Digital Commons Network^™

Power Shift: The Return Of The Uniting For Peace Resolution, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

In 2022, the United States dusted off the 1950 Uniting for Peace Resolution in order to obtain General Assembly condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This was the first time in three decades that the Security Council and General Assembly had utilized the Uniting for Peace mechanism – a process designed to end-run a Security Council veto. Together with the General Assembly’s creation of the international investigative mechanism for Syria in 2016 over Russia’s objection, the use of the Uniting for Peace process to condemn Russia’s aggression represented a shift in power away from the Security Council and to …

A Survey Of Retail Trade Patterns In South Dakota: 2013-2022, Rand E. Wergin

Faculty Publications

This paper provides an analysis of retail sales and retail trade in the state of South Dakota for the ten years 2013 to 2022. This analysis will provide information to community leaders in the cities and towns of South Dakota. Retail pull is an economic indicator that provides a measure of community’s economic health and its ability to attract shoppers, both shoppers from its own community and from other communities. A community that has a healthy retail economy is generally able to attract shoppers from its own community as well as surrounding communities.

Data Visualization Of Big Data For Predictive And Descriptive Analytics For Stroke, Covid-19, And Diabetes, Richard S. Segall, Soichiro Takashashi

Faculty Publications

Visualization of big data is crucial for meaningful interpretations and especially for healthcare. Brief discussions are made for big data, background for healthcare, and recent work in big data analytics for healthcare. This research pertains to different levels of big data: 5,110 vs. 101,766 vs. 320,200 vs. 1 million data values. Data visualizations and predictive analytics are presented of big data for selected diseases of stroke with 5,110 data values, diabetes with 101,766 data values, and two COVID-19 studies: one with 320,200 data values and another with 1 million data values. Data visualizations are generated for these diseases with big …

Comprehensive List Satirical News Websites, Salvatore Attardo

Faculty Publications

Index of Satirical News Websites created by Dr. Salvatore Attardo.

Drivers Of Diatom Production And The Legacy Of Eutrophication In Two River Plume Regions Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Jeffrey W. Krause, Adam D. Boyette, Israel A. Marquez, Rebecca A. Pickering, Kanchan Maiti

Faculty Publications

In the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM), the Louisiana Shelf (LS) and Mississippi Bight (MB) subregions are influenced by eutrophication to varying degrees. Despite recognition that dissolved silicon may regulate diatom productivity in the nGoM, there is only one published data set reporting biogenic silica (bSiO2) production rates for each subregion. We report that bSiO2 production rates on the LS and MB are high and appear to be controlled by different nutrients among seasons. Despite exceptional upper trophic level biomass regionally, which suggests significant primary production by diatoms (as in other systems), gross euphotic-zone integrated bSiO2 production rates are lower …

Understanding Meteorological Changes Following Severe Defoliation During A Strong Hurricane Landfall: Insights From Hurricane Michael (2018), Shannon A. Nelson, Paul W. Miller

Faculty Publications

Despite prompting persistent meteorological changes, severe defoliation following a tropical cyclone (TC) landfall has received relatively little attention and is largely overlooked within hurricane preparedness and recovery plan-ning. Changes to near-track vegetation can modify evapotranspiration for months after tropical cyclone passage, thereby altering boundary layer moisture and energy fluxes that drive the local water cycle. This study seeks to understand poten-tial spatial and temporal changes in defoliation-driven meteorological conditions using Hurricane Michael (2018) as a testbed. In this sensitivity study, two Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model simulations, a normal-landscape and a post-TC scenario, are compared to determine how a …

Dissolved Organic Carbon Dynamics And Fluxes In Mississippi-Atchafalaya Deltaic System Impacted By An Extreme Flood Event And Hurricanes: A Multi-Satellite Approach Using Sentinel-2/3 And Landsat-8/9 Data, Bingqing Liu, Eurico J. D’Sa, Francesca Messina, Melissa M. Baustian, Kanchan Maiti, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Wei Huang, Ioannis Y. Georgiou

Faculty Publications

Transport of riverine and wetland-derived dissolved organic carbon (DOC) spanning tidal wetlands, estuaries, and continental shelf waters functionally connects terrestrial and aquatic carbon reservoirs, yet the magnitude and ecological significance of this variable and its spatiotemporal linkage remains uncertain for coastal deltaic regions, such as Mississippi River Delta Plain, which includes Mississippi (MR) and Atchafalaya (AR) rivers and estuaries with vast expanses of wetlands and coastal forests. We examined DOC dynamics and fluxes in this large river-dominated wetland-estuarine system for the period between 2019 and 2021 that included an extreme river flood event in 2019, two major hurricanes (Barry in …

Sudden Reduction Of Antarctic Sea Ice Despite Cooling After Nuclear War, Joshua Coupe, Cheryl Harrison, Alan Robock, Alice Duvivier, Elizabeth Maroon, Nicole S. Lovenduski, Scott Bachman, Laura Landrum, Charles Bardeen

Faculty Publications

A large-scale nuclear war could inject massive amounts of soot into the stratosphere, triggering rapid global climate change. In climate model simulations of nuclear war, global cooling contributes to an expansion of sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere. However, in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), an initial expansion of sea ice shifts suddenly to a 30% loss of sea ice volume over the course of a single melting season in the largest nuclear war simulation. In smaller nuclear war simulations an expansion in sea ice is instead observed which lasts for approximately 15 years. In contrast, in the largest nuclear war …

A Numerical Experiment Of Cold Front Induced Circulation In Wax Lake Delta: Evaluation Of Forcing Factors, Sajjad Feizabadi, Chunyan Li, Matthew Hiatt

Faculty Publications

The effects of passing atmospheric cold fronts with different orientations and moving directions on the hydrodynamics of the Wax Lake Delta (WLD) were analyzed by considering the influence of river discharge, cold front moving direction, wind magnitude, and Coriolis effect. The study employs numerical simulations using the Delft-3D model and an analytical model to explore water volume transport, water level variations, water circulation, and particle trajectories during nine cold front events. Results indicate that cold fronts cause a decrease in the average contribution of the water transport through western channels and an increase of that in central and eastern channels. …

Global Sea Surface Cyclogeostrophic Currents Derived From Satellite Altimetry Data, Yuhan Cao, Changming Dong, Alexandre Stegner, Brandon J. Bethel, Chunyan Li, Jihai Dong, L. Haibin, Jingsong Yang

Faculty Publications

Sea surface currents (SSC) derived from the sea surface height anomalies (SSHA) as measured by multi-satellite altimeters are widely used for various applications including studies on ocean dynamics, marine ecology, and climate change. However, present SSC products estimated on the assumption of an idealized geostrophic balance is biased. To overcome this idealization, this study considers flow curvature in the estimation of sea surface velocities in the global ocean, with the computation scheme validated using numerical model results. It is demonstrated that the inclusion of curvature into SSC estimations significantly changes SSC dynamic features in terms of kinetic energy, enstrophy (the …

Design And Field-Scale Demonstration Of The Buoyant-Kill Process For Restoring Integrity Of Wells With Sustained Casing Pressure, Efecan Demirci, Andrew Wojtanowicz

Faculty Publications

Sustained Casing Pressure (SCP) is the persistent casinghead pressure resulting from the well’s annular integrity loss and migration of gas above the leaking cement sheath. Downhole—intervention methods for SCP removal employ workover rigs to access and plug off the leaking annulus at depth from within the well. The inexpensive rig-less method of Buoyant Kill involves surface injection of immiscible heavy fluid at the casinghead into the well’s annulus to replace the annular fluid column above the gas-leaking cement and stop gas migration. Laboratory and pilot-size testing have shown feasibility of the method. Presented here, is a field-scale demonstration experiment conducted …

Lighting Energy Load Prediction Framework Using Agent-Based Simulation And Artificial Neural Network Models, Sorena Vosoughkhosravi, Seddigheh Norouziasl, Amirhosein Jafari

Faculty Publications

Lighting is responsible for 17% of the total electricity consumption in commercial buildings in the United States. Investigating the lighting energy load provides the potential for more energy-saving in commercial buildings. Nonetheless, the development of lighting load prediction models has received limited attention in extant literature. This study proposes a framework to predict the lighting schedule and load in office buildings by integrating an agent-based model into an artificial neural network model. A small office building is used as a case study to simulate lighting load based on occupancy information using an agent-based model. Then, an artificial neural network model …

Interrelationship-Based Information Delivery Manual Development For Smart City Infrastructure Systems, Moeid Shariatfar, Yong Cheol Lee, Ahmad Mohammad Ahmad, Salim Ferwati

Faculty Publications

Smart cities are comprised of various infrastructure systems interacting with heterogeneous context information that frequently causes critical challenges in data sharing, exchange, and integration of infrastructure components. The complicated structure of the infrastructure 3D models and the unraveled relationships of their functional, operational features remain elusive, hindering their seamless interactions. To ameliorate this issue, this paper proposes an interrelationship-based model view definition approach using an urban-level ontology that improves consistent data interoperability at the urban scale. The study includes the modularization of each infrastructure data conducted based on their functionalities and the development of an ontological structure for a smart …

Floodsafehome: Evaluating Financial Benefits And Savings Of Freeboard For Improved Decision-Making In Flood Risk Mitigation, Carol J. Friedland, Yong Cheol Lee, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Jiyoung Lee, Shifat P. Mithila, Robert V. Rohli, Md Adilur Rahim, Ehab Gnan, Monica Teets Farris

Faculty Publications

Freeboard—elevation of a structure above the base flood elevation (BFE)—is a critical component in mitigating or avoiding flood losses. However, the unrevealed benefits and savings of freeboard installation have prevented communities from adopting this approach. To improve decision-making for residents, prospective residents, and other stakeholders in flood-vulnerable communities and enhance flood risk mitigation strategies, this study presents the methodology underlying a new webtool, FloodSafeHome, that estimates comprehensively the economic benefits and savings of freeboard installation for new construction of residential buildings. Specifically, the proposed evaluation framework has been designed to calculate monthly savings for individual buildings by assessing freeboard cost, …

Ontology For Experimentation Of Human-Building Interactions Using Virtual Reality, Chanachok Chokwitthaya, Yimin Zhu, Weizhuo Lu

Faculty Publications

Scientific experiments significantly enhance the understanding of human-building interactions in building and engineering research. Recently, conducting virtual reality (VR) experiments has gained acceptance and popularity as an approach to studying human-building interactions. However, little attention has been given to the standardization of the experimentations. Proper standardization can promote the reusability, replicability, and repeatability of VR experiments and accelerate the maturity of this emerging experimentation method. Responding to such needs, the authors proposed a virtual human-building interaction experimentation ontology (VHBIEO). It is an ontology at the domain level, extending the ontology of scientific experiments (EXPO) to standardize virtual human-building interaction experimentation. …

Overwhelmed Or Overteaching?: Humanism For Time Use And Pedagogy, Kim M. Thompson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Marginalization On Relations With Law Enforcement And The Criminal Justice System, Angelo Kevin Brown

Faculty Publications

This chapter provides an overview of how critical race theory (CRT) has provided an important context for the racial disparities in the criminal justice system. CRT has promoted teaching the history of the criminal justice system in the United States of America (USA) and abroad from a racial perceptive. CRT scholars emphasize race because of how race and racism have shaped and impacted our society and institutions. CRT has been used to understand issues from police violence, sentencing disparities, school-to-prison pipeline, prison abolitionism, and much more. The CRT framework is especially important when it comes to understanding the disparities and …

The Criminal Side Of Cryptocurrency, Angelo Kevin Brown

Faculty Publications

As cryptocurrency (crypto) has become more and more popular, so has crypto-related crime. There has been a lack of academic research on crypto-related crime, but it is becoming more prevalent in the last couple of years. Crypto-related crime became especially significant in the impact it had on victims and the awareness of these crimes in the media and the government in late 2019 and early 2020 as various criminal organizations and criminal opportunities opened up as cryptocurrency became mainstream. The common crimes related to cryptocurrency include fraud, theft, and money laundering. In 2021 estimates of crypto-related crime were estimated to …

The International Commitments Of The Fifty States, Ryan M. Scoville

Faculty Publications

U.S. law allocates power to conduct foreign relations primarily to the federal government, but it is well known that states routinely maintain foreign relations of their own. Much of this activity appears to result in legal and political commitments, whether in the form of “sister state” agreements or binding pledges to cooperate on discrete issues such as investment, environmental protection, and transportation. These commitments are at least loosely comparable to international treaties and may either advance or disserve state and national interests.

Yet very little is known about the commitments that are in force. For the most part, neither federal …

There Is No Such Thing As Circuit Law, Thomas B. Bennett

Faculty Publications

Lawyers and judges often talk about “the law of the circuit,” meaning the set of legal rules that apply within a particular federal judicial circuit. Seasoned practitioners are steeped in circuit law, it is said. Some courts have imagined that they confront a choice between applying the law of one circuit or another. In its strong form, this idea of circuit law implies that each circuit creates and interprets its own body of substantive law that is uniquely applicable to disputes that arise within the circuit’s borders.

This article argues that the notion of circuit law is nonsensical and undesirable …

Judicial Process And Vigilante Federalism, Charles W. "Rocky" Rhodes, Howard M. Wasserman

Faculty Publications

Jon Michaels’ and David Noll’s "Vigilante Federalism" (Cornell Law Review) decries the explosion of state laws that target certain people (women seeking abortions, trans students seeking to use bathrooms, schools trying to teach about race) and rely on private civil litigation by random "any persons" as the exclusive or primary enforcement mechanism. These laws "deputize private actors to wage and win the culture wars," while subordinating marginalized groups.

But Michaels and Noll conflate well-taken substantive constitutional objections to these laws with procedural issues surrounding the private enforcement mechanism, which is neither unique nor constitutionally problematic. States have long authorized private …

References To Classic American Novels In Advocacy And Judicial Opinions, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

With this Journal of the Missouri Bar article, the survey of courts’ cultural markers returns to literature – particularly American literature. Besides “To Kill a Mockingbird,” federal and state courts in their written opinions have cited and quoted from other classic novels written by American authors, including "Catch-22", "Moby-Dick", and "The Grapes of Wrath".

Pilot Study: The Effects Of A Mountain Wilderness Experience On Combat Veteran Psychosocial Wellness, Elizabeth J. Vella Phd, Taylor Lyman, Taylor Lovering

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this quasi-experimental pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy of a 3.5day outdoor wilderness program (Huts for Vets, HFV) for reducing psychological distress, PTSD symptoms, and improving positive mood states. It was hypothesized that participation in the HFV program would predict improvements in psychosocial well-being in addition to reductions in PTSD symptomatology relative to a waiting-list control group. Participants included 51 adult veterans diagnosed with PTSD and/or some other combat-related disability (Mage = 36.8, SD = 8.19). The experimental group (n=32) participated in the HFV program, which included hiking and group discussions. Data collection via psychosocial scale …

Burning Questions: Changing Legal Narratives On Cannabis In Indian Country, Robin M. Rotman, Sam J. Carter

Faculty Publications

In the not-so-distant past, thoughts of Cannabis legalization in the United States were radical. In the present day, the narratives around Cannabis are changing. The term “present day” affixes this Article to early 2023, a snapshot in time. To understand the current legal narratives surrounding Cannabis, and what they might become in the future, it is important to examine the history of Cannabis law and policy in United States. This Article begins by discussing Cannabis regulation in the United States, from the rise of federal regulation to the gradual deregulation by states with tacit federal consent. The Article then examines …

Finding And Using Federal Information Relevant To People With Disabilities, Isabella Folmar, Blake Robinson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Teacher Collaboration And Elementary Arts Integration: Policy And Possibility, Tara L. Carpenter, Mark A. Graham, Corinna Peterken, Mikaela Cannon, Anna Harris

Faculty Publications

Arts education can be an important part of the elementary child’s experience. However, keeping the arts in schools is often a challenge because of funding concerns and competing academic priorities. An important strategy in arts education advocacy and policy is arts integration. Arts integration creates a rationale for the arts based on the enhancement of the educational experience for all students and the potential to engage underserved or less engaged students with academic disciplines through the arts. This article examines teacher experiences within a statewide program that funds arts specialists in elementary schools with the requirement that they integrate the …

The California Way: An Analysis Of California’S Immigrant-Friendly Changes To Its Criminal Laws, Evangeline G. Abriel

Faculty Publications

Immigration falls exclusively within the federal government’s purview, and states are generally prohibited from legislating in the area of immigration. At the same time, however, a large number of individuals are subject to deportation, denial of admission, and denial of immigration benefits based upon convictions of state crimes, over which states generally have exclusive authority. At a time when both the federal government and some states seem determined to expand the immigration consequences of even relatively minor criminal con- duct, is there anything states can do to protect their noncitizen re- sidents? Surprisingly, yes, quite a bit. California, for example, …

A Randomized Trial Of Behavioral Nudges Delivered Through Text Messages To Increase Influenza Vaccination Among Patients With An Upcoming Primary Care Visit, Mitesh S. Patel, Katherin L. Milkman, Linnea Gandhi, Heather N. Graci, Dena Gromet, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

Purpose: To evaluate if nudges delivered by text message prior to an upcoming primary care visit can increase influenza vaccination rates.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial.

Setting: Two health systems in the Northeastern US between September 2020 and March 2021.

Subjects: 74,811 adults.

Interventions: Patients in the 19 intervention arms received 1-2 text messages in the 3 days preceding their appointment that varied in their format, interactivity, and content.

Measures: Influenza vaccination.

Analysis: Intention-to-treat.

Results: Participants had a mean (SD) age of 50.7 (16.2) years; 55.8% (41,771) were female, 70.6% (52,826) were White, and 19.0% (14,222) were Black. Among the interventions, …

A New Test For The New Crime Exception, Colin Miller

Faculty Publications

The new crime exception to the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule allows prosecutors to introduce evidence connected to new crimes committed by defendants who were illegally detained and/or questioned. Unfortunately, as illustrated in this Article, courts largely have applied this new crime exception without any analytical framework or regard for the severity of the initial police misconduct or the defendant’s response. Moreover, courts have begun applying the new crime exception to crimes such as giving a fake name in response to an un-Mirandized interrogation following a lawful arrest.

By doing so, courts have allowed the new crime exception to swallow two …

Federal Bureaucratic Studies, Jesse M. Cross

Faculty Publications

A vast literature has developed in legal scholarship on the topic of bureaucratic governance. To date, this literature has focused squarely on the executive branch. Yet a second bureaucracy also exists in the federal government: the congressional bureaucracy. Recent legislation scholarship has brought this bureaucracy into focus—documenting its traits, practices, and culture. In so doing, it has created a rich new opportunity for cross-disciplinary dialogue—one where executive-branch studies and legislative studies collaborate toward a larger understanding of how bureaucracy operates, and can operate, in a presidentialist system.

To begin that cross-disciplinary conversation, this Article turns to five themes in the …