Digital Commons Network^™

Ai-Enabled Decision-Support Systems In The Joint Targeting Cycle: Legal Challenges, Risks, And The Human(E) Dimension, Jessica Dorsey, Marta Bo

International Law Studies

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as well as ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria include the reported military use of AI-enabled decision-support systems (AI-DSS) within the joint targeting cycle (JTC). These tools use AI techniques to collect and analyze data, provide information about the operational environment, and make actionable recommendations with the aim of aiding military decision-makers in evaluating factors relevant to legal compliance, such as taking precautions and ensuring proportionality in attacks. These systems are often touted as being simply a human aid and, as such, have flown largely under the radar regarding regulation as they are …

Leadless Versus Transvenous Dual-Chamber Pacemakers: Real-World Evidence From Aveir Dr Coverage With Evidence Development Study., Monica Lo, Anish K Amin, Marcin Kowalski, Anne Kroman, Dilip Mathew, Valay Parikh, Stanislav Weiner, Jennifer M Joseph, Leonard Ganz, Mohammed Mortada

Heart and Vascular Articles

BACKGROUND: AVEIR DR, an industry-first dual-chamber leadless pacemaker (LP), provides continuous atrioventricular synchrony through implant-to-implant (i2i) communication between atrial and ventricular LP devices. It is important to evaluate the early real-world comparative safety of AVEIR DR LP.

OBJECTIVE: To compare complications and mortality between AVEIR DR LP and dual-chamber transvenous pacemakers (TP).

METHODS: De novo LP and TP patients were identified in Medicare Fee-for-Service claims (October 2023 and December 2024). Outcomes were 30-day and 6-month complications, reinterventions, heart failure hospitalizations, and all-cause mortality. Comparisons were adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, and hospital encounter characteristics.

RESULTS: Compared to TP (N = 77 …

The Itrail Making Test (Itmt): An Evaluation Of Novel Testing Paradigms, Hidden Indices Of Measurement, And Diagnostic Accuracy In Parkinson’S Disease, Donnchadh Murphy, Jonathan Scott, Craig Newman, Rupert Noad

Peninsula Medical School

Introduction: The Trail Making Test (TMT) is an important test when assessing for cognitive difficulties in people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). However, the pencil-and-paper format can be susceptible to administration and scoring errors and may disproportionately reflect motor impairments rather than cognitive performance. The current study sought to evaluate the reliability and diagnostic accuracy of two novel computerized versions of the TMT: iTMT-Tap and iTMT-Drag. Method: This study used a quasi-experimental diagnostic accuracy design, and included 34 healthy controls, 28 people with Parkinson’s disease with normal cognition (PD-NC), and 31 people with Parkinson’s disease mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). Participants were …

Aberrant Cd25 And Increased Cd123 Expression Are Common In Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Kmt2a Partial Tandem Duplication And Are Associated With Flt3 Internal Tandem Duplication, Qing Wei, Guilin Tang, Shaoying Li, Sa A Wang, Pei Lin, Wei Wang, Sanam Loghavi, Wei J Wang, L Jeffrey Medeiros, Jie Xu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: KMT2A partial tandem duplication (PTD) occurs in approximately 5-10% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases and is associated with poor prognosis. While its cytogenetic and molecular features are well described, the immunophenotypic characteristics of AML with KMT2A-PTD remain incompletely defined.

Methods: We identified 47 cases of AML with KMT2A-PTD by optical genome mapping. All cases underwent flow cytometric immunophenotypic analysis and next-generation sequencing using an 81-gene panel.

Results: The cohort included 32 men and 15 women with a median age of 67 years (range, 19-87). Thirty-eight cases were de novo AML, and nine were secondary to myelodysplastic …

Glutamatergic Projection Neurons In The Basal Forebrain Underlie Learned Olfactory Associational Valence Assignments, Pey-Shyuan Chin, Zhuokun Ding, Mikhail Kochukov, Snigdha Srivastava, Elizabeth H Moss, Qingchun Tong, Benjamin R Arenkiel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sensory perception is shaped by experience, giving stimuli behavioral significance. Basal forebrain (BF) cholinergic neurons in mice, which are crucial for arousal and motivation, also regulate sensory processing. Within BF nuclei, glutamatergic (vGlut2BF) neurons receive cholinergic input and modulate behaviors, but their roles in encoding sensory significance remain unclear. Using in vivo calcium imaging, we found that vGlut2BF neurons initially poorly encoded odor identity. However, their response to conditioned odors increased following associative learning, and their population activity more distinctly encoded paired stimuli, reflecting emergent value representation. Furthermore, pairing stimulation or inhibition of vGlut2BF neurons with specific odors altered odor …

Loss Of Payload Sensitivity And Other Mechanisms Of Resistance To T-Dxd In Her2-Mutant Nsclc: Implications For Subsequent Responsiveness To Her2 Tkis, Monique B Nilsson, Xiuning Le, Alissa Poteete, Xiaoxing Yu, Junqin He, Qian Huang, Yuji Shibata, Ximeng Liu, Cesar Moran, Ash A Alizadeh, Maximilian Diehn, Heather Wakelee, Diego Almanza, Scott Soltys, Takeshi Sugio, Jurik Mutter, Xiaoman Kang, Rui Wang, Soyeong Jun, Mohammad Shahrokh Esfahani, Hai Tran, Yuanxin Xi, Lingzhi Hong, Xiaofang Huo, Ashwani Kumar, Xiaoyang Ren, Kei Oguchi, Kazuhisa Minamiguchi, Caroline M Weipert, Jing Wang, Ralf Kittler, John V Heymach

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Effective therapies are needed for patients with NSCLC with HER2-mutant tumors who progress on the HER2 antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd), a standard-of-care treatment. A greater understanding of mechanisms mediating acquired T-DXd resistance and whether these tumors could benefit from HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is needed.

Methods: Using preclinical models of acquired T-DXd resistance, LentiMutate scanning mutagenesis, and clinical analyses, we investigated mechanisms mediating acquired resistance to T-DXd and assessed the impact of each of these resistance mechanisms on cross-resistance to alternative HER2-targeting approaches.

Results: We determined that acquired resistance to T-DXd could occur through multiple mechanisms including …

Fsec Meeting Minutes January 16, 2026, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Selective Deletion Of Slc2a1 From The Rpe Reveals That Rods But Not Cones Depend On Glucose Transport Across The Outer Blood-Retinal Barrier, Lauren L. Daniele, John Y.S. Han, Minzhong Yu, Ravi A. Sangani, Craig D. Beight, Cyrus Rostami, Philip D. Kiser, Neal S. Peachy, Nancy J. Philp

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

GLUT1 facilitates a continuous flow of glucose across the inner and outer blood-retinal barriers (BRBs) to support vision. To understand the extent to which photoreceptors rely on glucose transport across the outer BRB, we generated a tamoxifen-inducible conditional knockout of Slc2a1 in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) (RPE-iΔGlut1). In the RPE-iΔGlut1 mice, rod photoreceptors exhibited impaired outer segment renewal and decreased the expression of proteins involved in phototransduction and ciliary transport. Proteins regulating the retinal stress response increased. Cone photoreceptors were functional and viable 15 months post-tamoxifen treatment in the RPE-iΔGlut1 mice, while 70% of the rods died. …

Do Monetary Policy Shocks Affect Co2 Emissions? Evidence From Brazil, Luccas Assis Attílio, João Ricardo Faria, Andre V. Mollick

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

This paper examines whether monetary policy shocks affect CO2 emissions over time in Brazil. We show that CO2 emissions decline persistently following contractionary monetary policy shocks. The relationship between monetary policy and CO2 emissions in Brazil is assessed through two channels: trade openness and exchange rates. The theoretical model illustrates how monetary policy affects the domestic economy through the real exchange rate. An application of a Global VAR (GVAR) to the Brazilian economy from 1996 to 2018 investigates the effects of monetary policy in Brazil (or in the U.S.) on real GDP and, subsequently, on CO2 emissions. A contractionary monetary …

Differential Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Driven By Asymmetric Hypoperfusion In A Vascular Dementia Model, Mengjun Dai, Kuizhi Qu, Ying Jiang, Song Gao, Yan-Ning Rui, Zhen Xu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction has been associated with vascular dementia (VaD). However, the underlying mechanisms causing BBB dysfunction remain unclear, especially regarding cerebral hypoperfusion. This study aimed to investigate the effects of asymmetric hypoperfusion on BBB permeability using a mouse model of VaD.

Methods: Asymmetric bilateral common carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) was induced using ligature rings. BBB integrity was assessed on 3 days post-surgery using Evans blue, IgG, and albumin extravasation. A modified tissue processing protocol optimized endogenous marker detection. Regional and sex-based differences in BBB permeability were analyzed.

Results: Increased BBB permeability was observed in both corpus callosum …

The George-Anne Inkwell Edition, Georgia Southern University

The Inkwell

No abstract provided.

Considerations When Venturing Into Community Engagement With Those Who Struggle To Access Advice Or Care, Ruth Potterton, Abigail Nelder, Karen Burn

Peninsula Dental School

No abstract provided.

Explaining Transformer-Based Classification Of Radiology Reports, M Courtman, G Abdelhalim, L Sun, E Ifeachor, S Mullin, M Thurston

Peninsula Medical School

ObjectivesDeep learning models developed for the classification of radiological reports have lacked explainability. We aimed to validate and explain a pretrained classification model by applying it to the removal of confounding data from a radiological dataset.MethodsTwo radiologists categorized 2038 anonymized MRI head free-text radiology reports for abnormality and for small vessel disease presence. Of these reports, 80% (n = 1630) were used to fine-tune pretrained transformer models to classify scans. Five-fold cross-validation was used in model development. The models were tested on the remaining 20% of the reports (n = 408). SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were used to explain the …

Advances In Targeting Her2 Across Cancer Subtypes: A Pan-Tumor Approach, Taiwo Adesoye, Ecaterina E Dumbrava, Kanwal P S Raghav, Aysegul A Sahin, Hui Chen, Sunyoung S Lee, Milind M Javle, Shubham Pant, Omar Alhalabi, Xiuning Le, Vicente Valero, Paula R Pohlmann, Funda Meric-Bernstam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is an established therapeutic target in multiple solid tumors, particularly breast and gastric cancers. Significant advancements have been made in the development of HER2-targeted therapies, including monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and novel bispecific antibodies. These agents have revolutionized the treatment landscape for HER2-positive metastatic cancers, resulting in improved progression-free and overall survival, and quality of life for patients. Beyond breast and gastric cancers, HER2 expression/amplification has been observed in other solid tumors, such as colorectal, lung, bladder, ovarian, and biliary tract cancers, offering new opportunities for personalized therapy in …

Emt-Induced Stem Cell And Mesenchymal Programs Can Be Decoupled Via Cell Division And Esrp1-Dependent Mechanisms, Petra Den Hollander, Maria Castaneda, Suhas V Vasaikar, Joanna Joyce Maddela, Claire Gould, Breanna R Demestichas, Robiya Joseph, Shivangi Agarwal, Abhijeet P Deshmukh, Alvina Zia, Shruti Shah, Tieling Zhou, Geraldine Raja, Paul Allegakoen, Nick A Kuburich, Mika Pietila, Chunxiao Fu, Jeffrey Chang, Chad J Creighton, William F Symmans, Rama Soundararajan, Sendurai A Mani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is known to induce both stemness and mesenchymal properties, and our findings reveal that these two programs can be uncoupled. During EMT, epithelial cells transition from symmetric divisions producing differentiated daughter cells to self-renewing daughter cells. When we block cell division and induce EMT, cells gain mesenchymal properties but not stemness, suggesting the importance of cell division for gaining stemness. We identified ESRP1 as a key regulator of EMT-driven stemness, which get downregulated during EMT in a cell division-dependent manner. Overexpression of ESRP1 prevents the gain of stemness without affecting the mesenchymal program. Only the stemness and …

The Mosaic, Georgia Southern University

George-Anne Media Group: Newsletters & Magazines

No abstract provided.

Role Of The Etv5/P38 Signaling Axis In Aggressive Thyroid Cancer Cells, Jerry H Houl, Rozita Bagheri-Yarmand, Muthusamy Kunnimalaiyaan, Paola Miranda Mendez, Joseph L Kidd, Ali Dadbin, Andrea Ruiz-Jurado, Parag A Parekh, Ying C Henderson, Nikhil S Chari, Aatish Thennavan, Reid T Powell, Clifford C Stephan, Xiao Zhao, Anastasios Maniakas, Roza Nurieva, Naifa L Busaidy, Maria E Cabanillas, Ramona Dadu, Mark Zafereo, Jennifer R Wang, Stephen Y Lai, Marie-Claude Hofmann

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (PDTC) and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) face a much poorer prognosis than those with differentiated thyroid cancers. Around 25% of PDTCs and 35% of ATCs carry the BRAFV600E mutation, which constitutively activates the MAPK pathway, a key driver of cell growth. Although combining BRAF and MEK inhibitors can shrink tumors, resistance often develops. The exact cause of this resistance remains unclear. We previously found that in PDTC and ATC cells, the BRAFV600E mutation is strongly linked to the expression of ETV5, a transcription factor downstream of the MAPK pathway. In the current study, we …

Integrative Spatial Multi-Omics Reveal Niche-Specific Inflammatory Signaling And Differentiation Hierarchies In Aml, Enes Dasdemir, Ivo Veletic, Christopher P Ly, Andres E Quesada, Christopher D Pacheco, Fatima Z Jelloul, Pamella Borges, Sreyashi Basu, Sonali Jindal, Zhiqiang Wang, Alexander Lazar, Khalida M Wani, Dinler A Antunes, Patrick K Reville, Preethi H Gunaratne, Robert J Tower, Padmanee Sharma, Hussein A Abbas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a clonal disorder characterized by immature blasts and arrested differentiation that primarily affects the bone marrow (BM) and occasionally presents as extramedullary (EM) disease. EM manifestations highlight AML's adaptability to distinct microenvironments, which we examined using spatial analyses of medullary and EM tissues. We describe a workflow for Visium-based spatial transcriptomics in medullary and EM AML, revealing insights into cell-cell communication and the spatial organization of AML hierarchies. In BM, monocytes and granulocyte-monocyte progenitors colocalized with leukemic populations, sharing molecular signatures with those in EM sample. CXCL12-CXCR4-mediated communication correlated with PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in inflammatory niches.

Opioid Use After Screw Fixation Of Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis., Jonathan R. Warren, Stephanie Coupal, Colleen M. Moreland, Mckenna C. Noe, George E. Quaye, Lisa Berglund, Caleb W. Grote

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) is a common pediatric hip disorder primarily managed with transphyseal screw fixation. Opioid pain medication is often used postoperatively, but there is little evidence to guide prescribing practices. The purpose of this study was to describe opioid utilization and prescribing practices for patients after screw fixation of SCFE.

METHODS: This was a prospective observational study of patients with SCFE who underwent transphyseal screw fixation. Patients and guardians were contacted on postoperative days 1, 3, and 5 for data collection. Postdischarge analgesic use, pain severity using a parental proxy, and pain control satisfaction were recorded. …

Performance Forum - January 16, 2026 (Special Event), Calida Jones

Performance Forum

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prophylaxis Programme Using Palivizumab In Preterm Infants: A Single Institute Retrospective Study, Hilal Al Mandhari, Saif Al Kendi, Noura Al-Balushi, Aqeela Bintaqi, Abdulrahman Al Saadi, Mohamed Abdellatif

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an established respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prophylaxis programme by assessing RSV-related hospitalisations (RSVH) and identify associated risk factors among preterm infants born at <32 weeks’ gestation. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman. Eligible participants were preterm infants <32 weeks’ gestation, born between January 2015 and December 2020, who received RSV prophylaxis. Data were extracted from electronic medical records and analysed. Results: A total of 282 infants were included. The mean gestational age was 28.56 ± 2.03 weeks and the mean birth weight was 1.23 ± 0.35 kg. A total of 5 infants (1.8%) experienced RSV-related hospitalisation while receiving palivizumab prophylaxis. Infants with RSVH were significantly more likely to be …

Mini-Empowerment Cycle, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Spiritual Proficiency

This paper introduces the Mini-Empowerment Cycle, a practical framework for integrating spiritual guidance into everyday academic and personal activities through an intentional partnership with Heavenly Father. Drawing on insights gained from repeated participation in temple endowment sessions, the author observed that the pattern of seeking divine guidance, translating inspiration into concrete plans, acting faithfully, and returning to report can become a natural mode of thinking and acting, leading to greater clarity and effectiveness in daily life. This framework also responds to empirical findings from a campus survey indicating that many students hesitate to pray about routine academic tasks, often …

College Students' Barriers To Mental Health Support Services: A Practitioner's Perspective, Rebecca C. Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to accessing mental health support for college students from the perspective of college faculty counselors. In 2022, research indicated that over 60% of college students met the criteria for one or more mental health conditions (Lipson et al., 2022), though data published in the same year revealed that practitioners employed at colleges and universities are only supporting an average of 12.2% of the student population (Bruns et al., 2023). While college counseling centers have reported increasing usage rates, there remains a gap in the number of students utilizing services versus those …

Ai Derivation And Exploration Of Antibiotic Class Spaces, Adam Bess, Sean Rowland, Chris Alvin, Supratik Mukhopadhyay

Open Access Fund Publications

Purpose The rapid evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria poses an urgent global health crisis. A key gap in current antibiotic discovery approaches is the absence of automated chemical synthesis methods designed to systematically generate and evaluate compounds within specific antibiotic classes. We address this gap through fragment-based computational experiments that systematically explore antibiotic chemical spaces.

Methods Our computational methodology consists of three steps: fragmentation of known compounds (eMolFrag), generating new molecular structures by recombining fragments (eSynth), and filtering of candidates based on desired properties (eFilter). eFilter combines structural analysis, pathway information, and protein targets …

Access Is The Outcome: Rethinking Metrics, Worthiness, And Human Rights Across Philanthropy And Development, Stephanie Zabriskie

Faculty Publications

This thought paper examines how philanthropic evaluation frameworks misclassify access to basic human rights as a preliminary step rather than a complete outcome. In competitive funding environments, post-access behavioral metrics such as utilization and compliance are often elevated to outcome status and used to assess program worthiness. Drawing on rights-based and systems-level evaluation frameworks, the paper argues that access itself constitutes a sufficient and legitimate outcome, and that post-access data should function as program management inputs rather than legitimacy or financial thresholds. Reframing access as the outcome has implications for philanthropic accountability, administrative burden, and the ethical consistency of funding …

Combining Dna Methylation Features And Clinical Characteristics Predicts Ketamine Treatment Response For Ptsd, Amir Valizadeh, John D Roache, Xinyu Zhang, Ying Hu, Ralitza Gueorguieva, Lynnette A Averill, Mohini Ranganathan, Zuoheng Wang, Douglas E Williamson, Paulo R Shiroma, Matthew J Girgenti, Ismene L Petrakis, Argelio L López-Roca, Stacey Young-Mccaughan, Terence M Keane, Alan L Peterson, Chadi G Abdallah, John H Krystal, Ke Xu

Staff and Researcher Publications

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exhibits extensive clinical and biological variability, making treatment challenging. The Consortium to Alleviate PTSD (CAP)-ketamine trial, the largest randomized study of ketamine for PTSD, found no overall benefit of ketamine over placebo, underscoring the necessity to identify responsive subgroups. Using pre-treatment blood DNA methylation profiles and clinical measures from the CAP-ketamine trial, we applied machine learning to predict treatment response. A model based on 1,208 methylation sites achieved higher predictive accuracy than models using clinical variables alone, and combining both data types further improved performance. The methylation-derived score distinguished responders with 92.9% accuracy. The predictive CpGs …

A Robust Deep Learning Ensemble Framework For Waterbody Detection Using High-Resolution X-Band Sar Under Data-Constrained Conditions, Soyeon Choi, Seung Hee Kim, Son V. Nghiem, Menas Kafatos, Minha Choi, Jinsoo Kim, Yangwon Lee

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

Accurate delineation of inland waterbodies is critical for applications such as hydrological monitoring, disaster response preparedness and response, and environmental management. While optical satellite imagery is hindered by cloud cover or low-light conditions, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides consistent surface observations regardless of weather or illumination. This study introduces a deep learning-based ensemble framework for precise inland waterbody detection using high-resolution X-band Capella SAR imagery. To improve the discrimination of water from spectrally similar non-water surfaces (e.g., roads and urban structures), an 8-channel input configuration was developed by incorporating auxiliary geospatial features such as height above nearest drainage (HAND), slope, …

Prevalence And Factors Associated With Regular Fast-Food Consumption Among The Adult Population In Qatar: Cross-Sectional Analysis From Qatar Biobank Cohort, Alaa Zuhair Massarweh, Lynne Alexandra Kennedy, Asayel Saleh, Aljazi Al-Thani, Ala Al Rajabi

All Works

Background The Eastern Mediterranean Region has undergone a rapid nutrition transition over the last three decades, with healthier traditional table diets displaced by energy-dense convenience foods. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first large cohort-based estimate of regular fast-food consumption (RFFC >= 1 time/week) and its correlates among the adult population in Qatar using Qatar Biobank, a volunteer prospective cohort of Qataris and long-term residents.Methods A cross-sectional study using a simple randomized sample of 2,000 adult participants from the Qatar Biobank (QBB) longitudinal cohort. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. RFFC was modeled as …

20260113: Physical Education And Wellness, 1970-1997, College Of Education And Professional Development

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the College of Education and Professional Development at Marshall University from 1970-1997. Items were received in the 1980s and were processed in 2026 and include notable materials from two separate areas... the first one is a WMUL & closed circuit television services, and the second set of materials in this collection is a newsletter titled Well/Fit News that ranges from 1993-1997. Please download the finding aid for a full list of contents.

Attitudes Toward Patients' Safety Among Healthcare Professionals In The United Arab Emirates: A Cross-Sectional Study, Moien Khan, Amiri Sohrab, Iffat Elbarazi, Mohammed Salaheldin Elsayed, Reem Al Falasi, Debasish Kar

Peninsula Medical School

This research aims to investigate healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) attitudes towards patient safety and to explore the role ofvarious work-related factors that could be the barriers to safety-events reporting to modify these attitudes. A cross-sectionalsurvey was conducted, involving 629 HCPs who are working across health care sectors in the United Arab Emirates. HCPs in theUnited Arab Emirates, comprising 71.5% women and 27.8% men, displayed a generally positive attitude towards patient safety(mean score = 3.91). Sub-comparisons indicated high scores for team functioning (4.58 ± 0.62) and low scores for professionalincompetence as an error cause (2.86 ± 0.50). Common barriers to reporting safety …