Digital Commons Network^™

Foundation Regulation In Our Age Of Impact, Dana Brakman Reiser

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Revisiting A Classic Problem In Statutory Interpretation: Is A Minister A Laborer?, Lawrence Solan, Tammy Gales

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Breath: A Call For Economic Justice, Verónica C. Gonzales

Faculty Scholarship

In Part I of this essay I interpret this unique moment in history through a retelling of the folk story La Llorona in order to identify the monsters and ghosts of the past and the present. Domino Renee Perez describes her own critical reflection of La Llorona as reinforcing 'a valuable lesson about power and authority' because her family’s 'storytelling circle was more than simply an arbitrary setting; it was a safe place for them to create, however problematically, a world of words, where they faced the dangers and challenges of life, embodied by a woman, and survived.' The lore …

Financing Failure: Bankruptcy Lending, Credit Market Conditions, And The Financial Crisis, Frederick Tung

Faculty Scholarship

When contemplating Chapter 11, firms often need to seek financing for their continuing operations in bankruptcy. Because such financing would otherwise be hard to find, the Bankruptcy Code authorizes debtors to offer sweeteners to debtor-in-possession (DIP) lenders. These inducements can be effective in attracting financing, but because they are thought to come at the expense of other stakeholders, the Code permits these inducements only if no less generous a package would have been sufficient to obtain the loan.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the use of certain controversial inducements — I focus on roll-ups and milestones — skyrocketed in recent years, …

The New Gatekeepers: Private Firms As Public Enforcers, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Scholarship

The world’s largest businesses must routinely police other businesses. By public mandate, Facebook monitors app developers’ privacy safeguards, Citibank audits call centers for deceptive sales practices, and Exxon reviews offshore oil platforms’ environmental standards. Scholars have devoted significant attention to how policy makers deploy other private sector enforcers, such as certification bodies, accountants, lawyers, and other periphery “gatekeepers.” However, the literature has yet to explore the emerging regulatory conscription of large firms at the center of the economy. This Article examines the rise of the enforcer-firm through case studies of the industries that are home to the most valuable companies, …

The Elastic Meaning(S) Of Human Trafficking, Julie A. Dahlstrom

Faculty Scholarship

What is human trafficking? When is an expansive definition of trafficking justifiable? How does trafficking relate to other concepts—like domestic violence, sexual assault, labor exploitation, and prostitution—with which it often overlaps? These questions have become increasingly salient after the U.S. Congress defined the crime of human trafficking in the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (“TVPA”). Since then, all fifty states have passed legislation with varying definitions of the crime. Congress also has re-entered the field with subsequent legislation, expanding the crime to capture new conduct.
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/="/">As a result of legislative advocacy and judicial interpretation, …

Trafficking To The Rescue?, Julie A. Dahlstrom

Faculty Scholarship

Since before the dawn of the #MeToo Movement, civil litigators have been confronted with imperfect legal responses to gender-based harms. Some have sought to envision and develop innovative legal strategies. One new, increasingly successful tactic has been the deployment of federal anti-trafficking law in certain cases of domestic violence and sexual assault. In 2017, for example, victims of sexual assault filed federal civil suits under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (“TVPRA”) against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Plaintiffs argued that the alleged sexual assault conduct amounted to “commercial sex acts” and sex trafficking. Other plaintiffs’ lawyers have similarly invoked trafficking …

Distinguishing Moral Hazard From Access For High-Cost Healthcare Under Insurance, Christopher Robertson, Andy Yuan, Wendan Zhang, Keith Joiner

Faculty Scholarship

Health policy has long been preoccupied with the problem that health insurance stimulates spending (“moral hazard”). However, much health spending is costly healthcare that uninsured individuals could not otherwise access. Field studies comparing those with more or less insurance cannot disaggregate moral hazard versus access. Moreover, studies of patients consuming routine low-dollar healthcare are not informative for the high-dollar healthcare that drives most of aggregate healthcare spending in the United States.
/="/">
/="/">We test indemnities as an alternative theory-driven counterfactual. Such conditional cash transfers would maintain an opportunity cost for patients, unlike standard insurance, but also guarantee access to …

Forming Start-Up Companies: Who's My Client?, Nancy J. Moore

Faculty Scholarship

Consider the following scenario: three individuals—a magician, a baker, and a puppeteer—want to start a business that will run birthday parties for children. The magician will put up most of the money, the baker has extensive experience with children’s birthday parties, and the puppeteer, who has an MBA, will manage the business. They meet with a lawyer to help them form a company, including advising them on such issues as choice of entity and allocation of ownership and control. Before the lawyer agrees to the representation, she must ask herself: “who will I represent?”1

The author of this hypothetical, legal …

Fda In The Time Of Covid-19, Elizabeth Mccuskey

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past century, Congress has made the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) responsible for regulating the safety and efficacy of drugs and devices being deployed in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The FDA’s regulatory infrastructure was built for public health threats and to combat manufacturers' misinformation about treatments.

This article spotlights the ways in which FDA has been adapting to a new challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic: combating misinformation emanating from within the executive branch.

Geneva Statement On Heritable Human Genome Editing: The Need For Course Correction, Roberto Andorno, Francoise Baylis, Marcy Darnovsky, Donna Dickenson, Hille Haker, Katie Hasson, Leah Lowthorp, George J. Annas, Catherine Bourgain, Katherine Drabiak, Sigrid Graumann, Katrin Grüber, Matthias Kaiser, David King, Regine Kollek, Calum Mackellar, Jing-Bao Nie, Osagie K. Obasogie, Mirriam Tyebally Fang, Gabriele Werner-Felmayer, Jana Zuscinova

Faculty Scholarship

As public interest advocates, policy experts, bioethicists, and scientists, we call for a course correction in public discussions about heritable human genome editing. Clarifying misrepresentations, centering societal consequences and concerns, and fostering public empowerment will support robust, global public engagement and meaningful deliberation about altering the genes of future generations.

The Replicability Crisis In Patent Law, Janet Freilich

Faculty Scholarship

There is a “replicability crisis” in the scientific literature. Scientists attempting to redo experiments in reputable, peer-reviewed journals have found that staggering numbers of these experiments—up to 90%—do not work. Patents, like scientific articles, contain experiments. These experiments often form the backbone of the patent and provide crucial support for patentability. Patent examiners use these experiments to evaluate whether the invention works, and thus whether the patent should be granted. The replicability crisis in the scientific literature is therefore of utmost importance to the patent system. Transferring the insights of the replicability crisis to patents begs the question of whether …

Transnational Fiduciary Law, Tamar Frankel

Faculty Scholarship

Fiduciary law is expanding throughout the world.¹ It seems to be a new phenomenon, but in reality, it is not. Fiduciary law is ancient. It existed centuries ago in Mesopotamia, ² Rome, ³ Egypt,⁴ Greece,⁵ as well as in Jewish ⁶ and Christian laws.⁷ Fiduciary duties arguably developed later in Great Britain when master landlords left for the holy land on religious crusades and had to rely on others to manage their estates.⁸ The ancient rules, such as those found in agency law in Mesopotamia, may not have been as sophisticated as the current ones-such …

Congressional Administration Of Foreign Affairs, Rebecca Ingber

Faculty Scholarship

Longstanding debates over the allocation of foreign affairs power between Congress and the President have reached a stalemate. Wherever the formal line between Congress and the President’s powers is drawn, it is well established that, as a functional matter, even in times of great discord between the two branches, the President wields immense power when he acts in the name of foreign policy or national security.

And yet, while scholarship focuses on the accretion of power in the presidency, presidential primacy is not the end of the story. The fact that the President usually “wins” in foreign affairs does not …

Independent Creation In A World Of Ai, Clark Asay

Faculty Scholarship

Scholars have long debated whether the outputs of AI systems should be subject to copyright. On the one hand, the automated nature of many AI systems may make copyright unnecessary as an incentive for the creation of those AI systems’ outputs, in which case society would be better off withholding copyright protections from them. On the other hand, those outputs often exhibit sufficient creativity to merit copyright protection, and without copyright, parties that use AI systems to create such outputs may lack the necessary incentives to do so.

In this Essay, prepared as part of the Florida International University Law …

Aga Institute Rapid Recommendations For Gastrointestinal Procedures During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Perica Davitkov, Yngve Falck-Ytter

Faculty Scholarship

Multiple questions have been raised regarding the GI and liver manifestations of COVID-19 infection and the implications of SARS-CoV-2 infection on GI endoscopy. A joint society statement by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy on March 15, 2020 highlighted the potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through droplets, an established mode of transmission, and possibly fecal shedding, and the associated risk for transmission to endoscopy personnel during GI endoscopy procedures. In this document, we seek to summarize the data and provide evidence-based …

Electrochemical Characterization Of Bromine Reduction To Tribromide In Individual Nitrobenzene-In-Water Emulsion Droplets, Liang Chang, Allen J. Bard

Faculty Scholarship

We report an electrochemical study of bromine reduction to tribromide in a single nitrobenzene (NB) droplet during a single collision event. The feasibility of this study is based on the favorable distribution of Br2 in NB rather than in water, which was demonstrated by voltammetry at the NB/water interface. The NB-in-water emulsions containing the ionic liquids trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (ILPA) as the supporting electrolyte and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as the surfactant were prepared by a high-power ultrasonication. Its single droplet as an attoliter reactor, colliding on a 25 μm Pt UME, was monitored by chronoamperometry. The spike-type current transients of …

Unprecedented Solutions For Extraordinary Times: Helping Long-Term Care Settings Deal With The Covid-19 Pandemic, Robin L.P. Jump

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Cognitive And Psychological Effects Of Youtube Video Captions And Subtitles On Higher-Level German Language Learners, Peter Yang

Faculty Scholarship

This study reviews the psychological and cognitive role of using videos, YouTube videos and modes of text support in foreign language learning, with a focus on the effect that captioning and subtitling YouTube videos have on intermediate-high and advanced German language learners. The results of the study found that enhanced captioning plays a more positive role on the intermediate-high and advanced German learners’ motivation likely due to more efficient language processing; more specifically the videos are able to provide linguistic integrity, which allows the language learners to focus their incidental attention effectively. The findings provide useful insights into and enthusiasm …

Role Of Changes In Sars-Cov-2 Spike Protein In The Interaction With The Human Ace2 Receptor: An In Silico Analysis, Joseph Thomas Ortega

Faculty Scholarship

Many human viral diseases are a consequence of a zoonotic event. Some of the diseases caused by these zoono- tic events have affected millions of people around the world, some of which have resulted in high rates of mor- bidity/mortality in humans. Changes in the viral proteins that function as ligands of the host receptor may pro- mote the spillover between species. The most recent of these zoonotic events that have caused an ongoing epi- demic of high magnitude is the Covid-19 epidemics caused by SARS-CoV-2. The aim of this study was to de- termine the mutation(s) in the sequence …

Proteins Inform Survival-Based Differences In Patients With Glioblastoma, L. C. Stetson, Daniela M. Schlatzer, Peter Liao, Karen Devine, Kristin Waite, Marta E. Couce, Andrew E. Sloan, Mark R. Chance, Jill S. Barnholtz-Sloan

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Improving the care of patients with glioblastoma (GB) requires accurate and reliable predictors of patient prognosis. Unfortunately, while protein markers are an effective readout of cellular function, proteomics has been underutilized in GB prognostic marker discovery. Methods: For this study, GB patients were prospectively recruited and proteomics discovery using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (LC-MS/MS) was performed for 27 patients including 13 short-term survivors (STS) (≤10 months) and 14 long-term survivors (LTS) (≥18 months). Results: Proteomics discovery identified 11 941 peptides in 2495 unique proteins, with 469 proteins exhibiting significant dysregulation when comparing STS to LTS. We verified the differential …

Unrevealing Sequence And Structural Features Of Novel Coronavirus Using In Silico Approaches: The Main Protease As Molecular Target, Joseph Thomas Ortega

Faculty Scholarship

Direct-acting antivirals are effective tools to control viral infections. SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus associated with the epidemiological outbreak in late 2019. Previous reports showed that HIV-1 protease inhibitors could block SARS-CoV main protease. Based on that and using an in silico approach, we evaluated SARS-CoV-2 main protease as a target for HIV-1 protease inhibitors to reveal the structural features related to their antiviral effect. Our results showed that several HIV inhibitors such as lopinavir, ritonavir, and saquinavir produce strong interaction with the active site of SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Furthermore, broad library protease inhibitors obtained from PubChem and ZINC (www.zinc.docking.org) were …

Network-Based Drug Repurposing For Novel Coronavirus 2019-Ncov/Sars-Cov-2, Yuan Hou, Feixiong Cheng

Faculty Scholarship

Human coronaviruses (HCoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV, also known as SARS-CoV-2), lead global epidemics with high morbidity and mortality. However, there are currently no effective drugs targeting 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2. Drug repurposing, representing as an effective drug discovery strategy from existing drugs, could shorten the time and reduce the cost compared to de novo drug discovery. In this study, we present an integrative, antiviral drug repurposing methodology implementing a systems pharmacology-based network medicine platform, quantifying the interplay between the HCoV-host interactome and drug targets in the human protein-protein interaction network. Phylogenetic analyses of 15 …

Apology And Restitution: The Psychophysiology Of Forgiveness After Accountable Relational Repair Responses, Charlotte Witvliet, Lindsey M. Root Luna, Everett L. Worthington Jr., Jo-Ann Tsang

Faculty Scholarship

Apology and restitution each represents wrongdoers’ accountable repair responses that have promoted victims’ self-reported empathy and forgiveness in crime scenario research. The current study measured emotional and stress-related dependent variables including physiological measures, to illuminate the links between predictors of forgiveness and health-relevant side effects. Specifically, we tested the independent and interactive effects of apology and restitution on forgiveness, emotion self-reports, and facial responses, as well as cardiac measures associated with stress in 32 males and 29 females. Apology and restitution each independently increased empathy, forgiveness, gratitude, and positive emotions, while reducing unforgiveness, negative emotion, and muscle activity above the …

A Comprehensive Catalog Of Dark Matter Halo Models For Sparc Galaxies, Pengfei Li, Stacy S. Mcgaugh

Faculty Scholarship

We present rotation curve fits to 175 late-type galaxies from the Spitzer Photometry and Accurate Rotation Curves database using seven dark matter (DM) halo profiles: pseudo-isothermal, Burkert, Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW), Einasto, Di Cintio et al. (2014, hereafter DC14), cored-NFW, and a new semi-empirical profile named Lucky13. We marginalize over the stellar mass-to-light ratio, galaxy distance, disk inclination, halo concentration, and halo mass (and an additional shape parameter for Einasto) using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. We find that cored halo models, such as the DC14 and Burkert profiles, generally provide better fits to rotation curves than the cuspy NFW profile. …

Groundwater Management In The Borderlands Of Mexico And Texas: The Beauty Of The Unknown, The Negligence Of The Present, And The Way Forward, Rosario Sanchez, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Over the last decade, transboundary aquifers traversing the Mexico‐Texas border have generated growing interest of federal institutions on the Mexico side and state and federal institutions on the Texas side. Notwithstanding this, binational efforts to understand, assess, and manage shared groundwater resources remain limited and politically sensitive. On the Mexico side, long‐standing centralized groundwater governance structures have created institutional barriers at the local level to the expansion of knowledge and cooperation over these transboundary resources. On the Texas side, property rights related to groundwater resources limit the scope of options available for cooperative management of cross‐border aquifers. This paper examines …

Mobile App To Help People With Chronic Illness Reflect On Their Strengths: Formative Evaluation And Usability Testing, Kurt Stange

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Supporting patient engagement and empowerment is increasingly seen as essential in providing person-centered health care to people with chronic illness. Mobile apps helping patients reflect on their concerns as preparation for consultations with their health care providers can have beneficial effects on the consultation quality. However, apps focusing on empowerment and personal strengths are still scarce. Objective: This study aimed to (1) develop a mobile app to support patients with rheumatic diseases in reflecting on their strengths in preparation for consultations with health care providers and (2) explore patients’ perceived usability of the app in a nonclinical test setting. …

Quantifying Nutrient Throughput And Dom Production By Algae In Continuous Culture, Anne Willem Omta

Faculty Scholarship

Freshwater and marine algae can balance nutrient demand and availability by regulating uptake, accumulation and exudation. To obtain insight into these processes under nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation, we reanalyze published data from continuous cultures of the chlorophyte Selenastrum minutum . Based on mass budgets, we argue that much of the non-limiting N and P had passed through the organisms and was present as dissolved organic phosphorus or nitrogen (DOP or DON). We construct a model that describes the production of biomass and dissolved organic matter (DOM) as a function of the growth rate. A fit of this model …

The Evolution Of Offshore: From Tax Havens To Ifcs, Andrew P. Morriss, Charlotte Ku

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past 70 years, many smaller jurisdictions have evolved intro international financial centres (IFCs). Although different in their historic origins and in the financial products and services they offer, IFCs share a common development path. Understanding that evolution can shed light on what the next decade is likely to bring.

Gallucci's Commentary On Dürer’S 'Four Books On Human Proportion': Renaissance Proportion Theory, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

In 1591, Giovanni Paolo Gallucci published his Della simmetria dei corpi humani, an Italian translation of Albrecht Dürer’s Four Books on Human Proportion. While Dürer’s treatise had been translated earlier in the sixteenth-century into French and Latin, it was Gallucci’s Italian translation that endured in popularity as the most cited version of the text in later Baroque treatises, covering topics that were seen as central to arts education, connoisseurship, patronage, and the wider appreciation of the studia humanitatis in general.

The text centres on the relationships between beauty and proportion, macrocosm and microcosm: relationships that were not only essential to …