Digital Commons Network^™

Plastics And The Limits Of U.S. Environmental Law, Robert W. Adler, Carina E. Wells

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Plastics are among the most ubiquitous materials on the planet, used for functions ranging from single-use cups to medical syringes to industrial equipment. The properties that make plastic useful, however, also make them highly persistent in the environment when improperly disposed. Moreover, although plastic polymers are inert, they break down in the environment into harmful microplastics and nanoplastics, and plastics are often made using toxic chemicals or include toxic additives. These properties have caused a plastic pollution crisis. Massive amounts of plastics and breakdown chemicals contaminate the oceans and other ecosystems throughout the globe. The United States continues to contribute …

The Fall Of Fda Review, Daniel G. Aaron

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in crisis. FDA can hardly go a single day without an investigation, negative news story, or scholarly critique of the agency’s work. We have increasingly entrusted FDA—today, to the tune of 25% of the U.S. economy—with vetting the products we put in and on our bodies. But the array of problems facing the agency raises questions about whether it is equipped to succeed in the 21st century.

FDA’s core function is to oversee a special legal regime called “premarket review.” Congress has prohibited all marketing of certain types of products (like drugs) …

Resilient Carbon, Lingxi Chenyang

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Carbon offsets allow polluters to pay someone else to reduce, avoid, or remove emissions to counterbalance their own emissions. For some, carbon accounting concerns render offsets a necessary evil to be tightly regulated on the path toward decarbonization. For others, moral and political concerns render offsets a dangerous mistake to be thrown out of the climate law toolbox. This Article defends the critical role of carbon offsets in climate law, reframing the problem as the broader challenge of “climate resilience” and explaining why offsets are uniquely suited to integrate decarbonization and adaptation. It calls attention to overlooked adaptive practices like …

Alpha Band Prefrontal Asymmetry Does Not Underlie Pain Approach-Avoidance: Results From Two Eeg Studies, Tracy W. Brown, Kayli N. Colpitts, Cristian M. Botello, Abby K. Hartman, Kathryn P. Seymour, Callie De La Cerda, Amber L. Harris Bozer

Modern Psychological Studies

Pain research is often focused on escape from pain or approach of relief, yet individuals with chronic pain make complex choices to face their pain to satiate other drives (approach-avoidance conflicts). An abundance of research has indicated that prefrontal alpha band asymmetry (PFA) underlies approach-avoidance in general, but there is limited information about whether PFA underlies pain approach-avoidance conflicts. Electroencephalogram activity was recorded while 70 participants with chronic pain (n=33) and without chronic pain (n=37) approached/avoided stimuli containing simultaneous pain (low-high) and monetary reward (low-high). Findings from both studies revealed that approach-avoidance for pain stimuli is not accompanied by prefrontal …

Effects Of Chronic Cannabis Use On Adolescents, Matthew R. Rappaport, Raymond Collings Dr.

Modern Psychological Studies

This literature will examine the relationship of chronic cannabis use during adolescence to psychological and morphological abnormalities into adulthood. As states continue to decriminalize or legalize cannabis consumption for recreational purposes, concerns about the potential negative effects of cannabis consumption on neurological development during adolescence may be ignored. This review examined 44 journal articles and government reports published between 1997 and 2021. The conclusions drawn from the literature review indicate that over a 19-year time span, cannabis potency has increased from ~4% to ~12%. Secondly, the chronic exposure to exogenous cannabinoids during this time can result in a variety of …

Microglia Proliferation Underlies Synaptic Dysfunction In The Prefrontal Cortex: Implications For The Pathogenesis Of Hiv-1- Associated Neurocognitive And Affective Alterations, Hailong Li, Kristen A. Mclaurin, Charles F. Mactutus, Rosemarie M. Booze

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

Microglia, which are productively infected by HIV-1, are critical for brain development and maturation, as well as synaptic plasticity. The pathophysiology of HIV-infected microglia and their role in the pathogenesis of HIV-1-associated neurocognitive and affective alterations, however, remains understudied. Three complementary aims were undertaken to critically address this knowledge gap. First, the expression of HIV-1 mRNA in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of postmortem HIV-1 seropositive individuals with HAND was investigated. Utilization of a combined RNAscope multiplex fluorescent and immunostaining assay revealed prominent HIV-1 mRNA in microglia of postmortem HIV-1 seropositive individuals with HAND. Second, measures of microglia proliferation and neuronal …

Proteostasis & Neuroinflammation In Alzheimer's Disease, Christa C. Huber

Dissertations and Theses

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a devastating disorder with no disease-modifying agent that stops or reverses the progression of the disease. Exosomes, 50 – 150 nanometers in diameter extracellular vesicles, play a role in intracellular communication and are currently being explored as a therapeutic agent in various diseases. In addition, exosomes possess favorable characteristics as a therapy; however, their low yield following isolation hinders their ability as a therapeutic agent. We exposed neuroprogenitor cells to heat shock (HS) before exosomes were isolated to explore the possibility of increasing exosome secretion. HS-derived exosomes exhibit significantly increased concentration and diameter compared to non-heat …

Locating Free-Exercise Most-Favored-Nation-Status (Mfn) Reasoning In Constitutional Context, Alan E. Brownstein, Vikram David Amar

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

This Article examines the theoretical and doctrinal origins and consequences of a potentially game-changing approach to processing claims brought under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Since 1990, and the decision in Employment Division v. Smith, the Court has read that Clause not to require accommodation of religious activity via exemptions from religion-neutral and generally applicable laws and regulations. What the Free Exercise Clause does prohibit, according to Smith, is government action targeting or discriminating against religion. But the Court’s decision a year ago in Tandon v. Newsom provides some powerful evidence about how this doctrine …

Justice Alito, Originalism, And The Aztecs, Andrew Koppelman

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Curriculum Censorship Of Lgbtq+ Identity: Modern Adaptation Of Vintage "Save Our Children" Rhetoric Is Still Just Discrimination, Cathryn M. Oakley

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Underpinning Florida’s 2022 “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law is the same vintage, discriminatory rhetoric that has been invoked to harm LGBTQ+ people for decades: that LGBTQ+ people are deviant and fundamentally sexual, therefore even the most chaste acknowledgement of the existence of LGBTQ+ people is inherently inappropriate for children. LGBTQ+ students, students with LGBTQ+ family members, and LGBTQ+ school employees are protected by the constitution, including the First and Fourteenth amendments as well as federal civil rights law. Whether censorship of LGBTQ+ identities is effectuated directly, as in Florida, or indirectly through opt-outs, the dignitary harm is done. Curriculum …

Arbitration Under Union-Negotiated Collective-Bargaining Agreements: The Need For Perspicuity When Employees Waive The Right To Pursue Discrimination Claims In Federal Court, Travis Thickstun

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

How clear and unmistakable should arbitration clauses be when employees waive their right to pursue discrimination claims in federal court under union-negotiated collective-bargaining agreements? The United States courts of appeals have been split on this question since the Supreme Court handed down its decisions in Wright v. Universal Maritime Service Corp. and 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett.¹ In Wright, the Court held that waiver in union-negotiated collective-bargaining agreements must be “clear and unmistakable.”² Eleven years later, in Pyett, the Court affirmed its clear-and-unmistakable standard for waiver of a union member’s right to pursue …

Effects Of Translocation On Eastern Black-Tailed Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Ornatus) In The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Jacob A. Coffman

Lewis Honors College Thesis Collection

AS HUMANITY continues to grow and expand, we inevitably encroach on wildlife habitat. This can create conflict between humans and wildlife. Human wildlife conflict usually occurs when humans are near areas where wildlife typically reside. A prime example is a farmer coming into conflict with animals that predate their seeds or livestock. The most common response to this problem in many areas is lethal control to prevent economic loss (Dickman 2010). This seems like an immediate resolution of the conflict in the human’s perspective, but this action can have many adverse effects. This killing may result in negative social outcry, …

Large-Scale Cope: Reducing Climate Risks With Equitable Nature-Based Solutions: Engaging Communities On Reef-Lined Coasts: Belize Site Visit (Report No. 2), A. Brinton, M. Trotz, R. Zarger

Strong Coasts Collection

Vision

Our shared project vision is to empower coastal communities by collaborating and co-creating new knowledge of how existing and future climate risk models can inform equitable place-based and locally appropriate nature-based solutions (coral reefs and mangrove forests), across spatial and temporal scales, to reduce coastal hazards (coral mortalities, flood, erosion and compound effects) and support coastal sustainability.

Avicenna's Doctrine Of Emanation And The Sphere Of The Heavens, Brian C. Manere

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Avicenna argues that the celestial spheres each have a soul, termed the motive soul, which is emanated by the first celestial intellect––a body of knowledge which knows itself. Despite outlining the powers of the motive soul, Avicenna does not formally investigate the psychology of the spheres nor their volition. Rather, he presents their volition as a mystery and leaves it to posterity to solve. In an attempt to resolve this mystery, I will argue that it is a direct result of Avicenna having purposefully written a repeated gap into his account of emanation such that there is no clear account …

Defining Creativity And Its Role In Marx's Philosophy, Carlos Avila

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore the concept of creativity as it appears in the major works of Karl Marx and to attempt to discern its role in the emancipatory political project that Marx proposes. Contemporary understandings of creativity still rely upon notions of the artist-genius, locating the "true" expression of creative freedom in the work of art. A more recent development is the commodification of creativity as a quality of a good worker, who is now expected to find innovative ways of doing their job more efficiently. Both of these ideas about creativity allow for our creative …

Literature As A Form Of Resistance Against British Colonial Rule In India, Ebada Wasiuddin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis concentrates on literature during India's battle for independence from the British Empire. These publications look at the outcomes of Europe's intent to colonize and its impact on the marginalized, colonial subjects down to the personal level. Delving into the tragic reality of colonialism and investigating its impact as portrayed in the novels selected, this thesis argues that the selected texts operate as resistance literature subverting the colonial discourse in retrieving South Asian culture and history. This project explores specific forms of resistance within the tropes of memory, history, and gender to pose a larger question of decolonial futures …

Treatment Of The Differently Abled: Representations Of Disability From Victorian Periodicals To Contemporary Graphic Narratives, Rachelle Echevarria

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In recent years, a number of efforts have been made to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic institutions, the workplace, and to examine and analyze representations of marginalized populations in a variety of literary and cultural contexts. These efforts usually acknowledge past mistakes, emphasizing the idea that history shall not and should not repeat itself. While analyzing the representations of disability is important in its own right, it's also important to understand why these perceptions exist. This thesis suggests that when the representations of disabilities from different mediums and from different time periods are examined in relationship, readers may …

Political Bodies In The Ulster Cycle: Space, Conflict, And Comedy In Scéla Muicce Meicc Dathó, Glenn S. Ritchey Iii

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Scéla Muicce Meicc Da Thó (SMMD; The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig) is a humorous Old Irish myth that takes its cues from its Ulster Cycle cousins, notably, An Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley). The connective tissue is its cast, plot structure, and the author's mastery of cultural and storytelling traditions. SMMD is brief and rapid, which aids its near-absurdist representation of masculinity, kingship, and honor in heroic saga culture. This thesis uses postcolonial and medieval literary scholarship to analyze medieval and modern depictions of the Ulster Cycle. Contemporarily, the Irish …

The Viking Age As A Themed Experience: Representing Hitorical Narrative Through Research Based Design, Edward D. Macpherson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

I intend to design an interactive educational experience that teaches guests about the culture, society, and beliefs of Scandinavian peoples during the Viking age. The concepts are illustrated through a dynamic narrative designed to be experienced through exploration of a themed environment. Immersion into the narrative is intended to instill a sense of active participation with the culture itself. This interaction is intended to inspire guests to further investigate the culture and history outside the limits of the experience. These qualities, unique to an immersive environmental themed experience, capture the lasting attention of an audience such as other mediums may …

Demystifying Native Plants Polycultures, David Hopman

Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications - Archive

Landscape architects have an important duty to be forward leaning stewards of the environment in the development process. There is also an increasingly important imperative to reverse the ecological decline that has multiplied the extinction rate of species 1,000-fold since the advent of the industrial revolution. This lecture addresses both these issues with an evidence-based presentation on why landscape architects must address ecology in metropolitan areas and not focus almost entirely on environmental concerns such as global warming, carbon sequestration, clean air and clean water. If landscape architects do not become advocates for native plants, animals and regional ecologies, there …

Self-Reported Tea Consumption And Age-Related Macular Degeneration In U.S. Adults, Lindsey Halasz Shaffer

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: Age-related Macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifaceted disease of aging that is currently one of the leading causes of blindness in the US. As aging populations continue to turn to alternatives to prevent age-related diseases, the use of tea antioxidants has been suggested as potential protectors against cellular degradation and oxidation within the retina. To date, no epidemiologic or cross-sectional studies have been conducted regarding the correlation between tea intake and AMD, as it has for other diseases of with antioxidant mitigation potential, such as cancer. Objective: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the correlation between …

The Function Of Sound Symbolism In The Japanese Language, Madison Buckles

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

his paper examines sound symbolism in the Japanese language, primarily its role in linguistic qualities of onomatopoeia, and why it occurs in relation to language theory. Several reasons for the occurrence of sound symbolism are discussed, namely vowel and consonant associations; context of a speaker’s language; and the development, significance, and necessity of these words. The paper concludes by arguing that the lack of research in the field of sound symbolism, despite its prominent role against the prevailing theory of language (which states that words are arbitrary in conjunction with their meaning), is another example of the Western world’s tendency …

Bibliography, Bruce A. Schulte

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Bruce Schulte.

An Agricultural Plastic Crisis: How Federally Endorsed Biodegradable Plastics Could Liberate The Industry In The Eleventh Hour, Samantha Davenport

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Culture Sustainability Through Storytelling : A Study Of Patricia Riley’S “Wisteria” And “Damping Down The Road”, Ankita Das, Priyanka Chhaparia

Journal of Urban Culture Research

In the late 1980s, the United Nations introduced a comprehensive vision of sustainable development, encompassing economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental balance. However, the crucial role of culture within development has very often been overlooked. Contemporary insights emphasize that culture is integral to sustainable development. This paper, through an analysis of two short stories by Native American author Patricia Riley, sheds light on the significance of storytelling as a fundamental element of culture. It explores how these narratives emphasize the need to cultivate a culturally aware society and how ‘storytelling’ contributes to cultural preservation and identity. Focusing specifically on the …

Liminality & Festivities Facilitating Pandemic Fatigue : Songkran And The Third Wave Of Covid-19 Outbreak In Thailand, Steve Kwok-Leung Chan

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Asian countries were outstanding performers in preventing COVID-19 initially, but many suffered from a new wave of the outbreak in mid-2020. These countries sealed off their borders from the possible spread of the virus from outside. For more than one year, social distancing restrictions were applied and successfully kept the infection rates at a low level. Drawing on the initial findings of Chang et al. (2020) on the spread of the infectious disease intracity and intercity during festivals, this paper examines the outbreaks, with a probe into the case of Songkran, or the Water Festival of Thailand. The author found …

Wading In The Covid-19 Pandemic : Fate And Ways Forward For Malaysian Creative Cities, Suet Leng Khoo, Nicole Shu Fun Chang

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Since the 2019 Wuhan outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic badly hit all sectors of the global economy. The creative and cultural sectors (CCS) are among the hardest hit. The value chain of CCS (i.e. creation, production, distribution, accessibility to contents) was severely immobilized. In cities, mitigation measures implemented to contain Covid-19 significantly downsized the CCS. Jobs, incomes and livelihoods of creative and cultural employees were threatened. These scenarios question the readiness, resilience and sustainability of CCS, particularly in cities. The fate and way forward of creative cities are now a grave concern. This paper aims to investigate the impacts, developments, reactions …

The Sociological Approach As A Driver Of Change In The Traditional Wedding Attire Of West Sumatra Indonesia : An Aesthetic Analysis, Rahayu Purnama, Suryawati -, Vivi Radiona, Melly Prabawati

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The rapid development of the modern era brings unavoidable concept shifts and poses challenges, especially in fashion. The objectives of this study are: 1) to examine the understanding of fashion designers, fashion stylists, clothing rentals, and customers; 2) to evaluate the aesthetics of Minangkabau wedding attire; 3) to analyze the driver's of changes in the design aesthetics elements of traditional wedding attire based on the sociological approach theory by Arnold Hauser. This study uses a mixed-method through open-ended structured questions and focuses group discussions with a descriptive approach. The findings of this study are to determine the driving force and …

The Revolution Of Calder’S Kinetic Sculpture To Public Art Space - A Case Study Setting In Lacma’S “Three Quintains”, Gang Qin, Ranran Wang

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Alexander Calder’s profound influence on public art, particularly through his kinetic sculptures, remains a significant milestone in the contemporary art world. This study delves into Calder’s life and artistic journey, emphasizing the transformative impact of his iconic work, “Three Quintains” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The paper explores the aesthetic and theoretical foundations of Calder’s kinetic art, highlighting its delicate balance, spatial interaction, and spiritual evocations. Analyzing the sculpture’s impact on visitor experiences and community engagement, the research addresses challenges and ethical considerations related to the integration of kinetic sculptures in public spaces. Furthermore, the study envisions …

Animation For Anxiety Alleviation In Pediatric Cancer Patients During Venipuncture In The Hospital, Wisit Supangkaratana, Jariya Tarugsa, Suppakorn Disatapundhu

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This preliminary study focused on the use of animation to reduce anxiety among pediatric cancer patients undergoing venipuncture in the hospital. It was conducted on 30 pediatric cancer patients aged 5-9 years. The Pretest- Posttest study method was applied in which the level of anxiety was measured before and after viewing the film and then it was analyzed to determine whether the animation could help relieve anxiety in the study population. The results demonstrated that with the use of the animation with visual fantasy in which a monster symbolized the pain young patients must endure during blood draws and a …