Digital Commons Network^™

Editorial: Human-Nature Interactions: Perspectives On Conceptual And Methodological Issues, Tadhg Macintyre, Jürgen Beckmann, Giovanna Calogiuri, Aoife Donnelly, Marc Jones, Christopher R. Madan, Noel Brick, Christopher Gidlow, Mike Rogerson, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen

Articles

Urban agglomerations expose citizens to ever-increasing risks from heat, air pollution, noise stress, and reduced nature connectedness. Concurrently, accumulating evidence suggests various health benefits by exposure to urban natural spaces (World Health Organization, 2016a; Bratman et al., 2019). Existing research suggests an array of benefits of contact with nature which are linked to physical activity (e.g., green exercise), active travel, and residential proximity to greenspace. Psychological benefits appear to be related to mood, well-being, attention and pro-environmental behavior; physiological benefits have been described in terms of increased physical activity, improved cardiovascular parameters, reduced stress hormones, and enhanced immune resources (Bowler …

The International Law Commission's First Draft Convention On Crimes Against Humanity: Codification, Progressive Development, Or Both?, Charles C. Jalloh

Articles

In 2017, the International Law Commission ("ILC") which was established by the UN General Assembly in 1947 to assist States with the promotion of (1) the progressive development of international law and (2) its codification, adopted on first reading a draft convention on crimes against humanity which it transmitted to States for comments. The draft convention seeks to help fill the present gap in the law of international crimes since States criminalized genocide in 1948 and war crimes in 1949, but missed the opportunity to do so for crimes against humanity. This Article examines the first reading text, as submitted …

Managing The Growth Of Peer Review At The Royal Society Journals, 1865-1965, Aileen Fyfe, Flaminio Squazzoni, Didier Torny, Pierpaolo Dondio

Articles

This article examines the evolution of peer review and the modern editorial processes of scholarly journals by analyzing a novel data set derived from the Royal Society’s archives and covering 1865-1965, that is, the historical period in which refereeing (not yet known as peer review) became firmly established. Our analysis reveals how the Royal Society’s editorial processes coped with both an increasing reliance on refereeing and a growth in submissions, while maintaining collective responsibility and minimizing research waste. By engaging more of its fellows in editorial activity, the society was able to establish an equilibrium of number of submissions per …

Ambiqual: Towards A Quality Metric For Headphone Rendered Compressed Ambisonic Spatial Audio, Miroslaw Narbutt, Jan Skoglund, Andrew Allen, Michael Chinen, Dan Barry, Andrew Hines

Articles

Spatial audio is essential for creating a sense of immersion in virtual environments. Efficient encoding methods are required to deliver spatial audio over networks without compromising Quality of Service (QoS). Streaming service providers such as YouTube typically transcode content into various bit rates and need a perceptually relevant audio quality metric to monitor users’ perceived quality and spatial localization accuracy. The aim of the paper is two-fold. First, it is to investigate the effect of Opus codec compression on the quality of spatial audio as perceived by listeners using subjective listening tests. Secondly, it is to introduce AMBIQUAL, a full …

Atmospheric Biodetection Part I: Study Of Airborne Bacterial Concentrations From January 2018 To May 2020 At Saclay, France, Roland Sarda-Estève, Dominique Baisnée, Benjamin Guinot, Gediminas Maineli, John Sodeau, David O'Connor, Jean Pierre Besancenot, Michel Thibaudon, Sara Monteiro, Jean-Eudes Petit, Valérie Gros

Articles

Background: The monitoring of bioaerosol concentrations in the air is a relevant endeavor due to potential health risks associated with exposure to such particles and in the understanding of their role in climate. In this context, the atmospheric concentrations of bacteria were measured from January 2018 to May 2020 at Saclay, France. The aim of the study was to understand the seasonality, the daily variability, and to identify the geographical origin of airborne bacteria. Methods: 880 samples were collected daily on polycarbonate filters, extracted with purified water, and analyzed using the cultivable method and flow cytometry. A source receptor model …

Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Targets Irf7 Via Icp0 To Limit Type I Ifn Induction, David Shahnazaryan, Rana Khalil, Claire Wynne, Caroline A Jefferies, Joan Ní Gabhann-Dromgoole, Conor C Murphy

Articles

Herpes simplex keratitis (HSK), caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‑1) infection, is the commonest cause of infectious blindness in the developed world. Following infection the virus is initially suspended in the tear film, where it encounters a multi‑pronged immune response comprising enzymes, complement, immunoglobulins and crucially, a range of anti‑viral and pro‑inflammatory cytokines. However, given that HSV‑1 can overcome innate immune responses to establish lifelong latency throughout a susceptible individual’s lifetime, there is significant interest in understanding the mechanisms employed by HSV‑1 to downregulate the anti‑viral type I interferon (IFN) mediated immune responses. This study aimed to investigate …

Mapping (In)Equity At The Polls, Brianne Gilbert, Max Dunsker

Articles

While provisions of the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act continue to guarantee equal voting rights, a fundamental question remains: do all citizens enjoy equal access to the ballot box? Anecdotally, we know that not everyone has equal access, yet where do these differences exist spatially, are there trends, and how can students make an impact? This overarching lesson plan creates a set of lessons for students to determine a list of vote location characteristics, collect data at the polls, and analyze the data to answer these questions, opening the doors to many more questions as well. Included in the lesson …

Sex-Based Discrimination In Health Care Under Section 1557: The New Final Rule And Supreme Court Developments, Brietta R. Clark, Elizabeth Pendo, Gabriella Garbero

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One of the primary goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has been the reduction and elimination of health disparities, generally defined as population-level health differences that adversely affect disadvantaged groups, including disparities associated with sex and gender. Many of PPACA’s general provisions — expanded access to public and private insurance coverage, guarantee issue and pricing reforms, and coverage mandates — were expected to reduce barriers and eliminate discriminatory practices targeting or disproportionately impacting women and transgender individuals. Provisions like the Women’s Health Amendment, which mandated women’s preventive healthcare to be covered without cost sharing, and the …

The Role Of Law And Policy In Achieving Healthy People’S Disability And Health Goals Around Access To Health Care, Activities Promoting Health And Wellness, Independent Living And Participation, And Collecting Data In The United States, Elizabeth Pendo, Lisa I. Iezzoni

Articles

Ensuring that the almost 60 million Americans with disabilities live as healthy and independent lives as possible is an important goal for our nation. This evidence-based report highlights efforts to better use law and policy to support and protect people with disabilities. Specifically, it examines how existing federal laws and policies could be leveraged by states, communities, and other sectors to reduce barriers to primary and preventive care; reduce barriers to local health and wellness programs; increase access to leisure, social, or community activities (and indirectly, to religious activities) for individuals with disabilities; and generate better disability data needed to …

From The Frontlines Of The Modern Movement To End Forced Arbitration And Restore Jury Rights, F. Paul Bland, Myriam E. Gilles, Tanuja Gupta

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No abstract provided.

Adultery, Infidelity, And Consensual Non-Monogamy, Edward D. Stein

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Thirty-eight states have laws in place that relate to adultery. Though criminal laws against adultery are not frequently enforced, the network of criminal laws, tort laws, and domestic relations laws related to adultery disincentivize extra-marital sex, an effect heightened by the stigma and other social attitudes associated with adultery. This Essay argues that the socio-legal state of affairs concerning adultery is bad for marriages (and similar relationships), bad for public health, and is simply bad public policy. This is in part because the law treats infidelity-having sex with someone other than your primary partner without his or her consent or …

The Role Of State And Federal Law In Energy Condemnations, Stewart E. Sterk

Articles

When an energy provider condemns fee interests or easements to permit construction of transmission lines, what roles do state and federal law play in determining the "just compensation" available to affected landowners? That question has arisen in a number of different factual contexts. Usually, condemnors seek to avoid state law rules that provide for compensation beyond what they believe represents the market value of the property they seek to acquire. For instance, condemnors may seek an offset for benefits the condemnation generates for neighboring land owned by the condemnee. Condemnors may also seek to avoid state rules that entitle condemnees …

Povos Indígenas, Genocídio E Pademia No Brasil, Fernanda Frizzo Bragato, Marco Antônio Delfino De Almeida, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Articles

Indigenous Peoples, Genocide and Pandemics in Brazil

COVID-19 pandemics spreads among Brazilian indigenous communities while they endure the dismantling of protective policies, the current government's hostility, as well as the disproportionate effects in terms of contamination and mortality. This situation has been concerning indigenous organizations and public authorities in Brazil and worldwide. Indigenous peoples are potential victims of genocide, an act characterized both as a criminally punishable conduct and as a State policy capable to generate international State liability. This study intends to investigate whether and how the conditions of susceptibility to the physical destruction met by several Brazilian indigenous …

Going Bare In The Law Of Assignments: When Is An Assignment Champertous?, Anthony J. Sebok

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The article critiques the legal distinction between champerty and assignment, arguing that the focus should be on the assignor's motives rather than the assignee's identity. It challenges Dr. David Capper's approach to defining "bare assignments" and proposes that assignments should not be prohibited based solely on the assignee's identity unless they facilitate abus

When Mini-Publics And Maxi-Publics Coincide: Ireland’S National Debate On Abortion, David M. Farrell, Jane Suiter, Kevin Cunningham, Clodagh Harris

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Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly (CA) of 2016–18 was tasked with making recommendations on abortion. This paper shows that from the outset its members were in large part in favour of the liberalisation of abortion (though a fair proportion were undecided), that over the course of its deliberations the CA as a whole moved in a more liberal direction on the issue, but that its position was largely reflected in the subsequent referendum vote by the population as a whole.

A Comparison Of Radiobiological Response In Cells Exposed To Low Let Radiation With Different Beam Energies, Lisa White, Laura Shields, Orla Howe, Isabel Vega Carrascal, Adrian Maguire, Aidan Meade, Brendan Mcclean, Fiona M. Lyng

Articles

There is conflicting evidence in the literature on biological effects between different low LET radiations. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of different low LET radiations on radiobiological response. Chromosomal radiosensitivity was measured in human lymphocytes from healthy donors using the G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity assay. Radiation induced mitotic inhibition was also measured. Cells were irradiated to doses of 0.05 and 0.5 Gy using a Cobalt 60 teletherapy unit and a Linac operating at 6 MV (photons) and 12 MeV (electrons). As expected, a dose response was observed with increasing dose resulting in greater response. No statistically …

Lumpy Work, Deepa Das Acevedo

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No abstract provided.

Theory Of The Nudnik: The Future Of Consumer Activism And What We Can Do To Stop It, Yonathan A. Arbel, Roy Shapira

Articles

How do consumers hold sellers accountable and enforce market norms This Article contributes to our understanding of consumer markets in three ways First The Article identifies the role of a small subset of consumers "” the titular "˜nudniks' "” as engines of market discipline Nudniks are those who call to complain speak with managers post online reviews and file lawsuits Typified by an idiosyncratic utility function and personality traits nudniks pursue action where most consumers remain passive Although derided in courtrooms and the court of public opinion we show that nudniks can solve consumer collective action problems thereby leading to …

Occupational Licensing And The Opioid Crisis, Benjamin J. Mcmichael

Articles

The United States' affordable care crisis and chronic physician shortage have required nurse practitioners to assume increasingly important roles in the healthcare system. Nurse practitioners can address critical access-to-care problems, provide safe and effective care, and lower the cost of care. However, restrictive occupational licensing laws - specifically, scope-of-practice laws - have limited their ability to care for patients. Spurred by interest groups opposed to allowing nurse practitioners to practice independently, states require physician supervision of nurse practitioners. Research has discredited many of the traditional reasons for these restrictive laws, but emerging arguments assert that independent practice will deepen the …

Law Review And Finding A Place In The Academy Essay, Jenny E. Carroll

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No abstract provided.

The Law And Political Economy Of A Student Debt Jubilee, Luke Herrine

Articles

The notion of a student debt jubilee has begun its march from the margin of policy debates to the center, yet scholarly debate on the value of canceling student debt is negligible. This article attempts to jump start such debate in part by presenting a novel policy proposal for implementing a jubilee. In addition to reviewing the history of student debt and the arguments for canceling much or all of it, it presents a detailed legal argument that canceling public student debt (which accounts for 95% of student debt outstanding) could be undertaken by the Executive Branch without further legislation. …

Coordinating Community Reintegration Services For Deporatable Alien Defendants: A Moral And Financial Imperative, Amy F. Kimpel

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No abstract provided.

Some Musings As Llcs Approach The Fifty-Year Milestone, Susan Pace Hamill

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No abstract provided.

Quantitative Analysis Of Human Blood Serum Using Vibrational Spectroscopy., Hugh Byrne, Franck Bonnier, Jennifer Mcintyre, Drishya Rajan Parachalil

Articles

Analysis of bodily fluids using vibrational spectroscopy has attracted increasing attention in recent years. In particular, infrared spectroscopic screening of blood products, particularly blood serum, for disease diagnostics has been advanced considerably, attracting commercial interests. However, analyses requiring quantification of endogenous constituents or exogenous agents in blood are less well advanced. Recent advances towards this end are reviewed, focussing on infrared and Raman spectroscopic analyses of human blood serum. The importance of spectroscopic analysis in the native aqueous environment is highlighted, and the relative merits of infrared absorption versus Raman spectroscopy are considered, in this context. It is argued that …

Two Roads Diverged: Iaas @ 50, Sue Norton

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This article joins others in The Irish Journal of American Studies reflecting back on the history of the Irish Association of American Studies and the teaching of American literature and American Studies in Ireland.

Framing “L’Âme Des Personnages”: Performance And Affect In Jacques Feyder’S Pension Mimosas (1935), Barry Nevin

Articles

Although Jacques Feyder's authorial control over his productions and his direction of actors constituted two of the most widely appreciated aspects of his approach to filmmaking during his own lifetime, the impact of each on his mise en scene has received little critical attention. This article aims to remedy this oversight by linking both aspects in three stages: first, drawing on contemporary periodicals, recollections of Feyder's performers and his own writings, it illustrates Feyder's preoccupation with the creation of in-depth psychological portraits through his actors; second, focusing on Pension Mimosas (1935), it demonstrates that Feyder's technical style, although aligned closely …

(Re)Visions Of The Outre-Mer: Looking At The Male Gaze In Jacques Feyder’S Le Grand Jeu (1934), Barry Nevin

Articles

Cinéma colonial is regarded by certain scholars as a highly conventionalised and commercialised film practice that grants spectators a sense of control over the potentially threatening colonial Other, and Belgian director Jacques Feyder has been subject to particularly harsh criticism in this regard. This article argues that Feyder’s Le Grand Jeu (1934), which depicts a young legionnaire’s relationship with a cabaret singer who bears an uncanny resemblance to a previous lover who jilted him in Paris, challenges dominant tendencies in portrayals of gender and colonialism in French cinema of the 1930s. Drawing on the relationship between Laura Mulvey’s theorisation of …

In-Vitro Localisation And Degradation Of Few-Layer Mos2 Submicrometric Plates In Human Macrophage-Like Cells: A Label Free Raman Micro-Spectroscopic Study, Caroline Moore, Andrew Hrvey, Jonathan N. Coleman, Hugh Byrne, Jennifer Mcintyre

Articles

Monitoring the uptake, micro-environment and fate of micro or nano scaled particulate materials in cells is of paramount importance for the emerging fields of toxicology and medicine. Such particulate materials are known to interfere with colorimetric assays and many such assays record only a single end-point. Therefore, there is a need for a label-free, cost effective technique with little or no inference from the particulate materials. Raman micro-spectroscopy was used to simultaneously interrogate the integrity of few-layer MoS2 submicrometric plates in human macrophage-like cells, in-vitro, as well as the biochemical characteristics of the local micro-environment in which they are encompassed. …

Multimodal Vibrational Studies Of Drug Uptake In Vitro: Is The Whole Greater Than The Sum Of Their Parts?, David Perezguaita, Karolina Chrabaszcz, Kamilla Malek, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Herein, we investigated the use of multimodal Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopic microscopy for the elucidation of drug uptake and subsequent cellular responses. Firstly, we compared different methods for the analysis of the combined data. Secondly, we evaluated whether the combined analysis provided enough benefits to justify the fusion of the data. A459 cells inoculated with doxorubicin (DOX) at different times were fixed and analysed using each technique. Raman spectroscopy provided high sensitivity to DOX and enabled an accurate estimation of the drug uptake at each time point, whereas IR provided a better insight into the resultant changes in the …

A “Net-Centric” Conduct Of Navigation And Ship Management, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Georgios Katsoulis, Momoko Kitada, Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs, Aykut I. Ölcer

Articles

Following the so-called “Industrial Revolution”, the shipping industry has benefitted from a very extended number of technology innovations. Over time, shipbuilding practices and the equipment of ships have been significantly improved. Furthermore,

during the last couple of decades, the continuous improvement and integration- interconnection of electronics systems (the “network-centric” approach), have created

a new operating environment for shipping. It is therefore not a coincidence that recent discussions on digitalization and autonomous ships provide a disruptive picture of how this industry may be transformed in the near future. Contemporary sea-going vessels are equipped with various technologically advanced systems and are highly …