Digital Commons Network^™

Property And Information, Jeanne L. Schroeder, David G. Carlson

Articles

The article proceeds as follows. As the information theory is a reaction to legal realism, Part I explores its antecedents in the work of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld and Ronald H. Coase. Part II presents the information theory as arising from Professor Smith’s interpretation of the Coase theorem.11 In the imaginary world of TC0, we are supposedly indifferent to organizing by property and organizing by contract. Property eclipses contract as the organon of the economy because property reduces the cost of delineation and processing—of speaking and comprehending. We show that this theory is founded on a misunderstanding of Coase. Part III …

Crown Prosecutors And Government Lawyers: A Legal Ethics Analysis Of Under-Funding, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Crown prosecutors and government lawyers are reliant on governments for their funding but exert no meaningful influence or control over such funding decisions. Nonetheless, this article demonstrates that as a question of law, under-funded Crown prosecutors and government lawyers risk violating their professional duties. If so, they must promptly inform the government, refuse new matters and, if necessary, withdraw from existing matters. If the government purports to block such refusal or withdrawal and does not provide adequate funding, resignation will become necessary. While law societies will likely not prioritize disciplinary action against such lawyers, the policy reasons to forego such …

Legal Ethics For Government Lawyers: Lessons From Nunavut, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

While government lawyers face legal ethics issues unique to that practice context, those issues are overlooked in the rules of professional conduct in all but one Canadian jurisdiction: Nunavut. In this comment, I canvass several provisions that are unique to the Code of Professional Conduct of the Law Society of Nunavut. These provisions are inexplicably overlooked in the Canadian legal ethics literature to date. I then assess how these provisions address the legal ethics issues unique to government lawyering. Finally, I argue that the Nunavut provisions should be considered a starting point and I consider additional changes that could be …

Lawyers And Public Service: Duty, Faith, And The 'Good Republican' In The West Wing, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Popular culture reveals much about the perceived role of lawyers in contemporary life. In this article, I draw lessons from the portrayal of lawyers in Aaron Sorkin's classic television series, The West Wing. As a drama centred around a Democratic presidential administration, Republicans often provide the foil. From time to time, however, the show lionizes what might be termed ‘the good Republican’. That ‘good Republican’ is most often a practicing lawyer whose desire to serve is grounded in duty or faith. In this essay, I use a trio of these characters to explore the role of lawyers in public service. …

Role Call: Can A Backbench Legislator Practice As A Criminal Defence Lawyer? A Legal Ethics Analysis, Andrew Flavelle Martin, Brandon Trask

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Legislators come from a range of backgrounds. Many legislators happen to be lawyers. Parliamentary rules typically allow legislators who are not members of Cabinet to practice a profession part-time. However, the part-time practice of law poses special legal ethics challenges. In this article, we consider the legal ethics issues that arise when a backbench legislator of the governing party practices criminal defence law part-time. We argue that such a dual role engages three serious, unavoidable, and perhaps even unresolvable legal ethics issues. The first issue is the time constraints imposed by outside interests. The second issue is conflicts of interest, …

Crown Attorneys, The Attorney General, And Judicial Discipline: A Comment On Lauzon V Ontario (Justices Of The Peace Review Council), Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Should the consequences for judicial misconduct be different depending solely on the identity of the person who makes a complaint? In a surprising decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal in Lauzon v Ontario (Justices of the Peace Review Council) holds that dispositions downstream from complaints by Crown attorneys (or any other member of the executive branch of government) should be lower than other dispositions because the vindication of such complaints is inherently dangerous to judicial independence and the separation of powers. In this comment, I look closely at the reasoning in Lauzon and respectfully suggest that that reasoning is problematic. …

Legal Ethics For Crown Attorneys On Appeal, Elizabeth Matheson, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

While there is extensive legal literature and case law addressing the role and ethical responsibilities of Crown attorneys, questions about that role and those responsibilities at the appellate stage are largely absent from the literature and somewhat scattered across the case law. In this article, the authors seek to address this gap by answering four key questions. The first is whether the ethical obligations of the Crown, as expressed in R. v. Boucher, apply at the appellate stage. Against the backdrop of this first question, the authors discuss when an appellate Crown may bring an appeal from an acquittal or …

Copyright In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence: Navigating Access To Algorithmic Training Materials And The Three‐Step Test For Text And Data Mining In Nigeria, Morris Odeh

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Over the past decade, the Nigerian government has sought to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive socioeconomic transformation and improve the welfare of its citizenry. Recent initiatives, such as the establishment of the National Centre for AI and Robotics (NCAIR) and the development of several strategic AI policies, highlight the country's commitment to this objective. This article explores the often‐overlooked issue of how the Nigeria's copyright regime hinders these initiatives, revealing that the regime permits only fair dealing and the transient or incidental reproductions of copyrighted materials for limited technological purposes. This study argues that this regime is unduly restrictive …

Sentencing Vulnerability: Conceptualizing The Incorporation Of Personal Characteristics And Experiences At Sentencing, Adelina Iftene

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Social inequalities that lead to criminal conduct are often not considered in sentencing; individuals subject to structural inequities receive the same formal sentence as those convicted of like crimes irrespective of the latter’s social advantage. Individual characteristics may also affect how a sentence will be experienced by an individual. While Characteristics and Experience-Sensitive Sentencing (CESS) already exists in various forms and to various degrees in sentencing theory and praxis, a more cohesive, comprehensive, and principled CESS remains wanting. Building on existing approaches, this article locates CESS as a necessary response to equality-based concerns arising from current mainstream sentencing practice. Thus, …

Allocative Justice As A Constraint On Fiscal Imperialism In International Tax, Okanga Ogbu Okanga, Kim Brooks

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Taxpayers’ cross-border activities often result in two (or more) states claiming the right to tax their income. To address concerns about how those tax liabilities might aggregate and suppress international activities, states typically agree to split the tax base between them. But how can states fairly share tax revenue from cross-border activities? Tax scholars and policymakers offer different normative perspectives to address this inter-nation equity conundrum. In this article, we conceptualize these normative perspectives into two types. One centres on identifying where the economic factors that lead to the ability to produce the income are located (and uses that determination …

Tax Treaty Arbitration: An Unacceptable Surrender Of National Sovereignty Or An Expression Of Sovereign Power?, Kim Brooks, Richard Krever

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The release in 2016 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of a draft multilateral treaty to modify thousands of global bilateral tax treaties was met with surprisingly strong support by the international community, with many states signing, ratifying, and implementing the treaty. One of the treaty’s most contentious elements is the addition to the dispute resolution measures in bilateral treaties, a process known as mutual agreement procedure, of a mandatory arbitration procedure that is to be available where agreement cannot be reached under the conventional process. In contrast to the mutual agreement procedure, which includes no requirement that …

The Invisibility Of Tpms In Academic Libraries How Digital Content Protection Has Become Part And Parcel Of Platform Design, Anthony D. Rosborough, Katherine Silins

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article investigates a growing divide in how TPMs are understood and encountered across two domains: digital content access and software-dependent device controls. Through legal and qualitative empirical lenses, it reveals that TPMs guarding digital content access across Canadian academic institutions (particularly relating to e-books, journals, and streaming media) have become seamlessly embedded into platform design and licensing schemes. This facilitates their ubiquity and invisibility, while at the same time making them difficult to challenge from a law and policy reform perspective. It also makes content TPMs difficult to identify, measure, or challenge in furtherance of lawful exceptions and limitations …

Bilingual Latinx Adolescents Experiences In A Predominantly White Institution: A Mixed Method Study, Danieli Marie Mercado Ramos

Dissertations

Extent scholarship has provided insight into how Latinx adolescents actively experience exclusion. These adolescents are often the targets of microaggressions tied to their language (Gonzalez et al., 2018), ethnicity, race, and intersecting identities--such as being bilingual Latinx students--which serve as reminders that they do not belong. However, little is known about Spanish-English bilingual Latinx adolescents and how their heritage language plays a role in predominantly white spaces and institutions. This convergent parallel mixed methods study explored how Spanish-English bilingual Latinx students in the Midwest described their experiences in a predominantly white institution (PWI). A total of 42 Spanish-English bilingual Latinx …

Exploring The Ecological Relevance Of Biotic And Abiotic Stressors In Structuring Legume Microbial Communities, Cian Dotson

Dissertations

Heavy metal hyperaccumulation is prevalent throughout plant evolution, particularly in the legume family (Fabaceae), and acts as a presumed chemical defense against herbivory. However, heavy metal hyperaccumulation can have non-target impacts on other biological interactors including plant-microbe interactions. This information is important given the interest in utilizing hyperaccumulating plants for phytoremediation of anthropogenically contaminated soils. Here we employ a greenhouse experiment manipulating selenium level along with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing methods to explore the effect of selenium on the prokaryotic microbiome of the selenium hyperaccumulator Astragalus crotalariae and non-accumulator Astragalus lentiginosus var. borreganus. Regardless of hyperaccumulator status, both plant …

Reconceptualizing Christian Nationalism, Robert Stevenson

Dissertations

This thesis sets out to critically engage with existing research on Christian nationalism. It argues that current research suffers from a methodological focus that is too broad, and theoretical grounding that is too imprecise, both of which prevent researchers from grasping the full scope and intent of Christian nationalism, as imagined by Christian nationalists themselves. Drawing on data collected from X accounts (formerly Twitter) of Christian nationalist users, Christian nationalist podcasts, and Christian nationalist books, it employs qualitative content analysis, mapped to Bourdieusian field theory to provide a structured approach for the understanding complex data involving multiple spheres of power, …

Developing Chemically Defined Serum-Free Medium For Leukemic Blast And Stem Cell Expansion, Carmen Eva Finley

Dissertations

The relapse and chemotherapy resistance are the major challenges of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment, driven by a rare population of leukemia stem cells (LSCs). LSCs are unique types of cells which evade standard chemotherapies and can regenerate AML post-treatment. Targeting LSC therapy remains limited, in part due to the lack of reliable in vitro AML culture systems to grow LSCs for drug discovery. This study aimed to engineer a chemically defined, serum-free 2D in vitro culture condition that supports either the expansion of leukemic blasts (LBs) or primary human LSCs by optimizing current protocols for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) …

“What’S Happening In The Gulf Of Maine?”: Middle School Students’ Engagement In Climate Science Through Data Visual Representation And Reflections, Grace Ocular

Dissertations

This study examined how middle school students engaged with science concepts while working with data visualizations during a field trip learning experience. Fifty-one teams of 2–4 students from 35 schools participating in the LabVenture program were video- and audio-recorded. Students completed two activities: one using a frequency table of marine species illustrating threats to Maine’s lobster population, and another using maps depicting changes in Gulf of Maine sea surface temperature. After each activity, students annotated the visualization, discussed their claims, and recorded short reflections. Transcripts were coded for science-related talk, and annotations and gestures were also analyzed. Findings indicate that …

The Bacterial Sensing Nuclear-Oligomerization Domain 2 Receptor In The Brain: Location And Potential Function, Julia Smyth

Dissertations

Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-2 (NOD2) is a cytosolic receptor, activated by bacterial peptides that initiates innate immune responses through nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and Caspase-1 pathways. While the role of NOD2 in inflammation outside the central nervous system (CNS) is well-established, especially in the gastrointestinal system, its expression and function in the brain remain poorly defined. Previous genetic studies suggest a link between NOD2 and neurological and psychiatric conditions, including stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia. However, information regarding NOD2 expression, localization, and function in the CNS is limited. In this work, we investigated NOD2 expression, localization, and regulation …

Keep It In Your Pants: How Sexual Regulation Becomes Identity Regulation, Madelyn Shoemaker

Dissertations

White Evangelicalism has been studied quantitatively for many years; however, this article examines in-depth interviews with ex-congregants of a specific church located in Chicago. Building from Orit Avasai’s framework of “doing religion,” I argue that due to a high saturation of isolation, sexual regulation and patriarchal power, this specific church’s script of religious performance claims master status in individual identity building, leading to adverse effects in adulthood. Much of the rhetoric utilized to justify the intense regulation of identity mirrors that of the New Right movement of the 1980’s, as well as modern political discourse. This study will assist in …

Ultramodern Racism: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Impact Of Anti-Crt Legislation On Us History Curriculums, Amelia Gernand

Dissertations

In the wake of Donald Trump’s failed 2020 bid for a second presidential term, there was a surge in anti-CRT legislation targeting how issues of race and racism could be taught in public school curricula. While proponents claim that anti-CRT laws will protect students of all races from discrimination, curriculums have historically been used as a tool by those with symbolic power to legitimize white supremacy and perpetuate anti-Black and color-evasive racism. Two states--Florida and Arkansas--recently enacted anti-CRT legislation in addition to Black history mandates. While legislators in these two states claim that their goal is to expand the teaching …

Computational Analysis And Characterization Of The Inducible 1-Cysteine Peroxiredoxin Promoter In The Malaria Parasite Plasmodium, Lara Ladney

Dissertations

Malaria afflicts over 200 million people annually, which results in over half a million deaths, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria parasites are complex protozoan organisms that inhabit two hosts: humans, the site of asexual reproduction, and the Anopheles mosquito, where sexual reproduction occurs. To withstand the hostile extracellular environment of the Anopheles mosquito, the malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei employs antioxidant defense mechanisms. Previous work suggests upregulation of 1-Cysteine Peroxiredoxin (1-CPxn) when the mosquito uptakes a blood meal containing the parasite. The parasite must acclimate to the harsh environmental conditions of the mosquito midgut: find a way to counteract reactive oxygen …

The Forced Sterilization Of Quechua-Speaking Women In Peru: The Role Of Epistemic Injustice In The Perpetration Of Genocide, Geraldine Diaz

Dissertations

The forced sterilization of Quechua-speaking women in Peru from 1996 to 2000 represents a case of genocide in which the state as an epistemic agent has a fundamental role. Although the systematic sterilization was carried out under the guise of a family planning program, the targeting of these women provides strong circumstantial evidence of genocidal intent. According to the testimonies of these women, medical staff, acting on behalf of the government, performed tubal ligation procedures through coercion, threats, lies, bribery, manipulation, and other tactics where the state intentionally withheld information, misinformed women, and failed to obtain proper consent. This research …

From Disciplinary Enthusiasm To Soulless Tasks: Norms Behind Computing Educators' Emotion Display, Virginia Grande, Päivi Kinnunen, Matthew Barr, Anne Kathrin Peters, Mihaela Sabin, Matilde Sánchez-Peña, Ethel Tshukudu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Computing educators' emotion display is regulated by various norms and conventions. These (unwritten) rules affect which emotions educators feel comfortable expressing to different extents when students can perceive such displays. We draw on emotions and norms literature to investigate higher education computing educators' perceptions of what kinds of norms they have as criteria when considering which emotions they are (not) comfortable showing when teaching. Based on the qualitative content analysis of 22 interviews with computing educators from seven countries, we present various–sometimes connected or conflicting–norms that influence emotion display. These norms comprise moral, national, societal, professional, and affiliation norms that …

Homeschooling And Online Learning Technologies From A Parent’S Perspective, Karla M. Forti

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative, predictive correlational research study was to examine the relationship between homeschooling parents’ use of educational technology tools and their instructional behaviors and perceptions, with additional consideration of virtual school participation. Survey-based data from 22 parents of over 40 homeschooled children were used to examine technology adoption and instructional preferences across non-traditional learning settings. The study addressed four research questions through descriptive statistics and correlational analysis, while quantitative themes from open-ended responses enriched the findings. Results provided insight into parental motivations and trends influencing homeschooling and virtual school choices, highlighting the expanding role of online learning …

Overcoming Challenges In Obtaining And Presenting Evidence In Federal Sex Trafficking Prosecutions, Jason Brumbelow

Theses and Dissertations

Sex trafficking is a complex and under-prosecuted federal crime (Cook, 2019). Misunderstandings about how this exploitation happens can “frustrate the criminal justice response to trafficking” (Murphy, 2022, p. 4). Investigating and prosecuting the crime of sex trafficking includes understanding concepts such as consent and coercive control. Proving these concepts within the federal criminal justice system is not straightforward (Albanese et al., 2022).

This study will examine the challenges law enforcement professionals face in identifying and putting forth the elements of force, fraud, and coercion in federal sex trafficking investigations and prosecutions. Investigating and prosecuting the crime of sex trafficking requires …

An Integrative Bioinformatics Approach To Investigating Timp3 And Immune Cell Infiltration: Prognostic And Clinicopathological Implications, Neelam Bhola, Amit K. Jaiswal, Daman Saluja

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP3) serves as a prominent endogenous inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), playing a crucial role in inhibiting metastasis, and angiogenesis. However, its exact contributions to colorectal cancer (CRC) remain largely unidentified. We aimed to ascertain the prognostic significance of TIMP3 in CRC patients through a bioinformatic approach. GEPIA, UALCAN, Kaplan–Meier plotter, LinkedOmics, cBioPortal, GeneMANIA, TIMER, TISIDB, the ScTIME database, TISMO, TIDE, CAMOIP, and TISCH2 were employed to comprehensively analyze the differential expression, prognostic value, genetic alterations, signaling pathways, immune cell infiltration, tumor microenvironment (TME) and associated genes of TIMP3 in CRC patients. Compared to adjacent …

A Review Of The Efficacy Of Prostate Cancer Therapies Against Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Shengxin Zhang, Tao Zhang, Gemma Kinsella, James Curtin

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

The standard treatments for prostate cancer (PCa) include chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapies based on androgen receptor (AR) and/or gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonists, and radiation therapy. But PCa therapeutic resistance remains an unsolved challenge, leading to progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Emerging PCa therapies – including poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, AR crosstalk signalling pathway inhibitors, B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) inhibitors, cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4)/CDK6 inhibitors, CRISPR/Cas9, epigenetic inhibitors, and nanotechnology-based drug-delivery approaches – provide promising targeted solutions. Targeted protein degradation therapy, particularly AR degradation therapies, effectively inhibits resistance at its source. This review summarises the established and emerging …

Empowering Women On Screen: Exploring The Influence Of Female Protagonists On Contemporary Culture And Gendered Enjoyment In Film, Fokiya Akhtar, Azmat Rasul

All Works

A prevalent notion in the film industry across the globe suggests that female-led films may underperform, leading producers to avoid casting women as leads. This fear of alienating male audiences perpetuates patriarchal ideologies, objectifies female bodies, reinforces gender stereotypes, and alters perceptions of femininity. Examining this perception, the present study investigated the impact of the gender of the protagonist on the audience preference, challenging the misconception that exists in the film industry globally that films starring females as protagonists are less commercially successful. The study conducted an online experiment of 434 participants who were assigned different movies starring male and …

Preliminary Validation Of Two Math Screening Tools To Identify Gifted Students In Grades 3–5 In Jordan, Bashir Abu-Hamour, Hanan Al Hmouz

All Works

Introduction: Early screening for mathematically gifted students (MGSs) in Jordan and other Arab countries is limited, posing challenges in identifying and providing appropriate educational services. This study evaluates the validity and reliability of the Arabiya Calculation Test and Math Curriculum-Based Measurement (M-CBM) as tools for effectively screening and supporting MGSs in inclusive education settings. These tools were developed based on the Jordanian curriculum and international assessment tools and require further validation for use in other Arabic-speaking countries. Methods: A quantitative research design was employed, using the Arabiya Calculation Test and M-CBM to assess 78 MGSs in grades 3, 4, and …

Suspicion, Deference, And The First Amendment, Helen Norton

Publications

No abstract provided.