Digital Commons Network^™

How Florida’S Courts Should Evaluate The Admissibility Of Field Sobriety Testing And Blood Thc Levels Evidence In Marijuana Impaired Driving Prosecutions, Christopher Bomhoff

FIU Law Review

Field sobriety and blood alcohol concentration tests are proven reliable techniques to determine whether a person us under the influence of alcohol. No such technique has been developed to reliably determine whether a person is under the influence of marijuana. However, despite a lack of scientific consensus regarding the reliability of field sobriety and blood toxicology tests to determine marijuana impairment, these methods are routinely used as evidence of guilt in marijuana impaired driving prosecutions. Twenty-four states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and Florida appears to be set to join them in the near future. As a result …

Baby Steps: Why The Florida Supreme Court’S New Parental Leave Continuance Rule Reinvigorates The Fmla’S Underlying Gender Equity Goals Within The Legal Profession And Why More States Should Follow Suit, Katie B. Miesner

FIU Law Review

Although women are enrolling in law school and joining the legal profession in significant numbers, law firms are struggling to retain female lawyers. This poses a significant challenge to achieving gender equity at the highest levels of the legal profession, prompting several important questions: Why are women leaving the profession early; what policies or changes should be implemented to address this problem; and who is best suited to lead these efforts? One of the main reasons women leave the profession early is due to their disproportionate caregiving responsibilities. In response, both public and private measures have been introduced to address …

Mechanical Properties Of Zrb2 Ceramics Determined By Two Laboratories, Jeffrey J. Swab, Jecee Jarman, William Fahrenholtz, Jeremy Lee Watts

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The mechanical properties for zirconium diboride (ZrB2) were measured at two laboratories and compared. Two billets of ZrB2 were prepared by hot-pressing commercial powder. The relative densities of the billets were >99% and with an average grain size of 5.9 ± 4.5 µm. Both laboratories prepared American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) C1161 B-bars for strength and ASTM C1421 bars with notch configuration A for fracture toughness. Specimens were machined by diamond grinding at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and electrical discharge machining (EDM) at Missouri S&T. Strength bars tested at Missouri S&T were polished to a.25 μm finish …

High Temperature Dielectric Properties Of Calcium Zirconate, Alan Devoe, Hung Trinh, Fatih Dogan

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The electrical properties of dense, high purity CaZrO3 discs, sintered at 1380°C with and without added ZrO2, were investigated up to 950°C. Dielectric constant, loss tangent, and electrical conductivity were measured from 25 to 725°C, and the real and imaginary impedances were measured between 800 and 950°C by impedance spectroscopy techniques. Dielectric constant increased by 8% above 300°C and loss tangent increased from.1% at 25°C to ∼2% above 300°C. Activation energy of electrical conductivity determined between 300°C and 950°C by alternative current (AC) and direct current (DC) measurements. These results indicate that CaZrO3 could be a useful dielectric material for …

Estrés Postraumático Y Covid-19 En América Latina: Un Llamado A La Acción/Posttraumatic Stress And Covid-19 In Latin American: A Call To Action, Alfonso Mercado, Andy Torres, Amanda Palomin, Frances Morales, Cecilia Colunga-Rodríguez, Mario Angel Gonzalez, Luis E. Sarabia-López, Gabriel Davalos-Picazo, Diemen Delgado-García, Daniel Duclos

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental wellbeing of the entire globe. However, Latin American countries’ systemic and environmental challenges hindered the ability of many nations in the region to serve the mental health needs of its habitants. Compared to other mental health symptoms, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms (PTSS) were particularly higher among this geographical region. Nonetheless, there is scarcity of research identifying the unique symptom profile of PTSS. Given that the typology of PTSS is multidimensional and appears to be contingent on the type of stressor, this study (as part of larger international study) aimed to identify differences in PTSS …

Natural Product Co-Metabolism And The Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis In Age-Related Diseases, Mark Obrenovich, Sandeep Kumar Singh, Yi Li, George Perry, Bushra Siddiqui, Waqas Haq, V. Prakash Reddy

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Complementary alternative medicine approaches are growing treatments of diseases to standard medicine practice. Many of these concepts are being adopted into standard practice and orthomolecular medicine. Age-related diseases, in particular neurodegenerative disorders, are particularly difficult to treat and a cure is likely a distant expectation for many of them. Shifting attention from pharmaceuticals to phytoceuticals and "bugs as drugs" represents a paradigm shift and novel approaches to intervention and management of age-related diseases and downstream effects of aging. Although they have their own unique pathologies, a growing body of evidence suggests Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) share common …

Natural Product Co-Metabolism And The Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis In Age-Related Diseases, Mark Obrenovich, Sandeep Kumar Singh, Yi Li, George Perry, Bushra Siddiqui, Waqas Haq, V. Prakash Reddy

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Complementary alternative medicine approaches are growing treatments of diseases to standard medicine practice. Many of these concepts are being adopted into standard practice and orthomolecular medicine. Age-related diseases, in particular neurodegenerative disorders, are particularly difficult to treat and a cure is likely a distant expectation for many of them. Shifting attention from pharmaceuticals to phytoceuticals and "bugs as drugs" represents a paradigm shift and novel approaches to intervention and management of age-related diseases and downstream effects of aging. Although they have their own unique pathologies, a growing body of evidence suggests Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) share common …

Size Distribution, Elemental Composition And Morphology Of Nanoparticles Separated From Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Shoeleh Assemi, Lei Pan, Xuming Wang, Titilayo Akinseye, Jan D. Miller

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Nanoparticles, defined as particles with one dimension below 100 nm, contribute little to the total mass concentration in respirable coal mine dust (RCMD) toxicological studies, but they could have a considerable part in the adverse health effects by RCMD inhalation. It has been shown that inhaled nanoparticles can penetrate deep into the lung and could plausibly contribute to acute and chronic pulmonary diseases by triggering oxidative stress formation and inducing inflammation. RCMD nanoparticles from samples collected in an underground mine in the United States were analyzed by a particle separation technique, field-flow fractionation (FFF), for size, morphology, and elemental composition. …

Walking Off-Trail In National Parks: Monkey See Monkey Do, Edmund Goh

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to embrace the pro-environmental construct in predicting visitor off-trail behavioral intentions at national parks. Quantitative questionnaire items were developed through an elicitation study and empirically tested among 325 respondents. Empirical results revealed overall predictive variance of 21.7 percent (R²) in predicting visitor off-trail intentions. Behavioral beliefs predicted most of behavioral intentions followed by normative beliefs. The contribution of control beliefs and pro-environmental values had the weakest predictive power. Among the behavioral beliefs, visitors had the strongest belief that walking off the trails would lead to a shorter route. Friends …

Do The Culturable Microbial Groups Present In Cutaway Bogs Change According To Temporal Variation? Pilot Study Based On The Midlands In The Republic Of Ireland, Gouri Nilakshika Atapattu, Tara Battersby, Michelle Giltrap, Furong Tian

Articles

Cutaway peatlands in the midlands of the Republic of Ireland are rarely the focus of scientific studies. The soil quality and related microenvironment have been severely impacted by peat extraction. Returning them to a ‘near-natural state' would require greater insights into this ecological niche. The current research took the initiative to study the microbiology of vast cutaway sites in the midlands of Ireland. Peat was collected over two seasons in January, February and April. Homogenised peat was aseptically cultured on a range of specific and non-specific culture media. Microbial enumeration, Gram staining and other microscopic observations of morphologically distinct microorganisms …

Views Of The Irish Judiciary On Technology In Courts: Results Of A Survey, Brian M. Barry Dr, Rónán Kennedy Dr

Articles

Technology continues to transform how judges perform their functions, both in Ireland and elsewhere. This article reports the results of a survey of Irish judges on their use of technology in their role, their attitudes towards technology, and their views on how it impacts on the judicial function. The survey, part of a global survey, found that Irish judges habitually used digital technologies, and were broadly satisfied with the technology available in chambers, but less so with what was provided in courtrooms. Although generally happy to embrace change, the majority of respondents were concerned with, and did not prefer, online …

Investigating K-12 Computing Education In Four African Countries (Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, And Uganda), Ethel Tshukudu, Sue Sentance, Oluwatoyin Adelakun-Adeyemo, Keith Quille, Ziling Zhong

Articles

As K-12 computing education becomes more established throughout the world, there is an increasing focus on accessibility for all, whether in a particular country or setting or in areas of the world that may not yet have computing established. This is primarily articulated as an equity issue. The recently developed capacity for, access to, participation in, and experience of computer science education (CAPE) Framework is one way of demonstrating stages and dependencies and understanding relative equity, taking into consideration the disparities between sub-populations. While there is existing research that covers the state of computing education and equity issues, it is …

Nanomaterials-Based Biosensors For The Detection Of Prostate Cancer Biomarkers: Recent Trends And Future Perspective, Baljit Singh, Shiliang Ma, Tony O. Hara, Sargun Singh

Articles

Cancer is among the leading causes of death and an important barrier to improving life expectancy globally. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide. The detection of biomarkers in body fluids is the key topic for the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. Despite advances in prostate cancer detection methods, therapeutic agents and new biomarkers, prostate cancer remains a serious challenge. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is widely recognized as an important biomarker for the diagnosis of prostate cancer although researchers have also investigated the use of alternative biomarkers. Design and development of novel biosensors for prostate cancer …

Questions Of Intellectual Property And Fundamental Values In The Digital Age, Jessica Silbey

Faculty Scholarship

Today's intellectual property debates, in both law and the larger society, are a bellwether of changing justice needs in the twenty-first century. As the digital age democratizes technological opportunities, it brings intellectual property law into mainstream everyday culture. This generates debates about the relationship between the constitutional interest in "the progress of science and useful arts" and other fundamental values, such as equality, privacy, and distributive justice. These values, which were not explicitly part of intellectual property regimes in prior eras, are especially challenged in today's internet world.

The article (which was presented as the annual Nies Lecture in April …

Feminist Legal Theory And Praxis After Dobbs: Science, Politics, And Expertise, Aziza Ahmed

Faculty Scholarship

Fifty years ago, in Roe v. Wade, Justice Blackmun set into motion the idea that abortion should be a decision between a woman and her doctor.' That idea traveled from the Supreme Court decision to popular discourse; with it, came the notion that when it comes to reproduction, medical experts are a key part of women's liberation. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the court ignored the role of experts and threw the question of who should decide when and how a person has an abortion to the people. In my essay for this symposium issue dedicated to feminist …

Judicial Resistance To New York's 2020 Criminal Legal Reforms, Angelo Petrigh

Faculty Scholarship

Scholars have examined judiciaries as organizations with their own culture and considered how this organizational culture can form a significant impediment to the implementation of reforms.²² There is a strong connection between judicial culture and a reform’s ability to accomplish its stated goals. Some go so far as to state that most reforms will fail because of the difficulty in altering judicial culture.²³ These studies sometimes focus on legislators misunderstanding the actual effects of legislation when it was drafted, or on the failure to account for particularities in a law’s implementation by undervaluing the fragmentation, adversarial nature, and …

How Do Prosecutors "Send A Message"?, Steven Arrigg Koh

Faculty Scholarship

The recent indictments of former President Trump are stirring national debate about their effects on American society. Commentators speculate on the cases’ impact outside of the courtroom — on the 2024 election, on political polarization, and on the future of American democracy. Such cases originated in the prosecutor’s office, begging the question of if, when, and how prosecutors should consider the societal effects of the cases they bring.

Indeed, prosecutors often publicly claim that they “send a message” when they indict a defendant. What, exactly, does this mean? Often, their assumption is that such messaging goes in one direction: indictment …

Large Corporations And Investor-State Arbitration, Weijia Rao

Faculty Scholarship

Policymakers and scholars have expressed concerns about growing corporate influence over government regulations, including in the context of investor-state dispute settlement (“ISDS”). Encouraged by high profile victories and examples of “regulatory chill,” critics of ISDS have argued that it excessively serves large multinational corporate interests at the expense of government regulatory agendas. In part due to such criticisms, various proposals have been made, including the replacement of ISDS with multilateral investment courts or state-to-state arbitration.

This Article introduces a novel dataset on ISDS claimant characteristics, which reveals that most ISDS claimants are actually small- or medium-sized firms. Using this dataset, …

The Public Defender Movement In The Age Of Mass Incarceration: Georgia's Experience, Robert L. Tsai

Faculty Scholarship

Focusing on the efforts of the Southern Center for Human Rights, this article offers a grassroots history of the creation of the first statewide public defender in the State of Georgia in 2003. Whereas federal court litigation to improve indigent defense failed to achieve lasting reform, a shift in tactics toward “rebellious localism,” characterized by state court lawsuits against county and city officials, succeeded in prodding lawmakers to create a new framework for delivering legal services to indigent defendants. This model of legal change was effective in documenting structural flaws and creating momentum for reform. Yet other conditions—such as front-end …

The Diffuse Executive, Anya Bernstein, Cristina Rodriguez

Faculty Scholarship

A unitary executive is an exacting ideal. It asks that all power in an administration be gathered in the person of the President, who should have full authority to determine the actions of officials and employees. Even if the President does not directly control every executive action (how could he?), when officials fail to implement presidential preferences, the unitary theory dictates that the President must have the power to remove them. The model posits a tightly organized hierarchy—every rung implementing the substantive decisions of the rung above, with orders flowing from the top: a command-and-control structure for government action. And, …

Inspirational And Worthy Of Charity: (Mis)Representations Of Disability In Sport Media, Katherine Holland, Steven K. Holland, Justin A. Haegele

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

This study explored how one United States-based sports media company (SMC) represents disability through their Twitter account. A directed content analysis approach was utilized to analyze the tweets of the SMC for calendar year 2019. Of 6080 tweets reviewed, 126 (2.1%) were determined to represent disabled athletes or individuals. 43 (34.1%) tweets represented disabled athletes or individuals in participant roles while 83 (65.9%) represented disabled individuals in spectator or nonathlete roles. The tweets were coded into one of four categories of disability portrayal (Garland-Thomson, 2002): wonderous (n = 73), sentimental (n = 43), realistic (n = 7), …

Exploring Correlates Of Student Preferences For Virtual Or In-Class Learning Among Neurodiverse Adolescents Using A Single-Case Design Methodology, Taryn A. Myers, John D. Ball, Mindy Gumpert, Mary Roberts

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

The purpose of the current study is to explore several correlates of adolescent students’ preferences for at-home virtual or in-class in-person learning in a single case of a school that serves students with learning differences. Correlates of interest were the Big Five personality traits (Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) and the students’ self-reported learning engagement. Participants were recruited from a single independent school for students with neurodiversity and special learning needs, where they had high exposure to computer-/internet-assisted learning. Twenty-seven students responded to questionnaires measuring preferred learning modes, personality traits, and learning engagement. Despite teacher reports …

Predictors Of Psychological Well-Being And Relationship Satisfaction Among Bisexual Individuals, Sam Kahl

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite representing the largest subgroup of the LGBTQ+ community, bisexual individuals have long faced marginalization and erasure in psychological research on LGBTQ+ issues, which has often lumped bisexual individuals together with lesbians and gay men or excluded them altogether. Such practices fail to acknowledge the unique discriminatory experiences bisexual individuals face at the hands of heterosexual people as well as lesbians and gay men, and how these minority stressors contribute to distinctly poorer mental health and relationship outcomes for bisexual individuals. Although bisexuality research is still in its early stages and many gaps in the literature remain, a few recent …

Slippery Slope: How Individual Differences Predict Conspiratorial Thinking, Bryanna Wynn

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the propensity to engage in conspiratorial thinking by probing factors previously identified as correlating with conspiratorial thinking, including analytical reasoning, attachment, personality, political affiliation, religious fundamentalism, and trust in science. English-speaking participants aged 18 years or older, not targeting any specific demographic, were recruited via various social media platforms to complete questionnaires, including a demographic questionnaire and scales which assessed measures of reasoning style, attachment, personality, political affiliation, religious fundamentalism, and trust in science. Based on the collected data, this study supported multiple hypotheses, including that individuals with high levels of negative emotionality, a conservative political affiliation, …

The Ideal Mother-Woman: A Content Analysis Of Her Online Presence, Kristy K. Brackall

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to examine the thematic posting trends in online parenting forums to better understand the impact of comments in the creation or support of the culturally idealized mother. Previous research has established that mothers use online message boards and social media to form a community, to ask questions about pregnancy and parenthood, and seek support. Content analysis of messages culled from two parenting websites was used to explore the cultural standards of motherhood. 

The Mediating Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Relationship Between Technology And Organizational Performance: Evidence From Ghana Banking Industry, Manaseh Tsekpo, Williams Kwasi Peprah

Faculty Publications

This study aimed to investigate the mediating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between technology and organizational performance, using evidence from the Ghana banking industry. The study adopted a correlation and mediation research design, with 232 respondents conveniently sampled from eight indigenous Ghanaian Banks. The data were analyzed using correlation, regression, and mediation techniques. The results show that technology serves as a catalyst for improving organizational performance and alleviating the negative effects of COVID-19 on organizational performance. The findings also revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic highly mediates technology and organizational performance with a significant positive relationship between technology …

2023-2024 Faculty Handbook, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Morehead State University Faculty Handbook for 2023-2024.

Self-Harm: Warning Signs, Risk Factors, And Prevention, Alina M. Baltazar

Faculty Publications

Rates of suicide and self-harm have been increasing in children and adolescents over the last 20 years (CDC, 2022). Suicidality and self-harm are preventable, treatable, and manageable. Parents and those who work with children, teens, and young adults are an important part in addressing this issue. This article reviews the current statistics of suicide and self-harm, role of trauma, risk-factors, causes, prevention, and treatment options. Practical tips and resources are included. The reader will better understand the phenomenon and know how self-harm and suicide can be prevented and treated.

An Examination Of The Legal Responses By United States To Technological Advances In Organized Drug Smuggling, Abdulwahab Aldossary

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in technology have aided terrorists in their ability to smuggle drugs in order to finance their operations. Drug trading routes have changed and so have methods of transportation and financial transaction. This study investigates the improved technology utilized by transnational organized crime groups and how the present laws and policies address the use of the improved technology for drug smuggling. The study will first look into the current models, such as the Counter-Terrorist Funding and Money Laundering model, and understand its weaknesses regarding drug smuggling within the United States. Moreover, the paper will focus on the current laws …

Emoting In Context: Lived Narratives Of Filipino Health-Care Frontliners During The Early Days Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, John Martin Bernard Gappy

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has placed the entire world in a liminal position whereby our well-rehearsed and predictive practices have been deeply shaken. Within this context of liminality, studies point to potential distress among healthcare workers who are taking care of COVID-19 patients. Most studies focus on emotional distress of frontline healthcare workers as fixed entities. The current approach perceives emotion as a type of connection with social worlds. This article focuses on contextual acts of emoting and is organized around personal, situational, and cultural features of nine frontline medical doctors affiliated with ten hospitals in Metro-Manila who were taking …