Digital Commons Network^™

Avoidable “Fraccident”: An Argument Against Strict Liability For Hydraulic Fracturing, Joseph A. Schremmer

Faculty Scholarship

Whether fracking is an abnormally dangerous activity for purposes of strict liability appears to be an issue of first impression. That larger issue primarily turns on a smaller one: whether fracking accidents—or “fraccidents”—are avoidable or unavoidable. To that end, this Comment argues that when practiced with reasonable care and in the vicinity of other petroleum production, fraccidents are avoidable, and thus, fracking is not abnormally dangerous. Instead of strict liability, courts should combine a negligence standard with res ipsa loquitur to determine liability of fracking companies that contaminate water sources. First, this Comment will present background on the process and …

Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Study Of Protein Transport And Dynamic Interactions With Clustered-Charge Peptide Adsorbents, Lydia Kisley

Faculty Scholarship

Ion-exchange chromatography relies on electrostatic interactions between the adsorbent and the adsorbate and is used extensively in protein purification. Conventional ion-exchange chromatography uses ligands that are singly charged and randomly dispersed over the adsorbent, creating a heterogeneous distribution of potential adsorption sites. Clustered-charge ion exchangers exhibit higher affinity, capacity, and selectivity than their dispersed-charge counterparts of the same total charge density. In the present work, we monitored the transport behavior of an anionic protein near clustered-charge adsorbent surfaces using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. We can resolve protein-free diffusion, hindered diffusion, and association with bare glass, agarose-coated, and agarose-clustered peptide surfaces, demonstrating …

International Arbitration And The Ends Of Appellate Review, Irene M. Ten Cate

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Religious Freedom And Inmate Grooming Standards, Dawinder S. Sidhu

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, I argue that the Eleventh Circuit's general legal approach to such religious freedom claims and its support for restrictive inmate grooming standards are no longer sustainable. That is, a substantial and increasing number of jurisdictions have been able to respond to their penological concerns-the same penological interests that undergird and justify the restrictive inmate grooming standards adopted by the states within the Eleventh Circuit-without abridging the rights of inmates to grow their hair in accordance with their respective faiths. Accordingly, I posit that the Eleventh Circuit's jurisprudence must not only be revisited, but replaced with a more …

American Bar Association Section Of Environment, Energy, And Resources Symposium: Selected Addresses [Comments], Eileen Gauna

Faculty Scholarship

Opening remarks for Environmental Justice conference that reviews the growth and efforts made for environmental justice.

Intellectual Property And Human Rights In The Nonmultilateral Era, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

In the past decade, countries have actively established bilateral, plurilateral and regional trade and investment agreements, such as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Although commentators have examined the conflict and tension between intellectual property and human rights in the past, the arrival of these agreements has ushered in a new era of nonmultilateralism that warrants a reexamination of the complex interrelationship between intellectual property and human rights.

This article closely examines the human rights impact of the intellectual property provisions in TRIPS-plus nonmultilateral agreements. It begins by outlining the challenges inherent in any analysis of the …

Deep-Water Benthic Habitat Characterization And Cable Impact Assessment For The South Florida Ocean Measurement Facility (Sfomf)., Charles G. Messing, Brian K. Walker, John K. Reed

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this effort was to (1) provide a characterization of benthic habitats within the South Florida Ocean Measurement Facility (SFOMF) OP AREA cable corridor along deep fiber optic cable C/S 96 from a depth of ~30 m to the reported eastern seaward terminus on the Miami Terrace (~500 m depth), and (2) identify and estimate impacts to deep benthic habitat resources from cable infrastructure in the same corridor preparatory to an Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Assessment.

The project was carried out in response to a request from the SFOMF (a detachment of Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division …

Region Codes And The Territorial Mess, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Tourists, frequent travelers, and foreign film aficionados hate DVD region codes with a passion. Written for the 30th Anniversary Symposium of the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, this article critically examines the expediency of using region-based restrictions to protect copyrighted media content.

The article begins by closely examining four justifications for the deployment of DVD region codes: sequential release; price discrimination; distribution and licensing agreements; and censorship ratings and regulatory standards. It also identifies four areas in which DVD region codes have created unintended consequences: consumption, competition, cultural rights, and censorship.

The article then advances three proposals to address …

Theories Of The Firm And Judicial Uncertainty, Andrew S. Gold

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Gene Interaction Enrichment And Network Analysis To Identify Dysregulated Pathways And Their Interactions In Complex Diseases, Yu Liu, Mehmet Koyutürk, Jill S. Barnholtz-Sloan, Mark R. Chance

Faculty Scholarship

Background: The molecular behavior of biological systems can be described in terms of three fundamental components: (i) the physical entities, (ii) the interactions among these entities, and (iii) the dynamics of these entities and interactions. The mechanisms that drive complex disease can be productively viewed in the context of the perturbations of these components. One challenge in this regard is to identify the pathways altered in specific diseases. To address this challenge, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and others have been developed, which focus on alterations of individual properties of the entities (such as gene expression). However, the dynamics of …

Magnet: Microarray Gene Expression And Network Evaluation Toolkit, George C. Linderman, Mark R. Chance, Gurkan Bebek

Faculty Scholarship

MicroArray Gene expression and Network Evaluation Toolkit (MAGNET) is a web-based application that provides tools to generate and score both protein-protein interaction networks and coexpression networks. MAGNET integrates user-provided experimental measurements with high-throughput proteomic datasets, generating weighted gene-gene and protein-protein interaction networks. MAGNET allows users to weight edges of protein-protein interaction networks using a logistic regression model integrating tissue-specific gene expression data, sub-cellular localization data, co-clustering of interacting proteins and the number of observations of the interaction. This provides a way to quantitatively measure the plausibility of interactions in protein-protein interaction networks given protein/gene expression measurements. Secondly, MAGNET generates filtered …

The Alphabet Soup Of Transborder Intellectual Property Enforcement, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

n the past few years, policymakers, academic commentators, consumer advocates, civil liberties groups, and user communities have expressed grave concerns about the steadily increasing levels of enforcement of intellectual property rights. Many of these concerns relate to the "alphabet soup" of transborder intellectual property enforcement, which consists of the following: SECURE, IMPACT, ACTA, TPP, COICA, PIPA, SOPA, and OPEN.

Published in the inaugural issue of Drake Law Review Discourse, this short essay identifies six different concerns and challenges the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) poses to U.S. consumers, technology developers, and small and midsize firms. It then explores the ongoing negotiation …

Human Biomarker Discovery And Predictive Models For Disease Progression For Idiopathic Pneumonia Syndrome Following Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation, Daniela M. Schlatzer, Jean-Eudes Dazard, Rob M. Ewing, Serguei Ilchenko, Saada Eid, Mark R. Chance, Kenneth R. Cooke

Faculty Scholarship

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is the only curative therapy for many malignant and non-malignant conditions. Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS) is a frequently fatal complication that limits successful outcomes. Preclinical models suggest that IPS represents an immune mediated attack on the lung involving elements of both the adaptive and the innate immune system. However, the etiology of IPS in humans is less well understood. To explore the disease pathway and uncover potential biomarkers of disease, we performed two separate label-free, proteomics experiments defining the plasma protein profiles of allogeneic SCT patients with IPS. Samples obtained from SCT recipients without …

Real Remedies For Virtual Injuries, Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Portable Microfluidic Chip For Detection Of Escherichia Coli In Produce And Blood, Umut A. Gurkan

Faculty Scholarship

Pathogenic agents can lead to severe clinical outcomes such as food poisoning, infection of open wounds, particularly in burn injuries and sepsis. Rapid detection of these pathogens can monitor these infections in a timely manner improving clinical outcomes. Conventional bacterial detection methods, such as agar plate culture or polymerase chain reaction, are time-consuming and dependent on complex and expensive instruments, which are not suitable for point-of-care (POC) settings. Therefore, there is an unmet need to develop a simple, rapid method for detection of pathogens such as Escherichia coli. Here, we present an immunobased microchip technology that can rapidly detect and …

Real-Time Solution To Refund Fraud: Vat Lessons From Belgium, Brazil, And Quebec, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

This article provides support for a proposal to eliminate refund fraud in the U.S. by turning Forms W-2, and 1099 into self-certified/ self-authenticated tax documents. The proposal suggests that a “digital signature” of these documents should be taken after they are completed. The signature should then be made part of the final document.

This proposal was initially advanced in Refund Fraud? Real-Time Solution! The underlying premise of that article was that the US could dramatically reduce, if not eliminate, refund fraud if it borrowing digital security techniques from the VAT. The article did not however, explain or expand upon these …

Violence And Political Incivility, David B. Lyons

Faculty Scholarship

The charge to our panel refers to "the deterioration of the political conversation," to "deep ... divisions in society," and to recent violence- especially the tragic events in Tuscon. It asks us to identify "the virtues required.for our common life as citizens in a democracy and for civil democratic conversation." I shall offer observations and conjectures on each issue, stressing the historical background.

Let me suggest, first,. that the nonconstructive and increasingly abusive character of our political discourse may be relatively mild manifestations of an even more troubling malaise of our society- commonplace unlawful violence. I wish to draw your …

Transfer Pricing: Case Studies Of The Cup Method, Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Andrew Shact

Faculty Scholarship

All transfer pricing regimes give priority to the comparable uncontrolled price (CUP) method. Despite declarations that transfer pricing is a search for the “best method” or “most appropriate method,” all systems concede that the search is over when an exact comparable is found because a CUP is preferred over all methods. The best CUP is an exact CUP because it provides an arm’s length price that is not calculated. The price emerges directly from the comparison.

CUPs have traditionally been the most commonly applied method for both taxpayers and the government. They are the judicial gold standard. They hold sway …

The Economics Of Third-Party Financed Litigation, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the law and economics of third-party financed litigation. I explore the conditions under which a system of third-party financiers and litigators can enhance social welfare, and the conditions under which it is likely to reduce social welfare. Among the applications I consider are the sale of legal rights (such as contingent tort claims) to insurers, to patent trolls, and to financiers generally

The Practice Of Disaster Law, Clifford J. Villa

Faculty Scholarship

9/11…Katrina…the BP Oil Spill…Few of us probably want to say that our primary practice area is “Disaster Law,” but the reality is that it is an increasingly potent area of focus for many law firms. Clifford Villa tells us that 2011 was an unprecedented year for disasters in the United States, and unfortunately, like death and taxes—it likely will continue to grow.

Novel Urinary Protein Biomarkers Predicting The Development Of Microalbuminuria And Renal Function Decline In Type 1 Diabetes, Daniela Schlatzer, Mark R. Chance, Jean-Eudes Dazard, Xiaolin Li, Fred Hazlett

Faculty Scholarship

OBJECTIVE - To define a panel of novel protein biomarkers of renal disease. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - Adults with type 1 diabetes in the Coronary Artery Calcification in Type 1 Diabetes study who were initially free of renal complications (n = 465) were followed for development of micro- or macroalbuminuria (MA) and early renal function decline (ERFD, annual decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate of ≥3.3%). The labelfree proteomic discovery phase was conducted in 13 patientswho progressed toMAby the 6-year visit and 11 control subjects, and four proteins (Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein, α-1 acid glycoprotein, clusterin, and progranulin) identified in the …

Conflict Of Laws (2012), James P. George, Stephanie K. Marshall, Lisa A. Goodman

Faculty Scholarship

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Non-resident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This Article reviews Texas conflict cases from state and federal courts in Texas during the Survey period from November 1, 2010 through October 31, 2011. The Article excludes cases involving (1) federal-state conflicts; (2) intrastate issues, such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue; and (3) conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. …

Alternative Strategies For Addressing The Presence And Effects Of Pharmaceutical And Personal Care Products In Fresh Water Resources, Gabriel Eckstein, George William Sherk

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, new information has arisen to challenge this assumption. Chemicals from a wide variety of pharmaceutical and personal care products ("PPCPs"), their byproducts and endocrine disrupting compounds ("EDCs") have received growing attention from the water treatment and wastewater treatment community because of the ability of PPCPs to persist, or only partially degrade, in water and during wastewater treatment.

Several federal agencies, including the EnvironmentAl Protection Agency ("EPA"), the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"), the U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA"), the U.S. Geological Survey ("USGS"), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC"), have the potential to be …

Exactions For The Future, Timothy M. Mulvaney

Faculty Scholarship

New development commonly contributes to projected infrastructural demands caused by multiple parties or amplifies the impacts of anticipated natural hazards. At times, these impacts only can be addressed through coordinated actions over a lengthy period. In theory, the ability of local governments to attach conditions, or “exactions,” to discretionary land use permits can serve as one tool to accomplish this end. Unlike traditional exactions that regularly respond to demonstrably measurable, immediate development harms, these “exactions for the future” — exactions responsive to cumulative anticipated future harms — admittedly can present land assembly concerns and involve inherently uncertain long-range government forecasting. …

Identification Of In Vivo Disulfide Conformation Of Trpa1 Ion Channel, Liwen Wang, Teresa L. Cvetkov, Mark R. Chance, Vera Y. Moiseenkova-Bell

Faculty Scholarship

TRPA1 (transient receptor potential ankyrin 1) is an ion channel expressed in the termini of sensory neurons and is activated in response to a broad array of noxious exogenous and endogenous thiol-reactive compounds, making it a crucial player in chemical nociception. A number of conserved cysteine residues on the N-terminal domain of the channel have been identified as critical for sensing these electrophilic pungent chemicals, and our recent EM structure with modeled domains predicts that these cysteines form a ligand-binding pocket, allowing for the possibility of disulfide bonding between the cysteine residues. Here, we present a comprehensive mass spectrometry investigation …

What's At Stake For Tribes? – The U.S. Department Of Justice Office Of Legal Counsel Opinion On Internet Gaming, Testimony Of Dean Kevin K. Washburn, Oversight Hearing Before The United States Senate Committee On Indian Affairs, 112th Congress, Second Session, Kevin Washburn

Faculty Scholarship

The recent opinion by the Office of Legal Counsel has created a lot of activity after years of uncertainty about the legality of Internet gaming in the United States. Internet gaming poses a threat of unknown magnitude to brick and mortar casinos, including Indian casinos. Because internet activities are difficult to regulate across state boundaries and national uniformity is likely to be more effective and more efficient than multiple state regulatory structures, Congress should federalize the regulation of Internet gaming. Congress should, however, consider the important role that Indian gaming has had in lifting the socioeconomic status of Indian people …

Transfer Pricing: Data Dumps And Comparability — Studies From The U.S., U.K., Canada, And Australia, Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Andrew B. Shact

Faculty Scholarship

Comparability is the heart of transfer pricing. The OECD, U.K., Canadian, Australian, and U.S. transfer pricing rules all echo one another on how critically important the comparability analysis is. Performing this analysis and proving comparability, however, is a demanding exercise.

What makes proving comparability so difficult is that the analysis is two sided. Both controlled and uncontrolled transactions must be thoroughly analyzed. Just as much effort needs to be applied to determine the functions, contract terms, risks and the economic conditions for the unrelated party comparables as is spent on analyzing the related parties (taxpayers).

But there is more to …

Entertainment Law, Jon M. Garon

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Illegal Process: Basic Problems In The Making And Application Of Censorship, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

This essay is a response to Derek Bambauer's article Orwell's Armchair, which proposes "[a] statute enabling censorship of Internet materia." Bambauer's theory is process-oriented: it focuses on the institutions that engage in censorship and the procedures that they follow. Accordingly, the essay examines his arguments through the lens of the canonical Legal Process text: Hart and Sacks' The Legal Process. A series of notes and queries inquire whether his proposed statute would limit censorship, regularize it, or legitimate it.

Accountable Care Organizations In The Affordable Care Act, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.