Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Between Force Majeure Clauses And The Excuse Defenses, Gregory Crespi

SMU Law Review Forum

Many commercial contracts include force majeure clauses that excuse the parties from performing some or all of their obligations upon the occurrence of specified supervening events. The law is unclear as to the proper relationship between such clauses and the assertion of common law or statutory excuse defenses such as impossibility, impracticability, or frustration of purpose with regard to supervening events that are outside of the scope of such clauses. In particular, under what circumstances, if any, should a force majeure clause be regarded as preclusive of these excuse defenses with regard to those supervening events that the clause does …

Moral Responsibility And Other Visceral Attitudes Of Western Michigan University Students Toward Food Waste, Quinn Heiser

Masters Theses

Despite the large number of people that go hungry on a regular basis in America, food waste remains a looming issue, globally and nationally. Both American college students and the universities themselves contribute a large portion to the national food waste totals. A dichotomy that is especially curious is the difference between students who live on-campus and whose main source of meals is the dining centers, versus students who live off campus and rely mainly on groceries to make meals independently. However, food waste has seldom been studied in the context of the fact that college is a major transition …

The Effects Of Technology Based Self-Monitoring On Behaviors Related To Academic Engagement Of A University Student With A Disability, Rachel Mickelson

Masters Theses

College students with disabilities often experience difficulties with meeting the demands of university level courses due to challenges with time management and impulse control (Shmulsky & Gobbo, 2013). Self-monitoring has been proven effective for various populations and behaviors, although limited research has been conducted with college students with disabilities. I-Connect, a technology-based self-monitoring tool, is a digital application that utilizes momentary time sampling where users can select a behavior and interval of time to be prompted to self-monitor that behavior (University of Kansas, 2022). The app also collects real time data and automatically creates graphs to depict the responses collected …

Measurement Invariance Of The Pandemic Anxiety Inventory In Different Demographic Groups, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Tasmyn Prytherch, Mark Cropley, Jay Verkuilen, Renzo Bianchi

Publications and Research

Background The Pandemic Anxiety Inventory (PAI) was developed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its content allows it to assess anxiety in connection to any pandemic. Previous research has demonstrated the instrument’s reliability and validity. An important question for clinicians and researchers, however, remains open: Does the PAI have similar meaning for members of different demographic groups? The finding of measurement invariance would allow clinicians and researchers to comparatively assess pandemic-related anxiety across demographic groups, including favored and disfavored groups.

Methods We conducted a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to assess the measurement invariance of the PAI using data obtained …

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Plus Usual Care For Improving Quality Of Life In People With Motor Neuron Disease (Commend): A Multicentre, Parallel, Randomised Controlled Trial In The Uk, Rebecca L. Gould, Christopher J. Mcdermott, Benjamin J. Thompson, Charlotte V. Rawlinson, Matt Bursnall, Mike Bradburn, Pavithra Kumar, Emily J. Turton, David A. White, Marc A. Serfaty, Christopher D. Graham, Lance M. Mccracken, Laura H. Goldstein, Ammar Al-Chalabi, Richard W. Orrell, Tim Williams, Rupert Noad, Idris Baker, Christina Faull, Thomas Lambert, Suresh K. Chhetri, John Ealing, Anthony Hanratty, Aleksandar Radunovic, Nushan Gunawardana, Gail Meadows, George H. Gorrie, Tracey Young, Vanessa Lawrence, Cindy Cooper

Peninsula Medical School

Background: Motor neuron disease is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a psychological therapy incorporating acceptance, mindfulness, and behaviour change techniques. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ACT plus usual care, compared with usual care alone, for improving quality of life in people with motor neuron disease. Methods: We conducted a parallel, multicentre, two-arm randomised controlled trial in 16 UK motor neuron disease care centres or clinics. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older with a diagnosis of definite or laboratory-supported probable, clinically probable, or possible familial …

Bound To Misfortune: Protecting Juvenile Abortion Through The Right To Travel, John H.C. Hughes

Cardozo Law Review

On July 1, 2022, the Indianapolis Star reported that a ten-year-old Ohio girl, who had been raped and was six weeks pregnant, had sought an abortion in Indiana. Abortion had been outlawed in Ohio mere hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but it remained legal ˙in neighboring Indiana. The Ohio girl was able to cross the state border, get the abortion, and—presumably—return home safely. But if lawmakers like those in Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and a handful of other states have their way, pregnant© children in abortion-restrictive states will be unable to avail themselves of neighboring …

Maximizing Network Throughput In Heterogeneous Uav Networks, Shuyue Li, Jing Li, Chaocan Xiang, Wenzheng Xu, Jian Peng, Ziming Wang, Weifa Liang, Xinwei Yao, Xiaohua Jia, Sajal K. Das

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper we study the deployment of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) network that consists of multiple UAVs to provide emergent communication service for people who are trapped in a disaster area, where each UAV is equipped with a base station that has limited computing capacity and power supply, and thus can only serve a limited number of people. Unlike most existing studies that focused on homogeneous UAVs, we consider the deployment of heterogeneous UAVs where different UAVs have different computing capacities. We study a problem of deploying K heterogeneous UAVs in the air to form a temporarily connected …

Formal Versus Informal Supervisor Socio-Emotional Support Behaviours And Employee Trust: The Role Of Cultural Power Distance, Jaee Cho, S. Arzu Wasti, Krishna Savani, Hwee Hoon Tan, Michael W. Morris

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This research investigates how formal versus informal supervisor support behaviours shape employees' affect- and cognition-based trust across cultures of varying power distance. Using data from in-depth interviews, Study 1 found that trust-enhancing supervisor behaviours were more formal, status conscious and imposing in India (a high power distance culture) than in the Netherlands (a low power distance culture); unlike in India, supervisors acted more like friends or equals with their subordinates in the Netherlands. Using vignettes, Study 2 found that, compared to informal support behaviours, formal support behaviours increased both affect- and cognition-based trust among Indian participants, but among US participants, …

Nationalist Sentiments And The Multinational Enterprise: Insights From Organizational Sociology, Jesper Edman, Ilya R. P. Cuypers, Gokhan Ertug, Ruth V. Aguilera

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

International business scholars have recognized the impact of political and economic nationalism on the multinational enterprise (MNE). We complement these approaches by highlighting the sociological manifestations of nationalism and their implications for the MNE. We argue that nationalist sentiments, i.e. widely-shared assumptions of superiority over other nations and cultures, constitute an under-researched but critical element in international business (IB). Drawing insights from organizational sociology, we elucidate how nationalist sentiments manifest in the MNE’s external and internal environment. Specifically, we suggest that nationalist sentiments accentuate national institutional logics, generate status-based categorizations of foreign and domestic firms, and heighten emphasis on national …

Lessons From The Demise Of The Brent Crude Oil Futures Contract On The Singapore Exchange, Kuan Yong David Ding, Wui Boon Lim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper highlights the lessons drawn from the demise of the Brent Crude Oil futures contract that was traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). We analyze the market microstructure of the contract prior to its failure—specifically, the number of trades, trading volume, open interest, bid–ask spread, and volatility. We find a steady decline in the mean volume, open interest, and number of trades as the contracts near their demise. The bid–ask spread of the contract also widens. Investigations of the mutual offset feature of the Brent Crude Oil futures contract between SGX and the International Commodity Exchange (ICE) provides …

Enhancing Government Service Delivery: A Case Study Of Acqar Implementation And Lessons Learned From Chatgpt Integration In A Singapore Government Agency, Hui Shan Lee, Shankararaman, Venky, Eng Lieh Ouh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper presents the pilot implementation of AI Based Citizen Question-Answer Recommender (ACQAR) as an attempt to enhance citizen service delivery within a Singaporean government agency. Drawing insights from previous studies on the Empath library's use in Service Level Agreement (SLA) prediction and the implementation of the Citizen Question-Answer system (CQAS), we redesigned the pilot system, ACQAR. ACQAR integrates the outputs from Empath X SLA predictor and CQAS as essential inputs to the ChatGPT engine, creating contextually aware responses for customer service officers to use as responses to the citizens.Empath X SLA predictor anticipates the expected service response time based …

What Drives Employers’ Favorability Ratings On Employer Review Platforms? The Role Of Symbolic, Personal, And Emotional Content, Christoph E. Höllig, Andranik Tumasjan, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Employer review platforms have changed the recruitment landscape by allowing current and former employees to post messages about an employer outside of direct company control. Therefore, they have emerged as an important form of third-party employer branding. However, we know little about how such open-ended comments relate to the key variable in employer reviews: employers’ favorability rating. Therefore, we start by situating this variable among other constructs in the employer branding space. Next, we build theory on how content in the open-ended comments of an employer review relates to the positivity or negativity of the reviews’ favorability rating. We test …

Nonstandard Errors, Albert J. Menkvelt, Anna Dreber, Et Al., Shihao Yu, Bart Zhou Yueshen, Emiliano Sebastian Pagnotta

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants.

Nurturing Youth Climate Action: A Blue Carbon Perspective, Thomas Menkhoff, Chuen Kong Kevin Cheong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

It was announced at the COP27 Climate Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt) in November 2022 that Amazon and Conservation International (with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board) will establish an International Blue Carbon Institute in Singapore. As Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, Grace Fu rightly pointed out during the launch in the Singapore Pavilion that “South-east Asia, with its vast stretches of mangroves and coastal ecosystems, has tremendous potential for blue carbon initiatives that will also support environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, and livelihoods and heritage of local communities” (The Straits Times, New blue carbon institute to be launched …

The Effect Of Carbon Pricing On Firm Performance: Worldwide Evidence, Tinghua Duan, Frank Weikai Li, Hong Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Economists recommend combating climate change with carbon pricing; however, a major block to pricing emissions is concerns about economic costs. This paper examines the impacts of carbon pricing initiatives on the operating performance and market value of publicly listed firms around the world. Using the staggered enactment of carbon pricing initiatives across jurisdictions and a triple difference approach, we find a significant reduction in the profitability and value of carbon-intensive firms relative to low-emission firms after the enactment of carbon pricing policies. The reduction in firm profits is driven by both a decrease in sales growth and an increase in …

Organizational Structures Of Statewide Associations Of Mpos Across The U.S., Tia Boyd, Taylor Dinehart, Jeff Kramer

CUTR Internal Grant Research Program

The findings of this report are based on a systematic manual web search, consultation with key representatives of statewide associations of metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and the use of external resources (i.e. academic papers, reports and publications from transportation agencies, legislative documents, and other relevant materials that provide insights or data on the organizational structures and practices of statewide MPO associations). It provides an analysis of statewide associations of MPOs and their significance in promoting collaboration, coordination, and advocacy efforts among MPOs within a state. The report explores the criteria used to define statewide associations of MPOs, the organizational structures, …

The Needless Search For A Founding-Era "Hearsay" Definition, Jeffrey Bellin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Modern Confrontation Clause doctrine permits only unconfronted “out-of-court statements that would have been admissible in a criminal case at the time of the founding.” To operationalize this concept, the Supreme Court identifies “testimonial hearsay” as the Clause’s primary concern. Its opinions regularly dive into the historical record to refine what counts as “testimonial” but ignore that record in defining “hearsay.” This omission cannot last. Cases in the lower courts, and one on the Court’s recent docket, concern testimonial but (arguably) non-hearsay statements. And while confrontation jurisprudence is supposed to be tied to founding-era evidence law, the “hearsay” definition, casually referenced …

New And Useful Improvements: The Role Of Institutional Culture, Leadership, Incentives, And Regulation In 30 Years Of Legal Education Since The Maccrate Report, Greg Brandes

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

New and useful improvements – in the words of the patent statute – have emerged from legal education’s pursuit of seamlessly developing contributing members of the legal profession, as the 1992 MacCrate Report advocated. These include the widespread adoption of distance learning techniques for better teaching and assessment, course pedagogy that is more inclusive for students with diverse learning needs, and a new subset of the academy schooled and interested in the science of teaching and learning. But it has not been easy.

Efforts to improve legal education have sometimes foundered and other times flourished because of varying faculty and …

The Guardian The Month Of June 2024, Wright State Student Body

The Guardian Student Newspaper

News articles from The Guardian for the Month of June 2024. The Guardian is the official student-run newspaper for Wright State University. It has been published regularly since March of 1965.

Postpartum Recovery After Severe Maternal Morbidity In Kilifi, Kenya: A Grounded Theory Of Recovery Trajectories Beyond 42 Days, Ursula Gazeley, Marvine Ochieng, Onesmus Wanje, Angela Koech, Grace Mwashigadi, Nathan Barreh, Alice Kombo, Mwanajuma Bakari, Grace Maitha, Marleen Temmerman

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Introduction The burden of severe maternal morbidity is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, and its relative contribution to maternal (ill) health may increase as maternal mortality continues to fall. Women’s perspective of their long-term recovery following severe morbidity beyond the standard 42-day postpartum period remains largely unexplored.

Methods This woman-centred, grounded theory study was nested within the Pregnancy Care Integrating Translational Science Everywhere (PRECISE) study in Kilifi, Kenya. Purposive and theoretical sampling was used to recruit 20 women who experienced either a maternal near-miss event (n=11), potentially life-threatening condition (n=6) or no severe morbidity (n=3). Women were purposively selected between 6 …

Addressing The Importance Of Recruitment And Retention Of Black And Latinx Teachers: Strategies Designed To Diversify The Teacher Pipeline, Shavon Pittman

Dissertations

The United States student demographic has shifted significantly, with minorities, particularly Black and Latinx students, now constituting almost half. However, the diversity of the teaching profession, historically led by White females, lags behind, with Black and Latinx teachers comprising less than 30%. This lack of representation poses challenges for students without culturally similar educators. My research explores the impact of teacher diversity on Black and Latinx students' success, revealing positive outcomes. Yet, attracting and retaining minority teachers faces obstacles, including feelings of isolation and financial concerns. Recommendations include educational pathways, scholarships, mentoring programs, salary incentives, and professional learning communities to …

Reversal Of Propofol-Induced Depression Of The Hypoxic Ventilatory Response By Bk-Channel Blocker Ena-001: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Simone Jansen, Maarten Van Lemmen, Erik Olofsen, Laurence Moss, Joseph Pergolizzi, Thomas Miller, Robert Colucci, Monique Van Velzen, Philip Kremer, Albert Dahan, Rutger Van Der Schrier, Marieke Niesters

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The use of anesthetics may result in depression of the hypoxic ventilatory response. Since there are no receptor-specific antagonists for most anesthetics, there is the need for agnostic respiratory stimulants that increase respiratory drive irrespective of its cause. The authors tested whether ENA-001, an agnostic respiratory stimulant that blocks carotid body BK-channels, could restore the hypoxic ventilatory response during propofol infusion. They hypothesize that ENA-001 is able to fully restore the hypoxic ventilatory response.

METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind crossover trial, 14 male and female healthy volunteers were randomized to receive placebo and low- and high-dose ENA-001 on three …

Polymer-Based Drug-Eluting Stent Treatment Extends The Time To Reintervention For Patients With Symptomatic Femoropopliteal Artery Disease: Clinical Evidence And Potential Economic Value, William Gray, Yoshimitsu Soga, Masahiko Fujihara, Osamu Iida, Anvar Babaev, Daizo Kawasaki, Thomas Zeller, David O'Connor, Michael Jaff, Anna Chavez, Stefan Müller-Hülsbeck

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Aim: Use long-term follow-up data from the IMPERIAL study to determine whether drug-eluting polymer-based nitinol stent treatment can delay the time to repeat intervention for femoropopliteal artery disease and how such a delay may result in cost savings in a value-based episode of care. Patients & methods: The IMPERIAL randomized controlled trial was an international study of a paclitaxel-eluting polymer-coated stent (Eluvia, Boston Scientific, MA, USA) versus a polymer-free paclitaxel-coated stent (Zilver PTX, Cook Corporation, IN, USA) for treating lesions of the femoropopliteal arterial segment. Study patients (n = 465) had symptomatic lower limb ischemia. Safety and efficacy assessments were …

Development And External Validation Of The 'Global Surgical-Site Infection' (Glossi) Predictive Model In Adult Patients Undergoing Gastrointestinal Surgery, Viren P. Punja, Melanie K. Sion, Michael S. Weinstein

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Background: Identification of patients at high risk of surgical-site infections may allow surgeons to minimize associated morbidity. However, there are significant concerns regarding the methodological quality and transportability of models previously developed. The aim of this study was to develop a novel score to predict 30-day surgical-site infection risk after gastrointestinal surgery across a global context and externally validate against existing models. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of two prospective international cohort studies: GlobalSurg-1 (July-November 2014) and GlobalSurg-2 (January-July 2016). Consecutive adults undergoing gastrointestinal surgery were eligible. Model development was performed using GlobalSurg-2 data, with novel and previous scores …

Fatigue And Depressive Mood In Chronic Low Back Pain, Anitha Saravanan, Hl Matthews, D Tell, A Starkweather, L Janusek

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Purpose

Design and Methods

The Realm That I Am: An Interdisciplinary Memoir On Identity And Healing, Maria Rowen Flores

University Honors Theses

This thesis is an interdisciplinary exploration into identity, self, and meaning-making. Engaging queer studies, Chicano/a Studies, narrative therapy, creative nonfiction, and visual arts, this project is both a collage and self-portrait in two parts. Part one uses the ideas of philosophers Gloria Anzaldúa, María Lugones, Jack Halberstam, and Judith Butler to explore identity formation in the author’s family and social contexts. Part two follows the experience of having C-PTSD and uses memoir and creative writing to explore the narrative therapeutic mode. Both sections explore themes of identity, social isolation, relationships, failure, mental illness, trauma, and addiction. The work is underscored …

Assessing Nicotine Intake And Cotinine Levels In Inbred High Drinking In The Dark (Ihdid) Mice: A Potential Model For Nicotine Use Disorders (Nuds), Jonathan Palacios

University Honors Theses

Nicotine use disorders (NUDs) pose a persistent global health threat, contributing to significant morbidity and mortality. It is a complex issue arising from a combination of different factors; thus, it is crucial to approach it from different perspectives. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the inbred High Drinking in the Dark (iHDID) mice replicate lines (iHDID-1 and iHDID-2) represent a good model for nicotine use disorders (NUDs). We measured nicotine (50µg/mL) intake in a Drinking in the Dark (DID) assay (n=12/sex/line). At the end of the DID assay, we measured serum cotinine levels using a cotinine ELISA kit. …

Virtual Field Environments Capstone Software Review, Ashton Sawyer

University Honors Theses

This is a review of the Virtual Field Environments computer science capstone project, sponsored by geology professor Rick Hugo. The tool aims to create and render VFEs, interactable 360° environments hosted on the web that are used as virtual field trips for K-12 students. This essay discusses the development process, including understanding requirements, tool and technology selection, problem-solving, and decision-making strategies. It also highlights the differences between the capstone and the other core computer science courses, and how those differences help to prepare students for the workforce. The project was completed over the course of twenty weeks by a team …

Development Of A Two-Photon Imaging System, Jesseca Hollenbaugh

University Honors Theses

The objective of this project was to convert a Sarastro 2000 confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) into a system capable of far-field two-photon excitation (TPE) imaging for the use of the PSU Biology department. TPE microscopy operates on the ability of fluorophores to accept two photons each with half the energy of a desired transition in a single quantum event via a virtual energy state and then emit a higher energy photon upon relaxation. This is preferable to single-photon excitation (SPE) imaging due to lower photon imaging, causing less damage to delicate biological samples, as well as the inherent localization …

Comparing Erwartung And Die Glückliche Hand Through The Female Gaze, Angela Tinio

University Honors Theses

During the early 20^th century, the rise of psychoanalysis impacted society by offering a revolutionary approach to the mind. This rise occurred due to the work of the work of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who believed many mental disorders were rooted in the subconscious. Psychoanalysis revolutionized how we approach the brain and offered a new perspective on patient treatment. Artists in the early 20^th century also explored and insisted on new ways to view society through art. Schoenberg and Freud were both pioneers in their field of work, and Freud even inspired Schoenberg's early atonal music. Freud may have …