Digital Commons Network^™

Ideological Presuppositions In Media Coverage Of Corporation Tax Policy In The Uk And Ireland: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Ciara Graham, Brendan K. O'Rourke

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This paper argues that the state's capacity to tax corporations in order to fund itself is reaching crisis proportions. Following decades of trade liberalization, deregulation, and globalization, large multinational companies have been able to take advantage of tax competition between states in order to avoid taxation and offset their obligations. This crisis, arguably, has been facilitated by state actors and exacerbated by non-state actors: we explore the ways in which multi-national corporations (MNCs) manipulate their capital, assets, and supply chains to minimize their tax burdens; and we further consider the ways in which media narratives construct this issue and whether …

Biosensor-Enhanced Organ-On-A-Chip Models For Investigating Glioblastoma Tumor Microenvironment Dynamics, Gayathree Thenuwara, Bilal Javed, Baljit Singh, Furong Tian

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Glioblastoma, an aggressive primary brain tumor, poses a significant challenge owing to its dynamic and intricate tumor microenvironment. This review investigates the innovative integration of biosensor-enhanced organ-on-a-chip (OOC) models as a novel strategy for an in-depth exploration of glioblastoma tumor microenvironment dynamics. In recent years, the transformative approach of incorporating biosensors into OOC platforms has enabled real-time monitoring and analysis of cellular behaviors within a controlled microenvironment. Conventional in vitro and in vivo models exhibit inherent limitations in accurately replicating the complex nature of glioblastoma progression. This review addresses the existing research gap by pioneering the integration of biosensor-enhanced OOC …

Characterization Of Spent Grain From Irish Whiskey Distilleries For Biorefinery Feedstock Potential To Produce High-Value Chemicals And Biopolymers, Rasaq S. Abolore, Dileswar Pradhan, Swarna Jaiswal, Amit K. Jaiswal

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Distiller's spent grain (DSG) is a byproduct generated in large quantities during the mashing process, particularly in the production of alcoholic beverages such as whiskey. This study aimed to characterize DSG from nine different distilleries as a potential biorefinery feedstock for the synthesis of high-value bioproducts. Key components, including protein (12.38–26.32%), cellulose (11.75–32.75%), hemicellulose (6.97–19.47%), lignin (8.44–15.71%), and total phenolics (1.42 to 3.97 mg GAE/g), were analyzed to evaluate their variability and suitability for industrial applications. The results reveal that DSG composition varies significantly across distilleries due to differences in processing techniques, even though the starting grain composition had minimal …

Truth Bounties: A Market Solution To Fake News, Yonathan A. Arbel, Michael D. Gilbert

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False information poses a threat to individuals, groups, and society. Many people struggle to judge the veracity of the information around them, whether that information travels through newspapers, talk radio, TV, or social media. Concerned with the spread of misinformation and harmful falsehoods, much of the policy, popular, and scholarly conversation today revolves around proposals to expand the regulation of individuals, platforms, and the media. While more regulation may seem inevitable, it faces constitutional and political hurdles. Furthermore, regulation can have undesirable side effects and be ripe for abuse by powerful actors, public and private.

This Article presents an alternative …

A Scholarly Judge: The Honorable William Holcombe Pryor Jr., Kenneth M. Rosen

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No abstract provided.

The Price Of Criminal Law, Russell M. Gold

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Should tax dollars pay for more criminal law, better public schools, or a new community center? Different counties will answer the question differently, but facing these tradeoffs is profoundly important to democratic governance. Nonetheless, because the criminal legal system diffuses power and hides and offioads costs, officials and voters do not have to honestly consider that question. These structural features place a hidden thumb on the scale that gives counties more criminal enforcement than they pay for. That is a problem. Too much enforcement is particularly pernicious in criminal law: Incarceration inflicts tremendous suffering, especially in poor communities of color. …

Exoneration Finance, Kay L. Levine, Russell M. Gold

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The path to financial compensation for the wrongfully convicted can be complex and time-consuming. Exonerees often struggle to make ends meet and function in free society, let alone navigate serpentine processes while waiting years for the recovery they deserve. Securing the assistance of an attorney is often a critical step, but too few lawyers are willing to risk accepting these complicated cases on a contingency-fee basis the only way that exoneree-clients can likely pay their lawyers without outside help.

Litigation finance an important tool for increasing access to justice in tort cases could help close this access to justice gap …

Children's Autonomy Rights Online, Clare Ryan

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No abstract provided.

Sails Symposium Launch On International Law Scholarship: What We Write, Where We Publish, And Why It Matters, Kathleen Claussen, Melissa J. Durkee, Rebecca Ingber, Steven Arrigg Koh

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No abstract provided.

The Next Generation, Jeremiah Chin

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What would the law look like if we let children remake it? Laws govern, classify, and circumscribe children who inherit the law and its consequences. Discourses of power invoke children as rhetorical strategies to gain political favor or obviate a position—yet children are uncritically excluded from participating in the systems that control them. Children are subjected to the laws and objects of legislation, but denied the rights, autonomy, or authority to participate in the making of law and policy. Even the conceptualization of the constitutional rights of children is treated as an assumption, ill-defined and under theorized by traditional legal …

America's Next "Stop Model!": Model Deletion, Jevan Hutson, Ben Winters

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This Essay explores the emergence of model deletion- the compelled destruction or dispossession of certain data, algorithms, models, and associated work products created or shaped by illegal means- as a remedy, right, and requirement for harmful applications of Al and ML systems. Part I examines model deletion's emergence as a consumer protection remedy and its conception as a positive right and regulatory requirement. Part II considers the constellation of federal and state actors, such as federal and state enforcement agencies and legislative bodies, who might seek model deletion to address particular Al and ML harms. Part III underscores the need …

Mental Workload As A Predictor Of Atco's Performance: Lessons Learnt From Atm Task-Related Experiments, Enrique Muñoz-De-Escalona, Maria Chiara Leva, José Juan Cañas

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Air Traffic Controllers' (ATCos) mental workload is likely to remain the specific greatest functional limitation on the capacity of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system. Developing computational models to monitor mental workload and task complexity is essential for enabling ATCOs and ATM systems to adapt to varying task demands. Most methodologies have computed task complexity based on basic parameters such as air-traffic density; however, literature research has shown that it also depends on many other factors. In this paper, we present a study in which we explored the possibility of predicting task complexity and performance through mental workload measurements of …

Finite Element Investigation Of Cutting Speed Effects On The Machining Of Ti6al4v Alloy, Surinder Pal, Xavier Velay, Waqas Saleem

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In modern times, titanium alloy has a great application prospect in the medical field. Still, the pitiful machinability of titanium alloy material brings incredible difficulty to its ultra-precision cutting. This work presented the effect of parametric sensitivity analysis of the orthogonal cutting process using the finite element method, which dramatically enhances the cutting performance of Ti–6AL–4V. The simulation results are attained by applying Abaqus® explicit 6.14 software. The mechanical reaction of two-dimensional finite element models has been examined for cutting forces. Additionally, the impacts of rake angle, clearance angle, and nose radius on the stress distribution in orthogonal cutting of …

High-Precision Digital Light Processing (Dlp) Printing Of Microstructures For Microfluidics Applications Based On A Machine Learning Approach, Xinhui Wang, Jinghang Liu, Ruihai Dong, Michael D. Gilchrist, Nan Zhang

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Digital light processing (DLP) is renowned for its precision, but the challenge lies in the identification of optimal print parameters to minimise print errors and enhance overall print accuracy. This study introduces a groundbreaking approach by integrating 'Random Forest' (RF) models with DLP printing to construct a predictive model for printing errors to achieve unparalleled precision. We conducted experiments using common commercial resins to print, resulting in a comprehensive dataset of 690 experimental datasets. Consequently, we validated this approach by fabricating Y-type microfluidic structures with a minimum feature size printing of 2 µm and herringbone mixer structures with feature sizes …

A Food-Exchange Model For Achieving The Recommended Dietary Intakes For Saturated Fat In Irish Children: Analysis From The Cross-Sectional National Children's Food Survey Ii, Aileen O'Connor, Maria Buffini, Anne P. Nugent, Laura Kehoe, Albert Flynn, Janette Walton, John Kearney, Breige Mcnulty

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Objective: To identify the main foods determining saturated fatty acid (SFA) intakes and model the impact of food exchanges to improve compliance with dietary fat recommendations in Irish children. Design: Estimated food and nutrient intakes were obtained from a cross-sectional study, the National Children's Food Survey II. Participants were categorised into low, medium, and high SFA consumers, and the contribution of food categories to SFA intakes were compared. A food-exchange model was developed, whereby a selected range of high SFA foods were exchanged with lower SFA or unsaturated fat alternatives. Setting: Participants were randomly selected from primary schools throughout the …

A Rapid On-Site Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Technology As An Early Warning System For The Detection Of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli In Water, Zina Alfahl, Sean Biggins, Owen Higgins, Alexandra Chueiri, Terry J. Smith, Dearbháile Morris, Jean O'Dwyer, Paul D. Hynds, Liam P. Burke, Louise O'Connor

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Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an important waterborne pathogen capable of causing serious gastrointestinal infections with potentially fatal complications, including haemolytic–uremic syndrome. All STEC serogroups harbour genes that encode at least one Shiga toxin (stx1 and/or stx2), which constitute the primary virulence factors of STEC. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) enables rapid real-time pathogen detection with a high degree of specificity and sensitivity. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an on-site portable diagnostics workstation employing LAMP technology to permit rapid real-time STEC detection in environmental water samples. Water samples (n=28) were collected from groundwater wells (n=13), …

A Comprehensive Review Of Cured Meat Products In The Irish Market: Opportunities For Reformulation And Processing, Jan Roland G. Molina, Jesús M. Frías-Celayeta, Declan J. Bolton, Cristina Botinestean

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No abstract provided.

Ireland, Intellectual Property And The Political Economy Of Information Monopolies, Kenneth W. Murphy

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Ireland’s policies towards US-owned global digital intermediaries (Big Tech) have emerged as an international political issue and received global media attention. So far, political and media focus has been on the impact of Ireland’s tax policies on the revenue-raising ability of other European states and perceptions of light touch regulation of those corporations based in the Republic. The current paper will focus on how Ireland’s switch to a focus on capital allowances for the sizeable American tech corporations has enabled the latter to sustain their dominance in the digital transition through incentivizing and subsidizing their switch to assetization as a …

Enhancing Inclusive Entrepreneurial Activity Through Community Engagement Led By Higher Education Institutions, Emma O'Brien, Thomas M. Cooney

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Purpose: While supporting entrepreneurship through government intervention has become a global phenomenon, the OECD (2021) has identified that several communities (including women, youth, seniors, unemployed and immigrants) remain under-represented in terms of entrepreneurial activity. Inclusive entrepreneurship policies seek to enhance economic and social inclusion and emphasise the significant contribution that people from within these communities could make to local and regional development if appropriate support was offered. The purpose of this study is to examine how higher education institutions (HEIs) can co-create inclusive entrepreneurial training initiatives with local communities that support economic and social inclusion. Design/methodology/approach: This in-depth qualitative study …

Navigating Gendered Spaces: A Feminist Phenomenological Exploration Of Women Entrepreneurs Lived Experiences Within Government Support Agencies, Edicleia Oliveira, Serge Basini, Thomas M. Cooney

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Purpose: This article explores women entrepreneurs' lived experiences in their interactions with government enterprise support agencies. It investigates the relationship between gendering and Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), as a normative orientation adopted at the institutional level and justified by an economic rationale. It also explores how women entrepreneurs articulate their experiences through embodied metaphors and image schemas, shedding light on how they navigate the institutional entrepreneurial space. Design/methodology/approach: This study is framed within the concept of Phenomenological Orientation as conceptualised in feminist phenomenology. It applies Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, a qualitative methodology focused on interpreting accounts of first-person lived experiences of a …

Entrepreneurship As Collective Action: The Next Frontier., Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh, Claire Champenois, Thomas M. Cooney, Leon Schjoedt

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Collective action in entrepreneurship is lacking in the extant literature. Despite entrepreneurship research progressively moves away from the focus of a lone heroic entrepreneur, scholars have yet to absorb the full potential of entrepreneurship as collective action. Also missing is a collective stance on key entrepreneurship concepts such as opportunity discovery or construction and entrepreneurial agency. Accordingly, this article reviews and critiques five articles that constitute this Special Issue seeking to establish ‘entrepreneurship as collective action’ as the next frontier of entrepreneurship theory development. The articles in this Special Issue each investigate a specific instance of collective action in entrepreneurship. …

Regulating More?: Comparing Ireland's Original And Amended Lobbying Legislation, John Hogan

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This paper compares the amendments introduced by the Regulation of Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act 2023 with the original regulations of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The study was conducted using the Hired Guns Method for assessing the robustness of lobbying legislation, developed by the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI), allowing findings to be compared with lobbying regulations internationally. The 2015 legislation was introduced after years of tribunals, scandals, unfulfilled political promises, and economic crisis, in an effort to increase the public's trust in politicians, representative institutions, democracy and the wider bureaucracy. The 2023 Amendment came …

Framing A Feminist Phenomenological Inquiry Into The Lived Experiences Of Women Entrepreneurs, Edicleia Oliveira, Serge Basini, Thomas M. Cooney

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Purpose: This article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women's entrepreneurship research and the suitability of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to the proposed framework. Design/methodology/approach: The article critically examines the current state of women's entrepreneurship research regarding the institutional context and highlights the benefits of a shift towards feminist phenomenology. Findings: The prevailing disembodied and gender-neutral portrayal of entrepreneurship has resulted in an equivocal understanding of women's entrepreneurship and perpetuated a male-biased discourse within research and practice. By adopting a feminist phenomenological approach, this article argues for the importance of considering the …

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Of Human Blood Serum Of Glaucoma Patients Supplemented With Macular Pigment Carotenoids, Joy Udensi, Ekaterina Loskutova, James Loughman, Hugh J. Byrne

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As all major dietary carotenoids are contained in blood, it is a suitable substrate to evaluate their content, in vivo. Following 18-month supplementation of open-angle glaucoma patients with macula-pigment carotenoids (Lutein, Zeaxanthin and Meso-Zeaxanthin) in the European Nutrition in Glaucoma Management trial, Raman spectroscopic analysis of the carotenoid content of pre- and post-supplementation participant blood serum was carried out, to investigate the systemic impact of the supplementation regimen and explore a more direct way of quantifying this impact using routine blood tests. Using a 532 nm laser source for optimal response, a consistent increase in serum carotenoid concentration was observed …

The Motherhood Penalty In The United Kingdom: An Unconditional Quantile Regression Analysis, Abhijit Sharma, Stefano Grillini, Richard Woodward

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No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Public Participation Processes Employed For An Urban Greenway Project, Maeve O'Connell

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The purpose of this study is to examine the public participation mechanisms employed for a proposed new infrastructure project. Public participation is a core characteristic of a contemporary democratic society as policy makers are increasingly encouraged to engage with citizens for learning and legitimacy. Participation is a loose concept with many forms and interpretations. This study explores the key characteristics of public participation formats, challenges to and the criteria for success. This analysis is then applied to the proposed local infrastructure consultation process. An additional survey is designed and its role in the public participation process is assessed. The processes …

The Forthcoming General Election In The Republic Of Ireland: Winds Of (Left-Wing) Change Or Plus Ça Change?, Chris O'Ralaigh

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The forthcoming general election will be the most consequential electoral contest for the Republic of Ireland in a century. The polity is situated in truly novel territory with the potential for an historic first: the incoming of a Sinn Féin-led, left-wing government. Any such government would portend change in the North of Ireland, symbolising a critical juncture on the path towards the ending of partition. Analysing electoral and ideological shifts across the post-2008 period, this article examines the immediate prospects for the coming to power of a left-wing government and an historic first in Irish politics.

Competency-Based Training Within The Prison System: Enhancing The Likelihood Of Entrepreneurial Activity Upon Release, Martina Brophy, Ana Pérez-Luño, Thomas M. Cooney

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Recidivism rates across the world remain high, and one of the key reasons for this situation is that people leaving the prison system have great difficulty in securing employment. Addressing this issue must be explored from a broad perspective, but one potential career option that is under-explored is self-employment, with few entrepreneurship programmes available within prison systems. This study explores a competency-based approach to training, examining the knowledge, skills, and behaviours needed to enhance the prospects of persons with lived experience of prison becoming entrepreneurs. Using thematic analysis on ten in-depth interviews, this article identifies three categories of competency (generic,specific, …

Religious Clause Challenges To Early Abortion Bans, Caroline Mala Corbin

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The substantive due process right to abortion is gone. But other parts of the Constitution may also protect women’s right to control their bodies and live as equals in the United States. This Essay addresses what role the two religion clauses may play in advancing reproductive autonomy. Because religion and reproduction are intertwined, the religion clauses may provide some measure of constitutional protection.

The Establishment Clause bars the government from imposing religion onto those who do not share it. It also forbids the government from taking sides in theological disputes. Early abortion bans not only favor one religious belief on …

What Is The Goal Of Health Insurance Reform?, Gabriel Scheffler

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No abstract provided.