Digital Commons Network^™

War, Cacophony & Beyond: Reexamining And Adding Security To Environmental, Social & Corporate Governance Investing, Seongjun “Spencer” Park*

Fordham International Law Journal

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed the current ESG approach’s weakness in many ways, most noticeably in the form of real-world consequences of negative screening strategies against defense and energy sectors. This Note attributes this weakness to a cacophony of risk and impact—a conceptual conflation between the two concepts in the relatively nascent ESG space. However, this Note finds that, even after resolving this cacophony, ESG investing still has significant problems that challenge its efficacy: (1) insufficient fairness and reasonableness of ESG ratings; (2) its uncertain future viability as an effective investment methodology under unfavorable economic conditions; and (3) its …

“There’S A Moment When All Old Things Become New Again”: The Canadian Oil And Gas Royalty – A Modern Rent Charge, William Fay, P. T. Babie

Fordham International Law Journal

While American law recognizes the oil and gas royalty as a real property interest, Canadian law, although based on the American experience, is not as clear. This Article argues that the oil and gas royalty, an integral part of the investment necessary to the operation of the Canadian oil and gas industry, represents a modern example of the rent charge, a proprietary interest in land with origins in medieval common law. The Article makes this claim for two reasons: one is pragmatic, the other theoretical-pedagogical. First, pragmatically, as the value of oil and gas rises precipitously in response to the …

China’S Dual State Revival Under Xi Jinping, Eva Pils

Fordham International Law Journal

Under President Xi Jinping, China has undergone autocratic reclosure. Drawing on Fraenkel’s 1940 analysis of Germany’s then dictatorship as a duality of coexisting normative and prerogative modes of governance established to normalize ‘emergency’ exemptions from legality, this Article argues that this process can be understood as a Dual State revival at a point in time when rule of law corroded in liberal-democratic systems with more robust legal institutions and protections.

Using Rights To Deepen Democracy: Making Sense Of The Road To Legal Abortion In Argentina, Alicia Ely Yamin, Agustina Ramón Michel

Fordham International Law Journal

This Article situates the 2020 passage of a law legalizing abortion as an inflection point for Argentine democracy and a case study of how rights concepts can be deployed to advance reproductive justice. First, beginning with the transition to democracy, this study traces shifts in opportunity structures including political and institutional changes; key judicial decisions as well as legal reforms; and the construction of relations among traditional feminist organizations, health professionals, and new actors including key politicians and other decision-makers. Second, the Article focuses specifically on the last fifteen years of legal and social mobilization, the evolving networks of actors …

The Role Of International Law In Targeted Killings: From The Bush Administration To The Biden Administration, Talia Abed

Fordham International Law Journal

Since the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, the United States has been engaged in a global war to defeat terrorism, i.e., the war on terror. As part of this conflict, the US government conducts targeted killing operations, in which it singles out and kills certain individuals it deems a threat to civilian lives. There are several US statutes that govern the use of lethal force, both generally and in the specific context of targeting terrorists. Additionally, there is a wide body of international laws that govern this form of extrajudicial killing. It is questionable, however, whether the …

Prosecuting Gender Persecution At The Icc: Definitions, Policies, And Practice, Yvonne Dutton, Milena Sterio

Fordham International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Science In Bridging The Climate Divide In The Wake Of The 2021 Ipcc Sixth Assessment Report And The Glasgow Climate Pact, Carolina Arlota

Fordham International Law Journal

Climate governance is perennially complex, as climate change is the quintessential global collective action problem: it affects those who do not contribute to it while the benefits of climate change mitigation measures are not restricted to those who pursue such a climate- conscious path. Nowadays, climate governance has proven particularly tortuous due to conditionality and equitable concerns informing parties’ nationally determined contributions for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In this scenario, sound scientific evidence, which is defined in this Essay as the evidence that is based on the best scientific assessment available, …

A Future For Carbon Taxation?, Myanna Dellinger

Fordham International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Need For An International Tribunal On The Crime Of Aggression Regarding The Situation In Ukraine, Jennifer Trahan

Fordham International Law Journal

This Essay examines the imperative need to prosecute the crime of aggression being committed against Ukraine and doing so through an international tribunal created on the recommendation of the UN General Assembly. It also makes the case for amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to expand jurisdiction over the crime of aggression to cover future similar situations. Both are critically important in order to enforce the core norm against the use of force within the UN Charter through the regime of individual criminal responsibility. The Essay also briefly explores the paralysis caused within the UN Security Council …

State Responsibility For Human Rights Violations Perpetrated In The Name Of International Counter-Terrorism Financing Obligations, Alyssa T. Yamamoto, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Fordham International Law Journal

This Essay responds to the increasing adoption by States across continents of repressive, over-reaching laws, regulations, and policies aimed at countering the financing of terrorism. It documents the immense international pressure to adopt counter-terrorism financing measures, coupled with the seeming marginalization of concurrent international human rights law obligations. The Essay first sets out the applicable legal framework and rapid normative developments in international counter-terrorism financing law. Second, the Essay provides a snapshot of existing allegations of human rights violations committed in the name of international counter-terrorism financing obligations, including judicial harassment and undue surveillance of human rights defenders and civil …

Medical Diagnostic Value Of Digital Pcr (Dpcr): A Systematic Review, Sophia Nazir

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) is an emerging technique for the absolute quantification of target nucleic acids. dPCR got attention as a precise quantification tool in preclinical research, particularly when used to detect genetic mutations and result in highly precise measurements. In dPCR, the statistic of Poisson distribution was followed for the random distribution of molecules in different partitions, which is essential for dPCR quantification. Amplified target sequences in different partitions are identified by fluorescence and each partition functions as a separate PCR microreactor. Without the need for calibration, the percentage of PCR-positive partitions is sufficient to estimate the concentration …

Biosensor For Rapid And Accurate Detection Of Cardiovascular Biomarkers: Progress And Prospects In Biosensors, Sophia Nazir, Rabail Azhar Iqbal

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The primary cause of death worldwide is cardiovascular disease (CVD), which has a considerable mortality rate. It is essential to identify cardiac biomarkers and heartbeat signals early to lower mortality. Conventional CVD examinations require costly hospital equipment for standard CVD examinations and electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, both of which take time and are inconvenient. Recently, interest in developing biosensing technologies for rapid CVD marker screening has increased. As a result of advancements in nanotechnology and bioelectronics, novel biosensor platforms are being created to achieve quick detection, precise quantification, and continuous monitoring during disease progression. Research is being done on chemical, electrochemical, …

Ocean Acidification Has A Strong Effect On Communities Living On Plastic In Mesocosms, X Zhang, P Zhang, Zichao Deng, Ruiping Huang, D Zhang, Yang Tian, N Wang, He Li, X Wang, Xiaowen Jiang, Jiazhen Sun, Qianqian Fu, Xiangqi Yi, Liming Qu, Cong Zhou, Yuming Rao, Xiaorong Zeng, Jm Hall‐Spencer, G Gao, K Gao, Xin Lin

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

We conducted a mesocosm experiment to examine how ocean acidification (OA) affects communities of prokaryotes and eukaryotes growing on single-use drinking bottles in subtropical eutrophic waters of the East China Sea. Based on 16S rDNA gene sequencing, simulated high CO2 significantly altered the prokaryotic community, with the relative abundance of the phylum Planctomycetota increasing by 49%. Under high CO2, prokaryotes in the plastisphere had enhanced nitrogen dissimilation and ureolysis, raising the possibility that OA may modify nutrient cycling in subtropical eutrophic waters. The relative abundance of pathogenic and animal parasite bacteria also increased under simulated high CO2. Our results show …

Economic Trade-Offs In Marine Resource Use Between Offshore Wind Farms And Fisheries In Scottish Waters, Yang Qu, J. Kim Swales, Tara Hooper, Melanie C. Austen, Xinhao Wang, Eleni Papathanasopoulou, Junling Huang, Xiaoyu Yan

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The rapid expansion of offshore wind farms (OWFs) has prompted growing concerns about the extent to which competition over the marine resource causes trade-offs within the energy-food nexus. Reflecting this concern, the paper develops a novel marine resource allocation module which augments a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, calibrated on Scottish data. This allows simulations with varying degrees of differential productivity of the marine resource across alternative uses. Simulation results with the model show that increasing OWFs can impose substantial negative impacts on seafood supply. Extensive analysis is undertaken to test the sensitivity of the model results to changes in …

Dead-Zone Compensation Via Passivity-Based Control For A Class Of Mechanical Systems, Carmen Chan-Zheng, Pablo Borja, Jacquelien M.A. Scherpen

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This manuscript introduces a passivity-based control methodology for fully-actuated mechanical systems with symmetric or asymmetric dead-zones. To this end, we find a smooth approximation of the inverse of the function that describes such a nonlinearity. Then, we propose an energy and damping injection approach — based on the PI-PBC technique — that compensates for the dead-zone. Moreover, we provide an analysis of the performance of the proposed controller near the equilibrium. We conclude this paper by experimentally validating the results on a two degrees-of-freedom planar manipulator.

Instability Of Waves In Deep Water — A Discrete Hamiltonian Approach, David Andrade, Raphael Stuhlmeier

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The stability of waves in deep water has classically been approached via linear stability analysis, with various model equations, such as the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, serving as points of departure. Some of the most well-studied instabilities involve the interaction of four waves – so called Type I instabilities – or five waves – Type II instabilities. A unified description of four and five wave interaction can be provided by the reduced Hamiltonian derived by Krasitskii (1994). Exploiting additional conservation laws, the discretised Hamiltonian may be used to shed light on these four and five wave instabilities without restrictions on spectral …

How Do Renewable And Non-Renewable Co-Move? Fresh Evidence From The European Energy Market Via Arji-Garch Copula Model, A Agosto, L Dalla Valle, Giuli Me De

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The global energy crisis and rising climate concerns are encouraging the transition to a more sustainable economy. Monitoring energy prices has become increasingly important for analysts, policymakers and businesses to tackle the current situation by increasing the integration of renewable energy sources, strengthening the resilience of the energy system to price shocks and reducing its dependence on fossil fuel imports, as well as improving the affordability of energy for consumers. We set up a copula-based ARJI-GARCH model to investigate the timevarying and non-linear dependence between renewable and non-renewable asset prices in the European energy market. Our results show that the …

Ethnic Differences In The Indirect Effects Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Clinical Monitoring And Hospitalisations For Non-Covid Conditions In England: A Population-Based, Observational Cohort Study Using The Opensafely Platform, Ruth E. Costello, John Tazare, D Piehlmaier, Emily Herrett, Edward P.K. Parker, Bang Zheng, Kathryn E. Mansfield, Alasdair D. Henderson, Helena Carreira, Patrick Bidulka, Angel Y.S. Wong, Charlotte Warren-Gash, Joseph F. Hayes, Jennifer K. Quint, Brian Mackenna, Amir Mehrkar, Rosalind M. Eggo, Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi, Laurie Tomlinson, Sinéad M. Langan, R Mathur, Nishi Chaturvedi, Chloe Park, Alisia Carnemolla, Dylan Williams, Anika Knueppel, Andy Boyd, Emma L. Turner, Katharine M. Evans, Richard Thomas

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Background The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare and may have impacted ethnic inequalities in healthcare. We aimed to describe the impact of pandemic-related disruption on ethnic differences in clinical monitoring and hospital admissions for non-COVID conditions in England. Methods In this population-based, observational cohort study we used primary care electronic health record data with linkage to hospital episode statistics data and mortality data within OpenSAFELY, a data analytics platform created, with approval of NHS England, to address urgent COVID-19 research questions. We included adults aged 18 years and over registered with a TPP practice between March 1, 2018, and April 30, …

Lichen Zonation On Uk Rocky Seashores: A Trait-Based Approach To Delineating Marine And Maritime Lichens, Beth Tindall-Jones, Michael Cunliffe, Nathan Chrismas

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Do You See What I See?: Testing Horses' Ability To Recognise Real-Life Objects From 2d Computer Projections, S Kappel, Marm De Oca, S Collins, K Herborn, M Mendl, C Fureix

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Challenges Of Evidence-Informed Offshore Decommissioning: An Environmental Perspective, Anaëlle J. Lemasson, Paul J. Somerfield, Michaela Schratzberger, Antony M. Knights

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Many offshore artificial structures are at or nearing their ends of life, and society faces the considerable challenge that is decommissioning. Current scientific evidence of the ecological and environmental consequences of decommissioning is insufficient to reliably and accurately inform decision-making and policy development. Thus, we must strengthen the scientific basis for evidence-informed decommissioning.

Community Report: A Just Transition For Collie That Leaves No One Behind: A Community-Led Social Justice Analysis Of Collie’S Transition, Naomi Joy Godden, Georgia Beardman, Mehran Nejati, Evonne Scott, Jaime Yallup Farrant, Leonie Scoffern, Joseph Northover, James Khan, Lynette Winmar, Phillip Ugle, Kiera Mulholland, Jayla Parkin, Stevie Anderson, Angus Morrison-Saunders

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This project has been co-led and implemented by Collie community members in partnershipwith the Climate Justice Union WA and Edith Cowan University’s Centre for People, Place andPlanet. Authors are people who contributed to the writing of this report. Contributors are peoplewho contributed to data collection and analysis. Wilman Boodja is the Country (land) of theWilman Noongar people. Wilman Boodja is listed as first author of this report to acknowledgethat Country is alive, and is actively participating in every process, conversation, and decisionrelated to this project.

Criminal Courts, State Succession, And Watercourses: Three Points Of Influence On The International Law Commission, Kelly Adams

Fordham International Law Journal

Strong, functional systems of international law are critical to overcoming the challenges plaguing our increasingly globalized world; injustices that have spawned recently reaffirm the need for these systems. Successfully maintaining these systems requires deep multifaceted insights. The International Law Association, founded in 1873, has aided and influenced the work of the United Nation’s International Law Commission for more than a century. Various documents produced in association with the International Law Association, including a draft statute for the establishment of a permanent international criminal court, a set of draft resolutions on the effect of state succession on treaties, a handbook identifying …

A Rare Case Of Isolated Thoracic Al-Amyloidoma Causing Complete Atelectasis Of The Right Lung, Bettye Cox, Muhammad Adrish

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Tumoral amyloidosis, or amyloidoma, is a benign, but rare form of amyloidosis that has been reported with a favorable prognosis following surgical resection in some case reports. We present a case of acute on chronic respiratory failure secondary to extensive growth of a thoracic amyloidoma causing atelectasis of the right lung. Our case patient had greater morbidity due to late presentation and extensive disease at diagnosis, precluding any surgical intervention. Radiation therapy and medical management were unsuccessful in reducing disease burden. Early diagnosis and detection are pivotal to improving survival in patients with isolated thoracic amyloidoma.

Fresh Takes On Five Health Data Sharing Domains: Quality, Privacy, Equity, Incentives, And Sustainability, Robert Cook-Deegan, Matthew Blank, Juli Bollinger, Janis Geary, Amanda M Gutierrez, Maya Shrikant, Amy L Mcguire

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

As entities around the world invest in repositories and other infrastructure to facilitate health data sharing, scalable solutions to data sharing challenges are needed. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 experts to explore views on potential issues and policy options related to health data sharing. In this Perspective, we describe and contextualize unconventional insights shared by our interviewees relevant to issues in five domains: data quality, privacy, equity, incentives, and sustainability. These insights question a focus on granular quality metrics for gatekeeping; challenge enthusiasm for maximalist risk disclosure practices; call attention to power dynamics that potentially compromise the patient's voice; …

Respiratory Function Changes As Early Signs Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Marco Fasolino, Michele Aliberti, Ersilia Satta, Carlo Santoriello, James Peter Orengo, Francesca Polverino

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The current diagnostic criteria for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may remain unsatisfactory for months or years in the early disease. Pulmonary assessment has never been considered useful in the early diagnosis of ALS, and studies of pulmonary function in this patient category are lacking.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the pulmonary function in subjects with unspecific symptoms of ALS in whom an ALS diagnosis cannot be reached based on the current available guidelines.

METHODS: We performed pulmonary function tests, arterial gas analysis, maximal inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory (MEP) pressure, and respiratory drive (P0.1) assessment in …

Healing A Broken Spirit, David Sedlacek, Beverly Sedlacek

Faculty Publications

Abuse of any kind as well as significant losses such as death of a loved one can result in a broken spirit (Proverbs 15:13, 17:22). However, we have a wonderful God who heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (Isaiah 51:3). He often leads us into communities where we can experience being seen, soothed, safe, and secure. This chapter describes the experience of brokenness and the process of healing integrating both biblical and interpersonal neurobiological perspectives.

Variantsurvival: A Tool To Identify Genotype-Treatment Response, Moustafa Shokrof, Alfredo Iacoangeli, Ammar Al-Chalabi, Fritz J Sedlazeck, Ben Busby, Ahmad Al Khleifat

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Associated Data

The Role Of Hyperexcitability In Gliomagenesis, Ganesh Rao

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary brain tumor. Recent studies have demonstrated that excitatory or activity-dependent signaling-both synaptic and non-synaptic-contribute to the progression of glioblastoma. Glutamatergic receptors may be stimulated via neuron-tumor synapses or release of glutamate by the tumor itself. Ion currents generated by these receptors directly alter the structure of membrane adhesion molecules and cytoskeletal proteins to promote migratory behavior. Additionally, the hyperexcitable milieu surrounding glioma increases the rate at which tumor cells proliferate and drive recurrent disease. Inhibition of excitatory signaling has shown to effectively reduce its pro-migratory and -proliferative effects.

Self-Harm: Warning Signs, Risk Factors, And Prevention, Alina M. Baltazar

Faculty Publications

Rates of suicide and self-harm have been increasing in children and adolescents over the last 20 years (CDC, 2022). Suicidality and self-harm are preventable, treatable, and manageable. Parents and those who work with children, teens, and young adults are an important part in addressing this issue. This article reviews the current statistics of suicide and self-harm, role of trauma, risk-factors, causes, prevention, and treatment options. Practical tips and resources are included. The reader will better understand the phenomenon and know how self-harm and suicide can be prevented and treated.