote learning scenarios were investigated. An online survey was administered to a sample of 765 male and female education stage students. Jordan offers higher education for both genders and at different levels in different regions. Many criteria connected to perceived learning were taken into consideration when administering the study questionnaire. It was discovered that the economics students had a more positive perception of learning than the education and science students, followed by deep learning, avoiding superficial learning factors, …

An Investigation Of Ninth Grade Students’ Perceptions Of Equitable Grading Practices, Sarah Ruth Morris, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Jonathan Wai, Robert Anthony Maranto

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study investigated students’ perceptions of grading equity practices, focusing on preferences and the influence of student characteristics on support for grading equity. Through surveys and open-ended questions involving 256 ninth-grade students, the research highlighted a general preference for fair and supportive grading systems that consider individual circumstances and offer retake opportunities. Multivariate OLS regression analysis reveals that while Pre-AP students show resistance, students experiencing high-stress levels favor equitable grading practices. The findings suggest the need for educational reforms prioritizing transparency and fairness, including student voices in policy development, and emphasizing grading systems that support holistic student development.

Five-Year Outcomes Of Lenadogene Nolparvovec Gene Therapy In Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, Patrick Yu-Wai-Man, Nancy Newman, Valérie Biousse, Valerio Carelli, Mark Moster, Catherine Vignal-Clermont, Thomas Klopstock, Alfredo Sadun, Robert C Sergott, Rabih Hage, Simona Degli Esposti, Chiara La Morgia, Claudia Priglinger, Rustum Karanja, Magali Taiel, José-Alain Sahel

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

IMPORTANCE: Limited studies have assessed the long-term benefit/risk of gene therapy for Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON).

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of lenadogene nolparvovec in patients with LHON due to the MT-ND4 gene variant for up to 5 years after administration.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The RESCUE and REVERSE Long-Term Follow-up Study (RESTORE), conducted from 2018 to 2022, is the 5-year follow-up study of the 2 phase 3 clinical studies RESCUE (Efficacy Study of Lenadogene Nolparvovec for the Treatment of Vision Loss Up to 6 Months From Onset in LHON Due to the MT-ND4 Mutation) and REVERSE …

Pancreatic Cancer Extracellular Vesicles Stimulate Schwann Cell Activation And Perineural Invasion In Vitro Via Il-8/Ccl2, Emory Gregory, Isabel Powers, Azemat Jamshidi-Parsian, Robert J. Griffin, Younghye Song

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, and perineural invasion (PNI), in which cancer cells infiltrate nerves, enables metastasis in most patients. PNI is largely attributed to Schwann cells (SC) that, when activated, accelerate cancer cell migration towards nerves. However, this cancer-associated reprogramming is generally under-appreciated. Additionally, tumor extracellular vesicle (EV) facilitation of cancer aggravation is well documented, but more investigation is required to better understand their role in PNI. Here, we assessed whether PDAC EVs mediate PNI via SC activation using tissue-engineered in vitro platforms and PANC-1 and HPNE human cell lines as models. …

The Agility Paradigm: Rethinking Regulatory Policy Commitments In Free Trade Agreements, Stefanie Schacherer

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In an era marked by rapid technological advancement and an intensifying imperative for sustainability, the concept of agile regulation has emerged as a new paradigm in regulatory governance. Agile regulation champions a flexible approach essential for regulatory frameworks to evolve alongside changing circumstances. International regulatory cooperation is of importance in fostering knowledge sharing and evidence dissemination between states while mitigating regulatory disparities that stifle crossborder innovation, impede collective action against shared risks, and increase trade costs. Against this backdrop, the article delves into the role of free trade agreements (FTAs) in advancing the agile regulation agenda. It discusses how FTAs …

Managed Diversity Along The Legal Silk Road: The Asean-Asia Relationship In International Arbitration, Mark Mclaughlin

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Efforts to foster closer economic integration often focus on the alignment of standards with respect to goods and services. The harmonization of substantive regulations mitigates the inevitable friction caused by moving assets from one jurisdiction to another. In this chapter, it is argued that interna- tional arbitration plays a similar function in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Asia relationship. By providing a neutral and reliable forum for dispute resolution, international arbitration helps manage legal diversity by creating a ‘Legal Silk Road’ on which commercial parties can engage with a familiar dispute resolution process without having to engage the local …

From Cptpp To Us–Taiwan Initiative On 21st-Century Trade: The Evolution Of Good Regulatory Practices And Its Implications For Taiwan, Han-Wei Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines the evolution and implications of Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) – otherwise known as ‘regulatory coherence’ in international trade agreements, focusing on the US-Taiwan Initiative on twenty-first-Century Trade. By comparing GRP frameworks in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), and the US–Taiwan Initiative, the paper highlights the challenges of integrating GRP into Taiwan’s legal system. The analysis reveals significant disparities between GRP requirements and Taiwan’s existing Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in key areas such as public consultation, regulatory impact assessments (RIAs), and sunset review mechanisms. The paper also explores potential …

Towards Characterizing And Quantifying Interpretability Of Knowledge Graph Embedding Models, Narayanan Asuri Krishnan

Theses

Knowledge graphs are structured representations of real-world information, where entities are connected by edges with labels known as predicates. These graphs contain logical patterns, known as inference patterns, such as symmetry, transitivity and composition, to name a few. To leverage the information contained within a knowledge graph, embedding methods have been developed to encode entities and predicates as numerical vectors in a multi-dimensional space. These embeddings aim to capture the semantic and structural information of the graph, including the inference patterns. However, the sub-symbolic nature of these embeddings present significant challenges in terms of interpretability. Additionally, each embedding model utilizes …

Faculty List

Journal of Dispute Resolution

No abstract provided.

I Like My Litigation How I Like My Pie: Whole, Alexandra (Allie) Widick

Journal of Dispute Resolution

There is a huge problem with the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“EFAA”): it contains major ambiguities. The Act was signed into law by President Biden in 2022, and it has the potential to affect many Americans. It has been estimated that about 60 million workers—over half of the non-unionized private workforce—are subject to mandatory arbitration agreements as part of their employment. The Act states in relevant part that no arbitration agreement “shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law and relates to the …

Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Efaa, Samuel R. Cole

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Labor unions are having something of a moment. In the past few years, high profile unionization efforts like those at Starbucks and successful strikes like SAGAFTRA have generated headlines. Even as labor activists celebrate these wins, American unions face ongoing obstacles. Union membership continues to decrease, and union participation remains at an all-time low. And now courts, perhaps unwittingly, are adding to their woes. In one example, particularly relevant here, courts have overlooked the distinction between arbitration agreements contained in collective bargaining agreements and arbitration agreements contained in contracts between employers and at-will employees. The result has been to entwine …

Bayesian Population Pharmacokinetic Modeling Of Ondansetron For Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome, Kevin Lam, John Mondick, Gary Peltz, Manhong Wu, Walter Kraft

Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Ondansetron is an anti-emetic 5-HT3 receptor antagonist being investigated for treating neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS). Sparse PK data were analyzed from a multicenter, double-blind clinical trial with 98 mother/neonate dyads. Pregnant women with opioid use disorder were randomized to receive either placebo or ondansetron 8 mg intravenously within 4 h of delivery. Neonates born to mothers who were randomized to ondansetron received 0.07 mg/kg orally once every 24 h for up to five doses. Using current PK data, model parameters from a two-compartmental structural model from the literature (i.e., a priori model) were updated with the Metropolis-Hastings Markov-chain Monte …

Acute Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Secondary To Handcuffs Necessitating Emergency Orthopedic Consultation And Operative Intervention, Fabian Jano, Kelly Mackenzie, Vivek Biololikar, David Goldberger, Andrei Tuluca

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

We present a case of acute carpal tunnel syndrome secondary to tight handcuffs in a detained patient. The severity of the motor and sensory deficits prompted consultation with orthopedic specialists and admission for an observation period with ultimate emergency operative intervention. Handcuff neuropathies are well documented in the literature, mainly involving the superficial branch of the radial nerve, which has strict sensory input into the dorsum of the hand. Less common median nerve neuropathies have also been documented following handcuff injury; however, none have required emergency intervention. We aim to highlight this unusual presentation and the emergency nature of the …

Beyond Privity Of Blood: Intestacy And Charity, Adam J. Hirsch

UC Law Journal

When an individual dies without leaving a will, the law of intestacy functions to distribute the decedent’s estate to a surviving spouse and/or close blood relatives. Yet, this default regime fails to account for the possibility that some individuals wish to allocate part of their estates to charity. Drawing on empirical evidence, including data presented here for the first time, this Article advocates building a charitable component into intestacy in those cases where majorities of decedents prefer to establish estate plans transcending traditional heirs. Evidence suggests that this majority preference arises in four situations: (1) where the decedent was extremely …

Prospective Observational Study Of Fkrp-Related Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy R9: A Grasp Consortium Study, Lindsay N Alfano, Stephanie Hunn, Conrad C Weihl, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy R9 (LGMDR9, formerly known as LGMD2I), caused by variants in the fukutin-related protein (FKRP) gene leads to progressive muscle weakness of the shoulder and pelvic limb-girdles and loss of motor function over time. Clinical management and future trial design are improved by determining which standardized clinical outcome assessments (COA) of function are most appropriate to capture disease presentation and progression, informing endpoint selection and enrollment criteria. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the cross-sectional validity and reliability of clinical outcome assessments in patients with FKRP-related LGMDR9 participating in the Genetic Resolution and Assessments Solving …

Revisiting What Constitutes A Neglected Tropical Disease?, Paul J Brindley, Peter J Hotez, Shaden Kamhawi

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (PLOS NTDs) publishes research devoted to pathogenesis and other clinical aspects, epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and control of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), as well as work relevant to public health policy. We define NTDs as poverty-promoting infectious diseases that can negatively impact the quality of life in rural areas and poor urban areas of low- and middle-income countries but which can also affect specific communities within high-income countries. The poverty-inducing effects of the NTDs operate by impairing child health and development, pregnancy outcomes for both mother and child, worker productivity, and quality of life. The …

Resilience And Coping: A Qualitative Analysis Of Cognitive And Behavioral Factors In Adults With Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Hannah E Cho, Whitney S Shepherd, Gianna M Colombo, Andrew D Wiese, W Conor Rork, Kristin M Kostick, Dianne Nguyen, Members Of The Bbdc, Chaya N Murali, Marie-Eve Robinson, Sophie C Schneider, Justin H Qian, Brendan Lee, V Reid Sutton, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Purpose: The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate resilience among adults with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI).

Materials and methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 adults with OI. Transcripts were coded and subsequently abstracted, yielding themes specific to resilience and coping. Interview guides covered broad topics including pain challenges specific to OI, mental health issues related to OI, and priorities for future interventions for individuals with OI.

Results: Participants described resilience in the context of OI as the ability to grow from adversity, adapt to challenges resulting from OI-related injuries, and find identities apart from their condition. Psychological coping …

Long-Term Fxa Inhibition Attenuates Thromboinflammation After Acute Myocardial Infarction And Stroke By Platelet Proteome Alteration, Amin Polzin, Marcel Benkhoff, Manuela Thienel, Maike Barcik, Philipp Mourikis, Khrystyna Shchurovska, Carolin Helten, Vincent Ehreiser, Zhang Zhe, Franziska Von Wulffen, Alexander Theiss, Sameera Peri, Sophie Cremer, Samantha Ahlbrecht, Saif Zako, Laura Wildeis, Gabrielle Al-Kassis, Daniel Metzen, Amelie Utz, Hao Hu, Lilian Vornholz, Goran Pavic, Enzo Lüsebrink, Jan Strecker, Steffen Tiedt, Mareike Cramer, Michael Gliem, Tobias Ruck, Sven G Meuth, Tobias Zeus, Christoph Mayr, Herbert B Schiller, Lukas Simon, Steffen Massberg, Malte Kelm, Tobias Petzold

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Immediate activated factor (F)X (FXa) inhibition exerts direct antiplatelet effects in the context of arterial thrombosis but little is known about the impact of long-term therapy on platelet function in ischemic cardiovascular diseases.

Objectives: Therefore, we analyzed platelet-derived effects of long-term FXa inhibition in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke.

Methods: We evaluated the effect of acute versus chronic FXa inhibition on thromboinflammation following AMI and stroke in mice in vivo. Mechanistically, we identified changes in platelet gene expression and proteome under chronic FXa nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant treatment and characterized its functional consequence on …

Figg At 5: An Update On Us Public Perspectives On Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Five Years After Its Introduction To Criminal Investigations, Christi J Guerrini, Jill O Robinson, Mohamed I Elsaid, Whitney Bash Brooks, Ariel Levchenko, Stephanie M Fullerton, Sara Huston, Norah L Crossnohere, John F P Bridges, Jacklyn M Dahlquist, Louiza Kalokairinou, Diana Madden, Cece Moore, Amy L Mcguire

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

In 2018, after law enforcement announced it had used a technique called forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) to identify the Golden State Killer, we conducted a U.S. general population survey and found most respondents supported using FIGG to solve violent crimes. Since then, FIGG has helped close hundreds of criminal cases, but it also has weathered controversies. On FIGG's fifth anniversary, we conducted an expanded, follow-up survey with U.S.-based participants to determine if public opinion had changed and found continued support for FIGG across most applications. The same proportion (91 %) of respondents in the 2018 and 2023 surveys endorsed …

Improving Individualized Rhabdomyosarcoma Prognosis Predictions Using Somatic Molecular Biomarkers, Mark Zobeck, Javed Khan, Rajkumar Venkatramani, M Fatih Okcu, Michael E Scheurer, Philip J Lupo

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Purpose: Molecular markers increasingly influence risk-stratified treatment selection for pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). This study aims to integrate molecular and clinical data to produce individualized prognosis predictions that can further improve treatment selection.

Methods: Clinical variables and somatic mutation data for 20 genes from 641 patients with RMS in the United Kingdom and the United States were used to develop three Cox proportional hazard models for predicting event-free survival (EFS). The Baseline Clinical (BC) model included treatment location, age, fusion status, and risk group. The Gene Enhanced 2 (GE2) model added TP53 and MYOD1 mutations to the BC predictors. The Gene …

Girl Center Special Feature: 2024 Impact Report, Girl Center

Adolescents and Young People

This special feature spotlights GIRL Center's 2024 impact through their three pillars: generating evidence, communicating and convening, and nurturing talent.

Neuroimaging Findings In Nondemented Frail Individuals: A Systematic Review, Hamid Harandi, Soheil Mohammadi, Ali Jahanshahi, Mahsa Dolatshahi, Sogol Alikarami, Rasa Zafari, Cyrus A Raji

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Frailty is a chronic condition characterised by the progressive decline of multiple physiological functions. There is a critical need to investigate neuroimaging findings in nondemented frail individuals to better understand the underlying mechanisms and implications of frailty on brain health. This paper is aimed at reviewing neuroimaging studies assessing brain changes in nondemented frail individuals to understand the neuropsychological basis of frailty.

METHODS: A systematic review was conducted on studies focusing on neuroimaging modalities in frailty, including MRI, fMRI, DTI and PET. The review was based on PRISMA instructions and a two-step screening process. The studies evaluating neuroimaging findings …

Cross-Sectional Comparison Of Structural Mri Markers Of Impairment In A Diverse Cohort Of Older Adults, Julie K Wisch, Kalen Petersen, Peter R Millar, Omar Abdelmoity, Ganesh M Babulal, Karin L Meeker, Meredith N Braskie, Kristine Yaffe, Arthur W Toga, Sid O'Bryant, Beau M Ances, Habs‐Hd Study Team

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Neurodegeneration is presumed to be the pathological process measure most proximal to clinical symptom onset in Alzheimer Disease (AD). Structural MRI is routinely collected in research and clinical trial settings. Several quantitative MRI-based measures of atrophy have been proposed, but their low correspondence with each other has been previously documented. The purpose of this study was to identify which commonly used structural MRI measure (hippocampal volume, cortical thickness in AD signature regions, or brain age gap [BAG]) had the best correspondence with the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) in an ethno-racially diverse sample. 2870 individuals recruited by the Healthy and Aging …

What Happened When I Took Calculus For The First Time At Age 47, Britt Kaufmann

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

These five poems are inspired by being in high school math classes and could be used in the classroom for cross-curricular enrichment.

The Operator Algebras Mentor Network: Impact Of Community-Based Mentoring, Anna Duwenig, Kari Eifler, Priyanga Ganesan, Lara Ismert, Viviana Meschitti, Sarah Plosker, Karen Strung

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The Operator Algebras Mentor Network (OAMN) is an international mentoring initiative that offers support in small groups to women and minority genders in the particularly male-dominated field of operator algebras (OA) in mathematics. Expected advantages of membership include raising awareness of the lack of gender diversity in this field, providing advice to mentees by mentors (e.g., pertaining to career or work/life balance), broadening one’s network in OA, etc. In this project, we set out to determine if membership within the OAMN is beneficial to its members. To this end we sent a questionnaire to OAMN members and a control group …