Digital Commons Network^™

#Squadgoals: A Response To Seth Waxman, Amelia Rinehart

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Former Solicitor General Seth Waxman’s recent remarks, framing our current age of patent law in the Supreme Court as “interesting times,” unquestionably captures the exhilaration of an active Supreme Court in this area of the law. Waxman knows his way around patent cases decided by the Supreme Court — he presented arguments in four of the six patent cases in the 2016 Term — but he also has an extensive appellate practice before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”), which has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over patent cases. Given his substantial experience in patent appellate litigation, Waxman …

The False Promise Of Health Data Ownership, Jorge L. Contreras

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

In recent years there have been increasing calls by patient advocates, health law scholars and would-be data intermediaries to recognize personal property interests in individual health information (IHI). While the propertization of IHI appeals to notions of individual autonomy, privacy and distributive justice, the implementation of a workable property system for IHI presents significant challenges. This essay addresses the issues surrounding the propertization of IHI from a property law perspective. It first observes that IHI does not fit recognized judicial criteria for recognition as personal property, as IHI defies convenient definition, is difficult to possess exclusively, and lacks justifications for …

Constitutional Environmental Law, Or, The Constitutional Consequences Of Insisting That The Environment Is Everybody's Business, Robin Kundis Craig

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Constitutional environmental law has become a recognized and institutionalized specialty within environmental law, an acknowledgement of the pervasive interactions between the U.S. Constitution and the federal environmental statutes that go well beyond the normal constitutional underpinnings of federal administrative law. This Article posits that constitutional environmental law is the result of Congress consciously deciding that environmental protection is everybody’s business — specifically, from Congress’s that states should participate in rather than be preempted by federal environmental law, that private citizens and organizations should help to enforce the statutes, and that private land and water rights are necessary components of national …

Trickster Law: Promoting Resilience And Adaptive Governance By Allowing Other Perspectives On Natural Resource Management, Robin Kundis Craig

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The Anthropocene requires a new approach to natural resources law and policy, an approach that this short article terms "trickster law." Trickster law incorporates insights from resilience theory, adaptive governance scholarship, and cultural/anthropological studies of trickster tales to create a legal approach to natural resource management that is precautionary, engaged in proactive planning, based in principled flexibility, and pluralistic. This article focuses on the "pluralism" component, presenting three examples of how law modified to be more inclusive and respect different value systems has generated new approaches to natural resources management that better promote social-ecological resilience to climate change and other …

Shareholder Activism And Stakeholder Engagement Strategies: Promoting Environmental Justice, Human Rights, And Sustainable Development Goals, Erika George

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an ambitious "plan of action for people, planet and prosperity" which seeks to promote peace and eradicate poverty. The Agenda's goals cannot be reached without private sector participation and changes to certain business practices that contribute to adverse environmental and human rights impacts. When natural resources are managed responsibly the resulting economic development can help to eradicate poverty. However, when natural resources are managed poorly, certain extractives industry sector practices can generate or exacerbate human rights abuses, environmental degradation, corruption, and conflict. Fossil fuels are connected to the changing climate. The …

Adaptive Management For Ecosystem Services At The Wildland-Urban Interface, Robin Kundis Craig, J.B. Ruhl

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Managing the wildland-urban interface (WUI) is a widely-recognized land use problem plagued by a fractured geography of land parcels, management jurisdictions, and governance mandates and objectives. People who work in this field have suggested a variety of approaches to managing this interface, from informal governance to contracting to insurance. To date, however, none of these scholars have fully embraced the dynamism, uncertainty, and complexity of the WUI — that is, its status as a complex adaptive system. In focusing almost exclusively on the management of this interface to control wildfire, this scholarship largely ignores the factor that rampant wildfire is …

The Effects Of Red Meat Or Sugar Supplementation During Gestation And Lactation On Maternal Reproduction, Maternal And Offspring Blood Parameters, And Offspring Body Composition, Alexis Michelle Siomka

Animal Sciences

Using swine as a model for humans, this study was conducted to examine whether maternal consumption of added protein (red meat) or free sugar (glucose) throughout gestation and lactation was associated with maternal reproduction, maternal and offspring blood parameters, and offspring mature body composition. Maternal breed of sows of at least one year of age at breeding were utilized. At D-40 of gestation, sows were randomly assigned to one of four dietary supplementation treatments 1) Control (CON): corn-soy gestation diet; 2) Beef (GB): 4 oz cooked beef patty; 3) Sugar (SUG): sugar on a caloric equivalent to the beef patty; …

Therapeutic Potential Of Piperlongumine For Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Jiyan Mageed Mohammad

Cellular and Molecular Biology

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most lethal malignancies because it is often diagnosed at a late disease stage and has a poor response rate to currently available treatments. Therefore, it is critical to develop new therapeutic approaches that will enhance the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of currently used therapies. Here we aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential and mechanisms of action for piperlongumine (PL), an alkaloid from long pepper, in PDAC models. We postulated that PL causes PDAC cell death through oxidative stress and complements the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents in PDAC cells. First, we determined …

Interest Rate And Commodity Price Impacts On Farm-Level Financials, Ann Denk

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

The agriculture industry has been around for hundreds of years. Although farmers and ranchers work every day to put food on the tables of billions of people from all around the world, most agricultural producers require assistance to finance their operations and continue production. This research is motivated by recent changes in interest rates and the downturn in agricultural commodity prices. This study examines how farm-level financial statements are impacted by changes in interest rates and agricultural commodity market prices. A Monte Carlo simulation is used to model several stochastic variables and derive key financial calculations. This study shows how …

Trade In Crispr/Gene-Edited Wheat: A Partial Equilibrium Analysis, Prince Fosu

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

Previous studies have analyzed how the adoption of genetically engineered or modified technologies have affected agricultural crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, and barley without focusing on wheat. Also, given the negative impact of drought on wheat production, no studies have focused on the implications of drought tolerant (HB4) and CRISPR/gene-editing on wheat trade. To address these issues, this study employed the partial equilibrium analysis and analyzed the implications of drought tolerant (HB4) and CRISPR/gene-editing technology adoption on wheat trade under various scenarios. The study found that when Argentina, Australia, United States, Canada, and Russia adopt gene-editing wheat, all consuming …

Telomere Length And Senescence In A Long-Lived Fish (Ictiobus Cyprinellus), Derek Sauer

Biological Sciences

The pattern of shorter telomere lengths in older individuals has been observed across many vertebrates, but has not been well-documented in bony fishes. Bony fish (i.e., Class Osteichthyes) represent the most speciose and oldest group of vertebrates, and understanding their telomere dynamics can fill gaps in our understanding of the process and evolution of aging in vertebrates. In this study we quantified telomere length, immune function, and stress in bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyrpinellus), a long-lived bony fish in the family Catostomidae, to characterize variation in telomeres and condition. We found that length of telomeres extracted from red blood cells was …

Book Review: A New Era For Mental Health Law And Policy: Supported Decision-Making And The Un Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Soysomes And Other Functional Biomaterials From Sucrose Soyate Derivatives, Ruvimbo Pearl Wright

Coatings and Polymeric Materials

Biomaterials serve as interventional tools in medicine to treat, improve or replace diseased tissues, organs or function of the body. Although several polymeric biomaterials already exist, they often present challenges, at material level, such as non-biodegradability, degradation into acidic by-products or tissue incompatibility, or at functional level such as failure to sustain prolonged release of therapeutic payload for a desired period. Research has been focused on investigating new polymeric candidates to address these problems of current systems. The use of renewable resources to generate smart polymers for biomedical and pharmaceutical purposes presents a new and exciting avenue for biomaterials. As …

Gun Owners Support The Right Not To Bear Arms, Ian Ayres, Fredrick E. Vars

Essays, Reviews, and Shorter Works

Donna's Law would allow individuals who fear suicide to prevent their own impulsive gun purchases. Research shows that many people would sign up, and versions of Donna's Law have passed in Washington State and Virginia. This study is the first to assess public support for enacting Donna's Law. We find broad support overall, including majority support among Republicans and gun owners. There is room for consensus around this voluntary measure to reduce gun suicide.

Comparative Analysis Of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Induced Transcriptomic Responses In Arabidopsis, Azita Alasvand Zarasvand

Genomics and Bioinformatics

The impact that zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONP) have on plant physiological responses was evaluated by comparing gene expression changes after Arabidopsis thaliana plants were exposed to ZnONP, in comparison with ionic Zn2+ (ZnSO4) and non-treated controls. After treatment with ZnONP (concentration10 μg L−1), ionic Zn2+ (applied as ZnSO4 at a concentration of 19.7 μg/ L −1), expression analyses via RNA sequencing revealed that 369 genes were down regulated and 249 were upregulated (p < [FDR] 0.05, expression difference < 3). The downregulated genes in ZnONP treated seedlings compared to the Zn +2 ion and untreated controls were mainly abiotic stress (oxidative stress, low temperature) and biotic stress such as defense responsive genes based on the gene ontology analysis. The upregulated genes in response to ZnONP treated plants compared to the Zn +2 ion control plants were mainly photosynthesis, light harvesting complex, and hormone responsive genes such as abscisic acid.

Chemical Repellents For Reducing Blackbird Damage On Mature Sunflowers: The Importance Of Plant Structure And Avian Behavior In Field Applications, Brandon Amberg Kaiser

Environmental and Conservation Sciences

Across North America, blackbirds (Icteridae) depredate high-energy crops, such as sunflower (Helianthus annuus), placing an economic burden on producers. Chemically-defended crops, in the form of human-applied repellents, may induce birds to forage elsewhere if a learned aversion can be established. However, repellent deployment must be feasible for producers at the scale of commercial agriculture. Thus, my main objective was to evaluate the efficacy of anthraquinone-based repellents applied to ripening sunflower for reducing blackbird damage. I conducted concentration response (no-choice) and preference tests (two-choice) to evaluate repellent efficacy on captive blackbirds using application strategies practical for agricultural producers. I evaluated field …

Influence Of Neonicotinoid Seed Treatment On Two Co-Occuring Arthropod Pests, Two-Spotted Spider Mite (Tetranychus Urticae) And Western Flower Thrips (Frankliniella Occidentalis), Robert J. Brenner

Entomology

Insecticidal neonicotinoid seed treatments in agriculture is a common insect pest management strategy. Seed treatments have systemic and residual toxicity, which are effective against target insect pests. However, effects on other arthropod pests is less straightforward. We evaluated the effects of a neonicotinoid seed treatment, thiamethoxam, on two soybean pests, herbivorous two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae Koch) and an omnivore and facultative predator of spider mite eggs, western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande). We used greenhouse and laboratory experiments to evaluate thiamethoxam soybean seed treatments on spider mite densities and thrips omnivorous feeding behavior. Our results suggest seed treatment may …

Exploring Physicians, Nurses And Ward-Based Pharmacists Working Relationships In A Swedish Inpatient Setting: A Mixed Methods Study, Marcia H. Lindqvist, Maria Gustafsson, Gisselle Gallego

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Background: In Sweden there has been limited work investigating the integration and nature of collaborative relationships between pharmacists and other healthcare practitioners.

Objective: To explore the working relationships of physicians, nurses and ward-based pharmacists in a rural hospital after the introduction of a clinical pharmacy service. Setting General medical ward in a rural hospital in northern Sweden.

Method: Mixed methods involving face-to-face semi-structured interviews with nurses, physicians and pharmacists, and a physician survey using the Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration Index to measure the extent of physician-reported collaborative working relationships.

Main outcome measure: Perceptions about collaborative working relationships between …

Commentary: Expert Responses In Script Concordance Tests: A Response Process Validity Investigation, Siu Hong Wan, Elina Tor, Judith N. Hudson

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

No abstract available.

Efficacy Of Acupuncture In Treating Scars Following Tissue Trauma, Cathy Tuckey, Susan Kohut, Dale Edgar

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

Introduction: Anecdotally, acupuncture is used in the treatment of scar tissue in order to improve scar quality and reduce symptoms of pain and pruritus. Unlike conditions such as lower back pain, knee osteoarthritis and migraines, there are no systematic reviews to confirm treatment efficacy. This systematic literature review aims to assess the current level of evidence for the use of acupuncture for treating abnormal scars such as hypertrophic or other symptomatic scars.

Methods: A comprehensive database search was performed followed by reviewing reference lists, grey literature databases and Google Scholar. Study quality was assessed using the Oregon CONSORT STRICTA instrument …

Perceived Body Distortion Rather Than Actual Body Distortion Is Associated With Chronic Low Back Pain In Adults With Cerebral Palsy: A Preliminary Investigation, Hirofumi Yamashita, Tomohiko Nishigami, Akira Mibu, Katsuyoshi Tanaka, Masahiro Manfuku, Hikaru Fukuhara, Koichi Yoshino, Yoichi Seto, Benedict Wand

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether distorted body perception is a feature of the low back pain experience in people with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and whether any distortions noted are confounded by the presence of motor and postural impairments commonly seen in CP.

Methods: Forty‐five individuals participated in this study: fifteen adults with CP with LBP (CP_Pain group), fifteen adults with CP without LBP (CP_noPain group), and fifteen age‐matched adults with LBP but no CP (Pain group). Body perception was evaluated using the Fremantle Back Awareness Questionnaire (FreBAQ) and by assessing two‐point discrimination (TPD) thresholds …

Reviews May Overestimate The Effectiveness Of Medicines For Back Pain: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Matthew K. Bagg, Edel O'Hagan, Pauline Zahara, Benedict Wand, Markus Hubscher, G. Lorimer Moseley, James H. Mcauley

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

Objective: Systematic-reviews of analgesics for low back pain generally include published data only. Obtaining data from unpublished trials is potentially important because they may impact effect sizes in meta-analyses. We determined whether including unpublished data from trial registries changes the effect sizes in meta-analyses of analgesics for low back pain.

Study Design and Setting: Trial registries were searched for unpublished data that conformed to the inclusion criteria of n=5 individual source systematic-reviews. We reproduced the meta-analyses using data available from the original reviews then re-ran the same analyses with the addition of new unpublished data.

Results: Sixteen completed, unpublished, trials …

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (Tens) For Chronic Pain - An Overview Of Cochrane Reviews (Review), William Gibson, Benedict M. Wand, Catherine Meads, Mark J. Catley, Neil E. O'Connell

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

Background: Chronic pain, considered to be pain lasting more than three months, is a common and often difficult to treat condition that can significantly impact upon function and quality of life. Treatment typically includes pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is an adjunct non-pharmacological treatment commonly recommended by clinicians and often used by people with pain.

Objectives: To provide an overview of evidence from Cochrane Reviews of the effectiveness of TENS to reduce pain in adults with chronic pain (excluding headache or migraine). To provide an overview of evidence from Cochrane Reviews of the safety of …

Rhetorics Of Functionally Applicative Game Design: Designing And Testing The Project Management Game Scrummage, Matthew Carson Beale

English Theses & Dissertations

In this project, I designed and tested Scrummage, a tabletop game to teach the scrum project management system to undergraduate students. The project grew from the gaps in both academic literature and pedagogical tools for project management and collaboration in the technical communication classroom. Although the field of technical communication places significance on project management, research shows that many employers find the project management skills and knowledge of recent graduates to be under-developed. Situated in the fields of game design, game studies, project management, and technical communication, this project asks how we as educators can improve the project management learning …

Effect Of Radiotherapy On The Gut Microbiome In Pediatric Cancer Patients: A Pilot Study, Nourhan Sahly, Ahmed Moustafa

Faculty Journal Articles

The incidence of pediatric cancer is lower than that of adult cancer worldwide. However, the former has detrimental side effects on the health of individuals, even after the cancer is cured, due to the impact of treatment on development. Recently, correlations have been made between the gut microbiome and cancer in several studies but only on adult participants. There is always a complication of dealing with pediatric cancer treatment protocols because they usually include a combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and intensive prophylactic antibiotics. In the current study, a pilot study was conducted to analyze ten fecal samples from three pediatric …

Survey Of Greenhouse Gas Considerations In Federal Environmental Impact Statements And Environmental Assessments For Fossil Fuel-Related Projects, 2017-2018, Madeleine Siegel, Alexander Loznak

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Climate change is already generating enormous costs to the environment and public health both in the United States and around the world. These costs will only escalate over the time with increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), U.S. federal agencies must assess the environmental effects of proposals for major federal projects, plans and programs before deciding if they should proceed. To conduct a meaningful environmental review of proposed projects, federal agencies must carefully consider how these projects contribute to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions – particularly for projects concerning fossil fuel extraction, transport, …

Free-Movement Agreements & Climate-Induced Migration: A Caribbean Case Study, Ama Francis

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Climate-induced migration has become a global challenge. Climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of disasters, thereby increasing the number of people displaced by extreme weather events. Adverse climate impacts are already exacerbating patterns of human mobility, and will do so to a greater degree in the future. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) reports that approximately 265 million people have been displaced by natural hazards since 2008. Over 17 million people were internally displaced by disasters in 2018 alone. While the majority of climate migrants are displaced within their home countries, many people are forced to move abroad.

The …

State Hazard Mitigation Plans & Climate Change: Rating The States 2019 Update, Dena P. Adler, Emma Gosliner

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Between 1980-2019, the U.S. endured 250 climate and weather disasters that each cost more than $1 billion, resulting in a total cost exceeding $1.7 trillion. Climate change contributes to a variety of hazards including extreme precipitation, drought, sea level rise, storm surge, heat waves, and flooding, and this effect will worsen over time. While the onset of natural disasters may be unavoidable, forgoing the opportunity to plan for changing conditions and increasing risks puts citizens in the path of preventable danger. Further investing in pre-disaster preparation or other resilience-building activities can save considerable money down the road – and many …

Women's Occupational Health And Safety In The Informal Economy: Maternal Market Traders In Accra, Ghana, Joyceline Amoako

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Improving maternal health and women’s health is necessary, especially in countries with high maternal and child mortality rates. Most research on maternal health focuses on women’s reproductive health and, as a result, very little is known about the impact of occupation on maternal health (World Health Organization, 2006). It is also interesting to know that “Occupational Health Research” has been heavily criticized for the general absence of a gender standpoint, usually resulting in the exclusion of women and their concerns at the workplace (World Health Organization, 2006). In Ghana, an open-air market is an integral place of work for women. …

Influence Of External And Internal Factors On Financial Advisors' Guidance Of Clients In The Area Of Charitable Giving, Angela J. Gorsuch Widner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Charitable giving plays a vital role in the ability of nonprofit organizations to carry out their missions to contribute to the well-being of society. Research suggests that most wealthy Americans have an interest in being philanthropic and giving to nonprofit organizations. Financial advisors often play a substantial role in helping their clients understand the complex policies related to charitable giving. As the experts, financial advisors play an important consultative role in making sense of the benefits that can come as a result of charitable giving.

The purpose of this study was to explore how financial advisors work with clients in …