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Reshaping Government’S Fiduciary Role Under The 1992 Constitution Of Ghana, Rose Rameau, Abdul Baasit Aziz Bamba

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In Ghana and across many African States, the people—through the instrumentality of law or their respective Constitutions— have constituted their presidents trustees of the natural resources to be held in trust for the benefit of the people. With a few exceptions, mineral resource governance in Africa has been horrendous: Many African States have failed to leverage their natural resource endowments as a catalyst for much-needed socioeconomic development.

This Article analyzes the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana which provides that all public lands and natural resources in Ghana shall be vested in the President on behalf of, and in …

The Impossibility Of Religious Equality, Zalman Rothschild

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

The Supreme Court has recently adopted a new rule of religious equality: Laws unconstitutionally discriminate against religion when they deny religious exemptions but provide secular exemptions that undermine the law’s interests to the same degree as would a religious exemption. All the Justices and a cadre of scholars have agreed in principle with this approach to religious equality. This Essay argues that this new rule of religious equality is inherently unworkable, in part because it turns on treating that which is religious the same as its secular “comparators.” But religion is not comparable to anything—neither in terms of its essence …

Retrenching Speech Protective Thresholds In Trademark Law, Jake Linford

Scholarly Publications

In their article, Raising the Threshold for Trademark Infringement to Protect Free Expression, Christine Haight Farley and Lisa Ramsey argue in favor of a speech-protective fair use test that would replace multiple tests applied by the U.S. Courts of Appeals when a defendant's alleged infringement has either informational or expressive elements. This Response explains why this raised threshold test is unlikely to be adopted following the U.S. Supreme Court's retrenchment of speech-protective thresholds in Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Productions, LLC. That prediction is bolstered by the Court's likely holding in Vidal v. Elster. Readers persuaded that current defensive …

Expecting Better When You’Re Expecting: Empowering Mothers Through Occupational Therapy, Ann K. Landreville

Occupational Therapy Capstones

The maternal health crisis of the United States presents an opportunity to improve the level of care provided to the maternal population. A new standard of care must be established, going beyond decreasing maternal mortality and morbidity rates, but instead working to promote the health and well-being of mothers. While many well-recognized health professionals currently play a role on the interdisciplinary care team for postpartum mothers, occupational therapists are emerging in this field, proving they have a vital role in providing services that addresses the current gap in care. Many professions largely address physical health; occupational therapists have a holistic …

Sensory Home Programming Handouts, Taylor Ann Koopmeiners

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Background: Sensory processing is the way the brain and nervous system receive sensory information (Star Institute, 2023). When there are difficulties with processing sensory information, it is called Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Consequently, the inability to process sensory input results in affected motor and behavioral responses (Star Institute, 2023. This creates difficulty in participating in necessary tasks such as activities of daily living (ADLs), social participation, and school (Lane et al., 2019; Star Institute, 2023). Occupational therapists address these challenges by providing sensory activities in therapeutic sessions and as part of home programming (Gabriele, 2020). The goal of this scholarly …

An Occupational Therapy Program For First Responders Facing Trauma Fatigue And Work-Related Stressors Using Equine Facilitated Approaches, Kady Locke

Occupational Therapy Capstones

The proposed program is a mental health program, targeting meaningful daily occupations for the population of first responders facing trauma fatigue and antecedents of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms related to stress from work. For individuals who serve as first responders, there is significant prevalence for trauma exposure, leading to trauma fatigue due to events encountered on the job. Mazur and Collins (2023) found that 80% of police and first responders experience traumatic events on the job and that 25% have experienced suicidal ideation due to impacts of trauma exposure. There is a lack of professional mental health services supporting this …

Breaking The Barrier To Leisure Engagement In Long-Term Care Facilities To Enhance Residents’ Health, Well-Being, And Quality Of Life, Callie M. Kleindl

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Title: Breaking the Barrier to Leisure Engagement in Long-Term Care Facilities to Enhance Residents’ Health, Well-being, and Quality of Life

Purpose: The purpose of this scholarly project was to promote leisure engagement for residents with dementia in long-term care (LTC) facilities to enhance their overall health, well-being, and quality of life (QOL).

Methodology: A thorough literature review supported the need for increased leisure engagement in LTC facilities for residents with dementia. Chronic conditions, such as dementia, impact a resident’s ability to engage in meaningful occupations which leads to occupational deprivation. In addition, a decline in leisure engagement has been found …

Addressing Health Care Needs Of Farmers In Rural Areas Through The Lens Of Occupational Therapy, Josie Lynn Huot

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Title: Addressing Health Care Needs of Farmers in Rural Areas through the Lens of Occupational Therapy

Background: Over three million farmers and farm laborers across the United States (U.S.) perform one of the most essential careers to support human life (Hildebrand et al., 2019; USDA, 2020). Farming is considered a highly dangerous job, putting farmers at risk for numerous health concerns, with a high prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries (Fethke et al., 2015; Hildebrand et al., 2019). Low back pain is a leading source of musculoskeletal pain, closely followed by neck pain, both of which are associated with the spine (Davis …

Making Strides: An Occupational Therapy Program Developing Work Readiness Skills In Adolescents With Aces, Using Equine And Barn Tasks., Lauren Alexis Fischer

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Background: The Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2022) defines adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as any traumatic event that occurs from birth to 18 years. ACEs can lead to various issues in the child's future, such as health problems, mental illness, substance abuse, and challenges with education and employment (CDC, 2022). Associated barriers that inhibit at-risk youth when transitioning into the workforce include lack of work skills, habits, knowledge about labor rights, realistic job opportunities, and how to pursue employment (Ivzori et al., 2020). Increasing support in their pre-vocational skills can increase their success in employment. Rhew et al. …

Methods That Support The Validation Of Agent-Based Models: An Overview And Discussion, Andrew Collins, Matthew Koehler, Christopher Lynch

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Validation is the process of determining if a model adequately represents the system under study for the model’s intended purpose. Validation is a critical component in building the credibility of a simulation model with its end-users. Effectively conducting validation can be a daunting task for both novice and experienced simulation developers. Further compounding the difficult task of conducting validation is that there is no universally accepted approach for assessing a simulation. These challenges are particularly relevant to the paradigm of Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) because of the complexity found in these models’ mechanisms and in the real-world situations they …

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields Increase Antibiotic Susceptibility In Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, Alexandra E. Chittams-Miles, Areej Malik, Erin B. Purcell, Claudia Muratori

Bioelectrics Publications

Staphylococcus aureus is the leading cause of skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs). SSTIs caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials, such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), are increasing in incidence and have led to higher rates of hospitalization. In this study, we measured MRSA inactivation by nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF), a promising new cell ablation technology. Our results show that treatment with 120 pulses of 600 ns duration (28 kV/cm, 1 Hz), caused modest inactivation, indicating cellular damage. We anticipated that the perturbation created by nsPEF could increase antibiotic efficacy if nsPEF were applied as a co-treatment. To test this …

Intersectionality Matters In Food And Drug Law, Colleen Campbell

University of Colorado Law Review

Feminist scholars critique food and drug law as a site of gender bias and regulatory neglect. The historical exclusion of women from clinical trials by the FDA prioritized male bodies as the object of clinical research and therapies. Likewise, the FDA’s prior restriction on access to contraceptive birth control illustrates how patriarchal and paternalistic attitudes within the Agency can harm women’s reproductive health. However, there is little analysis of how race and gender intersect in this domain. This Article uses the regulation of skin-lightening cosmetics products to illustrate why and how intersectionality matters in food and drug law. While the …

Immigration Detention Abolition And The Violence Of Digital Cages, Sarah Sherman-Stokes

University of Colorado Law Review

The United States has a long history of pernicious immigration enforcement and surveillance. Today, in addition to more than 34,000 people held in immigration detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shackles and surveils an astounding 376,000 people under its “Alternatives to Detention” (“ATD”) program. The number of people subjected to this surveillance has grown dramatically in the last two decades, from just about 1,700 in 2005. ICE’s rapidly expanding Alternatives to Detention program is a “digital cage,” consisting of GPS-outfitted ankle shackles and invasive phone and location tracking. Government officials and some immigrant advocates have characterized these digital cages as …

A First Amendment Failure: Surrendering To Science Misinformation For Bioengineered Foods, Casey J. Nelson

University of Colorado Law Review

Government-compelled commercial disclosures are not unfamiliar to consumers. Common labels include nutrition facts and ingredient information. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, which took full force at the start of 2022, is of a different nature. The new law requires all manufacturers, all importers, and certain retailers of bioengineered foods to disclose on the food’s packaging that it has been produced with bioengineering technology. Even so, a large swath of the public is ignorant of “bioengineering’s” true meaning and bioengineering technology’s true quality. The politically charged and fact-lacking debate on bioengineered foods renders this standard an impermissible coercion of speech …

A Systematic Qualitative Review: Improving Perinatal Health Outcomes In Communities Of Color, Amelia Abiem

Educational and Organizational Learning and Leadership Dissertations

This systematic qualitative review explored existing literature to understand the strategies community-based perinatal organizations employ to address perinatal morbidity and maternal mortality within communities of color and how cultural congruence healthcare workers may improve the perinatal health outcomes of these communities. This study explored 20 studies published within the United States between 2014 and 2024 focused on strategies employed by perinatal organizations serving marginalized communities and how leveraging cultural congruence may be instrumental in reducing perinatal healthcare inequalities within communities of color.

After a thorough review of these 20 studies, it was determined that key strategies exist for addressing perinatal …

Pharmaceutical Messianism And The Politics Of Covid-19 In The United States, Gideon Lasco, Vincen Gregory Yu, Nishtha Bharti

Development Studies Faculty Publications

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, public officials in the United States–from the President to governors, mayors, lawmakers, and even school district commissioners–touted unproven treatments for COVID-19 alongside, and sometimes as opposed to, mask and vaccine mandates. Utilising the framework of ‘pharmaceutical messianism’, our article focuses on three such cures–hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and monoclonal antibodies–to explore how pharmaceuticals were mobilised within politicised pandemic discourses. Using the states of Utah, Texas, and Florida as illustrative examples, we make the case for paying attention to pharmaceutical messianism at the subnational and local levels, which can very well determine pandemic responses and outcomes in contexts such …

Big Fur Secret (1944) By Margaret Wise Brown, Peter Shea

Picture Books

This little-known book by Margaret Wise Brown follows a boy as he watches animals in a zoo, first just observing, then having fantasies about them: of putting squirrels in his pocket, lying down beside the panda, hugging the polar bear. But he always interrupts his fantasy: the squirrel wouldn’t like to be put in a pocket; he knows better than to lie down next to a panda or to hug a polar bear. The Big Fur Secret is importantly about animals, and about zoos, and about the ways people integrate defenseless beings into their projects and plots. But it is …

A New Tiger Beetle Algorithm For Cybersecurity, Medical Image Segmentation And Other Global Problems Optimization, Ahmed Saihood, Mohammed Adel Al-Shaher, Mohammed A. Fadhel

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

The tiger beetle is a fierce and cunning predator insect that uses deception to hunt its prey. The tiger beetle traps and hunts them by digging holes along the path of other insects. This study has used the tiger beetle's hunting strategy to create the tiger beetle optimization (TBO) algorithm. In this algorithm, each solution represents the position of a tiger beetle, with the optimal position being the prey's location. Using this method, the tiger beetles gradually converge to the optimal solution, creating holes around them and searching for them. We evaluate the TBO algorithm's search capability using a series …

Social Capital And Proactive Resilience To Natural Disasters: Mongolia, The Philippines, And Vietnam, Jessica Sandra R. Claudio, Elberel Tumenjargal, Jargalmaa Ganzorig, Emily B. Roque, Linh Dieu Khuat

Development Studies Faculty Publications

This study explored the relationship between social capital and proactive resilience in the context of climate disasters in Mongolia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. This country-level comparative study aimed to 1) determine associations between demographic, socioeconomic variables, and social capital, 2) explain how social capital affects community resilience, and 3) illustrate mechanisms of reactive and proactive resilience. Drawing on Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) and Carmen et al. (2022), the study determined whether each country exhibited reactive and/or proactive resilience mechanisms through three social capital dimensions: structural, relational, and cognitive. In-depth interviews and the Social Well-Being Survey in Asia (SoWSA) were utilized …

The Prevalence And Characteristic Of Latent Tb In Patients On Immunosuppressant Agents And Biological Treatment, Tuqa Deia Khadhim, Basil Fawzi Jassar

Muthanna Medical Journal

LTTB is a common condition occurring in one fourth of those who were exposed to mycobacterial bacilli with Medically induced immunosuppression stands as a significant risk factor for having LTTB. Aim of the study: To assess the prevalence and characteristics of LTTB in patients on immunosuppressive agents and biological treatment. A cross-sectional research of 150 patients on immunosuppressants and biological therapy for diverse diseases at Baghdad teaching hospital outpatient rheumatology, dermatology, and TB clinics between 2023 and 2024 was done. All patients were examined with a detailed clinical history, physical exam, and chest x-ray or CT scan. IGRA testing was …

Letter From The Faculty Editor, Beth Kegley

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Rapid Expansion Of The Limpkin Aramus Guarauna Across Anglo-America, A. Alam, R. Kaddoura, J. Jackson, R. Kannan

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We quantitatively document and describe the recent rapid expansion of the Limpkin Aramus guarauna across Anglo-America (United States and Canada). Using data downloaded from eBird (www.eBird.org), we present graphs showing the explosive growth in reports of number of individual birds and frequencies in checklists for this species in several parts of Anglo- America outside Florida (its traditional Anglo- American range). We also provide geographic progression maps to illustrate the expansion through time (2013-2023) and furnish qualitative information on foods consumed by the bird in new areas, based on a survey of 274 images uploaded by citizen scientists in eBird. Possible …

Energy Content Of Acorns Of Shinnery Oak (Quercus Havardii) In The Diet Of Scaled Quail (Callipepla Squamata) In Southeastern New Mexico, J.L. Hunt, M.E. Grilliot, T.L. Best, D. Lozano-Lopez, E.R. Neilson, I.C. Castillo

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) is a deciduous, low-growing shrubby tree that is a dominant plant in large areas of grassland in western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, and eastern New Mexico. Acorns of the plant are important food items for many wildlife species, including scaled quail (Callipepla squamata), mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), and endangered lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus). We analyzed the energy content of acorns of shinnery oak obtained from the crops of scaled quail collected from plains-mesa sand-scrub in Lea and Eddy counties, New Mexico. Acorns were removed from crops and dried for 48 hours at 60°C to remove moisture …

Sensing, Knowing, And Making Water Quality Along Marikina River In The Philippines, Gideon Lasco, Anita Hardon

Development Studies Faculty Publications

Water quality is a major concern around the world, but assessments of quality often privilege producers, regulators and experts over consumers. With water supplies and sources constantly in flux, how do ordinary people experience and “sense” quality? How do they define “good” or “good enough” water, and what practices do they engage in to “make” good water? In this article, we attend to these questions by presenting findings from an open-ended qualitative study carried out along the Marikina River, Manila, the Philippines – a waterway that courses from rural and mountainous villages to highly urbanized communities. First, we describe the …

Deciphering A Non-Meal: Pantawid-Gutom And The Everyday Negotiation Of Hunger In The Philippines, Gideon Lasco, Jhaki Mendoza

Development Studies Faculty Publications

Pantawid-gutom literally means “to bridge hunger” and refers to a range of food and non-food products and practices in the Philippines that allow people to survive in between “serious meals.” What does its existence as a liminal category between food/non-food or serious/non-serious meal signify, particularly for millions of Filipino families who regularly experience hunger? Drawing on fieldwork in low-income urban communities on Luzon Island, and from a review of the scholarly and popular literature, we use local conceptions of pantawid-gutom—hitherto overlooked in the scholarship—as a starting point for exploring the lived reality of food insecurity in the country. The efficacy …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of 1,3-Disubstituted Imidazolidine-2,4,5-Triones As Inhibitors Of Pyruvate Carboxylase, Nicholas O. Schneider, Keandra Gilreath, Niel M. Henriksen, William A. Donaldson, Subhabrata Chaudhury, Martin St. Maurice

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Substituted imidazolidinetriones (IZTs) have been identified as potent inhibitors of pyruvate carboxylase (PC) through an in silico screening approach. Alkyl 2-(2,4,5-trioxo-3-substituted imidazolidin-1-yl)acetates (6i–6r) are the most potent of the series, with IC50 values between 3 and 12 μM, and several IZTs demonstrate high passive permeability across an artificial membrane. IZTs are mixed-type inhibitors with respect to pyruvate and noncompetitive with respect to ATP. This class of inhibitors appears to be selective for PC. Inhibitors in the IZT series do not inhibit the metalloenzymes human carbonic anhydrase II and matrix metalloprotease-12, and they do not inhibit the related biotin-dependent enzyme, guanidine …

Towards Machine Learning-Based Control Of Autonomous Vehicles In Solar Panel Cleaning Systems, Farima Hajiahmadi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a machine learning (ML)-based approach for the intelligent control of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) utilized in solar panel cleaning systems, aiming to mitigate challenges arising from uncertainties, disturbances, and dynamic environments. Solar panels, predominantly situated in dedicated lands for solar energy production (e.g., agricultural solar farms), are susceptible to dust and debris accumulation, leading to diminished energy absorption. Instead of labor-intensive manual cleaning, robotic cleaners offer a viable solution. AVs equipped to transport and precisely position these cleaning robots are indispensable for efficient navigation among solar panel arrays. However, environmental obstacles (e.g., rough terrain), variations in solar panel …

Sacred Screens: Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism And Islam In Popular Culture, Arianna A. Poveda

Theses and Dissertations

Popular media content creators have routinely drawn from religious concepts when seeking inspiration for new material. Developers in the West have traditionally relied heavily on Christian themes to supply new ideas. Now, more artists have begun to look towards Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Shinto religions for inspiration when conceiving many of the storylines we find in mainstream entertainment today. This thesis will study key examples of film, video game, literary, and television media to show how these artists weave their religiously inspired themes into their respective platforms. In using the rich stories and traditions to develop more in-depth landscapes and …

Determining Hydraulic Characteristics In Close Proximity Of Hymenocallis Coronaria Within The Flint River Basin, Georgia, Sarah K. Tash

Theses and Dissertations

Emergent macrophytes in river systems occupy a narrow habitat for optimal survival. Each plant species adapts to a set of conditions that meets the physiological requirements to grow and reproduce. The influence of hydraulic characteristics on plant morphology is significant within fluvial systems. Macrophytes must be able to withstand swift flowing water and changes in water surface levels in order to compete with other plant species for limited habitat availability. In addition, emergent macrophytes require water levels to be low enough to allow the reproductive portion of plants to remain above water during certain times of the year. Hymenocallis coronaria …

Machine Learning Applications In Spine Biomechanics, Farshid Ghezelbash, Amir Hossein Eskandari, Xavier Robert-Lachaine, Shufan Cao, Mehran Pesteie, Zhuohua Qiao, Aboulfazl Shirazi-Adl, Christian Larivière

Études primaires

Spine biomechanics is at a transformation with the advent and integration of machine learning and computer vision technologies. These novel techniques facilitate the estimation of 3D body shapes, anthropometrics, and kinematics from as simple as a single-camera image, making them more accessible and practical for a diverse range of applications. This study introduces a framework that merges these methodologies with traditional musculoskeletal modeling, enabling comprehensive analysis of spinal biomechanics during complex activities from a single camera. The real-world applications explored in this study include assessment in workplace lifting, evaluation of whiplash injuries in car accidents, and biomechanical analysis in professional …