Digital Commons Network^™

The South African Constitutional Court And Socio-Economic Rights As 'Insurance Swaps', Tom Ginsburg, Rosalind Dixon

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Tiers Of Scrutiny In Enumerated Powers Jurisprudence, Aziz Huq

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

This Article identifies and analyzes the recent emergence of a “tiers of scrutiny” system in Supreme Court jurisprudence respecting the boundaries of Congress’s enumerated powers. The inquiry is motivated by the Court’s recent ruling on the federal healthcare law, which demonstrated that the national legislature’s election among its diverse textual sources of authority in Article I can have large, outcome-determinative consequences in constitutional challenges to federal laws. This is so because the Court not only delineates each power’s substantive boundaries differently but also applies distinct standards of review to the various legislative powers enumerated in Article I and elsewhere in …

Women In Prison In Argentina: Causes, Conditions, And Consequences, Sital Kalantry

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Exactions Creep, Lee Anne Fennell, Eduardo Peñalver

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Forcings, Lee Anne Fennell

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Eminent domain receives enormous amounts of scholarly and popular attention, and for good reason—it is a powerful form of government coercion that cuts to the heart of ownership. But a mirror-image form of government coercion has been almost entirely ignored: forced ownership, or "forcings." While legal compulsion to begin or continue ownership is neither entirely unstudied as an academic matter nor entirely unprecedented as a doctrinal matter, the category lacks a unified treatment. Because coercively imposed ownership can substitute for other forms of government coercion, forcings deserve attention, even if they will rarely dominate other alternatives. Attending to forcings as …

Beyond Presidentialism And Parliamentarism, Tom Ginsburg, Jose Antonio Cheibub, Zachary Elkins

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

The presidential-parliamentary distinction is foundational to comparative politics and at the center of a large theoretical and empirical literature. However, an examination of constitutional texts suggests a fair degree of heterogeneity within these categories with respect to important institutional attributes. These observations lead us to suspect that the classic presidential-parliamentary distinction, as well as the semi-presidential category, is not a systemic one. This paper investigates whether the defining attributes that separate presidential and parliamentary constitutions predict other attributes that are stereotypically associated with these institutional models. The results lead us to be highly skeptical of the “systemic” nature of the …

The South After Shelby County, Nicholas Stephanopoulos

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court dismantled one of the two pillars of the Voting Rights Act: Section 5, which had barred southern jurisdictions from changing their election laws without receiving prior federal approval. But the Court left standing the VRA’s other pillar: Section 2, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting throughout the country. The burning question in the wake of Shelby County is what will happen to minority representation in the South now that Section 5 has been struck down but Section 2 lives on. This Article is the first to address this vital issue. The Article …

Patent Invalidity Versus Noninfringement, Roger Ford

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Most patent scholars agree that the Patent and Trademark Office grants too many invalid patents and that these patents impose a significant tax upon industry and technological innovation. Although policymakers and scholars have proposed various ways to address this problem, including better ex ante review by patent examiners and various forms of ex post administrative review, the use of district courts to invalidate patents remains a core defense against bad patents. This Article analyzes a previously unidentified impediment to the use of district courts to invalidate patents. Nearly every patent lawsuit rises or falls on one of two defenses: invalidity …

Political Constraints On International Courts, Tom Ginsburg

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Osteogenic And Antimicrobial Nanoparticulate Calcium Phosphate And Poly-(D, L-Lactide-Co-Glycolide) Powders For The Treatment Of Osteomyelitis, Vuk Uskoković, Charles Hoover, Marija Vukomanović, Dragan P. Uskoković, Tejal A. Dasai, Charles Hoover, Marija Vukomanović, Dragan P. Uskoković, Tejal A. Dasai

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Development of a material for simultaneous sustained and localized delivery of antibiotics and induction of spontaneous regeneration of hard tissues affected by osteomyelitis stands for an important clinical need. In this work, a comparative analysis of the bacterial and osteoblastic cell response to two different nanoparticulate carriers of clindamycin, an antibiotic commonly prescribed in the treatment of bone infection, one composed of calcium phosphate and the other comprising poly-(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide)-coated calcium phosphate, was carried out. Three different non-cytotoxic phases of calcium phosphate, exhibiting dissolution and drug release profiles in the range of one week to two months to one year, respectively, …

Phase Composition Control Of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles For Tunable Drug Delivery Kinetics And Treatment Of Osteomyelitis. Part 2: Antibacterial And Osteoblastic Response, Vuk Uskoković, Tejal A. Dasai

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Osteomyelitis has been traditionally treated by the combination of long-term antibiotic therapies and surgical removal of diseased tissue. The multifunctional material was developed in this study with the aim to improve this therapeutic approach by: (a) enabling locally delivered and sustained release of antibiotics at a tunable rate, so as to eliminate the need for repetitive administration of systemically distributed antibiotics; and (b) controllably dissolving itself, so as to promote natural remineralization of the portion of bone lost to disease. We report hereby on the effect of the previously synthesized calcium phosphates (CAPs) with tunable solubilities and drug release time …

Opportunities And Constraints To Community Forest User Groups Participating In Redd+ Payment Programs In Nepal, Alexander Cuthbert Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In response to global concern for the consequences of climate change, the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program was developed to support greenhouse gas emission reduction and carbon sequestration in developing countries. While still being developed around the world, in Nepal a REDD+ pilot project is being conducted with the involvement of the Nepali government’s Department of Forestry (DoF) and its community forestry program. The pilot project is called “REDD+ in Community Managed Forests in Nepal” (RCMFN). The commitment of Nepal’s government to carry out this project makes it an ideal location to study carbon …

The Brave Heart Society: An Oral History Of An Indigenous Women's Society, Brook Spotted Eagle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examines the Brave Heart Society and the ways in which Brave Heart women collectively approaches trauma-healing outside of the programmatic structures of federally funded tribal systems. National statistics speak to the contemporary struggles impacting most US Indigenous populations in the present-day. Such struggles are residual symptoms rooted in a long history of domination and US imperialism. These data indicate that most tribes have not fully recovered from federally imposed systems of deprivation. Within the context of the Ihanktonwan Dakota community in southeastern South Dakota, the nuanced ways in which trauma impedes development and community wellness is both realized …

An Attributional Analysis Of Observers Helping The Bully In Bullying Episodes, Christopher James Bushard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Student attitudes regarding bullying are mixed. Although most students appear to condemn the behavior (Boulton & Underwood, 1992), a sizable minority group displays beliefs and attitudes supportive of bullying (Rigby & Slee, 1991; Rigby & Slee, 1993). Previous research has also found that students involved in bullying situations can be categorized into different roles based on their behaviors during bullying episodes (Samivalli, Huttunen, & Lagerspetz, 1997). An established method to measure and predict attitudes and thoughts about a person’s actions in a situation is to use an attribution framework. Weiner (1995) proposes an attribution model in which the observer’s thoughts …

Information Seeking Sources Of Education Policy Makers, Shannon Louise O'Brien

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The information seeking sources of education policy makers was examined in an effort to reveal informed approaches toward minimizing the gap in communication and understanding between education policy makers and educators. Quantitative data were collected from state legislators (n=194) throughout the United States, including background information and information seeking frequencies from ten different sources. Analyses of the nonparametric data using the Kruskal-Wallis, Bonferroni, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon methods showed statistically significant differences in the information seeking sources of education policy makers based on independent groups including: education committee membership and leadership on that committee, gender, party affiliation and experience level. Additionally, …

Age-Associated Changes In The Neuroinflammatory Response To Toll-Like Receptor 4 And 9 Stimulation, Leah Beth Christensen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

During the perinatal time period, the mammalian brain is developing rapidly and is particularly sensitive to inflammation. Inflammation during this time period may be linked to later neurological illness in humans. Disease-associated alterations in learning and behavior can be modeled in rodents using perinatal immune stimulation with either infectious agents or Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists. Although the gestational period is a particularly sensitive time for neurodevelopment, it is not known for how long after birth this sensitivity persists. In mice, susceptibility to neurological infection declines dramatically during the first weeks of life. Therefore, we sought to compare the neuroinflammatory responses …

Psychological Adjustment And Relational Development In Ethiopian Adoptees And Their Families, Waganesh Zeleke

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The number of American families choosing to adopt a child from Ethiopia has increased exponentially since 2004. Over the past five years alone, between 2006 and 2011, 13.5% of internationally adopted children in the U.S. came from Ethiopia. The purpose of this study was to examine psychological adjustment and relational development of Ethiopian adoptees who have been adopted during 2007 -2010 and their families who reside in Montana.

Using a convenience-sampling method, data were collected from 25 adoptive parents who adopted a total of 35 children from Ethiopia. All families live in Montana and responded to questions through an online …

What High School Principals Do To Develop, Implement, And Sustain A High Functioning Character Education Initiative, Jacob A. Francom

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Principal leadership is crucial to the success of a high school character education initiative. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory research was to identify the roles and effective practices that high school principals utilize in developing, implementing, and sustaining a high functioning character education program. Fourteen high school principals from around the country, representing different schools, were interviewed one-on-one through Skype, Google Hangout, or by telephone. Data were collected during these one-on-one semi-structured interviews and analyzed through three separate coding procedures: (a) open coding, (b) axial coding, and (c) selective coding. Open coding analyzed the concepts emerging from the …

Working Memory Capacity Training And The Effect On Reading Comprehension, Numerical Reasoning, And Vocational Progress, David Evans Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

An individual’s working memory capacity determines their ability to control attention and discard irrelevant and interfering information in large environments. It also plays an important part in information processing of goal-relevant tasks. It is important to study the ways in which learners can augment the capacity of an important cognitive construct and investigate the potential benefits to improving attention, reasoning, and comprehension. In educational settings, students actively seek help from assistance programs that target academic performance. However, it is often the case that this assistance comes in the form of a targeted specific skill that is focused on a particular …

Opening Up The Box: Exploring The Scaling Out Of The Good Food Box Across Canada, Stephanie Lentz Laporte Potts

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Good Food Box (GFB) program holds a great deal of promise to expand our understanding of Community Food Security (CFS). CFS represents a vision for solving hunger and other problems with the food system through an integrated approach that improves access to good and appropriate food for all while at the same time building community, strengthening local agricultural economies, and maximizing social justice. The GFB, one type of CFS program, is a community-based initiative found across Canada that provides a box of healthy food to customers at near wholesale prices; it has the potential to increase access to healthy …

Whole-Nature: Integrating Science And Eco-Phenomenology, Bartholomew Patrick Walsh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A review of the literature in environmental philosophy reveals a certain tension between what we might call science-based and experience-based approaches to environmental ethics. The main trend of thought here follows seminal figures like Aldo Leopold and Holmes Rolston III by generally looking to the sciences for disclosing value in nature, particularly ecology and evolutionary biology. However others, such as David Abram and Jack Turner, worry that scientifically disclosed nature is in itself too distancing, objectifying, and abstract to engender any real care for nature and instead emphasize direct, embodied experience with actual wild places, hence the label “eco-phenomenology.” The …

Is Gun Crime Learned? Social Learning Theory And Guns, Krista Pearl Caffrey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examines the relationship between specific childhood experiences and the use of guns in crime in a sample of incarcerated males in American prisons. Two specific childhood experiences are examined: exposure to violence in the home and exposure to guns in the home. Utilizing social learning theory, I argue that adult male felons who used guns in the commission of crimes will have had greater levels of exposure to violence and exposure to guns in their childhood home. Using a data set collected by sociologists James Wright and Peter Rossi, I conducted a binary logistic regression to determine the …

The Constitution Of Queer Identity In The 1972 Apa Panel, "Psychiatry: Friend Or Foe To Homosexuals? A Dialogue", Dustin Vern Edward Schneider

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis offers a rhetorical criticism of two speeches delivered from a 1972 panel at the American Psychiatric Association (APA): Franklin Kameny’s “Gay, Proud and Healthy” and John Fryer’s “I am a Homosexual.” Both speeches seek to challenge heteronormative constructions of homosexuality through the construction of a positive homosexual identity. Kameny’s speech uses an extensive set of metaphors to deconstruct the sickness theory of homosexual, challenge the role psychiatrists should play in society, re-conceptualize sexuality, and empower homosexual identity. Fryer’s speech enacts a constitutive rhetoric through the use of consciousness raising strategies and a collective coming out narrative which creates …

Synthesis Of Dna-Base Selective Labels For Efficient Labeling Of Dna For Tem Imaging, Rakesh Kumar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The goal of this project was to explore the possibility of high throughput DNA sequencing using high-resolution electron microscopy. This approach was recently made feasible by development of a DNA threading technique that allows the imaging of straight, single stranded DNA; and by the development of atom-by-atom analysis with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). In an attempt to better understand the types of interactions that can occur between water-soluble versions of complex and DNA we have synthesized the series of single metal and tetrametallic compounds. In order to demonstrate proof of concept for the technique of visualizing metal complex bound on …

Montana Logging Costs: Resources For Continued Industry Viability, Joshua P. Meek

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Montana’s logging industry has changed significantly over the past two decades. Increased operating costs and subsequent diminishing returns, combined with a shifting paradigm in regards to active forest management have had significant impacts on the economic and demographic make-up of the industry. One way to address these changes and mitigate the associated challenges of continued viability is through analysis of the factors and constraints impacting routine operational costs. Two methods were employed to estimate regional logging costs and changes over time. First, to provide a resource for comparison between commonly-utilized logging equipment, the hourly owning and operating costs of select …

An Investigation Of Viscosity Using Measured Velocities On Helheim Glacier, Glen David Granzow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Using recent measurements of the velocity of ice on the surface of Helheim Glacier, located on the south-east coast of Greenland, the variation of viscosity, a material property of the ice, is investigated. The investigation focuses on determining the value of a parameter in Glen's flow law, a constitutive equation widely used in numerical models of ice sheets. Three different approaches are used: (1) Finite differences are used in a direct approach, (2) A finite element model is used in an approach involving an inverse problem, and (3) Nonlinear least squares fits of the velocity are used. The parameter focused …

Mechanisms And Cytotoxic Effects Of Nqo1-Directed Lavendamycin Derivatives And Mitochondria-Targeted Anthracenyl Isoxazole Amides As Novel Antitumor Agents, Alison King Kearns

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Cancer is a common, complex, and oftentimes fatal disease. Despite extensive research in the field of cancer drug discovery, there are still improvements to be made in the design of effective anticancer agents. This project involved three separate but related studies that fall under the category of anticancer drug discovery as a whole. The overall goal of this project was to design and investigate the mechanisms of action of new antitumor agents to be used against solid tumors. First, we developed a series of anthracenyl isoxazole amides (AIMs) designed to bind to G-quadruplex DNA and inhibit telomerase. Results from this …

Ciclovía Initiatives: Engaging Communities, Partners, And Policy Makers Along The Route To Success, Susan G. Zieff Phd, J. Aaron Hipp, Amy A. Eyler, Mi-Sook Kim Phd

Brown School Faculty Publications

Recent efforts to increase physical activity through changes to the built environment have led to strategies and programs that use existing public space, including bicycle lanes, temporary parks, and the ciclovia initiative (scheduled events in which streets are closed to motorized vehicles and opened for recreational activities) popularized in South America. Objective: This article describes and compares the processes and structures involved in developing and implementing a ciclovia-type program in 2 US urban contexts: San Francisco, California, and St Louis, Missouri. Considering the current growth of and interest in ciclovia initiatives, important outcomes, lessons learned are offered for application in …

Vulnerability And Mental Health In Afghanistan: Looking Beyond War Exposure, Jean-Francois Trani, Parul Bakhshi

Brown School Faculty Publications

This study examined the prevalence of mental distress among groups in Afghanistan considered to be at risk. Data were drawn from a representative cross-sectional disability survey carried out in Afghanistan including 5,130 households in 171 clusters throughout the 34 provinces of the country. The sample included 838 non-disabled control participants aged above 14, and 675 disabled participants. Results showed that various vulnerable groups (disabled people, the unemployed, the elderly, minority ethnic groups, as well as widowed, divorced or separated women) were at higher risk of experiencing mild to severe mental health problems. The adjusted odds ratio for war-related disability compared …

Child Poverty In A Conflict Situation: A Multidimensional Profile And An Identification Of The Poorest Children In Western Darfur, Jean-Francois Trani, Timothy I. Cannings

Brown School Faculty Publications

Darfur is currently in a very complex situation making humanitarian intervention a very challenging endeavour. The civilian population is caught in the middle of armed confrontation resulting in massive forced displacement as well as in food shortage, lack of access to safe source of water and sanitation facilities, shelter, essential health services. Children are particularly vulnerable in conflict situation as they are higher risk of physical and sexual violence or emotional abuse. Applying the Alkire and Foster index of multidimensional poverty to a selected set of dimensions of deprivation identified through a large scale household survey in Western Darfur carried …