Digital Commons Network^™

The Commodification Of Public Land Records, Reid Kress Weisbord, Stewart E. Sterk

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The United States deed recording system alters the “first in time, first in right” doctrine to enable good faith purchasers to record their deeds to protect themselves against prior unrecorded conveyances and to provide constructive notice of their interests to potential subsequent purchasers. Constructive notice, however, works only when land records are available for public inspection, a practice that had long proved uncontroversial. For centuries, deed archives were almost exclusively patronized by land-transacting parties because the difficulty and cost of title examination deterred nearly everyone else.

The modern information economy, however, propelled this staid corner of property law into a …

Steering Loan Modifications Post-Pandemic, Pamela Foohey, Dalie Jimenez, Christopher K. Odinet

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As part of federal and state relief programs created during the COVID-19 pandemic, many American households received pauses on their largest debts, particularly on mortgages and student loans. Others may have come to agreements with their lenders, likewise pausing or altering payment on other debts, such as auto loans and credit cards. This relief allowed households to allocate their savings and income to necessary expenses, like groceries, utilities, and medicine. But forbearance does not equal forgiveness. At the end of the various relief periods and moratoria, people will have to resume paying all their debts, the amounts of which may …

Don't Let The Digital Tail Wag The Transformation Dog: A Digital Transformation Roadmap For Corporate Counsel, Michele M. Destefano, Tellmann P. Bjarne, Daniel Wu

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Due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, enhancements in technology, as well as shifts in the macroeconomic and socioeconomic dynamics of globalization, Digital Transformation (DT) has become an enterprise-wide imperative for most multinational companies (MNCs). As a result, legal departments are being challenged to embrace enterprise DT and start their own departmental DT journeys. Despite these trends, there is little scholarship and research about how MNC legal departments are addressing the DT challenge. How are General Counsel (GCs) currently approaching DT? Is what they are doing effective and value-accretive? And importantly, how should GCs approach DT to best generate value? …

Vermin Of Proof: Arguments For The Admissibility Of Animal Model Studies As Proof Of Causation In Toxic Tort Litigation, Kristen Ranges, Jessica Owley

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Toxic torts is a body of law that aims to compensate individuals for harms they suffer from exposure to hazardous substances. To successfully bring a toxic tort claim, a plaintiff must prove the main elements of a general tort cause of action: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Causation in a toxic tort case is particularly challenging to prove given the nature of toxic substances. To prove the toxicant in question caused the damages alleged, plaintiffs often present expert testimony based on scientific studies. Animal model studies, in particular, can help factfinders understand the health implications of the toxicants at issue. …

The Lost Cause Of Free Speech, Mary Anne Franks

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No abstract provided.

When Teachers Misgender: The Free Speech Claims Of Public School Teachers, Caroline Mala Corbin

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No abstract provided.

Re-Envisioning Child Well-Being: Dismantling The Inequitable Intersections Among Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, And Education, Kele Stewart

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Twenty years after Shattered Bonds, Dorothy Roberts' indictment that the family regulation system polices, disrupts, and restructures Black families and communities remains urgent. Black families remain overrepresented in foster care with enshrined disparate treatment and outcomes. Black children are more likely to be removed from their homes, and their longer stays in foster care are characterized by placement instability, overly restrictive placements, the risk of abuse and exploitation, and inadequate mental health and other services. Black children also have worse educational outcomes than even other children in foster care, are over-referred to the juvenile justice system, and are more …

Localizing Human Rights In Cities, Tamar Ezer

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No abstract provided.

The Sec's Climate Disclosure Rule: Critiquing The Critics, George S. Georgiev

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Climate change is an existential phenomenon, which entails a wide variety of physical risks as well as sizeable but underappreciated economic risks. In March 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) moved to address some of the information gaps related to the effects of climate change on firms by proposing a rule that requires public companies to report detailed and standardized information about important climate-related matters for the benefit of investors and markets. Though the rule proposal was welcomed by many market participants, it was also met with a level of opposition that was unusual in both its intensity …

Latcrit At Twenty-Five And Beyond - Organized Academic Activism And The Long Haul: Designing "Hybridized" Advocacy Projects For An Age Of Global Disruption, Systemic Injustice, And Bottom-Up Progress, Francisco Valdes, Steven W. Bender, Jennifer J. Hill

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On the monumental occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of LatCrit (Latina and Latino Critical Legal Theory, Inc.) as a still thriving and persevering community of critical scholars and activists, this Article offers some reflections on where we have been, where we are now, and where we might go next together as academics and organizers of long-term collective action. Against the current disruptions of a global pandemic, aggravated by planetary climate collapse, disinformation campaigns, and the organized top-down sabotage of U.S. democracy itself, our community responses going forward must be both more democratic and decentralized than ever, as well as …

Racialized, Judaized, Feminized: Identity-Based Attacks On The Press, Lili Levi

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No abstract provided.

Supported Decision-Making: Potential And Challenges For Older Persons, Morgan K. Whitlatch, Rebekah Diller

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In recent years, supported decision-making (SDM) has gained traction as a recognized alternative to guardianship for persons with disabilities in the United States. To date, SDM has not been as widely recognized as an alternative for older people, particularly those struggling with cognitive decline. This paper explores some of the obstacles that have prevented SDM from being used more broadly by older people, identifies ways of surmounting some of those obstacles, and makes recommendations for ways that SDM can be used in the aging context.

Credit Scoring Duality, Pamela Foohey, Sara Sternberg Greene

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Credit scoring is central to people’s financial growth and prosperity or financial decline and stagnation. People with a good credit score and accompanying credit report can buy opportunities to advance economically. The benefits they reap from their attractiveness to lenders and employers helps feed their future success. In contrast, people with a fair or poor credit score become stuck in cycle of high interest rates and costly loan terms, large required down payments, and denied applications for rentals, cell phone plans, and employment. Employers, service providers, lenders, and alternative financial service providers have begun to use alternative credit scoring models, …

Remote Justice & Domestic Violence: Process Pluralism Lessons From The Pandemic, Andrea K. Schneider, Heather Hlavka, Sameena Mulla, Erin Schubert, Aleksandra J. Snowden

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Domestic violence procedures, like so many court processes around the world, were forced to go online and remote during the pandemic. The impact was dramatic—there were fewer restraining order petitions filed in the first place and an even lower amount granted. In short, domestic violence survivors, among the most vulnerable in our court system, were even more challenged in the last two years. Like many court systems, Milwaukee will never go back to being fully in-person for all procedures in conjunction with domestic violence. The evolving hybrid choices could provide additional access to justice, or these processes could create additional …

Dynamic Pricing Algorithms, Consumer Harm, And Regulatory Response, Alexander Mackay, Samuel Weinstein

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Pricing algorithms are rapidly transforming markets, from ride-sharing, to air travel, to online retail. Regulators and scholars have watched this development with a wary eye. Their focus so far has been on the potential for pricing algorithms to facilitate explicit and tacit collusion. This Article argues that the policy challenges pricing algorithms pose are far broader than collusive conduct. It demonstrates that algorithmic pricing can lead to higher prices for consumers in competitive markets and even in the absence of collusion. This consumer harm can be initiated by a single firm employing a superior pricing algorithm. Higher prices arise from …

Tax Harmony: The Promise And Pitfalls Of The Global Minimum Tax, Reuven Avi-Yonah, Young Ran (Christine) Kim

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The rise of globalization has become a double-edged sword for countries seeking to implement a beneficial tax policy. On one hand, there are increased opportunities for attracting foreign capital and the benefits that increased jobs and tax revenue brings to a society. However, there is also much more tax competition among countries to attract foreign capital and investment. As tax competition has grown, effective corporate tax rates have continued to be cut, creating a “race-to-the-bottom” issue.

In 2021, 137 countries forming the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS passed a major milestone in reforming international tax by successfully introducing the framework …

“A Force Created”: The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce And The Politics Of Corporate Immunity, Myriam E. Gilles

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Upon its founding in 1912, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was conceived as a “force created” to exert “a beneficent influence upon our national life” by integrating the views of the business community into governmental policies and regulations. That a force was created is beyond question. Beneficence is a separate issue.

Taking Misappropriation Seriously: State Common Law Disgorgement Actions For Insider Trading, Jeanne L. Schroeder

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In two recent cases, Kokesh v. SEC, and Liu v. SEC, the U.S. Supreme Court cut back substantially on one of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s most important enforcement powers. This is the ability to seek disgorgement from persons who violate the federal securities laws, depriving them of their ill-gotten gains.

Previously, the Supreme Court had developed a largely property-based theory of insider trading. Why is insider trading evil? Because material nonpublic information is property that the trader has fraudulently obtained and must not use for his own purposes

In this article I bring these thoughts together. I …

Trade's Mini-Deals, Kathleen Claussen

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The modern consensus is that U.S. trade law is made through statute and through large congressional-executive agreements, both of which maintain Congress' constitutional primacy over the regulation of foreign commerce. Contrary to this understanding, however, short, targeted agreements negotiated by the U.S. executive with foreign trading partners - recently referred to as "mini-deals" - have become a fixture of the trade law landscape over the last three decades in staggering number. More than 1,200 such agreements govern the movement of goods and services in and out of the United States from and to 130 countries. Such deals are not only …

Understanding A Low Vitamin D State In The Context Of Covid-19, James Bernard Walsh, Daniel Mccartney, Eamon Laird, Kevin Mccarroll, Declan G. Byrne, Martin Healy, Paul O'Shea, Rose Anne Kenny, John L. Faul

Articles

While a low vitamin D state has been associated with an increased risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2 in addition to an increased severity of COVID-19 disease, a causal role is not yet established. Here, we review the evidence relating to i) vitamin D and its role in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease ii) the vitamin D status in the Irish adult population iii) the use of supplemental vitamin D to treat a deficient status and iv) the application of the Bradford-Hill causation criteria. We conclude that reverse causality probably makes a minimal contribution to the presence of low vitamin D …

A Qualitative Analysis Of A Caregivers’ Experience Of Complementary Feeding In A Population Of Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander And Filipino Infants: The Timing Of The Introduction Of Complementary Foods, And The Role Of Transgenerational Experience, Kara Mulville, Jessie Kai, John Kearney, Jacqueline Ng-Osorio, Carol J. Boushey, Marie K. Fialkowski

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The aim of this study was to investigate caregivers’ experiences of complementary feeding (CF) among the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI), and Filipino populations. Research focused on the timing of CF commencement, and the influence of transgenerational experience on feeding practices. The experiences and practices of those who fed human milk exclusively (HME), were compared to those who included infant formula (F&HM). Caregivers of a subset of 32 infants who were participating in a larger longitudinal study relating to CF and diet diversity, took part in voluntary in-depth interviews relating to CF practices. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. …

Ecological Factors And Childhood Eating Behaviours At 5 Years Of Age: Findings From The Rolo Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study, Anna Delahunt, Marie C. Conway, Eileen C. O’Brien, Aisling A. Geraghty, Linda M. O’Keeffe, Sharleen L. O’Reilly, Ciara M. Mcdonnell, Patricia M. Kearney, John Mehegan, Fionnuala M. Mcauliffe

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Individual differences in children eating behaviours have been linked with childhood overweight and obesity. The determinants of childhood eating behaviours are influenced by a complex combination of hereditary and ecological factors. This study examines if key ecological predictors of childhood overweight; maternal socio-economic status (SES), children’s screen time, and childcare arrangements, are associated with eating behaviours in children aged 5-years-old.

Vitamin D Status And Mortality From Sars Cov-2: A Prospective Study Of Unvaccinated Caucasian Adults, Robert Barrett, Modar Youssef, Irfan Shah, Julia Ioana, Abdullah Al Lawati, Abdullah Bukhari, Suzanne Hegarty, Liam J. Cormican, Eoin Judge, Conor M. Burke, Catriona Cody, Joseph Feely, Katrina Hutchinson, William Tormey, Eoghan O’ Neill, Aoife O'Shea, Meabh Connolly, Daniel Mccartney, John L. Faul

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COVID-19 and a low vitamin D state share common risk factors, which might explain why vitamin D deficiency has been linked with higher COVID-19 mortality. Moreover, measures of serum vitamin D may become lower during systemic inflammatory responses, further confounding the association via reverse causality. In this prospective study (recruited over 12 months), we examined whether the association between a low vitamin D state and in-hospital mortality due to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in unvaccinated subjects is explained by (i) the presence of shared risk factors (e.g., obesity, advanced age) or (ii) a reduction in serum 25(OH)D due to COVID-19 (i.e., reverse …

Towards Exchanging Wearable-Pghd With Ehrs: Developing A Standardized Information Model For Wearable-Based Patient Generated Health Data, Abdullahi Abubakar Kawu, Dympna O'Sullivan, Lucy Hederman

Articles

Wearables have become commonplace for tracking and making sense of patient lifestyle, wellbeing and health data. Most of this tracking is done by individuals outside of clinical settings, however some data from wearables may be useful in a clinical context. As such, wearables may be considered a prominent source of Patient Generated Health Data (PGHD). Studies have attempted to maximize the use of the data from wearables including integrating with Electronic Health Records (EHRs). However, usually a limited number of wearables are considered for integration and, in many cases, only one brand is investigated. In addition, we find limited studies …

The Evolution Of The Internet And Social Media: A Literature Review, Charles Alves De Castro, Isobel O'Reilly Dr, Aiden Carthy

Articles

This article reviews and analyses factors impacting the evolution of the internet, the web, and social media channels, charting historic trends and highlight recent technological developments. The review comprised a deep search using electronic journal databases. Articles were chosen according to specific criteria with a group of 34 papers and books selected for complete reading and deep analysis. The 34 elements were analysed and processed using NVIVO 12 Pro, enabling the creation of dimensions and categories, codes and nodes, identifying the most frequent words, cluster analysis of the terms, and creating a word cloud based on each word's frequency. The …

Evaluating Technology-Mediated Collaborative Workflows For Telehealth, Christopher Bondy Ph.D., Pengcheng Shi, Pamela Grover Md, Vicki Hanson, Linlin Chen, Rui Li

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Goals: This paper discusses the need for a predictable method to evaluate gains and gaps of collaborative technology-mediated workflows and introduces an evaluation framework to address this need. Methods: The Collaborative Space Analysis Framework (CS-AF), introduced in this research, is a cross-disciplinary evaluation method designed to evaluate technology-mediated collaborative workflows. The 5-step CS-AF approach includes: (1) current-state workflow definition, (2) current-state (baseline) workflow assessment, (3) technology-mediated workflow development and deployment, (4) technology-mediated workflow assessment, (5) analysis, and conclusions. For this research, a comprehensive, empirical study of hypertension exam workflow for telehealth was conducted using the CS-AF approach. Results: The CS-AF …

A Framework Of Web-Based Dark Patterns That Can Be Detected Manually Or Automatically, Ioannis Stavrakakis, Andrea Curley, Dympna O'Sullivan, Damian Gordon, Brendan Tierney

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This research explores the design and development of a framework for the detection of Dark Patterns, which are a series of user interface tricks that manipulate users into actions that they do not intend to do, for example, share more data than they want to, or spend more money than they plan to. The interface does this using either deception or other psychological nudges. User Interface experts have categorized a number of these tricks that are commonly used and have called them Dark Patterns. They are typically varied in their form and what they do, and the goal of this …

Transition Administration, Michael Herz, Katherine A. Shaw

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The period from November 3, 2020 to January 20, 2021, was unlike any presidential transition in our history. President Donald Trump refused to accept his ballot-box defeat, instead battling to overturn the election’s outcome. This dramatic public campaign was waged in state and federal courts, state legislatures, the offices of state and local election officials, the Department of Justice, and finally the halls of Congress, where on January 6, 2021, a mob incited by the President stormed the Capitol with the explicit goal of preventing the final counting of electoral votes for Joe Biden. These efforts had more mundane and …

On The Documentation Of Refactoring Types, Eman Abdullah Alomar, Jiaqian Liu, Kenneth Addo, Mohamed Wiem Mkaouer, Christian D. Newman, Ali Ouni, Zhe Yu

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Commit messages are the atomic level of software documentation. They provide a natural language description of the code change and its purpose. Messages are critical for software maintenance and program comprehension. Unlike documenting feature updates and bug fixes, little is known about how developers document their refactoring activities. Specifically, developers can perform multiple refactoring operations, including moving methods, extracting classes, renaming attributes, for various reasons, such as improving software quality, managing technical debt, and removing defects. Yet, there is no systematic study that analyzes the extent to which the documentation of refactoring accurately describes the refactoring operations performed at the …

The Circle Of Life: The Mathematics Of Predator-Prey Dynamics, John Butler, Rebecca Brady

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Some animals hunt other animals to feed themselves; these animals are called predators. Animals who are hunted and eaten are known as prey. What do you think would happen if a predator were introduced to an ecosystem where the prey previously lived without fear of being hunted? Would the new predator eat all the prey animals until they go extinct? Actually, the relationship between predator and prey is far more interesting than this. In this article, we show what the predator-prey relationship looks like over time and explain how scientists can make predictions about future population levels, all using basic …