Digital Commons Network^™

When Justice Fails: Female Vengeance And Indigenous Memory In Jayro Bustamante’S Film La Llorona (2019), Isabel Ibáñez De La Calle

Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

Jayro Bustamante’s film La Llorona (2019) reimagines the Latin American myth of the weeping woman to expose the failures of state justice and propose a feminist, decolonial alternative rooted in Indigenous memory and spiritual retribution. The film follows retired general Enrique Monteverde, modeled after Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, as he is tried for genocide against the Maya Ixil people. While the courtroom scenes depict a moment of accountability, they ultimately reveal how legal institutions remain complicit in protecting power. In contrast, the arrival of Alma—an Indigenous domestic worker who embodies La Llorona—introduces a supernatural force that intervenes when the …

Modern Architecture Of Muqarnas In Damascus: An Original Computational Methodology, Nahed Jawad Chakouf

All Works

The research aimed to revive muqarnas using digital computational tools, drawing on the techniques of Damascene craftsmen and ancient manuscripts. It involved designing contemporary muqarnas with double-curvature vaults and large spans, incorporating new unit designs and compositional techniques. In Section I, the researcher conducted pre-design studies on four muqarnas types, each associated with one of the four Damascene architectural styles. These studies examined the geometry and behavior of muqarnas types when used on traditional domed surfaces. Section II included a design study of the Dome of the Eagle of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, using modern software tools such as …

Chemotherapeutic Induction Of Cytosolic Single-Stranded Dna Accumulation Sensitizes Triple-Negative Breast Cancer To Immunotherapy, Yong Du, Li Yang, Hui Dai, Jianli Zhou, Zhicheng Zhou, Ruoxi Yuan, Rui Ye, Anh Thai Quynh Nguyen, Kishor Bhatia, Shiaw-Yih Lin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Despite the widespread adoption of chemoimmunotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the mechanisms by which cytotoxic chemotherapy engages antitumor immunity remain poorly defined. Identifying tumor-intrinsic immunogenic programs that predict and enhance responsiveness to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is therefore of critical clinical importance.

Methods: Transcriptomic signatures of TREX1 deficiency were generated from CRISPR-engineered TNBC models and applied to multiple independent TNBC cohorts treated with chemoimmunotherapy. Cytosolic single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) accumulation was quantified using a flow cytometry-based assay to functionally screen chemotherapeutic agents. Immune activation and therapeutic efficacy were evaluated using in vitro assays, syngeneic mouse tumor models, flow cytometry, …

Self-Help Or Hype? How The Public Seeks And Uses Health And Self-Help Information, Bailey Fraser Dr., Joanna Pozzulo Dr., Emily Pica Dr.

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The rapid growth of the global wellness industry and increased availability of health information through social media and self-help resources have raised concerns about the public’s ability to evaluate credible health information. This study examined how adults in Canada and the United States use health information, what they consider qualifies information as evidence, and their reading behaviors related to physical and mental health, including self-help books. A total of 96 participants completed an online survey assessing health information use, criteria for evidence, reading habits, and self-help book selection. Participants reported using health information primarily to make personal health decisions and …

Recent Developments, Steven H. Jacobs

Arkansas Law Review

Recent Developments in Arkansas Law

Anchoring’S Absurd Influence On Judging, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Andrew J. Wistrich

Arkansas Law Review

Society demands much from its judges. Notably, judges should never be illogical or inconsistent. The heart of what we expect of a judge is to apply the law to the facts in a logical and consistent way. The human mind, however, is not a giant syllogistic machine. People are obviously capable of using deductive logic, but decades of research on judgment and choice indicate that commonly used cognitive strategies to make decisions do not conform to the dictates of deductive logic. People rely on mental shortcuts, rather than logic. These shortcuts can be efficient and useful, but they do not …

A New Prescription: Arkansas Law On Pharmacy Benefit Managers, Emilee Webb

Arkansas Law Review

Seven thousand pharmacies have closed throughout the United States since 2019. This number includes both local pharmacies and larger chains. The effect of both types of closures, though, is the same—pharmacy deserts. A pharmacy desert can occur in all types of areas; it simply means that consumers lack “reasonable access” to a pharmacy. The usual standard is a pharmacy located more than one mile away in urban areas, two miles away in suburban areas, and ten miles away in rural areas. However, an objective mile range is not always dispositive of a pharmacy desert. Even if a pharmacy is located …

Judicial Rhetoric: Writing Persuasive Opinions, Gerald Lebovits

Arkansas Law Review

In 1947, Judge George Rose Smith denounced, in the Arkansas Law Review, the “dearth of material concerning the mechanics of writing a judicial opinion” as a “striking omission in legal literature.” He was right.

The lack of attention given to the judicial opinion-writing process back then was hard to justify. Judges spend much of their time writing decisions. Decisions are important. They determine rights and responsibilities, as well as resolve controversies. Scholars have written about every aspect of judging and legal issue—except one of the most important ones: how to decide a case and justify the decision. Judicial opinions set …

Promoting A Rhetoric Of Judicial Legitimacy In Pro Se Litigation, Alistair E. Newbern

Arkansas Law Review

In recent months, headline after headline has decried twin threats to the federal judiciary: declining public trust in the courts and escalating threats to judges’ personal safety. The public’s opinion of the Supreme Court reached “close to a three decade low” in 2025, while Americans’ confidence in the federal judiciary as a whole “dropped to a record-low 35% in 2024.”

In his 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts identified a recent uptick in four areas of “illegitimate activity” that “threaten the independence of judges on which the rule of law depends: (1) violence, (2) …

Intellectual Humility By Design: How Courts Earn Legitimacy And Improve Decisions, Steve Leben

Arkansas Law Review

Courts decide disputes as one branch of our government. Their authority depends not only on getting the outcome right but also on public acceptance of their authority. In a time when confidence in institutions is under pressure, courts cannot assume that legitimacy will take care of itself. They must earn it—case by case—through both the substance of what they decide and the way they exercise authority in public view.

A large body of procedural-justice research explains one side of that equation. People are more willing to accept court decisions, even unfavorable ones, when the process communicates voice, neutrality, respect, and …

The Rise Of Options Contracts In Sports, The Post-Murphy Regulatory Conundrum, And Implications On Federalism, Scott Barboza

UNH Sports Law Review

The Supreme Court’s decision in Murphy v. N.C.A.A. dismantled the federal prohibition on state-authorized sports betting and returned its primary regulatory authority over to the states. Following Murphy, states adopted widely varying sports-betting regimes. At the same time, advances in financial technology and the growing popularity of prediction markets created a new form of event-based speculation operating outside the traditional sportsbook model. Platforms such as Kalshi began offering “yes-no” contracts tied to sporting outcomes through federally regulated exchanges overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, framing such products not as wagers, but as financial derivatives governed by the Commodity Exchange …

New Playbook: How The Modern College Sports Legal Landscape Shapes The Women Athlete Experience And Future, Hannah Martin

UNH Sports Law Review

This Article examines how the emergence of Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) rights and the approval of the House settlement have transformed the experience and future of women college athletes. For the first time in modern college athletics, athletes are permitted to profit from their personal brands through endorsements, sponsorships, social media promotions, and institutional revenue-sharing opportunities. These developments have created unprecedented visibility and economic opportunity for women athletes, particularly in sports such as basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball, where athletes have demonstrated significant commercial value and audience engagement. At the same time, the rapid commercialization of college sports has introduced …

Doing Away With The Ncaa’S Duration Of Eligibility Rules, Michael Lewis

UNH Sports Law Review

The NCAA imposes durational eligibility limits restricting a student athlete’s eligibility to compete in college sports. Under NCAA rules, an athlete is granted four-seasons of competition in any single sport and no more than five-years of eligibility commencing at matriculation. These rules have come under increasing scrutiny in federal court, as the law acknowledges commercial realities. In numerous cases, federal district courts have enjoined their enforcement against Division I football players under the Sherman Act. On the eve of the Final Four, 2026, the White House weighed in, expressing support for durational limits, and arguing (without support) that imposing limits …

Immigration Law Meets College Athlete Pay: How U.S. Immigration Law Excludes International College Athletes From The Compensation Revolution, Jeff Justiz

UNH Sports Law Review

When the House v. NCAA settlement authorized up to $20.5 million in annual direct revenue-sharing payments to college athletes, it resolved one century-old injustice and quietly created another. For the approximately 15,000 international student-athletes competing on F-1 visas, the same payments that enrich their domestic teammates may constitute unauthorized employment under federal immigration law, threatening deportation and visa revocation. This Note argues that the House settlement has exposed a structural collision between NCAA compensation policy and F-1 immigration doctrine that existing visa categories – the P-1A, the O-1, and various permanent-residency pathways – are individually incapable of resolving. Using Poa …

Editor's Foreword, Isabelle Silva

UNH Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Independence Of Supervisory Authorities: A Comparative Analysis Of Morocco's Law 09-08 And The European General Data Protection Regulation, Zakariyae Hamdani, Karim Seffar

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

The effectiveness of personal data protection presupposes the establishment of supervisory authorities endowed with substantial independence, guarantors of fundamental rights and capable of preventing the risks inherent in data processing. However, the comparison between the European GDPR and Moroccan Law No. 09-08 reveals a manifest institutional asymmetry. Indeed, European authorities operate within a substantially more comprehensive normative framework, characterised by enshrined autonomy, extended prerogatives and enhanced operational efficiency. Conversely, the Moroccan CNDP remains afflicted by structural deficiencies: institutional dependence, lack of coercive powers and budgetary insufficiency. Consequently, this comparative investigation aims to identify the cardinal principles likely to inform a …

Deepfake: A Practice On The Edge Of Legality, Bouthaïna Aaziz

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

Deepfakes – hyperrealistic videos manipulated using deep learning algorithms – raise significant legal challenges touching on human rights and legal governance. A deepfake usurps the identity of its victim to exploit their credibility and reputation. This article examines the applicable legal framework, first identifying pre-existing rules from Moroccan law (civil liability, personal data protection under Law No. 09-08, criminal provisions of the Penal Code and Press Law No. 88-13) that can be applied to deepfakes, and then advocating for the adoption of an adapted legal framework. The author distinguishes between creative deepfakes (requiring informed consent) and manipulative deepfakes (requiring criminal …

Requalification Of Employment Relations On Digital Platforms – Commentary On The Ruling Of The Social Chamber Of The French Court Of Cassation Of 4 March 2020, Appeal No. 19-13.316, Abdelhadi Al Hantali El Idrissi

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

Despite the efforts made by legislators to facilitate the task of qualifying the employment contract for judges, the judge's role in this qualification process remains primordial, as they face hybrid and increasingly complex situations that may fall into several contradictory contractual categories not anticipated by the law. This article examines a landmark ruling by the Social Chamber of the French Court of Cassation of 4 March 2020 (Appeal No. 19-13.316), in which the Court confirmed the requalification of a partnership contract between an Uber driver and the company into an employment contract. The analysis is structured around three complementary phases: …

The Legal Challenges Of Blockchain In Relation To The Legal Professions, Hind Tak-Tak, Hanane Jalal

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

Blockchain technology was initially conceived as a disintermediation tool based on algorithmic trust, aiming to challenge the traditional role of trusted third parties in legal and economic relationships. By relying on distributed, immutable, and transparent ledgers, blockchain claims to offer an alternative to centralized institutions, particularly in the fields of evidence, contracts, and authentication. However, a legal analysis demonstrates that this promise of disintermediation remains largely relative. While blockchain enables technical certification of data and the automated execution of obligations through smart contracts, it does not ensure valid contract formation, effective protection of the weaker party, or compliance with the …

Gender Perspective(S): Lessons From International Human Rights Law To Defend Against Pregnancy Related Prosecutions, Megan Osadzinski

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

The criminalization of pregnancy outcomes—such as miscarriages, abortion, obstetric emergencies, and stillbirth—is a violation of fundamental human rights guarantees; including the right to a fair trial when read in conjunction with the right to equality and the right to health. This article outlines state obligations under international human rights law toward women charged in pregnancy prosecutions, translating them into national criminal defense strategies using a gender perspective. Using intersectional theory, this article calls for the use of a gender perspective to challenge such prosecutions as unlawful gender-based discrimination and a gendered violation of due process, using the case study of …

Comparative Analysis Of Freedom Of Thought, Conscience, And Religion In India, Pakistan, And Bangladesh, Abhishek Chakrabarti

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

The freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is a fundamental human right enshrined in Article 18 of The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR). However, religious minorities in South Asia are often deprived of this fundamental right. Muslims in India, Ahmadiyyas, Hindus, and Christians in Pakistan, and Hindus in Bangladesh face challenges including educational marginalization, economic and political marginalization, and social stigma in the society. The Note presents a comparative analysis of the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion across the three most populous countries in South Asia–India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh–that also share a long cultural, linguistic, and religious history. …

Letter To The Editor: Hemodynamic Role In Hepatic Encephalopathy Pathogenesis Following Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt Placement, John Halphen, Yash S Dayal, Cameron Laurie, Mohadese Ahmadzade, David Wynne, Mohammad Ghasemi-Rad

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a common complication following transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) placement and is thought to result from reduced hepatic detoxification of neurotoxins. However, Zhuang et al in the World Journal of Radiology demonstrate that this understanding may be incomplete through exploration of the pathophysiology from a hemodynamic perspective. They found significant changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and spontaneous brain activity following TIPS. Initially, CBF increased in specific areas within the first month, followed by a return to baseline at three months. These CBF changes coincided with increased spontaneous brain activity that persisted in some areas, suggesting …

Visibility By Design: Communication Infrastructures, Mediation, And Knowledge Transfer On Neurodivergence In Institutional Contexts En [Ponencia] Iamcr 2026, Bárbara Mercedes Castillo Abdul Hadi, María Beltrán-Rodríguez, Luis M. Romero-Rodriguez

Congresos y Conferencias

The social visibility of neurodivergence has become an increasingly salient object of inquiry within communication studies, particularly in relation to public communication, institutional communication, and processes of educational and social inclusion. Previous research has addressed this phenomenon primarily from the perspectives of health communication and awareness-raising campaigns, with a strong focus on stigma reduction and the improvement of public knowledge about neurodevelopmental conditions. However, these approaches have paid comparatively less attention to how communication intervenes in the transfer of scientific knowledge into applied contexts—such as the design of inclusive educational environments—and to its role in articulating the relationship between institutional …

Internal Communication As A Happiness Management–Oriented Organizational System: An Emergent Dimensions En [Ponencia] Iamcr 2026, Luis M. Romero-Rodriguez, Bárbara Mercedes Castillo-Abdul Hadi

Congresos y Conferencias

In contemporary organizations characterized by hybrid work arrangements, digital mediation, and heightened uncertainty, internal communication has emerged as a strategic infrastructure central to organizational cohesion, trust, and employee well-being. Far from being a purely instrumental function, internal communication operates as a constitutive system through which leadership practices, organizational culture, relational dynamics, and emotional experiences at work are continuously constructed and negotiated. Despite this centrality, organizational communication research has frequently addressed internal communication through fragmented approaches, focusing on isolated variables (such as job satisfaction, engagement, or trust) without articulating an integrated theoretical architecture capable of capturing its multidimensional and systemic nature. …

Li+/Na+ Hybrid Ion Conduction Mechanism In The Superionic Conductor Li3–XNaXZr2Si2Po12, Yi-Hong Wu, Xia Xie, Lei Zhu, Mu-Ran Yu, Guo-Tai Zhang, Jun-Chao Chen, Shu-Ying Sun, You-Wei Wang, Wei-Ping Tang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Hybrid ion conductors that transport multiple ionic conductive species provide a useful platform for understanding how mixed-ion transport governs ionic conductivity within a single phase. However, the controlled introduction of multiple mobile ions into solid-state electrolytes and a mechanistic understanding of their migration within the framework remain challenging. Herein, a skeleton-retained Li⁺↔Na⁺ cationic exchange was used to simultaneously induce Li⁺ and Na⁺ cations into the NASICON-type framework of Li_3–xNa_xZr₂Si₂PO₁₂ (0 < x < 3). We show that the interpenetration of NaO₆ and NaO₈ coordination polyhedra significantly influences the ionic conductivity of hybrid ion conductors. Computational …

Thinking Silence Otherwise: Toward A “Research Other” In Qualitative Research, Rosa Vázquez Recio

The Qualitative Report

Why ask about silence when it comes to research? This paper explores and analyzes how silence, unlike words and verbal expression, has received little attention in the data production process. Despite its different manifestations and meanings in social interactions and knowledge production, silence tends to be overlooked, ignored, or silenced. We focus on analyzing how we relate silence to evidence-based research to describe the “non-places” of silence in qualitative research, addressing controversies and issues. We propose a “research other,” grounded in decolonial approaches and Southern and feminist epistemologies, to argue for the inclusion of silence in the research process. …

Character Education Across School Contexts: A Qualitative Study Of High- And Regular-Performing Schools In Indonesia, Heri Retnawati, Zurqoni Zurqoni, Mukhamad Ilyasin, Hasan Djidu, Kartianom Kartianom, Ezi Apino

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study explores how character education is understood, organized, and enacted across two types of junior high schools in Indonesia: High-Performing Schools (HPS) and Regular-Performing Schools (RPS). Using semi-structured interviews with school leaders, teachers, parents, students, and school committee members from nine schools across three provinces, we examined how institutional conditions and relational practices shape the implementation of character education. Analysis generated four themes: variation in program management approaches, differences in implementation structures and stakeholder involvement, school inputs shaping program capacity, and community perceptions of character education outcomes. Findings show that HPS tend to institutionalize character education through structured …

Review Of: “Singen Is A Part Vu Unsern Lebm”: Musik Bei Den Hutterern Von Fairholme/Manitoba—Judith Rubatscher, Vlatka Škender

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

In winter 2012, I serendipitously stumbled upon a recording of the Hutterites singing which, to my bewilderment, mesmerized me with a swiftness and intensity thus unbeknown. It was a splendid exhibition of YouTube’s algorithmic erraticism: the aural acrobatics of Bach and the melancholy-inducing Händel’s Sarabande were succeeded by a chant that was—as per Henrik Ibsen’s (alleged) final words—“quite the contrary.” The choir sung of transcendence in a manner so basal and blissful, and so barefacedly human as only a folk song can be, that one was compelled to listen with downcast eyes. And thus began my journey to the Anabaptists: …

The Sociologists And The Anthropologists: Intellectual Imaginations Of Mennonite Settlements In The Paraguayan Chaco, Samuel Boucher

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

The debates over Indigenous rights and missionary intervention in Paraguay’s Chaco were shaped not only by international declarations and local conditions but by the sociologists and anthropologists who interpreted—and contested—them. North American sociologists such as J. Winfield Fretz, Jacob Loewen, and Calvin Redekop studied the Mennonite colonies as agents of modern development, weighing the achievements and shortcomings of their mission efforts. The Paraguayan anthropologist Miguel Chase-Sardi cast those same colonists as foreign capitalists exploiting their Indigenous neighbors, drawing international scrutiny through his contribution to the 1971 Barbados Declaration and its charge of ethnocide. The ensuing clash with administrators such as …

Using Amish Scribes’ Newspaper Letters To Portray The New Wilmington, Pa, Amish Settlement, Kristin Park

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

In studying distinctive ethnoreligious communities, it is preferable to listen to and analyze the voices of members themselves. This paper interprets the professed values, activities, and priorities of an understudied, hybrid Andy Weaver / Old Order Amish settlement using Amish scribes’ letters to two Amish and one non-Amish newspaper. Quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the newspaper letters discovered dominant themes of emotional expression, illness and accidents, visits, weather, and work and compared their prevalence across the newspapers. Amish newspapers were more emotionally expressive and highlighted members’ illness and injury while the non-Amish newspaper primarily focused on visiting, weather, and …