Digital Commons Network^™

Resolving The Paradox Of Payroll-Tax-Based Social Insurance For Disability: Lessons From The Canada Disability Benefit Act, Mark C. Weber

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article discusses contributory social insurance for disability—a government program in which employment taxes produce a fund for pensions to workers who experience disability before retirement age. Although widely viewed as a successful policy innovation, disability insurance presents problems. For example, it produces tensions with a tenet of disability rights: that disability arises from the interaction of impairments with the physical and attitudinal environment, necessitating accommodations, not pensions and separation from the workforce. Moreover, social insurance privileges people whose disabilities occur after they amass work histories, providing a higher level of benefits based on earnings rather than meagre amounts allotted …

Disability Benefits And Administrative Vulnerability: Lessons For Canada From The Us’S Social Security System, Neil H. Buchanan

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The United States federal government’s disability insurance system is a leading example of the problems that arise when a social program combines subjective eligibility criteria with an administrative apparatus that cannot handle the inevitable expenses and delays that such criteria create and that are expensive to reverse. In particular, Black, female, and non-English speaking individuals are most likely to be improperly denied benefits under that program. By contrast, Canada is moving in the right direction with its recent enactment of the Canada Disability Benefit Act. That Act, while obviously not perfect, importantly improves access to social support for people with …

The Canada Disability Benefit Act And Women With Disabilities: Pursuing Disability Equality And Reducing Administrative Violence, Laverne Jacobs

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Stakeholders have welcomed the Canadian Disability Benefits Act as an opportunity to rectify the long-standing socioeconomic disadvantage experienced by persons with disabilities. This article examines one specific form of marginalization that lies beneath the surface of the discussions surrounding poverty and persons with disabilities in Canada: It considers women with disabilities and disabled women from intersecting backgrounds, who face unique experiences of poverty that need to be addressed by any legislation aiming to eradicate income barriers for the disability community. By drawing on the theoretical frameworks of bureaucratic disentitlement, administrative violence, and disability equality, this article examines the lived realities …

The Canada Disability Benefit: Battling Ableism In Design And Implementation, Jennifer Robson, Lindsay Tedds

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article, written shortly after the framework legislation for the Canada Disability Benefit was introduced, discusses the key benefit design elements and options facing policymakers. We contrast these elements with the directional parameters set in the legislation. In the intervening months, the Government of Canada released an estimate of the annual costs of the new benefit and eventually drafted regulations that detail the actual design of the benefit in the Summer of 2024. These developments are outside the scope of this article, but the analysis in this article provides a foundation for other researchers and stakeholders to interpret and critique …

“Arrogance For Cruelty”: What Builds Exclusion Into The Canada Disability Benefit, Thaddeus Hwong

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The vision animating the Canada Disability Benefit exemplifies “arrogance for cruelty” in public policymaking. What could be the start of doing so much is just the end of doing so little—something is done, so nothing more will need to be done. Dangling hopes and then crushing them is cruel. What perpetuates such policymaking cruelty is a manifest complacency, asserting that what is usually done is what should be done, and so it is the best that can be done. Deifying such inertia, which fortifies inadequacies despite what the disability community has to say, is arrogant. Using the limited amount of …

Hydrogen And Carbon Dioxide Kinetic Adsorption And Diffusion Behavior Into Organic-Rich Shale: Implications Of Mineralogy And Organic Content, Amer Alanazi, Hussein Abid, Saleh A. Bawazeer, Norah Aljeban, Israa S. Abu-Mahfouz, Alireza Keshavarz, Stefan Iglauer, Hussein Hoteit

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Geological storage of hydrogen (GSH) is a pivotal technology for advancing an industrial-scale hydrogen economy. Shale formations, known for their impermeable sealing and abundance, offer promising potential for secure GSH applications. However, the complex mineralogy and organic content of shale necessitate a detailed investigation. This study examines the potential of organic-rich shale samples from Jordanian oil source rocks for hydrogen (H2) storage and carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration. Adsorption kinetics were measured at two different temperatures (303 and 333 K) and pressures (15 and 45 bar) using a volumetric experimental approach. Common mathematical models were applied to evaluate the adsorption data …

December 5, 2024, James Madison University

The Breeze, 2020-

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Composting For Cleaner Air, Simi Benisty, Katie Bui, Narmin Solman, David Woo

Master's Projects and Capstones

The aim of this project was to address food waste at Mary's Kitchen by implementing a composting initiative to divert organic waste from landfills. The project took place in a nonprofit organization that serves food to the homeless, where the target population includes staff, volunteers, and clients of the kitchen. Key interventions involved creating educational materials on composting, recycling, and waste management, including flyers in both English and Spanish, as well as a QR code for easy access. Additionally, smaller, color-coded buckets were introduced to replace the 33-gallon bins, making waste sorting more manageable. Measures included staff and volunteer compliance …

Effect Of Polyacrylamide Gel Elasticity On Collagen Type Ii Fibril Assembly, Kathryn G. Wilcox, Stephanie Kramer, Surajit Chatterjee, Adam Linscott, Sneha Suresh, Lydia Kisley, Svetlana Morozova

Faculty Scholarship

Collagen type II fibrils provide structural integrity to the articular cartilage extracellular matrix. However, the conditions that control the fibril radial size scale, distribution, and formation inside of dense networks are not well understood. We have investigated how surrounding elastic networks affect fibril formation by observing the structure and dynamics of collagen type II in model polyacrylamide gels of varying moduli. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) is used to image the fibril structure and is verified qualitatively with optical microscopy of fluorescently-tagged collagen within the gels. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging (fcsSOFI), the diffusion dynamics of the …

The New Québec Basic Income Program: A Useful Set Of Policy Directions For The Canadian Disability Benefit, Samuel Ragot

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The Québec government started implementing a new Basic Income Program (BIP) on 1 January 2023. As a last-resort financial assistance program, the BIP intends to support people who have “severely limited capacity for employment” and have been participating in the province’s Social Solidarity Program for at least five and a half years. The BIP has been touted as a program that will lift more than eighty-four thousand individuals out of poverty, providing them with a partially individualized benefit and allowing them to work with limited clawbacks, study, and live fuller lives of quality.2 While some disability advocacy organizations are critical …

Rna Splicing As A Biomarker And Phenotypic Driver Of Meningioma Dna-Methylation Groups, Nathan K Leclair, Abrar Choudury, William C Chen, Stephen T Magill, Kathleen Mccortney, Craig M Horbinski, Zhenhong Chen, Ezequiel Goldschmidt, Charlotte D Eaton, Ketan R Bulsara, Wenya Linda Bi, Akash J Patel, Felix Sahm, David Raleigh, Olga Anczukow

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Advances in our understanding of the molecular biology of meningiomas have led to significant gains in the ability to predict patient prognosis and tumor recurrence and to identify novel targets for therapeutic design. Specifically, classification of meningiomas based on DNA methylation has greatly improved our ability to risk stratify patients, however new questions have arisen in terms of the underlying impact these DNA-methylation signatures have on meningioma biology.

METHODS: This study utilizes RNA-sequencing data from 486 meningioma samples corresponding to 3 meningioma DNA-methylation groups (merlin-intact, immune-enriched, and hypermitotic), followed by in vitro experiments utilizing human meningioma cell lines.

RESULTS: …

3d Genome Topology Distinguishes Molecular Subgroups Of Medulloblastoma, John J Y Lee, Michael J Johnston, Hamza Farooq, Huey-Miin Chen, Subhi Talal Younes, Raul Suarez, Melissa Zwaig, Nikoleta Juretic, William A Weiss, Jiannis Ragoussis, Nada Jabado, Michael D Taylor, Marco Gallo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Four main medulloblastoma (MB) molecular subtypes have been identified based on transcriptional, DNA methylation, and genetic profiles. However, it is currently not known whether 3D genome architecture differs between MB subtypes. To address this question, we performed in situ Hi-C to reconstruct the 3D genome architecture of MB subtypes. In total, we generated Hi-C and matching transcriptome data for 28 surgical specimens and Hi-C data for one patient-derived xenograft. The average resolution of the Hi-C maps was 6,833 bp. Using these data, we found that insulation scores of topologically associating domains (TADs) were effective at distinguishing MB molecular subgroups. TAD …

Amniotic Fluid-Derived Stem Cells: Potential Factories Of Natural And Mimetic Strategies For Congenital Malformations, Cristiane S R Fonteles, Julia Enterria-Rosales, Ying Lin, John W Steele, Ramiro A Villarreal-Leal, Jing Xiao, Daniel I Idowu, Beck Burgelin, Bogdan J Wlodarczyk, Richard H Finnell, Bruna Corradetti

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from gestational tissues offer a promising avenue for prenatal intervention in congenital malformations although their application is hampered by concerns related to cellular plasticity and the need for invasive, high-risk surgical procedures. Here, we present naturally occurring exosomes (EXOs) isolated from amniotic fluid-derived MSCs (AF-MSCs) and their mimetic analogs (MIMs) as viable, reproducible, and stable alternatives. These nanovesicles present a minimally invasive therapeutic option, addressing the limitations of MSC-based treatments while retaining therapeutic efficacy.

METHODS: MIMs were generated from AF-MSCs by combining sequential filtration steps through filter membranes with different porosity and size exclusion …

Spatial Dynamics Of Culex Quinquefasciatus Abundance: Geostatistical Insights From Harris County, Texas, Morgan Jibowu, Melissa S Nolan, Ryan Ramphul, Heather T Essigmann, Abiodun O Oluyomi, Eric L Brown, Maximea Vigilant, Sarah M Gunter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Mosquito-borne diseases pose a significant public health threat, prompting the need to pinpoint high-risk areas for targeted interventions and environmental control measures. Culex quinquefasciatus is the primary vector for several mosquito-borne pathogens, including West Nile virus. Using spatial analysis and modeling techniques, we investigated the geospatial distribution of Culex quinquefasciatus abundance in the large metropolis of Harris County, Texas, from 2020 to 2022. Our geospatial analysis revealed clusters of high mosquito abundance, predominantly located in central Houston and the north-northwestern regions of Harris County, with lower mosquito abundance observed in the western and southeastern areas. We identified persistent high mosquito …

The 'Biographer' And Her 'Subject': Vita Sackville-West's Influence On Virginia Woolf, Sydney Sherman '28

Best First-Year Seminar Writing

Woolf and Sackville-West's relationship has been scrutinized and celebrated since its beginning. While deeply affectionate, their bond also blurred boundaries between personal intimacy and artistic exploitation. Woolf immortalized Sackville-West in her 1928 novel Orlando, a work both heralded as a groundbreaking exploration of gender fluidity and critiqued for its appropriation of Sackville-West's life and identity. Orlando, The Letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf, and Portrait of a Marriage serve as unique lenses to observe the relationship between Woolf and Sackville-West. Orlando is a testament to the true love between a biographer and her Orlando, but as an artist, Woolf's …

Cellular Trafficking And Fate Mapping Of Cells Within The Nervous System After In Utero Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Matthew T Grant, Hemanth Ramesh Nelvagal, Maria Tecos, Amal Hamed, Kerry Swanson, Jonathan D Cooper, Jesse D Vrecenak

2020-Current year OA Pubs

In utero hematopoietic cell transplantation (IUHCT) utilizes fetal immune tolerance to achieve durable chimerism without conditioning or immunosuppression during a unique window in fetal development. Though donor cells have been observed within the nervous system following in utero injection, the timeline and distribution of cellular trafficking across the blood-brain barrier following IUHCT is not well understood. We injected 20 × 10

Species Detection And Discovery Of Zoanthidea Symbiotic With Deep-Sea Gorgonians, Saige Jost

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Symbiotic marine invertebrates known as Zoanthidea, from the phylum Cnidaria, live on a wide diversity of other organisms. Deep-sea corals such as Gorgonians are one of these clades of hosts. These octocorals and their Zoanthidean symbionts are challenging to collect and consequently difficult to study. However, the Evolution of Marine Symbioses Laboratory at Nova Southeastern University has obtained several samples from the Yale Peabody Museum and other museums or universities with the goal of expanding our knowledge of the diversity of Zoanthideans. Until recently, the existing taxonomic system has been based on morphological characters. A competing molecular parataxonomic system has …

Winter Solstice Phenomenon At Newgrange: Research Report 2024, Frank Prendergast

Articles

This report, commissioned by the National Monuments Service presents a comprehensive analysis of the high-resolution photographic and video recordings of the solar illumination inside the burial chamber at Newgrange passage tomb, located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne – Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne.

Integrating Drug Target Information In Deep Learning Models To Predict The Risk Of Adverse Events In Patients With Comorbid Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder And Alcohol Use Disorder, Oshin Miranda, Xiguang Qi, M Daniel Brannock, Ryan Whitworth, Thomas R Kosten, Neal David Ryan, Gretchen L Haas, Levent Kirisci, Lirong Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background/Objectives: Comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients are at a significantly higher risk of adverse outcomes, including opioid use disorder, depression, suicidal behaviors, and death, yet limited treatment options exist for this population. This study aimed to build on previous research by incorporating drug target information into a novel deep learning model, T-DeepBiomarker, to predict adverse outcomes and identify potential therapeutic medications.

Methods: We utilized electronic medical record (EMR) data from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), analyzing 5565 PTSD + AUD patients. T-DeepBiomarker was developed by integrating multimodal data, including lab results, drug …

Exploration Of The Tunability Of Brd4 Degradation By Dcaf16 Trans-Labelling Covalent Glues, Muhammad Murtaza Hassan, Yen-Der Li, Michelle W Ma, Mingxing Teng, Woong Sub Byun, Kedar Puvar, Ryan Lumpkin, Brittany Sandoval, Justine C Rutter, Cyrus Y Jin, Michelle Y Wang, Shawn Xu, Anna M Schmoker, Hakyung Cheong, Brian J Groendyke, Jun Qi, Eric S Fischer, Benjamin L Ebert, Nathanael S Gray

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chemically induced proximity modalities such as targeted protein degradation (TPD) hold promise for expanding the number of proteins that can be manipulated pharmacologically. However, current TPD strategies are often limited to proteins with preexisting ligands. Molecular glues (e.g. glutarimide ligands for CUL4CRBN), offer the potential to target undruggable proteins. Yet, their rational design is largely unattainable due to the unpredictability of the ‘gain-of-function’ nature of the glue interaction upon chemical modification of ligands. We recently reported a covalent trans-labelling glue mechanism which we named ‘Template-assisted covalent modification’, where an electrophile decorated BRD4 inhibitor was effectively delivered to …

Immune Landscape Of Isocitrate Dehydrogenase-Stratified Primary And Recurrent Human Gliomas, Pravesh Gupta, Minghao Dang, Shivangi Oberai, Simona Migliozzi, Rakesh Trivedi, Gayatri Kumar, Mekenzie Peshoff, Nancy Milam, Aml Ahmed, Krishna Bojja, Tuan M Tran, Joy Gumin, Carlos Kamiya-Matsuoka, Jason Huse, Kathryn Cox, Jianzhuo Li, Huma Shehwana, Sameer A Sheth, Rodriguez Saxon, Sun Baohua, Brittany Parker Kerrigan, Atul Maheshwari, Edwin Roger Parra Cuentas, Nicholas E Navin, Amy B Heimberger, Frederick F Lang, Antonio Iavarone, Karen Clise-Dwyer, Linghua Wang, Krishna P Bhat

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Human gliomas are classified using isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) status as a prognosticator; however, the influence of genetic differences and treatment effects on ensuing immunity remains unclear.

Methods: In this study, we used sequential single-cell transcriptomics on 144 678 and spectral cytometry on over 2 million immune cells encompassing 48 human gliomas to decipher their immune landscape.

Results: We identified 22 distinct immune cell types that contribute to glioma immunity. Specifically, brain-resident microglia (MG) were reduced with a concomitant increase in CD8+ T lymphocytes during glioma recurrence independent of IDH status. In contrast, IDH-wild type-associated patterns, such as an abundance …

Bounded By Place: Rural Students, College Knowledge, Educational Motivation, And College Going, Sarah Rutt Williams, Frimpomaa Ampaw, Skylar R. Duke, Anne M. Hornak

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Rural students face inequitable access to educational opportunities when compared to their suburban and urban counterparts (Koricich et al., 2018; Ovink et al., 2018), and their postsecondary experiences and outcomes remain understudied. Research on the role of college knowledge in the persistence of this educational inequity is particularly scarce. Using a non-experimental survey design, the present study seeks to understand the effect of rural students’ college knowledge on their postsecondary intentions. We use surveys completed by rural high school seniors and logistic regression to analyze the relationship between students’ college knowledge, their motivation, and their postsecondary plans. Our findings show …

Remotely Delivered Yoga Therapy For Chronic Pain: A Case Study, Patience Kaltenbach, Laura Edoff, Marlysa Sullivan, Steffany Moonaz

Journal of Applied Yoga Studies

Many people seek yoga as a complementary therapy for the management of chronic pain. Barriers to maintaining care for chronic pain conditions include pain with movement, fear of exacerbating symptoms, limited resources for long-term care plans, and a lack of individualized self-management instruction. In this case study, the yoga therapist implemented an integrative framework to address the needs of a client impacted by fibromyalgia primarily using video-conferencing software. This adaptive approach demonstrates the feasibility and potential benefits of remote yoga therapy for chronic pain, including improved adherence, long-term pain management, and self-efficacy for maintaining quality of life initiated by client-motivated …

Effect Of Yoga Therapy For Managing Migraine: A Case Series, Andrea Moran, Lori Rubenstein Fazzio

Journal of Applied Yoga Studies

Migraine is a common disabling primary headache disorder. It is characterized by symptoms lasting 4-72 hours, headache with unilateral location, pulsating quality, moderate or severe intensity, aggravation by routine physical activity, and association with nausea and/or photophobia and phonophobia. In this case series four females in the age range of 25-57 presented complaints of migraine headaches affecting their everyday lives. Additionally, they reported emotional challenges accompanying chronic pain due to migraine headaches such as stress, sleep deprivation, and anxiety. An online eight-week yoga therapy program was given for the management of migraine headaches. This program included lifestyle modifications, postures, breathing …

A Comparative Study Of Yoga And Stoicism For Achieving Mental Well-Being, Dr. R K Roshni Raj Lakshmi, Mr. Puyam Robinchandra Singh

Journal of Applied Yoga Studies

Background: The ideal way of life is a question perused upon by many thinkers. Western philosophy as well as Indian philosophy has dwelled on this. A common thread can be seen running through philosophical schools of stoicism and yoga. Evidence can be seen in both schools of philosophy to prove this similarity. The concepts of stoicism like the dual powers leading to creation, concept of eudemonia, restraint of sense organs and control of desire find their equivalent concepts in yoga texts. It can be thus, concluded that stoicism can be seen intertwined in yoga philosophy.

Aim of the philosophical study: …

A Philosophical And Spiritual Design For Prenatal Yoga Courses, Tia A. Arriola

Journal of Applied Yoga Studies

Fear and anxiety dominate much of the global birth culture, whereby approximately 80% of pregnant women report worrying with regard to the natural risks of childbirth (Rublein & Muschalla, 2022). This leads to increased rates of antenatal stress and postpartum depression. These psychosocial responses present risk factors for adverse developmental and health outcomes for the fetus, newborn, mother, and family (Shakarami et al., 2021). In the Western context, the overwhelming response is to increasingly medicalized childbirth, which, while offering life-saving support, may also pose its own set of adverse risks for mother and infant. Therefore, alterative and complementary approaches that …

Impact Of For-Credit Mindfulness Course On Student Resilience, Engagement, And Mental Health, Linda Yaron Weston

Journal of Applied Yoga Studies

This paper highlights the impact of a university for-credit introductory mindfulness course. Research compiled from student reflections, surveys, and interviews revealed that it had a notable impact on personal growth and development, including the capacity to navigate challenges, manage difficult emotions, and build resilience. This enhanced student learning, decision making, engagement, and connection to themselves, others, and the world around them. Course pedagogy and curriculum are included here alongside a narrative account of student experiences in the course. These findings indicate a promising practice for schools to include well-being supports in the student experience.

Exploring The Role Of Yoga In Improving The Quality Of Life Among Patients Diagnosed With Schizophrenia And Intellectual Disability, Laura Tolbaños-Roche

Journal of Applied Yoga Studies

Background and objectives

There is large evidence of the positive effect of yoga in mental health disorders, mainly anxiety and depression. However, the studies on the role of yoga in schizophrenia and intellectual disability are sparse and inconclusive. The objective of this study is exploring the role of a specific yoga intervention, based on the Gitananda Rishiculture Asthanga Yoga Tradition, in improving the quality of life (QoL) of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and intellectual disability in a mental health institution of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain).

Methods

Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (n=5) and patients diagnosed with intellectual disability (n=4) …

Editors' Note, Dr. Lori Rubenstein Fazzio, Dr. Meena Ramanathan, Dr. Praseeda Menon

Journal of Applied Yoga Studies

Welcome message from the editors.

Volume 42-2 Complete Issue, C. Nicholas Raphael

The Geographical Bulletin

Volume 42-2 Complete Issue